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GOOD AFTERNOON.WELCOME TO THE CITY COUNCIL B SESSION OF MARCH 6TH, 2019.
COUNCIL MEMBER HALL, COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN WILL NOT BE HERE TODAY.
SHE HAD A PREVIOUS COMMITMENT.
COUNCIL MEMBER BROCK HOUSE COUNCIL MEMBER SAN DEVAL.
COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY AND MAYOR BERG MAYOR, WE DO HAVE A QUORUM.
WELCOME EVERYONE TO OUR CITY COUNCIL B SESSION AGENDA.
WE HAVE TWO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA TODAY.
IT'S TIME IS 2:16 PM I'LL TURN IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER, ERIC WALSH.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL THIS AFTERNOON.
UH, WE'VE GOT TWO ITEMS. THE FIRST ITEM IS A BRIEFING BY VIA AND, UH, DONE BY JEFF, UH, AREN'T.
UM, VIA IS, UH, OBVIOUSLY A VITAL PART OF THE SAN ANTONIO TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND PROVIDES MORE THAN 40 MILLION RIDES PER YEAR THROUGHOUT SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY TO FINANCIALLY ASSIST VIA IN PROVIDING BETTER FREQUENCY AND RELIABILITY FOR RIDERS.
COUNCIL ALLOCATED $4.3 MILLION TO VIA IN FISCAL YEAR 2018.
UM, IN FISCAL YEAR 2019, THE CITY'S ANNUAL ALLOCATION TO VIA WAS INCREASED TO $10 MILLION AS PLANNED, UM, UH, BY THE COUNCIL LAST YEAR.
THIS FUNDING IMPROVED SERVICE ON HIGH DEMAND ROUTES ALONG HEAVILY TRAVELED CORRIDORS, UH, IN MAY OF 2018 VIA, UH, HERE AT B SESSION, UH, UPDATED THE COUNCIL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION, UH, PHASE ONE AND TWO OF THEIR THREE PHASE PLAN, UM, THAT WAS INCLUDED IN OUR FUNDING AGREEMENT.
AND THIS AFTERNOON VIA WILL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE THIRD AND FINAL PHASE, WHICH WAS EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 7TH.
UM, VIA IS A GREAT PARTNER AND, UM, A LOT OF THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, UM, IN CONCERT WITH T C I AND THE CITY COUNCIL AND COUNCILMAN SALDANA, UM, WILL RESULT IN TODAY'S PRESENTATION.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL UH, INTRODUCE JEFF.
OKAY, SO I, FIRST OF ALL, I'LL, I'LL START, UH, START THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, THIS MORNING I WAS AT MADELA TRANSIT CENTER.
UH, WE'VE DONE SOME UPGRADES AND ESPECIALLY SOME GRAPHIC UPGRADES.
AND I WAS REFLECTING THAT IT'S BEEN JUST ABOUT THREE YEARS.
I THINK COUNCILMAN SALANA, IS THAT ABOUT RIGHT? THREE YEARS AGO, THE COUNCILMAN SALANA GAVE UP HIS CAR FOR A MONTH AND RELIED ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO SEE WHAT HIS CONSTITUENTS EXPERIENCED.
AND THE ONE THING WE LEARNED IS GOOGLE MAPS IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT, 'CAUSE RAY WAS WAITING AT A BUS STOP AND HE SAYS THE BUS NEVER CAME THE BUS.
AND WE FOUND OUT THAT GOOGLE MAPS HAD HIM AT THE WRONG LOCATION.
SO WE DID FIND THAT OUT, BUT WE'VE GOT THAT WORKED OUT WITH GOOGLE, I THINK, A LOT BETTER NOW.
UH, BUT IN ANY CASE, HE AND I MET AT MADELA TRANSIT CENTER.
HE RODE HIS BICYCLE AND PUT IT IN THE FRONT OF THE BUS.
AND WE, WE TOOK THE BUS INTO DOWNTOWN TO CITY HALL, AND WE HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES ON VIA.
AND WHAT HE SHARED WITH ME, AND YOU CAN CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT WHAT HE SHARED WITH ME WAS, YOU KNOW, THE BUSES WERE CLEAN, REASONABLY RELIABLE.
THE OPERATORS WERE COURTEOUS, AND SOME OF THEM REALLY FRIENDLY.
BUT, BUT PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAD TO MAKE A TRANSFER TO COMPLETE YOUR TRIP, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE MAKE TRANSFERS THAT IT COULD BECOME VERY DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF FREQUENCY IN SERVICE IN MANY CASES.
SO YOU HAD PEOPLE THAT WOULD, UM, COME INTO THE MEDICAL CENTER, TRANSIT CENTER, FOR EXAMPLE, AND IF THEY JUST MISSED THEIR CONNECTION, THEY'D HAVE AN HOUR TO WAIT UNTIL THAT NEXT BUS CAME, AND THAT THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST ONEROUS ELEMENTS OF THE VIA SYSTEM.
AND SO HE SAID, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THAT? HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE FREQUENCY OF SERVICE? AND I SAID, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, WELL, IT JUST TAKES MONEY, RIGHT,
AND SO COUNCILMAN SALANA BECAME A CHAMPION OF, OF GETTING
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VIA FUNDING SO THAT WE COULD IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF SERVICE ALONG MANY ROUTES WITHIN OUR SYSTEM.AND IT WAS A, IT WAS A SEVERAL YEAR EFFORT.
WE, UM, THE MAYOR TAYLOR CREATED A, A WORKING TASK FORCE AND, UH, COUNCILMAN SIA AND FORMER COUNCILMAN LOPEZ WERE THE, THE CHAIRS OF THAT.
AND THAT GROUP ASKED US, THEY SAID, VIA IF, IF YOU HAD $10 MILLION, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH IT? AND WE PUT TOGETHER A PLAN, BROUGHT IT, BROUGHT IT TO B SESSION, EVENTUALLY CITY COUNCIL, AND IT WAS PASSED.
AND SO, UH, REALLY IT WAS THE PERSEVERANCE OF COUNCILMAN SALDANA AND THE SUPPORT, OBVIOUSLY, OF THE ENTIRE GROUP THAT WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
AND I HAVE, I THINK, NOTHING BUT GOOD NEWS.
SO THESE ARE JUST KIND OF THE GENERAL NUMBERS RELATED TO VIA, UH, I'LL POINT OUT.
WE HAVE 7,200 BUS STOPS, AS YOU KNOW, WE JUST COMPLETED, UH, INSTALLING 1000 NEW SHELTERS ON TOP OF THE 1400 THAT WERE OUT THERE.
AND WE'VE GOTTEN SOME EXCELLENT PRESS.
I DID NOT KNOW THIS, BUT, UH, SAN ANTONIO HAS MORE SHELTERS IN PLACE THAN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES OR HOUSTON OR PITTSBURGH OR DENVER.
UM, AND ACTUALLY THE PERSON WRITING THE ARTICLE SAID, YOU JUST NEED TO COMMIT YOURSELF TO DOING THAT FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS.
AND THAT'S ANOTHER ELEMENT THAT WE THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT.
AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHAT IS VIA, I DON'T SAY IT'S A BA BUS COMPANY, I SAY, WELL, WE PR WE ARE TRANSIT AND TRANSIT TRANSFORMS LIVES.
AND YOU KNOW, AS COUNCILMAN SYA KNOWS FROM RIDING THE BUS, UH, MANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING, TRYING TO GET TO WORK.
AND FACT, 71% OF OUR PASSENGERS ARE USING THE SERVICE FOR WORK TRIPS AND THEN ANOTHER EIGHT OR 9% FOR SCHOOL TRIPS.
SO 80% OF THE PEOPLE ARE EITHER WORK OR SCHOOL, VERY IMPORTANT, UH, TO THEIR LIVES.
OKAY? AND I DID IT THE WRONG WAY.
SO, JUST AS A REFRESHER, THIS IS HOW VIA IS FUNDED.
THE RED ARE THE TWO PIECES OF SALES TAX WE RECEIVE.
WE RECEIVE THE ONE HALF CENT FOR THE M T A AND WE RECEIVE ONE HALF OF THE ONE EIGHTH CENT, OR ONE QUARTER CENT, I'M SORRY, ONE HALF OF THE ONE QUARTER CENT FOR THE ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT.
AND AS YOU KNOW, THE OTHER PIECE OF THE ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT IS SPLIT IN TWO HALF, GOES TO THE CITY AND HALF GOES TO A POT OF MONEY FOR LEVERAGING PROJECTS, PRIMARILY BEAR, BEAR COUNTY AND TDOT WORKING TOGETHER TO, TO, TO LEVERAGE PROJECTS.
UH, THE KIND OF YELLOWISH AREA ARE THE FEDERAL GRANTS, AND THEY, THEY ARE LESS THAN 15%.
SO WHEN WE WERE AT SA TO DC AND TALKING TO, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS, ET CETERA, THEY WERE ALL, WHEN I SAID, YOU KNOW, VIA IS LIKE 87% LOCAL FUNDS.
AND WHEN I SAY LOCAL, I MEAN LOCAL BEAR COUNTY, SAN ANTONIO REGION.
IT'S NOT LIKE WE HAVE A BIG PIECE OF STATE FUNDING, WHICH MANY TRANSIT AUTHORITIES DO.
IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK UP THERE, YOU WON'T SEE ANY STATE FUNDING BECAUSE WE DON'T GET STATE FUNDING.
UH, THE REMAIN REMAINING PORTION ARE THE PASSENGER FAIRES, WHICH ARE ANOTHER FORM OF LOCAL AND SOME MISCELLANEOUS, UH, INCOME.
AND THEN THERE'S THE $10 MILLION COST OF FUNDING, WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE CIRCLE FOR, UM, LAST YEAR FOR, IT WAS 4.3 OR 4.6, AND NOW WE'RE AT 10 MILLION IN NINE IN, UH, 2019.
AND AGAIN, AS A REFRESHER, UH, THIS SHOWS HOW THE STATE FUNDING FOR THE LARGE METROS MTAS FALLS OUT.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, WE GET THE ONE HALF CENT FOR THE M T A AND THE, AND THE ONE EIGHTH CENT FOR THE A T D.
AND THAT GENERATES ABOUT 190, UH, MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
UH, THE, UM, I'M SORRY, HOUSTON AND DALLAS EACH GET A FULL CENT, BUT THEY GET MORE THAN DOUBLE.
THAT GENERATES MORE THAN DOUBLE WHAT WE, WE GENERATE DALLAS, THEY BOTH GENERATE ABOUT 600 MILLION.
SO THREE TIMES, THEY HAVE THREE TIMES THE FUNDING, UH, THROUGH THE SALES TAX THAT WE GET.
THEY ALSO GET HIGHER FUNDING FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THE POT OF MONEY FROM WHICH WE RECEIVE FUNDING, ONE THIRD OF THAT IS ONLY, UM, PROVIDED TO PEOPLE, TO AGENCIES, I'M SORRY, THAT, THAT PROVIDE FIXED GUIDEWAY SERVICE, WHICH WOULD BE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT OR BUS, UH, BUS RAPID TRANSIT IN ITS EXCLUSIVE PRIDE OF WAY.
UH, I THINK, UM, DEPUTY, OUR DEPUTY C E O SAID, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT HOW MUCH THAT DIFFERENCE GENERATES OVER A 20 YEAR PERIOD.
AND IT'S FIVE TO $6 BILLION MORE THAT DALLAS AND HOUSTON HAD TO INVEST.
AND THIS IS THE, THE PART WHERE WE TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE, ONE OF THE DRIVERS OF THE EXPENSE OF RUNNING TRANSIT IS HOW FAR YOU HAVE TO CARRY PEOPLE, HOW BIG YOUR AREA IS.
UH, HOUSTON AND SAN ANTONIO HAVE ESSENTIALLY
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THE SAME SIZE SERVICE AREA.DALLAS AND AUSTIN HAVE LESS THAN HALF THE SIZE SERVICE AREA.
YOU SAW HOW MUCH MONEY DALLAS HAS FOR LESS THAN HALF.
AND SO AS YOU AS A RESULT OF THAT, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE WERE WELL UNDER THE FUNDING PER SQUARE MILE, UH, OF SERVICE AREA OF THE OTHER, OF THE OTHER MTAS AND LARGE MTAS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
THIS TALKS ABOUT THE UNIT COST OF OPERATING.
AND AGAIN, WE ARE DOING MORE WITH LESS.
WE ARE ALWAYS THE LOWEST IN, UH, COST OF OUR PEERS.
I'LL JUST TELL YOU THAT PART OF WHAT ELEVATED, PART OF WHAT ELEVATED THE LAST COUPLE YEARS IS THAT WE HAD TO TAKE EXPENSES THAT WE GENERATED FOR THE, UH, STREETCAR PROJECT AND EXPENSE THEM THROUGH OUR SYSTEM.
SINCE WE HAD NO PROJECT, THEY COULD NO LONGER BE CAPITAL.
SO THAT KIND OF UPPED OUR COST PER MILE.
IT BECAME AN OPERATING EXPENSE ESSENTIALLY, BUT WE WERE STILL EVEN UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES BELOW OUR PEERS.
SO THIS IS THE, THESE ARE, THIS IS THE RESULT OF WORK THAT, THAT THE, UH, M P O DID.
AND THE QUESTION WAS, HOW LIKELY ARE YOU TO CONSIDER RIDING A BUS ROUTE BASED UPON VARIOUS FREQUENCIES? AND AS YOU CAN SEE, IF YOU'RE INSIDE 10 MINUTES, THE RESULT WAS ABOUT 84%.
WHERE IF YOU GET DOWN TO ABOUT 30 MINUTES, YOU'RE GONNA GET DOWN TO ABOUT 5%.
AND HOW WE TRANSLATE THAT FROM A PASSENGER'S PERSPECTIVE IS IF THE SERVICE RUNS UNDER EVERY 10 TO 12 MINUTES, WE CALL THAT THE SWEET SPOT.
THAT'S THE TIME IN WHICH YOU DON'T USE A SCHEDULE ANYMORE TO, TO PLAN YOUR TRIP.
YOU JUST GO DOWN AND WAIT FOR THE BUS, RIGHT? 15 TO 20 MINUTES.
AND IN FACT, IF PEOPLE WHO HAVE AUTOMOBILES, WE'LL EXPLORE AT LEAST UP TO 20 MINUTES AFTER 20 MINUTES, THEY'RE NOT INTERESTED.
30 MINUTES IS KIND OF LIKE, WELL, NO, WE'RE NOT VERY INTERESTED.
AND YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GET TO AN HOUR, IT'S NO WAY I I'M NOT GONNA TAKE THAT SERVICE UNLESS I HAVE NO OTHER OPTION.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE SERVICE WE HAD AND WHAT THE HALF-CENT SALES TAX BUYS, YOU SEE THERE'S A VERY, VERY SMALL, THERE WAS THIS, SO THIS TAKES US BACK TO BEFORE THE CITY MADE ITS INVESTMENT, ALRIGHT, SEE A VERY, VERY SMALL PIECE OF GREEN, A VERY, VERY SMALL, SWEET SPOT.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE GREEN AND THE BLUE AS KIND OF THE, THE THRESHOLD OF WHAT, UH, THE GENERAL PUBLIC WOULD FIND ACCEPTABLE, THAT IS AT ABOUT 20% OF THE SYSTEM.
SO 80% OF THE SYSTEM, YOU COULD PRETTY MUCH RIDE OFF TO, TO ANYONE WHO HAD A VEHICLE AVAILABLE AS FAR AS RIDING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET AT.
AND SO THE PARTNERSHIP, WHAT WE CALL THE PARTNERSHIP PLAN, WAS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THREE PHASES.
THE FIRST PHASE, WE TOOK TWO CORRIDORS TO 12 MINUTE FREQUENCY, AND THEN WE HAD A BUNCH OF CORRIDORS THAT WERE 60 MINUTES THAT WE BROUGHT TO 30 MINUTES.
SO WE, WE DEALT WITH THOSE CORRIDORS COLLECTIVELY AT ONCE.
THE SECOND PHASE, THERE WERE THREE ADDITIONAL ROUTES, TWO ADDITIONAL CORRIDORS THAT WERE IMPLEMENTED IN MAY OF LAST YEAR.
AND THE THIRD PHASE, THE TWO ADDITIONAL CORRIDORS THAT WERE IMPLEMENTED IN JANUARY.
I'M GONNA ONLY TOUCH ON THE THIRD PHASE, UH, BRIEFLY BECAUSE WE HAVE ONLY ONE MONTH OF RIDERSHIP DATA.
SO I'M GONNA KIND OF FOCUS ON WHAT, WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE FIRST TWO PHASES ON A SUSTAINED BASIS.
THIS SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROUTES IN THE PARTNERSHIP PLAN.
AND THIS IS GOING TO, WE'RE GONNA KIND OF DEMONSTRATE RIDERSHIP GROWTH ON THE ROOTS.
SO THE GREEN LINE REPRESENTS THE RIDERSHIP ALONG, UH, OF THE PHASE ONE ROOTS.
AND IT'S ALWAYS YEAR OVER YEAR.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT APRIL AND IT SAYS 12.6, THAT MEANS THAT THOSE ROOTS HAD A RIDERSHIP GROWTH OF 12.6% COM COMPARED TO THE PRIOR APRIL.
AND IF YOU GO ALL THE WAY TO DECEMBER, YOU SEE WE HAD A, WE HAD QUITE A RISE, 30, ALMOST 31% GROWTH IN JUST THAT SET OF ROOTS.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE PHASE TWO ROOTS, AND OF COURSE THEY STARTED LATER.
SO YOU SEE THAT THEY TRACK SIMILARLY.
AND ACTUALLY, UH, THE PHASE TWO ROOTS IN DECEMBER, WERE UP 41%.
NOW, HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO THE REST OF OUR SYSTEM? NOW, THE REST OF OUR SYSTEM IS, IS, WELL ACTUALLY THIS IS THE COMPLETE SYSTEM.
SO IF YOU TAKE THOSE ROUTES AND THEN COMBINE THEM WITH EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WE HAVE OUT THERE, THAT'S WHERE OUR, OUR RIDERSHIP HAS BEEN OVER THE LAST YEAR.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THE INVESTMENT IN THOSE ROUTES HAS SIGNIFICANTLY OUTDISTANCE, UH, WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING WITH THE REST OF THE SYSTEM.
IN FACT, IF I GO TO DECEMBER, THE UH, 7% INCREASE IN DECEMBER WAS DRIVEN HEAVILY BY THE PARTNERSHIP ROOTS.
IF YOU TOOK THE PARTNERSHIP ROOTS OUT, IT WAS ONLY LIKE 2.2%.
SO YOU'RE CONTRIBUTING HEAVILY TO THE INCREASE IN RIDERSHIP.
WE HAD AN INCREASE IN JANUARY, I THINK IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE HAD TWO CONSECUTIVE MONTHS IN A VERY LONG TIME.
AND YOU RECALL THAT IT WAS MAYBE
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20%.SEE, THE GREEN IS BIGGER, THE BLUE IS BIGGER, THE RED IS GETTING SMALLER.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE LIKE VISINE, WE WANT TO GET THE RED OUT OVER TIME.
AND SO THAT SHOWS, SO I'LL JUST TELL YOU THAT BEFORE YOU PROVIDED THE MONEY THAT WAS INVESTED IN THESE ROUTES, THERE WAS ONE GREEN ROUTE THAT WE ONLY HAD ONE ROUTE THAT WAS IN THE SWEET SPOT.
THOSE ARE THE SWEET SPOT ROUTES THAT WE HAVE TODAY.
AND THEN THAT'S COMBINED WITH THE SERVICE.
IT RUNS UP TO EVERY 20 MINUTES.
THAT WOULD BE THE NETWORK THAT WE WOULD SAY COULD BE ATTRACTIVE TO PEOPLE WITH AUTOMOBILES.
THEN WE STILL HAVE SOME 60 MINUTE SERVICE OUT THERE.
IF YOU LOOK AT, UM, JANUARY OF THIS YEAR, RIGHT? AND I, I'VE NOT CARRIED PHASE THREE AGAIN, BUT I, I CAN GIVE YOU THE NUMBERS FOR PHASE THREE.
SO PHASE ONE, UH, RECALL PHASE ONE STARTED JANUARY OF THE PRIOR YEAR, RIGHT? SO YOU'RE ALREADY BUILDING ON A BASE THAT HAD GROWN AND PHASE ONE CONTINUED TO GROW AT ABOUT 15%.
PHASE TWO DIDN'T START TILL MAY.
SO IT'S ALL ADDITIVE AND IT, AND THE GROWTH IN JANUARY WAS 37%.
NOW, WHEN WE MADE THIS, UH, PARTNERSHIP AND THE PARTNERSHIP, YOU KNOW, WHAT VIA DID, VIA WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR BUYING THE BUSES, UH, AND THE CITY PROVIDED THE OPERATING FUNDS.
UH, BUT WHEN WE BUILT THIS PARTNERSHIP, I DON'T THINK ANY OF US EXPECTED THAT WE WOULD SEE RIDERSHIP RESULTS THAT WERE NOT ONLY DOUBLE DIGITS, BUT YOU KNOW, 30% AS OPPOSED TO MAYBE FIVE OR 10%.
ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU COMPARE IT TO WHAT A LOT OF OTHER SYSTEMS HAVE EXPERIENCED.
SO WE'LL LET THE PASSENGERS TELL YOU WHAT THEY THINK.
MY MORNING ROUTINE IS I GET UP AT FIVE, UH, I'M AT BUS STATION BY SIX 10.
THE BUS ARRIVES BETWEEN SIX 12 AND SIX 17.
IT'S NOT LATE SIX 10 IS IT PERFECT.
THEN I GO TO THE INGRAM, TRANSFER TO THE FIVE, UH, 51.
THEN FROM HERE I GET THE SIX 19, AND THEN I HAVE TO WALK THREE MILES TO WHERE MY DESTINATION, WELL, I COME FROM THE, UH, SOUTHWEST MILITARY ALL THE WAY OVER HERE.
SO IT'S LIKE I TAKE THE 5 24, THEN THE NO ALITO 51.
THEN I CATCH THE EITHER FIVE OR TWO OVER HERE TO THE NORTH STAR TRANSIT CENTER.
AND FROM HERE I JUST GO A COUPLE OF BLOCKS DOWN AND I'M ALREADY AT THE JOB SITE.
I RIDE VIA 'CAUSE IT'S CONVENIENT AND IT'S EASY.
AND, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS TO PAY.
LOT OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS TELL ME, GET A CAR, GET A CAR.
THAT MEANS INSURANCE, GAS, TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, CAR BREAKING DOWN, MAINTENANCE.
LIKE, I JUST GET ON MY BUS, I SIT THERE.
I BELIEVE THAT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS VERY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY IN OUR CITY.
LIKE THE HOW IT'S GROWING, IT'S MY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION FOR EVERYTHING.
UM, I DON'T HAVE A CAR I REFUSE TO DRIVE.
SO, UM, THIS IS THE EASIEST AND QUICKEST WAY TO GET AROUND TOWN.
YOU KNOW, I LOST MY VEHICLE AND, YOU KNOW, BUS GETS YOU ALL AROUND THE CITY.
IT MEANS I'M NOT LATE TO WORK ANYMORE IF I OVERSLEEP.
UM, I DEFINITELY LIKE HOW A LOT OF THE BUS ROUTES ARE ADDING TO THE, THE 30 MINUTE ROUTES.
UM, YEAH, IT'S HELPED OUT A LOT.
UH, IT'S JUST A CALM, EASY RIDE.
NO HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE TRAFFIC AND YOU JUST SIT BACK AND RELAX AND JUST ENJOY THE RIDE HOME OR TO WORK.
SO WALKING DISTANCE, IT WOULD BE CRUCIAL IF I DID HAVE PIA, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GET TO SCHOOL ON TIME, WORK AT SCHOOL AT ALL.
I'M LIKE, I DON'T MIND WALKING, BUT IT WOULD MAKE LIFE A LOT MORE DIFFICULT TO CITY COUNCIL.
I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT IT'S A REALLY GOOD IDEA THAT IT'S REALLY GREAT THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY, UH, PUTTING EFFORT INTO MAKING, UM, THE REST OF US THAT DON'T HAVE A CAR TO MAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, LIKE MORE AFFORDABLE AND EASIER TO GET AROUND IN.
UH, I JUST WANNA SAY THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, MAN.
'CAUSE, UH, WITHOUT IT, I, I WOULDN'T BE WORKING RIGHT NOW.
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I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE JUST PLAYED THAT AND SAT DOWN, RIGHT?SO I JUST SAY IN CLOSINGS, UH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE SUM OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE RIDING THE PARTNERSHIP ROUTE, UH, A YEAR AGO, IF YOU WILL, BEFORE WE STARTED THE IMPROVEMENTS, IT'S THE, IT CAME TO ABOUT 15,000 BOARDINGS A DAY, 15,000.
NOW, THOSE ROUTES HAVE ABOUT 20,000 BOARDINGS A DAY.
