[0:00] It
[0:02] Here we go. Welcome everybody. It's nice
[0:03] to have you all here. We got uh a few of us in the room and uh a few
[0:08] of us online. I'm Mark Shepherd, Mayor
[0:09] Clearfield and Chair, and so let's uh
[0:12] before we get started doing anything
[0:13] else, let's get some introductions and
[0:15] uh
[0:15] going to go around the room and do them,
[0:16] and then I'm just going to have Andrea
[0:18] just tell us who's online.
[0:20] We uh
[0:21] We'll we'll know who they are once you
[0:23] tell us.
[0:24] >> [laughter]
[0:24] >> So.
[0:26] Rosie, you want to kick us off?
[0:29] » Hi everyone, Rosie Hernandez, part of
[0:31] the admin team at WFRC.
[0:34] >> Jordan Chandler, also part of the admin
[0:36] team at WFRC.
[0:38] >> I am Ted Knowlton, I'm the Deputy
[0:39] Director and Chief Planner at WFRC.
[0:42] >> Hi, Nicole Berdeaux, Chief Planning and
[0:44] Engagement Officer at UTA.
[0:46] >> Dan Dugan, Salt Lake City.
[0:48] >> Brooke De Sousa, Sandy City.
[0:56] » Jim Harvey, Weber County.
[0:59] » Andrea Pearson, WFRC admin team.
[1:02] >> Andrew Gruber, Wasatch Front Regional
[1:04] Council. Welcome.
[1:07] >> Wayne Bennion, WFRC staff.
[1:09] >> Carlton Christensen with the Utah
[1:11] Transit Authority.
[1:13] >> Sherrie Bingham, Heber City.
[1:16] >> Ben Hewlett, UDOT.
[1:18] >> John Crofts, Davis County.
[1:21] >> Joe Thomas, Utah Division of Air
[1:22] Quality.
[1:27] » Uh Tom Jacobson, I'm a Transportation
[1:28] Commissioner.
[1:33] » Kelly Lund, Federal Highways. Wow,
[1:35] that's loud.
[1:38] » Yep, push button.
[1:45] » Ed Wolford with Federal Highway.
[1:51] » Joel Temple, WFRC.
[1:54] >> Fadi Wasfi Tani, WFRC staff.
[1:58] >> Ben Wasatch WFRC staff.
[2:06] » Joining us online today are
[2:09] Lauren Palmer, Beth Holbrook, Eric
[2:11] Stromberg, Sheldon Birch,
[2:14] Keith Jepson, Chris Karn,
[2:17] and then we also have Holly Pearson and
[2:20] Hugh Van Wagenen.
[2:23] >> Well, thank you. It's nice to have
[2:24] everybody here. Um appreciate you taking
[2:26] your time out of the day to come down
[2:27] and join us or join us online.
[2:29] Um
[2:32] we have minutes to approve from the
[2:34] April 30th
[2:37] committee meeting. Does
[2:38] anyone have Everyone had a chance to
[2:39] review the minutes? Are there any
[2:41] changes, additions?
[2:43] >> I move for approval.
[2:45] >> Second.
[2:46] >> I have a motion and a second for
[2:47] approval. All in favor?
[2:48] >> I.
[2:49] >> Any opposed? Okay. Minutes stand.
[2:52] Um chair's report, really don't have
[2:54] anything to announce to you. Although, you know,
[2:56] Andrew says, "Hey, you do so much
[2:58] nationally, you know, talk about
[3:00] stuff nationally." So, I just thought
[3:01] I'd mention that yesterday the Senate
[3:03] passed
[3:04] uh
[3:05] the
[3:06] 21st Century Road to Housing Act. Um
[3:09] massive thing. Uh
[3:12] first real substantial housing
[3:15] uh legislation in over 20 years.
[3:18] So,
[3:19] very very good thing. The House will
[3:20] take it up next and it's it will pass in
[3:22] the House as well. And so,
[3:24] um in fact, it passed the Senate on an
[3:25] 87 to eight vote. So,
[3:29] not bad. Bipartisan, bicameral support
[3:30] for this for this thing. So.
[3:32] >> What kind of things does it do?
[3:34] Just in general.
[3:35] >> Um there's no cost to it, so it's not
[3:37] adding money into anything. It frees up
[3:39] a lot of what CDBG can do.
[3:41] Uh it's
[3:43] it takes away a huge chunk of the the
[3:45] NEPA requirements.
[3:47] Uh there's a whole list of things that
[3:49] it that it delves into, but it really
[3:51] frees up
[3:52] the ability to develop and to build
[3:54] things without uh takes away a lot of
[3:56] the roadblocks to development.
[3:59] Um we've seen that California has been a
[4:01] real problem in in their developing.
[4:04] Um
[4:05] cuz there's just so much red tape that
[4:07] they even even the redevelopment from
[4:08] fires
[4:10] is
[4:12] flush with all kinds of problems from
[4:14] NEPA. So, this will allow things to move
[4:16] forward. So,
[4:20] All right. Oh,
[4:23] >> Don't want me to
[4:23] >> Mayor
[4:24] >> Just keep going.
[4:25] >> [laughter]
[4:27] >> Welcome, Mayor Burton.
[4:29] Um but
[4:30] >> Mayor Brems.
[4:31] >> Oh, there we go. Yes, and Mayor Brems.
[4:34] And
[4:35] >> Fotheringham.
[4:35] >> And Mayor Fotheringham. All right.
[4:40] next item on the agenda is is
[4:42] uh public comment. I don't have Do we
[4:44] have anyone here Anyone here from the
[4:45] public that is here to comment?
[4:49] Andrea, anyone online?
[4:51] >> No one online.
[4:52] >> Okay.
[4:53] Seeing none, we will go ahead and move
[4:55] forward. Um we have a few items today
[4:59] Oh, sorry. We have a few items today uh
[5:01] in regard to the transportation
[5:02] improvement program. The first two are
[5:04] regarding amendments to the existing
[5:06] 2026-2031
[5:08] TIP. Uh and the last one is Transcom's
[5:11] annual opportunity to review the new
[5:12] draft TIP. So, we're going to turn the
[5:14] time over to Ben
[5:16] and uh give some context on the TIP and
[5:18] discuss the board modifications.
[5:23] » Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[5:32] So,
[5:34] just in case you were wondering, the
[5:37] transportation improvement program
[5:40] acronym is TIP.
[5:42] I thought that was pretty cool. Don't
[5:44] you? Anyway, so I wanted to go review a
[5:48] little on the on the tip of what it is
[5:51] as mentioned by the chair.
[5:53] We do have
[5:55] board modification. One is to report on
[5:57] the board modification from the regional
[5:59] council.
[6:01] From the meeting last May and then
[6:04] another one is to bring before you a new
[6:06] board modification.
[6:09] And then we have the opportunity to
[6:11] release the draft 2027-2032
[6:14] transportation improvement program.
[6:18] The projects and air quality conformity
[6:21] analysis for public review and comment.
[6:24] So
[6:25] Um, just uh
[6:27] a great opportunity we have today to
[6:30] discuss some significant items on the
[6:33] tip. So
[6:34] to talk a little bit about the tip
[6:37] as we are
[6:40] um
[6:42] It's a six-year program of highway and
[6:44] transit and active transportation
[6:47] A lot of you know about this. We've
[6:49] talked about this. There's four years we
[6:52] refer to as funded years. There's two
[6:54] years in the outer two years that we
[6:57] refer to as concept development.
[7:00] Um, it's for all the projects in the
[7:02] Salt Lake and the Ogden Layton urban
[7:04] areas. So essentially we go from Utah
[7:06] County up to Davis County. That's the
[7:09] Salt Lake urban area and then the
[7:11] Ogden Layton urban area goes from Salt
[7:14] Lake County all the way up through
[7:15] Brigham City.
[7:17] So two fairly large geographical areas.
[7:20] The projects in the tip are funded with
[7:22] federal, state, and local programs. And
[7:25] it's for all of the cities, the
[7:26] counties, UDOT, UTA.
[7:29] The projects in the tip implement the
[7:31] long-range plans, the highway and
[7:33] traffic or highway and transit and the
[7:36] active transportation that helps us meet
[7:38] the short-range needs along the Wasatch
[7:41] Front and it provides for the
[7:43] maintenance of our existing
[7:45] transportation system.
[7:49] The list of projects would include those
[7:51] that are new construction, rehab and
[7:53] maintenance, safety and intelligent
[7:56] transportation systems, transit
[7:59] operating and maintenance, and
[8:01] pedestrian and bicycle
[8:03] type projects.
[8:06] The projects in the TIP represent
[8:08] millions, not just millions, but
[8:10] hundreds of millions of dollars,
[8:12] thousands of jobs, economic growth and
[8:15] development along the Wasatch Front, the
[8:17] mobility and the access, the
[8:19] preservation of life and the quality of
[8:21] life that we've become accustomed to.
[8:25] So, an important document.
[8:28] Well, the federal law requires that the
[8:30] TIP be financially constrained. In those
[8:33] first four years that we refer to as
[8:36] funded years,
[8:37] we need to be financially constrained.
[8:40] We need to have conformity to our
[8:42] quality.
[8:44] It needs to be reviewed by the public,
[8:46] and then is approved by the regional
[8:48] council.
[8:50] So,
[8:51] that's what we're going to talk about,
[8:53] or that's part of the significance of of
[8:56] part of our meeting here today. But, the
[8:58] very first part there, Mr. Cherry, is is
[9:02] the
[9:04] uh board modification there. And, A is
[9:06] that all right to keep going?
[9:09] So,
[9:10] the board modification that the regional
[9:12] council took back in May, a copy of that
[9:14] table that along with the signed
[9:16] resolution was included in your meeting
[9:18] materials.
[9:20] That table identified those projects
[9:22] that were reviewed and approved
[9:25] into the the draft or into the 26
[9:29] um 31 transportation improvement
[9:31] program.
[9:36] Mr. Cherry, okay if we move
[9:38] item two, the board mod before this
[9:41] body.
[9:41] >> Yes, sir.
[9:42] >> Ben, can I just remind folks,
[9:44] those of you who remember, sometimes
[9:46] when as Ben noted, in months that the
[9:49] that Transcom is not meeting, but the
[9:51] Regional Council is meeting, the
[9:53] Regional Council will take action on
[9:56] TIP modifications. So, 4A was just in
[9:59] your materials. It was a report to you
[10:01] of things that the Regional Council did
[10:03] at its last meeting. So, we'll typically
[10:04] not go over those again here cuz they've
[10:07] already been considered by the Regional
[10:08] Council. But, of course, if anybody ever
[10:11] have any questions about materials in
[10:12] the packets, they can raise them at any
[10:14] time. But, that's why we move past 4A
[10:17] and go into the action items for you
[10:18] today.
[10:19] >> But, they are in your packet if you want
[10:20] to go back and review.
[10:21] >> They are, indeed.
[10:23] >> Thank you, Andrew.
[10:24] So,
[10:27] also as there's So, there's two tables
[10:30] in your packet today that identify four
[10:32] projects that are part of the board
[10:34] modification. This would be the eighth
[10:37] board modification to the 2631 TIP that
[10:41] was approved last August. We'll go
[10:43] through these four projects for your
[10:45] review
[10:46] and in for your approval.
[10:48] So, the first project that we have is a
[10:51] project that's located in
[10:53] up Weber Canyon. It's Weber Davis County
[10:56] areas up there. This is a request from
[10:58] UDOT. This is on I-84.
