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- ---- --- --i I ROUGH DRAFT By .... ... :A.J:.l .~11.. .~.'.. Sloan Date ......Ma.Y. ..:?.~..\ 1969 Page ...... l ............. . ATLANTA -- RECOM:MEN DAT I ONS FOR PHASE II We have three basic recommenda tions to ma ke for Phase II of the CCT program. These proposals have been di scu s sed with various officials and leader.s in Atlanta and have r e c e ived po s itive response. - & that the CCT consortium team should operate under the aegis of th e Policy Committee of the Atlanta Area Transportation Study during Pha se II; e that CCT should assist MARTA in planning an ex periment a l busway connecting one of Atlanta's neighborho ods with do wn town; that CCT should a lso assi s t the joint City Planning Commission - Centra l Atlanta Pro gres s study in dev e loping a detail e d plan for downtown ci r culation. The foll owing is the rational e be hind ea ch of th e s e b a sic recommenda tions: 1. Orga ni zational Stru ctu r e -- since the AAT S Policy Committ ee is emerg i ng a s the pr ime policy making body in tra n sp or t at ion, we r ecommend that CCT's Phas e II work b e done unde r the aeg is of this committ e e . This should i n sure that the CCT pr oject will op e rate within the mainst re am of trans po rt a tion policy making in Atlant a . The AATS Policy Committ ee repr e - sents t he kind of transport a tion policy making body t hat the f ede r al gover nment has bee n wanting to c r eate i n me tropolit an are as fo r t ranspo r t a t io n plann i n g pu rpo ses. The Te chnical Adviso r y Comm ittee of AATS rep resen t s the te chn ic i ans of · the various par t i c ipa ting a genc i es and is generally the group tha t i n it iates prop osal s to be t aken t o t he Policy Commit t ee, The Cit i z en ' s Adv i sory Commi ttee is now being es t ablishe d t o review the Voo rh e es pla n and is expect e d t o be the main link to the community in ga i ning unde rstanding and s u pport fo r tra nspo r tat ion improvemen ts. AOL 116- 269 �ROUGH DRAFf By .. ... ...... ............... . Date ...................... . Page ...... 2.•............. The CCT's Phase II work should be guided a n d reviewed periodically by the appropriat e corrnnittee s of the AATS. At thi s time some sort of subcommitt e e structure is being planned for AATS and it s advisory committees. It may be that there will be appropriate subcommitt e es to which the CCT should relate more directly at some future date. To impleme nt this r ecomme ndat i on, some e xcha n g e of l e tters betwee n the Urban Mass Transportation Administrator and Hr. William Maynard, Chairman of the AATS Policy Committee, would be in order. This should happen on the initiative of UMTA once Phase II policy is set. 2. Nature of Pha se II Work -- in Phase II, CCT should act a s a sup- plement to, not a substitute for, the planning work of the specific agencies respon s ible f or tra nspo rt a tion or dev e lopmental plan ning. CCT should not be the sol e planning a g ent for a p a rt i cular proj ec t or prog r am , fo r this is p roperly the r espons ibility o f the loca l pla nni n g a nd ope rat ing agencies. Our specif ic work in Phase II should b e d esign e d to s upple me nt the t echnica l wo rk of AATS a nd MARTA i n r e f i :. i n g a n d d e t a ili n g t h e b asi c tra nsportation pl a n now und e r consid era tion a nd t aking s t e p s to implement i t and CAP- CPC as part of its planning of downt own circula tion improvements. With i n the work p r o g rams of these agencies, we r e comme nd that CCT concen t rate on those a spe ct s o f the pla nn i n g that a r e : a. oriented toward action programs that have a short t erm (3- 5 yea r) time frame fo r impl e mentation; b. o rient e d toward s pro g rams wh i ch UMTA c a n u se as a b as i s f o r d eve l o ping its nat i onal programs . The two p r oj e cts we recommend f o r d etail ed work in Phase II meet both of t h ese cri t eria. .2l.rthm D.11.ittlr.il nr. AOL 116-269 �ROUGH DRAFT By ........................... Date ... .................. .. Page ........ .3 ........... . , 3. The Busways Experiment without doubt, the planning and developing of a part of the busway system on an exp e rimental basis will be the most important tr ansportation development affecting downtown Atlanta in the nex t few years. It will also be the most important new pro- gram for which federal aid will be required. While AATS and MARTA will have prime responsibility for the furth e r planning work on busways both in th e short and long run, the CCT project could h e lp considerably in this work. By so doing, UMTA could have the direct benefit of some on-the- ground planning experience with a system concept which may have wider application n a tionally. The following are the specific kinds of work that CCT could help perform as a part of the process of setting up the spec ific experime nt a l program for busways tha t Atlanta wants to develop: a. Provide some of t h e t echnical analysis requir ed for the AATS and MARTA to sel ect a suitable segment of the overall busway plan for first s t age expe rimen t ation. This is a critical deci sion . It will involve a caref ul balancing of engineerin g, op erating, and marketing factors with the political rea lities of ?resent d ay Atlant a . This work will involve an analysis of the current charac teristics of the people living within patronag e di s tanc e of the v arious busway routes, an assessment of the marke t within the se areas for n ew bu sway s erv i ce (coverage, frequency, etc .) , an assessment of the fea sibility fr om an operating po int o f view of providing busway service on the p articular rout es, and a n analysis of the overall costs and b e n efits of selecting o ne of the rou t es for first stag e experimentation. This wou ld be a major par t of CCT' s work in Phase II, in which it would be taking program g uidance and dir ection from MARTA and working closely with their consultants . 2trthur D.1!.ittkJJnc AOL 116-269 �ROUGH DRAFT By ..................... .. ... . Date ... ....... ........... .. Page .........4 .... .. ... .. . b. Provide specific studies needed to implement a selected busway project. Once a route is selected for experimentation, there are a number of other work projects in which CCT might be able to assist subsequently, including: o specific studies of the market for and the characteristics of the busway services to be provided on theselected route; • studies of the impact of the busway on the neighborhoods and land areas directly adjacent to the proposed route; studies of costs, funding requirements, and sources of funds for an ex perimental project; • studies to determine the best way to monitor the performance of the busway service, once operating, from a patronage and financial point of view. 4. Downtown Circulation -- the :uture of internal circulation in do~mtown Atlanta will depend almost entirely on the nature of the ove rall · plan the MTS and the participating agencies finally adopt. There are a number of work projects in which CCT could participate in order to h e lp the responsible agencies reach these important decisions. Most of these are included in the study program that the City Planning Commission Central Atlanta Progress joint t e am is now developing. The revised appli- cation of CAP to UMTA to fund this program reflects these projects. Our recommendation is that CCT participate in thi s planning program in a way that would provide additional assistance to the work tha t is alrea dy planned. The CCT team has been meeting with CAP to det e rmine what kind of pa r ticipation this should be . The following work proj ect s a r e po te n tial c andidates : 2rthur D.1littlr.11nc. AO L 116-269 �ROUGH DRAIT By ... .. ... .. ... .. .... .. .... .. Date ............ ....... .... Page .........?..•.......... . a. Assist a nce in desi g ning a syst em to monitor trends and changes in do,-mtown development. The futur e of downtown Atlanta is key to all plans for future mass transit to, from, and within the central area. This planning will require more knowledge about what is actually happening in the downtown area in terms of changes in employment (who is now working in downtown Atlanta by skill and location of residence, how this has been changing in the short run, what mode of travel is used to get to work), changes in investment in new and existing space of various kinds (what functions are requiring new space downtown, what costs, what volume of workers per floor area, what kind of investments are being made in new and rehabilitated space), chang e s in traffic g eneration and parking in various sections of dovmtown, and others. Currently all planning starts from the assumption that employment in downtown Atlanta will double by 1983, an estimate that was mad e by the Atlant a Region Hetropolitan Planning Commission in 1963 before many of the current growth trends were