BUT THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT THE 15,000 ARE BENEFITING BY THE INCREASED FREQUENCY.
AND THE COMMUNITY IS, OF COURSE, BENEFITING BY THAT GROWTH.
UM, AND SO COUNCILMAN SALDANA, I HOPE THAT, UH, THIS SUCCEEDED YOUR EXPECTATIONS.
THAT CERTAINLY DID MINE, BUT WE WANNA REALLY THANK YOU BECAUSE IT'S MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO OUR SYSTEM AND IT'S MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO OUR COLLECTIVE COMMUNITY.
WE ALMOST GOT A SLOW CLAP THERE, JEFF.
THANK YOU FOR COMING TO UPDATE US.
UH, VERY PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS OF, UH, THE SECOND PHASE AS WELL AS THE CONTINUED RESULTS OF THE FIRST PHASE.
I THINK THAT, UM, WE, UH, NEW INTRINSICALLY THIS WOULD WORK.
WE TARGETED IN THE AREAS, UH, IN THE ROUTES THAT WE THOUGHT MIGHT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
AND IT'S GRATIFYING TO SEE THAT IT ACTUALLY IS AND HOPEFULLY WILL GIVE THE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE THAT EVERY BIT OF INVESTMENT THAT WE'RE MAKING TO IMPROVE, UH, THE RIDERSHIP, IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE AND FREQUENCY AND RELIABILITY OF VIA IS, IS DOLLARS WELL SPENT.
AND IT'S NOT JUST IMPACTING THE RIDERS THAT ARE, ARE UTILIZING THOSE ROUTES, IT'S ALSO HELPING WITH TRAFFIC RELIEF AND ENSURING THAT TRANSPORTATION IN FACT, DOES CREATE OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE, WHETHER THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY TO WORK OR ON THEIR WAY TO SCHOOL, OR WHETHER THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY BACK HOME, UH, TO DO HOMEWORK WITH KIDS AND SO FORTH.
UH, SO I JUST WANT TO JUST, UH, REITERATE YOUR THANKS TO OUR COLLEAGUE COUNCILMAN SALDANA, WHO REALLY LED THE EFFORT, UM, AND PERSEVERED FRANKLY, THROUGH A COUPLE OF DISAPPOINTING DECISIONS BY THIS BODY.
BUT, UH, STAYED WITH IT AND WE FINALLY GOT IT DONE AND, UH, ACKNOWLEDGED THE WORK ALSO OF OUR FORMER COLLEAGUE, COUNCILMAN RAY, RAY LOPEZ, UH, WHO HELPED CO-CHAIR THE AD HOC COMMITTEE THAT INITIALLY, UH, TOOK A LOOK AT THE IDEA POSED BY COUNCILMAN SALANI ON THE A T D REVENUE.
SO, UH, GREAT WORK AND LET'S, UH, HOPEFULLY SEE SOME MORE OF THIS DOWN THE ROAD.
AND AND I, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I, I RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ, COUNCILMAN TREVINO, COUNCILWOMAN GAN AND, AND THE MAYOR, UH, ARE WELL-STUDIED ON THIS ISSUE AND, AND HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO VOTE AND SUPPORT, UH, BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE FACES AND WHAT THOSE NAMES AND WHAT THOSE TESTIMONIES MEAN, WHICH IS THAT THESE ARE, UH, REAL PEOPLE RELYING ON, ON POLICY LEADERS TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT IF IN THE BEST CASES OF SCENARIO MIGHT MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR LIFE.
SO, YOU KNOW, I'M GRATEFUL TO KNOW THAT WE'VE GOT A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT IT MEANS TO, TO SEE AN INVESTMENT, BUT WHAT IT MEANS TO MAKE THE CHOICE TO MAKE A BIG INVESTMENT AND, AND TAKE A BET ON WHAT WE THINK IS A PRETTY SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT, WHICH IS THAT IF YOU WERE TO INVEST IN, IN TRANSIT, INVEST IN OUR BUS ROUTES, UH, INCREASE FREQUENCY, THE THEORY OF CHANGE IS THAT YOU WOULD, YOU WOULD NOT ONLY IMPROVE THE PEOPLE'S LIVES WHO ARE CURRENTLY USING IT, YOU WOULD EXPAND RIDERSHIP, UH, BECAUSE YOU WERE MAKING A BUS SERVICE MORE CONVENIENT.
AND I THINK THAT TAKES A BIG LEAP FOR ANYBODY, ANY COUNCIL, UM, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, A FUND OF 10 MILLION A YEAR IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT, WHICH IS PROBABLY WHY IT TOOK A LITTLE BIT OF TIME FOR US TO GET EVERYONE IN THE COUNCIL WITH NOT IN A HEAD IN AGREEMENT TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, LET'S TEST THIS OUT.
UH, LET'S CONSIDER THE FOLKS WHO ARE EITHER, YOU KNOW, WORKING CLASS INDIVIDUALS WHO, LIKE WE'VE SEEN IN THE TESTIMONY ARE, ARE GETTING UP AT FIVE IN THE MORNING.
AND IT'S FUNNY TO HEAR ONE OF THE TESTIMONIES SAY, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WHEN I SLEEP IN, WHICH I IMAGINE IS PROBABLY 5:30 AM WHEN SOMEBODY LIKE THAT SLEEPS IN TO TRY TO CATCH WORK AT 7:00 AM OR UH, 8:00 AM.
SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO RECOGNIZE THAT GOING FORWARD TO, TO OUR COLLEAGUES WHO DIDN'T GET TO LISTEN TO THOSE CONVERSATIONS, MAYBE DIDN'T GET TO BE PART OF THAT DEBATE.
UH, I WANNA MAYBE CENTER US ON, ON WHY WE LANDED ON 10 MILLION.
BECAUSE IF 10 MILLION CAN DO A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT, YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT MORE FUNDING TO HELP SUPPORT VIA, MAYBE NOT JUST THROUGH THE CITY, BUT OTHER RESOURCES, UH, COULD REALLY DO, UH, FOR THOSE PEOPLE ON THE SCREEN.
AND, AND THOSE FUTURE RIDERS WHO MIGHT FALL INTO THAT SWEET SPOT WHO SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT? NOW THAT WE'VE BUILT A STONE OAK PARK AND RIDE, NOW THAT I KNOW THAT THERE'S A, A FIXED ROUTE AND ON TIME,
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UH, THIS IS GONNA BE AN OPTION FOR ME WHEN TODAY IT ISN'T.THE WAY THAT WE LANDED ON 10 MILLION WAS WE TARGETED WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN 2002 OR THREE, THERE WAS A A T D ELECTION, WHICH WAS A FUND DEDICATED SPECIFICALLY TO, UH, TRANSPORTATION.
VIA WAS THE BENEFICIARY OF THAT.
YOU SAW THAT SLICE OF THE PENNY AT THE ONE EIGHTH.
UH, BUT SO WAS THE COUNTY AND SO WAS THE CITY.
AND MY FIRST ARGUMENT OUTTA THE GATE WAS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE SHOULD DO IS ACTUALLY JUST, UH, TRANSFER, TRANSFER THE MONEY THAT, UH, WE'RE USING FOR THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL UPGRADE SYSTEM.
UH, FIND ANOTHER SOURCE FOR SIDEWALKS.
'CAUSE THAT TOTAL IS PROBABLY SOMETHING LIKE 15 16 MILLION.
AND, UH, ERIC, YOU'LL CORRECT ME ON THAT NUMBER, BUT I THINK THAT'S THE REVENUE THAT WE SEE COME THROUGH IN A T D.
UH, THE REASON IT WAS PROBABLY UNSUCCESSFUL THE FIRST TIME I TRIED THAT WAS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, HARD TO ARGUE AGAINST SIDEWALKS.
UH, AND SO WE SAID, ALL RIGHT, LET'S NOT TAKE ALL OF A T D, LET'S SORT OF LEAVE SOME PORTION, FIVE OR 6 MILLION BACK FOR SIDEWALKS BECAUSE WE ARE COMMITTED.
THAT IS A PRIORITY, UH, BUT LET'S AT LEAST COMMIT TO 10 MILLION.
AND SO THE SECOND QUESTION IS VIA, LIKE YOU DESCRIBED, WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH 10 MILLION? AND AT THAT POINT WE WERE STILL WORKING ON A HYPOTHESIS AND WE SAID WE WANTED TO BE VERY TARGETED IN OUR APPROACH.
SO LET'S NOT, UH, RECREATE THE WHEEL.
LET'S DOUBLE DOWN WHERE WE KNOW WE HAVE RIDERSHIP, THE ROUTES THAT WE KNOW ARE GETTING PEOPLE TO WORK, TO SCHOOL, TO DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS, TO GROCERIES, AND IMPROVE THEIR FREQUENCY.
SO THAT'S HOW WE LANDED ON 10 MILLION.
AND I TELL YOU THAT BACKSTORY, BECAUSE I THINK AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE FOR THOSE COLLEAGUES WHO ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO BE ON THE COUNCIL, UM, THERE MIGHT BE CHALLENGE TO WHETHER WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, PEDAL BACK OR, OR GO IN REVERSE ON, ON THIS COMMITMENT.
UM, AND KNOW THAT I DID NOT HAVE SOME CAUTION THAT THESE DOLLARS WOULD BE GENERAL FUND BECAUSE GENERAL FUND COMPETES WITH EVERYTHING.
UH, THAT'S WHY I WAS CONSIDERING A T D AS AN OPTION TO BEGIN WITH.
BUT AT THE VERY LEAST, NOW YOU HAVE AN ARGUMENT TO SEE THAT THE 10 MILLION, WHILE IT'S NOT A CITY DEPARTMENT, AFFECTS CITY RESIDENTS IN WAYS THAT WE CAN SEE AND ARTICULATE.
AND I THINK IT'LL BE UP TO THIS COUNCIL GOING FORWARD TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, PROTECT THAT INVESTMENT AND EVEN EXPAND IT TO BRING OTHER PARTNERS TO THE FOLD.
UH, AND THE REASON 10 MILLION GOING TO OPERATIONS, UH, WAS SO CRITICALLY IMPORTANT WAS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, VIA HAS OTHER SOURCES WHERE THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO FIND AREAS CAPITAL TO BUILD, UH, THEIR BUS SHELTERS TO PURCHASE VEHICLES.
BUT JUST LIKE ANY BUSINESS, UH, THE OPERATION DOLLARS ARE THE ONES THAT ARE A LITTLE HARDER TO COME BY.
WE'RE NOT NECESSARILY MAKING IT UP AT THE FAIR BOXES WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, SPENDING THEIR $2 TO, TO RIDE THE BUS.
THAT DOESN'T MAKE UP THE BUSINESS'S BOTTOM LINE.
SO OPERATING DOLLARS ARE THE SCARCE ONES, AND WE DEDICATED THESE 10 MILLION TO THE OPERATING SIDE, UH, SO THAT IT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, PERPETUAL NATURE, BUT ALSO ALLOW THEM TO MAKE LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS, UH, INTO THESE ROUTES.
SO, UM, THAT'S A, A LITTLE BIT OF THE BACKSTORY.
AND I'M, I'M GRATEFUL THAT EVERYBODY HERE IN THE ROOM CAN SEE, UM, THE IMPACT UNDERSTANDING IN YOUR OWN HEAD BECAUSE I, I WILL SORT OF COUNT ON, ON MY COLLEAGUES TO CARRY THIS FORWARD AS A, AS AN ISSUE THAT'S IMPORTANT TO US.
NOT BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE WANNA SUPPORT VIA THE KINDNESS OF OUR HEART, BUT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WHAT VIA DOES FOR OUR RESIDENTS WORKS.
AND, AND SO MAYBE I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU BEFORE I PASS IT ALONG HERE, JEFF.
UH, IT'S ON THE FEDERAL OPPORTUNITIES MM-HMM.
SO IF IN THE FUTURE, UH, VIA DECIDES TO LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE BUS RAPID TRANSIT MM-HMM.
AND I'M, UH, LOOK INTO MY CRYSTAL BALL AND SAY THAT IN THE FUTURE, IF YOU'RE GONNA GET, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE USED THE TERM CHOICE RIDERS OR OPTION RIDERS, BUT THESE FOLKS WHO, YOU KNOW, LIVE IN, UH, DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE DISTRICT WHO HAVE VEHICLES AND, AND IF WE'RE EVER GONNA GET THEM TO CONSIDER VIA, BECAUSE SAY THEY HAVE A VERY EASY ROUTE TO WORK BECAUSE THEY WORK NINE TO FIVE, AND AFTER THEY FINISH THEIR NINE TO FIVE, THEY GO RIGHT BACK TO, UH, THE NORTH SIDE OF TOWN, THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN, THE WEST SIDE OF TOWN FOR THOSE FOLKS.
AND THE STONE OAK EXAMPLE IS AN IMPORTANT ONE BECAUSE I THINK YOU MIGHT GET FOLKS TO BITE ON RIDING AN EXPRESS ROUTE IN AND OUT OF THAT CORRIDOR, SPECIFICALLY WHEN YOU HAVE, UH, A DEDICATED LANE, A DEDICATED CORRIDOR THAT IS ON TIME THAT IS EFFICIENT, AND AT THE SAME TIME PASSING UP CONGESTION ON THE WAY TO AND FROM MEDICAL CENTER, THE DOWNTOWN.
AND THE SAME THING FROM THE SOUTH SIDE TO THE DOWNTOWN OR THE MEDICAL CENTER SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE, UH, A LOT OF OUR JOBS ARE, YOU KNOW, MOVING TO THE PLACES WHERE THEY CAN.
AND, AND THAT'S SOMETIMES THE MOST HEARTBREAKING.
[00:30:02]
UM, IF, IF ANY OF YOU ALL GO THROUGH THE EXPERIMENT AND TALK TO BUS RIDERS, YOU'LL KNOW THAT A LOT OF TIMES YOU, YOU'LL GET SOMEBODY WHO'S TRAVELING 20 MILES AS AN EXAMPLE TO GET TO WORK OR TO GET TO SCHOOL.UM, AND THAT MEANS THREE OR FOUR ROUTES.
SO, UH, WHAT I APPRECIATED ABOUT THE VIDEO WAS THAT IT REMINDED ME THAT YOU, YOU LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE WHEN YOU'RE A BUS RIDER AND PEOPLE ASK YOU ABOUT YOUR ROUTE, AND THEN THEY, I'LL TELL THEM, YEAH, I'M, I DID THE FIVE 20 TO THE 48 TO THE FIVE 50, AND, AND I GET IN AND OUT FROM CITY HALL TO TO HOME.
UM, BUT I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE DOING A GREAT DEAL OF, OF, UM, SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY BY INVESTING IN, IN TRANSIT AND, AND TRANSFORMING THOSE LIVES.
SO JUST TO, TO, UH, TO FINISH OFF, JEFF, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TEAM, UH, FOR THE WORK THAT YOU ALL HAVE DONE.
I I REALLY APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT WE GET TO HEAR FROM THOSE RESIDENTS WHEN YOU PUT THOSE VIDEOS TOGETHER.
'CAUSE IT REALLY TIES IT TOGETHER, UH, FOR THOSE FOLKS WHO HAVE SEEN THIS, UH, COME IN AND OUT.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER FINAL COMMENTS BEFORE.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT THE, WHEN I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS THAT ARE SERVED, THAT ONE PHASE ONE, TWO, AND THREE COMBINE WILL TOUCH PROBABLY 21 IN FIVE RIDER IN THE SYSTEM.
AND, YOU KNOW, I KNOW AT ONE POINT THERE WAS A CONCERN THAT 10 MILLION WAS KIND OF A DROP IN THE BUCKET WHEN OUR BUDGET IS LIKE 230 MILLION.
WELL, IF IT WAS A DROP IN THE BUCKET, IT CREATED A BIG SPLASH WITH A LOT OF RINGS OF INFLUENCE BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, TO INFLUENCE AND TO IMPROVE ACTUALLY SERVICE FOR ONE IN FIVE CUSTOMERS, IT WAS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.
THIS REMINDS ME, I WANNA MAKE SURE TO GET IN FRONT OF SOME ARGUMENTS THAT I THINK, UH, OUR, OUR FOLKS, EVEN IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, I HEAR WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS ISSUE, UH, ONE OF THE ARGUMENTS THAT I HEARD FROM A RESIDENT WAS, YOU KNOW, WHY ARE WE INVESTING IN THE BUS SYSTEM OR THE, THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM? THERE'S NOBODY WHO RIDES IT.
AND I TOLD THEM, WELL, GIMME A LITTLE QUESTION ABOUT THE SNAPSHOT AND, AND OF YOUR DATA POINT.
UH, TELL ME WHEN YOU SAW AN EMPTY BUS.
AND THEY SAID, WELL, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M DRIVING IN AND OUT.
I WENT TO GO PICK UP MY KID AROUND NOON.
AND I SAID, I THINK THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT MOST FOLKS WHO ARE RIDING THE BUS ARE BEATING YOU TO WORK.
I MEAN, THEY ARE WAKING UP AT 5:00 AM UH, THEY'VE GOTTA CATCH THE SIX 10, THE SIX 12, AND THEY GOTTA MAKE SURE IT'S NOT LATE.
UH, AND SO I THINK THAT'S A, THAT'S A, THAT'S AN ARGUMENT THAT MIGHT FALL UNDER THE WEIGHT OF, OF, OF NUMBERS AND DATA AND STATISTICS THAT SHOW THAT WE HAVE A TON OF RIDERS.
UM, AND IT, IT SHOULD ALSO NOT SURPRISE FOLKS THAT IT'S NOT JUST BY CHOICE THAT SOME PEOPLE, UH, OF AVOID BUYING A VEHICLE.
SOMETIMES, UH, IT IS BY THE NATURE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCE, THEY JUST CAN'T AFFORD A VEHICLE.
AND WE ARE DOING A GREAT DEAL TO THE INDIVIDUALS WHO LIVE IN OUR CITY WHO, UM, ARE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO GET A STEP ABOVE.
AND THEY'RE SOME OF, OF THE HARDEST WORKING PEOPLE I'VE EVER MET.
UH, THE GENTLEMAN WHO LINES UP AT 6:00 AM TO GET TO 1 51 BECAUSE THAT'S THE IHOP WHO HIRED HIM.
THOSE ARE THE KIND OF FOLKS WHO ARE GRINDING IN DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
UH, SO I'M, I'M REALLY, REALLY KIND OF LEAVING WITH A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE THINKING ABOUT THE FOLKS AND THE PEOPLE THAT YOU, UH, PUT PUT TOGETHER IN THAT VIDEO.
SO JEFF, APPRECIATE THE WORK AND THE HELP ON THIS.
AND, UH, LOOKING FORWARD TO THE, MY COUNSEL, UH, CONTINUING TO, TO MAKE SURE TO MAKE THE CASE, UH, THIS IS ONE OF OUR CORE FUNCTIONS AND CON SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE, UH, THE WAY THAT WE ENSURE PEOPLE ARE MOVING THROUGHOUT OUR CITY.
COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ.
UM, THANKS JEFF FOR THE PRESENTATION.
SO I HAVE QUITE A FEW QUESTIONS, SO IF MY COLLEAGUES WILL PLEASE INDULGE ME, UM, AS WE, UH, ASK YOU.
UH, I HAVE A COUPLE OF PERHAPS MORE HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS.
UM, ONE OF THEM, UM, SO YOU KNOW, THAT FREQUENCY IMPROVED RIDERSHIP, UM, AND YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE VERY, VERY LOW PARTICIPATION IN THE AREAS WHERE HAVE LESS FREQUENCY, 30 OR AN HOUR, UH MM-HMM.
SO WHY BOTHER WITH THOSE? WHY NOT JUST HAVE GREATER FREQUENCY ON THE MOST TRAVELED ROUTES? SO, EXCUSE ME, I'M SORRY ABOUT THAT.
SO, UH, TRANSIT SYSTEMS ALWAYS ARE CHALLENGED BY THE TRADE OFF OF COVERAGE AND FREQUENCY.
AND THE PROBLEM IS JOBS ARE MOVING TO THOSE AREAS AND PEOPLE THAT DON'T LIVE IN THOSE AREAS, THAT LIVE IN MORE IN THE CORE AREA ARE TRYING TO GET TO THOSE JOBS.
YOU HEARD THE, THE, AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE REFER TO THE FACT THEY'RE GOING ALL THE WAY OUT THERE.
SO WE HAVE DEVELOPED WHAT WE CALL A COMPREHENSIVE OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS THAT LOOKS AT, UH, REALLOCATING RESOURCES TO SOME EXTENT.
BUT THE FACT IS, THERE MAY NOT BE A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THE, ON THOSE ROUTES THAT OPERATE ONCE AN HOUR.
BUT ONE, ONE THING I CAN GUARANTEE YOU, PEOPLE THAT ARE ON THOSE ROUTES ARE, THEY'RE ONLY BECAUSE THEY REALLY NEED IT.
BUT SO IS IT BASED ON PUBLIC INPUT OR IS IT BASED ON, YOU KNOW, POLITICAL PRESSURE OR, I MEAN, UH, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WERE AT THE, UH, STAGE OF TRANSIT LAST WEEK
[00:35:01]
AND THERE WAS THIS SORT OF SPREADING OF THE, OF THE, UM, PEANUT BUTTER ANALOGY MM-HMM.SO THE BOARD HAS, HAS DEVELOPED SERVICE STANDARDS HAVE TO DO WITH PASSENGERS PER HOUR, AND THERE'S A MINIMUM THRESHOLD.
AND AT THE POINT WHEN YOU REACH THE MINIMUM THRESHOLD, THEN YOU START LOOKING AT SHOULD WE DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT OR SHOULD WE PER, UH, PROSPECTIVELY REMOVE THAT SERVICE? SO YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THE MOBILITY ON DEMAND PROJECT MM-HMM.
WE'RE GONNA MAINTAIN THAT SERVICE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, BUT WE'RE GONNA REPLACE THAT OVER TIME WITH A PILOT PROJECT THAT WOULD GIVE DEMAND RESPONSE SERVICE.
AND ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THAT IS THAT IF, IF WE CARRY THE SAME NUMBER OF PASSENGERS THAT WE'RE CARRYING TODAY ON THIS, THOSE THREE BUS ROUTES, THE COST WILL BE HALF OF WHAT IT IS.
WELL, THAT'S WHAT I'M, SO I GUESS MY POINT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WOULD IT BE IN FACT MORE BENEFICIAL TO HAVE LIKE A CARPOOLING SERVICE? RIGHT.
WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT THAT IS.
WE ARE VERSUS HAVING THIS WHOLE NETWORK THAT, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BRINGS PEOPLE FROM RIGHT.
UM, AND, AND I GUESS, UM, ANOTHER, UH, UM, QUESTION.
UM, SO I GUESS IT'S, SO IT'S BASED ON CUSTOMER INPUT OR IT'S BASED ON STILL POLITICAL PRESSURE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, I STILL DIDN'T QUITE GET THAT.
MOST OF WHAT, UH, LEADS TO THE FREQUENCY IS THE RIDERSHIP.
SO RIDERSHIP IS WHAT LEADS TO NOT, NOT SO MUCH THE FREQUENCY, BUT THAT ALLOWS YOU TO STILL DO THOSE.
UM, 'CAUSE I KNOW I HAVE, I, YOU KNOW, WHEN THERE HAVE BEEN ROUTES CUT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, WE GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK ABOUT THAT.
UM, BUT, UH, I, SO THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING IS IF, WHERE YOU GET THAT INFORMATION, UM, BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A SCENARIO, UM, WHERE THESE ARE ELIMINATED.
YOU, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE DOING A PILOT, BUT I'M SURE THAT YOU COULD DO A HYPOTHETICAL OR, UM, LIKE, UH, I DUNNO IF HYPOTHETICAL IS THE RIGHT WORD, BUT, UM, UH, EXAMPLE OF WHAT ELIMINATING THESE PRO, THESE ROUTES WOULD DO AND, AND DOING MORE FREQUENCY ON THE MOST VALUED ROUTES.
LIKE WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE? WHAT WOULD THAT DO TO YOUR SYSTEM? YES.
HAVE YOU DONE THAT BEFORE OR HAVE YOU SEEN YES.
WELL, THAT'S WHAT, WHEN I TALKED ABOUT THE COMPREHENSIVE OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS, THAT'S WHAT THAT DOES.
NOW, THAT C O A, THAT'S WHAT WE, UH, THAT C O A ASSUMES THAT IF WE HAVE AN AREA WHERE WE'RE PROVIDING SOME SERVICE, THAT WE END UP WITH SOMETHING LIKE WHAT I'VE DESCRIBED IN, IN THIS PILOT.