[11:01] It's four bridge replacements. There's
[11:03] actually two bridges.
[11:07] Sorry, well, let me to go back,
[11:08] Commissioner.
[11:11] So, there's there's two bridges. There's
[11:13] a bridge over the the river and there's
[11:16] a bridge over two Union Pacific rail
[11:20] tracks.
[11:21] Um these bridges were built back in 1965
[11:25] and they say that they've outlived their
[11:29] service life.
[11:30] I'm glad that's only pertains to
[11:32] bridges.
[11:34] That's not that long ago.
[11:36] But these two structures here
[11:40] have had a lot of modifications done.
[11:43] They've had a lot of work done on them,
[11:45] but now it's time to replace both these
[11:48] structures.
[11:49] This project has been going underway,
[11:52] but during construction some unknown
[11:54] utility work as well as
[11:57] some modifications to temporary
[12:00] retaining walls
[12:02] and then some impacts that have been
[12:04] caused because of timing with Union
[12:07] Pacific Rail working on and around the
[12:09] rail
[12:10] caused some project delay.
[12:13] So the request for this project
[12:16] It's copy of the a picture of the
[12:18] bridge. Here's also picture of
[12:22] underneath the bridges there.
[12:25] Fairly large structures.
[12:29] But the request is to add an additional
[12:31] $10 million to this project and this
[12:34] will give us a total project cost of
[12:36] $65.5 million for these structures.
[12:39] and these funds
[12:41] come from the state transportation
[12:44] solution program.
[12:46] The next project that we had to look at
[12:49] is project this is actually in Salt Lake
[12:51] County. This is also request from UDOT.
[12:54] This is on I-80.
[12:56] And this has been after some recent
[12:59] inspection reports
[13:01] indicated that there's some bridges
[13:05] along I-80 that
[13:07] need to be addressed.
[13:09] So there's seven bridges in this
[13:12] along this facility here.
[13:15] And the first three bridges that we'll
[13:16] highlight here are bridges that are in
[13:19] poor condition due to some deck defects.
[13:24] And then the remaining four projects or
[13:26] four bridges there
[13:28] are bridges that have exhibited some
[13:31] deterioration that warrants repairs.
[13:36] So, as you're aware the complexity of
[13:38] I-80
[13:40] um makes it a little more difficult for
[13:42] the work to be taking place on I-80.
[13:45] And um
[13:47] so there's a request here. There's the three bridge decks to replace, the
[13:53] other four to have some rehabilitation
[13:55] work.
[13:56] The request is to add an additional $6
[13:58] million to this project given us a total
[14:01] project cost of $38 million. Now, the
[14:04] part that's exciting here is the UDOT
[14:07] Structures Group
[14:09] uh was recently awarded some federal
[14:12] competitive highway bridge grant money
[14:14] of about 28-plus million dollars.
[14:17] So, the $6 million that's needed for
[14:19] this project will be taken out of these
[14:21] funds and then the remaining amount will
[14:24] enable UDOT and the Transportation
[14:26] Commission to utilize on other bridge
[14:29] structures.
[14:32] >> Ben.
[14:33] >> Yes.
[14:33] >> Now, both Bens looked at me, which was
[14:35] exactly as I was intending.
[14:37] Um
[14:38] I'm going to interject just for a moment
[14:40] as we're talking about bridges.
[14:42] Um and I want to express something that
[14:45] Ben Hewitt, Deputy Director of UDOT, and
[14:48] Lisa Wilson, who's the other Deputy
[14:49] Director of UDOT UDOT said yesterday in
[14:52] a presentation to the Transportation
[14:53] Interim Committee where they were were
[14:55] talking about among other things bridge
[14:57] condition and um UDOT's approach to
[15:01] managing bridges. All of the bridges are
[15:03] safe.
[15:05] Right? That's a critical
[15:07] um
[15:08] uh non-negotiable
[15:10] uh element of the way that UDOT does its
[15:12] work and they're very actively looking
[15:14] at what's needed to maintain the bridges
[15:17] in safe condition and be proactive to
[15:20] actually save money over time. Good
[15:22] roads cost less, good bridges cost less.
[15:24] And so what you see periodically is
[15:27] updates on work approved by the
[15:29] Transportation Commission and moving
[15:31] along to make sure that the the overall
[15:34] infrastructure stays in good condition.
[15:37] Ben?
[15:38] Hewitt is nodding. Yes, thumbs up.
[15:40] Okay.
[15:41] Thank you.
[15:42] >> Sure, may I ask a question?
[15:44] Thank you.
[15:46] So this 28 million, is it used only for
[15:49] bridges or can it span other projects?
[15:53] >> So that that this specific grant was
[15:56] for these bridges.
[15:58] The yeah, the trickiness of the funding
[16:00] is we already had the funding approved
[16:02] for the full scope of the project, but
[16:04] we were able to go after this grant. So
[16:06] we do have to add money from the
[16:08] original total cost of this
[16:10] group of bridges,
[16:12] but it's really um the fact that we got
[16:15] the grant, it frees up a bunch of the money. So I
[16:19] mean the total is 38. So now instead of
[16:23] the
[16:24] it would have been 32, I think, before
[16:26] that before the $6 million add. Instead
[16:28] of the full 32 needing to come from
[16:32] our structures funding,
[16:34] now 28 of that now 38 comes from the
[16:37] grant. So there's only the 10 million
[16:39] that comes from the remaining structures
[16:41] funding.
[16:41] >> The way it keeps dropping that you use
[16:43] it.
[16:44] >> Yeah.
[16:44] >> So
[16:45] that's not good. We don't want our
[16:46] bridges to drop. We want to span those.
[16:49] >> Yeah.
[16:50] >> Thank you.
[16:53] Thank you, Ben.
[16:55] So that that brings us to the second
[16:58] table then that identifies two projects.
[17:00] And these projects are actually projects
[17:02] that are also ongoing that are
[17:04] requesting additional funds.
[17:07] The first project is in Davis County,
[17:09] Weber County. This is on 2000 West or
[17:12] 3500 West, depending on which county
[17:15] you're in, or SR 108. This project is a
[17:19] pretty exciting project, a project that
[17:21] is
[17:22] needed. It goes from 1800 there in
[17:26] Clinton.
[17:27] It goes up to 4275 South up in West
[17:31] Haven.
[17:32] So, fairly long
[17:34] uh improvement there.
[17:36] But, on this project, you can go on to
[17:38] the
[17:39] UDOT's project website there for this
[17:42] particular project, and you can zoom
[17:44] right in on the project and see what the
[17:46] improvements are looking like. Like if
[17:48] we were to zoom in on that intersection,
[17:50] there you can see how things all realign
[17:54] and reconfigure there through the
[17:55] intersection, as well as the
[17:57] right-of-way and the widening of the
[17:58] roads. Another one there is kind of on
[18:01] mainline. I went in and found a
[18:03] location there. So, this is taking
[18:06] Google Earth and and looking at 108
[18:09] there
[18:10] at a particular location, and then I laid on top of that
[18:15] the improvements, so you can see how
[18:17] much
[18:19] the improvements to this facility will
[18:21] bring to a a two-lane facility with
[18:23] wider shoulders
[18:25] to a five-lane facility with shoulders,
[18:28] curb, gutter, and sidewalk
[18:30] paths.
[18:32] So, there's a lot of improvements. We
[18:34] take that to a five-lane cross-section.
[18:37] >> I can't see the bike lanes. Can you
[18:38] point those out for me?
[18:40] >> Bike lanes would be right there on the
[18:42] shoulders, so right under the additional
[18:44] funding.
[18:45] >> Got you. Thank you.
[18:46] >> And so,
[18:48] um the widening there will accommodate
[18:50] the future travel demand that'll be
[18:52] necessary for that, but you're also got
[18:54] the improved shoulders, the multi-use
[18:56] paths, sidewalks, and then there's a
[18:58] pedestrian bridge on 2050 North in
[19:02] Clinton that was approved by this body a
[19:04] couple of years ago
[19:06] um that will be incorporated into this
[19:09] project. And so, there's some need for
[19:11] additional funding comes as a result of
[19:14] the inflation,
[19:16] the cost of right-of-way, there's some
[19:18] really
[19:19] uh utility relocations as well as
[19:22] um
[19:23] the pedestrian overpass,
[19:25] uh there's been a cost increase to that
[19:28] structure. So, there's a request to add
[19:31] 93 million to this project, and that'll
[19:34] bring the total project up to 224 plus
[19:38] million.
[19:42] Those funds come from the state
[19:44] investment our transportation investment
[19:46] funds are the TIF program.
[19:49] The last project that we have is a
[19:51] project in Davis County, and this is on
[19:53] UDOT's I-15 or this is a request from
[19:56] UDOT's on I-15.
[19:58] It's the Shepherd Lane Interchange, and
[20:00] there's pedestrian overpass.
[20:02] So, there's a construction of a new
[20:04] interchange
[20:07] there at Shepherd,
[20:09] and then there's an improvement for
[20:10] pedestrian. And so, on this particular
[20:13] project, here's just a a review. So,
[20:15] you'll see the old Shepherd Lane is that
[20:17] little tiny thin line that goes across.
[20:20] That's being removed, and then you've
[20:21] got a a full diamond interchange that's
[20:24] being constructed in that location.
[20:27] With the connections to the surrounding
[20:29] facilities,
[20:31] and then
[20:33] down around the Park Lane, we've got the
[20:35] pedestrian improvements that are being
[20:37] done
[20:38] in and around this section. So,
[20:41] this project they're requesting
[20:42] additional funding also because there's
[20:45] been some significant challenges as
[20:47] they've been working through the
[20:49] construction. They've had soft soils,
[20:52] they've had water, um and then there's
[20:54] the tight constraints between the
[20:56] railroad and the freeway and other
[20:58] facilities.
[20:59] So, the request is to add another an
[21:02] additional 26 million to this project,
[21:05] bringing the total project cost to a
[21:07] little more than 177 million. And these
[21:10] funds are also from the state
[21:12] transportation investment funds or the
[21:14] tip program. So that's all the projects
[21:17] for the board modification, Mr. Chair.
[21:20] >> So that really just on the Farmington
[21:22] piece just catching up where they're cuz
[21:24] I mean the projects are
[21:26] pretty close to being done.
[21:28] So is it just really just this is what
[21:31] was short now, so we're backfilling the
[21:33] copper?
[21:35] Okay.
[21:38] any other questions for Ben?
[21:42] Okay, if not I would uh entertain a
[21:44] motion to approve the resolution to
[21:46] modify the 2026-2031 transportation
[21:48] improvement program as requested.
[21:51] >> Second.
[21:52] >> We have a motion and a second. Any
[21:54] further discussion?
[21:55] Seeing none, all in favor?
[21:57] >> I.
[21:57] >> Any opposed?
[21:59] Okay.
[22:00] That takes care of that item and then
[22:02] item 4C, Ben, we'll go back to you for
[22:04] the release of uh
[22:05] 2027-2032. It's just not as exciting
[22:08] anymore.
[22:09] >> Well,
[22:10] yeah, this this one is pretty exciting.
[22:13] 27-32
[22:14] sounds like a football play maybe there.
