City Council Mobility & Infrastructure Committee · Tuesday, July 11, 2023 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of June 13, 2023

packet pp.5–6

Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 06-13-23 City Council Mobility & Infrastructure Page (0000) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Mobility & Infrastructure Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. June 13, 2023 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

4. AGENDA ITEMS

Metro Flex On-Demand Service ID 1444

60 min · John Larson-Friend, Transportation Program Coordinator · packet pp.7–54

Topics: Transportation

▶ Watch from 4:01 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

The Administration recommends that the City enter into a contractual agreement with King County Metro to provide the Metro Flex on-demand service in Issaquah.

1560 segments .txt ↗

0:07 ↗ um welcome everybody I am council member

0:09 ↗ Chris Ray and I'm going to call to order

0:10 ↗ the July 11

0:12 ↗ 2023 city council

0:16 ↗ um mobility and infrastructure committee

0:18 ↗ uh with me this evening our Deputy

0:20 ↗ council president Zach Hall and council

0:23 ↗ member bar Brad D Michelle

0:27 ↗ um on the agenda this evening we have

0:29 ↗ just one item which is uh ID 1444 the

0:34 ↗ Metroflex on-demand services and we'll

0:37 ↗ get to that in just a second

0:39 ↗ um

0:40 ↗ first on our agenda though is public

0:43 ↗ comment

0:44 ↗ and

0:48 ↗ there will be really two public

0:50 ↗ commentable opportunities we'll do one

0:52 ↗ right now and then we'll have another

0:54 ↗ public comment opportunity after staff

0:57 ↗ has done their presentation and Council

1:00 ↗ question answers members of the public

1:02 ↗ May address to the council this time

1:04 ↗ either in person or virtually those who

1:06 ↗ signed up in advance uh to make comments

1:08 ↗ will be called first if you're joining

1:10 ↗ us virtually and would like to make

1:11 ↗ comments please raise your virtual hand

1:13 ↗ if you're on the phone press star 3 if

1:15 ↗ you've joined by computer or smartphone

1:17 ↗ look for a hand icon this varies by

1:19 ↗ device one option may be to go to the

1:22 ↗ participant panel and choose arrays and

1:24 ↗ icon in the lower right corner if you're

1:26 ↗ in the room and did not sign up I'll ask

1:28 ↗ for speakers before closing this portion

1:30 ↗ of the meeting

1:31 ↗ I'll wait a moment to see if anybody

1:33 ↗ raises their hand

1:36 ↗ anybody online City Clerk

1:40 ↗ chair Ray we do have a virtual attendee

1:43 ↗ who has their hand raised okay

1:46 ↗ Let's uh

1:48 ↗ see what they have to say

1:51 ↗ Katya and zakarov I'm making you a

1:54 ↗ panelist you should now be able to turn

1:58 ↗ on your video and speak to the committee

2:09 ↗ hello hello we can hear you now

2:12 ↗ hi I cannot find how to turn my video

2:15 ↗ and unfortunately hello everyone I'm

2:17 ↗ Katja zakarov and I would like to speak

2:21 ↗ to advocate for the Metroflex service in

2:25 ↗ Issaquah I strongly believe that we

2:28 ↗ actually need a very active Metro

2:30 ↗ service in our area and I believe that

2:33 ↗ Metroflex will be the first step at

2:35 ↗ least that will give many of our

2:38 ↗ residents opportunity to not use their

2:41 ↗ cars but to use the public

2:43 ↗ transportation

2:44 ↗ I've listened to this previous

2:48 ↗ Transportation Advisory board meeting

2:50 ↗ and I know their opinion and I know that

2:53 ↗ they have some questions there and I

2:55 ↗ actually took a moment and I did my

2:58 ↗ small research on that and my biggest

3:01 ↗ thing is that many people have no idea

3:04 ↗ that this service might be provided or

3:06 ↗ there are plans like that

3:08 ↗ so I think we need to increase the

3:11 ↗ advertisement of the services so people

3:14 ↗ know that they exist or they plan to

3:16 ↗ exist unfortunately only a small group

3:19 ↗ of people who are really interested in

3:21 ↗ what's going on uh on the City Council

3:24 ↗ meetings or on the board meetings only

3:26 ↗ those people currently know what's going

3:28 ↗ on so but I strongly advocate for that

3:33 ↗ service to be available to the

3:36 ↗ issaquians thank you so much

3:38 ↗ great thanks karia

3:42 ↗ is anybody else online

3:46 ↗ chair Ray we have no other virtual

3:48 ↗ attendees at this time and no one in the

3:50 ↗ room is uh

3:52 ↗ uh Express the desire to speak at this

3:55 ↗ point so we will have another

3:56 ↗ opportunity in a few moments but for

3:58 ↗ right now let us jump into our uh our

4:01 ↗ agenda item no before we do that let us

4:04 ↗ uh let us talk about minutes from our

4:07 ↗ last meeting

4:09 ↗ um any comments on the minutes

4:12 ↗ so I saw this the other day

4:16 ↗ um it was without objection

4:18 ↗ we will approve the meetings unless

4:19 ↗ there's objection can I do that City

4:21 ↗ Clerk

4:23 ↗ you can do that let's do that because

4:25 ↗ that sounds better than taking a vote so

4:27 ↗ if there's no objection we'll consider

4:29 ↗ the meetings from the uh June 13th

4:32 ↗ meeting approved

4:34 ↗ all right on to uh our

4:37 ↗ um regular business our one agenda item

4:38 ↗ which is ID 1444 Metro Flex On Demand

4:42 ↗ and John Larson friend our

4:45 ↗ transportation program coordinator is

4:46 ↗ going to be presenting with some help I

4:48 ↗ think from King County Metro

4:52 ↗ folks

4:55 ↗ done take it away

5:16 ↗ thank you chair Ray I appreciate it I

5:18 ↗ hope you can hear me and uh good evening

5:20 ↗ council members I'm very excited uh to

5:23 ↗ be here I'm John Larson friend I'm the

5:24 ↗ transportation program coordinator I'm

5:26 ↗ joined this evening by Meredith Sampson

5:28 ↗ from King County Metro as well as Brian

5:31 ↗ Henry from King County Metro

5:33 ↗ we're here this evening to talk to you

5:35 ↗ and provide information about the

5:37 ↗ Metroflex on-demand service

5:42 ↗ our purpose this evening is to receive

5:44 ↗ feedback on the proposed Metroflex

5:46 ↗ on-demand program

5:48 ↗ and the direction that we're looking for

5:49 ↗ tonight is should the city enter into an

5:52 ↗ agreement to fund a Metroflex expansion

5:54 ↗ in Nisswa

5:57 ↗ so first to just begin with a short

6:00 ↗ little history lesson here and or

6:02 ↗ reminder more likely so an effort to

6:06 ↗ bring neighborhood service has gone on

6:08 ↗ for at least a decade more recently the

6:11 ↗ history started in 2017 when the city

6:14 ↗ applied for the community connections

6:16 ↗ project or program

6:18 ↗ uh that program has since evolved over

6:21 ↗ time into the Metroflex system that we

6:24 ↗ see today

6:25 ↗ um in 2018 Issaquah was chosen for that

6:29 ↗ project a group or committee was formed

6:32 ↗ and exploration efforts were initiated

6:35 ↗ and as well as some surveying which I'll

6:38 ↗ cover in a few minutes

6:40 ↗ in late 2019 the higher-ups at Metro

6:44 ↗ asked the staff to reevaluate kind of

6:47 ↗ the data that they were seeing just

6:49 ↗ based back then and they ended up

6:51 ↗ putting the project on a brief hold well

6:52 ↗ it was supposed to be a brief hold

6:54 ↗ because covid-19 popped up in 2020

6:58 ↗ and Metro announced a lot of their

7:00 ↗ services were going to be suspended

7:02 ↗ late 2020 Metro announced adjusted

7:05 ↗ priorities due to covid-19 and in 2021

7:09 ↗ Metro ended up announcing the

7:11 ↗ cancellation of issaquah's integration

7:12 ↗ into the Community Collections program

7:19 ↗ so since uh that time in 2021

7:23 ↗ we so the staff brought basically came

7:27 ↗ back to council and asked okay what do

7:29 ↗ we do now since we don't have access to

7:32 ↗ this service anymore

7:33 ↗ and uh Council even back then directed

7:35 ↗ staff to keep pursuing that Metro

7:37 ↗ partnership

7:38 ↗ it was also during that time that my

7:40 ↗ position was created the transportation

7:42 ↗ program coordinator to basically explore

7:45 ↗ any options that we might have uh for uh

7:48 ↗ squawk and Talus neighborhoods

7:49 ↗ specifically going under the name

7:51 ↗ shuttle at the time

7:53 ↗ after I came aboard we found out that

7:56 ↗ Metro had put all pilot projects on

7:58 ↗ pause until further notice

8:01 ↗ so then I spent basically the time

8:03 ↗ between March and September 2022 just

8:07 ↗ trying to figure out what to do next

8:08 ↗ what are our options

8:11 ↗ I found three the first one was wait for

8:13 ↗ Metro

8:14 ↗ the second one would have was uh to fund

8:18 ↗ our own system which ended up being

8:20 ↗ very cost prohibitive and we also looked

8:23 ↗ at some sort of uber Lyft subsidized

8:25 ↗ service partnership

8:27 ↗ at that point uh we were directed by

8:30 ↗ Council to basically keep pursuing Metro

8:34 ↗ once again

8:36 ↗ that brings us up to last month and this

8:39 ↗ month last month we presented uh

8:41 ↗ Metroflex to Tab and uh now of course

8:44 ↗ I'm here with you presenting on this

8:46 ↗ information

8:48 ↗ looking into the future uh in September

8:50 ↗ we know that routes 214 216 and 217 are

8:54 ↗ going to be suspended due to a lack of

8:57 ↗ drivers basically

8:58 ↗ and then hopefully in October 2023 uh

9:02 ↗ the proposed Metroflex service would

9:04 ↗ begin

9:07 ↗ there has been extensive public Outreach

9:10 ↗ done around this issue and I will cover

9:12 ↗ that now so going back to that the group

