[RTC List] Comments for General Plan on info-tech

Wed Jan 30 15:19:21 PST 2008

Am I the only one on this list who is not fluent in government-speak and
thus has very little clue as to what this letter is actually saying? I'm
sure I'd be happy to co-sign if only I could figure out what I would be
attaching my name to ...

Pat Bitton
Partner, Euresto Partners Inc
Sales & Marketing Strategies for Technology Startups
+1 707 268 8968/+1 408 464 0849 cell
www.eurestopartners.com

  _____  

From: list-bounces at redwoodtech.org [mailto:list-bounces at redwoodtech.org] On
Behalf Of aaron at arcatacommunity.org
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:41 AM
To: list at redwoodtech.org
Subject: [RTC List] Comments for General Plan on info-tech

I've shared a document with you called "Comments for circulation element on
TDM and info-tech opportunity": 
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgm7wkrv_97fhc9k6gt
<http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgm7wkrv_97fhc9k6gt&invite=cqzwvkz>
&invite=cqzwvkz

It's not an attachment -- it's stored online at Google Docs. To open this
document, just click the link above. 
---

RTC list-

It was good to see folks turn out to support the telecom element at the last
General Plan hearing Jan 17.

I have composed comments addressed to the planning commission and staff
suggesting that information technology-based programs and solutions to
reduce peak-hour vehicle trips be explicitly considered in the General Plan.

Putting this policy in place will be a way of making future traffic
congestion and emissions challenges opportunities for telecom infrastructure
and service development opportunities. Language regarding programs to reduce
peak-hour vehicle trips is likely to be included in the General Plan, based
in input from the Health Department, and it would be a shame if we missed
this opportunity to improve information services in our county.

I am sending this as a Google Document, which will allow you to correct
small errors with the letter or add your name yourself. Any substantive
change will have to be approved by everybody who has already signed.

Please consider signing onto this letter. If you would like to, email me, or
add your name directly on the Google Doc. Planning staff has assured me they
are still taking comments on the Circulation Element.

-Aaron
707.633.4464

20 January 2008 

Humboldt County Planning Commission and staff: 

We would like to offer comments on the Circulation Element to suggest a
planning basis that will maximize investment in existing roadways, help to
minimize future congestion and emissions issues, and potentially contribute
to telecom infrastructure and services development in Humboldt County. 

We recommend that information technology-based programs and solutions to
reduce peak-hour vehicle trips be explicitly considered in the plan to
provide a basis for their future consideration and implementation.  Such
information technology approaches should be considered as part of a suite of
transportation demand management approaches against which to compare cost
and benefit for new road construction projects.  In some cases, information
technology-based approaches, whether pursued singly, or with a suite of
other strategies, may provide greater benefit at equal or less cost. 

To further explain information-technology based transportation demand
management solutions, here are some examples from around the world:  

*	Telework: One of the commonly-known information technology-based
approaches is the development of telework or telecommuting programs,
described in detail here:  <http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm43.htm>
www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm43.htm.  In Amsterdam, Cisco Systems plans to create
neighborhood-located "work centers" and "telepresence" facilities for
high-fidelity video conferencing. 

*	Electronic transit trip planning: In Humboldt County, the launch of
Google Transit, a transit trip itinerary planner, and improved transit
websites, contributed to a 30% increase in Redwood Transit System ridership
over one year.  In Seoul, South Korea, Cisco Systems is working on a
GPS-enabled "travel companion" to help commuters use transit and motorists
avoid congested roads.  More here:
<http://weblog.infoworld.com/sustainableit/archives/2007/12/cisco_clinton_g.
html>
weblog.infoworld.com/sustainableit/archives/2007/12/cisco_clinton_g.html 

*	Wireless infrastructure for mobile vehicles.  Municipal wireless
networks can serve public and private vehicles and services to improve
efficiency and make public transit more appealing.  For example,
next-generation wide area wireless networking technology could coordinate
fare systems and automatic vehicle location services for transit while
simultaneously providing internet service to bus passengers. 

*	Electronic ridematching.  One of the best examples is at
www.smartcommute.ca, a service for the Greater Toronto Area for online
ridematching service with mapping, location-aware search, and social
networking features. 

Monterey County plans to include language about "Intelligent Transportation
Systems" (information technology applied within the traditional
transportation network used to facilitate the movement of people or goods)
in their General Plan Update (www.refinegpu.org/Circulation%20Element.pdf).
A Google Search shows several other counties are including Intelligent
Transportation Systems in the General Plans. 

Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, a consultant retained by the Humboldt
County Department of Health, has suggested that General Plan language be
changed to provide decision-makers with the basis and tools to evaluate
cost-effectiveness of roadway capacity enhancements against programs that
reduce peak-hour vehicle trips.  If Nelson/Nygaard suggestions are followed,
including information technology-based solutions in the suite of programs
that reduce peak-hour vehicle trips may yield more effective strategies as
well as create new opportunities for telecom infrastructure and service
development and partnerships that will have positive economic development
effects. 

In 20 years, the lifespan of the General Plan. we expect to see climate
change and traffic congestion become more pressing problems in Humboldt
County, while information technology solutions to address these problems
will increase in number and viability.  We have the opportunity to turn
future traffic congestion and emissions challenges into telecom
infrastructure and economic development opportunities in Humboldt County if
we take the right steps beginning with the General Plan. 

Here are suggestions for new language to be included in the General Plan's
Circulation Element: 

*	Information technology solutions or which make travel by non-single
occupant vehicle modes more convenient, desirable, or efficient, and which
would reduce peak-hour automobile travel demand, shall be considered as
mobility management solutions that may, singly or with a suite of other
solutions, substitute for projects which would increase roadway capacity. 

*	Consider information technology solutions such as telework and
teleconference programs and facilities that allow for the substitution of
vehicle travel as mobility management solutions that may, singly or with a
suite of other solutions, substitute for projects which would increase
roadway capacity. 

Signed, 

Aaron Antrim 

Principal, Transit Information Solutions 

Brandon Hemenway
CEO, Algarhythms, Inc. 

Chris Rall 

Executive Director, Green Wheels 

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