Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Hybrid meeting- Virtual and Room 247 City Hall

1.
Land Acknowledgment:

 

2.
Members Present:

 

Pat Debly, Chair (BAAC), Nick Morrison, Tom Hayes, Peter Buckley (BSAC), Tim Park,(SDC) Jon Milman (Cylcling), Irene MacDonald, Alex Andrenkov

3.
Members Regrets:

 

Councillor Shawna Stolte, Ian Catton, Andrea Grebenc

4.
Others Present:

 

Chris King, Stephanie Fountain, Tony Zhaung, Lisa Palermo, Clerk

5.
Declarations of Interest:

 

None

6.
Approval of Minutes:

 

7.
Delegation(s):

 

None

8.
Regular Items:

 

8.1
Transportation Planning

 

Stephanie provided an update:

  • June 27 Transportation Master Plan update on study will be discussed at the Community, Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee (CPRM) Committee of council.  The final draft report will go to CPRM in the fall and delegations will be permitted at that time.
  • Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) work is moving along (Burlington, Aldershot and Appleby GO). A report will be available on June 16. A staff representative from the MTSA team will come to ITAC's June 19 meeting to bring a brief presentation including information on; background, what they will look like, goals and vision.  This background information will better position ITAC members to provide input and feedback on the MTSA process.
  • Staff are involved in a school safety initiative and will be looking for ITAC member volunteers to participate at Pauline Johnson school in the fall.  More information will be shared by staff as it becomes available.

8.2
Traffic Operations and Signals

 

Chris provided an update:

  • Chris is the new manager of traffic operations and signals, he is taking over from Jeff Black who previously worked with the committee.
  • staff are currently working with a group of municipalities and Ontario traffic council to look at an administrative penalty system with respect to automated speed enforcement.  This work is looking at the back end of the ticketing process (i.e. look at Provincial offences act requirements, how are tickets authorized and issued by mail, what is the legislative process). Staff is also looking at what sites and where equipment will go according to provincial requirements.  A Council Workshop is planned for November to discuss automated speed enforcement.  Staff are targeting a 2024 implementation date.  The target date is contingent on agreements being signed, council approvals, etc.  Members wondered if consideration would be given to replacing flashing light school zones with automatic speed enforcement.  Staff relayed that the option will be considered as they work to develop a policy on how locations will be selected throughout the community.
  • staff are working with a new contractor to update the pavement markings in the community (traffic signal markings, crosswalk markings, etc.)  Staff have had supply and labour issues since covid and are finally on track to have this work completed.
  • at the May 30, CPRM meeting, committee will consider a motion regarding school safety and mobility. This motion if approved, directs the Director of Transportation to bring together a new advisory committee that brings all school safety stakeholders together to review school safety issues together.  This type of committee exists in other municipalities and have been very effective.
  • In response to member's outstanding question about traffic calming initiatives - does the City do follow up studies to see how effective they have been?  Chris relayed that follow up studies are done following every implementation.  If staff note a location where the initiative wasn't working then they re-evaluate the plan and come up with a different one.  The timing of after studies varies depending on the location.
  • members enquired about the cyclist fatality on Lakeshore Road and whose jurisdiction the roadway is under. In this matter, the road is under the MTO's jurisdiction.  The City works with MTO to make recommendations and improvements.
  • members enquired if police enforce speeding on residential streets on a regular basis or is enforcement on a complaint basis only.  Staff started connecting regularly with Halton Regional police service on speeding issues.  The City has more robust data than police do because city puts out sensors to gather data.  the City will reach out to police for enforcement where necessary.  City staff evaluate and request police resources in specific areas where there is consistent speeding and/or collision patterns. Enforcement is dependent on police resources.
  • members continue to relay concerns about speeding all over city, and also expressed a concern with trucks going through no truck streets.

8.3
Active Transportation

 

Stephanie provided an update:

  • Bike month is kicking off in June and information about activities is available for the public via social media.