9:17 ↗ or committee that was formed back in

9:18 ↗ 2018

9:19 ↗ as I mentioned before a couple of

9:21 ↗ surveys were a part of that effort

9:24 ↗ the surveys found that the most

9:26 ↗ significant barrier to Transit is the

9:28 ↗ first mile Last Mile issue and just to

9:31 ↗ quickly Define that first of my last

9:34 ↗ mile is the first or last portion of any

9:37 ↗ Transit trip and is often a gap in that

9:40 ↗ service and is also often a barrier to

9:43 ↗ ridership

9:47 ↗ we found that the top three things that

9:49 ↗ would help people ride Transit more

9:51 ↗ often is transportation service when

9:54 ↗ needed that connects to transit or local

9:56 ↗ destinations

9:58 ↗ access to destinations not currently

10:01 ↗ reached by bus

10:03 ↗ and tied for third was guaranteed ride

10:05 ↗ home Locust a rider and knowledge slash

10:09 ↗ confidence in transit

10:11 ↗ at that point the group recommended two

10:13 ↗ things Peak ride basically asking Metro

10:16 ↗ to increase uh more bus routes during

10:19 ↗ those Peak commuting times and an on to

10:23 ↗ ride or on-demand service

10:29 ↗ uh more recently we also wanted to kind

10:32 ↗ of catch up with the community so in

10:34 ↗ April of this year we conducted we we

10:37 ↗ staff conducted a survey of the squawk

10:40 ↗ Talus isqua Valley and Old Town

10:43 ↗ neighborhoods

10:44 ↗ we received 416 responses which was

10:48 ↗ great we loved that

10:50 ↗ we found that Transit use has gone down

10:52 ↗ 20 since 2020 which is very much in line

10:55 ↗ with national Trends but we also found

10:58 ↗ that 65 of respondents would use Transit

11:01 ↗ if available within a block of their

11:02 ↗ residence which is massive

11:05 ↗ the top issues that arose were

11:08 ↗ first mile Last Mile issues which is

11:11 ↗ aligned with the former survey

11:15 ↗ a lack of safety familiarity or Comfort

11:17 ↗ when riding which is also in line with

11:18 ↗ national trends

11:20 ↗ and difficulty understanding slash

11:22 ↗ planning around transit schedule now

11:24 ↗ this could mean one of two things this

11:26 ↗ could mean just we need more education

11:28 ↗ which is always needed around transit or

11:30 ↗ it could just be people are looking at

11:33 ↗ Transit as an option and they can't get

11:35 ↗ there so they don't

11:41 ↗ so uh going moving on to the direction

11:45 ↗ that you gave us in 2022

11:48 ↗ so last year when we presented these

11:50 ↗ options to you you as the body concluded

11:54 ↗ that the administration should pursue a

11:56 ↗ metropilot program partnership with King

11:58 ↗ County Metro

11:59 ↗ which we have

12:00 ↗ so staff approached Metro who evaluated

12:04 ↗ the request they and they determined

12:06 ↗ that this is in fact aligned with their

12:09 ↗ priorities and a good idea to pursue

12:13 ↗ so since then staff and Metro have

12:15 ↗ worked together to design and integrate

12:16 ↗ an on-demand service into the community

12:19 ↗ it'll solve first mile Last Mile gaps in

12:21 ↗ current service and provide inter-city

12:23 ↗ Mobility to residents and this is

12:25 ↗ looking at those two priorities not just

12:28 ↗ connecting people to Transit but

12:30 ↗ connecting residents to their City

12:33 ↗ essentially

12:36 ↗ is also first on the list of communities

12:38 ↗ being considered for Metroflex service

12:40 ↗ advances and I want to note that a huge

12:44 ↗ reason why Metro even wants to partner

12:46 ↗ with us at this point is that we at the

12:48 ↗ city based on past Council discussions

12:49 ↗ and Direction have expressed that we are

12:52 ↗ willing to financially contribute and we

12:54 ↗ would not be considered for this program

12:56 ↗ without that contract

13:00 ↗ I also want to pause just for a second

13:03 ↗ through my work in this position there

13:06 ↗ have been a couple of examples that have

13:07 ↗ Arisen that I wanted to kind of note

13:10 ↗ um first we recently had an employee

13:12 ↗ with the city

13:14 ↗ she works uh or she lives at the

13:16 ↗ Anthology Apartments off Newport Way She

13:20 ↗ expressed that her partner and her have

13:22 ↗ only one car he's driving 50 miles plus

13:24 ↗ to work

13:25 ↗ how do I get to City Hall

13:28 ↗ and I really really wanted to tell her

13:30 ↗ we have this school program which we

13:31 ↗ didn't

13:33 ↗ but uh instead I had to tell her uh

13:36 ↗ basically you got to walk a mile to the

13:37 ↗ transit station take the bus or buy a

13:40 ↗ bike

13:41 ↗ these are pretty okay options uh in

13:45 ↗ weather like this but of course we live

13:47 ↗ in Washington and that is it definitely

13:50 ↗ becomes a barrier

13:52 ↗ uh we also have another example a city

13:55 ↗ staff member recently told me that he

13:57 ↗ met a woman at the issquad transit

14:00 ↗ center who had taken the 554 to Issaquah

14:01 ↗ and then needed to get to a person's

14:04 ↗ residence for their job doing in-home

14:06 ↗ care

14:07 ↗ again we wish we could have told her hey

14:09 ↗ just

14:09 ↗ stop the Metroflex and you'll get there

14:11 ↗ uh we're not actually sure how she got

14:13 ↗ to her job

14:18 ↗ so looking at the contract really

14:21 ↗ quickly we want to summarize the

14:22 ↗ contract because it is fairly extensive

14:25 ↗ uh so the agreement expires at the end

14:28 ↗ of December 2025 from a service provided

14:31 ↗ of a minimum of two years the service

14:33 ↗ would begin in October upcoming

14:37 ↗ it would operate Monday through Friday 7

14:39 ↗ A.M to 6 p.m and Saturday 9 A.M to 6 p.m

14:43 ↗ uh fares would also be a part of the

14:45 ↗ Orca system which is huge that point

14:47 ↗ came up in tab last year when we we

14:49 ↗ presented uh of the three options that

14:52 ↗ we gave them then they were very

14:54 ↗ concerned that about options that didn't

14:57 ↗ integrate into the work system

14:59 ↗ uh the Cindy would Cindy the city would

15:02 ↗ fund services at a cost of 262 000 a

15:05 ↗ year

15:06 ↗ and uh performance data would be

15:09 ↗ provided quarterly

15:17 ↗ so of course as you all are probably

15:19 ↗ aware uh we took this topic to tab last

15:22 ↗ month and we had uh basically a split

15:25 ↗ down the middle

15:27 ↗ um I do want to note that three members

15:29 ↗ were absent

15:30 ↗ I as the staff liaison was not in the

15:32 ↗ room due to having coveted unfortunately

15:34 ↗ and uh it was also the same night as a

15:36 ↗ city council meeting and so we had even

15:39 ↗ the staff that were in the room had to

15:40 ↗ run back and forth or not be there at

15:43 ↗ all so the proceedings were probably not

15:46 ↗ as guided as well I would wish they had

15:48 ↗ been

15:51 ↗ so looking at the feedback that we got

15:53 ↗ from the cab the three opposed uh they

15:56 ↗ were concerned about service successes

15:59 ↗ due to past outcomes looking at around

16:01 ↗ 200 and other efforts other services

16:03 ↗ that have been provided and have since

16:05 ↗ gone away uh because they were concerned

16:07 ↗ about spending this amount of money on a

16:09 ↗ pilot project

16:10 ↗ and they also requested more data from

16:12 ↗ King County Metro which uh since then

16:15 ↗ King County Metro has provided that data

16:17 ↗ to us and they'll talk about it here in

16:19 ↗ a few minutes

16:21 ↗ so the two in favor uh they were

16:24 ↗ concerned that good Mobility

16:25 ↗ opportunities were being missed out on

16:27 ↗ uh one particular member was very

16:30 ↗ concerned that say in

16:33 ↗ 10 years or five years

16:34 ↗ the city would look back after looking

16:37 ↗ for the perfect service and end up

16:39 ↗ realizing oh the best service ended up

16:45 ↗ uh they also see the point-to-point

16:48 ↗ service is very much needed in the

16:49 ↗ community and fills the uh the Talis and

16:52 ↗ squawk priority

16:55 ↗ they also believe that the cost of the

16:58 ↗ city while

16:59 ↗ seems high is very minimal for what

17:02 ↗ services provided

17:08 ↗ so with that

17:10 ↗ hand it over to Meredith talk about the

17:14 ↗ service itself and John before you uh

17:16 ↗ turn it over absolutely we have a couple

17:18 ↗ of questions

17:19 ↗ councilmember D Michelle

17:21 ↗ so uh John just a couple of

17:23 ↗ clarifications uh and I did watch the

17:25 ↗ transportation Advisory board meeting so

17:27 ↗ so

17:29 ↗ um I uh asked you this before but I want

17:32 ↗ to be sure and then I thought of a

17:33 ↗ second question to go along with it the

17:36 ↗ first question is if you are a Talus

17:38 ↗ resident would you be able to book a

17:40 ↗ ride to Sammamish because it the service

17:43 ↗ area I think was was not as clear as it

17:46 ↗ could have been and the second question

17:49 ↗ is if you are a sammamished resident

17:51 ↗ would you be able to book a right to

17:53 ↗ Talus question yes and yes thank you

17:57 ↗ so it's really an expansion of the

18:01 ↗ current service that is already being

18:04 ↗ offered in Sammamish and I think there

18:06 ↗ was a lot of confusion about that in the

18:08 ↗ the maps that we got it looked like it

18:10 ↗ was two different services but it's

18:12 ↗ really one big service area that we're

18:15 ↗ talking about okay

18:17 ↗ um and then I did have the other

18:19 ↗ question was uh because I believe Mr

18:21 ↗ Henry had talked about uh