statistically evident. Since downtown growth is the reason for mass transit, both Atlanta and UMTA have an import ant stake in finding out more .about the dynamics of this downtown situa tion. This work would ini- tially involve setting up some continuing system to pull together at least annually existing d a ta on a wh~le series of these chang e fact ors. This knowl e dge is r e quired before CAP and th e other agencies will hav e a good basis to proceed with specific planning of downtown improvemen ts. b. Assistance in planning immediate transport a tion improv ements in central Atlanta. The CCT project could a ssist CAP and various respon- sible city departments in planning immediate improveme nts for downtown circulation p end ing decisions on the basic long range plan. These might in~ elude: 1) helping the City Traffic Engineer ing and Planning Departme nts und ertake a systema tic study and eva l uation o f e x isting arteria l and collect or street pattern s within the center city. Study should result in a plan for s moother flow through: 2rthm D.11.it tldlnr. AOL 116-269 �ROUGH DRAFT By .......................... . Date ....................... Page ...... .6.,............ . reduction of abrupt and acute corners use of unifi e d one-way street system use of reversibl·e lanes selective street closing s more coordinated inter section controls 2) studies of the u se of exis ting s treets for higher intensity bus usage throug h exclusive or reversible bus lanes, exclusive bus streets, signalling to favor buses, as pa rt of the planning for a busways experimental proj e ct. 3) analysis of curr e nt goods movement problems in downt own Atlanta . c. Assist a nc e i n longer r a n ge planning for down town circula tion. CCT could help in planning the basic dm,mtown circulation system n eeded to go along with the Voorhees plan or any alternativ e s to it. It could p ro- vide some o f the urban de s i g n, traffic eng ineerin g , economic, market, and co s t analysis inputs to suppl ement t ~e work tha t the CAP-CPC j oint t eam and its consultant will be doing. 1) It could include: helping plan circulation facilities to suppl ement the central subway in downtown, if the d e cision is made to g o ahead with it. The se might i nclud e: study of p e de s t r ian accesses, concours es , malls, and building connectors in connection wit h desig n o f the subwa y stations study of methods of connecting p er ipheral parking areas with s ubway stations and faci litat i ng crosstown distribution. 2rtl1m D.1!.ittk.1Jnc. AOL 116-269 �ROUGH DRAFT By .......................... . Date ............... .... ... . . .·.. ·., .:- Page ...... 7.•............. study of the 4esign and operation of the transportation center if built as ~art of a basic subway-busway plan. / · , ,, • 2) studies of alternatives to a central subway in downt own Atlanta , if the decision is made not to build a central subway as part of the . basic plan , including: studies of parking and bus circulation systems in connection with new expressways 3) studies·. of new internal circula tion systems to conne ct major traf fi~ generators in the downtown area (spe cia l vehicles, people moving system, etc.) as suggested by CAP. connections be tween Cousins air rights, Rich's, Government Center, Stadium, and parking lots. conne ctions b etween Peachtree Center, Civic Ce nte r, and- Cousins air rights. others To implement the se r e commendat ions, the following st e ps should be take n: • The recommenda tions should be r eviewed and accepted by UMTA after being transmitted by the cons ortium t eam of CCT. • A decision should be ma de on how much of an effort there will b e ip. Atlanta on Phase II in terms of money, man-hours , work emph~sis so that prioritie s can be selected from the proj ect s listed above. ~rthur D.1'.ittld(nr. AOL 116-269 �ROUGH DRAFT By...... ..................... Date .. ... .. ....... .. ... ... . Page.......... .8., ....... . After these de cisions are made and the scope of Phase II determined, follow-up meet ings should be set up with the AATS Policy Commi ttee throu gh its Chairman to review Phase II prog ram and op e rating procedures. MARTA through its Executive Director to discuss the busways project. the CAP-CPC project through its Executive Director and staff to discuss down town planning assis t a nce. The technical a nd operating details of Phase II would be worked out at th ese mee tings . .2lrtl1m D.11.ittldlnr. AOL 116-269 