[22:17] So this is the two
[22:20] uh there's that a little tip there once
[22:22] I but this is to release the draft tip
[22:25] out for public review and comment. So an
[22:28] opportunity to enable our public to be
[22:31] involved, to know and understand what's
[22:33] happening, and to get their input. Um so
[22:38] when we're preparing the information to
[22:39] go out for the public review and comment
[22:42] period, we have those tables that are
[22:45] the programs that Wasatch Front Regional
[22:47] Council has responsibility. They're part
[22:50] of the statewide transportation
[22:52] improvement program document, but we
[22:55] also highlight them in our individual
[22:57] tables that you're accustomed to just to
[22:59] facilitate to be enabled to look at
[23:02] those projects for the STP, CMAQ, TAP,
[23:05] and CRP programs.
[23:07] We also list the other projects that are
[23:10] state or other federal funded projects,
[23:13] and that has all of the tables that
[23:15] identify those projects that UDOT takes
[23:18] the lead in programming these projects
[23:21] with input from the MPOs as well as the
[23:23] local governments and other agencies.
[23:27] Then we have those projects that are
[23:28] funded for the transit type improvements
[23:32] that UTA takes the lead in the
[23:33] responsibility of programming those with
[23:36] the MPO and their local jurisdictions
[23:39] and UDOT.
[23:41] Then we also have the air quality
[23:43] conformity. This is our draft air
[23:45] quality memorandum determining or it
[23:48] demonstrates that the conformity
[23:49] analysis for the 2027-32
[23:53] transportation improvement program is in
[23:55] compliance. So, this information is
[23:58] provided to the public, and it's
[24:00] available online.
[24:02] In addition to this,
[24:04] uh well, maybe let me go back. So, the idea then is today we're meeting
[24:09] it's the 17th of June, amazing, it's
[24:12] going by pretty fast here, but our
[24:14] intentions are to request that Transcom
[24:18] release
[24:20] the transportation improvement program
[24:22] for public review and comment beginning
[24:25] on the 27th of June.
[24:28] That
[24:29] public review and comment period then
[24:31] would go all the way through the 2nd of
[24:33] August and when it would end. In
[24:35] addition to those public comment period,
[24:37] we would have two open houses, one on
[24:40] the 21st and one on the 28th. We're
[24:42] looking at having one in the south end
[24:44] of the valley in the Salt Lake area,
[24:46] and one up in the Ogden Layton area,
[24:48] probably around the Ogden City or
[24:50] Lindquist Field. The one in Salt Lake
[24:53] will be down probably around the B's and
[24:55] South Jordan.
[24:57] We also will have where we are planning
[25:00] to have an online public open house and
[25:02] that would be on the 30th
[25:05] of July.
[25:07] Then we will take that information. We
[25:09] will bring any other comments or
[25:12] information that we received during the
[25:14] public review and comment period to the
[25:15] technical advisory committees which made
[25:18] up of the city engineer, public works,
[25:20] and other city officials.
[25:22] That information then will be discussed
[25:24] at the TAC meetings and we will bring
[25:26] that information back to this body which
[25:29] will meet on the 20th
[25:31] for your recommendation to the regional
[25:33] council which will meet the week later
[25:35] on the 27th.
[25:37] Once we receive approval of the the
[25:39] 27-32 TIP,
[25:42] we combine that with UDOT and then it is
[25:44] submitted
[25:46] to Federal Highways and Federal Transit
[25:48] for their review the first part of
[25:50] September and they have the month of
[25:52] September to review that information and
[25:54] then come October 1, we have the new
[25:57] 27-2032
[25:59] Transportation Improvement Program. But
[26:02] here's the the exciting part. Back when
[26:04] we meet in August, we start the process
[26:07] for the 28-33 TIP. So think of that
[26:10] number, 28-33.
[26:12] Another football play maybe. So, what do
[26:15] you do? Well, you go on and you log
[26:17] Well, that went fast. You go on Let me
[26:19] talk faster. Yes.
[26:21] >> We have a question from council member
[26:23] Stringham.
[26:25] Online. Council member?
[26:28] >> Yeah, I have a quick question. Is there
[26:30] a reason why we're
[26:31] um
[26:31] we're having the public comment during
[26:33] July?
[26:35] Um that is when people are least paying
[26:38] attention and least available for
[26:40] comments and least um connected to
[26:42] anything going on.
[26:44] Um I was just curious if there's a time
[26:46] frame and there's a reason why we're
[26:47] shooting between and during that time.
[26:51] >> I I missed half the question. I'm sorry.
[26:54] >> Oh, go ahead, Wayne.
[26:56] >> I'll This is Wayne Bedden with WFRC
[26:58] staff. The
[27:00] um TIP has to be approved in August to
[27:04] line up with the statewide
[27:06] transportation improvement program.
[27:08] And the preparation
[27:11] takes
[27:12] of the TIP takes the rest of the year.
[27:15] So, it's really a matter of the timing
[27:18] um needing to of approval needing to
[27:21] happen in August that's driving the
[27:24] public comment period being in July. And
[27:27] unfortunately,
[27:28] in spite of it being a a challenging
[27:30] time to get comments or have people engaged,
[27:35] last year for instance, we had
[27:38] um
[27:38] nearly 400 comments, which is
[27:42] uh significant for
[27:44] uh for us um
[27:47] or for this document. So, in in spite of
[27:50] the obstacles, we are getting lots of
[27:53] public input.
[27:54] >> Can I add to that? Um council members
[27:58] Thanks. I I really appreciate your
[28:00] raising that point. And I'll say we'll
[28:02] take a look at the schedule, also
[28:05] um
[28:06] just to make sure that we're doing
[28:07] everything we can to make sure access is
[28:09] uh is as high as possible. So, thanks
[28:11] for raising that. It's a
[28:13] Utah between the 4th and the 24th is a
[28:15] nice time of year,
[28:17] uh I'll say. Um
[28:19] and part of This is part of the reason
[28:22] that we do the online
[28:24] uh open house as well. So that people
[28:26] can, if they want, they can access they
[28:28] don't have to physically come. They can
[28:30] go from wherever they want. And just to
[28:32] emphasize, we have the online map so
[28:35] that people don't even have to attend a
[28:36] meeting at any point during that period,
[28:39] they can go on the map and put comments
[28:41] in. And we make an effort to make sure
[28:43] with us and through our partners,
[28:44] everybody's communicating about this.
[28:46] I'm saying all that not to refute your
[28:48] point. I hear you, we hear you, we agree
[28:50] with your point. We'll take a look at
[28:52] the schedule and we work really hard to
[28:54] make sure people are aware of the
[28:56] opportunity for comment. Thanks.
[29:00] » Thank you, Andrew and Wayne.
[29:02] Ben, back to you.
[29:03] >> Thank you.
[29:04] Thanks, Andrew. Thank you, Wayne.
[29:06] And thank you, councilman. So,
[29:09] Andrew kind of took some punch right out
[29:11] of my next card here, but that's okay.
[29:13] We're going to So, we log on to our
[29:16] website.
[29:18] And that that brings us
[29:20] into the the website the time
[29:27] Is that
[29:30] Okay.
[29:32] We go on to the transportation
[29:33] improvement program page and we're able
[29:36] to
[29:37] We'll also have access
[29:40] through other buttons like a banner type
[29:42] that enables that opportunity to access
[29:46] what Andrew referred to as an
[29:48] interactive map.
[29:49] So, this is an online map that enables
[29:52] anyone anywhere time to sit down and
[29:56] click on a map or on the map on a
[29:59] particular project or on a location
[30:01] where they may have a concern and leave
[30:04] a comment on whether
[30:07] they have additional information or they
[30:10] have suggestions and then those comments
[30:13] are collected and then we will respond
[30:15] back to them. We utilize them with all
[30:17] of our partners with the local
[30:19] governments as well as with UDOT and
[30:21] UTA.
[30:23] So,
[30:24] in that
[30:26] as we're looking at that document or all
[30:28] of the projects on the map, so here's a
[30:30] list of the STP projects that were
[30:32] reviewed and approved by this body. Two
[30:35] those projects, if you recall, one was
[30:37] in Ogden City on 2nd Street. This body
[30:40] recommended and it was approved by
[30:42] council $4 million for the improvements
[30:44] there on 2nd Street. Another one on STP
[30:48] was in Holiday City on Highland Drive.
[30:50] This is for a reconstruct with minor
[30:53] widening. $3 million were recommended
[30:56] for this particular project.
[30:59] The tip also are in that document. You
[31:02] have the CMAQ projects and you'll recall
[31:05] that there were the eight CMAQ projects
[31:07] that were recommended for the program.
[31:10] There was a money
[31:12] uh recommended and to be programmed on
[31:14] the the pedestrian bridge there in
[31:16] Clearfield.
[31:17] Um there's a money to be programmed on
[31:19] an intersection improvements there in
[31:21] Salt Lake City.
[31:23] And we've got the TAP programs both in
[31:26] the Salt Lake and the Ogden Layton urban
[31:28] areas and the couple of project examples
[31:31] there is the North Salt Lake. This is
[31:33] for missing sidewalk there on Cutler
[31:35] Drive.
[31:36] And then there was a project there in
[31:38] Midvale on Bingham Junction Boulevard
[31:41] for bike ped pedestrians.
[31:44] Um 400,000 programmed for that project.
[31:47] And then
[31:48] there was the CRP program for both of
[31:50] the urban areas and those projects
[31:52] included South Salt Lake had a a
[31:55] neighborhood byway 633,000
[31:58] programmed.
[31:59] And then
[32:01] for vanpool expansion on UTA, there was
[32:05] some programmed and this indicates that was programmed in Weber County.
[32:09] There was also an amount programmed in
[32:11] the Salt Lake. So, that map will
[32:14] highlight these projects and all that
[32:15] were recommended by this body, but then
[32:18] you've also got the capacity projects
[32:21] that are across
[32:22] the Wasatch Front in the WFRC area.
[32:25] You've also got projects that identify
[32:27] the rehab and the maintenance. We got
[32:29] the safety and the ITS projects.
[32:32] And then we've got the transit
[32:34] operations and maintenance.
[32:39] And then we've got the pedestrian and
[32:41] bicycle facilities.
[32:44] So, there's a lot of projects in this
[32:46] document that affect every one of us
[32:49] that live along the Wasatch Front. So, I
[32:51] have an idea.
[32:53] Councilman, this may be a great way to
[32:55] do it, too, is to identify time when you
[32:57] can sit down with your family,
[33:00] pull up the TV and instead of watching
[33:03] some romantic or some show on there
[33:05] like, I don't know,
[33:07] >> The World Cup. This is even better than
[33:09] the World Cup, is that what you're
[33:10] saying?
[33:10] >> Oh, it makes FIFA look like nothing.
[33:12] >> Oh.
[33:13] >> So, this is really
[33:16] you log on to wfrc.org
[33:20] and all of a sudden you pull up the um
[33:23] transportation improvement program. Now,
[33:25] can you just see the excitement
[33:26] generated there with your family sitting
[33:28] around as you pull up the interactive
[33:31] map and you identify a project and start
[33:33] to talk about it? I can see memories all
[33:36] over it. Picture that first day back at
[33:38] school. What we did for summer was sit
[33:41] down and watch the TIP on TV as a
[33:44] family.
[33:44] >> this is what my family's doing for
[33:46] Father's Day.
[33:47] >> Oh, this is pretty
[33:48] >> Everybody else with me? You with me?
[33:50] >> No.
[33:51] >> Yeah, no?
[33:52] Okay.
[33:56] » This and this would be a highlight and I would have hearts and stuff coming up
[33:59] from the But, anyway, you get the idea,
[34:01] but the public review and comment period
[34:04] then if it initiates from your uh
[34:07] direction there on the 27th, we'll
[34:09] conclude the August 2nd.