18:24 ↗ it is on demand service so I wanted to

18:27 ↗ be clear about the 262 000 that

18:32 ↗ um we would be obligated to pay that

18:35 ↗ um whether or not we had robust

18:37 ↗ ridership or that would be our our

18:40 ↗ you're not going to be paying on a

18:42 ↗ per-ride basis is what I'm getting at

18:45 ↗ yes and I I have a section about that

18:48 ↗ because I'll come back and kind of wrap

18:49 ↗ things up and I wanted to I'll mention

18:51 ↗ it here now since you're asking

18:54 ↗ um the way that the contract is set up

18:56 ↗ it really protects Issaquah against

18:58 ↗ fluctuations because there is uh

19:00 ↗ expected growth from this service as

19:02 ↗ opposed to drinking

19:04 ↗ um so it would it would create a I guess

19:07 ↗ a stop Gap a lack a better word uh that

19:10 ↗ would basically this is how much this

19:12 ↗ was paying

19:13 ↗ no matter what happens with the service

19:15 ↗ okay all right

19:17 ↗ um

19:19 ↗ so I think I think those were the two

19:22 ↗ big questions that I wanted to be sure

19:23 ↗ that we we were really clear about that

19:26 ↗ we were talking about this one big area

19:27 ↗ and we are talking about an investment

19:30 ↗ of 262 000. okay thank you absolutely

19:36 ↗ Meredith

19:47 ↗ hi everybody I'm Meredith Sampson a

19:49 ↗ transportation planner with King County

19:51 ↗ Metro and their service Planning Group

19:52 ↗ with a focus on East King County

19:56 ↗ um here to continue the conversation

19:58 ↗ about Metroplex

20:00 ↗ a really quick agenda I'm going to kind

20:02 ↗ of give an overview of Metroflex what it

20:04 ↗ is how it operates where it operates how

20:07 ↗ to use the service and a little bit on

20:09 ↗ the proposed partnership with the City

20:10 ↗ of Issaquah before I hand it to John

20:14 ↗ so starting off with just the role of

20:18 ↗ um Metroflex generally so for the last

20:21 ↗ several years Metro was operating on

20:22 ↗ demand Services through a few different

20:24 ↗ vendors and in March we Consolidated all

20:27 ↗ of the on-demand services to one vendor

20:30 ↗ and the service is now called Metroplex

20:31 ↗ this service is open to the general

20:33 ↗ public and the main premise is that

20:35 ↗ people can use this service to book a

20:38 ↗ ride an on-demand trip from any point in

20:40 ↗ the service area to any other point in

20:42 ↗ the service area in the same service

20:44 ↗ area Riders can request a Ride On Demand

20:47 ↗ using either the app our call center or

20:49 ↗ our website

20:50 ↗ writers designate a start destination

20:52 ↗ and an end destination for the ride and

20:54 ↗ they're given an ETA

20:56 ↗ for the driver to arrive

20:59 ↗ and then they're instructed to walk to a

21:01 ↗ nearby pickup location usually the

21:02 ↗ nearest cross street to catch the ride

21:04 ↗ this will all be shown in the app or

21:06 ↗ directed um by the operator at the call

21:09 ↗ center or through the website

21:12 ↗ um

21:13 ↗ the writer then gets in the Metroflex

21:15 ↗ vehicle which may be a shared ride um

21:17 ↗ the algorithm does uh

21:20 ↗ share rides for efficiency reasons

21:23 ↗ um and the average wait time for a ride

21:25 ↗ is about 15 minutes across service areas

21:26 ↗ right now it's actually a little less in

21:28 ↗ nearby service areas but across the

21:30 ↗ system 15-minute ETA is the average

21:33 ↗ um

21:34 ↗ when a writer books a ride they can

21:35 ↗ designate in their profile whether or

21:37 ↗ not they need a wheelchair accessible

21:38 ↗ vehicle and the profile will then

21:41 ↗ remember that for future rides and the

21:42 ↗ same when you call or use the website

21:44 ↗ you create a profile and that will be

21:45 ↗ remembered for all future rides

21:47 ↗ interpreter services are also available

21:49 ↗ to book rides for people so that is

21:51 ↗ another accessibility feature for us

21:55 ↗ one thing I wanted to emphasize about

21:57 ↗ this and John kind of touched about this

21:59 ↗ is that it is integrated with Orca and

22:00 ↗ it is the same fare as the bus

22:02 ↗ so um

22:04 ↗ you can pay with Orca you can pay with a

22:05 ↗ Transit Go ticket and you can pay

22:07 ↗ through the app with a credit card you

22:09 ↗ cannot pay with cash or with paper

22:11 ↗ transfer just due to safety and

22:13 ↗ operational reasons but you can load

22:15 ↗ money onto your Ergo card with cash or a

22:18 ↗ there are certain vendors where you can

22:19 ↗ load buy Transit Go tickets with so

22:22 ↗ there's options

22:26 ↗ okay here is a map of the current

22:28 ↗ Metroplex service areas there are seven

22:30 ↗ of them there's Juanita Sammamish Kent

22:33 ↗ Othello Rainer Beach Skyway Renton

22:36 ↗ Renton Highlands and um tequila

22:39 ↗ uh King County is very large area wise

22:42 ↗ different land uses and densities as you

22:44 ↗ all know so you can see these uh service

22:46 ↗ areas are kind of in different areas

22:48 ↗ with some of them are much more dense

22:49 ↗ some of them are more Suburban type

22:51 ↗ densities and putting service in

22:53 ↗ different areas like this is really

22:54 ↗ helping us learn a lot about where the

22:56 ↗ service does best and where it just

22:58 ↗ makes sense as a Mobility solution

23:00 ↗ and part of the learning opportunity for

23:03 ↗ a service area in Issaquah will be

23:04 ↗ monitoring how this service impacts the

23:06 ↗ local fixed route Network in the next

23:08 ↗ two years and just kind of seeing what

23:09 ↗ the right size Mobility solution for for

23:11 ↗ Issaquah is

23:17 ↗ okay so this slide shows some how the

23:21 ↗ existing some managed service area is

23:23 ↗ performing as of the week of June 18th

23:24 ↗ so this is the data that was requested

23:26 ↗ in the transit Advisory board meeting

23:28 ↗ that John mentioned

23:30 ↗ um and we want to provide you with this

23:31 ↗ just you might be wondering like some

23:33 ↗ context for the service how it's

23:34 ↗ performing Sammamish is the closest

23:37 ↗ service area

23:39 ↗ um so this is what the uh the metrics

23:41 ↗ look like as of June 18th

23:43 ↗ um you can see the service is averaging

23:45 ↗ 2.3 rides per vehicle hour that cost per

23:48 ↗ ride is not the cost to the rider that's

23:50 ↗ on the back end the cost of the writer

23:52 ↗ is the same fare as a bus the average

23:54 ↗ wait times 10 minutes average travel

23:56 ↗ time is 9.4 minutes

23:58 ↗ and one thing that I do want to mention

24:00 ↗ is that we've seen really consistent

24:01 ↗ growth in the Sammamish service area

24:05 ↗ um over the past year even when we

24:07 ↗ transitioned to a different Opera like

24:09 ↗ to a new service operator into Metroflex

24:12 ↗ um ridership increased 193 June 2022 to

24:16 ↗ June 2023 so significant growth there so

24:18 ↗ it's doing really well

24:22 ↗ remember the quick question yeah really

24:25 ↗ quickly can you remind me how many

24:26 ↗ vehicles Flex Vehicles serves

24:29 ↗ how many vehicles are there so it's

24:31 ↗ actually a demand based system across

24:33 ↗ all of our service areas so

24:36 ↗ um on average at any given time there's

24:37 ↗ probably two to three in Sammamish right

24:39 ↗ now but if there's a lot of demand more

24:41 ↗ vehicles from across the other surface

24:43 ↗ areas we'll go to Sammamish and there's

24:45 ↗ hired rate

24:47 ↗ yes

24:50 ↗ and likewise if there's less demand they

24:51 ↗ could go somewhere else but

24:53 ↗ um since sammamishes uh further out it's

24:56 ↗ not grouped close by with a lot of the

24:58 ↗ other service areas there usually are

25:00 ↗ about two to three in that are kind of

25:02 ↗ stay around the area right now

25:09 ↗ okay so one thing we're seeing across

25:11 ↗ service areas is that the top

25:12 ↗ destinations that Riders are using

25:15 ↗ Metroflex to travel to is a Transit Hub

25:17 ↗ um whether that be a park and ride or a

25:19 ↗ Transit Center or whatnot so this shows

25:22 ↗ that writers are using the service to

25:23 ↗ connect to the radar Transit Network

25:24 ↗ which is one of our goals for Metroflex

25:26 ↗ we want to make sure we're giving that

25:28 ↗ first Last Mile connection like John

25:29 ↗ mentioned and connecting people to the

25:31 ↗ transit Network who don't have access

25:33 ↗ now

25:34 ↗ um this map is a heat map showing the

25:36 ↗ top origin and drop-off destinations or

25:39 ↗ some Manish you can see there's the

25:41 ↗ isqua Highlands Park and Ride QFC middle

25:43 ↗ school but also highlighted on this heat

25:45 ↗ map you'll see the hospital there's

25:47 ↗ people are using this to get around but

25:49 ↗ the top location is that park and ride

25:51 ↗ right now

25:53 ↗ um

25:54 ↗ so we expect with this Zone expanded to

25:56 ↗ include a larger portion of Issaquah

25:58 ↗ including the squacent house

25:59 ↗ neighborhoods to see Riders connecting

26:00 ↗ to the squad Transit Center as well as

26:03 ↗ the destination to see here and all the

26:05 ↗ other community assets that would be

26:06 ↗ included with the expanded portion

26:10 ↗ um if there's no other questions for me

26:12 ↗ right now I'll hand it back to John

26:17 ↗ I just thought of this thought of this

26:19 ↗ and it's just completely out of

26:20 ↗ curiosity are they all gas powered

26:22 ↗ vehicles or electric vehicles

26:25 ↗ I believe that

26:28 ↗ [Music]

