HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 7618
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7618)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 1/9/2017
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Authorize City Manager to execute and file an application for
$1.085M FTA Mobility Grant
Title: Adoption of a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute and
File an Application on Behalf of the City of Palo Alto to the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) for the Management of and Participation in a Grant
Award to Enhance and Evaluate a Comprehensive Technology/Policy Solution
Called Fair Value Commuting (FVC), Designed to Reduce Traffic Congestion
From: City Manager
Lead Department: City Manager
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
authorize the City Manager to execute and file an application for federal
assistance on behalf of the City of Palo Alto with the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) in support of the City’s Fair Value Commuting (FVC)
proposal to the FTA’s Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox (see attached
resolution);
authorize the City Manager to develop contract terms with FTA;
authorize the City Manager to develop agreements with participating
agencies and specified contractors; and
direct staff to return to Council for approval of final contract documents.
Background
Palo Alto is known as a climate leader with a strong environmentally active
resident base. But Silicon Valley loves cars; the regional single occupancy vehicle
(SOV) rate is 76%.1 As a result, Bay Area traffic congestion is the second worst in
the US (after LA).2 This chokes economic prosperity and puts the US technological
1 WP Chapter 2. www.cities21.org/wp.pdf
2 https://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/media-information/press-release/
City of Palo Alto Page 2
leadership sector at risk. Additionally, approximately 65% of Palo Alto’s total
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated from road transportation.3
Managing and participating in the FVC program aligns with the City’s
Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) by helping it work towards
rethinking mobility and transforming regional transportation infrastructure. This
funding will enable the City to take proactive steps, in collaboration with regional
partners, to advance traffic mitigation and GHG reduction strategies.
Discussion
In conjunction with Joint Venture Silicon Valley (JVSV) and 31 Consortium
Supporters, the City of Palo Alto has been awarded a $1,085,000.00 grant to
administer, manage and participate in the Fair Value Commuting (FVC) Program.
FVC is a public/private sector partnership program that has the potential to
reduce single occupancy vehicle (SOV) commute share from 75% to 50%. Scaled
Bay Area wide, this program has the potential to reduce 1M car trips per day and
3.4B vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per year.
The project will: a) collaborate directly with vendors that contribute to FVC by
enhancing software/hardware feature sets and interoperability, b) pilot FVC at 11
employers with more than 27,000 employees, and c) collaboratively analyze
commute patterns and develop/pilot gap-filling strategies such as peer-to-peer
ridesharing and e-bike/scooter loan-to-own. The initiative is summarized in
Attachment B.
FTA provided notice in October 2016 that Palo Alto and its partners were one of
eleven recipients approved for this program. Development of the cooperative
agreement with FTA represents the next step in this grant process. FTA requires
the attached authorizing resolution to permit them to actually award the grant.
Staff will return to Council with the cooperative agreement and contracts with
partnering organizations, after receipt of the formal award. As the grant
continues and the timing of the expenditures and reimbursements becomes more
certain, adjustments will be brought forward as part of the development of the FY
2018 budget as appropriate.
Resource Impact
3 City of Palo Alto S/CAP page 6. .
City of Palo Alto Page 3
FTA funding will provide Palo Alto $250,000 in support of Commuter Wallet,
$100,000 in support of a project manager and grant administrator, and will
provide Palo Alto TMA $40,000 in support of low income commuter “gap filling.”
Oversight of this work will require a modest time commitment from Palo Alto’s
Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Transportation Official as well as minimal
administrative time. The current resolution has no resource impact.
Policy Implications
This initiative is in alignment with the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan
(S/CAP) approved by City Council on November 28 2016.
Environmental Review
The project is categorically exempt from the California Enviornmental Quality Act
(CEQA), per Section 15306 (basic data collection, research, experimental
management and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or
major disturbance to an environmental resource). The project may lead to
recommendations for subsequent projects or programs, which will be separately
reviewed under CEQA prior to approval, adoption or funding. With regard to
NEPA, staff anticipates that FTA will determine the project to be categorically
excluded under Section 5312 (research projects with limited scope).
