Prepared for Volume 2: Developing Vision 2040 Prepared by Phase 2 Stakeholder Involvement Summary November 2016 with RJ RIVERA Associates, Inc. Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 1 Community Outreach ............................................................................................ 1 Vision Network Workshops ..................................................................................... 2 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Community Outreach .......................................................................................... 3 2.1 Targeted Outreach and Community Events ..................................................... 3 2.2 Support from Elected Officials and VIA Partners .............................................. 4 2.3 Social Media, News Media, and Paid Advertising .............................................. 6 2.4 Print and Digital Survey Outreach ................................................................. 7 3.0 Survey Summary ................................................................................................ 9 3.1 Survey Questions ....................................................................................... 9 3.2 Corridor Preferences ................................................................................. 13 3.3 General Comments ................................................................................... 17 3.4 Respondent Characteristics ........................................................................ 20 4.0 Vision Network Workshop ................................................................................ 25 4.1 VTAC Workshop ........................................................................................ 25 5.0 Local and Regional Coordination with Partner Agencies ................................... 29 5.1 Coordination with Partner Agencies and Local Governments ............................ 29 A. Community Outreach ....................................................................................... A-1 B. Survey Marketing Materials ............................................................................. B-1 B.1 Pechakucha San Antonio Advertisement ...................................................... B-1 B.2 VIA Circulator Advertisement .................................................................... B-2 B.3 External Eblast ........................................................................................ B-3 B.4 Interior Bus Cards ................................................................................... B-4 B.5 VIA Vision La Prensa Advertisement ........................................................... B-5 B.6 Social Media Posts ................................................................................... B-6 C. Community Survey Verbatim Comments .......................................................... C-1 Vision 2040 Phase 2 Stakeholder Involvement Summary i THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii List of Tables Table 2.1 Attendance at Community Events in the Greater San Antonio Region ............... 3 Table 3.1 Selected Comments ................................................................................ 18 Table 3.2 Responses by Location ............................................................................ 21 Table 4.1 Vision Network Workshop Location ........................................................... 25 Table 5.1 VIA Vision 2040 Coordination with Local Governments ................................. 29 Table A.1 VIA Presentations and Information Tables during Vision 2040 Community Outreach Phase 2 ................................................................. A-1 Table A.2 Chambers of Commerce ......................................................................... A-4 Table A.3 Membership-Based Organizations ............................................................ A-4 Table A.4 Civic Partners ....................................................................................... A-5 Table A.5 Elected Officials .................................................................................... A-5 Table A.6 Libraries .............................................................................................. A-5 Table A.7 Churches ............................................................................................. A-7 Table C.1 Verbatim Comments .............................................................................. C-1 Vision 2040 Phase 2 Stakeholder Involvement Summary iii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iv List of Figures Figure ES.1 Draft 2040 Vision Network Table Maps for VTAC Discussion ............................ 4 Figure 1.1 Vision 2040 Phases and Key Milestones ....................................................... 2 Figure 2.1 Outreach Locations throughout the Region – Phase 2 .................................... 4 Figure 2.2 Sample Survey Announcements from Elected Officials and VIA Partners ........... 5 Figure 2.3 Sample Twitter Announcement ................................................................... 6 Figure 3.1 Survey Responses .................................................................................. 11 Figure 3.2 Survey Questions – By County ................................................................. 12 Figure 3.3 Dedicated Lanes by Ridership Frequency ................................................... 12 Figure 3.4 Corridor Selection Map ............................................................................ 13 Figure 3.5 Corridor Preferences – All Responses (=1,989) ......................................... 14 Figure 3.6 Corridor Preferences – Bexar County (=1,967) ......................................... 14 Figure 3.7 Corridor Preferences – All Other Counties (=121) ...................................... 15 Figure 3.8 Corridor Preferences – Selected Counties ................................................... 16 Figure 3.9 Reasons for Selecting Preferred Corridors ( 2,338) .................................. 17 Figure 3.10 Respondents by County........................................................................... 21 Figure 3.11 Phase 2 Survey Responses by ZIP Code .................................................... 22 Figure 3.12 Responses by Demographic ..................................................................... 23 Vision 2040 Phase 2 Stakeholder Involvement Summary v THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK vi Executive Summary As the VIA Vision 2040 Long Range Plan development process continued into the second phase of the project (Phase 2 – Identify a Range of Options), VIA sought guidance from the general public and key stakeholders to understand which transportation corridors matter most to them and what transit investments are most important for the region’s future. VIA collected a second round of community input through an online survey, the results of which were combined with a technical analysis to develop a preferred “Vision 2040 Network.” Community Outreach As a part of the community-driven process, VIA’s staff participated in 115 community events throughout the Greater San Antonio Region in an effort to solicit input via a survey designed to gauge their preferences regarding key connections for transit investments. The survey was also available online (active from October 21 to December 22, 2015), and both formats were available in both English and Spanish. In total, VIA collected 2,715 survey responses. Key findings from the survey include: There was strong support for dedicated lanes for transit vehicles, with 87 percent of respondents supporting this type of transit. A slightly larger proportion of respondents in Bexar County supported dedicated lanes for transit vehicles “whenever possible.” A small majority of respondents (57 percent) expressed a preference for large increases in frequency on the busiest routes (i.e., premium service) over smaller service frequency increases network-wide. Vision 2040 Stakeholder Involvement Summary Phase 2 1 Respondents were nearly evenly split on the matter of stop spacing, with a small (but statistically significant1) proportion expressing preference for wider spacing with more frequent service over closer spacing with less frequent service. There was significant interest in transit investments and expansions of service across the region. All corridors were noted by more than 60 percent of respondents as a medium- or high- priority for transit investment. Vision Network Workshops VIA held a 2040 vision network workshop with the VIA Transit Advisory Council (VTAC) on November 19, 2015. Within the context of the draft proposed 2040 vision network (Figure ES.1), participants were asked to identify development and redevelopment opportunities, important community connections and corridors supporting regional growth, and possible challenges and opportunities for specific corridors. Key feedback from these workshops included: Development and Redevelopment Opportunities Anticipated growth in activity centers on the southern part of town, like Texas A&M San Antonio, Brooks City Base, and Port San Antonio, will drive additional transportation demand. Similarly, major growth is occurring in the northeast area between I-35 and I-10. It is important to have options for transportation in these growing areas. Fredericksburg Road at Balcones