26:30 ↗ they find you know

26:37 ↗ okay that was gonna be my question was

26:39 ↗ whether or not kind of long sorry future

26:41 ↗ will be testing electric vehicles

26:43 ↗ there's a plan for that

26:45 ↗ perfect thank you

26:49 ↗ all right back to John

26:56 ↗ thank you Meredith appreciate it

27:00 ↗ um so I'm back to talk about the

27:03 ↗ Issaquah service area

27:05 ↗ um a few notes we wanted to note that uh

27:08 ↗ this service area it connects the squawk

27:11 ↗ and Talus neighborhoods and former route

27:13 ↗ 200 service area and I'm going to go

27:15 ↗ with plus since everything is plus these

27:18 ↗ days

27:19 ↗ um this serves an incredible amount of

27:21 ↗ Issaquah and I also want to I want to

27:24 ↗ mention technically Metroflex is already

27:26 ↗ serving Issaquah because it is already

27:28 ↗ serving Providence Point and isqua

27:30 ↗ Highlands or at least that main area of

27:33 ↗ the Island

27:35 ↗ I also uh want to mention that it uh

27:38 ↗ it'll serve Central Issaquah as well as

27:41 ↗ well as many common destinations

27:43 ↗ it will connect to important Transit

27:46 ↗ centers as we've as we've noted and as

27:48 ↗ we've talked about a little bit it'll

27:50 ↗ connect to the Sammamish surface area

27:53 ↗ uh of course as I mentioned

27:55 ↗ accessibility to Transit and local

27:57 ↗ businesses will be a part of this system

27:59 ↗ but also specifically provides access to

28:03 ↗ medical services including Swedish

28:05 ↗ hospital and natural areas uh you'll

28:08 ↗ probably remember that the trailhead

28:09 ↗ connect no longer serves the escrow

28:11 ↗ locations

28:12 ↗ uh it'll provide some Amish residents

28:15 ↗ with access to isqua businesses which is

28:17 ↗ great for economic development and we

28:20 ↗ have worked to include apartments and

28:22 ↗ lower income areas of Issaquah and

28:24 ↗ access to Lake spammer State Park

28:27 ↗ I also want to note that this does

28:29 ↗ fulfill several goals in the mobility

28:31 ↗ master plan

28:38 ↗ uh so let's uh just touch on funding

28:41 ↗ here so the Metro budget for the entire

28:44 ↗ service area at this point is 644

28:47 ↗ thousand dollars the Issaquah

28:49 ↗ contribution is 263 000 uh early in the

28:54 ↗ planning process we looked at having two

28:56 ↗ distinct service areas but came to the

28:58 ↗ conclusion that a combined service area

29:00 ↗ would serve all the demand in the area

29:02 ↗ assume that growth is going to happen

29:05 ↗ would create a more a much more

29:07 ↗ Equitable and efficient and cost

29:08 ↗ efficient service area

29:12 ↗ um so uh with looking thinking about the

29:15 ↗ funding in mind we approached Metro on

29:18 ↗ your recommendation and offered to pay

29:20 ↗ for the service because we know it's

29:21 ↗ such a high priority of council to

29:23 ↗ connect our neighborhoods

29:25 ↗ it provides access to parts of Issaquah

29:28 ↗ not ever served by transit including

29:30 ↗ squawk and Talus neighborhoods and the

29:33 ↗ as I mentioned before the funding

29:35 ↗ agreements and the contract text

29:36 ↗ Issaquah from fluctuations in costs and

29:39 ↗ we believe is a commitment to issquah as

29:41 ↗ a priority area needs area for this

29:47 ↗ so moving into wrapping up the

29:50 ↗ presentation our next steps hopefully

29:52 ↗ would be to finalize and approve the

29:54 ↗ contract we would lead into a two-year

29:57 ↗ pilot with an estimated launch of

29:59 ↗ October of this year we would receive

30:02 ↗ quarterly reporting on performance so we

30:04 ↗ would actively monitor to see if if we

30:07 ↗ are getting everything that we hope to

30:08 ↗ get out of it

30:10 ↗ and Metro will evaluate the service

30:12 ↗ based on their service guidelines which

30:14 ↗ includes Equity productivity which is

30:17 ↗ the rides per hour and efficiency which

30:20 ↗ is the cost per ride

30:24 ↗ and again just to wrap up tonight we are

30:27 ↗ looking for a direction on whether the

30:30 ↗ city should enter into an agreement to

30:32 ↗ fund a Metro Flex expansion into

30:34 ↗ Issaquah very much great thanks John

30:36 ↗ great presentation thank you Meredith I

30:39 ↗ know there must be questions

30:42 ↗ Deputy council president do you want to

30:43 ↗ go sure I have one question I had most

30:45 ↗ of my questions were answered

30:46 ↗ pre-meeting so thank you um but I was

30:48 ↗ actually wondering if Metro

30:50 ↗ um would speak to kind of what's your

30:53 ↗ long-term vision for Metroflex is the

30:55 ↗ idea to continue to grow the program and

30:57 ↗ kind of regionalize it in the area or

30:59 ↗ are you being selective about what

31:01 ↗ communities do you think this program

31:03 ↗ would fit in nicely I'm just wondering

31:06 ↗ what your thoughts are kind of long term

31:09 ↗ foreign

31:14 ↗ yeah thanks sir that's a great question

31:17 ↗ um right now we're it's really twofold

31:20 ↗ um we're in a big learning phase like

31:21 ↗ Meredith mentioned we learn different

31:23 ↗ things in different service areas and

31:25 ↗ that really helps us

31:27 ↗ um actually make little changes um as we

31:29 ↗ need to to like help the service perform

31:30 ↗ better so a lot of it is still

31:32 ↗ continuing to learn while at the same

31:34 ↗ time having a consistent brand that's

31:36 ↗ out there that people can count on and

31:38 ↗ understand in our service guidelines we

31:41 ↗ also have kind of priorities for where

31:43 ↗ we believe that these Services make

31:45 ↗ sense

31:46 ↗ um and so you can check that out but

31:48 ↗ basically they include looking at Equity

31:50 ↗ looking at increasing access to jobs and

31:53 ↗ Community assets and making sure that

31:56 ↗ we're hitting the kind of the right

31:58 ↗ density so while Meredith mentioned that

32:01 ↗ there's a big range

32:03 ↗ um there there's it could be problematic

32:05 ↗ to go to a very rural area

32:07 ↗ um because it would be very spread out

32:09 ↗ and and then similarly in a very dense

32:11 ↗ area you have a lot of Transit mixed

32:14 ↗ route Transit works really well in many

32:16 ↗ places that are very dense so that's

32:19 ↗ kind of the um what we look at as how to

32:21 ↗ prioritize these Services right now

32:24 ↗ oh and of course Partnerships is another

32:26 ↗ priority thing so looking for people who

32:28 ↗ are interested in working with us and

32:30 ↗ this is a good example of that

32:37 ↗ oh I have a couple

32:38 ↗ um and you mentioned that you there is a

32:41 ↗ a vendor that's providing the service

32:43 ↗ and I was just curious who they were and

32:46 ↗ if they provide similar services in in

32:49 ↗ other locations and where those might be

32:57 ↗ um name and they do they provide similar

32:59 ↗ Services well they over the original

33:01 ↗ vendor that was providing our on-demand

33:03 ↗ services in Tukwila and Othello

33:06 ↗ and several of the other service areas

33:09 ↗ but they do also provide similar

33:11 ↗ on-demand services in other locations

33:13 ↗ across the country

33:15 ↗ um

33:16 ↗ don't know exactly which cities they you

33:19 ↗ know I I did not

33:20 ↗ no I do know they they do but I'm not

33:22 ↗ sure where yeah we can we can follow up

33:24 ↗ with the information yeah I'm not sure

33:26 ↗ that that's that we need that for now

33:28 ↗ but it would be it would be interesting

33:29 ↗ to know where they

33:31 ↗ are providing services and kind of what

33:33 ↗ their experience has been in some other

33:35 ↗ locations too just to give us a richer

33:37 ↗ sample set of the effectiveness of the

33:39 ↗ program but my other question deals with

33:41 ↗ them are the vehicles and The Operators

33:45 ↗ Metro employees or via employees

33:49 ↗ uh there via employees okay and Via owns

33:52 ↗ the vehicles yeah

33:54 ↗ interesting

33:56 ↗ um

33:58 ↗ so I have this really bizarre question

34:00 ↗ um which is what happens if I'm using

34:03 ↗ the service

34:04 ↗ and I enter a either a beginning

34:06 ↗ destination or an ending destination

