Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee
Final Minutes of the Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Special Meeting
Tucson, AZ
Submitted by Richard
Corbett, Secretary
Members and guests present introduced themselves. New members Martha Lemen and Hank Rowe, both Pima County appointees, were introduced.
The minutes of the May Retreat meeting, on a motion by Steve Bresler, seconded by Brian Beck, were passed unanimously.
The June regular meeting minutes were found to be the wrong version, so will be acted on at the next meeting.
Tucson Police Lt Mike Pryor reported there were 22
bicycle-motor vehicle crashes in the last month (June). 13 were injury crashes,
but only one was incapacitating. Nine were property damage only. The apparent fault (as seen by the investigating
Officer) is still about 50-50 between dumb things bicycle riders do (such as
running traffic signals and stop signs), and dumb thing motorists do (such as
turning left in front of a rapidly approaching cyclist, pulling out in front of
a rapidly approaching cyclist, or rushing past a cyclist, jamming their brakes
on and cutting suddenly in front of the cyclist as they turn right.
Richard Corbett asked if minor versus major injuries could
be tracked – Lt Pryor said yes, with some special arrangements. Jean Gorman
asked if the reports could include the specific action taken by the police – Lt
Pryor said he would check. John Fleming had several questions related to
enforcement, which Pryor said he would get answers to.
4: Call
to the Public
ADOT Staffer
Nippy Feldhake asked to whom should badly faded bike lane stripes be reported?
Both Melissa Antol and Matt Zoll responded with contact information - it was determined the location is in the
City.
5: BAC
Discussion and Position vote on Motorized Bicycle legislation
Donna
Aversa, Enforcement Sub-Committee member, asked for comments on the letter she
had drafted regarding motorized bikes, to recommend banning them.
Brian Beck
asked if the proposed ban would apply to electric bikes? Antol answered that
while it was possible to include them in the ban, they are currently not nearly
as fast, and will probably not be included. If electric bikes become a problem,
they can be included later. Zach McDonald stated he did not support banning
electrics.
Jean Gorman
said PBAA has written a letter opposing the gas powered motorized bikes, and
stating that safety concerns demand action. Dave Boston stated that U of A
staff says they will ban all motorized bikes from campus. He asked if the local
ordinance could require licensing? Antol responded that the law does not allow
local licensing (Lt Pryor read the relevant section of the legislation).
Following
some additional discussion, Aversa said she would make minor modifications,
including changing bike lanes to bike ways, and specifically not including
electric powered bikes in the ban.
Hank Rowe
asked if a bike is modified to meet the equipment requirements of a moped,
could it be legally operated? Lt Pryor
said yes. G.J. Anderson pointed out that mopeds must be licensed.
David
Bachman-Williams asked if the pollution effects of the motorized bikes could be
mentioned? Aversa indicated yes. Boston supported this as he has encountered
them on trails, and their exhaust is noxious (almost all are two-cycle engines
that burn oil with the gas).
On motion
by Brian Beck, seconded by Zach McDonald, the Committee voted unanimously
to authorize the Chair to execute the letter, as revised.
There was
discussion as to when the letter would be taken to the City Council’s
Transportation Subcommittee, since its Chair, Councilmember Shirley Scott is
currently injured and limited in her involvement. Assistant City Manager Marie
Nemerguth stated that due to the timeliness needed, the letter might go before
the Neighborhoods, Public Safety, & Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee on August
17th.
Gorman
mentioned she had found two motorized bike fatal cases on the Internet – yet
another safety indicator.
Bachman-Williams moved to include the mention of the fatals in the
letter, John Fleming seconded it, and it passed unanimously.
Should the
letter go to all local jurisdictions?
Bachman-Williams moved to include all local jurisdictions, Hank Rowe
seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.
6: Agenda
Development and Procedures
Chair Tolton
stated that she believes Sub-Committees should ’drive’ the agenda.
Sub-Committee Chairs will be expected to submit reports to the Chair and the
Executive Committee, as a key part of developing the agenda. Any member can, of
course, ask for an item to be included on the agenda.
