Transportation Governance Engagement Workbook (presentation)

Agenda

1. Project rationale
2. Transportation in the region
3. Workbook input
4. Next steps
5. Discussion

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Project rationale

Background — Why are we here?

• Transportation is a priority.
• Change is needed to achieve the ambitious goals set by the CRD.
• We need to hear from you about how much change you want to see.

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Regional Transportation Goals

1. Ease congestion
2. Support higher rates of walking, cycling and transit use
3. Reduce emissions

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Background — What does the CRD currently offer?

• Policy, planning and data
• Regional trails
• Coordination
• Governance

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Boundary

• 237,000 ha.
• 70 Islands
• 13 Member Municipalities
• 3 Electoral Areas
• Population est. 439,950 (2022)

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About the CRD – Jurisdictional Overview

Responsibilities (by level)

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Transportation in the region

Transportation governance in the capital region

• CRD Transportation Committee / Board – same decision-makers as municipalities and VRTC

• Advisory: Working Group and Traffic Safety Commission

• Focus on data and planning alignment

• 13 local government councils

• Representation at CRD and VRTC

• Compete for limited funding

• Focus on policy and service delivery

• VRTC – same decision-makers as municipalities and regional Board

• Compete for limited funding

• Impacted by others’ decisions

• Controls funding and legislation

• Shifting priorities to climate action and complete communities

• Responds to focused advocacy

Service / Planning roles by agency

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Regional Transportation Plan

Outcomes

• Regional Multi-modal Network (RMN)
• Outcome statements

Actions

• Plans / policy
• Infrastructure, service delivery & programming
• Land use
• Behaviour change

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Regional Transportation Priorities

• Advocate
• Act
• Pivot

Improve service delivery — Deliver services, coordinate and aim for consistency

Plan for long-term needs:

• Transit (RapidBus)
• Transit (general)
• Transit (non-bus mass transit)
• Highway safety & multi-modal improvements
• SSI / SGI connectivity
• Active transportation
• TDM
• Safety policy
• Strengthen land use
• Parking & access upgrades
• Governance
• Rail link & Westshore passenger ferry

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Sub-Regional Trip Patterns

Internal and External

2022 Origin Destination Household Travel Survey

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Top Five Destinations of AM Peak Trips from Langford

2022 Origin Destination Household Travel Survey

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Delivering on resident expectations

• Live and work across local government boundaries
• Move easily across the region
• Expect quality service regardless of who delivers the service

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Workbook Input

How far do we want to go?

• Level 1: New CRD Service
  CRD brings its transportation functions into one department to enable service-level changes

• Level 2: Expand CRD Authority
  CRD gets new funding and service authorities to change travel behaviour and build out the multi-modal network

• Level 3: New authority
  One organization makes decisions about service levels and investment in the network

Scope of change the CRD could deliver, based on authorities permitted by legislation.

Scope of change that requires new legislative authorities.

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What will it take?

A full transportation authority makes funding and service-level decisions related to multiple transportation modes.

Agreement needed on:

• Modes
• Service levels
• Funding model
• Reporting relationship

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Engagement Scope

In Scope

• Test support for matters where greater regional focus is needed to advance transportation priorities
• Identify decision-making preferences related funding, planning, policy and service delivery
• Explore opportunities and constraints related to governance change

Out of Scope

• Updating the Regional Transportation Plan
• Making changes to the regional multi-modal network
• Identifying transportation issues and priorities
• Amending authorities set out in legislation

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Who is being engaged?

• 13 municipalities
• Three electoral areas
• Agency partners (e.g., BC Transit, Victoria Regional Transit Commission, BC Ferries, Airport Authority, Island Corridor Foundation, Province)
• First Nations are invited to participate

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Engagement Workbook

• Introduction and background
• Questionnaire
• Glossary

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Questionnaire

In filling out the questionnaire, you will:

• Select between local and regional trade-offs
• Select your level of agreement with key statements about a change in governance
• Identify benefits, concerns and priorities
• Provide examples, comments and suggestions

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Examples — Considering trade-offs

Question 1. A – I

Transit

• Allocate transit resources toward local transit routes in neighbourhoods.
• Allocate transit resources toward frequent regional transit routes connecting high usage areas along transit oriented corridors.

Understanding expectations

Question 2. A – D

Agree — Neither agree nor disagree — Disagree

A new governance structure should strike a balance between regional and local priorities.

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Examples — Identifying opportunities (select)

Questions 3-4 (select)

Please identify the following benefits that a change in transportation governance could bring to your local government by selecting all that apply using the checkboxes.

• Improved transportation connectivity within the municipality or electoral area
• Improved transportation connectivity within the region
• Collaborative decision making regarding the implementation of transportation priorities and service delivery
• Unified voice to pursue funding and/or policy changes for the regional multi-modal priorities and work with transportation service providers on service delivery
• Harmonizing design standards and bylaws across the region

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Examples — Identifying opportunities (rank)

Questions 5-6 (rank)

Please rank which factors should be the highest priority when building out the Regional Multi-modal Network from 1-4, with one being the most important. Enter the ranked number in each text box accordingly. When ranking, consider areas with the highest potential for meeting regional objectives.

• Connecting residential areas and employment centers
• Improving access to essential amenities (i.e., schools, healthcare facilities, shopping, recreational facilities and parks)
• Enhancing connectivity between neighboring municipalities
• Connecting to BC Ferries and Victoria International Airport (YYJ)

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Examples — Open-ended

Question 7

Are there any additional comments or suggestions you would like to provide regarding the understanding of and support for a change in transportation governance in our region?

Please provide comments or suggestions, if applicable.

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Next steps

Engagement timeline

• Spring 2023
  Present jurisdictional scan and governance concepts.
  Seek direction to engage on scope and scale of change.

• Summer 2023
  Broadly engage local governments, BC Transit, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI), BC Ferries and the airport authority and analyze level of consensus of possible change.

• Fall 2023
  Report back on level of consensus.
  Decide on governance change achievable over this Board term.

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Long-term timeline

• Engagement & Analysis — Summer 2023
• Reporting — Fall 2023
• Analysis and Options Development — Fall 2023
• Service establishment — 2024
  Undertake service approval and enact a service establishment bylaw
• Business case for an authority — 2025-2026
  Pending support, begin a business case for a new authority
• Implementation & delivery — 2025-ongoing
  Implement required internal changes to increase service levels, prove feasibility
• Delivery — 2026-on
  Advocate for legislative change and implement new authority

• The long-term timeline is subject to level of consensus and approvals outside of regional district and local government control.

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What is success?

By the end of the Board term, the region has taken a concrete first step toward changing authorities.

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Background — What have others done?

Components to an authority:

• Multi-modal
• Able to make decisions
• Stable funding

Translink, Auckland Transport and Halifax Regional Municipality all operate different transportation authorities.

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Comparing different authorities

Governance features overview

• CRD:

  • No mechanism to collectively address impact of decisions
  • Compete for funding
  • Focus on planning alignment

• TransLink:

  • Funding incentivizes collective decisions on regional network
  • Limited funding source
  • Complex decision-making

• Auckland Transport:

  • Single local government
  • Local and Federal government control of funding
  • Does not set mobility outcomes; deliver on local government goals

• Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM):

  • Single local government
  • Significant control over mobility outcomes
  • Product of amalgamation

Roles by function (summary)

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What can we learn?

• Need strong business case for change
• Takes time to become fully operational – deliver in increments
• Build from a solid base – get the tools needed to control mobility

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Discussion