[34:12] This gives our public an opportunity to
[34:14] be involved, it gives each one of us an
[34:16] opportunity to review the projects and
[34:19] make comments where necessary that we
[34:21] can utilize as we move forward. Mr.
[34:24] Chair, that would be all I have.
[34:26] >> Thank you, Ben. Do we have questions for
[34:28] Ben?
[34:31] I don't know if we're uh Oh, yes,
[34:33] Carlton.
[34:33] >> Uh maybe more of a comment. I think
[34:35] between Andrew and Ben
[34:37] I'm inspired to ask of my adult
[34:39] daughters when they ask me what I want
[34:41] for Father's Day to test their love for
[34:43] their father.
[34:44] >> [laughter]
[34:46] >> I'm sure I'm sure they'll be joining.
[34:49] >> That would be cool.
[34:51] I just don't know, Ben, if we're
[34:52] supposed to read this as a
[34:54] 2027 2032 HIKE
[34:57] uh or if we're supposed to sing olé olé.
[35:00] Go read the tip. I don't know. One of
[35:03] the two has got to happen here, but uh
[35:05] if there's no questions for Ben, I would
[35:07] entertain a motion to release the 2020
[35:10] the draft 2027-2032 tip and the air
[35:13] quality conformity analysis for public
[35:15] review and comment.
[35:16] >> I move to approve.
[35:17] >> Second.
[35:19] >> We have a motion and a second. All in
[35:21] favor?
[35:22] >> Aye.
[35:23] >> Any opposed?
[35:25] All right. Thank you, Ben. Appreciate
[35:27] that.
[35:27] >> Thank you.
[35:28] >> And well, we all know how critical importance safety is on our
[35:32] roadways. And so, we have the
[35:33] opportunity today to hear from Fariba
[35:36] Sultani
[35:37] um who's going to share with us
[35:40] about some safety trends and improvement
[35:41] projects that have occurred in the
[35:42] region.
[35:43] >> Yeah, thank you. Hi, everyone, and thank
[35:46] you for joining us today.
[35:48] And um I would like to present
[35:52] our annual safety report in response to
[35:56] WFRC Council's
[35:59] safety goal.
[36:01] Well, um before looking at
[36:04] the data, I would like to um
[36:08] I would like to highlight WFRC's safety
[36:12] commitment. Uh in WFRC, we believe that
[36:17] um
[36:17] uh fatalities and serious injuries are
[36:20] preventable.
[36:21] Crashes might happen, uh but we believe
[36:24] that And transportation system should be
[36:27] designed in a way that if a mistake
[36:29] happens, it doesn't bleed into
[36:33] fatalities or serious injuries. So, to
[36:36] adopt
[36:38] this
[36:40] safety goal, WFRC council
[36:45] have a goal of decreasing these numbers
[36:48] by 2.5%
[36:50] annually, which hopefully will lead us
[36:52] to the 50% by 2040.
[36:57] Um
[36:59] So
[37:01] Let's look where we are
[37:04] right now compared to our 2.5% goal.
[37:09] So, the orange line shows that where we
[37:12] would be if we were meeting that 2.5%
[37:16] reduction annually. And the blue line
[37:19] shows that actually where we are at
[37:21] right now. As you might see in 2022,
[37:26] we had a decrease and we were almost
[37:29] meeting our goal, but after that
[37:32] unfortunately it the number of
[37:35] fatalities and serious injuries has
[37:38] increased.
[37:39] And
[37:40] while this is concerning, but it also
[37:43] highlights that why investment in safety
[37:47] project is really important for us. So,
[37:50] let's um
[37:52] look at them separately, fatalities and
[37:55] serious injuries to see what is driving
[37:58] this trend.
[37:59] So, this one shows the fatalities.
[38:03] Um
[38:04] The good news is that fatalities have
[38:06] decreased since 2022.
[38:09] And in 2025,
[38:12] it
[38:13] it's almost um
[38:16] meeting our goal.
[38:18] But while we have a um, positive trend
[38:21] here in fatalities, but um, the s-
[38:24] serious injuries tells us a different
[38:26] story.
[38:28] Even though we had a decrease in 2022,
[38:30] but since then
[38:32] um, the number of serious injuries has
[38:34] increased substantially.
[38:37] And
[38:38] even in 2025, I think it's approximately
[38:42] like 1,000.
[38:44] If I'm not wrong.
[38:46] So, that's that's why we are uh,
[38:49] you know, not meeting our safety goal.
[38:52] So,
[38:54] um,
[38:56] before um,
[39:00] moving forward, uh, I would like you to
[39:02] scan this code.
[39:04] And we will have some questions to
[39:07] interact, and do not close the page
[39:09] because we'll have another question
[39:12] uh,
[39:13] coming.
[39:14] >> And people online should
[39:17] join Slido as well.
[39:19] Everybody jump on in. This one's for
[39:21] everybody.
[39:22] Mhm.
[39:30] » Oh, just ignore those first those
[39:32] numbers because we were testing to see
[39:34] if the QR code actually works. So, I
[39:36] hope that that's not misleading you.
[39:44] The numbers should change while you're
[39:45] answering.
[39:54] » [laughter]
[40:05] » Friba, you just read out the question.
[40:07] For the record also.
[40:09] >> Um, well, the question is which of the
[40:11] following factors do you think is the
[40:13] biggest contributor to fatalities and
[40:16] serious injuries in what such front
[40:18] area.
[40:21] Is it a speed involved? Is it
[40:22] intersection involved? Roadway departure
[40:25] involved? Pedestrian involved or others?
[40:38] Oh.
[40:41] Did everybody enter their answers? Okay.
[40:44] So,
[40:45] Oh, it's changing.
[40:47] Okay, the first one based on our
[40:49] responses, it says it's speeding
[40:51] involved with
[40:53] more than 50%
[40:56] Right? Let's see what the data shows
[40:58] compared to our perception.
[41:02] So,
[41:03] looking at this figure, this figure
[41:05] shows um the number of fatalities and
[41:08] serious injuries in what such front area
[41:10] in 2021 through 2025.
[41:15] What immediately stands out is that
[41:18] intersections intersection involved uh
[41:21] crashes
[41:23] are the highest um you know,
[41:26] crash contributor. Near it it's nearly
[41:29] 2,400
[41:32] crashes.
[41:33] And um
[41:36] following by roadway departure involved,
[41:38] motorcycle involved, and speeding
[41:41] involved also has a significant share,
[41:44] but it's not the number one as we
[41:47] thought it might be the number Yes.
[41:50] >> What this tells me is that we need to
[41:52] increase the speeds and also increase
[41:54] the number of flyovers.
[42:06] » For how many
[42:08] Do we know
[42:10] how many of those incidents are multiple
[42:14] related? So, I mean you've got
[42:15] intersection involved,
[42:17] but not speed. Was there speeding and an
[42:21] intersection involved, or were they I
[42:23] mean speeding through an intersection?
[42:25] Um
[42:27] Was there a motorcycle in the
[42:29] intersection?
[42:30] >> Yeah. That That's a very good question
[42:32] because research shows and we also know
[42:35] that there is not just one um risk
[42:38] factor for, you know, one There's not
[42:40] just an exclusive reason for the
[42:42] crashes. It might be multiple, right?
[42:45] But the data that we have right now
[42:48] is it is um like these categories, but
[42:51] we can um
[42:53] talk to you about further because I'm
[42:55] sure they have more detailed
[42:57] uh data, so we can investigate more and
[43:00] to see
[43:01] uh and provide more answers.
[43:03] >> Thanks. My answer is when people like
[43:06] Jim Harvey are texting through
[43:07] intersections.
[43:10] >> Well, but I mean I asked that in in, you
[43:12] know, because that it says there's an
[43:14] intersection involved, obviously, but I
[43:16] mean Commissioner Harvey brings up a a
[43:17] good point. I mean it's If we're saying
[43:19] that our accidents aren't caused because
[43:21] of speed, then
[43:23] that you know, I mean that very few of
[43:24] those, you know, fatalities or serious
[43:26] injuries are caused from speed, but
[43:28] they're caused from intersections.
[43:30] Well, then speeding's not that big of a
[43:31] deal. And so, I mean that would send the
[43:34] wrong message, I I worry, to to a public
[43:36] that would look at that and say, "Oh, so
[43:37] speeding's not the problem. You keep
[43:39] telling me to to start to stop speeding
[43:42] and to put on my seat belt, but those
[43:44] aren't the issues. It's being in an
[43:45] intersection. So, I just need to avoid
[43:47] intersections, and then I'm okay."
[43:49] >> Yeah. Well, that's a very good point.
[43:52] Yeah.
[43:52] >> Can I
[43:53] Furiba, can I respond to that?
[43:54] >> Yeah, of course.
[43:55] >> I think that the message that I would
[43:58] take away from this is that um
[44:00] everything you see on this chart
[44:03] is a significant issue when it comes to
[44:06] transportation safety. Um speeding is
[44:10] the number four leading risk factor. As
[44:14] you look at all of these all of these
[44:16] things are are notable, and so therefore
[44:19] we need to take an approach that tries
[44:20] to tackle all of these issues. The thing
[44:23] that as Fariba noted that jumped out to
[44:25] us when we looked at this data
[44:27] is that intersection, and it could be a
[44:30] combination with distracted driving or
[44:33] combination with speeding, but the
[44:36] number one standalone risk factor is uh
[44:39] crashes um uh and fatalities at
[44:43] intersections. So that really stands out
[44:45] to us as a as an important thing as we
[44:46] try to address these issues.
[44:48] >> And that makes sense, and I would fully
[44:49] expect that UDOT has
[44:51] better
[44:53] you know, more detailed information in
[44:54] there. I I mean, I know my police
[44:55] department does. They'll tell me if it
[44:57] was in an intersection and if they were
[44:58] speeding. They've got both of those
[45:00] things which are then reported to UDOT,
[45:02] so it would it would just be good to see that, you know.
[45:06] >> Yeah.
[45:06] >> It does sort of beg the question,
[45:09] is there something we can do with our
[45:11] intersection design, right?
[45:13] >> Yeah.
[45:15] thank you. Well, that was uh the
[45:19] regional uh data analysis,
[45:22] uh but we all
[45:24] we know that uh regional trends don't
[45:26] always tell the whole the whole story.
[45:29] So now let's see what um your
[45:31] communities tell what what concerns they
[45:35] raise
[45:36] um
[45:38] you know, most often.
[45:41] And again, ignore those two
[45:43] answers. We were just testing. So
[45:48] and
[45:50] yeah.
[45:51] >> Well, the question The question is what
[45:53] safety risk factors do you hear
[45:55] residents raise concern about most
[45:58] often?
[46:39] » Let's see.
[46:41] Okay, this um table
[46:44] um is from CSAP, Comprehensive Safety
[46:47] Action Plan.
[46:49] And um so the risk the risk factors were
[46:53] ranked uh with one as the highest
[46:57] risk to 12 as the lowest.
[47:00] And um
[47:02] one
[47:03] the the first three ranks are
[47:05] highlighted in orange, you can see.
[47:08] And this is uh WFRC's area.
[47:12] And
[47:13] as you can see, intersections
[47:16] are ranked as the
[47:19] you know, the first risk factor nearly
[47:21] for all of our areas.
[47:24] So
[47:26] um
[47:27] this consistency that intersections are
[47:30] problem or less not as an issue as
[47:32] safety issue regionally and
[47:34] subregionally is
[47:36] uh really interesting to, you know, look
[47:39] at.