Attachments:
Attachment A: Palo Alto_MOD Sandbox Summary (PDF)
Attachment B: Resolution authorizing the filing of applications with FTA (PDF)
Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Summary
Page 1 of 2
MOBILITY ON DEMAND (MOD) SANDBOX
City of Palo Alto
Bay Area Fair Value Commuting Demonstration
TEAM, BUDGET, AND WAIVERS
Key Partners: Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network, Redwood City, City of Fremont, City of Mountain View, San
Mateo County, City of Cupertino, RideAmigos, Luum, Moovel, Lyft, GenZe, EcoReco, Microsoft, Google,
Commute.org, C/CAG, samTrans, VTA, Bay Area Council, Transportation for America, Palo Alto Transportation
Management Association (TMA), SPUR
Project Supporters: State Assembly District 22, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Governor’s Office of
Planning and Research, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Transform,
Sierra Club, and Association for Commuter Transportation – NorCal Chapter
Budget Summary: The budget from the applicant is summarized below:
MOD Sandbox Demonstration Federal Amount ($) MOD Sandbox Cost Share ($) Total Cost
$1,085,000 $1,964,800 $3,049,800
INNOVATION: PROJECT APPROACH
The proposed solutions seek to reduce Bay Area single occupancy vehicle (SOV) commute share from 75% to 50%
through a Fair Value Commuting (FVC) solution. Stanford University’s commute program provides the conceptual
FVC starting point. Stanford reduced SOV from 75% to 50% (with transit share increasing from 8.0% to 31.1%),
eliminating the need for $107M in new parking structures. FVC consists of five components:
Component #1: Enterprise Commute Trip Reduction (ECTR) software automates employer commute programs.
ECTR will integrate with public transit by filling up transit fare cards (Bay Area’s Clipper) and allowing pre-tax
commuter benefits purchase of transit passes. Project partner vendors are Luum and RideAmigos
Component #2: Mobility Aggregation (MobAg) app is a mobile multimodal trip planning app with a seamless
combination of public/private transit, bikeshare, rideshare, carshare, and electric scooter/bike “loan-to-own,” with
e-payment. MobAg integrates MOD products such as Lyft line, UberPOOL, Waze Carpool, Scoop, ZipCar, and
Car2Go. MobAg apps include Moovel, Urban Engines, Whim, Moovit, Transit App, TripGo, Swiftly, Ventra, Siemens,
and GoLA. The project integrates MobAg with ECTR. MobAg integrates with public transit by providing multimodal
trip planning featuring transit via the GTFS open standard interface.
Component #3: A “revenue-neutral workplace parking feebate” charges a fee for SOV commutes and rebates that
revenue to non-SOV commutes, structured so that there is no cost to employers. ECTR vendors take their fee out
of SOV revenue.
Component #4: “Gap Filling” describes analytics to identify commutes with poor alternatives and subsequent
attempts to improve them. Lyft/Uber services integrate with public transit by providing first/last mile - 20% of Lyft
trips are first/last mile to transit. E-scooter loan-to-own integrates with transit by providing first/last mile. Bike
network improvements integrate with transit by providing first/last mile. Public microtransit such as VTA Flex is
already public transit and also provides first/last mile to transit.
Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Summary
Page 2 of 2
Component #5: Alleviating systemic obstacles such as: a) enable better public transit routes that cross county
borders (the region has 24 transit agencies), b) better integrate transit fares within multi-agency trips, c)
modernize transit e-payment, and d) develop a healthy, interoperable mobility software ecosystem, following
open standards.
The project will: a) collaborate directly with the top vendors that contribute to FVC by enhancing
software/hardware feature sets and interoperability, b) pilot FVC at 11 employers with more than 27,000
employees, and c) collaboratively analyze commute patterns and develop/pilot new gap-fillers such as low-income
subsidy and loan-to-own.
CHALLENGES PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO ADDRESS
Scale Challenge: In car-loving portions of the Bay Area, transit commute mode share is an anemic 3.3% and
Lyft/Uber serves less than 1 out of every 1,000 trips. For a zip code with 31,550 residents, of which 500 are
downtown Palo Alto workers, there are fewer than 8 people to match in each 20-minute peak hour commute
interval. SOLUTION: At regional scale FVC creates 465,000 new customers for non-SOV mobility.
