Prepared for Volume 2: Developing Vision 2040 Prepared by Phase 3 Stakeholder Involvement Summary with November 2016 Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Community Outreach .................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Targeted Outreach and Community Events ............................................................ 3 2.2 Social Media, News Media, and Paid Advertising ..................................................... 5 2.3 Print and Digital Survey Outreach ........................................................................ 7 2.4 Vision 2040 Open Houses ................................................................................... 7 3.0 Survey Summary ...................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Survey Questions and Responses ........................................................................ 11 3.2 General Comments ........................................................................................... 21 3.3 Respondent Characteristics ................................................................................ 22 4.0 Project Prioritization Workshops .............................................................................. 27 4.1 VTAC Workshop ................................................................................................ 27 4.2 VIA Staff Action Committee ................................................................................ 30 5.0 Operator Outreach .................................................................................................... 33 6.0 Local and Regional Coordination with Partner Agencies ........................................... 35 6.1 Coordination with Partner Agencies and Local Governments .................................... 35 A. Community Outreach .............................................................................................. A-1 B. Survey and Open House Marketing Materials .......................................................... B-1 C. Community Survey Verbatim Comments ................................................................. C-1 Vision 2040 Long Range Plan iii List of Tables Table 2.1 Attendance at Community Events in the greater San Antonio region ....................... 3 Table 2.2 Time and Locations of Vision 2040 Open Houses .................................................. 8 Table 2.3 Results of Open House Voting on Corridor Priority ................................................ 9 Table 3.1 Responses by Location .................................................................................... 23 Table 3.2 Demographic Response ................................................................................... 26 Table 4.1 Vision Network Workshop Locations .................................................................. 27 Table 4.2 Better Bus System – VIA Staff Action Committee Summary .................................. 31 Table 4.3 Rapid Transit Network – VIA Staff Action Committee Summary ............................. 32 Table 4.4 Innovative Solutions – VIA Staff Action Committee Summary ............................... 32 Table 6.1 VIA Vision 2040 Coordination with Local Governments and Local Governments ....... 35 Table A.1 Vision 2040 Community Outreach Phase 3: Public Meetings ................................ A-1 Table A.2 Vision 2040 Community Outreach Phase 3: Presentations .................................. A-1 Table A.3 Vision 2040 Community Outreach Phase 3: Meetings ......................................... A-2 Table A.4 Vision 2040 Community Outreach Phase 3: Information Tables ........................... A-2 Table A.5 Events VIA Attended during Vision 2040 Community Outreach Phase 3 ................ A-3 Table A.6 Chambers of Commerce ................................................................................ A-4 Table A.7 Membership-Based Organizations ................................................................... A-5 Table A.8 Civic Partners .............................................................................................. A-5 Table A.9 Elected Officials ........................................................................................... A-5 Table A.10 Libraries ..................................................................................................... A-6 Table A.11 Churches .................................................................................................... A-7 Table C.1 General VIA Service Comments ...................................................................... C-1 Table C.2 Bus Rapid Transit Comments ........................................................................ C-34 Table C.3 Bicycle/Pedestrian Comments ....................................................................... C-35 Table C.4 Technology Comments ................................................................................. C-45 Table C.5 Positive Rail Comments ................................................................................ C-52 Table C.6 Negative Rail Comments .............................................................................. C-58 Table C.7 Safety and Security Comments ..................................................................... C-60 Table C.8 Express Bus Comments ................................................................................ C-66 Table C.9 Roadway Improvement Comments ................................................................ C-67 Table C.10 Funding Comments ..................................................................................... C-72 Table C.11 Other Comments ......................................................................................... C-74 iv THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Vision 2040 Long Range Plan v List of Figures Figure 1.1 Vision 2040 Key Milestones ............................................................................... 2 Figure 2.1 Outreach Locations throughout the Region – Phase 3 ........................................... 4 Figure 2.2 Sample Twitter Announcement .......................................................................... 5 Figure 2.3 VIA Web Site Announcement ............................................................................ 6 Figure 2.4 Results of the Open House Voting on VIA Tactics ................................................. 9 Figure 3.1 Survey Responses .......................................................................................... 13 Figure 3.2 HOV Lanes Survey Responses by Ridership Frequency ......................................... 13 Figure 3.3 Map of the Corridors Survey Question ............................................................... 15 Figure 3.4 Implementation Strategy Prioritization Results ................................................... 16 Figure 3.5 Corridor Prioritization Results ........................................................................... 17 Figure 3.6 Bicycle Infrastructure Survey Responses ............................................................ 19 Figure 3.7 Maintenance Priority Survey Responses ............................................................. 20 Figure 3.8 Communication Preference Survey Responses .................................................... 20 Figure 3.9 Frequency of Comments by Category ................................................................ 21 Figure 3.10 Example of Received Comments ....................................................................... 22 Figure 3.11 Respondents by Country ................................................................................. 23 Figure 3.12 Phase 3 Survey Responses by Zip Code ............................................................. 24 Figure 3.13 Responses to Demographics ............................................................................ 25 Figure 5.1 Route Issues Identified by Bus Operator ............................................................ 34 Vision 2040 Long Range Plan vii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK viii Executive Summary As the Vision 2040 Long Range Plan development process continued into the third phase of the project (Phase 3: Evaluate Community Options), VIA Metropolitan Transit (VIA) sought guidance from the general public and key stakeholders to prioritize projects for the implementation plan. VIA collected a third round of community input through an on-line survey, open houses, and project prioritization workshops to help organize the community’s vision into a phased, implementable plan for the future. Community Outreach As a part of the community-driven process for Phase 3, VIA’s staff participated in 97 community events throughout the Greater San Antonio Region in an effort to solicit input through a survey designed to prioritize transit investments for the future. The survey was also available on-line (active from March 1 to April 3, 2016) with both formats available in English and Spanish. VIA collected a total of 4,104 survey responses. In addition, VIA’s staff hosted six open houses throughout the Greater San Antonio Region in an effort to assist in prioritizing the proposed transit improvements. The input from the 185 stakeholders who participated