Bachman-Williams
stated that he likes the proposed procedure – just be sure Sub-Committee Chairs
know the expectations of them. He also mentioned that some Committee members,
including him, sit on other Committees representing the BAC, and these
representative will need to know which Sub-Committee they should report to (if
any).
Chair Tolton
stated that she want the reports to come to her (and the Executive Committee).
McDonald said there should be a standing agenda item for each
Sub-Committee. Beck said it would be
important to set a specific deadline for Sub-Committee reports.
Chair Tolton
said that Sub-Committees would need to post their agendas to comply with the
open meeting law (Antol said two days in advance). Aversa said since
Sub-Committee members were volunteers, maybe the agenda did not need to be
posted?
Aversa
offered a motion to explore the question she raised regarding the
posting of Sub-committee agendas, which was seconded by John Fleming, and
passed unanimously.
Hank Rowe
asked if the Sub-Committees could meet immediately before the full BAC? Chair
Tolton said that was her idea, to make it easier on members’ attendance. She
polled the members present, and found that all except one could make a 5:00 pm
meeting time.
8: RTA
Bike Projects – Review from Retreat & PAG Process
PAG Staff
member Richard Corbett explained the background and the basic process to date
for BAC involvement in the prioritization of the RTA Bike Projects.
Chair Tolton
said she had some concern about the lack of a numbered map, and that ranking
the projects without a map keyed to the list was difficult.
Corbett
responded that PAG would be able to provide such a map, on the PAG website.
Antol suggested that it be placed the PAG Regional Data Center.
Gorman asked
about projects happening now. Zoll responded that lists could be provided, but
cautioned that they could have errors and/or omissions. Antol said the City
could post a similar project list on their website.
9: BAC
Members/Staff Reports & Announcements
Bachman-Williams
asked if the Committee should meet in August?
Antol said the regular August date would be August 9th. The consensus was that yes, a meeting would
be needed, in order to approve the June Meeting minutes (which has the
Sub-Committees establishment it them), hear Sub-Committee reports, and get an
update on the motorized Bike issue.
Beck stated
that the Education Sub-Committee would meet soon.
McDonald
reported on the updated, improved BAC Website.
Bachman-Williams
reported that the Downtown Links Committee has met and the new 4th
Avenue underpass is on again. The design will probably be finalized in
September.
Antol
reported she has been promoted, an that TDOT will be hiring a full-time staff
position to work with her, but that she will continue to be involved with BAC
and the RTA Bike Projects.
Zoll
reported that there is a new schedule for the Bike Ed Classes – and there are
new incentives to induce participation. Safe Routes to School is moving ahead,
with sidewalk improvements at Sewell Elementary School.
He went on
to say that the IGA for the Ped-Bike Safety grant would go to the Mayor &
Council in August, and there will be four new bus shelter signs.
Ward VI
Council Aide Roger Carrillo mentioned he was involved in work on a bicycle
offender diversion program, and hopes to have a report in September.
Antol
reported that she is implementing the wrong way riding sign program, with
approximately 200 signs/stencils. Maintenance concerns about the stencils have
been stated, so it will be a test to see how long they last. She invited
members to give her their ideas on location and ways to evaluate the program.
10: Potential Items for Future Agendas
·
Approve the
June Meeting minutes (which has the Sub-Committees establishment in them);
·
Sub-Committee
reports; and
·
An update
on the motorized Bike issue.
11:
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 pm
G.J. Anderson, Pima County
Donna Aversa, Oro Valley
David Bachman-Williams, Pima County
Brian Beck, City Ward 2 (Parliamentarian)
Dave Boston, Ward 6
Steve Bresler, City Ward 1
John Fleming, City Ward 3
Jean Gorman, City Mayor’s Office
Martha Lemen, Pima County
Zach McDonald, City Ward 5
Eric Post, Pima County
Hank Rowe, Pima County
Diana Tolton, Pima County (Chair)
John Thaxton, Davis-Monthan AFB
Melissa Antol, TDOT
Roger Carrillo, Ward VI Council Aide
Richard Corbett, PAG (Secretary)
Nancy Ellis, Oro Valley
Nippy Feldhake, ADOT
Marie Nemerguth, City Managers Office
Lt Mike Pryor, Tucson Police
Matt Zoll, PCDOT
None present