SO I MEAN, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN SEE, OR IS THAT PRESENTED TO YOUR BOARD? OR LIKE WHAT, WHAT IS THAT, UH, WHAT WOULD THAT PRESENTATION LOOK LIKE? OR IS THAT INTERNAL? NO, WE COULD, I'D BE HAPPY TO COME BACK AND, AND DO A C O A, UH, ANALYSIS TO YOU ALL, I THINK, SO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE, I THINK WOULD LIKE TO SEE LIKE REALLY WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, AND, AND SO, UH, THAT AS WE ARE TRYING TO PRIORITIZE TRANSPORTATION FOR OUR CITY, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF YOU REALLY FOCUSED ON THE CORE SERVICES AND DID SOMETHING ELSE FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WERE OUTSIDE FOUR 10, FOR EXAMPLE, OR WHERE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TRANSIT IS.
UH, AND, UM, WHAT WOULD THAT DO TO THE COST? UM, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT, UH, PRESENTED TO US AT SOME POINT.
AND SO, AND THE OTHER THING, UM, I THINK THAT, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE AS YOU'RE KIND OF GOING THROUGH THAT, OR I GUESS ONE THING THAT WE KNOW IN BUSINESS, RIGHT? IT'S MUCH EASIER TO KEEP YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMER AND, UM, YES.
BUILD ON THAT THAN IT IS TO TRY AND ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS.
SO THEN WHY NOT, YOU KNOW, DOES THAT SAME MODEL EXIST IN TRANSPORTATION? WELL, ABSOLUTELY.
IN FACT, THAT'S WHY OUR, A LOT OF OUR FAIR STRUCTURE IS BASED UPON REPEAT USE, AND WE'RE ABOUT TO INTRODUCE A SMART CARD.
AND THE SMART CARD WILL GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERY TRIP, 10 TRIPS YOU PAY, YOU'LL GET A BONUS TRIP, FOR EXAMPLE.
BUT OUR MONTHLY PASS, FOR EXAMPLE, IS $38.
IT'S ABOUT THE LEAST EXPENSIVE MONTHLY PASS IN THE UNITED STATES AMONG ANY KIND OF MAJOR CITIES, RIGHT.
UM, AND THAT REALLY ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO GET THE MONTHLY PASS AT 38 RATHER THAN SPEND 2 75 EVERY DAY.
THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA, IS TO GET A DAY, A DAY PASS, TO START A WEEKLY PASS, AND THEN A MONTHLY PASS.
UM, BECAUSE THOSE PASSES ARE LIKE PREPAID AND SO EXTRA TRIPS, YOU DON'T THINK IN TERMS OF, WELL, I DON'T HAVE THE FAIR FOR THAT NEXT TRIP BECAUSE YOU GOT THE FAIR FOR ALL THE TRIPS YOU NEED.
SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS WE DO WITHIN THE SYSTEM TO, UH, SUPPORT MAINTAINING THE RIDERSHIP WE HAVE.
AND WHEN DO YOU, WHEN DO YOU EXPECT TO ROLL THAT OUT, THE SMART
[00:40:01]
CARD? THIS LATER THIS YEAR.UM, SO ANOTHER QUESTION I HAVE, UM, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE BEAUTIFUL SHELTERS, BUS SHELTERS IN THE DISTRICT.
I DON'T KNOW, I'VE SEEN THEM ALL OVER MY NEIGHBORHOOD.
I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE CITYWIDE, BUT I KNOW THAT, UM, ON ALONG SARA SAMURA, UM, THE FIVE 20 ROUTE, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF REALLY BEAUTIFUL SHELTERS, ARTISTIC DESIGNS, AND IN FACT, I, I WAS CONTACTED BY EMAIL, UH, FROM SOMEBODY SAYING THEY HAD, THAT WAS TRAVELING, THAT HAD SEEN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BREAST SHELTERS, UM, AT GUADALUPE AND SARRA, WHICH THAT ONE'S NOT NEW, BUT IT WAS PART OF AN ART PROJECT.
SO THE SARZA MORE CORRIDOR IS, IS A PRIMO CORRIDOR.
AND SO WE HAVE SPECIAL STOPS IN PRIMO CORRIDORS AND IN, AND WE ALSO, AS AN AGENCY DEVELOPED AN ART AND TRANSIT PROGRAM BETWEEN THE TIME WE DID THE ORIGINAL B R T OR UM, UH, PRIMO ROUTE.
AND THE TIME WE'RE DOING THE TWO, THE ONE THAT'S OPEN IN SARZA MORE, AND THE ONE THAT WILL OPEN LATER THIS SUMMER ON SOUTHEAST MILITARY.
SO, UH, ART AND TRANSIT WAS PART INTEGRAL PART OF, OF THAT PROJECT.
SO THOSE ARE, THEY'RE VERY BEAUTIFUL.
UM, AND I GUESS ANOTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE, UM, AND I HAD MENTIONED THIS ON THE DA THE OTHER DAY WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE SCOOTER ISSUE.
UM, AND ONE THING I'VE LEARNED NOW OVER THIS TIME ON THE DAIS, VERY EARLY ON, UH, I WAS OPPOSED TO UBER.
UM, AND MY, SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES WILL REMEMBER THIS, AND PART OF IT WAS BECAUSE I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT.
I WOULD THINK, WELL, WHAT'S SO INNOVATIVE ABOUT GIVING SOMEBODY A RIDE? I MEAN, WE'VE BEEN GETTING PEOPLE RIDES FOR A LONG TIME.
UH, AND THEN I WAS ALSO THINKING, BUT IT'S DANGEROUS AND YOU'RE GONNA GET IN A CAR WITH A STRANGER.
AND SO I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND IT.
UH, BUT WHAT I DO UNDERSTAND NOW IS THAT THESE THINGS ARE NOT IN ISOLATION.
I MEAN, PART OF THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN THAT WE'RE DOING, THE CONNECT SA THAT WE'RE DOING, UH, SA TOMORROW, UM, THE EQUITY BUDGET, THEY'RE ALL RELATED, BUT WE OFTEN THINK OF THEM INDEPENDENTLY AND SEPARATELY.
AND SO, UH, THE PURPOSE OF THE BUS, UH, IS NOT TO BE DRIVING BUSES AROUND.
IT'S TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO SERVICES.
THE PURPOSE OF UBER IS NOT TO PROMOTE SMALL BUSINESSES OR TO PEOPLE TO BE DRIVING AROUND.
IT'S TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO SERVICES, WHETHER IT'S SCHOOL OR FAMILY OR WORK OR WHATEVER.
AND I SEE THAT THE SCOOTERS AND THE MULTI-USE ALSO IN THE SAME WAY THEY'RE USED TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO SERVICES.
SO WHY ARE WE NOT, IT SEEMS LIKE VIA STILL IS SORT OF OPERATING IN ISOLATION, UM, TO THE FACT THAT WE ARE TRYING TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO SERVICES.
SO WHY NOT CREATE AN APP OR WHATEVER THAT CAN USE ALL OF THOSE MODES TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO REALLY WHERE THEY'RE GOING.
SO I KNOW THAT THAT VIA HAS AN APP, I HAVE IT MM-HMM.
IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY CONNECT PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY, THERE ARE BUTTONS THAT WILL CONNECT YOU TO, TO THE BIKE SHARES.
I THINK THAT THERE'S A BUTTON THAT WILL CONNECT YOU, BUT LET ME BROADEN THAT RESPONSE.
SO I, I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND MY QUESTION CERTAINLY, AND WHY I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THESE, ALL OF THESE THINGS MUCH MORE BROADLY THAN, YOU KNOW, JUST VIA IN ISOLATION.
UM, AND EVEN OUR, YOU KNOW, SIDEWALK NETWORK AND HOW DOES THAT CONNECT AND OUR MOBILITY, MICRO MOBILITY, AND HOW DOES THAT CONNECT, UM, NOT JUST TO THE MORE LOGICAL PLACES LIKE THE MED CENTER, BUT LIKE YOUR HOME.
I MEAN, WHY CAN'T YOU CONNECT HOME TO HOME? I MEAN, CREATE AN APP THAT HAVE RATHER HOME TO WORK OR HOME TO DESTINATION AND HAVE VIA BE A PART OF THAT.
SO I'LL JUST TELL YOU THAT THE ENTIRE TRANSIT INDUSTRY IS FOCUSED ON A UNIVERSAL APP.
UH, THE SECOND THING IS, THERE ARE CHALLENGES TO THAT.
FOR EXAMPLE, HOW MANY DIFFERENT SCOOTER COMPANIES HAVE OPENED OVER THE LAST YEAR? AND THEY EACH HAVE TO BE WILLING TO SHARE.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT UBER AND LYFT GENERALLY WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IF THE OTHER ONE IS ALREADY.
SO WE HAVE SOMEBODY WHO BUILDS OUR APPS, AND THEY, THEY SAY, WELL, ONE OF OUR CHALLENGES IS, IS IF WE SAY WE'VE INCLUDED LYFT ON THE APP, UBER WON'T PARTICIPATE, AND WE CAN'T FORCE THEM TO.
BUT I WILL TELL YOU THAT WE PARTNER WITH UBER AND LYFT, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, FOR FIESTA, YOU KNOW, IT WAS ALWAYS CONCERN TO ME THAT PEOPLE WHO PARK DID PARK AND RIDE, SOME OF THEM MAY NOT REALLY BE IN A GOOD SHAPE TO DRIVE THE CAR OFF WHEN THEY GET OFF OUR BUS.
SO WE HAD A PARTNERSHIP WITH UBER THAT PROVIDED THAT LAST MILE CONNECTION.
WE HAVE A PROJECT RIGHT NOW THAT WE'RE CALLING MOBILITY HUBS.
WE PUT AN R F P OUT, WE'VE ASKED THE BIKES AND THE SCOOTERS AND THE UBERS AND THE LYFTS, ANYBODY ELSE TO TALK TO US ABOUT AT, AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS WITHIN THE SERVICE AREA WHERE IT MAKES SENSE, WHERE WE HAVE THE INTEGRATION LIKE FIVE POINT OR CENTRAL PLAZA,
[00:45:01]
ALL OF THOSE LOCATIONS, WE'VE ASKED THEM TO COME TO US AND SAY, WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP PARTNER BETTER, INCLUDING INTEGRATING OUR FARE? SO MAYBE A, A $45 MONTHLY PASS BUYS YOU UNLIMITED USE OF METRO AND UNLIMITED USE OF THE BIKES.SO WE, WE ARE DEFINITELY WORKING AT THAT, AND THAT'S PART OF WHAT CONNECT SA IS ESPOUSING.
AND WE ARE, AND WE ARE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING.
WELL, I HOPE THAT THAT BECOMES PART OF, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT NEEDS TO BE PART OF CONNECT SA OR EXACTLY WHERE WE PUT, PUT THAT IN THERE, THAT IT'S A TECHNOLOGY FOR TRANSPORTATION, UM, NOT JUST SEPARATE UBER SEPARATE TRANSIT OR BUS SYSTEM, SEPARATE, UM, UH, WALKABILITY, I MEAN, ALL THOSE, UH, BECAUSE YOU ALSO, AND I'M SAYING THE WALKABILITY COMPONENT, BECAUSE WE ALSO NEED TO IMPROVE OUR SIDEWALK NETWORKS.
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THAT A LOT, BUT EVERY BUS RIDE IS GOING TO REQUIRE THAT FIRST TO LAST MILE.
SO IS THERE A, YOU KNOW, A, UM, THAT WHOLE OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT EVERY SINGLE STEP OF THE WAY? AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE I WAS RECENTLY TRAVELING AND, UH, I WAS, I, I WAS ABLE TO USE MULTIPLE FORMS OF TRANSPORTATION TO ARRIVE AT MY DESTINATION.
SO IT STARTED FROM MY HOTEL WITH AN UBER RIDE TO THE TRANSIT STATION, WHICH THEN TOOK A BUS INTO THE CORE OF THE, OF THE CITY, WHICH THEN I USED, UH, AN, A SCOOTER AND A BICYCLE, UH, SHARED TO GET TO THE NEXT DESTINATION.
AND SO GRANTED, THAT WAS LEISURE.
SO I HAD PLENTY OF TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHERE I MIGHT LIKE TO GO.
UM, I WASN'T PRESSED WHEN I WAS ALSO BY MYSELF.
UH, I DIDN'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN WITH ME.
SO THERE WAS NO, IT WAS SIMPLE TO MOVE ABOUT.
UH, BUT IT SEEMED TO ME LIKE WE'RE JUST NOT, WE JUST ARE NOT QUITE GETTING IT RIGHT.
I DON'T MEAN WE IN SAN ANTONIO, BUT WE AS A SOCIETY ARE NOT GETTING IT RIGHT, THAT IT'S STILL, WE'RE STILL MAKING IT VERY COMPLICATED FOR THE INDIVIDUAL TO GET TO WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.
YET EACH INDIVIDUAL THING HAS ITS OWN TECHNOLOGY.
UH, SO, UM, I WANTED TO, TO BRING THAT UP BECAUSE IT'S BEEN ON MY MIND A LOT AS WE'RE TRYING TO EVOLVE OUR CITY IN A WAY THAT CONNECTS PEOPLE TO SERVICES.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.
UM, SO, UH, NOT ABOUT WHAT I MEAN, MEAN THE FORM OF THE TRANSPORTATION IS IMPORTANT AS WELL, BUT PRIMARILY CONNECTING PEOPLE TO SERVICES.
UM, AND SO MY LAST, UH, QUESTION, OR I GUESS MY LAST COMMENT, UM, IS, UH, THAT IN MY, ALSO IN MY STUDIES, I MENTIONED THIS IN OUR TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING LAST WEEK, WAS THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS ARE THE TWO PRIMARY THINGS THAT WILL GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR CARS AND USING TRANSIT, UM, ARE FREQUENCY OF SERVICE AND THE COST OF PARKING.
AND SO I KNOW THAT YOU ALL DON'T DO COST OF PARKING, BUT I WANTED TO TELL THAT TO MY COLLEAGUES BECAUSE WE AT, IN SAN ANTONIO AND IN EVERY CITY, IN ALMOST EVERY CITY IN THE COUNTRY, NOT JUST US, HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED PARKING.
UH, AND AS A RESULT, PEOPLE WILL DRIVE EVERYWHERE BECAUSE IT'S THE EASIEST THING.
UH, AND SO UNTIL WE RECOGNIZE AS A CITY THAT, THAT SUBSIDIZING PARKING IS COSTING US A LOT OF OTHER PROBLEMS, UH, THEN WE ARE GONNA CONTINUE JUST TO DO THE SAME OLD THING.
SO I HOPE THAT WE, UH, TAKE THOSE THINGS INTO CONSIDERATION AS WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS, UM, THAT WE NEED TO REALLY CONSIDER WHETHER OR NOT SUBSIDIZING PARKING IS THE BEST THING FOR OUR CITY.
UH, AND THAT FREQUENCY OF SERVICE, UM, SHOULD BE A PRIORITY ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE.
SO, UH, WE SH IN MY VERY LIMITED EXPERIENCE, WE SHOULDN'T BE DOING THESE VERY LONG DISTANCES ANYWAY.
THEY'RE, UM, NOT ONLY ARE THEY, ANYWAY, IT TAKES TOO LONG, UH, TO GET FROM ONE SIDE TO ANOTHER, BUT THAT AS A SYSTEM, WE SHOULD BE REALLY CONCENTRATING OUR EFFORTS, UH, INTO THE AREAS WHERE THERE'S ALREADY THE MOST, UM, UH, CONNECTIVITY OR WHERE THERE'S ALREADY THE MOST SERVICES.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO THOSE, UM, CONVERSATIONS.
AND, AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, FUNDING IS ALWAYS GONNA BE AN ISSUE.
AND I, I SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE FUNDING IS THE LEAST OF THE PROBLEMS. IF WE FIGURE OUT WHAT IS A PRIORITY, WE CAN WORK ON FUNDING.
UH, BUT WHEN WE, WHEN WE DON'T HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE NETWORK IS, THEN WE TEND TO NOT FUND THINGS APPROPRIATELY.
[00:50:01]
SO, UM, I HOPE THAT WE'LL HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS FURTHER, UM, IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, FOR ALL YOUR WORK, UM, FOR VIA THANK YOU.
UH, I APPRECIATE THAT YOU'VE GIVEN US, I THINK, A GOOD OVERVIEW OF THE EFFECT, UH, THAT THE COUNCIL HAS HAD ON PUTTING SOME OF OUR GENERAL FUND MONEY INTO SUPPORTING VIA.
AND, UH, I'M, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT WE'RE GETTING POSITIVE RESULTS OUT OF THAT.
WE'RE GONNA HOPEFULLY CONTINUE THAT PROCESS AS A COUNCIL.
UH, ONE THING THAT I, I HOPE TO HEAR FROM SOON IS WHAT ARE YOUR MORE EXPANSIVE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? I KNOW THAT, UH, YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING THESE THINGS.
UH, YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING, UH, AT, UH, OUR SAN ANTONIO GROWTH PLANS AND LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN INCORPORATE THOSE PLANS INTO TRANSPORTATION.
I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE, UH, CONNECT SA, UH, OVERVIEW AND EVERYTHING.
SHOULD WE BE EXPECTING TO HEAR SOMETHING ABOUT A, A MORE, UH, DETAILED PLAN FOR TRANSPORTATION WITH VIA AS A PARTNER IN THE FUTURE SOMETIME SOON? YEAH.
UH, WE CALL THAT VIA REIMAGINE.
AND IF THAT GUY DOES HIS JOB, YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT IT VERY SOON.
WELL, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY, UH, WE NEED TO DO MORE ABOUT TRANSPORTATION, AND I THINK VIA IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THAT.
UH, AS A LITTLE ASIDE, HOW'S OUR NEW, UH, PARK AND RIDE SITUATION? UH, THE STATION OUT ON, UH, 2 81 DOOR ON 2 81? WE, WE CONTINUE TO SEE SOME GROWTH OUT OF THERE, BUT I STILL BELIEVE THAT WITH THAT CONSTRUCTION IN THAT AREA, IT KIND OF DISCOURAGES PEOPLE FROM FIGHTING THEIR WAY, UH, THROUGH WHAT LOOKS LIKE.
I, I HADN'T BEEN OUT THERE FOR A, A LONG TIME AND I, IT WAS LIKE KIND OF A, ALMOST LIKE A BATTLE ZONE TO SOME DEGREE.
'CAUSE IT'S SO WIDE AND SO MUCH CONSTRUCTION.
WHEN THAT CONSTRUCTION CLEARS, OF COURSE, WE'LL ALSO HAVE THE FLYOVER INTO THE, UH, INITIAL H O V TREATMENT IN 2 81.
I THINK THAT'S WHEN WE'LL REALLY START SEEING A RESPONSE.
AND, UH, YOU AND I TALKED FOR A FEW MINUTES ABOUT ADDING SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL STOPS ON THAT NORTH SOUTH RIGHT.
SO WHAT DO YOU ENVISIONING FOR THAT? BECAUSE I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE NORTH SIDE WHO FLY QUITE OFTEN AND, UH, I'VE BEEN ASKED, YOU KNOW, AS A WAY TO USE YOUR FACILITY TO PARK AND GET A RIDE TO THE AIRPORT AND AVOID HAVING TO PARK DOWN THERE, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UH, WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT REALLY IS NOT TAKING, UH, PEOPLE WHO ARE PRIMARILY GOING INTO DOWNTOWN AND DIVERTING THEM.
'CAUSE NOTHING WILL DISCOURAGE YOU FROM CONTINUING THAT ON YOUR COMMUTE DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY.
WE ALL KNOW, LIKE WHEN YOU TAKE A AIRPORT SHUTTLE AND IT STOPS AT FIVE HOTELS, WELL THAT'S FINE IF YOU'RE ONLY GONNA DO THAT ON A VACATION OR ON A BUSINESS TRIP, BUT YOU'RE NOT GONNA WANT TO TRAVEL THAT WAY DAY AFTER DAY.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT A INDEPENDENT ROUTE, WHICH WOULD IN FACT CONNECT THE NOR THE NORTH SIDE, THAT INVESTMENT WE HAVE, UH, TO THE AIRPORT AREA AND THEN OVER TO THE MALL AREA, SO TO CONNECT INTO THE SYSTEM OVER THERE AS WELL.
AND THAT IS PART OF THE C O A PROCESS.
SO WE'LL BE LEARNING MORE ABOUT THAT.
WERE YOU THINKING A YEAR OR TWO, THREE DOWN THE LINE FOR SOME OF THESE THINGS? THE INITIAL OR THE CURRENT PLAN IS THAT AT LEAST SOME OF THE C O A COULD GO IN AS EARLY AS NEXT JANUARY.
AND I JUST WANNA, WANNA THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION, JEFF.
AND, UH, I WANNA ESPECIALLY THANK, UH, MY COLLEAGUE COUNCILMAN SALDANA FOR, FOR REALLY SHOWING SOME LEADERSHIP ON THAT.
UM, I, I THINK YOU REALLY HIT A HOME RUN.
AND, UH, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR, FOR YOUR DILIGENCE ON, ON THIS EFFORT.
YOU CAN SEE IT'S TRULY IMPACTING A LOT OF PEOPLE.
AND, UH, I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT THAT VIDEO TO, TO SHOW, UM, US HERE TODAY.
UM, NOT EVERYBODY GETS, GETS TO, TO SAY THANK YOU AND TO, UM, REFLECT THAT IN, IN, IN THE SERVICES THAT, THAT THEY'RE GETTING TO UTILIZE.
BUT I WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU'RE DOING.
I LOOK FORWARD TO SUPPORTING YOUR FUTURE EFFORTS.
AND, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, I CAN SAY THAT OUR FIELD OFFICE, UH, CERTAINLY APPRECIATES THE NEW BUS SHELTER THAT WE HAVE THERE, AND, AND PEOPLE HAVE USED IT TO COME VISIT OUR FIELD OFFICE FREQUENTLY.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE THINGS WE, WE TALKED TO YOU EARLY ON ABOUT WAS MAKING SURE THAT WE PROVIDED A, A NICE BUS SHELTER THERE AND REAL CONNECTIVITY, UH, TO OUR FIELD OFFICE.
AND IT'S PROVEN TO WORK REALLY, REALLY WELL.
I, I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS THOUGH, LIKE ON, UH, SLIDE NUMBER, I THINK IT'S 11 OR 13, WHERE, WHERE YOU HAVE THE, UH, RIDERSHIP GROWTH ON THE PARTNERSHIP ROUTES.
UM, I THINK YOU GOT A SERIES OF
[00:55:01]
THREE DIFFERENT SLIDES THERE CULMINATING INTO A FINAL ONE.OH, YEAH, I KNOW, I KNOW WHICH ONE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
YOU WANT ME TO SHOW ALL THREE PROBABLY, RIGHT? YEAH.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE, JUST, JUST FOR MY SAKE, UH, UM, THE PERCENTAGES REALLY AREN'T TELLING ME ANYTHING.
MAYBE ON A GRAND SCALE, BUT WHAT I'D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW IS HOW MANY WRITERS, THE ACTUAL NUMBERS, I THINK THAT'S MORE IMPACTFUL THAN SAYING WE HAD A 3% GROWTH OR 20% GROWTH, UH, OVER, LIKE IN AUGUST.
DOES THAT MEAN A HUNDRED RIDERS TO 105 RIDERS? THAT KIND OF THING? I THINK IF YOU PUT THE ACTUAL NUMBERS ON THERE, IT'S MORE IMPACTFUL TO SHOW OKAY, HOW MANY PEOPLE IT'S IMPACTING.
THE PERCENTAGES REALLY DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING.
AND SO, AS I SAID, AT THE VERY END, UH, THERE ARE ABOUT, THERE WERE ABOUT 15,000 TRIPS, AND NOW IT'S ABOUT 20,000 TRIPS.
I'D LOVE TO SEE THOSE NUMBERS UP THERE.
THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING IS, UM, AND YOUR STAFF CAME OVER THE OTHER DAY AND HAD A GREAT CONVERSATION ABOUT IT, BUT, UM, UH, THIS, THIS SHOWS A PARTICULAR RETURN ON INVESTMENT, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
AND I WILL LOVE TO SHOW THAT TO YOU.
AND, AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT ALSO.
YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH ARE WE SPENDING PER RIDER YES.
OUT THERE FOR THIS BUS SERVICE.
AND THEN THE LAST THING I MENTIONED TO 'EM ALSO ABOUT, UH, THESE HEAVY, BIG BUSES GOING ALL OVER THE PLACE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ARE THERE ANY FUTURE PLANS? I KNOW WE'RE TAKING A LOOK AT POSSIBLY, UH, BATTERY OPERATED VEHICLES, BUT MM-HMM.
AND NOT ONLY ON THE BUSES THEMSELVES, BUT ON THE ROADS ALSO.
UM, AND APPRECIATE ALL THESE CONCRETE HARD STANDS THAT Y'ALL HAVE PUT OUT THERE ON THE BUS STOPS THEMSELVES.
BUT YOU LOOK AROUND OUR STREETS HERE, YOU'LL SEE THE REAL IMPACT OF THOSE BUSES TRAVELING DOWN THE STREETS.
