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Meeting of the Ad Hoc Town Council Committee on Transportation March 29, 2017 – Philip Pane Lower Conference Room Summary Report for May 9, 2017 The Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation was asked to engage the MBTA on a list of questions to improve the transit rider experience in Watertown. The meeting convened at 6:30 pm and the full list of guests from the MBTA, VHB, elected officials and the general public is available in a more detailed report from Committee Secretary Palomba (Attachment A). The published agenda and list of topics is included in Attachment B. In a general sense, the discussed items included, 1. The transit-related recommendations from the MassDOT Arsenal Corridor Study- (a) A proposed express bus route from Watertown Square to the Boston Landing commuter rail station in Allston; (b) More frequent 70/70A bus trips; (c) Splitting up of the 70/70A routes into 3 separate smaller routes. The relevant PowerPoint slides or interest that came from VHB’s last project working group meeting are attached (Attachment C). 2. The MBTA's Service Delivery Planning Policy- The speaker described the distinct elements of the MBTA’s new Service Delivery Plan Policy: the Service Plan changes and Quarterly Service changes. Watertown may be able to work with the MBTA to see some of the recommendations from the MassDOT/VHB Study in both of these types of service planning. The slides presented by the MBTA across all of the topics at the meeting are appended to the report in Attachment D. 3. The MBTA's next generation of fare-collection technology- The agenda item of off-bus fare collection was covered with this presentation from the MBTA. The new system will likely begin with a 2-year contract award in fall 2017 followed by an education campaign and gradual phase- out of the old system by the middle of 2018. 4. The potential to speed passage of inbound MBTA buses on Eastern Main Street in the mornings- The example of the highly-touted experience in Everett was discussed. Watertown transit advocates and MBTA analysts used actual MBTA performance data to estimate that 4 minutes could be shaved from the waiting time for transit riders heading inbound if the parking lane on the post-office side of Main Street was reserved for buses and cyclists only in the early AM only. A description of the Everett experience is included as Attachment E. 5. The state of Watertown Yard and future plans- The MBTA did not send anyone from the division that leads up operations at the Watertown 'Carhouse' but the representative in attendance did convey some of the official uses of the site and of their importance. Residents and councilors spoke in disapproval of the condition of the site and of a perceived under-utilization of the space. The MBTA's Plan for Accessible Transportation Infrastructure (PATI) was recommended as a good option to pay for improvements to the rider experience there. Representative Hecht offered to help organize a tour of the Watertown Yard and Carhouse and all agreed that this was a best next step. 6. Bus prioritization- The VHB/MasDOT Corridor study makes recommendations for adoption of this technology at some Arsenal Street intersections. While technology in Watertown's traffic signals may soon be ready to accept signals from transit signal prioritization (TSP) devices in buses, not all buses are currently equipped to send those signals. Some pilot projects are underway at locations across the MBTA bus network. Page 1 of 2 7. West Station transit connections- The MBTA representative in attendance said that the focus of the station service planning was on Boston Landing right now as it is due to come online with commuter rail stops in May 2017 (ahead of schedule). The West Station concept is in a more distant future and the entire I-90 straightening project is yet to even pass its Environmental Impact Assessment hurdle. Councilor Piccirilli moved to have the committee request the Planning Department to report back at the next meeting on any potential obstacles to creating an early-AM transit and bicycle-dedicated lane on the inbound side of Main Street. Councilor Palomba seconded the motion and it carried 3-0. After the presentations and Q&A from VHB and the MBTA, the Committee decided to continue a more detailed discussion of follow-up on April 27. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM. Detailed minutes were prepared by Councilor Palomba and this summary report by Councilor Dushku. ************************************************************************************** Attachment A: The detailed minutes of the meeting written by Councilor Palomba. Attachment B: The published agenda of the meeting Attachment C: Slides of interest from the VHB presentation at the last Arsenal Corridor Working Group meeting. Attachment D: Slides from the MBTA presentation. Attachment E: CityLab report on the Everett Bus Lane pilot project. Attachment F: List of meeting attendees. Page 2 of 2 Attachment A: The detailed minutes of the meeting written by Councilor Palomba. Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation Wednesday, March 29, 2017 Philip Pane Lower Conference Room 6:30 PM Detailed Minutes The Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation met on Wednesday, March 29 at 6:30 PM to discuss a number of topics with MBTA Senior Director of Service Planning, Melissa Dullea (See Attachment B – Meeting Announcement for a list of the topics). Attending: Councilor Dushku, Chair, Councilor Piccirilli, Vice Chair, Councilor Palomba, Secretary, State Senator Will Brownsberger, State Representative Jon Hecht, Emily Izzo from State Representative John Lawn’s office, Steve Magoon, Assistant Town Manager and Director of the Department of Community Development and Planning, Caroline Ducas and Laura Castelli from VHB, Melissa Dullea, Philip Groth, and Mathew Cibarashi from MBTA, Charlie Breitrose from Watertown News, David Sprogis and Elliot Friedman from Watertown Public Transit Task Force, Philip Nachman, Robin Nachman, Michelle Cokonougher, and other Watertown residents (see Attachment F – Sign in Sheet for a complete list of attendees). Councilor Dushku opened the meeting by welcoming the guests from VHB and the MBTA and thanking everyone for attending. He briefly reviewed the topics for discussion. Councilor Dushku invited Laura Castelli and Caroline Ducas from VHB, the consultant firm hired by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to conduct the Arsenal Street Corridor Study, to briefly update the Committee on recommendations that would involve the MBTA (See Attachment C for VHB PowerPoint). Their presentation highlighted two Medium Term recommendations. Medium term projects have a 5 – 10-year timeline, may require some permitting, and have higher costs and more intensive design than Short Term recommendations. 1) Pilot Program from Watertown Square to the New Boston Landing in Brighton. A bus would travel from Watertown Square on North Beacon Street and end at the New Boston Landing commuter rail stop which is schedules to open in May. The pilot would be monitored to determine who is using the program and their originating location (home or business). Potential funding sources would include area stakeholders, the MBTA, and possibly the Watertown TMA. 2) Transit Service Improvement to Existing Route Page 1 of 6 This recommendation would split the 70/70A route into three routes and would require additional buses. In addition to the existing bus service, there would be an additional express bus from Waltham Center to Central Square and a loop bus servicing Waltham north of Waltham Center. The recommendation also calls from increase peak and off-peak service frequency and adjusted scheduling for targeted trips. Following the VHB presentation Councilor Dushku invited Melissa Dullea to present the MBTA’s power point presentation “Current Topics in Watertown Transit” (Attachment D). Service Delivery Policy and Service Planning Process 1) The MBTA adopted a new Service Delivery Policy on January 23, 2017 that sets how the MBTA evaluates service quality and allocates transit service. The MBTA has been working with stakeholders for two years to develop objectives, standards and priorities. The policy provides the MBTA the tools to start a bus service planning process and create mechanisms to balance tradeoffs to improve service. 2) The service planning process will result in a Service Plan and an Improvement Plan that will present to the MTBA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) and to the public. Once finalized the plans will be implemented and continually monitored. 3) An important characteristic of the SDP is the distinction between Quarterly Service (QS)changes and Service Plan (SP)changes. The former can be implemented with existing equipment and within the existing budget, and include minor changes to schedules and routes. The latter will have a significant effect on resources and possibly on passengers and will include major changes to routes and schedules including adding, eliminating or restructuring service. Potential Improvements to the 70/70A 1) The MBTA plans to implement QS changes by the summer including update the Saturday running times and shift Saturday trip times to improve early AM and late evening headways. Under consideration for the summer is standardizing the Cambridge terminus by starting/ending all trips at University Park. There will be ongoing efforts to implement running time updates and improve running time by stop consolidation -including two stops on Main Street in Watertown. 2) The MBTA is also considering SP changes including the creating a North Waltham shuttle (see #2 above in VHB presentation) that would improve the trunk service on the 70 route, better use of existing bus fleet to smooth out the inbound headways (the time between one bus leaving and the next bus arriving at a particular stop) from Waltham to Central Square, and possible expanding service to North Waltham after 7:30 pm. Other Potential Changes Under Consideration Effecting Watertown 1) Updating running time on the 71 and 73 routes by the fall of 2017.
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