Related Links

The Regular Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) was called to order at 1:39   p.m. by Chairperson Porter in Conference Room B-104, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), 3331 North First Street, San Jose, California.

ROLL CALL

A quorum was not present and a Committee of the Whole was declared.

PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS

There were no Public Presentations.

Committee Staff Report

There was no Committee Staff Report.

Chairperson’s Report

There was no Chairperson’s Report.

BUSINESS REFERRED TO COMMITTEE BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS/ GENERAL MANAGER

Member Curtis took his seat at 1:39 p.m.

Minutes of October 13, 2005

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Committee of the Whole deferred the Minutes of October 13, 2005, upon arrival of a quorum.

Proactive CMP Reviewed and Approved Projects Quarterly Status Report – July through September 2005   

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Committee of the Whole received the Proactive CMP Reviewed and Approved Projects Quarterly Status Report - July through September 2005. 

FY 2005 Preliminary Annual Transit Operations Performance Report

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Committee of the Whole received the FY 2005 Preliminary Annual Transit Operations Performance Report. 

2006 Federal Legislative Program

Kurt M. Evans, Government Affairs Manager, reported that every year the VTA Board of Directors adopts a Federal Legislative Program, which provides the framework and guidance for VTA’s advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C., both from a congressional and administrative standpoint. 

Alternate Member Collen took his seat at 1:43 p.m. and a quorum was declared.

Mr. Evans reported that the proposed 2006 Federal Legislative Program is being presented to the VTA Advisory Committees for comments and feedback.   The Program will be forwarded to the Administration and Finance Committee in December 2005, and then forwarded to the Board of Directors for final adoption in January 2006.  Mr. Evans noted that the feedback received from the Advisory Committees would be reflected in the information going before the Board of Directors.  

Member Jenkins took her seat at 1:50 p.m.

Mr. Evans noted that the proposed 2006 Federal Legislative Program is divided into seven sections and he provided a report on each section, highlighting: 1) Federal Transportation Appropriations, 2) Public Transit Security, 3) New Starts Program Implementation, 4) High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes, 5) Railroad Access, 6) Amtrak, and 7) High-Speed Rail.

Mr. Evans thanked TAC for submitting their jurisdictions’ thoughts to VTA for FY 2007 Federal Project Earmarks.   He noted that John Ristow, Programming and Project Development Deputy Director, and he are currently in the process of putting together a master matrix containing each jurisdiction’s thoughts for earmark requests for FY 2007 and the matrix would be brought to TAC at a later date.

Alternate Member Batra expressed concern about High-Speed Rail at the local level.  He indicated that the City of Santa Clara Council had taken a position to adopt the Pacheco Pass alignment and queried about VTA’s position on the Pacheco Pass alignment.  Mr. Evans indicated that the issue is reflected in the State Legislative Program and VTA’s position, as adopted by the Board of Directors in its 2005 State Legislative Program, is to support a Pacheco Pass alignment for High-Speed Rail.

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Committee reviewed and commented on the proposed 2006 Federal Legislative Program for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). 

The Agenda was taken out of order.

Minutes of October 13, 2005

M/S/C (Rowe/Curtis) to approve   Minutes of October 13, 2005.

Fiscal Year 2006-2015 Short Range Transit Plan

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Fiscal Year 2006-2015 Short Range Transit Plan was deferred to the December 8, 2005 TAC Meeting. 

2006 State Transportation Improvement Program

Amin Surani, Sr. Transportation Engineer, reported that VTA, as a Congestion Management Agency (CMA), is responsible for prioritizing and programming discretionary federal, state, and some of the local money for transportation projects in the County of Santa Clara.  

Mr. Surani noted that the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) is a major source of transportation dollars for the State of California.   He noted that 75 percent of the STIP funds are allocated to the region and 25 percent are allocated to the State for the Interregional Transportation Improvement Program.   Mr. Surani noted that due to the decline in sales tax, the 1996 Measure B Transportation Improvement Program (MBTIP) had to defer some of the projects in the program. VTA used a Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle (GARVEE) Bond to fund the Route 87 High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane Projects and the I-880/Coleman Avenue Interchange Project.  Since VTA does not have any money to program, it has been requested to defer its $33 million worth of projects to the last two years of the STIP, which will be 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Surani directed attention to the chart entitled Attachment A, 2006 Santa Clara County RIP Program Adjustments, and provided an overview, highlighting: 1) Projects Recommended for Modification and 2) Projects Recommended for Deferral.