AND, UH, WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE THAT AS, IS THAT SOMETHING WE NEED TO LOOK AT STRATEGICALLY DOWN THE ROAD ON MAYBE BACKING OFF ON THE ACTUAL BUS SIZE.
AND I KNOW THERE'S, THERE'S TRADE OFFS, LIKE, WELL, THE BUS SMALLER BUSES COST JUST AS MUCH AS A BIG BUS, THAT KIND OF THING.
BUT THERE'S OTHER IMPACTS THAT GO ALONG WITH THOSE.
SO WE'D REALLY LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AT THE, IN THE FUTURE ALSO.
SO WE ARE, UH, ABOUT TO GO ON THE STREET WITH A ELECTRIC BUS PROCUREMENT, WHICH ARE SOMEWHAT SMALLER BUSES.
UM, IN GENERAL, THE REASON THE INDUSTRY DOESN'T TEND TO GO THAT WAY IS, IS BECAUSE YOU BUY THE, THE FLEET FOR THE PEAK, IF YOU WILL.
AND IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE TO SAY, I'M GONNA HAVE TWO VEHICLES FOR THAT ROUTE.
THESE VE THIS SET OF VEHICLES WE'RE GONNA RUN IN THE, IN THE PEAK AND THIS SET WE'RE GONNA RUN ON THE, IN THE MIDDAY AND THE WEEKEND, BECAUSE YOU'VE ESSENTIALLY BOUGHT TWO, TWO VEHICLES FOR EACH TIME.
UH, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE'S NOT OPPORTUNITIES, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE LOOK AT THE OUTLYING AREAS OF SMALLER BUSES.
ACTUALLY, M O D TO SOME EXTENT, IT'S GONNA REPLACE LARGE BUSES WITH VANS.
BUT I, I'D LIKE TO EXPLORE THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE AND DEEPER IN THE FUTURE FOR OKAY.
FOR VIA, UM, OTHER THAN THAT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UH, NUMBER ONE, I THINK YOU NEED MORE MONEY.
I THINK THIS PROVES THAT YOU'VE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB OF THE RESOURCES THAT WERE GIVEN TO YOU.
UH, AND TO COUNCILMAN SAL'S POINT, UH, THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL VOTED ON THIS, BUT THIS ENTIRE COUNCIL, JUST TO FOLLOW UP WITH HIM, REAFFIRM THAT IN THE LAST BUDGET CYCLE AS WELL.
SO ALL OF US HAVE ALREADY PUT OUR VOTE ON SUPPORTING THIS GOING FORWARD IN THE FUTURE.
AND I WOULD HOPE, UH, THAT THE NEXT COUNCIL DOES THE SAME.
I THINK YOU'VE, YOU'VE SHOWN WHAT IS RARE IN GOVERNMENT NOWADAYS, WHICH IS WHEN, GIVEN THE CASH, I MEAN, CLEAR AND DIRECT RESULTS, THAT SHOWED A DIRECT EFFECT IN PEOPLE'S LIVES.
IT'S NOT OFTEN THAT YOU GET TO SEE THE MONEY GO TO THE LOCATION, THEN SOMETHING TRANSFORMER CHANGE, AND THEN LITERALLY PEOPLE AT THE END OF IT SAYING GOOD THINGS,
SO I MEAN, THIS, YOU, SO YOU KIND OF HIT EVERYTHING REAL KEY.
I THINK YOU, YOU'VE DONE FANTASTIC WORK WITH IT.
IF I WAS, IF I'M WRITING A MA MAJOR TRANSPORTATION PLAN, IT'S, TO ME IT'S HINGED
[01:00:01]
ON VIA.AND OUR ABILITY TO EXPAND THAT TO EVERY PORTION OF THE CITY, UH, AND TO MAKE IT THOSE I, WE SHOULD BE GUNNING FOR, AS YOU KNOW WHAT I WANNA KNOW WHAT'S GONNA COST TO GET HALF THAT DANG SYSTEM OF YOURS TO UNDER 15 MINUTES.
I MEAN, YOU, YOU NEED TO START THINKING BIGGER AND PUSHING FOR MORE CASH.
'CAUSE WE'VE GOT THE MONEY TO ALLOCATE TO IT TRANSPORTATION AND VIA, AS A CORE SERVICE TO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
UH, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DELIVERING ON THAT FOR YOU.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, MORE VOTES IN THE FUTURE.
UH, YOU DIDN'T REALLY HAVE TO PUT THE THREE PEOPLE OR FOUR PEOPLE THERE AT THE END, WHAT THEY SAY WOULD, WHAT THEY SAY TO CITY COUNCIL, BUT YEAH, THAT'S LIKE A MAJOR DEAL CLOSER.
UH, BUT LET'S REALLY, LET'S TALK ABOUT, IF YOU COULD, WE SHOULD COME BACK AND SAY WHAT'S MORE LOOK LIKE? NOT, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU DON'T COME IN HERE JUST ASKING FOR THE 10.
I'M ASKING FOR MORE, AND I'M, I'M HOPING TO LAND SOMEWHERE CLOSE TO IT.
RIGHT? SO LET'S TALK ABOUT PUSHING MORE ROUTES FORWARD AND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE TO GET YOUR SYSTEM WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE, BECAUSE THERE ARE OTHER AVENUES OF FINANCING BEYOND OUR MO, OUR OUR GENERAL FUND DOLLARS THAT WE NEED TO REALLOCATE AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN PUT THIS TOWARDS THIS PIECE.
TRANSPORTATION IS AN EDUCATIONAL PIECE.
IT'S A WORKFORCE JOB CREATION PIECE.
SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT CONTINUES TO BE RECOGNIZED, AND WE FIND YOU MORE MONEY AT THE END OF THE DAY.
COUNCILMAN BROCK, HOUSE, COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL.
THANK YOU, JEFF, FOR, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, AND, UH, FOR COMING BACK TO US WITH THE NUMBERS THAT ARE REALLY COMPELLING AND WITH THE STORIES AND THE, THE DEAL CLOSER.
AND THANK YOU COUNCILMAN, UH, SALANA FOR ORIGINATING ALL OF THIS, UH, BY TAKING THE BUS.
UM, I ACTUALLY LIVE ON, UH, ON A STREET WHERE WE HAVE HOURLY SERVICE.
AND, UH, I KNOW EXACTLY HOW, HOW HARD IT IS, HOW YOU HAVE THE BEST OF INTENTIONS, BUT YOU, YOU MISS IT A COUPLE OF TIMES AND THEN YOU'RE LIKE, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT EVEN GONNA GONNA TRY, UH, ANYMORE.
UM, AND I THINK YOU ALWAYS MAKE A COMPELLING CASE WHEN YOU DESCRIBE THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
UH, FOR INSTANCE, THE, UM, WE HAVE A LOWER, YOU KNOW, IT'S A HALF CENT TAX COMPARED TO A FULL CENT.
AND THEN WE'RE DEALING WITH A LOWER TAX BASE MM-HMM.
SO THAT'S MUL THAT EFFECT IS REALLY MULTIPLIED.
AND, UM, THE, THE LACK OF FIXED GUIDEWAY FUNDING AS WELL.
NOW, WHEN THE B WHEN THE PRIMO ROUTE WAS BEING DEVELOPED, UH, DID YOU CONS OR DID, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WERE HERE, UH, YET.
SO I GUESS, WHY ISN'T IT A FIXED GUIDEWAY SYSTEM ON, ON FREDERICKSBURG OR A DEDICATED, YOU KNOW, RIGHT OF WAY ON PARTS OF FREDERICKSBURG? SO I WAS NOT HERE AT THAT TIME.
AND THERE MAY BE PEOPLE WHO COULD ANSWER THAT, BUT I CAN'T.
UM, SO, UH, ONE THING THAT, UH, OH, BY THE WAY, UM, COUNCILMAN LANYA CHAIRS THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE FOR COUNCIL, AND ONE OF OUR RECENT TOPICS OF DISCUSSION WAS APPLYING FOR CMAC FUNDING MM-HMM.
AND ONE OF THE ELIGIBLE, UH, FUNDING CATEGORIES IS MORE FREQUENT, UH, TRANSPORTATION, UH, TRANSIT SERVICE.
SO AS, UM, I BELIEVE YOU'LL BE APPLYING FOR THAT.
AND WE ARE WORKING WITH CITY STAFF ON THAT.
I'M GLAD WE'RE, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT.
UM, SO, SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THAT STRUCK ME IS WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DOLLAR, UH, COST PER HOUR OF OUR SERVICE, I KNOW WE HAVE LESS MONEY TO WORK WITH.
I THINK IT'S, UM, SORRY, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT IS, UH, COMPARED TO THE OTHER TRANSIT SYSTEMS, THE SALES TAX, THE 188 MILLION, UM, SERVICE COSTS, OH, I'M, I MAY HAVE MISINTERPRETED THIS.
HOW MUCH IT COSTS US TO RUN AN HOUR OF SERVICE.
VERSUS HOW MUCH IT COSTS OTHER OTHERS TO RUN AN HOUR SERVICE AGENCY TO RUN AN HOUR OF SERVICE AND OPERATING EXPENSE PER REVENUE HOUR.
SO WE'RE BELOW THE OTHER ONES ALWAYS.
UM, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN THAT OUR CUSTOMERS AREN'T GETTING, THAT? OTHERS ARE GETTING FOR THAT? WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THE, THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS THE CUSTOMERS ARE NOT, NOT GETTING ANYTHING.
I MEAN, ASIDE FROM OBVIOUSLY THE TOTAL DOLLARS INFLUENCE FREQUENCY, RIGHT.
ASIDE FROM THAT, UH, WHAT'S HAPPENING IS THE STAFF IS NOT GETTING SLEEP.
BUT THEY DON'T LET ME DRIVE A BUS.
UH, WE DO HAVE A VERY FLAT ORGANIZATION.
AND THE EXAMPLE I'LL GIVE YOU IS THAT HOUSTON METRO, UH, THEIR BOARD CHALLENGED THE STAFF TO COM TO BENCHMARK THEIR STAFFING LEVELS.
AND SO I GOT, YOU KNOW, I USED TO WORK THERE, SO I GOT A CALL FROM PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME, SEND ME YOUR ORG CHARTS.
SO I SENT THEM THE ORG CHARTS AND THEY CALL ME BACK.
NO, WE NEED ALL THE ORG CHARTS.
[01:05:01]
PROMISE YOU THAT VIA WAS NOT PART OF THEIR BENCHMARK.UM, AND ANY DISCUSSIONS REGARDING LATE NIGHT SERVICE? YES.
THAT'S, AGAIN, SO I'M, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO BRINGING THE C O A HERE BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF THE, YOU KNOW, REINVESTMENT.
UH, WHEN YOU REMOVE SOME OF THOSE OTHER SERVICES OR YOU, YOU REPLACE THEM WITH SOMETHING THAT COSTS LESS, THAT'S PART OF THE REINVESTMENT.
MORE WEEKEND SERVICE, LATER NIGHT SERVICE, MORE FREQUENT SERVICE.
NOW YOU'LL GET THE BIGGEST BANG ON, UH, WITHOUT DOUBT, THE MORE FREQUENT SERVICE DURING THE MAIN TIME OF THE DAY, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE GONNA GET THE BIG BANG.
AND I'LL TELL YOU, HOUSTON, WHEN THEY DID THEIR, THEY DID A C O A, THE BIGGEST RESULT THEY GOT WAS ON WEEKENDS BECAUSE THEY DOUBLED THEIR WEEKEND SERVICE AND THEY GOT A 50% INCREASE IN RIDERSHIP.
AND, AND THOSE WERE, UM, PEOPLE WRITING TO WORK, DO YOU IMAGINE? OR PEOPLE WRITING FOR PROBABLY A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING.
UM, SO LAST QUESTION TO, TO WRAP IT UP IS, YOUR PART OF YOUR TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE RESOURCE TEAM FOR CONNECT SA MM-HMM.
SO CAN YOU JUST PROVIDE THAT LINK FOR ME FROM WHAT WE SAW? HOW ARE WE GOING TO IMPROVE THAT? IF CONNECT SA COMES THROUGH, IS THAT GOING TO HELP WITH ADDITIONAL FREQUENCY OR IS IT JUST THE, THE ROUTES? SO, UH, CONNECT SA AS IT IS TODAY, AS I, YOU KNOW, AND THEY'RE AN INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION, WE SIMPLY HAVE BEEN PROVIDING SUPPORT, IF YOU WILL, AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION, HAVE PUT FORWARD A BLUEPRINT FOR HOW THE VARI AND ACTUALLY COUNCILMAN GONZALEZ, IT REALLY FITS YOUR MODEL, WHICH IS RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, HAVE, HERE'S HIGHWAYS, HERE'S MICRO MOBILITY, WHICH COULD BE THE SCOOTERS OR THE BIKES, AND HERE'S TRANSIT.
AND IT TRIES TO COM BRING THEM TOGETHER AS A SYSTEM.
SO ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF CONNECT SA IS TO DEVELOP AN APP THAT WOULD GO ACROSS ALL MODES FROM A TRIP PLANNING AND A, UH, SERVICE PURCHASING PERSPECTIVE.
AND JUST, UM, I WANTED TO COMMENT A LITTLE BIT ON THE COUNCIL WOMAN'S QUESTION REGARDING, UM, HAVING STRONGER SERVICE IN THE CORE OR ELIMINATING SERVICE OUT OUTSIDE OF THE CORE.
AND I THINK, I THINK IT'S GREAT TO HAVE STRONGER SERVICE IN THE CORE.
YOU'VE GOT GRIDDED STREETS, YOU CAN RUN A LOT MORE EFFICIENTLY THERE THAN YOU CAN OUT IN, IN THE SUBURBS.
I MEAN, A LOT OF OUR CITY, YOU KNOW, FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD, RIGHT? UH, AS A RESULT OF LOTS OF ANNEXATIONS IS OUTSIDE OF FOUR 10 TODAY, AND SO ARE MANY EMPLOYMENT CENTERS, UM, TODAY.
SO I JUST, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE HOW THAT WOULD WORK OUT IN, IN THE LONG RUN IF WE CAN'T CONNECT THE EMPLOYMENT CENTERS TO, TO WHERE PEOPLE, TO WHERE PEOPLE LIVE.
SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT A C O A, WHAT IS THAT COMPREHENSIVE OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS, WHICH TAKES A LOOK AT, IF YOU SAID THAT TRYING TO DRIVE FREQUENCY IS YOUR PRIMARY GOAL, AND YET YOU WANT TO WORK AT AT LEAST MAINTAINING REASONABLE COVERAGE OR OPTIONS, HOW, HOW COULD YOU PUT THAT TOGETHER? MM-HMM.
AND SO I WILL TELL YOU 'CAUSE BE I, I WAS THINKING ABOUT COUNCILMAN, UH, OUR COUNCILWOMAN, UH, GONZALEZ'S QUESTION ABOUT, WELL, HOW THESE ROUTES ARE OUT THERE.
IS IT 'CAUSE OF POLITICAL PRESSURE? IS IT BECAUSE OF WHAT I WILL TELL YOU THAT IN THE IMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF A C O A, THAT'S WHERE YOU WILL START.
I, IF WE IMPLEMENT A C O A THAT SAYS, WE'RE GONNA TAKE THIS ROUTE AWAY IN ORDER TO PUT THIS, THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL START, UH, HEARING THE RESPONSES.
AND AGAIN, I'LL GO TO HOUSTON WHO DID A BIG C O A, UM, THEY PUT FORWARD A PLAN AND IN THE LAST MINUTE THEY PUT $13 MILLION WORTH OF SERVICE BACK ON THE STREET BECAUSE OF THE PUBLIC CONCERN.
SO THAT WILL BE THE TRADE OFF.
BECAUSE EVEN WHEN YOU NEED TO CUT ROUTES IN, IN PLACES THAT ARE ALREADY SATURATED TO SOME EXTENT WITH, WITH BUS SERVICE, PEOPLE WILL FIND AN ALTERNATIVE.
WHETHER IT'S THREE BLOCKS THAT WAY OR THREE BLOCKS THAT WAY MM-HMM.
BUT WHEN YOU ELIMINATE A WHOLE SWATH AND THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE RIGHT.
THEN, YOU KNOW, IT'S EITHER A CAB OR FINDING A, A NEW JOB REALLY.
OR, OR BUYING A CAR, WHICH OF COURSE EATS INTO RIGHT.
WELL, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, JEFF FOR, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I THINK YOU DID AN EXCELLENT JOB.
AGAIN, YOU, WE ARE THE MOST CHALLENGED TRANSIT SYSTEM IN, IN THE STATE, IN ANY OF THE METRO AREAS.
AND I KNOW EVERY TIME YOU COME TALK TO US, WE'RE ASKING YOU TO DO MORE WITH, UH, WHEN YOU TELL US, I HAVE LESS, AND WE ALWAYS TELL YOU TO DO MORE, AND YOU ARE DO IT SO GRACIOUSLY.
BUT WE HAVE, I WOULD SAY WE HAVE GREAT HOPES FOR OUR TRANSIT SYSTEM WITH YOU AT THE HELM AND WITH THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO MAKE, UM, FROM, FROM HERE, FROM CITY COUNCIL.
BUT I, I HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, UH, WHILE I SAID THE STAFF DOESN'T SLEEP, I HAVE A WONDERFUL STAFF, UH, VIA HAS A WONDERFUL STAFF.
YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL STAFF, AND, AND IT,
[01:10:01]
IT'S ALL OF THAT STAFF PULLING TOGETHER THAT GETS IT DONE.JUST A FOLLOW UP THAT I WANTED TO ASK.
UH, I KNOW PETER OR ERIC, UH, THIS IS, I THINK ONE OF THESE ISSUES THAT WOULD BE WORTH A, A FOLLOW UP DISCUSSION IN THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE.
AND, AND SINCE I KNOW THAT THERE'S SOME FOLKS IN THE ROOM HERE, LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, BRIAN DILLARD, WHO'S THE NEXT, UH, UH, CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER, UH, I THINK IT, IT HELPS WHEN YOU GET SMART PEOPLE IN A ROOM TO JUST SAY, LET'S KIND OF, LET'S KIND OF SPITBALL THE IDEA OF WHAT, WHAT IMAGINATION CAN PUT TOGETHER IF WE WERE TO CONSIDER, UH, THE, UH, A WINDFALL OF SUPPORT.
NOT ALL HAS TO COME FROM THE CITY, BUT WHAT THE EXERCISE IS IMPORTANT IS AS I, I THINK IS THE POINT THAT I'M MAKING ABOUT WONDERING AND DREAMING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU HAD EXTRA RESOURCES AND EXTRA, UH, INVESTMENT TO MAKE THE C O A, I THINK IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE CURIOUS ABOUT.
UH, IT'D BE, I THINK I'M EAGER TO KNOW WHAT, WHAT YOU COULD DO PASS THE C O A INTO THE FUTURE.
IF THAT MEANS WEEKEND SERVICE, 24 HOUR SERVICE, UH, DOUBLING DOWN INTO SOME OF THE, THE CORRIDORS OR DEDICATED ROUTES.
UH, I THINK I'D REALLY LIKE OUR, OUR, UH, INNOVATION OFFICE TO HELP US THINK ABOUT THAT LONG TERM, UH, NOT JUST IN, WITHIN ONE BUDGET CYCLE.
SO I'VE, I'LL ASK THAT OF PETER IF HE'S HERE, AND ERIC, IF WE CAN GET IT ON THE AGENDA.
AND, AND FINALLY, THE, THE OTHER PIECE, UM, UH, I, I MADE A MISTAKE AND, AND IN SAYING, UM, THAT THIS WAS, THIS COUNCIL, IN PARTICULAR, THE FOLKS AROUND THE TABLE TODAY ARE, ARE PROBABLY THE FOLKS WHO HAVE REAFFIRMED THIS MORE THAN MOST, UH, EACH IN EACH ONE OF OUR BUDGET CYCLES.
UH, AND SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO SAY THAT WE APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT WE GET TO HAVE THIS PRESENTATION SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE YOU PUNCHED YES.
AND WE HOPE THAT FUTURE COUNCILS WILL DO THE SAME.
THAT WAS A GOOD FIRST ONE, RIGHT?
UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL THIS AFTERNOON.
THE, THE SECOND ITEM IS, UH, IS A PRESENTATION FROM, UH, A CONSULTANT, UH, COUNCIL AUTHORIZED A CONTRACT WITH THEM LAST YEAR, UH, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAN ANTONIO URBAN LIGHTING MASTER PLAN.
UM, TOTAL COST OF THE PLAN WAS, UH, HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
THE CITY PAID FOR HALF OF THAT, AND C P S CONTRIBUTED THE OTHER HALF.
UM, THE, THE MASTER PLAN IS, UH, INTENDED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR THE UPGRADER REPLACEMENT OF LIGHTING SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE EN ENTIRE CITY.
UH, THE CONSULTANTS HAVE WORKED CLOSELY WITH C C D O PARKS, T C I, ARTS AND CULTURAL, UM, SINCE LAST YEAR, UH, RESULTING IN, UM, APPROPRIATE LIGHTING STANDARDS THAT, UH, THEY'LL BE SHARING WITH YOU FOR OUR DOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOODS, PARKS AND PUBLIC ARTS PROJECTS.
UH, JOHN JACKS IS GONNA START US OFF AND WILL, UH, CLOSE US UP AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, BEFORE WE GET STARTED, I'D LIKE TO, UH, INTRODUCE SOME IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THE ROOM.
UM, ERIC'S MENTIONED A FEW OF THEM.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, OUR CONSULTANTS, UH, DEAN ALDERSON AND RANDY BURQUETTE, UM, ARE HERE TODAY.
RANDY WILL BE GIVING, UM, A PRESENTATION.
UM, I'M GONNA INTRODUCE HIM AND HE'LL, UM, KIND OF DIVE INTO THE DETAILS, UH, OF THE PLAN.
UM, ERIC ALSO MENTIONED THAT C P S, UH, DID PAY FOR HALF OF THE STUDY.
UM, C P S IS A VERY IMPORTANT STAKEHOLDER, UM, AND IS PART OF OUR TEAM, UM, AT C C D O.
REALLY, WE'RE THE CHAMPIONS FOR DOWNTOWN, AND IT'S REALLY MY JOB, UM, TO CHEER ON, UH, THESE TEAM MEMBERS AS THEY IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN, UH, THROUGH THEIR VARIOUS PROJECTS.
UM, SO THERE'S MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THIS AND THAT WILL HELP IMPLEMENT THE PLAN.
UM, AND THEY'RE ALL REPRESENTED HERE TODAY.
UH, DEBBIE IS HERE WITH ARTS AND CULTURE.
UH, JORGE IS HERE, UH, FROM D S D RAZZI WITH T C I, UM, HOMER WITH PARKS AND REC, UH, RUSSELL WITH FINANCE.
AND FINALLY, UH, BRIAN DILLARD FROM INNOVATION IS ALSO PART OF THIS, UM, 'CAUSE DOWNTOWN IS A INNOVATION ZONE.
UM, SO AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S OUR JOB AT C C D O TO CHEER THEM ON, UM, AS THEY IMPLEMENT, UH, THE, THE, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THIS PLAN AND THE VARIOUS PROJECTS, UH, IN THE FUTURE AS THEY GO FORWARD.
UH, SO I'LL DIVE INTO THIS REAL QUICK, KIND OF, UH, GO OVER HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
UM, REALLY THIS STARTED WITH A C P S STREETLIGHT REPLACEMENT.
UM, THAT WAS, UH, REALLY CITYWIDE.
IT WAS UPGRADING THE LIGHTS, UM, TO L E D.
UM, AND, UM, WE WERE ASKED TO STAFF TO PUT THAT PROJECT ON HOLD, UM, SPECIFICALLY FOR THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
UH, SO WE COULD HIRE A CONSULTANT AND DO A STUDY, UM, TO REALLY,
[01:15:01]
UM, LOOK AT DOWNTOWN AND LOOK AT WHAT WAS APPROPRIATE FROM A, NOT ONLY A LIGHTING LEVEL, UM, BUT ALSO THE COLOR OF THE LIGHTS.UH, SO ON FEBRUARY 8TH, 2018, UH, YOU ALL APPROVED A CONTRACT WITH, UH, ALDERSON AND ASSOCIATES, UH, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE URBAN LIGHTING MASTER PLAN.
UM, AND THAT AS PART OF ALDERSON TEAM THAT ALSO INCLUDED RANDY BURQUETTE, UM, WHO WAS A, A LIGHTING CONSULTANT.
UM, AND AGAIN, C P S AND THE CITY SPLIT THE COST, UH, FOR THIS PROJECT.
THE PROJECT, UH, THE LIGHTING STUDY INCLUDED, UM, UH, NOT JUST A STUDY, BUT ALSO MOCK-UPS OF BUILDINGS DOWNTOWN.
'CAUSE WE WANTED TO LOOK AT, UM, NOT ONLY LIGHTING AS IT, UM, UM, IS IMPLEMENTED THROUGH STREETLIGHTS AND PEDESTRIAN LIGHTS, BUT ALSO HOW LIGHTING PLAYS A ROLE ON THE BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN.