[47:42] >> So for Reba, across the top there, the
[47:44] blue it within the red box, those are
[47:46] different sub portions of the Wasatch
[47:49] Front from Southern Box Elder and
[47:52] Western Weber to
[47:55] uh Northern Davis to Eastern Salt Lake,
[47:57] etc.
[47:59] >> Yes.
[47:59] >> And as you all can see,
[48:01] this point about intersections, it's
[48:03] basically the number one risk factor in
[48:06] almost every portion of the region.
[48:11] » Yeah, thank you, Andrew.
[48:14] Um, well, the good news is that our
[48:20] community are already working on their
[48:23] safety issues. And um, in 2025,
[48:28] we had, uh,
[48:29] seven, uh, safe streets for all grants
[48:32] awarded. We had three highway safety
[48:36] improvement, uh, program
[48:38] awarded. And also communities, they
[48:41] completed, uh, us approximately 75
[48:45] safety improvement projects.
[48:48] And um,
[48:51] so, uh, moving forward, what does this
[48:54] all tell us about? Um, as you saw,
[48:57] intersections are a serious, um,
[49:00] risk factor in regional and subregional.
[49:04] And the good news is that, uh, many of
[49:07] these intersections are owned and
[49:10] operated by local
[49:13] jurisdictions, which means you have
[49:15] control in improving the safety of this
[49:19] intersec- intersections. And in WFRC, we
[49:22] encourage you to use our CSAP report,
[49:26] uh, to you know, to
[49:29] and work with your staff to figure out,
[49:31] uh,
[49:32] where those risky areas are. And also,
[49:36] there are, you know, there are, um,
[49:37] state, local, and federal, uh, funds
[49:41] that you can apply for and use that to
[49:43] improve, uh, the safety of your areas.
[49:46] And if you go to our, uh, CSAP page, um,
[49:53] Erlene, can you scroll that and scroll
[49:54] down?
[49:56] We have maps.
[49:57] If you go to um
[49:59] GIS section,
[50:01] as an example, let's go to map three.
[50:11] It's okay.
[50:14] Here we go.
[50:17] And if we zoom in,
[50:24] a little bit
[50:27] Awesome. Thank you, Jordan. So, if you
[50:29] look at here, for instance, those purple
[50:31] dots are showing the higher risky
[50:35] intersections. So, you can take
[50:36] advantage of this map and um work with
[50:40] your staff and prioritize
[50:44] your intersections and apply for funds.
[50:47] And if you have any questions or if you
[50:49] need assistance, we are we would love to
[50:51] help you at WFRC.
[50:54] And um that concludes my presentation.
[50:58] And thank you all. And we would like to
[51:00] take questions if you have any.
[51:06] » Okay. Well, thank you, Fariba.
[51:07] Appreciate that.
[51:08] >> Thank you.
[51:10] >> Fariba, thanks. Wayne, can I put you on
[51:12] the spot just for 1 minute? Fariba was
[51:14] helpfully sharing
[51:16] the comprehensive safety action plan.
[51:18] Just remind everybody for a minute,
[51:20] where did that comprehensive safety
[51:22] action plan come from and what's the
[51:23] data that's in there,
[51:25] you know, that that Fariba was pointing
[51:27] out. I want to make sure that people
[51:28] understand where that came from, so the
[51:31] validity of it as we go forward.
[51:34] >> You bet.
[51:35] Um
[51:35] some of you will recall, but some of you
[51:38] have joined Transcom since then. Uh
[51:41] Transcom actually took action a year 2
[51:45] years ago in April uh to approve that
[51:49] comprehensive safety action plan and the
[51:51] data
[51:53] that's behind it was
[51:55] 2018 to 2022.
[51:59] Um
[52:00] and the fact that
[52:02] not only did the data include crash
[52:05] history, but it also identified risk
[52:08] factors at both intersections and
[52:11] roadway segments.
[52:12] Um those risk factors unless
[52:16] improvements have been made are still
[52:18] present. So, the data is actually pretty
[52:21] current, pretty relevant
[52:24] in terms of identifying risk factors
[52:27] for opportunities to make safety
[52:30] improvements.
[52:33] >> Thanks, Wayne.
[52:34] Well, we're grateful today to have
[52:36] Blaine Leonard here to talk to us about
[52:38] a current applications of connected
[52:40] vehicle technology in Utah.
[52:42] Blaine is UDOT's transportation
[52:44] technology engineer and I will say he is
[52:46] a nationally recognized expert in this
[52:49] field and uh
[52:51] Blaine, we're going to go ahead and turn
[52:53] the time over to you and educate us.
[52:58] » Is my mic on?
[53:00] Is your mic on?
[53:03] » Blaine, is your mic on? There's the
[53:05] green button on there. Turn the green
[53:06] light.
[53:07] >> It is now.
[53:08] >> Okay.
[53:08] >> Thank you.
[53:10] I I appreciate the opportunity to be
[53:11] here. I made a presentation to the TAC
[53:13] committees a few weeks ago and Wayne
[53:15] suggested that I come here and give you
[53:18] the same presentation basically and talk
[53:20] to you a little bit about a program we
[53:23] have going on at UDOT that that
[53:25] addresses a variety of things. Some of
[53:27] the Some of this program addresses
[53:28] safety, some addresses um mobility improvements and so we just
[53:33] want to sort of introduce this to you
[53:35] and talk you through it. Wayne made me
[53:37] promise that I would have you out of
[53:38] here by 4:00 so you could beat the
[53:41] traffic. Um, just kidding.
[53:43] Um,
[53:45] So our program is built around a
[53:47] technology called vehicle-to-everything
[53:50] or connected vehicles. And the concept
[53:53] here is that vehicles have on them
[53:56] in our program, a specialized rate
[53:58] short-range radio system that allows it
[54:01] to connect with the roadside, the
[54:03] traffic signal or a device along the
[54:06] roadside, a similar radio on the
[54:07] roadside. Um, it can also enable these
[54:10] vehicles to talk to each other, although
[54:12] we haven't really ventured there yet.
[54:15] Um,
[54:16] and and this is a program that was
[54:18] envisioned by uh the US DOT back in the
[54:21] 1990s.
[54:23] Um, and it's been sort of evolving, the
[54:25] technology's been evolving ever since.
[54:28] Um, our long-term goal with this program
[54:30] is safety. The idea here is that if the
[54:34] vehicle driver, whether that driver is
[54:36] human or not, the vehicle driver can get
[54:39] information that they can't necessarily
[54:41] see, they can make better decisions. Um,
[54:45] we sometimes call this technology a
[54:47] digital seatbelt. You all have a
[54:49] seatbelt in your car. I hope you use it
[54:51] all of the time cuz it saves lives. It
[54:54] saves your life in a crash. The concept
[54:57] with this technology is that it helps
[54:59] you prevent the crash in the first
[55:01] place.
[55:02] If you know that someone's about to run
[55:04] a red light and you can take evasive
[55:06] action or you're about to run a red
[55:07] light and it can help you slow down etc.
[55:10] Um,
[55:12] this can prevent the crash. Now, for
[55:14] this to be truly effective from a safety
[55:16] standpoint, we need this technology in
[55:18] everybody's cars.
[55:20] Um, they're doing this in Europe,
[55:22] they're doing this in China, they're not
[55:24] doing this in the US yet. There's a long
[55:26] story behind that. Um, but one of the
[55:28] things we're trying to do is work with
[55:29] the auto makers and convince them that
[55:31] there's value here and that there's
[55:33] enough of an infrastructure out there to
[55:36] justify them putting this equipment in
[55:38] the cars. So, in the meantime,
[55:41] we've been focusing on some practical
[55:44] mobility applications
[55:46] to justify us building this system, get
[55:49] benefit from this system, so that we're
[55:51] a little more ready when the automakers
[55:53] decide to put this in their cars. So,
[55:57] our our initial focus was on improving
[55:59] transit performance, and then we've
[56:01] moved into improving snowplow
[56:04] performance and emergency vehicle
[56:06] performance, which also gets us into the
[56:08] safety realm.
[56:10] So, we're leveraging the system to
[56:12] demonstrate safety features.
[56:14] Um we've got a few vehicles that are
[56:16] equipped to show those, um and we're
[56:18] focusing on interoperability across
[56:20] jurisdictions.
[56:22] As I describe this technology, you may
[56:24] say to yourself, "Well, there's other
[56:26] technologies that accomplish this same
[56:28] purpose." There is, um there are.
[56:32] The difference here is that this is
[56:34] interoperable. When we install this
[56:36] statewide, this technology works in Salt
[56:38] Lake City as well as it works in Moab,
[56:41] right? And a vehicle going from one
[56:43] place to the other gets the same
[56:44] benefit. So, we're we're focused on this
[56:47] long-term focus of safety, but we're
[56:50] building for current success in the
[56:52] shorter term.
[56:53] Now, here's what the technology looks
[56:55] like. On the roadside, and this is a
[56:58] traffic signal up near Park City, um on
[57:01] the roadside, we install
[57:03] my slide sequence is a little odd here.
[57:07] Oh, something's missing. Okay.
[57:09] On the roadside, we install a roadside
[57:11] unit. Maybe it's Oh, it's just really
[57:14] tiny text. Sorry about that. This is a
[57:16] V2X radio. It hangs on the side of of
[57:19] the luminaire above the pole in most
[57:21] cases. It's about this big with some
[57:24] antenna sticking out of it. It's a
[57:25] short-range radio of a in a certain
[57:28] spectrum. Um
[57:31] And and then we wire that down into the
[57:33] signal cabinet and connect it to the
[57:35] signal controller, the computer that
[57:37] runs the traffic signal, and we put in
[57:39] there a signal command module. It's a
[57:41] little Linux computer board that goes in
[57:43] the cabinet that does the thinking for
[57:45] the system.
[57:46] We then put a similar device in the
[57:49] vehicle. This little blue box is on a
[57:51] shelf of a UTA bus. UTA's been our
[57:54] partner in this program since the
[57:55] beginning when we started deploying in
[57:57] 2015.
[57:58] Um and that's on the uh shelf in their
[58:01] electronics cabinet behind the driver.
[58:03] Uh this is actually this one here is
[58:05] actually mounted in
[58:07] the frunk of an electric Ford F-150, and
[58:10] then it has an antenna mounted somewhere
[58:12] on the top of the roof. So,
[58:14] the vehicle is sending data to the
[58:16] roadside, and the roadside is sending
[58:18] data back to the vehicle.
[58:20] And this these these little pieces of
[58:23] data are small, but they're frequent.
[58:25] So, the vehicle that's equipped is
[58:28] sending a little blip of data to the
[58:30] roadside 10 times per second.
[58:33] And the and the signal is sending back
[58:36] several messages. Some are 10 times per
[58:37] second, and some are once per second.
[58:40] That's because if you're moving at
[58:41] highway speed, a tenth of a second makes
[58:44] a lot of difference. So, we need to get
[58:45] this information quickly. It needs to be
[58:47] really low latency. If we're going to
[58:49] prevent a crash, we need to get that
[58:51] data to you in less than three tenths of
[58:53] a second.
[58:54] Um so you can so you can respond. Now,
[58:57] as this vehicle is sending data to the
[59:00] roadside, it's anonymous data.
[59:03] It's talking about where the vehicle is,
[59:05] what it's doing, how fast it's going,
[59:07] but there's no make, model, VIN, plate,
[59:10] color, any of that. It just says, "I'm a
[59:13] vehicle, and I'm 6.2 m long."
