City Council Agenda Item Report May 17, 2016 Contact – Chance Sparks, AICP, CNU-A, Director of Planning 512-312-0084 /
[email protected] SUBJECT: DELIBERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO ADOPT A TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN COORDINATION WITH CAPITAL METRO. 1. BACKGROUND During Summer & Fall 2014, City Council received information related to budgeting & options for mass transit in the City of Buda. Staff provided an overview of the following services at as part of budget workshops: • Demand Response Service/Paratransit • Commuter/Express Service • Traditional Fixed Route Service • Flex-Route Service (a.k.a. Deviated Fixed Route) In addition, staff discussed the roles and processes regarding participation in Capital Metro and CARTs. As discussed, Buda is located in the Austin Urbanized Area and has been since 2000. This is important, as that designation dictates funding sources for mass transit and agencies that may serve as recipients of those funds. Since Buda is in the Austin Urbanized Area, CapMetro is the designated recipient of mass transit funds under 49 U.S.C. 5307. In contrast, CARTS is the recipient of rural mass transit funding under 5311. This means that Buda cannot directly contract with CARTS, but CapMetro can contract with them on our behalf. This is a strategic practice based on route needs, particularly for demand response services and flex-route services. In April 2014, Capital Metro revised their Service Expansion Policy to address circumstances like Buda, which cannot allocate sales tax in the traditional way other cities in the Capital Metro service area do due to lack of sales tax capacity.