UH, SO THEY STUDIED EXISTING CONDITIONS, UH, IN THIS STUDY AREA, WHICH WAS LARGELY MADE UP OF THE DOWNTOWN, UH, PLUS THE KING WILLIAM AND LAVACCA NEIGHBORHOODS.
UH, THEY ALSO IMPLEMENTED TEMPORARY LIGHTING ON THREE BUILDINGS, UH, TO DEMONSTRATE THE IMPACT OF THE QUALITY OF LIGHTING.
UH, THE MASTER PLAN EFFORT HAS RESULTED IN THE GUIDELINES FOR LIGHTING.
THESE GLIDE GUIDELINES INFORM DOWNTOWN STREET PROJECTS, LIGHTING PROJECTS IN THE PARKS, LIGHTING OF ART INSTALLATIONS, AND LIGHTING FOR URBAN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS.
UH, SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO TURN IT OVER TO RANDY, WHO IS GONNA KIND OF GET INTO THE DETAILS OF THE PLAN AND GO OVER SOME OF THE, UH, TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF IT.
UH, MAYOR, HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL AND FRIENDS AND GUESTS.
AS JOHN POINTED OUT FOR THE PAST 12 MONTHS, OUR TEAM LED BY, UH, ALDERSON ASSOCIATES, UH, HAS SPEARHEADED A MASTERPLAN LIGHTING STUDY FOR THE DOWNTOWN, UH, AREA.
AND WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE SPECIFICS TODAY, BUT MY HOPE IS IN THE NEXT 20 MINUTES TO GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, SOME OF THE RESULTS, AND WHERE WE FEEL WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THIS POINT.
UH, THE PROJECT, UH, BEGAN, AS I MENTIONED IN FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR, EXCUSE ME.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, WE'VE DONE MASTER PLANS IN OTHER CITIES AND WORKED WITH OTHER COMMUNITIES IN SOLVING LIGHTING PROBLEMS. UH, I HAVE TO COMMEND SAN ANTONIO FOR DECIDING TO CRAFT A MASTER PLAN FOR LIGHTING.
OFTENTIMES LIGHTING BECOMES A PATCHWORK QUILT OF GOOD AND BAD LIGHTING THROUGH A DOWNTOWN OR A CITY CORE.
THAT'S NOT GONNA BE THE CASE HERE BECAUSE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DO A MASTER PLAN.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE, UM, I, THIS IS THE ONLY THING I'M GONNA READ OFF THE SCREEN TODAY.
THE VERY FIRST STATEMENT, URBAN LIGHTING MASTER PLAN, DEFINED THE ROLE OF ILLUMINATION IN SUPPORTING, SUSTAINING, AND NURTURING THE NIGHTTIME URBAN ENVIRONMENT.
NOW, THAT SOUNDS RATHER LOFTY, AND OFTENTIMES IT'S REDUCED TO SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS NUMBERS.
HOW MUCH LIGHT DO I HAVE? HOW MANY FOOT CANDLES, UH, WHAT'S THE COLOR OF MY LIGHT? AND, UH, AND SO ON.
BUT AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, OR MAYBE, UH, DON'T REALLY REALIZE, OR, UH, CONSCIOUSLY THINK ABOUT IS THAT LIGHTING IS FAR MORE THAN HOW MUCH LIGHT.
IN FACT, OFTENTIMES, HOW MUCH LIGHT CAN BE A MISLEADING INDICATOR OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE GOOD LIGHTING.
YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT IN THE COMING MOMENTS.
SO THE, YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN IN FRONT OF YOU, THE, THE BASIC BOUNDARY LINE OF THE STUDY AREA FOR THIS PROJECT.
AND I WON'T GO THROUGH THAT IN DETAIL AS YOU, YOU'VE, UH, SOUGHT LAST YEAR WHEN YOU APPROVE THIS.
UM, AND THIS WAS THE, WHERE WE SET OUT TO DO OUR WORK.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF KEY EVENTS LEADING TO TODAY.
WE MENTIONED WE WERE HIRED BACK IN FEBRUARY.
UH, THE FIRST THING WE DID WAS START TO GATHER OPINION AND STAKEHOLDER INPUT.
AND THAT, THAT PROCESS WAS ACTUALLY ONGOING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROJECT.
MUCH OF IT TOOK PLACE UPFRONT BECAUSE WE NEEDED TO KNOW CERTAIN THINGS FROM STAKEHOLDERS, BE THEY, UM, UH, A SPECIFIC DEPARTMENT WITHIN THE CITY OR AN INDIVIDUAL IN THE STREET WHO USES THIS AREA, WHAT LIGHTING MEANT TO THEM, AND WHAT ELEMENTS OF LIGHTING WERE IMPORTANT TO THEM AS STAKEHOLDERS.
IN FACT, WE HAD THREE PUBLIC OUTREACHES DURING THIS PROCESS.
AND, UH, EACH ONE WAS, I THINK, PRETTY WELL ATTENDED.
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED AS HARD TO GET PEOPLE OUT FOR THESE KINDS OF THINGS IN THE EVENINGS AFTER A HARD DAY OF WORK.
BUT WE HAD PRETTY GOOD ATTENDANCE AND REALLY GOOD INPUT FROM EVERYONE FROM, UH, AS I MENTIONED, STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CITY, C P S AND SO FORTH.
BUT WE ALSO HAD INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED THE PRESS AND ELSEWHERE.
IN FACT, WE HAD, UH, UH, PEOPLE WHO
[01:20:01]
KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LIGHTING.THEY REALLY CAME TO BE EDUCATED.
UH, WE HAD ONE SESSION, YOU HEARD IT MENTIONED WHERE WE DID NEAR THE END OF THE PROJECT, WHERE WE ACTUALLY MOCKED UP LIGHTING ON BUILDINGS TO DEMONSTRATE THE POWER AND THE, UM, BENEFITS OF LIGHTING ARCH, THE HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE OF SAN ANTONIO.
ONE LAST THING, UH, BECAUSE WE COULDN'T REACH AS MANY PEOPLE FACE-TO-FACE, WE DID AN ONLINE SURVEY, AND WE HAD OVER 400 PEOPLE ANSWER THAT SURVEY.
AND I WON'T SHOW YOU THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS TODAY, YOU'LL SEE THEM IN THE FINAL REPORT.
BUT THE THING THAT REALLY, UH, BOYED ME IN THIS PROCESS WAS THAT ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WAS, WHAT ROLE DOES LIGHTING PLAY IN YOUR DECISION MAKING DOWNTOWN? AND WE FOUND THAT THROUGH VARIOUS QUESTIONS THAT AS, AS MANY AS THREE-FOURTHS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK, OR USE DOWNTOWN AS A RESOURCE FOR, UH, ENTERTAINMENT, RECREATION, AND SO FORTH, THREE QUARTERS OF THEM FELT THAT LIGHTING PLAYED SOME ROLE IN THEIR DECISION MAKING, WHETHER IT WAS A POSITIVE DECISION OR A NEGATIVE.
I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THERE'S ENOUGH LIGHT.
AND I THOUGHT THOSE WERE REALLY STRONG CORNERSTONES WITH, WITH WHAT, FOR WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO DO.
SO LET ME JUST GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
I'M GONNA GO THROUGH RATHER RAPIDLY, BUT WE'LL HAVE A CHANCE FOR QUESTIONS HERE IN A FEW MINUTES.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, THERE WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION NOT ONLY TO GATHER FROM INDIVIDUALS, BUT WE CONDUCTED, UH, ABOUT FOUR MONTHS OF INFIELD SURVEY WORK.
MOSTLY, MOSTLY DONE BY MY COLLEAGUES TEAM, UH, UH, ALDERSON AND ASSOCIATES.
AND THAT INCLUDED MEASUREMENTS, OF COURSE, THAT QUANTITY I MENTIONED EARLIER, BUT IT ALSO WAS OBSERVATIONAL EQUIPMENT.
WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT IS THERE AT NIGHT? IS THERE, IS THERE A LOT OF GLARE COMING FROM A LUMIN AIR? IS IT NON-UNIFORM LIGHT? HOW DO PEOPLE, DO PEOPLE AVOID CERTAIN AREAS BECAUSE THEY OF A CERTAIN TYPE OF LIGHT? ALL OF THOSE SORTS OF ANECDOTAL THINGS WERE AS IMPORTANT TO US AS WE'RE MEASUREMENTS AND OTHER THINGS ABOUT THE UNIQUE QUALITY OF LIGHT.
IN THE DOWNTOWN, THERE REALLY WERE FOUR MAJOR COMPONENTS.
YOU CAN SEE THEM THERE ON THE SCREEN, SEE THEM ON THE SCREEN STREET SCAPES, WHICH WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK LIGHT, UH, FOR PEDESTRIANS AND VEHICLES AND, AND BICYCLES AND SO FORTH.
BUT WE ALSO LOOKED VERY CLOSELY AT CITY PARKS AS PART OF OUR ORIGINAL CHARGE.
AND WE ALSO FOUND THAT, UH, ISSUES ABOUT CIVIC ART, PUBLIC ART, IF YOU WILL, UH, BUILDING FACADES AND OTHER STRUCTURES IN DOWNTOWN WERE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE ENTIRE PROJECT.
WE DID NOT WANT TO BE MYOPIC IN THE WAY WE LOOKED AT THIS PROJECT.
I SHOW THIS A LOT OF TIMES, SLIDES LIKE THIS TO CITIES.
AND I THINK THAT THIS PARTICULAR ONE, WE OFTEN LOOK AT A STREET SCENE LIKE YOU SEE HERE.
AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LIGHTING OFTEN VERY QUICKLY, THAT CONVERSATION IS REDUCED TO HOW MUCH LIGHT DO I HAVE ON THE STREET? HOW MUCH LIGHT DO I HAVE ON THE SIDEWALK? IS THAT'S WHAT I NEED TO KNOW.
WELL, THAT'S ONLY 15% OF WHAT THE HUMAN EYE SEES IN A STREET SCHEME.
WE HAVE TO CONTROL TO THE DEGREE POSSIBLE, WHAT GOES ON AROUND US IN ORDER TO MAKE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT.
THE PERCEPTION OF SAFETY AND SECURITY, THESE ARE ALL ELEMENTS IMPACTED BY THE QUALITY OF LIGHT, NOT JUST HOW MUCH LIGHT WHERE IT IS.
ONE OF THE, UH, I KNOW THAT PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED ANY OF THESE SESSIONS KNOW THAT I DRILLED THIS INTO THOSE WHO, UH, WHO WERE IN, IN, IN, UH, IN ATTENDANCE.
AND THAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING GLARE.
GLARE IS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ADVENT OF LEDS, WHICH ARE FRANKLY THE MOST EFFICIENT LIGHT SOURCE EVER CREATED ON EARTH, UH, THAT CAN BE USED FOR, UH, BENEFIT.
BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE SO POWERFUL AND STRONG, YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL IN HOW THEY'RE USED.
EVERYONE HAS, EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM HAS EXPERIENCED GLARE IN SOME WAY, WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT, OR WHETHER YOU RECOGNIZE IT AS THAT WORD.
WE ALL HAVE SEEN IT VERY QUICKLY.
AN EXAMPLE, YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN A HIGHWAY AT NIGHT, RURAL HIGHWAY.
YOU'RE DRIVING, YOUR HEADLIGHTS ARE ON THE, THE, THE LANE IN FRONT OF YOU.
OKAY, SOMEONE COMES YOUR DIRECTION, THEIR HEADLIGHTS ARE ON.
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE MUCH BETTER, SHOULDN'T YOU? IN FACT, YOU'RE SQUINTING BECAUSE THOSE ARE SO BRIGHT.
YOUR EYES ARE ADAPTED TO A DARK SURROUND THAT IS GLARE.
GLARE IS DEBILITATING TO THE VISUAL SYSTEM AND MAKE, IT MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT TO SEE.
NOT ONLY THAT, THE PERCEPTION WHEN WITH GLARE IN YOUR LINE OF SIGHT AND ENVISION GLARE MAKES IT NOT ONLY MORE DIFFICULT TO SEE, BUT IT'S, IT ALSO MAKES YOU UNSURE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.
SO I MENTIONED THE FOUR COMPONENTS, STREET SCAPES.
UH, WE, AGAIN, I WON'T GO THE THROUGH THESE THINGS, BULLET BY BULLET, BUT WE DID A, UH, A LOT OF RESEARCH IN THE EXISTING SURVEY IN SURVEYING THE CITY.
UH, WE SELECTED STREETS THAT WERE REPRESENTATIVE AROUND THE SCOPE AREA, 30 DIFFERENT BLOCKS THAT WERE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STREETS IN GENERAL, THROUGHOUT THIS SCOPE AREA.
WE FOUND MANY DIFFERENT THINGS.
SOME WERE AT WITH, SOME WEREN'T.
UH, WE NOTED DEFICIENCIES AS WE DID THIS.
[01:25:01]
STRENGTHS, BUT WE WERE REALLY INTERESTED IN WHAT WASN'T WORKING TOO.AS WE WERE DEVELOPING THIS, WE ESTABLISHED CRITERIA.
UH, AS WE STARTED TO LEARN FROM WHAT IS IN SAN ANTONIO, WE COMPARED IT TO DESIGN PRACTICE, THE KIND OF PRACTICE THAT WE ALL, UH, WE DO AS PROFESSIONALS, AND HOW CITIES ARE STARTING TO USE LIGHTING FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY IN THEIR DOWNTOWNS.
AND WE WERE ABLE TO CONSTRUCT, UH, AS I MENTIONED, A SET OF CRITERIA TO FOLLOW.
AND WE DON'T HAVE NUMBERS HERE, BUT JUST IN GENERAL, YOU CAN SEE THE CATEGORIES.
UH, BUT ALSO, UH, WE ESTABLISHED THAT THERE WERE THREE OR FOUR MAJOR ELEMENTS THAT WERE IMPORTANT TO THE PLANNING OF LIGHTING DOWNTOWN, UH, IN THE SCOPE ZONE, A SCOPE AREA.
WE FELT THAT THERE WERE PROBABLY A HIERARCHICAL RELATIONSHIP OF POLES.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT BEING A A, A DRIVER ON A STREET, YOU WANNA BE ABLE TO SEE WHERE YOU'RE GOING.
IF SOMEBODY WALKS IN FRONT OF YOU, WANNA BE ABLE TO SEE THEM.
THOSE ARE TECHNICAL, UH, TASKS OF LIGHTING.
YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO REVEAL WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU.
A PEDESTRIAN MAY HAVE, IT DOES HAVE VERY DIFFERENT NEEDS.
THEY WANNA SEE WHO'S WALKING TOWARD THEM.
THEY WANNA SEE WHO THEY'RE WITH.
THEY WANNA BE ABLE TO SEE WHERE THEY STEP OFF THE CURB.
THOSE ARE, AGAIN, FUNCTIONAL THINGS.
BUT THERE ARE PSYCHOLOGICAL THINGS AND OTHER QUALITATIVE ASPECTS INVOLVED.
SO, AS I MENTIONED, LIGHT POLE TOPOGRAPHY, WE CALL IT.
THERE WILL BE HIGH POLES, THERE WILL BE PEDE, THERE SHOULD BE PEDESTRIAN SCALED POLES.
THINK OF HOUSTON STREET, WHERE THE SCALE IS MUCH LOWER AND IT'S MUCH MORE RELATABLE BY, BY PEDESTRIANS AND PEOPLE USING SIDEWALKS.
AND IT MAKES IT FEEL MORE OF A COMMUNITY, UH, A COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE FELT THAT MID HEIGHT POLES ALSO SERVED A PURPOSE ON SOME OF YOUR STREETS, AND YOU'VE STARTED TO DO SOME OF THAT ALREADY TO VARIOUS DEGREES OF SUCCESS.
UH, ANOTHER THING WITH L E D SOURCES ARE SUCH THAT WE CAN CREATE ALMOST ANY LIGHT COLOR WE WANT.
AND WE KNOW THAT IN, UH, THE EARLY DAYS OF LEDS, THE COOL COLOR TEMPERATURES, WE CALL THEM, THEY'RE HIGHER NUMBERS.
4,000, 5,000 DEGREES KELVIN, I, I WON'T USE THAT NUMBER TOO MUCH.
BUT, UH, THE COOLER SOURCES WERE MORE EFFICIENT AND DID PRODUCE MORE LIGHT TODAY.
NOW THAT FA THAT THE IMPROVEMENTS IN LEDS, YOU CAN HAVE GOOD, WARM, INVITING COLOR, ESPECIALLY IN RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES WITHOUT SACRIFICING EFFICIENCY AND INTENSITY.
SO THE QUA, THE QUANTITATIVE CAN BE MET, WHICH IS WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT AS BEING ONE ASPECT, BUT THE QUALITY OF THE LIGHT COLOR RENDERING.
WHAT DOES YOUR FLESH TONE LOOK LIKE? WHAT IS, CAN YOU TELL WHERE YOUR CAR IS PARKED BY ITS COLOR? IMMEDIATELY? THE VISUAL CUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THE DOWNTOWN ENVIRONMENT, WHETHER YOU'RE LIVING THERE, WORKING THERE, OR PERHAPS OUT IN AN EVENING FOR A RESTAURANT OR, UH, AN EVENT.
AS WE, UM, SORTED THROUGH ALL THE STREET, UH, TYPES WITHIN THE SCOPE ZONE, WE, UH, NOTED THAT WE COULD DIVIDE THEM INTO BASICALLY FOUR MAJOR COMPONENTS WITH SOME VARIANCE WITHIN THAT.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN, UM, THE, THE THREE, UH, TERMS ARE MINOR STREETS, SECONDARY STREETS, AND WHAT WE CALL THROUGHWAYS.
LEMME JUST DESCRIBE THESE VERY BRIEFLY.
A MINOR STREET IS ONE THAT IS PRINCIPALLY FOR, IS A, IS A, UM, A DESTINATION.
OFTENTIMES IT'S RESIDENTIAL, OR IT'S A SMALL, UH, COMMERCIAL STREET WITH RETAIL AND SO FORTH.
THESE ARE AREAS WHERE PEOPLE COME TO DWELL, OR IN SOME CASES, LIVE.
THESE MINOR STREETS TYPICALLY DON'T NEED AS MUCH LIGHT BECAUSE TRAFFIC IS MUCH SLOWER.
THERE ARE FEWER CONFLICT AREAS WHERE SOMEONE MIGHT GET HIT BY A CAR.
SO FUNCTIONALLY SPEAKING, THE INTENSITY DOESN'T NEED TO BE AS HIGH.
NOW, COMPARE THAT WITH THE UPPER END, WHICH WE CALL A THROUGHWAY.
UH, AND THAT MEANS THAT'S PRINCIPALLY FOR VEHICLES.
AND YES, THERE MAY BE PEDESTRIANS AT CROSSWALKS AND INTERSECTIONS, AND YOU HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT.
BUT THE THROUGHWAYS ARE, ARE MORE FOR VEHICULAR OR DRIVERS MAKING DECISIONS IN THE VISUAL FIELD.
WELL, THERE'S, I SEE, I SEE SOMETHING IN THE STREET.
I HAVE TO SLOW DOWN, OR I'M LOOKING FOR A STREET SIGN.
THEY'RE MAKING DECISIONS RAPIDLY AND THEY'RE GOING AT A HIGHER.
SO THIS IS A FUNCTIONAL ASPECT OF LIGHT, AND THAT'S HOW WE WERE ABLE TO DEFINE THESE IN TERMS OF ACTIVITY.
IN ADDITION TO THE DEVELOPING THE HIERARCHY OF POLES AND STREET TYPES, WHAT COLOR IS APPROPRIATE FOR EACH AREA? UH, THE FUTURE, MUCH OF THE FUTURE OF SAN ANTONIO LIES IN OTHER USES FOR LIGHT POLES.
AS A LIGHTING PROFESSIONAL, I HAVE TO ADMIT, I'M SOMEWHAT RELUCTANT TO THINK THAT ALL THESE LIGHT POLES ARE NOW GONNA BECOME DIGITAL CENTERS FOR OUR CITIES.
AND THE INNOVATION TEAM, UH, UH, IS HERE TODAY, UH, SITTING IN ON THIS PRESENTATION.
WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THEM, BUT ALSO WITH C P S AND B E S D BECAUSE SOME OF THE, UH, EARLY, UH, STRUCTURE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SMART CITIES IS ALREADY BEING ESTABLISHED IN CITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
EVEN HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, THERE'S A NET, A DIGITAL MESH MESH NETWORK
[01:30:01]
IN MUCH OF WHAT, UH, HAS BEEN LAID DOWN AS AN INFRA INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENT BY C P S IN THEIR POLE DEPLOYMENTS, UH, B E S D IS ABLE TO DIMM CERTAIN PEDESTRIAN PRO POLLS IN THE DOWNTOWN.NOW, THOSE, THAT'S FOR SPECIFICALLY FOR LIGHTING CONTROL, BUT YOUR OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND INNOVATION IN OTHER CITIES ARE STARTING TO USE LIGHT POLES FOR MUCH ELSE.
CENSORING, UM, AIR, AIR QUALITY, UM, TEMPERATURES, NOISE, UH, IN OUR CITY WHERE I LIVE, TRA WE'VE WORKED WITH THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS HELPING WITH, UH, UH, GUNSHOT DETECTION.
THAT'S AN ACOUSTICAL SENSOR THAT'S USED ON A SERIES OF POLES AND TRIANGULATING TRIANGULATING LOCATIONS.
THIS, THE POLE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND THAT WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE, MUST NOW TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT AS A FUNDAMENTAL TE UH, COMPONENT OF MASTER PLANNING.
AND THAT MAY MEAN, AT THIS MOMENT, PUTTING A NEW POLE OUT ON A GIVEN STREET IN YOUR CITY JUST MEANS MAYBE IT'S AN EMPTY CONDUIT THAT HAS TO GO IN TODAY.
'CAUSE WE'RE NOT REALLY SURE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE DOING IN THREE YEARS, FIVE YEARS, 10 YEARS, FRANKLY, MAYBE A YEAR FROM NOW.
WE DID WORK CLOSELY WITH THE INNOVATION TEAM ON HELPING ASSESS SOME OF THE USE CASES THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE PILOTING IN YOUR INNOVATION ZONES WITHIN THE CITY.
SO THERE'S A, A MESHING NOW OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF LIGHTING AND THE, AND THE TECHNOLOGY OF SMART CITIES AND INNOVATION THAT'S TAKING PLACE THERE.
AND YOU SEE A COUPLE OF'EM ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW, ALLEYWAYS AND UNDERPASSES, UH, PEOPLE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND WE'VE NOTICED THIS AS A, IN A SENSE, AS AN OUTSIDER REVIEWING YOUR CITY, HOW PEOPLE CUT THROUGH ALLEYWAYS.
AND IN THE EVENING, THEY'RE GOING FROM A RESTAURANT OVER PERHAPS TO MEET A FRIEND AT A ANOTHER ESTABLISHMENT.
UH, AND THOSE AREAS CAN BE OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL AS, UH, LET'S FACE IT, MANY URBAN AREAS, UH, ALLEYWAYS OR BACK WATERS.
THEY RUSH PAST THE OPENINGS, UH, UH, ENTRIES IN ALLEYS BECAUSE THEY'RE OVER THERE AN ALLEY.
I'M NEVER GONNA GO BACK THERE.
SOMEONE COULD BE, COULD BE, UH, WAITING IN, IN HIDING FOR ME.
THAT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE CASE.
PEACOCK IS A GOOD EXAMPLE THAT CAN BE USED IN A MUCH MORE, UM, UH, PROGRESSIVE MANNER IN A WAY TO MAKE IT ACTUALLY AN ASSET AS OPPOSED TO A NEGATIVE FOR THE DOWNTOWN.
AND WE SEE THIS BEING DONE NOW.
UH, UH, WE SPOKE TO FOLKS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, SAN ANTONIO AND OTHER PLACES, UH, ON BROADWAY.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THOSE UNDERPASSES WHERE UNDERPASSES ARE UNDERUTILIZED.
THEY CAN BECOME, NOT DESTINATIONS PER SE, BUT WE CAN REALLY SOFTEN WHAT I SHOWED YOU THERE ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
WHAT LOOKS VERY INSTITUTIONAL, ALMOST PRISON YARD, LIKE UNDERNEATH THOSE, THOSE ONES NEAR THE UNIVERSITY, WHY CAN'T THEY BE TURNED IN TO SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING? IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EVERY UNDERPASS IN THE CITY, BUT RIGHT NOW, THIS PARTICULAR AREA OF THE CITY, THE DOWNTOWN IS SURROUNDED BY THESE KINDS OF UNDERPASSES.
AND IN SOME CASES, ALMOST THIS IMPENETRABLE FEEL TO THEM.
WE HOPE THAT CAN BE, SOME OF THAT CAN BE ALLEVIATED.