Gap Challenge: There is a need for “Gap Filling” to identify commute vectors with poor alternatives and
subsequently improve options. SOLUTION: FVC fills gaps with: low-income transit subsidies, e-scooter first/last
mile, Uber first/last mile, bike network analysis/improvements to reduce stress, e-bikes for 8-mile commutes, on-
demand P2P rideshare (Lyft Carpool), microtransit (VTA Flex, Bridj), and telecommuting.
Integration Challenge: A handful of suburban employers have reduced commuting from 75% to 50% SOV, but no
suburb or suburban county has adopted city-wide or county-wide technologies/policies that have reduced SOV
commuting by even 5%. SOLUTION: FVC addresses demand and supply side challenges. FVC’s integrated five-
component solution combines technologies and policies, providing a “credible success narrative” that mode shift
from 75 to 50% may be achieved.
Mobility for All Solution: FVC provides equitable pathways to jobs as follows: 1) The Palo Alto TMA low-income
commute gap-filling work task. 2) The FVC “feebate” serves as a progressive wealth transfer from high-income to
low income. Compared to other congestion reduction policies, FVC scores high for social equity. 3) 25% mode shift
away from SOV in suburbia will result in multimodal expansion to the great benefit of the disability community.
Systemic Challenge: The Bay Area has a series of systemic obstacles that need addressing, including: a) enable
better transit routes that cross county borders, b) provide better transit fares for multi-agency trips, c) e-payment,
d) interoperable software ecosystem. SOLUTION: One of FVC’s five components reduces systemic obstacles.
ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES, BENEFITS, IMPACTS
Capstone deliverables: 1) a real-time commute mode dashboard aggregated from 11 employers using two
different ECTR apps and 2) a consortium-wide conclusion about far along FVC has progressed from 40% ready
towards 100% ready to become a regional-scale solution.
Potential Bay Area-wide Benefits / Impacts include:
Creating $670M/year new transit, biking, carpool, and mobility service funding out of thin air
Benefits lower income workers more than higher income workers
Reducing 1M car trips/day, 1.3M tons/GHG/year, 3.4B VMT/year at a “negative cost” of -$558/ton GHG
reduction
Creating a large new pro-transit voting constituency.
Resolution No. ______
Resolution authorizing the filing of applications with the
Federal Transit Administration, an operating administration of the
United States Department of Transportation, for federal transportation
assistance authorized by 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53; title 23,
United States Code, or other federal statutes administered by the
Federal Transit Administration, for the Fair Value Commuting (FVC) initiative.
WHEREAS, the Federal Transit Administrator has been delegated authority to award
federal financial assistance for a transportation project;
WHEREAS, the grant or cooperative agreement for federal financial assistance will
impose certain obligations upon Palo Alto (“the applicant”), and may require the
applicant to provide the local share of the project cost;
WHEREAS, the applicant has or will provide all annual certifications and assurances to
the Federal Transit Administration required for the project;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto RESOLVES as follows:
SECTION 1. That the City Manager is authorized to execute and file an application for
federal assistance on behalf of The City of Palo Alto with the Federal Transit Administration
for federal assistance authorized by 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53, title 23, United States Code, or
other federal statutes authorizing a project administered by the Federal Transit
Administration, for the Fair Value Commuting (FVC) project.
SECTION 2. That the City Manager is authorized to execute and file with the City’s
applications the annual certifications and assurances and other documents the Federal
Transportation Administration requires before awarding a federal assistance grant or
cooperative agreement.
SECTION 3. That the City Manager is authorized, in accordance with the procedures in
local law, to execute grant and cooperative agreements with the Federal Transit
Administration on behalf of The City of Palo Alto.
SECTION 4. The Council finds the application and acceptance of the FTA grant for the Fair Value
Commuting project to be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
under CEQA Guidelines §15306 (basic data collection, research, experimental management
and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or major disturbance to
an environmental resource).
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
__________________________ _____________________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
__________________________ _____________________________
City Attorney City Manager
_____________________________
Director of Planning and Community
Environment
_____________________________
Director of Administrative Services
CERTIFICATION The undersigned duly qualified City Clerk, acting on behalf of The City of Palo
Alto, certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of a resolution adopted at a legally
convened meeting of the Council of the City of Palo Alto held on _______________________.
__________________________________
City Clerk
__________________________________
Date