[59:15] And and the rest of it's um just about
[59:17] vehicle movement.
[59:19] >> Plan, maybe you're going to maybe you're
[59:21] going to get to this, but how many
[59:24] of these full units are installed?
[59:26] >> I'll get there.
[59:27] >> You'll get there. Thank you.
[59:28] >> you, Andrew. I'll get there. Um so so
[59:30] just to give you a big picture overview
[59:33] of what the program looks like, we
[59:35] prepared this little video. Um we didn't
[59:37] have enough money to hire a real
[59:38] narrator, so we've got a bad narrator,
[59:40] but um this
[59:43] as we've developed this program over the
[59:45] years, most recently we've been awarded
[59:47] a federal grant that we call Connecting
[59:49] the West, and so that's why a lot of
[59:51] this stuff is branded as Connecting the
[59:53] West. Uh but here's a little overview of
[59:56] what the system does.
[59:58] >> Connecting the West [music] is about
[1:00:00] building a safer, smarter transportation
[1:00:02] network across Utah, Wyoming, and
[1:00:04] Colorado. We're using LiDAR at
[1:00:07] intersections [music] to detect people
[1:00:08] in real time and alert drivers instantly
[1:00:11] to their presence.
[1:00:15] Think of it like a second set of eyes
[1:00:17] watching out for [music] people crossing
[1:00:19] the road. The moment someone enters the
[1:00:21] crosswalk, the system sends an alert
[1:00:23] straight to the driver. That's the power
[1:00:26] [music] of real-time connected safety.
[1:00:29] We're equipping essential vehicles like
[1:00:31] buses, [music] fire trucks, and snow
[1:00:32] plows with technology that talks to the
[1:00:35] traffic signals. This helps keep transit
[1:00:38] on time, improves emergency vehicle
[1:00:40] response, and makes Utah's roadways more
[1:00:43] efficient during critical moments.
[1:00:46] >> As a student, my schedule is super
[1:00:47] packed, so having a bus that comes every
[1:00:49] 6 minutes is really [music] great. It's
[1:00:51] really nice not having to worry about
[1:00:52] driving or parking. The bus is always
[1:00:54] there when I need it.
[1:00:56] >> Our goal is to make every trip, whether
[1:00:58] you're walking, riding the bus, or
[1:01:01] hauling freight,
[1:01:02] >> [music]
[1:01:02] >> smarter and safer. And we're doing it by
[1:01:04] connecting vehicles to the
[1:01:06] infrastructure that they move through.
[1:01:08] >> [music]
[1:01:08] >> This future of transportation is
[1:01:09] connected, and it's happening now, right
[1:01:12] here in the West. Utah, Colorado, and
[1:01:15] Wyoming are leading the way, [music] and
[1:01:17] we hope to see other states follow. This
[1:01:19] is not just innovation, it's
[1:01:21] implementation, [music]
[1:01:22] and it's making a difference today.
[1:01:29] » Yeah, thank you.
[1:01:32] >> [clears throat]
[1:01:34] » Connecting
[1:01:35] Okay, so
[1:01:37] um in this Connecting the West program,
[1:01:39] we're expanding the footprint of our
[1:01:41] deployment. Um so, in this program,
[1:01:44] we're adding another We're adding these
[1:01:46] roadside units to another 480
[1:01:48] intersections UDOT owned intersections
[1:01:51] in the state of Utah. That gives us over
[1:01:54] 1,200 intersections that has this
[1:01:57] technology on it. That's 91% of all of
[1:01:59] the signals that UDOT owns. And we've
[1:02:02] got a couple other programs that'll help
[1:02:03] fill in the gaps. This program is adding
[1:02:06] 215 onboard units to vehicles, and that
[1:02:09] will give us a total of 740 to Andrew's
[1:02:12] question. We have 100% of UTA buses
[1:02:15] equipped with this.
[1:02:17] And I say we've got 100% of UDOT plows
[1:02:20] We might be be missing two or three, and there's plows in like Moab that
[1:02:23] don't need this. But um 100% of the
[1:02:25] plows that plow snow are equipped this
[1:02:27] way.
[1:02:28] >> So, a follow-up to that, Blaine. Thank
[1:02:30] you. 91% of UDOT owned signals and um
[1:02:34] you know, for the cities and counties
[1:02:36] that are here, how does that apply to
[1:02:38] signals that are on city and county
[1:02:40] roads?
[1:02:41] >> So, um in addition to the UDOT owned
[1:02:44] signals, um we've worked with a number
[1:02:46] of the cities in the state, and we've
[1:02:48] equipped their signals. So, [snorts]
[1:02:50] um every signal in the city of Orem is
[1:02:52] equipped. Every city in the city of
[1:02:53] Logan is equipped. Um all three signals
[1:02:56] in the city of Brigham City are
[1:02:58] equipped. Um and we're talking with
[1:03:01] about three or four other cities right
[1:03:02] now about expanding the program. One of
[1:03:05] the things we're kind of looking for,
[1:03:07] and I'll talk about this in a second, is
[1:03:09] um since we've equipped all of UTA's
[1:03:12] buses,
[1:03:13] um we want to make sure that the core
[1:03:15] routes those buses travel on um have
[1:03:17] this capability. Some of those routes
[1:03:19] are in Salt Lake City. And we haven't
[1:03:21] yet sort of
[1:03:23] broken into Salt Lake City, but we're
[1:03:25] really close.
[1:03:28] >> Thank you. I just want to say how much
[1:03:29] we appreciate working with you at UTA
[1:03:32] and um about Salt Lake City, we um Salt
[1:03:36] Lake City got a grant on Second South
[1:03:38] and maybe uh Council member Dugan can
[1:03:41] speak to that, but we've worked with
[1:03:43] UDOT to get that implemented and we're
[1:03:45] excited to see that as well as uh
[1:03:47] working with you on some other uh
[1:03:50] connected vehicle automa- autonomous
[1:03:52] vehicle infrastructure. So, UDOT's been
[1:03:55] a great partner and this makes a big
[1:03:57] change in how fast and how we deliver
[1:04:00] our buses. So, just wanted to say we're
[1:04:02] excited for Salt Lake to take on that
[1:04:04] first uh dive into uh
[1:04:07] connected vehicles. So, thank you.
[1:04:11] >> Yeah, Salt Lake City's definitely very
[1:04:12] excited about the uh in this in the
[1:04:14] signal priority zation uh and this is
[1:04:17] you know, our step on Vision Zero on
[1:04:20] making our roadway safer across the
[1:04:22] board in 200 South, we have a lot of
[1:04:24] buses. I think within 7 and 1/2 minutes
[1:04:26] going to the university back and forth
[1:04:28] and they're always full and we need to
[1:04:29] make that that that route very efficient
[1:04:32] for the buses and the and the vehicles.
[1:04:34] So, this is the this is awesome. Yeah,
[1:04:36] and I want to keep on moving forward.
[1:04:37] >> about We've been talking to the Second
[1:04:39] South team for a while. Um frankly, the
[1:04:41] one thing that's still holding us up
[1:04:43] from getting all of that done is just an
[1:04:45] agreement, a legal agreement. And it it
[1:04:47] goes back and forth and it sits in my
[1:04:48] attorney's office for weeks and then it you know, it's you
[1:04:52] know how those go. But, uh any influence
[1:04:54] you have there is good. Um cuz we're
[1:04:57] excited to to be able to do that. Um
[1:04:59] and and get that involved.
[1:05:01] >> So, are you saying that when over here
[1:05:04] when the bus comes to the intersection,
[1:05:06] the light turns green for the bus and
[1:05:07] it's no flower?
[1:05:08] >> not quite. So, um and I've got a later
[1:05:11] slide about this, but that's a great
[1:05:12] question. There are There are two
[1:05:15] different technologies involved here. We
[1:05:16] call it connected intersection
[1:05:18] preferential treatment. You don't need
[1:05:20] that term. Transit signal priority and
[1:05:23] emergency vehicle preemption. So, in
[1:05:26] transit signal priority, the UTA bus is
[1:05:28] a smart bus and it knows how far behind
[1:05:31] schedule it is. As it approaches an
[1:05:33] intersection, if it's 5 minutes behind
[1:05:35] schedule or more, it then sends a
[1:05:38] message over this radio system to the
[1:05:40] roadside and says,
[1:05:42] "I'm behind schedule. Can you give me a
[1:05:44] little extra green?" The traffic signal
[1:05:46] controller, the computer system, thinks
[1:05:49] through that and goes, "Well, where am I
[1:05:50] in my cycle of red, yellow, green? Can I
[1:05:53] start green in a few seconds early? Can
[1:05:56] I make green last a little longer to try
[1:05:58] to help the bus?" And every intersection
[1:06:01] is a little bit different, but that's
[1:06:02] the goal is to is to extend the green
[1:06:04] time and try to get the bus through.
[1:06:07] Now,
[1:06:08] clearly there are a lot of factors
[1:06:10] involved there and it may not help the
[1:06:11] bus. I mean, the bus may have may get
[1:06:14] through on its own without that
[1:06:15] extension. It may be pulling up right as
[1:06:17] the red has already started and there's
[1:06:19] nothing the signal can do about that.
[1:06:21] But But the request is there and the
[1:06:23] controller tries to move it through.
[1:06:25] On an emergency vehicle, fire engines,
[1:06:27] ambulances,
[1:06:29] or a snow plow,
[1:06:31] if the ambulance and fire engine have
[1:06:32] their lights on, they're responding to
[1:06:34] an incident, the plow is actually
[1:06:36] plowing,
[1:06:37] it says to the signal, "I need a green."
[1:06:40] And the signal tries to just turn it
[1:06:41] green. So, that's preemption. It
[1:06:43] preempts what's going on and turns it
[1:06:45] green.
[1:06:46] Now,
[1:06:47] you got a follow-up?
[1:06:48] >> Yeah, how do I get one?
[1:06:50] >> [laughter]
[1:06:52] >> Give me a call. Yeah.
[1:06:53] >> Um Salt Lake City.
[1:06:56] >> Um
[1:06:57] Preemption and priority systems have
[1:06:59] been around for 50 years. You can go buy
[1:07:01] an off-the-shelf off-the-shelf system
[1:07:03] that does this and some of our cities
[1:07:05] have done that. Um
[1:07:07] the difference in this particular system
[1:07:09] is if you go by a system, A, you're
[1:07:12] paying for the whole system including
[1:07:14] what's going on the roadside equipment,
[1:07:16] and B, it's confined to your
[1:07:18] jurisdiction.
[1:07:20] Since this is a statewide system and
[1:07:21] we're installing all the roadside
[1:07:23] equipment, um a city that participates
[1:07:25] in this program, A, doesn't have to
[1:07:28] spend the money for what's on the
[1:07:30] roadside,
[1:07:31] and B, um
[1:07:34] if an ambulance from West Valley City
[1:07:37] needs to transport a patient to downtown
[1:07:41] Salt Lake or to Murray, well, they get
[1:07:43] preemption on those signals, too.
[1:07:45] And and we've um I we've equipped the emergency vehicles in um Wasatch
[1:07:51] Fire District in Heber. They frequently
[1:07:54] need to transport to Provo or Salt Lake
[1:07:56] City. When they get into our roads on
[1:07:58] those in those places, they're getting
[1:08:00] preemption there, too.