34:08 ↗ that is outside of the service area

34:11 ↗ do we go to the service area border do

34:13 ↗ we just not uh respond

34:17 ↗ um I believe in the app if you tried to

34:19 ↗ do that you would get an error message

34:20 ↗ you have to start and end the ride area

34:28 ↗ and then the hours of service

34:30 ↗ that we would do would be identical to

34:33 ↗ what Sammamish is doing so it would be

34:34 ↗ an integrated hole it wouldn't be two

34:37 ↗ things

34:39 ↗ um

34:43 ↗ I think that that is all I had

34:49 ↗ okay I think we're good for now um we'll

34:52 ↗ open it up for a nice job I will open up

34:54 ↗ for any additional public comment if

34:56 ↗ there's anybody online who would like to

34:58 ↗ speak at this time we'd love to hear

35:00 ↗ from you

35:03 ↗ pause for a second

35:08 ↗ okay ready I don't see any virtual hands

35:11 ↗ raised among our uh online attendees at

35:14 ↗ this time I will scan the room to look

35:16 ↗ for real hands raised and I don't see

35:17 ↗ any there so we'll we'll move on to uh

35:21 ↗ comments and guidance and deliberation

35:24 ↗ um

35:26 ↗ if you want to start us off you I know

35:28 ↗ you've got strong feelings yeah

35:30 ↗ yeah I'll I'm happy to to start so so I

35:34 ↗ wanted to appreciate first of all uh the

35:37 ↗ history that John provided for us and

35:40 ↗ um and I think if we think about uh all

35:45 ↗ of the planning that we've done we've

35:46 ↗ got a comprehensive plan and a strategic

35:48 ↗ plan and a master Mobility plan and a

35:50 ↗ climate action plan and in each one of

35:53 ↗ those increased Transit and increased

35:56 ↗ Transit choices are part of the planning

35:59 ↗ that we've been doing for a long time so

36:01 ↗ and in addition to that I wanted to also

36:04 ↗ acknowledge and I I think John touched

36:06 ↗ on this that um

36:08 ↗ that the Talis and squawk areas are we

36:11 ↗ do have two uh priority populations in

36:14 ↗ the Issaquah area and this proposed

36:18 ↗ route or service would

36:21 ↗ um be an excellent uh thing to have

36:25 ↗ available for those priority populations

36:27 ↗ and especially for our senior citizens

36:29 ↗ our low-income housing residents we've

36:33 ↗ got a lot of immigrants and I was really

36:35 ↗ pleased to hear that there's a

36:36 ↗ translation service available and for a

36:39 ↗ disabled individuals in Issaquah all of

36:41 ↗ those people really need transit

36:44 ↗ services and and we've had not enough

36:46 ↗ available for them

36:48 ↗ so

36:49 ↗ um I think that the service

36:52 ↗ by expanding it from Sammamish and I'm

36:55 ↗ really glad to hear that we've heard for

36:58 ↗ years people why don't we have a Transit

37:00 ↗ why don't we have a bus that goes to

37:01 ↗ Sammamish and so now they will be able

37:04 ↗ to have that opportunity

37:07 ↗ um and then the area that we're looking

37:10 ↗ at for the Issaquah part of that

37:13 ↗ expansion is much bigger than I think we

37:16 ↗ envisioned originally when we first

37:18 ↗ started talking to Metro about this it

37:19 ↗ was really a kind of a back and forth to

37:21 ↗ the transit center this is much much

37:24 ↗ more a desirable service proposal so I

37:29 ↗ know that the transportation Advisory

37:31 ↗ Board was very concerned about the cost

37:33 ↗ and um uh it is kind of shocking

37:36 ↗ sometimes Brian knows

37:39 ↗ the transit service is expensive it is

37:41 ↗ expensive and uh thank you for the

37:44 ↗ breakdown that you gave it most of it

37:46 ↗ goes to uh the right or to the the bus

37:48 ↗ driver and to the

37:51 ↗ um Personnel that we're hiring and

37:53 ↗ that's a hard cost to get around and so

37:57 ↗ uh that 262 000 I know it seems to be a

38:01 ↗ large number but on the other hand we

38:03 ↗ are going to have access to uh buses and

38:06 ↗ a bus system that's already in place

38:08 ↗ that will give us access to a much much

38:10 ↗ wider area of service so I feel like

38:13 ↗ we're making a very appropriate

38:16 ↗ investment in that uh and finally

38:20 ↗ um I I just want to say that I am so

38:22 ↗ pleased and Brian and and Meredith thank

38:25 ↗ you so much for uh coming forward with

38:27 ↗ this proposal and for us being the first

38:30 ↗ that is really exciting and I think that

38:32 ↗ is uh we want to commend John very much

38:35 ↗ for the

38:37 ↗ um discussions that you've been having

38:38 ↗ for Metro uh with Metro for quite some

38:41 ↗ time uh I personally agree with the tab

38:44 ↗ members who are concerned that if we uh

38:48 ↗ pass this opportunity up we may not be

38:51 ↗ getting another opportunity for a long

38:53 ↗ long time Metro certainly does not lack

38:55 ↗ for people for communities that want the

38:58 ↗ service so uh I think that we have a

39:02 ↗ proposal on the table it's something

39:03 ↗ we've been asking for for a long time

39:06 ↗ it's not only us as a council that's

39:09 ↗ been asking our community very obviously

39:11 ↗ has been asking over and over and over

39:13 ↗ again latest Community survey but was

39:17 ↗ one of the top things things that they

39:18 ↗ wanted better Transit connections it

39:21 ↗ always ends up there at the top of that

39:23 ↗ Community survey so we've heard it over

39:25 ↗ and over again so I will be supporting

39:29 ↗ giving a not a red light a green light a

39:34 ↗ green light to this product you're right

39:36 ↗ exactly the green light to this pilot

39:39 ↗ project because I think and again it

39:42 ↗ fits not only into what we've been

39:44 ↗ asking for a long time but it also fits

39:46 ↗ into our long-range plans for future

39:48 ↗ Transit growth so I can see it being

39:51 ↗ part eventually of a robust transit

39:54 ↗ system here in Issaquah so all together

39:57 ↗ I just don't see any downsides I think

40:00 ↗ this is an excellent proposal and thanks

40:02 ↗ to everybody who's put it together

40:04 ↗ that's it

40:06 ↗ great thank you councilmember D Michelle

40:07 ↗ Deputy president yes please yeah I'll

40:10 ↗ come in next

40:11 ↗ um well um first just to Echo

40:14 ↗ councilmember D Michelle definitely want

40:16 ↗ to thank staff for their determination

40:17 ↗ over the years keeping this a priority

40:20 ↗ for the city for a transportation

40:22 ↗ Advisory board for their engagement

40:23 ↗ Connection in this work ever since it

40:25 ↗ started

40:26 ↗ um for Metro for coming back to the

40:28 ↗ table

40:29 ↗ um for your partnership with the city

40:31 ↗ thank you for being willing and

40:33 ↗ available to work with us so appreciate

40:34 ↗ it you know this has been a priority of

40:36 ↗ the council the administration Tab and

40:38 ↗ the community for for a very long time

40:40 ↗ continues to show up and

40:42 ↗ Community surveys even at one of our

40:45 ↗ most recent listening sessions in Talus

40:47 ↗ it came up several times from Taos

40:49 ↗ residents who feel stranded up there

40:52 ↗ um

40:54 ↗ as uh staff has pointed out traffic

40:57 ↗ slightly to worsen in the next couple of

41:00 ↗ years due to was dot projects like

41:02 ↗ culverts and sr18 so this could be a

41:06 ↗ solution for some I see very similar in

41:07 ↗ my mind to the electric scooter pilot

41:10 ↗ program thinking of how can we solve The

41:11 ↗ Last Mile first mile problem for some

41:13 ↗ people

41:14 ↗ um

41:15 ↗ I definitely understand and want to

41:18 ↗ acknowledge the questions and concerns

41:20 ↗ that were brought up at the

41:21 ↗ transportation Advisory Board around

41:22 ↗ cost around data around what success

41:25 ↗ looks like I think this Council has

41:28 ↗ demonstrated that it's very receptive to

41:31 ↗ funding pilot projects and pilot

41:33 ↗ programs in the city and this is

41:36 ↗ definitely I would

41:37 ↗ categorize as a pilot project even

41:39 ↗ though it's not written in the title I

41:41 ↗ actually wonder if when it comes back to

41:42 ↗ the full Council we can include pilot in

41:45 ↗ the title or something like that

41:46 ↗ but um yeah we like pilot projects uh

