Final Passage of Ordinance Amending the Alameda Municipal Code by Amending Section 12-17 (Preferential Parking Zones) of Article III (Permit Parking) of Chapter XII (Designated Parking) to Modify the Procedures relating to the Designation of Preferential Parking Zones.  (Public Works 224)
Good evening, Mayor. Councilmembers. Welcome, Councilmember Bella. So we have we did actually do some marketing for the line of them. But let me step back a little bit because probably about over the last six months we've been working with AC Transit to really improve that line. 21, they were running busses, but they weren't meeting all the departures and arrivals and cents over the last several months. We they've actually at AC Transit has really stepped up. And now they meet all of the departures and all of the arrivals with the line 21. How long how long has it been? I believe it's probably about last three months. Yeah. And also we did check and we did a lot of research with them because wanting to confirm what we've we hear different things anecdotally about the timing of the busses. We were able to confirm with data from AC Transit that even if their busses were late on that for the time that they were supposed to arrive at the ferry terminal, there was they were never late for the actual departure of the ferry terminal in the morning so that there was sufficient cushion so that even if they were a couple of minutes late, there was enough cushion for someone still to get on the ferry. And then they even increased that cushion a little bit more to just make sure to build in. Because once someone takes the bus and misses the ferry, once, you know, they're unlikely to do that again. And so we were really pretty strong and adamant about that. Because Harbor Bay Ferry and like Main Street only leaves once an hour and just has a couple of runs in the morning. So you're at Main Street, at least you have about every 30 minutes for the commute hours. Yeah. And we worked and for that very reason, we were pretty adamant about wanting to understand the data, making sure they went back and looked at the data. And so that's great. We did actually create a flier that was all the different potential transportation alternatives, right? If that actually passed out, we had a staff person actually pass it out at all of the departures in the morning. So stand out there and hand it to riders. We also had we to email that to all the riders that are on the listserv for Harbor Bay. We can always do more and I think it's something we can look at, especially if the ordinance gets approved tonight and we move towards implementing additional parking charges and other things to do more of that. And we intend to. But we did put a flier together and do some marketing to to ferry riders to make sure that they were aware of options. We didn't talk about the neighborhood permit program yet because we didn't want to raise that issue if it weren't going to if it's not going to be approved. But we do plan on doing more of that. I'll just throw out that you you might not have raised it in the marketing materials, but the local press covered it. And those were the emails I got what they're you know, they're restricting our parking abilities. And so and what about some. Like doing a sandwich board sign that could be on the pavement. So people, I mean, I, I think there's a lot of ways you need to reach people. So and we can look at that. We've already. Mr. Garland I've already talked about really making sure that we're careful about before we implement any changes, really making sure there's a really robust community outreach process, especially to the ferry riders, but also to also to the neighborhoods and working with the highways. So we will be putting that together and making sure that we continue to present options. And that same that same sheet shows where there are satellite parking options that are along that bus line. So we really try to we show the bikeways that are in the community. We actually have a little scale. So you can tell how far it is. It's not very far on a bike from most of that most of Harbor Bay to the ferry terminal. So we really try to provide some useful information for people to evaluate their different choices, you know, an alternative to driving. And and obviously, there will always still be people who will need to drive, because I hear from the parents who have to drop off at two different schools and still get to the ferry. But then the other one other leg of this triangle is the at the top of island drive is the park and ride lot and so this free to ferry riders 21 line shuttle will stop there is stopping there now. I think it stops on the other side of the street so the line 21 stops on either side street so you could go in there and then crossover. Okay. And and that is also being that's on the marketing and. Then yes, that location and then the actual line 21, you know, route is on that marketing sheet. And we tried we worked with a professional, you know, graphic designer that actually knows how to, you know, it was. Great, you know, and then do we do we have any numbers about ridership so far? Well, we because it just started, but we have already asked AC Transit to look at their data. So we are asking them because we do want to try to see, especially after we we passed out the fliers, we wanted to see if there's any uptick. I think as we go into some of the community outreach, we're going to continue to ask AC Transit for that data to try to evaluate the benefits. Okay. I appreciate that because again, I think we have dual objectives here. Of course, we want to be responsive to the concerns of neighbors who didn't want to have people. I think it was more the rushing in, maybe driving a little bit fast and but, you know, taking up parking spaces on their residential streets. But at the same time, we talk so much about trying to emphasize public transit and getting people to use public transit. So I want to make sure we're as user user friendly as possible, because that's that's a very. Important goal. For all of us. All right. Thank you. Any other council comments or questions? I'd like to make a motion that can. All those in favor, I suppose I say go along with it because I think the process is underway to address the needs of the riders. Thank you. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. The next item I have that was pulled to k member.