8.4
Transit

 

Tony provided an update:

  • ridership has exceeded pre pandemic levels.
  • staff continue to work on the transit signal priority project.  A contract has not yet been issued.
  • students will ride free after 6pm on weekdays and on weekends for the duration of the summer.
  • staff are actively planning for the launch of service changes in September.  7 routes with 15 minute service will be introduced in contrast to the 2 routes with 15 minutes service available today.  The route changes are contingent on the hiring of additional drivers.  Increased frequency means less of a reliance on timing of schedules.  Bus driver hiring is in process.  The challenge is that every transit agency is aggressively hiring drivers. Members enquired if it would be easier to attract drivers if the training was provided by the City.  Currently drivers need to already have the appropriate bus license when they get hired.  Other larger agencies will provide that training.

9.
Committee Liaison Updates:

 

9.1
Sustainable Development Committee

 

Tim relayed that there were no significant updates related to transportation at this time.

9.2
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee

 

Pat provided an update:

  • BAAC will have a market stall at the Farmers Market on June 3rd, along with the Seniors' Advisory Committee.  They will use this opportunity to do some outreach with the community and engage in conversation about have questions or concerns they may have, speak to the community about what the advisory committee role is and engage them with some activities (i.e. spot the fault game).
  • The committee arranged to have more visible accessible parking signs erected at the Starbucks at Appleby and Fairview.  This location had a constant issue with patrons using the accessible spots without a permit.

9.3
Burlington Seniors' Advisory Committee

 

Peter provide an update:

  • the committee wanted to relay to ITAC that they have big concerns with cyclist safety in North Burlington where an increased number of cyclist at this time of year are sharing the winding and hilly rural road with farm vehicles and speeding cars. Areas of concern include; Cedar Springs road, Appleby (regional), Guelph (regional), and Walkers.
  • Lisa to provide links to both the cycling plan and rural active transportation plan for member's information.
  • Members agreed that recent initiatives are moving in the right direction with protected lanes in the city.  Jon commented that there is a need to change cyclist's and driver's attitudes (hearts and minds), and this does not happen overnight.

9.4
Burlington Cycling Committee

 

Jon provided an update:

  • bike month activities include the Moon at June event.  Cycling committee will be there and Jon invited others to join in on the activities.
  • cycling committee is currently working on creating a template of key messages so that they are communicating consistently throughout the community.
  • working on coordinating 'ward rides'. More details to come.
  • Irene enquired as to whether the cycling committee has considered a campaign regarding bike helmet availability and a program where bike helmets are provided to families in need.

10.
Other Business:

 

10.1
Workplan

 
  • The committee would like to continue to build their knowledge of transportation matters in the community.
  • Members relayed an interest in having a member of Burlington for Accessible and Sustainable Transit (BFAST) attend a future meeting to talk about their role in the community and see if there are any opportunities for collaboration.
  • It was suggested that ITAC may also want to meet with someone from Safe Streets Halton. Their mandate is to end traffic fatalities in Burlington and Oakville and promote transit, walking, cycling.
  • Members may be interested in joining a group ride that is being organized from Central to the Burlington beach.  More details to come.
  • Members expressed an interest to receive an overview of the Transit Master Plan.  Tony will provide a brief overview at a meeting in the fall.
  • Members expressed an interest in reviewing and commenting on the Region's transportation master plan update.  Stephanie will investigate and provide further information.
  • Burlington Transit currently has a survey out for the public. burlington.ca/transitsurvey

10.2
Food for Feedback

 
  • Members would like to have a presence at the Food for Feedback event on September 16th from 12 - 4 pm.
  • Thomas and Irene relayed their availability to attend the Food for Feedback event. Looking for other members to participate. Nick noted that there was a conflict that day with a picnic in the Orchard community.
  • A work group comprised of Thomas, Nick, Pat and Andrea will meet to come up with a focus for the committee's community engagement at Food for Feedback and other future community events.  The work group will bring a proposal to the June ITAC meeting. Members liked the idea of an arm reflector as a giveaway for the community, other suggestions to come. Pat will set up a Google Doc to gather committee members' ideas and a work group will meet virtually on June 5.

11.
Adjournment:

 

The meeting start time was delayed to 7:15 p.m.

Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m.

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