41:49 ↗ especially when they're aligned with our

41:51 ↗ goals with supporting Equity when the

41:53 ↗ market isn't that isn't responding to a

41:55 ↗ need and we have honestly a pretty

41:58 ↗ decent track record in investing in

42:00 ↗ Pilot programs that end up working

42:01 ↗ really well here in Issaquah looking at

42:03 ↗ homelessness Outreach Behavioral Health

42:05 ↗ and crisis response emergency housing

42:09 ↗ which is just getting off the ground now

42:12 ↗ um and I also think it's notable that

42:13 ↗ Metro is contributing nearly two and a

42:16 ↗ half times more than than the city would

42:17 ↗ too

42:19 ↗ um you know thinking about some of the

42:21 ↗ Sammamish data too I'm feeling pretty

42:22 ↗ certain that that Sammamish model is a

42:24 ↗ good Baseline for Success here in Isco I

42:26 ↗ had this conversation with our Deputy

42:28 ↗ City administrator earlier today too

42:30 ↗ um you know our data I think should

42:32 ↗ probably

42:33 ↗ report at least what Sammamish is

42:35 ↗ reporting I would imagine it would we

42:37 ↗ would get some more there into me even

42:39 ↗ that Baseline is worth

42:41 ↗ um the cost of piloting this project

42:44 ↗ um the Sammamish data also shows that

42:46 ↗ Riders are you know accessing these

42:47 ↗ Transit hubs and other important needs

42:49 ↗ like grocery stores schools

42:52 ↗ um uh and as we heard in Sammamish the

42:55 ↗ program's growing too our ridership is

42:56 ↗ growing too which is fantastic so we

42:58 ↗ know that it'll be used well or we have

43:00 ↗ a good comparable to say it'll probably

43:01 ↗ be used while here in Issaquah there's

43:03 ↗ always a risk with pilot programs right

43:05 ↗ and we just have to decide whether this

43:06 ↗ risk is worth it

43:09 ↗ um but you know as tab pointed out to uh

43:12 ↗ we do need to take performance monitor

43:13 ↗ monitoring and performance eval very

43:16 ↗ seriously

43:17 ↗ um it's an important element of the

43:19 ↗ agreement getting the data for us to do

43:21 ↗ that work and we'll have access to that

43:22 ↗ data um and I also do think that it

43:24 ↗ would be

43:25 ↗ um it would behoove us also to compare

43:28 ↗ with Marketplace metrics like those of

43:30 ↗ uber and Lyft and say okay cost per

43:32 ↗ writer at the end of this what are we

43:34 ↗ looking at is it is it a lot more

43:36 ↗ expensive is it on par is it less I

43:39 ↗ think that would be a good data point

43:40 ↗ for us to review

43:42 ↗ um I think also just zooming out this is

43:44 ↗ a good opportunity to grow the program

43:46 ↗ and to drive efficiencies from Metro's

43:49 ↗ lenses to and promote greater

43:52 ↗ regionalization and Regional

43:53 ↗ participation you know we're one more

43:55 ↗ service area or adding on to an existing

43:58 ↗ service area

44:00 ↗ um we're actually the first on the

44:01 ↗ expansion list which I agree is very

44:03 ↗ exciting probably because we were

44:05 ↗ sitting there at the door knocking this

44:07 ↗ whole time please

44:09 ↗ um

44:10 ↗ I also think that this is an opportunity

44:12 ↗ to show Metro and the community and

44:16 ↗ cough cough sound transit cough cough

44:18 ↗ that we are serious about Transit here

44:21 ↗ in Issaquah and the community is serious

44:23 ↗ about having options of getting around

44:25 ↗ town that does that aren't single

44:27 ↗ occupancy vehicle trips

44:30 ↗ um and I worry that you know turning

44:32 ↗ back now might close the door in a

44:33 ↗ potential partnership with Metro too

44:35 ↗ um so I think that this is this is our

44:37 ↗ shot to experiment to evaluate outcomes

44:39 ↗ to meet goals to show the community that

44:41 ↗ we hear them

44:43 ↗ um so yeah I think we should move

44:44 ↗ forward with the proposal we have the

44:46 ↗ necessary resources to make it happen

44:49 ↗ um I think what we'd likely get is worth

44:51 ↗ the cost

44:52 ↗ um I want to make sure we capture all

44:54 ↗ the comments and questions and concerns

44:56 ↗ both from tab anything we've heard from

44:58 ↗ the community and then this committee

45:01 ↗ and as it moves up the council and make

45:02 ↗ sure we have that documented for when we

45:04 ↗ start doing performance evaluations we

45:06 ↗ can consider all the comments and

45:07 ↗ concerns that have been brought up

45:09 ↗ already and yeah use that to determine

45:11 ↗ next steps so again thank you to

45:13 ↗ everyone for putting this together and

45:14 ↗ yeah I'm supportive

45:18 ↗ thanks I have a couple of of comments

45:21 ↗ and then some thoughts too one is uh

45:23 ↗ squawk and Talus have uh have had this

45:27 ↗ need for for some time and I live in

45:28 ↗ Dallas and I you know was that uh

45:32 ↗ that person taking up a spot at the park

45:34 ↗ and ride for an awful lot of a lot of

45:36 ↗ days going into downtown so um I liked

45:39 ↗ having an alternative to that I think

45:41 ↗ it's also very interesting the notion

45:43 ↗ that if if I'm a one-car family and the

45:47 ↗ other part of the family has the car

45:48 ↗ then I'm kind of stranded if I'm in some

45:51 ↗ of these places so that's very

45:53 ↗ interesting to me the the idea of

45:56 ↗ tacking on to the existing Sammamish um

45:59 ↗ service area is

46:02 ↗ um

46:03 ↗ is great it provides some economies of

46:05 ↗ scales and clearly more efficient when

46:07 ↗ we talked about uh you know Vans having

46:10 ↗ to come in from another place if we had

46:12 ↗ Peak needs this this will help spread

46:15 ↗ some of that I got to tell you um when I

46:17 ↗ was a Youngster I had a job and I took

46:21 ↗ the bus to my job and it got me to it

46:23 ↗ was literally a mile from my job and um

46:26 ↗ and so I had to uh I had to schlep that

46:29 ↗ last Mile and um I was desperate for a

46:32 ↗ job so I did it but it would have been

46:35 ↗ sure cool to have had an option like

46:37 ↗ this at that time so

46:39 ↗ um I'm kind of feeling some pain in that

46:41 ↗ right now

46:43 ↗ um

46:43 ↗ well the other thing I kind of like and

46:46 ↗ I know the tab talked about was this

46:47 ↗ just a solution for first mile last mile

46:50 ↗ or was this something bigger than that

46:52 ↗ and there was a little bit of angst

46:54 ↗ about it being something bigger than

46:56 ↗ that and I actually think when I looked

46:58 ↗ at the community survey that we did

47:01 ↗ um not only connection to Transit but

47:03 ↗ intra City Mobility was a high priority

47:06 ↗ so it it really does help us address a

47:10 ↗ couple of these um

47:12 ↗ um important goals for the city now on

47:16 ↗ the downside I think we need a more

47:19 ↗ robust and I think uh council members D

47:21 ↗ Michelle and Hall spoke to this

47:24 ↗ um we needed a more robust set of

47:26 ↗ success criteria and measurements

47:29 ↗ um so when it comes back to full Council

47:31 ↗ for next steps something with the three

47:35 ↗ Metro ones of equity productivity and

47:37 ↗ efficiency all super important but I

47:39 ↗ would really like to see is to have some

47:40 ↗ more data

47:42 ↗ for instance

47:45 ↗ um you know we're really not reducing

47:47 ↗ the number of single occupancy Vehicles

47:49 ↗ we're just because the driver is there

47:51 ↗ still a single occupancy so I'd like to

47:53 ↗ see some data on on how much ride

47:54 ↗ sharing we can do so that if I'm picking

47:57 ↗ up two people on the route that's where

47:59 ↗ we start to see bang for buck as opposed

48:01 ↗ to I'm just Uber light

48:05 ↗ um so I would like to see some uh

48:08 ↗ additional criteria what we think is

48:09 ↗ really important and how we would

48:11 ↗ measure that

48:13 ↗ um so all in all the cost is steep but

48:17 ↗ um you know I think that

48:20 ↗ from a and Deputy council president said

48:23 ↗ this you know if it's a pilot let's

48:25 ↗ let's give it a shot let's see how it

48:26 ↗ goes uh it's a partnership with Metro

48:28 ↗ and we can evaluate whether or not we

48:31 ↗ think we're getting the value from it

48:32 ↗ that we really are hoping

