The Street Transportation and Parks and Recreation Departments are partners in providing street landscaping for the City. The Street Transportation Department is responsible for the overall design and improvement of street landscape along major streets in the City. While the Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for the maintenance, neither department is responsible for landscaping that is adjacent to commercial, industrial, multi-family, or areas maintained by homeowners associations. However, there are situations where the City does maintain these areas due to historical agreements.

Maintenance of street landscaping includes pruning, irrigating trees, shrubs, and ground covers, as well as removing litter, debris, and controlling weeds and pests. Over time, irrigation systems must be repaired and maintained to apply the appropriate amount of water for various plants during different seasons of the year. Turf must be fertilized and mowed.

Parks and Recreation Department staff currently maintains over 725 miles, or 1,035 acres, of street landscape. This area is equivalent to the distance from Phoenix to San Francisco, and growing. Budget reductions for street landscaping over the last two years totaled $2,712,000, eliminating 53 full-time positions and funds for contractual services and commodities. Water continues to be a major expense totaling over $775,000 each year. For fiscal year 2009-10, the Parks and Recreation Department funds 34 positions to maintain the 1,035 acres, a ratio of 1 FTE to every 30 acres. The increase in acres maintained, coupled with the decrease in available staff, has resulted in a complaint-driven maintenance cycle.

The Street Transportation Department is responsible for maintaining over 80 miles of landscape outside of freeway walls. This work is contracted and the contract was reduced $200,000, or 12.5 percent, during budget reductions. Water costs alone total over $900,000 each year. This maintenance responsibility is required by a Freeway Beautification Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The Street Transportation Department is also responsible for 79 miles of unimproved right-of-way along major and collector streets. Budget reductions eliminated the right-of-way crew (11 FTEs) and maintenance now is performed on a complaint basis, which diverts Street Maintenance crews from their routine work.

Additionally, the City is responsible for the removal of visual obstructions that encroach on City rights-of-way. These requirements are established in three City Codes: 23.32, 31.10, and 31.13. Visual obstructions and safety issues are identified by Street Investigators and communicated to the property owner through a door hanger or by certified letter. When the obstruction is not addressed, the issue is forwarded to Parks and Recreation crews to be removed.

OTHER INFORMATION

Parks and Recreation and Street Transportation Department staffs are working together to identify ways to improve design and maintenance of street landscaping throughout the City. Staff safety, efficiency, compliance with codes and mandates, and visual appeal are all considered in evaluating how to best maintain street landscaping throughout the City. In 2006, Street Landscape Standards were established and adopted by both departments. These standards help increase consistency and understanding of acceptable components of street landscaping.

The Parks and Recreation and Street Transportation Departments will face additional challenges related to street landscaping in the coming year. ADOT is adding 17.7 miles of freeway landscape next year, requiring an additional $1.7 million to the Street Transportation Department’s contracted maintenance budget. Scheduled construction, such as Bond-funded projects, will add even more landscape maintenance responsibilities. Further budget reductions could exacerbate the maintenance challenges faced by staff in the field.

RECOMMENDATION

This report requests that the City Council provide direction on possible next steps to improve the design, maintenance, and refurbishing of street landscaping throughout the City as follows:

Revise design standards to include granite and pavers in lieu of plants.
Use GIS to implement street landscape inventory.
Use bond funding for lifecycle maintenance and capital renewal.
Review existing City Codes to identify inconsistencies.
Reduce or delay landscape installations for future major street projects.
Implement billing mechanism to recoup expenses for removal of visual obstructions that encroach on City rights-of-way.
Review IGA with ADOT to ensure consistency with current city cycle times and processes. Address future developments and maintenance responsibility that lack additional funding.
Explore the use of contracts to maintain new street and light rail landscape installations to evaluate cost-effectiveness.
Research the use of Enhanced Landscaping Districts.

CITY COUNCIL REPORT
WORK STUDY SESSION AGENDA
TO:	Ed Zuercher Deputy City Manager	AGENDA DATE:		October 27, 2009
FROM:	Debbie Cotton Public Transit Director	ITEM:	3
SUBJECT:	TRANSIT 2000 BUS PROGRAM OPTIONS

This report provides information regarding options for resource reallocations, fare increases, and expenditure reductions to balance the 20-year Transit 2000 (T2000) Bus Program. An initial overview of the Bus Program budget was presented to the City Council at a Policy Session on September 29, 2009. The City Council requested further discussion at a Work Study Session.

THE ISSUE

With continued steep declines in sales tax revenue and additional reductions in other funding sources, a growing deficit is projected for the T2000 Bus program. As a result, a number of potential actions have been developed based on the direction provided during the September 29, 2009 City Council Policy Session. These potential actions include a variety of resource reallocations, fare increases, and expenditure reductions. Many of these options require specific federal, regional, and/or City processes to be followed in order to be implemented. Descriptions of the options developed are provided below.

OTHER INFORMATION

Resource Reallocation Options

The T2000 bus program is funded by 66 percent of the 0.4 percent sales tax, City General Funds, Federal funds, and state lottery (LTAF) funds, plus bus fare and advertising revenues. Outside the T2000 program, the half-cent county-wide transportation tax (Proposition 400) funds Rapid and Express service and certain capital projects.

Two key resource reallocation strategies exist to balance the T2000 Bus program:

· Reprogram federal funds planned for bus fleet replacements and capital projects. These federal resources could directly fund certain maintenance functions and/or other capital needs, freeing up the more flexible T2000 sales taxes for operating purposes.

· Reallocate state LTAF II funds from one-time capital projects to fund bus operations. LTAF II funds now have a higher position in the state funding formula for lottery funds distribution and could be directed to bus operations costs on an ongoing basis instead of one-time capital projects.