Ex-Officio Member Cowell noted for the record that the projects sponsored by Caltrans have been rolled over since the 2004 STIP.   He noted at that time there was no change in cost, no reflection of the escalation, and that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) had applied for the projects.  He noted that the projects are getting more and more out of whack in terms of the cost escalation and having the cost update on the jobs.  When given the opportunity to actually look at the projects again and moving forward with delivery, it is very likely that these projects will increase in cost, because of inflation and the need to update project costs.

M/S/C (Batra/Armendariz) to review and recommend that the VTA Board of Directors approve the programming of Santa Clara County’s Regional Improvement Program share of the 2006 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), noting comments from Ex-Officio Member Cowell regarding projects sponsored by Caltrans that have been rolled over since the 2004 STIP. 

Proposed Process and Criteria for Programming Federal Surface Transportation Program Funds to Local Streets and Roads Rehabilitation Projects in Federal Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009

John Sighamony, Transportation Planner II, reported that in 2004 the Board of Directors approved the process and selection criteria for Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2007 and 2008 (second cycle) in the amount of $16 million. VTA is now recommending that the Board of Directors approve the process and selection criteria for FFY 2008 and 2009 (third cycle) in the amount of $16 million. 

Mr. Sighamony directed attention to Attachment A, Local Streets and Roads Rehabilitation Programming Process and Criteria, noting that VTA developed draft program criteria and a project selection process.    He indicated that the proposed program has been divided into the following two components: 1) Need-Based Targets and 2) Regionally Significant Roadways.   The Need-Based Targets portion of the program was based on MTC’s projected cost of maintaining and reconstructing local streets and county roads over the next 25 years.  The Regionally Significant Roadways portion of the program would designate 15 percent of the total funds available to regionally significant roadways in the County of Santa Clara.  The 15 percent program is competitive to projects contained on the Congestion Management Program (CMP) Principal Arterial list.

Mr. Sighamony referred to the discussion held at the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Subcommittee, noting that the CIP Subcommittee came to the conclusion that the CMP Principal Arterial list was outdated.   The list did not include expressways and South County roadways.  Mr. Sighamony indicated that VTA has a short timeframe to forward the projects to MTC, noting that VTA is looking forward to MTC accepting the projects in late January 2006.  He noted that VTA would program the 15 percent to the County expressway system for the time being with a caveat that VTA would continue discussing a new CMP Principal Arterial list. 

Member Armendariz referred to the 15 percent funding for the Regionally Significant Roadways and queried if it is possible to divide the funding equally among all of the jurisdictions instead of just going to the County was explored.    Mr. Ristow noted that the CIP Subcommittee had considered different scenarios on the funding distribution and that discussions are still ongoing. 

Dennis Ng, Sr. Engineer, representing the City of Sunnyvale, reported that the City of Sunnyvale supports the CIP Subcommittee’s proposal and that the proposal best balances documented fees and available funding for all City Groupings for the County roadway network and expressways.

M/S/C (Collen/Likens) to review and recommend that the VTA Board of Directors approve the proposed process and criteria for programming Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds to local streets and roads rehabilitation projects in Federal Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009. 

Mr. Ristow directed attention to the e-mail distributed by staff regarding “Inactive Obligations – Call To Action – Immediate Attention Requested”.   Mr. Sighamony noted that VTA received the e-mail during the evening of November 9, 2005, and some of the projects contained on the list have not been invoiced according to the information provided to VTA.   Mr. Sighamony recommended that TAC review the list thoroughly to make sure that their respective cities do not have any outstanding invoices.  Mr. Ristow asked that VTA be copied if any information is forwarded to MTC/Caltrans.

Sunnyvale Citywide Deficiency Plan Approval

Chris Augenstein, Transportation Planning Manager, reported that deficiency plans are a requirement of the CMP for CMP facilities that are either currently at or expected to fall below the CMP level-of-service (LOS) standard, LOS E.   He noted that the Sunnyvale Citywide Deficiency Plan (Plan) has been in the development process for about two years.  The City of Sunnyvale has followed VTA’s deficiency plan guidelines and the Plan includes a comprehensive list of roadway, transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements. 

Mr. Augenstein reported that the City of Sunnyvale Council approved the Plan at their September 20, 2005 meeting.   He noted that by CMA statutes the City of Sunnyvale is required to submit the Plan to VTA for approval within 60 days.   Once the Plan is completely adopted by VTA, a monitoring program would be established, wherein the City of Sunnyvale would be monitoring the progress of the Plan implementation of the immediate action list, and anything contained on the deferred action list would be reported to VTA on an annual basis as part of VTA’s Annual Monitoring and Conformance Reporting process.  Also, the Plan would be updated every two to three years based on need.

Mr. Ng noted that the City of Sunnyvale supports the approval of the Plan and thanked VTA staff for their cooperation.