48:36 ↗ um so I think it's the right thing to do

48:40 ↗ um

48:41 ↗ I'm moving forward but I would like you

48:43 ↗ to spend a little time thinking about

48:44 ↗ how else we might measure success on

48:47 ↗ this program and come back with some

48:48 ↗ ideas and I will also spend a little

48:50 ↗ more time thinking about that and give

48:52 ↗ you my thoughts on what success criteria

48:54 ↗ could look like

48:58 ↗ councilmember Michelle I just want to

49:00 ↗ add a little bit more and acknowledge

49:03 ↗ the comments from Katya zakarov

49:07 ↗ um and I do think that

49:10 ↗ um people in Issaquah we've been a while

49:12 ↗ now when we haven't had the route 200

49:15 ↗ and so I think it'll be Communications

49:17 ↗ are going to be really important and I

49:18 ↗ know Metro has a superb Communications

49:21 ↗ Department but I would say I think we

49:24 ↗ could help out help them out by also

49:27 ↗ really advertising what the options are

49:30 ↗ and how to do it and maybe have some

49:33 ↗ workshops or whatever but you know I we

49:36 ↗ won't design a Communications program

49:38 ↗ right here but the idea would be to get

49:40 ↗ people to really understand that it's

49:43 ↗ really pretty easy to book one of these

49:45 ↗ rides and how to do it and how to be

49:48 ↗ comfortable doing it and so forth and

49:50 ↗ maybe address the safety issues that

49:51 ↗ were brought up in that last survey too

49:53 ↗ so anyway I just wanted to acknowledge

49:56 ↗ that yes communication is going to be

49:57 ↗ really really important

50:00 ↗ all right I want to pile on

50:02 ↗ Communications because I was in my notes

50:03 ↗ and I skipped right over the top of it

50:04 ↗ but promoting the service is going to be

50:06 ↗ hugely important if no one knows about

50:09 ↗ it no one will use it and word of mouth

50:11 ↗ isn't going to do it so we when we come

50:13 ↗ back to the next time we see this one

50:15 ↗ having some some more words about how

50:17 ↗ we're going to get the word out if we do

50:19 ↗ it would be really really helpful

50:24 ↗ and another thought and it'll come back

50:26 ↗ to me later and I will get back to you

50:28 ↗ but um

50:30 ↗ thank you help me and talk for a while

50:32 ↗ yeah sure well I just had some thoughts

50:34 ↗ about like maybe we as a committee can

50:38 ↗ take some time and think about

50:41 ↗ how we want

50:43 ↗ success to find so in the contract it

50:46 ↗ talks about the different data

50:50 ↗ that we'd be collecting and like you

50:52 ↗ were talking about

50:54 ↗ you know we don't want to just promote

50:55 ↗ more vehicle and that's totally right

50:58 ↗ and I think one of the data points

51:01 ↗ is percent ride sharing because and

51:04 ↗ Sammamish percent ride sharing was like

51:06 ↗ 71 or something I remember right so do

51:09 ↗ we want to like before before we press

51:13 ↗ go and have the green light we want to

51:15 ↗ set goal for each of these particular

51:17 ↗ data points or do we just want to

51:18 ↗ collect

51:19 ↗ see what we think I'm just curious what

51:22 ↗ the council thinks or the administration

51:24 ↗ that had been kind of or even Metro is

51:27 ↗ that something other communities have

51:28 ↗ done kind of think about like let's set

51:30 ↗ goals going into this and measure

51:32 ↗ success based on those maybe we can

51:33 ↗ start with Andrew

51:37 ↗ they can jump

51:39 ↗ thank you great questions and I also

51:42 ↗ appreciate Council brainstorming other

51:44 ↗ ideas that you would like to see for

51:46 ↗ performance measurement

51:48 ↗ um one of the the things that I think we

51:51 ↗ can add to that list that would be

51:53 ↗ helpful is understanding where the

51:56 ↗ boardings occur so this is data that

51:58 ↗ Metro can pull you saw an example of

52:00 ↗ that data for Sammamish and number one

52:04 ↗ uh location was the park and ride so

52:08 ↗ that lets us know that people are not

52:10 ↗ driving to the park and ride for example

52:13 ↗ that encourages use of the transit

52:16 ↗ connections from our Transit centers and

52:19 ↗ so I think that data would be helpful

52:21 ↗ for City purposes as well in terms of

52:24 ↗ getting out education I always I also

52:26 ↗ thought it was particularly interesting

52:28 ↗ that the number three

52:30 ↗ um location was Beaver Lake Middle

52:32 ↗ School so that may help us in our

52:34 ↗ efforts in terms of where we can provide

52:37 ↗ these educational campaigns and that

52:39 ↗ type of Outreach

52:40 ↗ um but in terms of reducing sov trips

52:43 ↗ and that goal we have a couple of ways

52:46 ↗ that getting at this data not all of it

52:49 ↗ can be done through what Metro naturally

52:51 ↗ collects with the service and so some of

52:54 ↗ it includes the regular surveying that

52:57 ↗ we do as we track this metric of sov

52:59 ↗ trips and so part of that is

53:02 ↗ other performance data that we track and

53:05 ↗ we can see does this move the needle are

53:06 ↗ we seeing differences in our Rideshare

53:09 ↗ modes across the city as we get

53:13 ↗ more data from our own data collection

53:16 ↗ efforts and psrc as well so there's

53:18 ↗ other ways to track some of this data

53:20 ↗ than what Metro can necessarily directly

53:22 ↗ provide but certainly even things like

53:24 ↗ destinations or the locations of the

53:26 ↗ boardings I think is something that is

53:28 ↗ useful and that Metro can provide for us

53:31 ↗ we may want to add that to the contract

53:33 ↗ other ideas I would look to Metro for to

53:37 ↗ help us track

53:40 ↗ um

53:41 ↗ sov trips or mode share if they can if

53:45 ↗ they're naturally collecting this data

53:46 ↗ it would be good to find out what other

53:48 ↗ type of data they can provide us that we

53:51 ↗ can use

53:59 ↗ Brian or Meredith do you have other

54:01 ↗ thoughts on data that Metro already

54:03 ↗ collects but that can provide with the

54:07 ↗ service well you mentioned the um the

54:10 ↗ shared ride percentage so that's

54:12 ↗ something we track across all the areas

54:14 ↗ um another sustainability measure that

54:16 ↗ we have for all areas is passenger miles

54:19 ↗ of vehicle miles that's a that's a it's

54:22 ↗ a metric that we work to make sure like

54:25 ↗ we have as many uh passenger miles per

54:28 ↗ vehicle Mile right as we can

54:31 ↗ um and I think also like rides per hour

54:34 ↗ is showing that you're carrying more

54:35 ↗ people in a vehicle so that's in a way

54:37 ↗ even though it's like how productive is

54:39 ↗ the vehicle being used it's also like

54:41 ↗ are you carrying a lot of people when

54:43 ↗ when a vehicle is driving around for an

54:45 ↗ hour so like that's kind of a measure

54:47 ↗ although not as closely as though so

54:48 ↗ those are three measures that we use and

54:50 ↗ you mentioned one of them uh so yeah

54:57 ↗ so

54:59 ↗ um I have one question then I have a

55:01 ↗ comment for you

55:03 ↗ um what's the funding source so it's a

55:04 ↗ half a million dollars over uh biennium

55:06 ↗ have we identified where we think that

55:08 ↗ would come from

55:10 ↗ uh we are it would come from a general

55:14 ↗ fund Revenue source so we don't have any

55:17 ↗ other specified Revenue sources at this

55:19 ↗ time it is something that we are trying

55:21 ↗ to identify

55:23 ↗ um it also potentially could be

55:27 ↗ something that would be funded by a

55:29 ↗ transportation benefit District Revenue

55:32 ↗ Source uh so as we discuss more uh about

55:37 ↗ the TBD and as we get our Revenue

55:41 ↗ projections and discuss the mid biennium

55:43 ↗ budget adjustments

55:45 ↗ um

55:46 ↗ should

55:47 ↗ this committee approve for further

55:49 ↗ consideration of this contract then I

55:52 ↗ think we would have to take a look at

55:54 ↗ those potential Revenue sources and

55:55 ↗ identify where this would come from the

55:58 ↗ contract as it is right now the proposed

56:01 ↗ contract would have service beginning in

56:03 ↗ the fall which would mean a one quarter