Both options increase the City’s reliance on outside sources to provide ongoing funding for routine bus and Dial-A-Ride service operations.

It is also important to note that the City Council can act alone to reallocate T2000 and the City’s share of LTAF II funds, but regional processes must be followed to reallocate federal funds. Reprogramming federal funds would require submitting a request to the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) to amend the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This request would go through the MAG committee process and ultimately require approval by the MAG Regional Council. Further, a portion of the Phoenix share of Proposition 400 funds is used to match the federal funds for bus fleet replacements. Phoenix would need to take steps through an RPTA process to ensure that these resources continue to service the City’s needs in the regional plan.

Fare Increase Options

Two types of fare increase options are available to help address the financial shortfall:

· Increase fixed-route fare - An across-the-board fare increase would require an extensive region-wide process. As a result, the earliest a system-wide fare increase could practically be implemented would be January 2011.

· Establish a fare on the neighborhood circulators, including DASH - Implementing a fare for DASH and the neighborhood circulators would provide revenue enhancement to help alleviate the projected bus program deficit. An initial capital investment is required to install basic cash box style fareboxes on each vehicle and ridership is expected to decrease between 30 to 60 percent. However, significant decreases in ridership would follow the implementation of a fare.

Expenditure Reduction Options

Bus Service: Consistent with the set of guiding principles previously reviewed with the City Council, staff has analyzed bus routes throughout the City to create a more efficient bus system to address the projected bus program deficit. This analysis identified a number of fixed-route service-modification options that could decrease operating costs while minimizing impact to our customers. In addition to basic fixed-route service, options to address neighborhood circulator and DASH services have also been studied, given their status as a free service. Staff has also analyzed Dial-A-Ride service reduction options to bring the program in line with the federal mandate, including changing operating hours on weekdays to 5:00am to 10:00pm (consistent with fixed-route bus service hours), reducing the service area to the federally required ¾ mile fixed-route corridor, and eliminating same-day service.

Other Services: Potential reductions have also been identified for transit center operations, street improvements included in the T2000 program, and professional services contract.

Professional service contracts include facilities maintenance and contracted security services at transit centers, park-and-rides, and bus operations and maintenance facilities. The service levels for these contracts have been evaluated to identify opportunities to improve the efficiencies of these services and bring them in line with regional and national practices for such services. Street improvements include bus bays, left-hand turn arrows, and bike lanes.

Administrative Costs: Finally, administrative costs are also being evaluated to identify opportunities to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Impacts on customer service and our ability to provide oversight and monitor contractor compliance are a potential outcome of major reductions in this area. Currently, staffing includes 116 positions in the Public Transit Department (PTD), as well as 104 positions in the Police Transit Bureau, that support both the bus and rail programs. PTD staff manages department assets in excess of $400 million, transit service contracts of approximately $184 million annually, and federal grants for the region of approximately $150 million per year.

Timing: Staff will present several line items to choose from for balancing the T2000 bus program at the Work Study Session. In addition to direction on the types of resource and expenditure options to pursue further, guidance is also requested on the timing of any changes to be made. Timing options presented at the September 29, 2009 Policy Session included:

Estimated Resource Increase and/or Expenditure Reduction

Required to Balance 20-Year Plan

	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
2009-10
Administrative & Non-bus Service Reductions	$500,000+ annualized
2010-11
Resource Enhancements/Service Reductions	$16M	$ 12M	$ 8M
2011-12
Resource Enhancements/Service Reductions			$ 5M
2012-13
Resource Enhancements/Service Reductions		$ 5M	$ 5M

Total Change Amount	$16M	$17M	$ 18M

Citizens Transit Commission (CTC)

The CTC was formed to provide direction to the City Council on the distribution of T2000 program funds. The Commission met on October 22, 2009 to review these same options and to provide recommendations to the City Council. The CTC’s recommendations were not available in time to include in this report; however, the results will be shared in the Work Study Session.

Proposition 400 Financial Challenges

Finally, it is important to note that the Express and Rapid services are not addressed directly in any of these options. These services are funded from the Proposition 400 sales tax. Similar to the T2000 sales tax, the Proposition 400 program is also generating significantly lower revenues, resulting in a projected deficit for the regional Transit Life Cycle Program (TLCP). Consequently, a regional working group has been formed to address the projected TLCP deficit and make adjustments to balance the program.

Phoenix’s share of that program is at significant risk. Because Phoenix was already operating the fixed route bus system within our boundaries before Proposition 400 was approved, most of our focus for Proposition 400 was on regional commuter services and capital needs. As the region struggles to balance this program, most options take significant resources from the City’s share of the program to support bus operations outside of Phoenix. Many cities throughout the region are heavily reliant on Proposition 400 to fund bus service in their communities and do not share a position that all cities should continue to receive the same proportionate share of the reduced level of available funding. Phoenix needs its fair share to avoid further deterioration of its transit service.

The regional working group is scheduled to complete the TLCP reprogramming process in December 2009.

RECOMMENDATION

This report and the Work Study presentation will provide detailed options to consider for addressing the projected T2000 bus program deficit. City Council discussion and direction is requested on the priorities for resource reallocations, fare increases, and/or expenditure reductions as well as timing of options.

Official Web Site of the City of Phoenix

Phoenix - All America City - 2009

CITY COUNCIL REPORT
WORK STUDY SESSION AGENDA
TO:	Rick Nairmark Deputy City Manager	AGENDA DATE:		October 27, 2009
FROM:	Dale Larsen Parks And Recreation Director	ITEM:	2
SUBJECT:	STREET LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE OVERVIEW