Upon query of Jerry Grace, Interested Citizen, Mr. Augenstein noted that the Plan contains a number of improvements listed in the immediate action plan that are related to transit. 

Alternate Member Batra referred to the City of San Jose adoption of the North San Jose Deficiency Plan and the fee that was established in identifying projects.   He queried if the Sunnyvale Citywide Deficiency Plan had an established fee and would the City of Santa Clara’s developers be impacted if in the vicinity of Lawrence Expressway and Homestead.  Mr. Augenstein noted that developments in the City of Santa Clara would not be subject to the fee.  The fee the City of Sunnyvale is charging is a general fee based on square footage and type of land use.

Member Curtis queried about the impact to the City of Sunnyvale if the Plan was not approved by VTA.    Mr. Augenstein noted that the potential impact would be that the City of Sunnyvale could be found in non-conformance with the CMP and potentially be subject to losing gas tax subventions.

M/S/C (Collen/Curtis) to review and recommend that the VTA Board of Directors approve the City of Sunnyvale Citywide Deficiency Plan. 

Caltrain Measure A Priorities Study

Steve Fisher, Sr. Transportation Planner, distributed a document entitled Caltrain Capital Needs Study Overview.   He noted that VTA will be initiating a detailed study of Caltrain’s capital need for Santa Clara County.

Mr. Fisher noted that the goals of the study are to develop a better understanding of Caltrain’s service, operations and customer access needs at station areas, identify capital improvements that will improve Caltrain service, and to develop a priority list of capital needs for immediate, mid-term and long-term horizons.   He noted that the study would estimate ridership demand, determine capital needs, develop project evaluation criteria, and evaluate capital projects. 

Mr. Fisher reported that in order to receive policy input on the study, staff would be going to the November 10, 2005 VTA Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) with two options.   The first option would be the formation of a Sub-committee of PAC that would consist of Caltrain or non-Caltrain cities, would meet separately from PAC, and would report to PAC through the Sub-committee Chairperson.   The second option would be the formation of a Policy Advisory Board (PAB) that would consist of Caltrain cities, County of Santa Clara, and the Joint Powers Board (JPB), would meet separately from PAC, and would report to the VTA Board of Directors separately.   

Mr. Fisher indicated that staff is recommending the formation of a PAC Sub-committee, noting that this would be the best way to manage the study and to continue PAC involvement in Caltrain improvements.

Mr. Fisher noted that the study would begin in early 2006, and the study process would be approximately nine months.

Mr. Grace indicated that he attended the November 9, 2005 SamTrans Meeting and noted the discussion held regarding improvements to Caltrain.

Upon query of Member Curtis, Mr. Fisher noted that VTA has budgeted $200,000 for the study.

Upon query of Mr. Ng, Mr. Fisher noted that a technical working group would be established to help with the study.

Upon query of Alternate Member Tripousis, Mr. Fisher noted that if a PAC Sub-Committee was formed, PAC would determine who would serve on the Sub-committee as well as the amount of members to serve on the Sub-committee.

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Committee discussed the Caltrain Measure A Priorities Study. 

Nominating Committee for Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for 2006

Alternate Member Likens left the meeting at 2:31 p.m.

Stephen Flynn, Sr. Management Analyst, reported that the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson serve a one-year term and are elected separately, noting that the current Chairperson and Vice Chairperson are eligible for re-election.  Mr. Flynn indicated that the election of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson is conducted in a three-step process, noting that the appointing of a Nominating Committee is the first step.  The second step is to receive a report from the Nominating Committee, which will be done at the December 8, 2005 TAC Meeting.  The third step is to have the election of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, which will be held at the January 2006 TAC Meeting. 

Mr. Flynn noted that the purpose of the Nominating Committee is to determine who is willing to serve as Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.   He referred to the Nominating Committee process and noted that the Chairperson usually asks for volunteers.

Upon query of Chairperson Porter, Member Curtis and Alternate Member Rowe volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee for Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for 2006.

M/S/C (Tripousis/Batra) to appoint Member Curtis and Alternate Member Rowe as the Nominating Committee for Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for 2006.  

Announcements

Mr. Ristow introduced the new VTA Board Secretary, Maria Marinos, who succeeded Sandra Weymouth.

Alternate Member Batra complimented VTA staff on the River Oaks Bridge Project, noting that the Cities of San Jose and Santa Clara funded the project.   He indicated that   the anticipated opening of the River Oaks Bridge is in February 2006.

Alternate Member Collen announced that today he attended the ITS World Conference hosted by the City of San Jose and thanked the City of San Jose for organizing the event.

ADJOURNMENT

On order of Chairperson Porter, there being no objection, the Meeting was adjourned at 2:36 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Tracene Y. Crenshaw, Board Assistant
VTA Board of Directors