56:07 ↗ essentially of of invoicing and payments

56:10 ↗ that we would need to identify for the

56:12 ↗ 2023 year otherwise we have a little bit

56:16 ↗ of time to identify where else we could

56:17 ↗ get the revenue from to pay for the

56:19 ↗ service for 2024 and the rest of the

56:22 ↗ contract

56:24 ↗ thank you

56:28 ↗ I have a couple thoughts on the the

56:30 ↗ measurements and I haven't done this and

56:32 ↗ I probably should have but we should go

56:34 ↗ back to the Strategic plan and the goals

56:37 ↗ and outcomes in this land particularly

56:38 ↗ around around mobility and use those as

56:41 ↗ a an anchor for the measurements we want

56:45 ↗ to have so if we're talking about

56:46 ↗ reducing singulakis and trips we should

56:49 ↗ measure that we're talking about

56:51 ↗ expanding Transit we should talk about

56:54 ↗ the number of people we're taking to

56:55 ↗ Transit locations so anchor our metrics

56:59 ↗ back into our into the Strategic plan

57:02 ↗ outcomes that we identified so it gives

57:04 ↗ us a kind of a traceability from here

57:08 ↗ where our you know our high level goals

57:10 ↗ here are our objectives and here's the

57:12 ↗ metrics that show whether or not or to

57:14 ↗ what degree this investment this pilot

57:17 ↗ is supporting those

57:18 ↗ those out

57:21 ↗ which would fit with our

57:24 ↗ um dashboard it could be something we

57:27 ↗ could report to the public as part of

57:29 ↗ the reporting we already do on the

57:31 ↗ Strategic plan

57:33 ↗ and I would just offer yes great and

57:37 ↗ that's something that we can uh more

57:39 ↗ information we can bring back for the

57:41 ↗ next council meeting and consideration

57:43 ↗ of this topic

57:44 ↗ um I would also state that some of these

57:46 ↗ things are performance measures and some

57:49 ↗ of them are outcome related right and so

57:52 ↗ outcomes being a little bit longer term

57:55 ↗ we collect that data a little

57:56 ↗ differently and so we have in the

57:59 ↗ contract what performance data we can

58:01 ↗ get from Metro that would be reported on

58:02 ↗ a quarterly basis but some of these

58:05 ↗ things like overall change in percentage

58:08 ↗ of mode share are more outcome and

58:11 ↗ longer terms so we would maybe track

58:13 ↗ that on a different schedule an annual

58:15 ↗ schedule we would update it for example

58:17 ↗ versus a quarterly schedule of

58:20 ↗ performance metrics that Metro has and

58:23 ↗ so

58:24 ↗ um just wanted to note that some of

58:25 ↗ these things we already track and report

58:27 ↗ in our dashboard like mode share like uh

58:32 ↗ you know reduction in

58:34 ↗ um sov trips or VMT so

58:37 ↗ um so this uh some of the data that we

58:41 ↗ would want to look at is kind of

58:42 ↗ overlapping with what we would

58:44 ↗ um already collect in some instances

58:48 ↗ yes

58:50 ↗ and

58:52 ↗ um I think that there are some proxies

58:54 ↗ out there that we can use to say I think

58:57 ↗ if we see success in this proxy measure

58:59 ↗ we would also move the measures say in

59:01 ↗ in share of single action Vehicles even

59:04 ↗ though it may not reflect itself in any

59:07 ↗ meaningful way in the short term I think

59:10 ↗ there are some things that we can look

59:11 ↗ at as performance measures that we can

59:13 ↗ collect that can be indicators that we

59:17 ↗ are moving some of our more

59:20 ↗ Global outcome measures

59:24 ↗ yeah no I'm loving this conversation so

59:27 ↗ do you think this can be detailed

59:30 ↗ um more in the memo before the next

59:31 ↗ Council touch just so everyone all the

59:33 ↗ other

59:34 ↗ long for the ride in that and then is

59:36 ↗ the idea that we would have identified a

59:38 ↗ funding source by that next touch

59:41 ↗ yes

59:44 ↗ and when are we thinking we would want

59:46 ↗ to bring this back

59:48 ↗ it is uh we would anticipate bringing it

59:51 ↗ back for that first regular city council

59:53 ↗ meeting in August I believe the date is

59:54 ↗ August 7th

59:58 ↗ so between then we have a couple of

1:00:01 ↗ conversations scheduled with city

1:00:02 ↗ council including next week we have a

1:00:04 ↗ conversation on a transportation benefit

1:00:07 ↗ District we also have a conversation

1:00:10 ↗ coming up on July 24th about

1:00:13 ↗ um follow-up from that April Retreat on

1:00:16 ↗ what types of things Council would like

1:00:17 ↗ to prioritize for the mid biennium

1:00:19 ↗ budget adjustment so those two

1:00:21 ↗ conversations we anticipate before the

1:00:24 ↗ August 7th meeting

1:00:28 ↗ anything else

1:00:32 ↗ um last thing too just on behalf of the

1:00:34 ↗ hopefully on behalf of the committee I

1:00:36 ↗ was John I was wondering if you could

1:00:37 ↗ communicate back to tab too and just let

1:00:39 ↗ them know I mean we always feel

1:00:41 ↗ uncomfortable going against the

1:00:42 ↗ recommendation of our community boards

1:00:44 ↗ and commissions but I think uh you know

1:00:47 ↗ the council were very receptive like I

1:00:49 ↗ said to pilot projects and we think that

1:00:51 ↗ this cost is worth the potential outcome

1:00:54 ↗ and I'm hoping this can be communicated

1:00:56 ↗ back

1:00:57 ↗ to tab that we really appreciate their

1:00:59 ↗ feedback and it's going to be you know

1:01:01 ↗ included in the performance eval and how

1:01:03 ↗ we track success and if all that could

1:01:05 ↗ just

1:01:07 ↗ foreign yeah as a as the new liaison to

1:01:11 ↗ tab I've made that a top priority I have

1:01:13 ↗ a spreadsheet

1:01:14 ↗ um so I will I've already communicated

1:01:16 ↗ that we were coming here which Dave is

1:01:18 ↗ here tonight

1:01:20 ↗ um and we will continue to let them know

1:01:23 ↗ about uh discussions and outcomes

1:01:28 ↗ yeah I just wanted to add that uh you

1:01:30 ↗ know they uh they raised some very good

1:01:32 ↗ questions and I don't uh I think we got

1:01:35 ↗ some better data tonight in a better

1:01:37 ↗ understanding of the project through the

1:01:39 ↗ questions that were raised so I also

1:01:42 ↗ want to thank the transportation

1:01:43 ↗ Advisory board for their discussion and

1:01:45 ↗ for the questions that they raised it is

1:01:48 ↗ always good to be able to answer you

1:01:50 ↗ know everything that people are

1:01:52 ↗ concerned about so so

1:01:54 ↗ um and as we go forward love to have

1:01:56 ↗ their additional input so thanks and

1:01:59 ↗ thanks to Dave for being here tonight

1:02:02 ↗ anything else

1:02:05 ↗ my computer just restarted itself um do

1:02:08 ↗ we have a good of the order on the

1:02:09 ↗ agenda

1:02:11 ↗ uh announcements charity announcements

1:02:14 ↗ any announcements from the committee

1:02:18 ↗ yes the regional transit committee is

1:02:20 ↗ going to have a really interesting

1:02:21 ↗ meeting this month we're going to the

1:02:23 ↗ South Base to a tour the electrification

1:02:28 ↗ of the fleet so it's going to be a

1:02:32 ↗ really interesting and it's an in-person

1:02:34 ↗ meeting no video you have to be there or

1:02:37 ↗ not and so where you know walking shoes

1:02:40 ↗ so I'm really looking forward to it it's

1:02:42 ↗ going to be a good experience so anyway

1:02:44 ↗ and I'll be happy to report back what we

1:02:47 ↗ find out but I think it's going to be a

1:02:49 ↗ really great look at Metro's efforts to

1:02:52 ↗ begin the electrification of the of the

1:02:55 ↗ fleet so be great very exciting we want

1:02:58 ↗ to hear back from you

1:02:59 ↗ all right any other announcements

1:03:02 ↗ all right now for their business we

1:03:04 ↗ returned at oh 7 34.

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (3)

Chris Reh

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Staff (2)

Andrea Snyder, Deputy City Administrator

Chris Grabowski, Deputy City Clerk

Recommendations & actions (2)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

The minutes as presented were approved by unanimous consent.
The committee recommended forwarding the item to the full Council at its August 7 regular meeting.