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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 01- Bike Share expansion AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 2/26/2024 Meeting Type: Work Session Staff Contact/Dept.: Drew Larson/DPW Staff Phone No: 541-726-3661 Estimated Time: 30 Minutes S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Promote and Enhance our Hometown Feel while Focusing on Livability and Environmental Quality ITEM TITLE: REVISED BIKE SHARE PROPOSAL ACTION REQUESTED: Discuss PeaceHealth Rides bike share program and its potential to expand into Springfield’s downtown area and direct staff to sign an agreement with Cascadia Mobility to operate PeaceHealth Rides in downtown Springfield. ISSUE STATEMENT: City Council discussed expanding bike share in Springfield on 2/6/2023. While Council was interested in exploring bike share expansion in Springfield, Council had concerns with the proposal and requested staff return with a proposal with a reduced number of bicycles and boundary area and information regarding: • Dedicated funding source and Springfield’s ongoing financial responsibility • Ongoing maintenance of Bike Share specific infrastructure. Other Considerations that Council may take into account: • Climate Friendly and Equitable Community (CFEC) implications • Metrics of success ATTACHMENTS: 1: Council Briefing Memo 2: Proposed Downtown System Map DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL IMPACT: Since the February 2023 work session, staff has worked with regional partners including the City of Eugene, Lane Transit District (LTD), and Cascadia Mobility (PeaceHealth Rides operator) to address City Council’s desires for more information in exploring bike share expansion into the City of Springfield. City staff will answer questions raised by Council in the February 2023 work session and present a refined bike share expansion proposal for discussion. See Council Briefing Memo (Attachment 1) for more information. City staff requests City Council to approve $16,558 to cover the City’s portion of the proposed bike share expansion into the City of Springfield for one year of operation. Staff has identified existing cost savings within the existing Transportation Planning Budget that will cover the one-time contribution for the 2024/25 operating year. This amount is only 5.55% of the cost of the total deployed fleet. Cascadia Mobility and LTD will also be available to answer additional questions. M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield Date: 2/26/2024 To: Nancy Newton, City Manager COUNCIL From: Jeff Paschall, Community Development Director Drew Larson, Senior Transportation Planner BRIEFING Subject: REVISED BIKE SHARE PROPOSAL MEMORANDUM ISSUE STATEMENT: City Council discussed expanding bike share in Springfield on 2/6/2023. While Council was interested in exploring bike share expansion in Springfield, Council had concerns with the proposal and requested staff return with a proposal with a reduced number of bicycles and boundary are and information regarding: • Dedicated funding source and Springfield’s ongoing financial responsibility • Ongoing maintenance of Bike Share specific infrastructure. Other Considerations that Council may take into account: • Climate Friendly and Equitable Community (CFEC) implications • Metrics of success COUNCIL GOALS/ MANDATE: Promote and Enhance our Hometown Feel While Focusing on Livability and Environmental Quality BACKGROUND: February 6, 2023, Work Session: Staff gave a presentation to City Council regarding a proposed expansion of PeaceHealth Rides bicycle share program into the City of Springfield. The proposal was to implement a 3-year pilot program with 100 bicycles with approximately 16 hubs located in, and nearby, the Downtown core; I-5 to 14th/Mohawk and Centennial to South ‘A’ Street. City Council had concerns regarding the size of the proposal, questioning if Springfield was ready for such a large expansion. In addition, a dedicated funding source had yet to be identified and City Council was concerned with the City’s on-going financial contribution. Since the 2023 Work Session, Springfield transportation planning staff has worked with the City of Eugene, Cascadia Mobility, Lane Transit District, and other regional partners to refine the proposal and find a dedicated funding source for a bike share expansion into the City of Springfield. Existing Bike Share in Eugene-Springfield: Currently the City of Eugene owns 350 bicycles that comprise the PeaceHealth Rides bike share system. The City of Eugene contracts with regional nonprofit Cascadia Mobility to operate the system which are primarily located in Eugene in the University of Oregon, Downtown, Attachment 1 Page 1 of 5 MEMORANDUM 2/22/2024 Page 2 Whiteaker, and South Eugene neighborhoods. However, there are existing stations at Riverbend Hospital in Springfield, as PeaceHealth is the title sponsor of the system. Dedicated Funding Source: At the February 2023 Work Session, City Council was concerned with an ongoing dedicated funding source for the bike share and its operational costs. Specifically, Springfield City Council was concerned about using city funds in perpetuity to fund the program and that funding bike share may take city funding from other priority projects or program. Staff has been working to locate a dedicated funding source and alleviate Springfield’s responsibility. The Lane Transit District (LTD) has signaled that they intend to play a larger role in funding, operations, and planning for regional mobility including bike share. LTD is currently conducting a planning effort, Reimagine the Ride, which is reimagining a transportation system that is more connected, sustainable, innovative, and equitable; this planning process will be completed in 2025. Based on Council’s concerns regarding the City of Springfield’s ongoing financial responsibility, staff met with LTD planners and asked if funding could be identified to cover Springfield’s contribution to the program. Staff confirmed with LTD that if Springfield Council is supportive of funding an initial pilot year that Reimagine the Ride would support a regional Bike Share program and that funding could be identified to alleviate Springfield from any ongoing financial responsibility. Funding provided by LTD must be approved by LTD's Board of Directors prior to any firm commitment. Current Planned Bike Share Expansion & Immediate Funding: The City of Eugene is working with Cascadia Mobility to expand the existing bike share system this spring. Eugene has procured $100,000 to refurbish 100 bicycles to be added to the fleet and an additional $600,000 in regional funds from the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for multi-year operational costs of the system. At a regional shared mobility meeting, it was proposed that these regional funds could be used to serve Springfield as well as the City of Eugene. Eugene staff agreed that the proposed expansion may include portions of Springfield pending City Council’s approval and the City of Springfield paying its share (see refined proposal below). Based on current projections, the $600,000 will provide funding for the expanded system for three years that will allow enough time for LTD and other regional partners to refine the long-term funding for the bike share program. Refined Proposal: Springfield transportation planning staff has been working this past year to refine the proposal so that it aligns with City Council’s desires to reduce the service area and number of bicycles deployed in Springfield and eliminates any bike share hub specific infrastructure. Staff is proposing to reduce the previously proposed service area to incorporate just downtown Springfield (Attachment 2) - Island Park to 7th Street and West ‘D’ Street to Booth Kelly Trailhead. Bicyclists would be able to connect Springfield with the University of Oregon and Eugene. Bike share GPS data shows approximately 50 – 75 trips through downtown Springfield during peak bicycle riding months. However, due to the constraints of the existing system, these users are penalized $25.00 if they end a trip outside the existing service area. The expansion would allow these trips to stop in downtown Springfield to visit local shops and restaurants and then continue back to their origin without a penalty. The proposal does not include any new bike share hub specific infrastructure and will only utilize existing bicycle racks in Island Park and the downtown area. City Council was Attachment 1 Page 2 of 5 MEMORANDUM 2/22/2024 Page 3 specifically concerned that bike share hub specific infrastructure would add to Operations’ on- going responsibilities. The plan to utilize existing bicycle parking infrastructure alleviates any added maintenance or bike-hub removal responsibilities of Operations’ staff. The planned regional bike share expansion will see 450 total deployed bicycles in the system with 25 of those, or 5.55%, of the fleet designated for the Springfield expansion area. In discussions with Eugene, it was determined that Springfield should contribute to the operational cost of bicycle share program. Springfield and Eugene staff determined the simplest way to calculate cost share was to base the contribution on the number of bicycles deployed in each city. Total Income (sponsorship and revenue) $878,400 Total Operational Cost $1,176,742 Net Operating Income & Costs -$298,342 Eugene’s Contribution w/ Federal Funds (95%) $281,784 Springfield’s Contribution (5.55%) – one-year contribution $16,558 Staff has identified existing cost savings within the existing Transportation Planning Budget that will cover the one-time contribution for the 2024/25 operating year. Climate Friendly and Equitable Community (CFEC) Implications: The expansion of bike share into the City of Springfield meets many of the objectives of Climate Friendly and Equitable Community administrative rules. While bike share is not a specific requirement of the rules, it is an identified strategy in the Central Lane Preferred Scenario Plan that staff is currently working to implement this year. Bike share can help the City meet many of the desired outcomes by reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. OAR 660-012-0180 provides for VMT to be measured across the transportation system, not at an individual project level. Bike share may be one of a collection of projects or strategies used to reduce VMT per capita in Springfield. This reduction may allow for the city to choose a project or projects to be included in the TSP that may increase VMT per capita, resulting overall in no net increase per capita. However, the state has not yet developed the methodology to model or measure project impacts, and implementation at the local level and will depend on many local factors. Metrics of Success: While many studies have been done and metrics established to measure success of a standalone bike share program, staff was unable to identify industry standards for a small 25-bike expansion of an existing system. Staff recommends a three-year pilot expansion of the existing program, giving the community time to acclimate to the system and staff time to fully evaluate the system. The first year of operations would be used to gather data and establish a baseline to measure success. Staff, in consultation of Cascadia Mobility, think that the following will be necessary to establish the program’s success: • Number of trips that begin and end in Springfield; and • Downtown business owner and community feedback surveys Attachment 1 Page 3 of 5 MEMORANDUM 2/22/2024 Page 4 In year two, these baseline numbers are expected to grow and will be tracked and compared to Eugene’s initial launch and growth. In year three, Council will evaluate and discuss the numbers and community feedback to determine if the expansion is a success. Community & Business Engagement 2022/23: City staff launched a community engagement process in fall 2022 in response to Council’s questions and directions from the March 2022 work session. Community engagement included newsletters, social media, posters, flyers, direct mail postcards, in-person surveys, and an online platform to collect information about where community members would like to see bike share operate in Springfield. The input received via the in-person surveys indicated a strong support for bike share, with a preference for bike share operating in, and nearby, the Downtown core. Other neighborhoods that were popular included Gateway/Riverbend, Thurston, Mohawk, and Glenwood. The in- person surveys were conducted at the Library, Downtown LTD Station, Gateway LTD Station, and Willamalane Bob Keefer Center and showed of the 91 people who provided responses to the survey, 76% were familiar with bike share. 86% of the people surveyed indicated they were interested in seeing bike share operate in Springfield. Business outreach focused on the Downtown core. Staff delivered bike share information packets to Downtown businesses and property owners, answering questions, and recording comments. Over ten Downtown business owners, several property owners, and Willamalane chose to sign a letter of support for bike share. Willamalane indicated strong support for bike share, signing a letter of support. Here is a link to the Feb. 6, 2023 Work Session that includes attachment regarding the community outreach and letters of support from downtown businesses. Lastly, staff conducted a second public survey at the Springfield History Museum’s Fright Night event on Oct. 26 & 27th, 2023. Like the initial survey, staff asked 64 people if they were familiar with Eugene’s bike share program (80% yes) and if they were interested in seeing bike share operate in Springfield (95% yes). In addition, staff specifically asked the 64 individuals if they supported allocating public funding for bike share in Springfield (89% yes). The previous community outreach along with the recent survey at Fright Night demonstrates community support for a 3-year pilot expansion into downtown Springfield. Proposal City staff are requesting City Council to approve $16,558, 5.55% cost of the total deployed fleet, to cover the City’s portion of the proposed bike share expansion into the City of Springfield for one year of operation; LTD will fund Springfield’s cost share starting in July 2025 for the remaining two years of the pilot expansion. RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1. Direct staff to work with Cascadia Mobility to expand PeaceHealth Rides into downtown Springfield in 2024 for a three-year pilot expansion. 2. Direct staff to provide $16,558 to fund Springfield’s share for one year of operation. 3. Direct staff to return to City Council during the third year to discuss the future of bike share in the City of Springfield. Attachment 1 Page 4 of 5 MEMORANDUM 2/22/2024 Page 5 Attachment 1 Page 5 of 5 February 26 ,2024 Existing Bicycle Parking/Racks Proposed Bike Share Boundary for Springfield Attachment 2 Page 1 of 1