NOW, THESE LAST FEW SLIDES ARE TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER AREAS AFTER STREETS, SCAPES, PARKS, FOR EXAMPLE.
THERE WAS 17 OF THEM WITHIN THIS AREA.
UH, AND WE LOOKED AT SOME OF THE SAME THINGS.
WE IDENTIFIED DEFICIENCIES, HOW PROBLEMS COULD BE SOLVED AND SO FORTH.
WE COME UP WITH, WITHIN EACH SECTION OF THE MASTER PLANNER RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE RECOMMEND WAYS OF APPROACHING PARK DESIGN, LIGHTING DESIGN IN PARKS.
YOU HAVE SOME PARKS HERE IN THE CITY ZONE THAT ARE, ARE ACTUALLY WELL-LIGHTED, AND OTHERS THAT PERHAPS HAVE NOT ENOUGH LIGHT, AND STILL OTHERS THAT MIGHT HAVE FAR TOO MUCH LIGHT, GLARING AND, AND SORT OF OFF-PUTTING ALMOST BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOK UNINVITING.
AND SO THIS SAME SORT OF STRATEGY WAS APPLIED TO THE LOOK, PUBLIC ART AND CITY ART.
WE WORK, WE, UH, WORKED ACTUALLY CLOSELY WITH, UH, THE TEAM IN THE CITY, UH, LOOKING AT ART, TALKING ABOUT HOW IT'S LIGHTED NOW.
WE FOUND A LOT OF REALLY IMPRESSIVE PIECES THAT DISAPPEARED DURING THE EVENING.
SO WE HELPED DEVELOP STANDARDS FOR THAT AND HOW THOSE TECHNIQUES COULD BE DEPLOYED.
YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE, AS WELL AS A COUPLE OF GOOD EXAMPLES OF ART BELONGING TO THE CITY THAT IS OUTSIDE OF THIS SCOPE AREA THAT WE STUDIED, BUT WORTHY OF GOOD SETTING, A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR HOW IT CAN BE DONE.
AND THEN FINALLY, YOU HEARD MENTIONED EARLIER ABOUT BUILDING FACADES.
ONE OF THEM THE THINGS THAT OUR TEAM GOT THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT, AND I LIVE IN ST.
WE HAVE, UH, PARTICULAR ICONS THAT WE ALL KIND OF GROW ACCUSTOMED TO.
I COME TO SAN ANTONIO, I JUST LOVE IT HERE, THE HISTORY.
BUT THE HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE IS JUST FABULOUS.
[01:35:01]
SO WE HAVE SUCH A GOOD TIME DOING MOCKUPS AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW THESE BUILDINGS COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THAT STREET SCENE THAT I SHOWED YOU EARLIER.THAT IS PART, VERY MUCH A PART OF THE EV OF YOUR, UH, THE EXISTENCE OF YOUR, UH, STREET SCAPE AND WHAT PEOPLE EXPERIENCE ON THOSE STREETS.
AND ONCE AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE STARTED TO DEVELOP BASIC CONCEPTS.
WE DON'T, EVERY BUILDING HAS NUANCES.
YOU CAN'T USE ONE TECHNIQUE FOR LIGHTING ALL BUILDINGS.
SO WE'RE DEM WE'RE SHOWING EXAMPLES, UH, BASIC TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE USED.
THIS IS A JUMPING OFF POINT FOR PROFESSIONALS TO USE AS NEW BUILDINGS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, IN THIS CASE, UH, CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE, SHOULD BE GIVEN TO LIGHTING THESE BUILDINGS AND MAKING THEM PART OF YOUR DOWNTOWN AT NIGHT.
MANY OF THESE BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS JUST FADE INTO THE BACKGROUND.
AND THEY CAN NOT ONLY LOOK BEAUTIFUL, BUT THEY CAN, THEY ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PERCEPTION OF SAFETY AND, AND, UM, SECURITY IN THESE DOWNTOWN SETTINGS.
AND HERE AGAIN, THESE COUPLE OF SLIDES ARE ACTUALLY BUILDINGS.
TWO OF THEM ARE BUILDINGS THE CITY OWNS.
UH, THERE IS NO LIGHTING ON THEM.
NOW, THESE WERE, WE HAD EQUIPMENT SENT IN BY MANUFACTURERS AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE COUNTRY.
AND WE USED THESE, WORKED WITH A CONTRACTOR AND HAD THEM INSTALL THEM TO SHOW HOW SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE CAN BE SHONE OFF, UH, UH, IN ESSENCE AND BECOME PART OF THE NIGHTTIME SCENE.
UH, THERE'S SOME, WE'VE, WE ALSO USE THE SVO AS A, WHICH IS A PRIVATE, UH, UH, A PRIVATE BUILDING, BUT SHOWING THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SOMEDAY HOPEFULLY CAN BE, UH, GENERATE THE ENCOURAGEMENT, ENCOURAGE, UH, OWNERS OF OF BUILDINGS TO DO THE SAME THING, SORT OF JOIN IN TO THE UPGRADE OF THE NIGHTTIME ENVIRONMENT.
AND THEN FINALLY, THIS LAST SLIDE IS THAT, UH, OFTENTIMES IT, IT MAY NOT BE PRACTICAL TO DO FULL SCALE MOCKUPS.
AND THIS IS A BUILDING WE CHOSE JUST AT RANDOM AS HISTORIC BUILDING THE RAND BUILDING.
MOST OF YOU WOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH IT.
ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE IS THE BUILDING.
UH, AS YOU FACE THE SCREEN, UH, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE IS THE BUILDING AS YOU SEE IT DURING THE DAY.
AND THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS A RENDERING.
IT'S A ONE DONE IN, IN OUR OFFICE USING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF LIGHT LIGHTING EQUIPMENT, HOW TO USE LIGHT TO, UH, FLATTER A FACADE AND SEE IT AS A CONTRIBUTOR, UH, TO THE NIGHTTIME SCENE.
SO THESE KINDS OF THINGS CAN BE DONE ON BUILDINGS FOR DECISION MAKING AND PRICING.
AND THOSE SORTS OF, THESE ARE ALL COMPONENTS TO THIS OVERALL MASTER PLAN THAT, UH, MAKE IT A REALLY, I THINK, A REALLY EXCITING, UH, WAY TO, UH, FRAME YOUR DOWNTOWN AND YOUR STREETS SCAPE AS YOU MOVE FORWARD WITH THESE DECISIONS.
I THINK WHAT I WANNA DO AT THIS POINT IS BRING JOHN BACK UP.
THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION, A VERY SHORT TIME, BUT I HOPE YOU GET A FLAVOR FOR WHAT, UH, SORT OF THE ENTHUSIASM.
I THINK THAT WE, THIS, THIS WHOLE TEAM, NOT JUST US, BUT UH, THE CITY, UH, AND THE PUBLIC BROUGHT TO THIS IDEA OF USING LIGHT AS SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST A FUNCTIONAL DEVICE IN DOWNTOWN, BUT TO RAISE THE QUALITY OF LIGHT AT NIGHT, UH, UH, THROUGH LIGHT.
SO I'D LIKE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT NOW ABOUT, UH, HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT, UH, THIS PLAN? THANK YOU, RANDY, UH, FOR GOING THROUGH THE DETAILS FOR ME.
UM, SO WE PLAN TO BRING, UH, THIS ITEM TO YOU ALL.
UH, THE FIRST MEETING IN APRIL.
UM, IT'LL BE IN THE FORM OF A RESOLUTION, UM, ASKING YOU TO ACCEPT THE PLAN, UM, FORMALLY AT, AT AN A SESSION.
UH, THE PLAN WILL BE IMPLEMENTED, UH, IN NUMEROUS WAYS, UM, PRIMARILY BE INCORPORATED INTO FUTURE BOND PROJECTS.
UM, IT'LL INFORM, UH, US HOW FUTURE, UH, LIGHTING DESIGNS FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS, UH, SIGNIFICANT ROAD PROJECTS, ART PROJECTS, UM, IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR PARKS, UH, AS WELL.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THOUGH, THAT, UM, EVEN THOUGH THIS, THE SCOPE OF THIS AREA WAS DOWNTOWN, UH, WHAT WE LEARNED, THIS STUDY CAN ALSO BE USED IN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY, UH, THAT HAVE A SIMILAR DEVELOPMENT PATTERN.
UM, SO IF WE HAVE AN, AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN, SAY IN THE DECO DISTRICT, UM, WHERE YOU HAVE, UM, A LOT OF PEDESTRIANS, UM, YOU HAVE DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS THAT ARE SIMILAR TO DOWNTOWN, WE CAN USE THIS PLANT IN THOSE, UH, AREAS AS WELL.
UM, FOR, AGAIN, FOR BOND PROJECTS, FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, UM, FIR THE, PROBABLY THE FIRST THING THAT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IS THE, UH, DOWNTOWN STREETLIGHT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT THAT WAS PUT ON HOLD.
UM, C P S WILL COMPLETE THAT PROJECT, UM, USING THIS, UH, STUDY AS A GUIDELINE, UM, AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM IT.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, WE'LL CONSIDER THE STUDY'S FINDINGS IN ANY FUTURE PLANNING, UM, EFFORTS, SAY FOR PARKS, PLANS, OR PUBLIC ART PLAN.
UM, SO WITH THAT, IN CLOSING, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK COUNCIL TREVINO, UM, WHO HAD THE, UH,
[01:40:01]
THE RECOGNITION THAT WE NEEDED A COMPREHENSIVE, UM, PLAN FOR DOWNTOWN.UM, PRIOR TO THAT, WE WERE REALLY DOING, I THINK, PROJECTS ON A, ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS, INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT REALLY THINKING, UM, ABOUT, UM, HOW TO INCORPORATE LIGHT, UM, IN A MEANINGFUL WAY FOR THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
SO THANK YOU COUNCIL TAVEN FOR THAT.
UM, SO I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS, UM, ANY OTHER DEPARTMENTS HERE AS WELL AS, AS WELL AS RANDY.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
WE'VE GOT SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE.
UH, FROM THE, UH, COUNCIL, COUNCILMAN
UH, THERE'S SOME, SOME OTHER FOLKS I WANNA THANK BECAUSE THIS WAS A, A MUCH BIGGER PROCESS.
UH, WE HAD TO, BEFORE WE EVEN GOT TO THIS POINT, UH, WE CREATE, WE HAD LUNCHEONS.
WE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE IMPACT OF LIGHTING, UM, AS A WHOLE.
AND I FIRST JUST WANNA SIMPLY THANK PAULA GOLD WILLIAMS AND C P S AND ALL HER STAFF FOR, FOR WORKING ON THIS BECAUSE, UH, THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT, UH, THEM HELPING TO SPLIT THE COST OF, OF, OF THIS PROJECT.
IT'S A, UH, WHILE IT'S, UH, DOWNTOWN KING WILLIAM AND LAVACCA, UH, YOU KNOW, IT WAS, IT WAS A, A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT COST, AND WE WANTED TO DEMONSTRATE THAT A GOOD PLAN IS, IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED WHEN IT COMES TO THE WAY WE'RE ROLLING OUT LIGHTING IN OUR CITY.
I ALSO, UH, WANT TO MENTION, UH, THAT WE HAD SOME LIGHTING EXPERTS, UH, LOCALLY AS WELL, LIKE BILL FITZGIBBONS, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY WHO'S AN ARTIST AND, UH, RECOGNIZED FOR HIS, HIS WORK THROUGHOUT THE OTHER CITIES, BUT SPECIFICALLY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, AND HOW, HOW THAT HAS INFLUENCED A LOT OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE REQUESTING AND WOULD, WOULD LIKE TO SEE CLOSER TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND, AND WE, WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME, THEY'D LIKE TO SEE ART CLOSER TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD AS WELL.
AND, UM, AND OF COURSE, UH, DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE FOR, FOR HELPING TO ASSIST IN MANY WAYS TO, TO HELP ADDRESS, UH, SUCH AN IMPORTANT TOPIC.
UM, ANOTHER THING THAT RANDY, RANDY, IF YOU HAVE A SECOND, CAN I HAVE YOU COME UP HERE, RANDY, I JUST WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE.
UM, TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE PROJECTS YOU'VE WORKED ON.
LOUIS, YOU, YOU DID SOME WORK ON THE GATEWAY, GATEWAY ARCH, UH, M L K, MEMORIAL DC.
WHAT, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THOSE, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE VERY ICONIC PIECES, BUT HOW DO THEY, HOW DO THEY RELATE TO THE OVERALL WORK THAT YOU DO AS A LIGHTING CONSULTANT? AND WHY DOES IT MATTER TO SOMEBODY WHO SIMPLY LIVES IN A NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, THAT, THAT REALLY JUST WANTS, UH, BETTER LIGHTING IN THEIR CITY? THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION.
UM, YES, WE'VE WORKED ON THE PROJECTS.
YOU MENTIONED, UH, MARTIN LUTHER KING, DR.
KING'S MEMORIAL IN WASHINGTON.
UH, WE'VE DONE WORK THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, ACTUALLY, AND OFTENTIMES, BUT THERE'RE A QUITE A DIFFERENT, COLLECT A SET OF PROJECT TYPES, A MEMORIAL TO A FA UM, A FAMOUS INDIVIDUAL IN WASHINGTON DC IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN A HOTEL IN THE BAHAMAS, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN AN ARCH IN ST.
AND THAT IS WHAT LEV, WHAT ROLE DOES LIGHTING PLAY IN THAT, UH, IN THE PROJECT? UH, IN THE CASE OF DR.
KING, I WAS TOLD AFTERWARDS, UM, THIS IS JUST, I, I ALWAYS CARRY THIS WITH ME, THAT AS WE WERE WALKING OUT TO THE SITE ON THE FINAL PUNCH LIST WITH THE OWNER, THE, THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, UH, FOUNDATION, UH, I LAGGED BEHIND JUST SLIGHTLY.
AND THE CONTRACTOR CAME UP TO ME AND SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS IS REALLY A GREAT PROJECT.
THIS WAS DURING THE DAY SINCE I CAN TELL YOU I'M ALWAYS ON JUST GONNA BRING MY FAMILY HERE AT NIGHT, BECAUSE IT'S A, IF YOU'VE BEEN THERE, IT'S A VERY LARGE MEMORIAL, BUT AT NIGHT IT BECOMES VERY INTIMATE, BUT YET SAFE.
AND THE INTIMACY IS THE WAY IT'S BEEN LIGHTED IN A WAY THAT'S MUCH MORE PERSONAL.
PEOPLE APPROACH THE WALL AND TOUCH IT, AND THEY DO THINGS.
LIGHT IS CHANGING THE WAY THEY ENGAGE IN THAT CASE WITH A MEMORIAL.
AND THAT'S TRUE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD.
DO I WANNA GO OUT AND WALK MY DOG? DO I FEEL SAFE IN DOING THAT? OR CAN I SEE WHERE I'M GOING? OR DO I FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHERE I LIVE? LIGHTING CAN PLAY A ROLE IN THAT AT NIGHT.
UH, AND, UH, LIGHTING CONTRIBUTES TO ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT YET, UH, WITH COMMON TECHNIQUES, UH, IN THE CASE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY, IT IS IMPORTANT.
WE NEED, WE NEED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LIKE, TO SEE THINGS.
IT'S CALLED VISIBILITY, BUT IT GOES WELL BEYOND THAT ONCE WE'VE TAKEN CARE OF IT.
YOU CAN ALL SEE YOUR NOTEPADS NOW IF YOU'RE TAKING NOTES, BUT I, IF WE DID A CERTAIN THINGS WITH THESE, THE LIGHTING TODAY, I COULD MAYBE PUT MANY OF YOU TO SLEEP, JUST BY THE WAY, THE CONTRAST RATIOS AND THE SOFTNESS OF THE LIGHT AND THE COLOR TEMPERATURE.
MAYBE YOU WERE SLEEPING ANYHOW WHEN I WAS TALKING, BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT THAT I, WE DON'T
[01:45:01]
CONTROL THAT.UH, BUT YES, IN THESE PROJECTS, ALL USE LIGHTING IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
SO IN A CITY NOW, I, I JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE SURVEY WE DID ONLINE WHEN WE HAD ABOUT 450, UH, WE, THERE WERE THREE SURVEYS.
DO YOU LIVE IN DOWNTOWN? AND IF SO, TAKE THIS SURVEY.
DO YOU WORK IN DOWNTOWN? AND IF YOU DID TAKE THIS SURVEY OR DO YOU USE THE DOWNTOWN FOR RECREATION OR ACTIVITIES? TAKE THIS SURVEY AND YOU COULD DO ALL THREE.
RIGHT? AND WE FOUND THAT IN EVERY ONE OF THESE, WE ASK QUESTIONS, NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH LIGHT WE ASK ABOUT LIGHTING AND YOUR DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
AND MOST PEOPLE NEVER THINK ABOUT THAT.
BUT IF SOMEBODY SAYS, OH, I'M NEVER GO IN THERE, IT'S JUST TOO DARK, OR, I DON'T LIKE A COLOR, IT JUST LOOKS LIKE A PRISON YARD DOWN THERE.
THOSE ARE COMMENTS MORE DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE QUALITY OF LIGHT, NOT HOW MUCH WE CAN'T MISTAKE QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OR QUANTITATIVE ASPECTS FOR QUALITY.
THAT'S WHY IT ALL COMES TOGETHER.
AND IN FACT, SPEAKING OF THAT SURVEY, YOU, YOU MENTIONED TO ME, UH, WHEN WE WERE TALKING EARLY ON IN THE DRAFT, UH, WHAT, WHAT WAS THE NUMBER ONE REASON MOST PEOPLE WHO WORK DOWNTOWN LEAVE OR DON'T STAY DOWNTOWN? YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT WAS PART OF THE SURVEY.
WHAT, WHAT WAS THAT? WELL, WITH RESPECT TO THE, THE LIGHTING, UH, THE, THE QUESTION REALLY WAS, UH, UH, DOES LIGHTING PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR DECISION TO STAY DOWNTOWN AFTER WORK IN THE EVENINGS? AND WE EXPECTED TO GET A SMALL PERCENTAGE, UH, FRANKLY, BUT WE HAD 75% OF THE RESPONDENTS SAYS, SAY, LIGHTING MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
WHEN THEY WERE TOLD TO THINK, DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT, WELL, YOU KNOW, NOW YOU SAY THAT.
'CAUSE WE DID A FEW FOLLOW UP DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THAT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO TOOK THESE SURVEYS.
THEY, YOU KNOW, I WAS NEVER REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT WHEN I DID.
THAT REALLY IS A BIG PART OF WHY I DON'T GO OVER HERE, WHY I DO THIS, OR WHY I SAY, NAH, I'M GOING HOME TONIGHT.
BECAUSE THE, THE ROLE THAT LIGHTING PLAYS, THEIR PERCEPTION OF LIGHTING WAS WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT.
THEY DON'T RUN AROUND WITH FOOT CANDLE METERS.
SO THAT, THAT WAS PRINCIPALLY WHAT WE TEASED OUT OF THAT SURVEY.
AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, I WANT TO THANK SS A P D BECAUSE THEY WERE VERY MUCH INVOLVED.
SO TELL, TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU WORKED WITH SS A P D AND I MEAN, THERE WERE A LOT OF THESE, UH, YEAH.
EVENTS AND WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT DID THEY THINK ABOUT WHAT? WELL, THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
WHEN YOU WORK WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, POLICE, POLICE OFFICERS, POLICE, UH, THEY HAVE, UH, CERTAINLY HAVE A SET OF CRITERIA DIFFERENT THAN THE REST OF US.
THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE THINGS HAPPENING, PERHAPS, UH, UH, INCONSISTENCIES THAT MIGHT MEAN SOMETHING'S GOING ON, IT ISN'T RIGHT.
AND SOMETIMES THAT WORKS COUNTER TO GOOD LIGHTING.
UH, SOMEBODY SHINING A LIGHT, WHAT GOES THERE? WELL, CERTAINLY THAT'S NOT A COMFORTABLE LIGHT.
SO YOU CAN'T LIGHT YOUR ENVIRONMENTS AS IF THEY'RE ALL, UH, FLOODLIT.
SO WE WORK WITH THEM TO TALK ABOUT THINGS SUCH AS, UH, UNIFORMITY OF LIGHT.
THE MORE THE, THE, UH, UH, THE MORE SPORADIC OR DISPROPORTIONATE OR HIGH CONTRAST, THE LIGHT IS, THE MORE DIFFICULT IT IS TO SEE SOMEBODY IN A SHADOW, BECAUSE YOUR EYES ADAPTING TO A MUCH BRIGHTER AREA.
AND WE HAD THOSE, THAT DIALOGUE WITH SEVERAL POLICE OFFICERS WHO ATTENDED THE SESSIONS WERE VERY GRACIOUS TO GIVE US THEIR TIME.
UH, WE ALSO ACTUALLY WALKED WITH SEVERAL OF THEM, UH, DEAN'S TEAM.
UH, THEY HAD A POLICE OFFICER ASSIGNED TO GO OUT AND HELP.
WHEN WE WERE SURVEYING PARKS, WE WERE ABLE TO ASK THEM ABOUT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR? WHAT'S GOOD LIGHTING TO YOU? AND THEY WOULD POINT IT OUT AND THEY WOULD SAY, WELL, I DON'T LIKE THAT BECAUSE I'M DOING THAT TO SEE YOU.
THAT'S GLARE THEY WERE TELLING US ABOUT.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED TO THEM ABOUT, WHICH YOU'LL SEE A BIT, A BIT IN THE REPORT, IS THAT IF THEY'RE PASSING A PARK AND THEY WANT MORE LIGHT, UH, AFTER HOURS, WE MAY HAVE CONTROLS THROUGH, UH, CENTRALIZED DIGITAL CONTROL CURFEW CONTROLS LATE AT NIGHT, AND THEY SEE SOMETHING, THEY'RE NOT SURE THEY, IT'S RIGHT.
THEY CAN, THROUGH AN EYE, THROUGH AN ADDRESS ON THEIR PHONE, BRING UP LIGHT LEVELS IMMEDIATELY.
SO, TRYING TO WORK, UH, PROACTIVELY WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, WITH SECURITY IN ORDER TO ALLOW THEM TO TAKE MEASURES THAT ARE NECESSARY, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, GIVE THEM ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE FREE OF GLARE, GOOD QUALITY, SO THEY CAN SEE DEEPER INTO THESE AREAS.
'CAUSE OFTENTIMES PEOPLE HIDE IN THE SHADOWS.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND I THINK THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, I HOPE WE DO ADOPT, UH, APRIL 4TH AS A RESOLUTION, UH, BECAUSE THIS IS, UH, AGAIN, ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW A GOOD PLAN CAN, CAN HELP IMPROVE, UH, THE CITY IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.
AND, UH, AS YOU POINTED OUT, I THINK ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE ISSUES WE HAVE SPECIFICALLY IN DOWNTOWN IS, IS THE ACTIVATION.
UH, AFTER A CERTAIN HOUR, IT, IT JUST DROPS OFF.
AND, UH, THERE'S MANY, MANY OTHER CITIES THAT HAVE PROVEN THAT THERE IS MUCH MORE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AFTER, AFTER, UH, WORK HOURS, UH, TO REALLY ENJOY A GREAT DOWNTOWN, ESPECIALLY A DOWNTOWN LIKE SAN ANTONIO, THAT
[01:50:01]
IT, IN, IN MANY CASES, UH, CERTAIN PERIODS OF THE DAY IS JUST REALLY HOT.BUT AT NIGHT CAN BE VERY, VERY ENJOYABLE AND WELL LIT, CAN TRULY, TRULY FEEL BETTER AND, UH, PROVIDE A PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO WANT TO WANNA BE.
UM, SO I JUST WANNA THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM DEAN.
YOU KNOW, I'M GLAD WE'RE FINALLY HERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED THIS, THIS ACTUALLY STARTED, I, I WANNA SAY, UH, I THINK IT WAS THREE YEARS AGO, UM, BECAUSE WE WERE ROLLING OUT A LOT OF THE L E D LIGHTS, AND SO, I MEAN, WE'VE LEARNED THAT A LOT OF THOSE L E D LIGHTS ARE NOT, UH, THE KIND OF LIGHTS THAT I THINK ARE GONNA SERVE US TOO WELL.
UM, AND SO I, I THINK THIS PLAN IS, IS DEMONSTRATING A, A GOOD ROLLOUT OR A, A, A GOOD WAY FORWARD AND, UH, POTENTIALLY, UH, THIS FRAMEWORK COULD HELP OUT IN OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS AND OTHER DISTRICTS POTENTIALLY AS WELL.
YEAH, IT TRANSFERS QUITE WELL.
THE FUNDAMENTALS, THE ESSENCE OF THIS CAN TRANSFER VERY WELL TO ANY, MOST OF YOUR OUT OUTLYING AREAS THAT I VISITED.
YEAH, THEY MAY MORPH SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY, BUT, UM, THE, THE FUNDAMENTALS ARE THE SAME.
