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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03121996 - C51 Contra Costa TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - County FROM: TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE DATE: March 4, 1996 SUBJECT: Annual Report on County Employee TDM Program SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS 1 . Accept the annual report on the County Employee Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program for 1995. 2. Reaffirm the Board's support for continuing the County Employee TDM Program, including use of County vehicles as carpools, flexible work schedules, telecommuting, availability of County vehicles for daytime County use, preferred parking for carpools,provision of transportation alternative information to employees and monitoring through employee surveys. 3. Request County departments to continue designating an employee transportation coordinator at work sites and to participate in the County Employee TDM program. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE _RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE _ APPROVE _ OTHER SIGNATURE(S): J f S To rlakson ACTION OF BOARD ON March 12, 1996 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A X_ UNANIMOUS (ABSENT # TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Orig Dept: Community Development ATTESTED March 12, 1996 Contact: Ernest Vovakis, 335-1243 PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF cc: THE BOARD OF S PERVISORS Val Alexeeff, GMEDA AND COU)MTY A ISTR TOR Department Heads BY , DEPUTY Departmental Trans. Coordinators (via CDD) Regional TDM Program Managers (via CDD) ,X. J Annual Report on TDM Program March 4, 1996 Page 2 FISCAL IMPACT Countywide staff support for the County Employee TDM Program is funded by Measure C (1988). Community Development Department staff costs for the 1995-96 fiscal year are estimated at $48,000. Costs incurred by departments to participate in the TDM program may impact the general fund by an unknown amount. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS Each year the Community Development Department submits a report to the Board of Supervisors on the performance of the County Employee TDM Program. As one of Contra Costa's largest employers, the County had been required by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's (BAAQMD) Regulation 13, Measure C (1988) and the state-mandated Congestion Management Program to participate in transportation demand management (TDM) programs and to help its employees find alternatives to driving alone to-work. The Board authorized use of County vehicles as carpools, flexible work schedules and telecommuting by County employees, and designation of on-site employee transportation coordinators at work sites of 100 or more employees. In addition, the County has received Measure C funding to acquire four vans for employee vanpools, and AB 434 funding to support the pilot telecommuting program. Community Development Department staff assists County employees to form carpools and vanpools, and provides information on transit, telecommuting, and other commute alternatives. The availability of County pool vehicles for daytime County business provides an incentive to carpool or use transit to work. Senate Bill 437 These requirements have been superceded as of January 1 , 1996, by the passage of Senate Bill 437, which prohibits mandatory employer-based trip reduction programs, unless they are required by federal law and elimination of such programs would result in the imposition of federal sanctions, including the loss of federal transportation funds. Those conditions are not present in Contra Costa County, and the BAAQMD has suspended implementation of Regulation 13. The Contra Costa Transportation Authority is evaluating what actions local jurisdictions must take to be in compliance with the TDM requirements of Measure C in light of the passage of SB 437. County Counsel has reviewed the implications of SB 437 and advises that the County cannot impose any employee trip reduction program, either by ordinance or indirectly by condition of development approval. However, the County may, as an employer, require a TDM program for its employees. In addition, the County may require developers to include transportation alternative information packets in new residential units. (Recommendations concerning the. land use implications of SB 437 will be made to the Board separately.) 1995 Employee Transportation Survev Fourteen County buildings with an aggregate of 3900 employees conducted transportation surveys in May 1995. Work sites with over 100 employees or with over 50 employees reporting to work between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. were required to participate in the survey. Two sites (Public Works Department, 255 Glacier, Martinez and Social Services, 1305 MacDonald, Richmond) were exempt from the 1995 survey because they attained the 1995 VER objective in the 1994 survey. The results of this survey are summarized in Exhibit A. Survey results are reported in terms of vehicle employee ratio (VER), which roughly is the number of cars arriving at the work site divided by the number of employees. The 1995 VER objective was 0.83. Survey results showed a continuing improving trend over the three years that Regulation 13 was in effect. Nine of the sixteen buildings subject to the Regulation achieved the 1995 performance standard, a significant improvement over 1994, when five buildings achieved the standard, which was less stringent. This performance may be attributed to the work of the on-site employee transportation coordinators at each work site. 1996 TDM Program CDD staff will continue offering commute alternative information to interested employees, administer the County vehicle pool program, administer the preferred parking program at 651 Pine Street, and coordinate County participation in other voluntary programs including Bike to Work Day, the Spare the Air program, and California Rideshare Week.