[1:08:02] So, that's that's one of the real
[1:08:03] benefits of this system is this
[1:08:06] interoperability across the state.
[1:08:10] Um you saw in the video um what we call
[1:08:13] vulnerable road user warning sites. Um
[1:08:16] uh and and we're starting to install
[1:08:18] lidar on all of our intersections. All
[1:08:21] of our intersections have radar and have
[1:08:23] had for 25 years. Radar detects where
[1:08:26] the vehicles are. There's no reason to
[1:08:28] have a left turn light if there's no car
[1:08:31] in the left turn lane, and radar tells
[1:08:33] it things like that.
[1:08:34] We've discovered and Mark Taylor, our
[1:08:36] signals engineer, is the mastermind
[1:08:38] behind this. We've discovered that lidar
[1:08:41] is now just as cheap as radar and gives
[1:08:43] us a lot more data. Specifically, the
[1:08:45] lidar sees people.
[1:08:47] Radar does not.
[1:08:49] The lidar and you saw in if you noticed,
[1:08:51] you saw in some of that video little
[1:08:53] images and you could see the pedestrians
[1:08:55] and bicyclists moving around. So, the
[1:08:57] concept we've got in this program is the
[1:09:00] lidar tells us where the pedestrian is.
[1:09:03] The lidar tells us where the vehicle is.
[1:09:06] The vehicle's in a right turn lane and
[1:09:07] the pedestrian's in one of those
[1:09:09] crosswalks. We can we can do a warning
[1:09:12] that there's a potential collision
[1:09:14] there.
[1:09:15] So, um this is a fair
[1:09:17] that piece of the program is fairly new,
[1:09:19] but we've got um
[1:09:21] we've got some focus there.
[1:09:22] Um the other thing, and this may not be
[1:09:24] as important to you, uh we've also we've
[1:09:27] also a
[1:09:28] equipped we put these roadside units
[1:09:30] along our freeways.
[1:09:31] Uh and we we've got about 200 360 of
[1:09:34] these on interstate freeways and some of
[1:09:37] our rural roads, US 6, 89, those kinds
[1:09:40] of places. And we've been cooperating
[1:09:43] with Colorado and Wyoming in this grant
[1:09:45] who um
[1:09:47] who already have roadside units on some
[1:09:49] of their freeways. Colorado added
[1:09:51] another 50, and now we have this loop of
[1:09:55] Interstate 80, Interstate 25, Interstate
[1:09:57] 70, Interstate 15 with coverage of
[1:10:00] RSU's. The the focus here is to be able
[1:10:03] to provide messaging to a trucker for
[1:10:05] instance about a road closure, about a
[1:10:07] work zone, about a weather event. And we're still kind of working on those
[1:10:13] interoperable traveler messages, and you
[1:10:15] saw in the video um
[1:10:17] Luke Braegger with um a trucking company out of um northern
[1:10:22] Davis County. Um he's one of the
[1:10:25] trucking companies we're working with to
[1:10:26] try to pull this off.
[1:10:28] Um
[1:10:30] So, here's what we do with the system.
[1:10:32] The other advantage to this system over
[1:10:34] an off-the-shelf priority preemption
[1:10:36] system is it does a lot of other things.
[1:10:39] Off-the-shelf priority preemption system
[1:10:40] isn't isn't going to give you warnings
[1:10:42] about a pedestrian in the crosswalk.
[1:10:44] It's not going to send you a message
[1:10:46] that the road is closed on I-80 in
[1:10:48] Wyoming, that there's a lane closure
[1:10:50] because of a crash or construction. And we're trying to put all of that into
[1:10:55] messaging that can get sent to the cars.
[1:10:57] Now, very few of the vehicles we've
[1:11:00] equipped have that capability cuz we
[1:11:01] need to get some kind of a display in
[1:11:03] the vehicle. We're kind of working on
[1:11:05] that, but um
[1:11:07] we're also about to have delivery of a
[1:11:09] vehicle from General Motors that will
[1:11:12] have a lot of this stuff in it that
[1:11:13] we'll be able to use for demonstrations
[1:11:15] and testing.
[1:11:16] Um
[1:11:19] I think I talked about it. So, I just
[1:11:20] have one final slide. Um I mentioned
[1:11:23] that we've equipped the Brigham City
[1:11:25] signals, and we've equipped the fire
[1:11:27] engines and emergency vehicle and and
[1:11:29] ambulances up there. A little over a
[1:11:31] year ago, Brigham City had a had a
[1:11:33] crash. They had an ambulance
[1:11:36] transporting a patient was involved in a
[1:11:38] crash at an intersection. Speed was
[1:11:40] probably involved.
[1:11:42] Um
[1:11:44] and it and it totaled their ambulance.
[1:11:46] Now, you're from cities, you know what
[1:11:47] ambulances cost, a lot of money. And
[1:11:50] someone one of their staff was injured
[1:11:52] in the crash. So, they called us. Uh
[1:11:55] they worked through our region, region
[1:11:56] one up in Ogden, and they got in touch
[1:11:58] with us and said, "Isn't there something
[1:12:00] we can do
[1:12:01] to try to make passing through
[1:12:03] intersections with an ambulance safer?"
[1:12:05] And we told them about this system, and
[1:12:07] they said, "Okay, we want in." So, we
[1:12:09] worked with them and got this done. A
[1:12:11] couple of weeks ago, we did a press
[1:12:13] event up there, and the local media
[1:12:15] covered it, and some national articles
[1:12:17] covered it. We equipped um all of their
[1:12:20] emergency vehicles uh with this
[1:12:22] equipment, and their signals and our
[1:12:24] signals were already Utah signals were
[1:12:25] already equipped in the area.
[1:12:27] Um and so, they now have preemption
[1:12:29] capability on those vehicles, and
[1:12:32] they're just really excited about that.
[1:12:34] Um
[1:12:35] So, although some of our safety goals
[1:12:37] are a little bit more elusive, this is a safety benefit that that we
[1:12:42] can realize today with this system. Um
[1:12:45] >> So, Blaine, how does you know, you
[1:12:47] mentioned cities and and Brigham picking
[1:12:49] this up?
[1:12:50] How do do do other cities, especially
[1:12:53] outside of Salt Lake, you know, Valley
[1:12:56] join in?
[1:12:59] » Each one's been a little bit different.
[1:13:01] Um
[1:13:02] uh earlier on before this particular
[1:13:04] Connecting the West Grant, uh we had
[1:13:06] another federal grant where we said
[1:13:09] we're going to reach out and involve a
[1:13:10] municipality or two. And so we looked
[1:13:13] around and talked to our traffic signal
[1:13:15] people and we had a list of criteria,
[1:13:17] size and sophistication of staff staff
[1:13:20] and some other things and and we
[1:13:22] initially approached Orem.
[1:13:23] And we said to Orem, "Here's what we're
[1:13:25] trying to do. Do you want to play in
[1:13:27] this sandbox with us?" And they said,
[1:13:29] "Yes."
[1:13:30] Um and then a little while later, we
[1:13:32] were looking for a smaller city um and
[1:13:35] approached Logan and just kind of got
[1:13:37] there. Since that time, the cities we're
[1:13:39] working with
[1:13:41] well, other than Salt Lake City, we
[1:13:42] approached Salt Lake City directly. But the other cities we're working with
[1:13:46] approached us. They've come to us and
[1:13:47] said, "We're interested in doing this.
[1:13:50] Uh how do we how do we get engaged?" And
[1:13:51] we start that conversation. Um so um
[1:13:55] we're we're interested
[1:13:57] in jurisdictions that think this would
[1:13:59] be useful. Again, some jurisdictions
[1:14:01] already have one of these off-the-shelf
[1:14:03] systems and they don't want to go to the
[1:14:04] trouble of you know, replacing that.
[1:14:06] They get good service out of that. They
[1:14:07] don't want to do that. Others, you know,
[1:14:09] just um
[1:14:11] don't want to go down this path. We
[1:14:13] talked to a to a smaller city in in the
[1:14:16] western side of of uh Weber County and
[1:14:19] they um you know, they said, "We only
[1:14:21] have like one signal and our plows are
[1:14:23] usually on on rural roads with stop
[1:14:26] signs and we just don't see a value for
[1:14:28] us." Great. That's fine.
[1:14:30] Um we did work with the Weber Fire
[1:14:31] District though and um
[1:14:34] I think we have all theirs equipped now.
[1:14:35] Weber Fire District, I think.
[1:14:38] Um I can't keep them all straight, but
[1:14:39] yeah.
[1:14:40] So so if a city's interested, um give me
[1:14:43] a call and we'll start the conversation.
[1:14:45] Okay. Thank you. We'll do.
[1:14:47] >> Carlton.
[1:14:50] Wayne, thank thank you. I echo
[1:14:52] um
[1:14:53] Nicole's comments. It certainly helped
[1:14:56] the reliant
[1:14:58] reliability of our bus service.
[1:15:01] Couple questions for you and they are
[1:15:04] tied a little bit to the prior
[1:15:05] presentation. Uh if intersections are
[1:15:08] biggest safety issue and the deployment
[1:15:11] of the lidar could be part of that
[1:15:14] resolution, it also makes me wonder if
[1:15:17] some of the grant funds that uh improves
[1:15:20] intersection safety, are those could
[1:15:23] they be used
[1:15:24] to deploy some of that um especially in
[1:15:27] some of those higher risk intersections?
[1:15:30] Um and then the kind of the second part
[1:15:32] to that would be
[1:15:34] uh
[1:15:35] do you think um like
[1:15:37] uh
[1:15:38] when you talk about a warning system
[1:15:39] inside cars, strikes me like if like an
[1:15:43] Android Auto or you know, one of those
[1:15:45] that you just plug in your phone and it
[1:15:47] goes, but somehow integrated into the
[1:15:51] uplink in that display, so you're not
[1:15:53] having to recreate displays or what
[1:15:56] people normally use. Is that in the
[1:15:58] realm of possibility and are those
[1:16:00] discussions at all taking place?
[1:16:02] >> Uh yes to all of the above. Um but yeah,
[1:16:04] thanks Carlton. Um so, let me start with
[1:16:06] the first question. Um our traffic
[1:16:09] signals group is really bullish on
[1:16:11] lidar. And um by the end of this year,
[1:16:14] they'll have lidar as a detection
[1:16:16] technology at probably 100 of our
[1:16:19] traffic signals or 120.
[1:16:21] And their five-year goal is to have this
[1:16:24] at all of UDOT's traffic signals. Now,
[1:16:26] that's just for lidar detection for the
[1:16:28] signal, right? And that's UDOT
[1:16:29] intersections, not necessarily the
[1:16:31] cities. Uh but we are absolutely happy
[1:16:34] to share how that technology works and
[1:16:36] any city that wanted to invest in doing
[1:16:38] that on city intersections, Mark would
[1:16:40] be just delighted to to work with you
[1:16:42] and show you how that works, and get
[1:16:43] that done. Um
[1:16:46] as we've experimented with the warning
[1:16:48] side,
[1:16:50] um
[1:16:51] Mark says to me, "Well, why don't you do
[1:16:53] more than 20 intersections?"
[1:16:55] And and and I say, "Well, it is kind of
[1:16:57] what we committed in this grant. This is
[1:16:59] what we're going to do, but we could. We
[1:17:00] could do If we If we pinpointed
[1:17:02] intersections
[1:17:04] um that had some high risk, we could do
[1:17:07] more
[1:17:09] um
[1:17:10] light RV RU safety at those
[1:17:12] intersections.
[1:17:13] Again, part of the trick is most
[1:17:16] vehicles don't have the warning in them.
[1:17:18] Um we've got a few intersections where
[1:17:21] we've actually put up some some blank
[1:17:24] out signs on the mast arms,
[1:17:27] um where in addition to the connected
[1:17:29] vehicle side of this, a sign would
[1:17:31] illuminate that says um yield to
[1:17:33] pedestrians on right turn, that kind of
[1:17:35] thing. And we're we're just kind of
[1:17:37] trying to figure out if that's helpful,
[1:17:39] if that's useful. Uh we got to study
[1:17:41] that a little bit, but we're we're kind
[1:17:43] of headed down that path. Now,
[1:17:45] um to your second question then,
[1:17:48] um and I'm I'm I'm trying to figure out
[1:17:50] how to do this without getting into
[1:17:52] way more geeky detail than you want. Um
[1:17:55] connected vehicle technology has two
[1:17:56] sides to it. The first side is what we
[1:17:59] call direct V2X, and that's what we're
[1:18:01] using here. And it uses these wireless
[1:18:04] technologies to communicate directly
[1:18:07] between each other in a free federal
[1:18:09] spectrum.
[1:18:11] Um and the key to that is that it's
[1:18:13] really fast.
[1:18:14] And as I said a few minutes ago, if
[1:18:15] we're going to prevent a crash, we need
[1:18:17] that information to get to you in less
[1:18:19] than 3/10 of a second, which is why we
[1:18:21] use that technology. The second side is
[1:18:23] called network V2X, and it uses the cell
[1:18:26] system.
[1:18:27] And so, um there are a lot of companies
[1:18:29] out there selling products, um and some
[1:18:32] of you may have some of their products
[1:18:33] that they cuz they and they sell some of
[1:18:35] that to like the um emergency vehicle
[1:18:38] community, right? To fire departments
[1:18:40] and stuff.
[1:18:42] And and it but it leverages it leverages
[1:18:45] the cell network.
[1:18:46] One of the reasons we haven't gone there
[1:18:48] is cuz the cell network's not fast
[1:18:50] enough.
[1:18:51] You've you've gotten a text that was
[1:18:53] sent 8 seconds ago, right? And And
[1:18:56] that's just not fast enough for our
[1:18:57] purposes. For a lot of the warnings we
[1:18:59] would like to give,
[1:19:01] that is fast enough and we could use
[1:19:03] that. And I've talked to a couple of
[1:19:04] vendors about marrying our direct V2X
[1:19:09] capabilities with some kind of a of a
[1:19:12] system that that would then put it into
[1:19:14] people's Android or Apple phone inside.
[1:19:16] We just haven't gone there yet.
[1:19:19] Partially it's bandwidth. I've got a
[1:19:20] really small team and we're so focused
[1:19:22] on this,
[1:19:23] we we just haven't gone there, but that
[1:19:25] technology's getting a little better and
[1:19:27] there will come a time when we'll
[1:19:29] probably start to think about how to do
[1:19:31] that more effectively.
[1:19:33] Um
[1:19:34] The other thing we worry about in this
[1:19:36] whole scenario is
[1:19:38] we want to be able to warn the driver
[1:19:39] but not distract the driver.
[1:19:41] So we don't want to encourage them to
[1:19:42] use their cell phone.
[1:19:45] And and so we keep thinking about that
[1:19:46] and we just we just keep hoping that
[1:19:49] Ford and GM and Nissan and Stellantis
[1:19:51] will put this in their cars and kind of
[1:19:53] solve that problem for us, but we're not
[1:19:54] quite there yet. But but you raise a
[1:19:56] great point and there there there are
[1:19:58] companies that do that. Um
[1:20:00] And and I was just at a conference last
[1:20:02] week and some of them were talking to me
[1:20:04] about about that marriage. There's a
[1:20:06] security issue involved. There's a cost issue involved, right? Um
[1:20:11] somebody's got to pay for that cell
[1:20:12] service.
[1:20:14] I could ramble on about that for a long
[1:20:16] time, but thanks for the question.
[1:20:17] Anything else?
[1:20:20] Oh.
[1:20:22] >> Got something we're doing. Sim- similar
[1:20:24] topic and going back to the the safety
[1:20:26] presentation and the intersection and
[1:20:28] speeding and pedestrians.
[1:20:30] Uh
[1:20:30] I've been personally just kind of pushed
[1:20:32] to try to get uh uh
[1:20:35] This is a great program that's uh
[1:20:37] supports everybody, but we also have the
[1:20:39] driver that's involved, and we have a
[1:20:42] lot of intersections that uh people just
[1:20:44] blown right through.
[1:20:46] Red light
[1:20:47] Red lights are blown through red lights,
[1:20:48] or they're just jamming up the
[1:20:50] intersection because they're trying to
[1:20:52] get through the light because it's a
[1:20:53] long light, and so they want to make
[1:20:54] sure that they get through the light,
[1:20:55] and then then they clog up the
[1:20:56] intersection, which then causes more
[1:20:58] inefficiencies, and then causes also uh
[1:21:01] potential for more accidents, especially
[1:21:03] with pedestrians who are doing the same
[1:21:05] thing.
[1:21:06] And so, I've been trying to push it
[1:21:08] through, and the state's not uh been
[1:21:11] uh
[1:21:12] helpful in this regard, but it's just
[1:21:13] really trying to
[1:21:14] work with the other cities to push for
[1:21:17] some
[1:21:18] testing of red light cameras in their
[1:21:20] areas, and just putting them on the
[1:21:23] cameras, they can take Europe
[1:21:25] I got a ticket when I was in Europe in
[1:21:26] 1998
[1:21:28] from a red light camera, and it was a
[1:21:30] clear picture of me going through the red light.
[1:21:35] Right? Actually, it was my friend. I'm
[1:21:36] just saying it was me. It was my friend
[1:21:37] in my car because they it came to me
[1:21:40] because it was my car,
[1:21:42] but it was him.
[1:21:43] And that was
[1:21:45] 28 years ago, and we don't have it here.
[1:21:47] And we And I'm just trying to push that
[1:21:49] for us to get that in our state. And I
[1:21:52] know there's been some difficulties
[1:21:53] there, but I'm looking for cities to
[1:21:55] kind of like, "Hey, how can we push our
[1:21:57] legislators to test it in our cities,
[1:21:59] put on cameras, we give the car light,
[1:22:01] there's no There's no uh picture of a
[1:22:03] person, it's just the back of the car."
[1:22:05] >> I think that's probably the the right
[1:22:07] answer in getting that cuz I mean, it's
[1:22:09] been to the legislature. They've turned
[1:22:11] it down and turned it down, but I think
[1:22:13] a city volunteering and saying, "Let us
[1:22:15] be the guinea pig."
[1:22:16] >> Yeah.
[1:22:17] >> And being willing to foot that portion
[1:22:19] of the bill to stop that.
[1:22:21] >> Yeah.
[1:22:21] >> I think it would uh
[1:22:23] >> Yeah, that's that's That's what we're
[1:22:24] trying to do at our end. It's just that
[1:22:25] uh you know, this is a constraint that
[1:22:28] every city has right now is a budget
[1:22:30] that we just we all just passed.
[1:22:31] >> Well, Lake doesn't have a budget
[1:22:33] constraint. Come on.
[1:22:35] >> [laughter]
[1:22:36] >> So, but I just urge the rest of you to think about that and then maybe we
[1:22:39] can get some motion across the board.
[1:22:41] So, thanks.
[1:22:42] That's my sales pitch.
[1:22:43] >> Thanks, Dan.
[1:22:47] » Uh Blaine, thank you. One question.
[1:22:50] Would it be helpful for those around the
[1:22:52] table, WFRC, UTA
[1:22:56] to
[1:22:57] help and let our municipal partners know
[1:23:02] about this and, you know, think about
[1:23:05] which cities have
[1:23:08] Frequent bus lines
[1:23:10] that could be aided or which cities have
[1:23:13] particular intersections that have a lot
[1:23:17] of injury and fatality
[1:23:19] and do a little bit of targeted outreach
[1:23:22] or would that get in the way of your
[1:23:24] team? Just help us understand that.
[1:23:26] >> I guess it depends on what you mean by
[1:23:27] targeted outreach. We're always
[1:23:29] interested in knowing who's interested.
[1:23:31] Right? So, if there are municipalities
[1:23:33] or locations, people say, well, you
[1:23:35] know, that would work well here. We've
[1:23:37] looked at UTA's bus lines. We know where
[1:23:39] the high priority routes are um and and
[1:23:41] are and are trying to get to some of
[1:23:43] those, most of those. Um we've we've
[1:23:46] done Cache Valley Trax Connect Transit
[1:23:48] in Cache Valley. We're talking to High
[1:23:49] Valley.
[1:23:50] Um but but absolutely, if the word gets
[1:23:55] spread, here's a program you could jump
[1:23:57] into with these benefits, we'd be happy
[1:23:59] to hear about that. We're happy for
[1:24:00] people to talk that up. If if that's
[1:24:04] kind of where you're going.
[1:24:05] Yep.
[1:24:06] >> Council member?
[1:24:09] » Thank you. My question is, do you or
[1:24:12] your team have the capability or
[1:24:13] bandwidth to maybe give a presentation
[1:24:16] to a city council um and the
[1:24:18] administration on this program?
[1:24:20] >> Absolutely.
[1:24:22] My wife says, you shouldn't say that.
[1:24:24] You're too busy already." Absolutely. We
[1:24:26] would we we love to talk about this.
[1:24:28] >> Okay, thanks.
[1:24:29] >> But yep, happy to come out and
[1:24:31] >> Could reach out to you?
[1:24:32] >> Yep.
[1:24:32] >> Okay.
[1:24:32] >> Yep.
[1:24:35] >> Blaine, I'll I'll thank you so much.
[1:24:36] I'll pick up on what Ted was asking you
[1:24:39] and and
[1:24:40] perhaps what we can do is a little bit
[1:24:42] of follow-up to this is work with you
[1:24:46] Wayne,
[1:24:47] we can coordinate with the League of
[1:24:49] Cities and Towns. It it may and I I know
[1:24:52] you have VDOT has dialogue with the
[1:24:54] League as well.
[1:24:55] You probably don't want to be deluged
[1:24:57] with
[1:24:58] requests to which you'll have the
[1:25:00] opportunity to say absolutely. Um
[1:25:03] and there's also funding limitations,
[1:25:06] but but to work and you're working
[1:25:08] through a lot of this, but to partner
[1:25:10] with you between the MPOs,
[1:25:13] municipalities, and VDOT in a way that's
[1:25:14] productive to reach the goal of having
[1:25:17] this technology omnipresent.
[1:25:20] Um you know, in a roll that out in a way
[1:25:23] that a collaborative way seems like it
[1:25:24] would be productive. So, if you're if
[1:25:26] you're willing, we could have some of
[1:25:27] that dialogue as we I know you are. We
[1:25:29] could have some more of that dialogue as
[1:25:30] we go forward.
[1:25:32] Thank you.
[1:25:32] >> Okay, thank you.
[1:25:34] Thanks again, Blaine. We appreciate it.
[1:25:35] Well, that brings us to the uh
[1:25:37] the end of our our meeting. Our next
[1:25:40] meeting is August 20th.
[1:25:41] And uh so same bat time, same bat
[1:25:43] channel. And we need a motion to
[1:25:45] adjourn.
[1:25:48] We're done. Thank you, everybody.