YOU KNOW, THE LAST SENTENCE THAT YOU, UH, YOU JUST EXPRESSED ALONG WITH THE COUNCILMAN IS WHAT, UH, I'D LIKE TO EXPLORE SOME MORE.
UH, I, I WILL SAY I, I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT THIS EARLIER, AND I'VE LOOKED AT IT AND LISTENED TO YOUR PRESENTATION.
I'M VERY IMPRESSED ABOUT LIGHTING UP DOWNTOWN.
I THINK THAT REALLY ADDS TO THE VIABILITY OF OUR DOWNTOWN.
IT ADDS TO, I THINK EVERYBODY'S EXPERIENCE.
I'M IMPRESSED BY WELL-LIT BUILDINGS THAT HAVE GREAT ARCHITECTURE.
I KNOW WHEN I DRIVE BY AT NIGHT AND I SEE CERTAIN BUILDINGS LIT UP DOWNTOWN, IT'S, IT'S IMPRESSIVE.
IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY COMMUNITY.
BUT WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THIS OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN? AND, AND YOU SAID IT, IT DOES IMPLY, BUT ARE WE LOOKING AT, THROUGH THIS PROCESS, SETTING UP GUIDELINES FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT? ARE WE GONNA MAKE CHANGES IN OUR DEVELOPMENT CODES THAT ARE GOING TO REQUIRE CERTAIN TYPE OF LIGHTINGS IN NEW RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS ALONG NEW, UH, TRANSIT SYSTEMS THAT ARE BUILT? UH, YOU KNOW, ARE WE GONNA BE IMPROVING, UH, OR, OR SAYING WE'RE GONNA GO OUT INTO THE, THE NEAR WEST SIDE AND IMPROVE LIGHTING OVER THERE AND CHANGE THAT LIGHTING TO MATCH THIS OR THE EAST SIDE, OR ARE WE GONNA BE DOING IT UP AROUND 1604 IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE NORTH? ARE WE GONNA BE SAYING THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN STANDARDS OF LIGHTING NOW THAT NEED TO BE CHANGED OR IMPROVED OVER TIME? ARE WE JUST TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING FOR DOWNTOWN? SO I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT AND WHAT THE OVERALL, UH, EXPENSE MIGHT BE AS WELL AS THE CONCEPT.
I'LL GIVE A LIGHTING COMMENT FIRST, BUT I SEE JOHN GETTING UP.
HE PROBABLY WANTS TO TALK ABOUT CODES AND SOME OF THE OTHER IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES.
UM, THE, UM, AS I MENTIONED, THERE'S, THERE'S AN UNDERPINNING OF FUNDAMENTALS OF GOOD QUALITY LIGHT THAT YOU'LL SEE THROUGHOUT THE, UH, THE FINAL MASTER PLAN.
THOSE ELEMENTS DO APPLY TO THE KINDS OF COMMUNITIES YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UH, SOMETIMES ALMOST THE EXACT SAME WAY, OTHER WAY, OTHER TIMES SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, VIA WAS HERE EARLIER, I THINK MOST OF THEM HAVE GONE, BUT WE TALK TO THEM ABOUT THEIR BUS SHELTERS AND MAKING SURE THAT IT WASN'T GLARING AS WELL.
HOW COULD YOU MAKE IT LOOK SAFE? PEOPLE WHO STAND THERE LOOK AS IF, HEY, THAT'S PRETTY SAFE.
I'M GONNA RIDE THE BUS BECAUSE I CAN, I CAN SEE THAT.
SO THOSE FUNDAMENTALS TRANSLATE WELL OUTSIDE OF THIS DISTRICT.
UH, AND IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE JUST A SLAM DUNK, EXACT SAME LIGHT FIXTURE, BUT ITS PERFORMANCE, WHAT IT, WHAT IT CREATES, UH, THE TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT IT CREATES, THE SPACING OF THE POLES, ALL OF THOSE THINGS, UH, CAN BE FINE TUNED FOR OTHER ENVIRONMENTS.
BUT YOU MENTIONED THE DOWNTOWN.
LET'S FACE IT, YOU DON'T HAVE, UH, TH UH, 20 STORY BUILDINGS THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE, UH, CITY.
SO THAT COMPONENT TAKES ON A DIFFERENT, UH, PERHAPS A DIFFERENT, UH, MASK.
FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU'LL SEE EMPHASIZED, I DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT TODAY, IS THE IMPACT OF STOREFRONTS AND MID-RISE AND LOW-RISE BUILDINGS, UH, FOR PEDESTRIAN SCALE.
HOW YOU MAKE THOSE FEEL MORE INVITING AND FOR PEOPLE, UH, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT USING EVEN A STANDARD FOR SHOPKEEPERS TO SAY, AFTER YOU CLOSE THE FIRST FIVE FEET OF YOUR WINDOW, WE'D LIKE YOU TO KEEP THAT ON IN THE EVENINGS UNTIL TWO OR THREE IN THE MORNING WHERE IT CAN SHUT OFF AUTOMATICALLY.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE'S A LOT OF IN THE WEEDS THERE THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
UH, BUT FROM A, UH, PRACTITIONER STANDPOINT, UH, THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LAYING OUT IN THIS DISTRICT DO TRANSLATE VERY WELL, IF NOT WHOLLY, INTO OTHER TYPES OF APPLICATIONS.
WELL, UH, OUT OF WHAT'S GONNA COME OUT OF YOUR OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS OR, OR THE GUIDELINES ARE, DO YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DISTANCES BETWEEN LIGHTING AND THE LEVEL OF LIGHTING FOR A RESIDENTIAL STREET, OR YES.
A MAIN THOROUGHFARE OR THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT NOW WE WILL
[01:55:01]
SAY, WELL, LET'S START USING THESE IN THE FUTURE AS WE YES.DEVELOP OR CHANGE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
THAT'S IN EVERY, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE, THE FUNCTIONAL, HOW MUCH LIGHT, AND IF YOU, IF YOU'RE IN A, A BEDROOM COMMUNITY, THAT IS A DIFFERENT LIGHT LEVEL THAN HOUSTON STREET, AND ALL OF THOSE ARE LAID OUT IN DETAIL ALONG WITH UNIFORMITY OF LIGHT.
UH, THE SPACINGS RELATE TO THE TYPE OF LUMIN AIR THAT'S USED.
BUT YES, GUIDELINES ARE GIVEN FOR THAT TO THAT AS WELL, AND FOR CONTROLLING THE GLARE THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE LIVE IN RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES.
OH, I, I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.
IF IT'S POORLY DONE, ABSOLUTELY.
AND IT'S EASY TO DO IT POORLY
I THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AND HAVING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LIGHTING FOR TRAVELING ON THE ROADS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND SO ARE, ARE SOME OF WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DEVELOPING HERE EQUATABLE TO BE USED FOR THOSE PURPOSES? YES, SIR.
COUNCILMAN, YES, THEY'RE OKAY.
BUT WHAT ABOUT, UH, THE UNIFORM DEVELOPMENT CODE AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE? HOW WILL THESE AFFECT ANY OF THAT IN THE FUTURE? THAT'S A GOOD, GOOD QUESTION.
UH, COUNCILMAN, THIS IS REALLY PRIMARILY FOR, UM, PUBLIC PROJECTS.
SO WE'RE, WHERE T C I IS MAYBE CONSTRUCTING OR RECONSTRUCTING A NEW STREET.
UM, SO IT'D BE THE STREETLIGHTS, UM, PRIMARILY, UM, AT THIS POINT, I DON'T SEE ANY, UM, CHANGES TO UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, SPECIFICALLY FOR LIGHTING.
UM, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT IN THE FUTURE, AND I THINK THAT WOULD REQUIRE A WHOLE NOTHER STAKEHOLDER EFFORT TO LOOK AT, TO SEE, ARE WE GOING TO GO IN AND, AND CHANGE, UH, DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS AS IT PERTAINS TO, TO LIGHTING.
BUT THIS WAS REALLY FOCUSED ON HOW DO WE, UH, HOW DO WE DO THE STREET SCAPES, PARKS, ART PROJECTS, UM, THAT ARE REALLY CITY PROJECTS, UM, NOT REALLY A PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.
UM, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE COULDN'T LOOK AT THAT IN THE FUTURE TO SAY, UM, SHOULD WE HAVE A SEPARATE STANDARD FOR LIGHTING, MAYBE IN OUR MORE RURAL AREAS OR MORE SUBURBAN AREAS.
UM, I THINK WHAT WE WILL DO AS, UH, AS WE GO FORWARD IS AS FAR AS IMPLEMENTATION, UM, PROBABLY THE BEST EXAMPLE WOULD BE A BOND PROJECT, UM, WHERE WE'RE RECONSTRUCTING A STREET, UM, AND WE'LL LOOK AT THAT AREA AND SAY, DOES THAT AREA KIND OF FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY AS AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT? URBAN ENVIRONMENT, MEANING THERE'S A HIGH PEDESTRIAN, UM, COUNT.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE WALKING, UM, UP AND DOWN THIS CORRIDOR, AND SO WE MAY APPLY THE PEDESTRIAN LIGHTS TO THAT AREA.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE A CASE BY CASE BASIS.
UM, AS WE LOOK AT EACH ONE OF THESE, WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD APPLY, UM, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS OR NOT, OR DO WE, OR DO WE NEED TO DEVELOP A DIFFERENT, UM, PLAN ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS FOR THAT AREA? IF IT DOESN'T FALL INTO THIS ONE, UH, IT, IT ALMOST SEEMS TO ME THEN, BASED ON WHAT I'M HEARING, IS THAT THIS IS ALMOST LIKE A PLAN TO GLAMORIZE DOWNTOWN SOME MORE.
AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, WHO'S GONNA PAY FOR IT? IS IT GONNA BE EVERYBODY IN THE COMMUNITY? WILL THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY DOWNTOWN BE PARTNERS IN THIS EFFORT? ARE WE GONNA JUST PASS A BOND THAT THE WHOLE CITY PAYS FOR, BUT THAT, YOU KNOW, THE DEVELOPERS DOWNTOWN, THE BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN, THE PEOPLE WHO COME AND VISIT DOWNTOWN ARE GONNA GET THE GREATEST RETURN ON? SO I THINK THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT, UH, WITH THIS, WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT HOW ARE WE GONNA PAY FOR IT, WHAT'S IT GONNA COST, AND COUNCILMAN, UM, I WANTED TO STRESS THAT THIS PLAN IS REALLY TO HELP INFORM ALL OF OUR PROJECTS CITYWIDE.
AND SO PARKS, THERE ARE GUIDELINES OF HOW PARKS SHOULD BE LIT.
WE HAVE PARKS THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, AND SO AS THERE ARE IMPROVEMENTS BEING DONE THROUGH CITY PARKS, THIS GUIDE WILL SERVE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE CONSULTANT WORKING ON THOSE PARKS.
AND WE ALWAYS HAVE FUNDING IN OUR PROJECTS FOR LIGHTING.
AND SO IT'S NOT ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT'S NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN.
THEY WOULD'VE HAD TO LIT LIGHT THAT PROJECT ALREADY.
SO THIS IS JUST A GUIDE ON, ON THE TYPES OF LIGHTING THAT YOU NEED TO USE FOR THESE PROJECTS.
BUT IT CAN BE APPLIED CITYWIDE, UM, THROUGH DOWNTOWN PARKS IF THERE ARE URBAN STREETS, BUT IT'S TO INFORM THE ENTIRE CITY.
BUT WE USE DOWNTOWN AS THE TEST BECAUSE DOWNTOWN HAS PRETTY MUCH ALL THOSE TYPES OF DIFFERENT, UM, STREETS, PARKS, AND THAT TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO IT WAS A GREAT WAY FOR US TO LOOK AT HOW WE CAN APPLY THIS CITYWIDE, AND THE BOND PROGRAM AND OTHER CAPITAL FUNDING SOURCES WILL HELP IMPLEMENT IT.
BUT IT'S NOT ADDITIONAL FUNDING WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT IT.
I THINK THERE'S A, A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PARKS WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THIS SPACE, THOUGH, AND THE PARKS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, MOST OF WHICH WE DON'T WANNA HAVE A LOT OF LIGHTING OUT THERE.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE LIKE HARBERGER PARK OR MCALLISTER PARK OR, UH, SOME OF THE OTHER PARKS.
UH, YEAH, YOU WANT TO HAVE LIGHTED PATHS, BUT, UH, YOU DON'T NECESSARILY ARE, ARE LOOKING FOR THE KIND OF LIGHT THAT I THINK WE'RE
[02:00:01]
TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE PARKS HERE, WHERE YOU'RE LIGHTING ART FEATURES OR THE STREETS AROUND THEM OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.SO I, I THINK THERE'S A BIT OF A DIFFERENCE, BUT, UH, I'M, I JUST GET CONCERNED THAT WE'RE REALLY, LIKE I SAID, IN MY OPINION, LOOKING TO SHOW OFF DOWNTOWN A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN A LIGHTING ENTERPRISE THAT'S GOING TO IMPROVE LIGHTING IN THE WHOLE CITY.
SO, AND THE LIGHTING WOULD BE SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU WOULD SEE IN A DOWNTOWN PARK AND A SUBURBAN PARK.
UH, KIND OF ON THE SAME LINE OF QUESTIONING THAT COUNCILMAN COURAGE WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT JOHN.
UH, WHO ALL HAVE WE GOTTEN, UH, HAVE WE GOTTEN A, UM, J B S A INVOLVED IN THAT, UH, IN THIS PROJECT TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT? NO, THEY WEREN'T INCLUDED BECAUSE AGAIN, THE, THE STUDY AREA WAS REALLY FOR DOWNTOWN.
OBVIOUSLY, THE, THE, THE BASES HAVE A, UM, A LIGHTING ZONE AROUND THEM, UM, AS, AS FAR AS DARK SKIES ARE CONCERNED.
UM, I THINK IF THERE WAS A, UM, A PROJECT IN THAT AREA, MUCH OF WHAT'S IN THIS PLAN ALSO INCORPORATES THAT, THAT IDEA THAT, THAT RANDY'S TALKING ABOUT, THAT GLARE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHERE THAT GOOD QUALITY LIGHTING, I THINK, COMES INTO PLAY, IS THAT WE'RE BEING SMART ABOUT HOW WE DO LIGHTING.
UM, BUT J B S A DIRECTLY WAS NOT, NOT A STAKEHOLDER.
WELL, I'D LIKE TO INCLUDE THEM.
UM, AND THEN WHERE HAS THIS BEEN? I, I SEE THE DATE ON THIS THING AS THE, UH, 21ST OF DECEMBER 18.
WHERE'S THIS BEEN SINCE THEN? I, I, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'M SEEING THIS PLAN.
SO IN, IN FEBRUARY OF 2018, COUNCIL APPROVED, UM, THE, THE, THE PROJECT FUNDING TO HIRE THE CONSULTANT TO THE PLAN.
SO THE PAST YEAR THEY'VE BEEN MEETING WITH STAKEHOLDERS, DEVELOPING THE PLAN, UM, KIND OF BACK AND FORTH DISCUSSING WITH US.
BUT IT'S DATED DECEMBER OF 18, SO IT'S BEEN COMPLETED SINCE DECEMBER.
I'M NOT, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE ACTUAL PLAN ITSELF? YES, THE PLAN.
THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE, THE MOST CURRENT VERSION.
I, I'M, I GUESS I'M SAYING WE'RE BRINGING, GONNA IT TO COUNCIL HERE THIS NEXT MONTH, THIS FIRST TIME I'M LOOKING, IT'S OVER 200 PAGES HERE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
AND THIS IS REALLY THE FIRST STEP.
UM, AFTER WE'VE DONE THE PUBLIC STAKEHOLDER PROCESS, WE'RE TAKING FEEDBACK AND WE CAN TAKE MORE FEEDBACK AND FROM THIS MEETING, AND THEN WE CAN COME BACK TO AN INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COUNCIL TO ACCEPT IT.
I, BUT IT DID NOT GO TO A TYPICAL COUNCIL COMMITTEE.
UM, THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME OUT OF A COUNCIL DISCUSSION REGARDING LIGHTING, AND WE WANTED TO BRING IT BACK TO THE FULL BO UM, FULL COUNCIL FOR, UM, COMMENTS.
AND WE'LL COME BACK IN INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS IF NECESSARY TO TALK ABOUT THOSE CASES.
'CAUSE AGAIN, I, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I UNDERSTAND THIS PLAN, GO THROUGH IT, REVIEW IT.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GONNA HAVE IT HAVE THAT DONE IN TIME FOR IT TO COME TO COUNCIL.
SO, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, I WOULD'VE LIKED TO SEEN IT AS SOON AS THE THING WAS DRAFT, YOU KNOW, IN DRAFT FORM TO GIVE ME MORE ON OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW IT.
BUT, UH, A COUPLE OF COUPLE OTHER CONCERNS HERE.
YOU SAID IT COULD BE APPLIED TO AN ORDINANCE IN THE FUTURE, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF STUFF.
LET'S BE CAREFUL WITH THAT, BECAUSE IF WE'RE EVEN CONTEMPLATING THAT IN THE FUTURE, WE NEED TO GET BUSINESSES AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY INVOLVED NOW.
AND LET THEM TAKE A LOOK AT THIS AND HAVE A HACK ON IT AND CUT IT, BECAUSE THIS IS ANOTHER AREA THAT WE COULD BE, UH, INCREASING COST FOR CONSTRUCTION, UH, BASED ON WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE REQUIRING IN AN ORDINANCE OR WHATEVER ON THIS THING.
SO, UH, IF WE'RE EVEN THINKING ABOUT THAT IN THE FUTURE, LET'S GET THEIR BUY-IN NOW.
BEFORE WE, BEFORE WE TAKE THAT NEXT STEP.
UM, THE, UM, UM, AND, AND, AND FOLLOWING ON, COUNCILMAN COURAGE IS SAYING, AGAIN, WE'RE TALKING, YOU KNOW, PATHWAYS AND ROADS AND THAT, WHICH IS FINE DOWNTOWN, BUT WE'VE GOT AN AWFUL LOT OF FACADES OF FACILITIES IN THIS, IN THIS REPORT.
BUT YOU'RE SAYING IT REALLY DOESN'T APPLY TO BUILDINGS ONLY CITY, CITY FACILITIES.
AND I, I, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE WE'RE SHOWING A LOT OF PRIVATE FACILITIES ON HERE WITH LIGHTING SCHEMES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
ARE WE THEN SAYING, OKAY, THESE BUSINESSES NEED TO COMPLY IN THE FUTURE WITH THESE FACADE LIGHTING SCHEMES AND THAT KIND OF THING IN ADDITION TO FACILITIES.
AND, AND AGAIN, I'M LOOKING AT THIS REPORT AND THERE'S NOT A SINGLE DOLLAR, UH, ESTIMATED IN THIS PLAN FOR STREET LIGHTING, PATHWAY
[02:05:01]
LIGHTING, ANY OF THAT STUFF.SO I, I WOULD FEEL I WOULD HESITATE ABOUT MOVING THIS PLAN ALONG WITHOUT ANY KIND OF GOALPOSTS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL COSTS ON THIS? SO SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE, THERE NEED TO BE, NEEDS TO BE A PARAMETER PUT AROUND THIS ON WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED COSTS ON THIS, IN THIS PLAN FOR WHETHER IT'S JUST DOWNTOWN OR WE TALKING ABOUT EXPANDING IT CITYWIDE OR WHATEVER YOU TALKED ABOUT, PUTTING IT IN A BOND.
WELL, WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE SCOPE, WHAT'S THE COST? WHAT'S THE ESTIMATES? SURE.
UM, AS FAR AS THE FACADES ARE CONCERNED, THE THIS PLAN, UM, REALLY JUST ASKS MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, IF WE'RE GOING, IF YOU'RE GOING TO, UM, LIGHT AT BUILDING, THERE'S CERTAIN CATEGORIES OR THINGS THAT YOU SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT.
SO THE, THE PLAN, WE'RE NOT RECOMMENDING ANY CHANGES TO OUR REGULATIONS AS IT PERTAINS TO HOW BUILDINGS ARE LIT.
I THINK WHAT IT DOES IS IT KIND OF SETS THE STAGE, UM, FOR, IF WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT, UM, THERE NEEDS TO BE A WHOLE SEPARATE PROCESS FOR THAT.
WE NEED TO GET THE STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED, THE PRIVATE DEVELOPERS, UM, TO TALK ABOUT WHAT, UM, IF, IF ANY, WHAT REGULATIONS WOULD BE APPROPRIATE OR NOT APPROPRIATE.
UM, SO IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT RECOMMENDING ANY CHA ANY REGULATIONS.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOT ANY REGULATIONS IN THIS PLAN AS IT RELATES TO, UM, BUILDINGS.
UM, IT'S JUST SHOWING WHAT COULD BE DONE TO A BUILDING, UM, IF YOU USE PROPER LIGHTING.
UM, DOWNTOWN IS ALREADY, UH, MOSTLY IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT.
SO AS PART OF THAT REVIEW PROCESS, THEY ARE LOOKING AT LIGHTING OF BUILDINGS DOWNTOWN.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS ALREADY BEING CONSIDERED, UM, AS PART OF THAT REVIEW PROCESS IN THOSE HISTORIC, IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT.
UM, AS IT RELATES TO COST, UM, RAZZI IS HERE.
THEY HAVE LOOKED AT, UM, WHAT THIS WOULD MEAN, UM, IF THEY WERE TO ADD THESE RECOMMENDATIONS INTO A BOND PROJECT.
UM, I WILL SAY THAT WE ALREADY DOING A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED.
YOU CAN SEE THAT ON THE, THE MAIN AND SO AD PROJECT, UH, RECENTLY THAT WAS COMPLETED.
UM, SO THEY'RE ALREADY DOING A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED, UM, IN THIS PLAN.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF RAZA YOU'D LIKE TO SAY A FEW WORDS TOO.
AS, AS JOHN MENTIONED, WE ARE ALREADY DOING LIGHTING IN OUR BOND PROJECTS, AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE A SEPARATE CATEGORY IN THE BOND PROGRAM FOR LIGHTING.
IT'S GOING TO BE, IF YOU HAVE A PARKS PROJECT IN THE BOND PROGRAM, THIS GUIDE WILL BE THE GUIDE FOR THEM TO DO THE LIGHTING, JUST LIKE WE DO OUR PUBLIC ART.
IT'S NOT ITEMIZED IN THE BOND PROGRAM, THE LIGHTING ISN'T, BUT WHEN WE GO INTO A PUBLIC ART PROJECT, WE'LL REFER TO THE GUIDE AS HOW WE LIGHT THAT PROJECT.
SO LIGHTING IS ALREADY PART OF THESE PROJECTS.
LIKE JOHN USED THE EXAMPLE OF MAIN AND SOLEDAD, THIS WILL JUST HELP SPEAK TO THE TYPE OF LIGHTING AND THE UNIFORMITY WE NEED.
SO IT'S NOT ADDITIONAL COSTS, IT'S STUFF THAT WE ALREADY NEED TO DO, BUT IT'S MAKING SURE THAT IT'S UNIFORM ACROSS THE ENTIRE DOWNTOWN AND OTHER PUBLIC PROJECTS.
WE ALSO DO HAVE BUILDING FACADES IN HERE, BUT WE DO A LOT OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES, SENIOR CENTERS.
AND SO WE'LL REFER TO THIS GUIDE AS WE LIGHT THOSE FACILITIES AS WELL.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL LINE ITEM IN THE BOND PROGRAM.
IT'S GOING TO BE A GUIDE FOR WHEN WE DO BOND PROJECTS AND THEY'RE BEING DESIGNED, THIS WILL BE A GUIDE THEY CAN REFER TO TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE INCORPORATING THE CORRECT LIGHTING IN THAT PROJECT.
WELL, AGAIN, IT'S WHERE IT SLIPS INTO A POTENTIAL ORDINANCE THAT MIGHT MM-HMM.
AND THAT'S, IF THAT'S EVEN A REMOTE POSSIBILITY, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO ENGAGE 'EM NOW TO GET THEIR COMMENTS IN THIS THING.
AND, AND THAT'S BEFORE WE GET PAST, BEFORE WE GET PAST, YOU KNOW, HERE'S A PLAN MM-HMM.
AND, AND RIGHT AT THIS TIME, WE'RE NOT TAKING THIS FORWARD TO DO ANY ORDINANCES REGARDING THE LIGHTING.
UM, SO WE MENTIONED, HE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH BUSINESSES TO MAKE SURE THE, THE LIGHTS ARE ON IN THE EVENING WHEN THEY, THEY CLOSE DOWN.
I MEAN, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK AT OUTSIDE OF DOING AN ORDINANCE.
AND IT'S WORKING, YOU KNOW, STREET TO STREET OR THROUGH OUR VACANT BUILDING ORDINANCE, MAKING SURE THAT THOSE FACADES ARE LIT IF NOBODY'S IN THEM.
BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T GO THROUGH A PROCESS.
WE'D HAVE TO GO THROUGH A PROCESS AND WORK WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
BUT THIS GUIDE TODAY, AND WE GO TO COUNCIL FOR COUNCIL TO ACCEPT IT.
IT'S TO REFER, IT'S TO BE A GUIDE FOR OUR PUBLIC PROJECTS.
AND THERE ISN'T A DOLLAR AMOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH IT BECAUSE IT'LL BE ABSORBED IN EACH OF THOSE BOND PROJECTS.
LET'S BE VERY CLEAR IN THIS PLAN, BECAUSE I'M, YOU KNOW MM-HMM.
IT DOES NOT SAY THAT IN THERE.
UH, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE VERY, VERY CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
[02:10:01]
THANK YOU.UH, I JUST GOT A COUPLE OF COMMENTS.
UM, WE HAVE THIS GUY, WHAT'S YOUR FIRST NAME? RANDY.
HE COMES AND HE'S ONE OF OUR DIRECTORS.
HE COMES AND SPEAKS ABOUT STORM WATER, AND THE DUDE LOVES STORM WATER.
LIKE HE SITS UP HERE AND YOU, YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH STORMWATER WHEN HE TALKS.
I MEAN, IT'S A, IT'S THE CRAZIEST THING.
HE TAKES, LIKE PAINT DRYING AND TURNS IT INTO A LOVE FEST.
I WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR THAT.
IN FACT, I FEEL SO INADEQUATE RIGHT NOW.
I GOTTA, I GOTTA GO HOME AND BUY SOME FLOWERS FOR MY WIFE.
I NEED TO LOOK AT MY WIFE, THE WAY YOU LOOK AT LIGHTING
UM, I GOT SOME WORK TO DO, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.
YOU'VE OPENED MY EYES TO, UH, A TON OF INFORMATION AND IT WAS, IT WAS REALLY COOL.
SO I WANNA TELL YOU YOUR PASSION FOR WHAT YOU DO SHINES THROUGH, AND I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, BUT I, YOU KNOW, THE, I'LL JUST PIGGYBACK ON A COUPLE OF POINTS THAT MY COLLEAGUES FROM DISTRICT NINE AND 10 MADE, WHICH IS COST MATTERS.
UH, AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT, WHAT WE'RE DOING, UH, ISN'T ONEROUS IN REGULATION AND THAT IT'S COST EFFECTIVE FOR ALL OF US WHO ARE PAYING THAT BILL.
UM, BUT I DO PUT A CAVEAT IN THAT, THAT I THINK WHAT, WHAT I WOULD SAY, INSTEAD OF WORRYING TOO MUCH ABOUT WHAT DOWNTOWN IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE I GET THE DOWNTOWN NEED FOR THE LIGHTING, IS THAT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUTLYING DISTRICTS GET TO THIS TYPE OF THING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
I MEAN, THAT'S, I DON'T NEED TO TAKE AWAY FROM DOWNTOWN TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN IN THIS CASE, I THINK IN THE LIGHTING CASE, UH, FOR DISTRICT SIX.
BUT WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT OUR LIGHTING CONCERNS ARE JUST AS GREAT MORE FROM A PUBLIC SAFETY PERSPECTIVE.
I THINK IF YOU WALK INTO A QUAR PARK ON, ON OLD HIGHWAY 90 ON THE WEST SIDE, AND THE BATHROOM'S NOT LIT, UH, PEOPLE DON'T GO THERE, OR THEY DO AND THEY GET HURT.
UM, AND THAT'S WHAT WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT FROM THE LIGHTING PERSPECTIVE IN AN OUTLYING DISTRICT.
'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE FACADES AND THOSE TYPES OF BUILDINGS THAT REALLY REQUIRE THAT.
AND WHILE I APPRECIATE THE TOTAL FOCUS ON THE DOWNTOWN, MY ONLY ASK WOULD BE THAT WE MOVE THIS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO AT LEAST START THAT PLANNING FOR OUTLYING DISTRICTS.
I MEAN, IF, IF I COULD HAVE A LIGHTING ASSESSMENT OF, I THINK COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ WAS THE HEAD OF THIS A WHILE AGO AS WELL, WHEN SHE CALLED FOR A LIGHTING ASSESSMENT IN DISTRICT FIVE, WHEN SHE RECOGNIZED THE SAME CONCERNS THAT I'M SURE EVERY DISTRICT HAS, WHICH IS THE SAFETY OF OUR RESIDENTS IN PARKS, GREENWAYS, AND ALL THESE OTHER THINGS WE'RE BUILDING AND DOING, UM, THAT KEEP PEOPLE AWAY FROM FACILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FAMILIES TO HAVE FUN AND, AND ENJOY THE COMMUNITIES.
SO, UM, MY ASK WOULD BE NUMBER ONE COSTS.
I, I JUST WANNA SEE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.
UM, NOT TO BE, YOU KNOW, NOT UN UNSUPPORTIVE OR NOT SUPPORTIVE OF COUNCILMAN TREVINO, THE DOWNTOWN LIGHTING PLAN, BUT MORE SO I WANNA SEE HOW THIS LOOKS LIKE FOR THE ENTIRE CITY.
'CAUSE WE NEED TO GET TO THIS.
AND I, WHILE I'M IN JEST ABOUT THE, HOW MUCH YOU TALK ABOUT LIGHTING, I'M, I'M SITTING THERE LISTENING TO YOU NOT KNOWING THINGS THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE OTHERWISE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT.
IT'S JUST, UH, ESPECIALLY LIKE THE 15%, THE LIGHTING ON THE STREET THING, THAT'S AN INTERESTING NUMBER.
AND I THINK ABOUT MY RESIDENTS AND THE COMMUNITIES THEY LIVE IN, AND A LIGHT IN THE CORNER IS A GAME CHANGING THING IN A CUL-DE-SAC.
AND, AND HOW SOMEONE'S DOING SOMETHING THEY SHOULDN'T BE DOING IN THERE, IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVEN'T SEEN LIVE STREETS AND SIDEWALKS IN A WHILE.
AND SOMETIMES WE JUST CHANGE THE WATTAGE ON THE BULB, AND IT'S A GAME CHANGING ITEM FOR A, A RESIDENT ON A STREET.
UM, SO THANK YOU TO CCPS ENERGY INTO WHAT YOU'RE DOING THE PLAN, BUT YOU GOTTA GET, FOR ME A LITTLE BIT MORE INTO THE COSTS.
WHO'S GONNA BEAR THE BURDEN OF THAT COST? AND THE WAY WE MAKE IT AT LEAST FAIR IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, I THINK, IS GET TO THE OUTLYING DISTRICTS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
LET'S HAVE THAT SAME CONVERSATION PER DISTRICT, UH, SO THAT WE'RE ALSO A PART OF THAT GOING FORWARD.
UM, AND I THINK WE'LL BE FINE.
AND, AND IF WE CAN MAKE IT TO THAT, THE, THE BETTER IT IS FOR, UH, TO EARN MY SUPPORT FOR IT, AS LONG AS WE'RE ALL INCLUDED IN IT AND WE'RE, AND WE GET THAT SAME CHANCE.
AND I THINK THAT, UM, YOU GOT A GOOD POINT THAT, UM, IT MAY JUST BE A MATTER OF CHANGING OUT THE WATTAGE OF A LIGHT SO THAT THE COST ISN'T REALLY ANYMORE.
UM, IT'S JUST MAKING SURE IT'S APPROPRIATE AND THERE, AND SO I THINK WHAT WE'VE LEARNED FROM THIS STUDY IS, UM, HOW DO WE ADDRESS RESIDENTIAL AREAS? HOW DO WE ADDRESS THOSE STREET LIGHTS? WHAT'S THE CORRECT INTENSITY OF THE LIGHT? WHAT'S THE, THE CORRECT COLOR TEMPERATURE? AND THOSE ARE THINGS THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED CITYWIDE FROM THE YEAH.
AND IT, IT'S JUST A, SUCH A, AND I, I WAS G GLANCED THROUGH THE PLAN AS WELL, AND IT'S A LOT, IT IS, IT IS A LOT TO COME TURN AROUND AND VOTE ON IN APRIL.
UM, BUT THEN AGAIN, I DON'T REPRESENT THAT DISTRICT, RIGHT.
WE ALL TALK ABOUT OWNING A PIECE OF DOWNTOWN, BUT THAT'S REALLY ONE PART OF IT.
I'M JUST CONCERNED THINKING, OKAY, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO IN DISTRICT SIX? LIKE MM-HMM.
AND FOR, FOR COUNCILMAN TREVINO, HE'S OBVIOUSLY GOT A GAME PLAN.
HE'S WORKING ON HIS, AND WE CAN EARN THAT SUPPORT ALL DAY LONG AND, AND WE'RE THERE.
BUT JUST BE PUSHING AND THINKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU'RE HELPING OUTSIDE THAT LOOP AND, AND IN DIFFERENT AREAS THAT DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT.
UM, AND I HAVE REALLY GRAVE CONCERNS TOO.
IT'S A GOOD PARTNERSHIP WITH PARKS AND RECREATION.
LIKE, I HOPE THAT THAT GETS A LOT CLOSER WITH YOU GUYS, BECAUSE I'M LEARNING A LOT ABOUT LIGHTING IN PARKS THAT I DIDN'T HEAR BECAUSE WE'RE WEREN'T PUTTING THE, THE RIGHT LIGHTING IN
[02:15:01]
A, IN A COUPLE OF BOND PROJECTS.AND I HEARD A LOT ABOUT IT RIGHT.
AS WE'RE GOING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO DON'T FORGET THE PARKS PIECE SURE.
ON SOME OUTLINE PIECES IN, IN THE OTHER DISTRICTS.
I THINK COUNCILMAN COURAGE HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD ON THAT WHERE EXACTLY THE LIGHTS GO, UH, MATTER.
AND WHERE THEY DON'T MATTERS AS WELL TOO.
SO, UM, APPRECIATE IT'S GOOD WORK.
AND THANK YOU FOR COMING IN AND, AND KNOCKING OUTTA THE PARK.
UM, I, I AGREE WITH ALL THREE OF YOU GUYS, BY THE WAY.
AND I THINK, I THINK I, AND I HATE TO SAY THIS, Y'ALL SHOULD HAVE GOT A BRIEFING.
I'M, I'M REALLY DISAPPOINTED IN THE, IN, IN THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, WE WORK REALLY HARD ON THIS AND, AND I CAN UNDERSTAND HOW YOU FEEL.
UH, THE HOPE IS THAT WE, WE REALLY WERE TRYING TO DEMONSTRATE THAT A GOOD PLAN IS GOOD EVERYWHERE.
AND, YOU KNOW, I HAD TO LOCALIZE IT HERE BECAUSE I, I JUST, I COULDN'T, I COULDN'T GET THIS PLAN FOR THE ENTIRE CITY IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
SO I'M APOLOGIZING FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
BOTTOM LINE IS WE AGREE, AND I THINK THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS.
WE WORKED REALLY HARD JUST TO FIND THE MONEY TO DO IT IN THIS AREA.
IT COST A A LOT, BUT, YOU KNOW, WORK REALLY, REALLY HARD TO DO THAT.
UH, SO HOPE YOU GET THE BRIEFING.
I THINK YOU'RE SAYING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS BECAUSE WE DO NEED TO HAVE THIS THROUGHOUT OUR CITY.
NOT HAVING THOUGHTFUL DESIGN WHEN IT COMES TO THE WAY WE'RE BUILDING OUT OUR CITY IS NOT THE WAY WE SHOULD BE BUILDING OUT THIS CITY.
UM, I, WHEN COUNCILMAN TRAVINO BROUGHT THIS TO ME ALMOST ON MY FIRST WEEK OF SERVING ON CITY COUNCIL, I, I, I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY I SHOULD CARE.
AND I WAS DISMISSIVE A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE I, FOR A MINUTE THERE, I THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER TREVINO, A WONKY ARCHITECT AFFINITY PROJECT, RIGHT? UM, AND THEN I STARTED LEANING IN AND LISTENING MORE AND LISTENING MORE.
AND THEN I REALIZED THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE RIGHT.
THIS IS, UH, THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF PLANNING, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR WHERE PEOPLE LIVE, WORK, PLAY THRIVE, RIGHT? WE, UM, AND THEN I STARTED LOOKING UP OTHER LIGHTING PLANS.
'CAUSE I REALLY GOT INTO THIS.
UM, AND I EVEN PULLED UP PLANS, YOU KNOW, FROM EUROPE AND FROM OTHER CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.
EVEN TEHRAN IN IRAN HAD A PRETTY COOL PLAN.
UH, AND, UH, I, I RECOMMEND YOU GUYS GO LOOK AT IT.
IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY INTERESTING.
UM, AND THEN I SAID, YOU KNOW, IF TEHRAN'S GOT A PLAN, YOU KNOW, UH,
AND SO I, UH, I I LOOKED AT, I LOOKED AT IT.
I I LIKE WHAT YOU'VE PRESENTED.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU PRESENTED TO US WAY LONG TIME AGO, I, MY UNDERSTANDING FROM THAT MEETING WAS THAT WE WERE USING THIS AS A PROVING GROUND ALMOST, UH, FOR DOWNTOWN TO, SO THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR A MASTER PLAN FOR THE ENTIRE CITY.
AND THAT WHAT WE WERE DOING HERE WAS TRYING TO GLEAN LESSONS FOR YOUR TEAM AND FOR LORI AND FOR, FOR EVERYBODY ELSE, UH, ON CITY STAFF IN ORDER FOR US TO DEVELOP INTERNALLY OUR PLAN FROM LESSONS LEARNED.
UM, THE SECOND THING I'LL I'LL POINT OUT IS THAT THIS COUNCIL WAS BROUGHT, UM, AT OR AROUND THE SAME TIME THE IDEA THAT THERE WOULD BE THREE INNOVATION ZONES AROUND SAN ANTONIO.
ONE OF THEM WAS GONNA BE DOWNTOWN, WHICH IT IS.
UH, THE OTHER ONE WAS A MEDICAL CENTER, AND THE ONLY ONE WAS BROOKS.
AND THE, WHAT WAS PITCHED TO CITY COUNCIL BACK THEN WAS THAT AS ONE OF THE INNOVATION ZONES WHERE WE ARE USING THESE ZONES AS PROVING GROUNDS FOR NEW SOLUTIONS AND TESTING OUT NEW THINGS WITHIN LIMITED BOUNDARIES, THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST THING WE WERE GONNA TEST OUT DOWNTOWN.
AND YOU'VE DELIVERED ON, ON THAT.
RIGHT? UM, I'M REALLY HUNGRY TO SEE WHAT LESSONS Y'ALL LEARNED AND WHAT PLAN YOU CAN THEN BRING TO ME LATER AND SAY, THIS IS THE D EIGHT PLAN, RIGHT? THIS IS THE MEDICAL CENTER U T S A PLAN, THE 1604 I 10 INTERCHANGE PLAN.
I, I REALLY WANNA SEE WHAT MM-HMM.
UM, AND I'M, I'M, I'M EAGER, UH, I, I DO WANT THE CLERK TO, TO NOTICE, UH, AND MAKE SURE THAT THE MINUTES FOR THE NEXT MEETING REFLECT THAT OF ALL THESE LUNCHEONS THAT MR. TREVINO WENT TO.
I WASN'T INVITED TO A SINGLE ONE.
UH, THEY WERE, THEY WERE BEFORE YOU WERE ON COUNCIL, COUNCIL, I'M SORRY.
SO I, I DO HAVE A QUESTION, LORI.
UM, ARE WE GOING TO BE, UM, USING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED FROM THIS TO LIGHT HISTORIC CITY HALL AND THE FROST BUILDING ACROSS THE STREET? YES.
AND SO WE WILL BE IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN
[02:20:01]
THIS PLAN MM-HMM.THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WE'VE DONE THIS PLAN, IS SO WE CAN USE IT AS A REFERENCE AS WE CONSTRUCT OR IMPROVED ON CITY OWNED FACILITIES.
REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED.
AND I DO WANNA MENTION, MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE CALLED THIS THE LIGHTING MASTER PLAN AND NOT THE URBAN LIGHTING PLAN, BECAUSE THIS PLAN IS TO INFORM HOW WE LIGHT THE ENTIRE CITY.
BUT YOU'RE CORRECT IN SAYING WE USE DOWNTOWN AS A PROVING GROUND BECAUSE DOWNTOWN HAS, YOU KNOW, PEDESTRIAN STREETS, IT HAS PARKS, CORRECT.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE FOCUS A LOT OF OUR STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH TO COME UP WITH THESE GUIDELINES.
BUT THIS IS A PLAN FOR ALL OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
AND SO AS WE GO FORWARD AND DO A PARK IN DISTRICT EIGHT, THIS IS THE PLAN WE'RE GOING TO REFER TO AS WE DESIGN THAT PARK.
IT'S NOT GOING TO BE ADDITIONAL FUNDING BECAUSE YOU STILL NEED TO LIGHT THAT PARK.
AND SO IT JUST HAS THE APPROPRIATE TYPES OF LIGHTING THAT WE WANNA SEE IN OUR PARKS.
THE SAME AS WE DO STREET AND ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS, REGARDLESS OF WHERE IT IS IN THE DOWNTOWN, OR IF IT'S IN DISTRICT 10, IT'S GOING TO BE USED AS A REFERENCE ON HOW WE INCORPORATE AN APPROPRIATELY LIGHT OR PUBLIC ROADWAYS.
BUT DOWNTOWN WAS THE PROVING GROUND.
THIS, THIS PLAN WAS $500,000 TO DO, OF WHICH C P S PAID FOR HALF OF IT.
BUT IT WAS A GREAT WAY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO DEVELOP A PLAN THAT CAN APPLY CITYWIDE BECAUSE OF ALL THE DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO HAS.
SO, LORI, THE OTHER THING, UM, IS TODAY I GOT THE OPPORTUNITY, AND THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH, UM, LEADERSHIP FROM PHILLIPS LIGHTING.
AND THEY TOOK SOME TIME OFF TO COME TO MY OFFICE, AND I BELIEVE THEY, THEY, THEY VISITED YOUR OFFICE TO MAYOR.
REALLY FASCINATING CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW THEY ARE AWARE OF OUR LIGHTING NEEDS AND OUR PLANS AND ALL THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE POSSIBILITIES FOR LIGHTS ISN'T JUST, YOU KNOW, THE WAVE OR THE PARTICLE THAT IS LIGHT, YOU KNOW MM-HMM.
AND SO, UH, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT POLE GIRTH.
AND HOW, UH, HOW THICK THOSE POLES HAD TO BE IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO FIT FIVE G TECHNOLOGY IN IT.
AND THEN ONE DAY SIX G TECHNOLOGY IN IT SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE THIS EQUIPMENT HANGING OUT OUTSIDE OF OUR POLES, BUT MAYBE IN, IN OUR POLES.
AND THEY'RE BEING THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THAT TOO.
UM, THEY'RE REALLY THOUGHTFUL ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW LIGHTING CREATES PLACE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THE GREAT MEDICAL CENTERS AROUND THE NATION, THEY ALSO HAVE, YOU KNOW, A VERY DISTINCTIVE LIGHTING FEEL TO THEM.
AND WHERE, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE JUST CROSSED INTO ANOTHER MEDICAL CENTER.
AND THEN, UH, LASTLY, THEY, THEY EVEN TOLD ME STORIES, UM, THAT THEY'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DIFFERENT POLICE DEPARTMENTS, THEIR SWAT TEAMS ON, UH, BECAUSE IT USED TO BE THAT SWAT SHOWS UP AND SHOOTS OUT LIGHTS.
AND THEN THE NEXT DAY, C P S ENERGY EUROPE, WE HAVE TO GO IN AND SAY LIKE, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO OUR LIGHTS? RIGHT.
UM, THAT NOW THEY'RE DEVELOPING AND WORKING WITH POLICE DEPARTMENTS SO THAT POLICE DEPARTMENTS CAN BY WAY OF APP SHUT DOWN LIGHTS IN CERTAIN BLOCKS MM-HMM.
TO PERMIT THEM TO DO THOSE RAIDS AND THEN LEAVE.
UM, AND SO THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS THAT I, I MEAN, IT JUST BLEW MY MIND.
UH, BUT, UH, THE POLE GIRTH ONE WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, BUT, UM, ANYWAY, I'D, I'D LIKE TO SEE IF MAYBE YOU AND I CAN SIT DOWN AND MAYBE JOHN JACKS, WELL, YOU AND I CAN SIT DOWN WITH THE PHILLIPS LIGHTING PEOPLE 'CAUSE THEY, THEY REALLY DO HAVE, UH, INTERESTING CONCEPTS.
AND I JUST WANT TO ADD THAT I, I TOO, LIKE THE PLAN, UM, I, I DO LIKE THE, THE CONCEPT THAT YOU'RE SAYING IT, IT PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE CITYWIDE MASTER PLAN.
BUT I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, LIGHTING ADDS SO MUCH TO EVERYTHING MM-HMM.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THE THINGS THAT, THE ARTWORK THAT WE CAN DO WITH LIGHTING DOES SO MUCH TO, TO OUR CITY.
UM, BUT I DO THINK LIGHTING DOWNTOWN IS GONNA BE DIFFERENT FROM LIGHTING.
THE MEDICAL CENTER, FOR EXAMPLE, IS GONNA BE DIFFERENT FROM LIGHTING OTHER, OTHER, UH, UH, AREAS.
BUT IF WE CAN TAKE BITS AND PIECES OF THIS AND APPLY IT TO, TO OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, SO THAT IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S NEIGHBORHOOD LIGHTING THAT CAN BE APPLIED, UH, THROUGHOUT LARGER NEIGHBORHOODS OR PARK LIGHTING THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO LARGER AREAS.
I THINK FOR ME, THIS, THE PLAN WORKS.
UH, BUT I DO THINK DOWNTOWN ITSELF AND SOME OF THE, THE, THE, THE COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS ARE GONNA BE A LOT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
BUT THAT'S THE ONLY THING I WOULD SAY.
BUT GENERALLY, I LIKE THE PLAN.
I LIKE WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THE, THE LIGHTING AND SOME OF THE CONCEPTS THAT ARE, THAT, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED HERE TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, AND ALSO WANTED TO THANK OUR, OUR COLLEAGUE COUNCILMAN TREVINO.
I THINK THIS IS JUST ANOTHER GREAT EXAMPLE OF,
[02:25:01]
UH, ONE OF OUR COLLEAGUES COMING IN WITH A SPECIFIC AREA OF EXPERTISE IN HELPING OUR ENTIRE ORGANIZATION PUSH US A LITTLE BIT AND THINK A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY AND MOVE US ALL FORWARD.UM, I'VE COME TO REALIZE MUCH LIKE COUNCILMAN PLY IS THAT LIGHTING IS, IS NOT JUST AN ADDED FUNCTION, UH, TO A FACILITY OR TO A DESIGN, BUT IT'S PROBABLY THE MOST CRITICAL ELEMENT OF IT.
AND SO, UH, BEARING THAT IN MIND AS WE LET THIS BE PART OF THE CONVERSATIONS OF THE NEXT PROGRAMS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, BUT ALSO, UH, TO WHAT COUNCILMAN PLY HAS SAID ABOUT THE INNOVATION ASPECT, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE UTILIZING EVERY OPPORTUNITY AS WE ADD INFRASTRUCTURE TO MAKE SURE IT'S PART OF THE SMART CITY, UH, CAPABILITIES, I THINK IS A REALLY GOOD THING.
SO THANK YOU COUNCILMAN TREVINO, UH, AND TO ALL THE STAFF THAT, UH, LORI AND, AND AND JOHN, UH, FOR PUTTING ALL THIS TOGETHER.
WE DO HAVE, UM, AN EXECUTIVE SESSION, BUT BEFORE I, UM, BREAK US FOR THAT, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.
TODAY IS THE BIRTHDAY OF OUR CITY ATTORNEY AND WE'LL HAVE EXECUTIVE SESSION CAKE IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION ROOM FOR OUR EXECUTIVE CITY ATTORNEY.
BUT WE'LL STOP THE, UH, SESSION BY SINGING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANDY.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF THAT HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
TIME IS NOW 4:41 PM ON THIS SIXTH DAY OF MARCH, 2019.
PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY GRANTED BY CHAPTER 5 5, 1 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODES V T C S, TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
THE CITY COUNCIL WILL NOW RECESS INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.087 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THE PURCHASE EXCHANGE LEASE OR VALUE OF REAL PROPERTY PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.072 REAL PROPERTY LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071.
CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY LITIGATION MATTERS INVOLVING THE CITY PENDING OR CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION AND OR SETTLEMENT OFFERS PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071 CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY AND DELIBERATE THE DEPLOYMENT OF SECURITY PERSONNEL, CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OR SECURITY DEVICES AND BELATED LEGAL ISSUES PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.076 SECURITY DEVICES, SECTION FIVE 1.089, SECURITY DEVICES AND AUDITS AND SECTION FIVE FIVE FOR ENDPOINT 0 7 1 CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY.