HB 57-BICYCLE PROGRAM  1:55:33 PM CHAIR P. WILSON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 57, "An Act authorizing municipalities and nonprofit organizations to sponsor a program to encourage the safe use of bicycles as a mode of transportation, and amending the duties of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to include administration of state funds appropriated for that purpose." 1:56:05 PM REPRESENTATIVE PAUL SEATON, Alaska State Legislature, testifying as prime sponsor of HB 57, explained that this bill would create a safe bicycle ridership program in DOT&PF. This bill would allow municipalities and not-for-profit organizations the opportunity to apply for grant funding for the purpose of promoting bicycle use, distribution and maintenance of bicycles, bicycle helmets, bicycle facilities, and bicycle trailers. He commented that he would request an amendment to change the dates. 1:57:06 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON explained that affordable transportation has been an issue in Alaska. This bill is designed not for recreational transportation, but to promote transportation alternatives, which is why some additional things such as helmets and trailers are included. He offered that it is great to encourage people to use a bicycle to and from the grocery store, but people need to have a means to carry their groceries home. Under this program, communities would apply for funds to meet specific community needs such as a bike share program, for hubs, training programs, voucher programs, or outreach. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON remarked that Anchorage and Juneau have bike programs. Juneau's "Bikes, Bikes, Bikes" program acquires abandoned bikes through the police department and donations from the community. A local youth center paints them one color and loans them out. He pointed to letters of support in members' packets. 1:59:48 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG referred to page 3, line 8 of HB 57, noting the date would be changed from 2012 to 2014. He referred to page 3, line 4, of the bill, noting the date would be changed from 2011 to 2012. He asked for clarification. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON agreed with the date changes. 2:00:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG stated that the original bill [from a prior year] contained a bike trail program, which is not in this bill. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON agreed that the bike trail program became problematic so the bill defers to the individual community to figure out what will work best for them. CHAIR P. WILSON asked for clarification on the individual grant amounts. She recalled that bicycle trailers range from very simple to elaborate. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he envisioned that the applicants would apply through the DOT&PF for a competitive grant to institute their community program, likely ranging from $15,000 to 20,000. He remarked that some communities would need covered shelters or bicycle racks. The program promotes safe bicycle practices so individual communities would decide the scope of their programs. In further response to Chair Wilson, Representative Seaton agreed that Anchorage might need $100,000 for its proposal whereas a smaller community like Wrangell would need considerably less. 2:02:54 PM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN asked whether community could request funding to put racks on municipal buses to enable people to use bicycles in conjunction with public transportation. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered that it would be up to the community to decide. 2:03:41 PM REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE asked whether most communities would have the ability to pay for programs without using grants. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered, "Not necessarily." He offered that many villages do not have taxing authority and some bicycles are made for gravel and dirt roads. He related the purpose is to provide an alternative stimulus for using a mode of transportation other than four wheelers and pickup trucks. This bill was not meant as solely an urban solution, but to aid transportation and to assist in diminishing Alaskan's reliance on gas and diesel fuels. 2:04:47 PM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON pointed out an administrator would be appointed by the commissioner. He asked for clarification on the funding source for the grants. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON responded that the funding source would be through the legislature and from federal matching. He commented that current trends attempt to foster pedestrian and non fuel consuming methods of transportation instead of using fuel operated vehicles. He stated that part of administrator's job would be to apply for grants, depending on the level of applicants from rural and urban communities. 2:05:56 PM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON clarified that this bill would add person a person to work to obtain federal funding and request general funds for the program. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON agreed. He said the request for funding would be for matching funds or for state funding. This bill does not allocate funds. The program would be funded using the normal budget request process. 2:06:48 PM JEFF OTTESEN, Director, Division of Program Development, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF), provided the background on bicycling in Alaska. He said that clearly safety is the biggest issue, in the past ten years the DOT&PF statistics indicate an average of two fatalities per year and 19 major injuries. He said two fatalities does not sound significant, but represents twice as many fatalities as road rage causes in Alaska. He reported that no one cause is paramount with many reasons for fatalities. MR. OTTOSEN also reported that Alaska is sixth in nation as a means of using bicycles for transportation to and from work. He concluded that bicycling is important in Alaska, noting the statistics have held up over the past several census cycles. Bicycling ranges above the national average. In 2007, the DOT&PF provided a strategy in its highway safety plan to reduce crashes involving bicycles by using public education and outreach. The DOT&PF has found the federal training programs designed to teach how to train bicyclists to be safe highway users are excellent, but the means to get training out to people is necessary. 2:09:23 PM MR. OTTOSEN referred to HB 57, noting that the bill does not mention training or education. He offered his belief that would be an important addition to the grant program. He reported that the DOT&PF has a parallel program, Safe Routes to School, which is a federally funded program limited to an area no more than two miles from the school focused on grades K-8. The program does not reach the entire population in the state. The Safe Routes to School has been successful and many communities encouraged bicycle use. He referred to a reflector distributed to members that the department hopes to place in the hands of every school age child. Every school wants these reflectors, he said. He reiterated that its program does not address high school or adults. He advised that the FHWA recommends programs focus on the five "E" aspects including engineering, education, encouragement, evaluation, and enforcement. He pointed out that HB 57 focuses on education, encouragement, and evaluation practices. 2:11:30 PM CHAIR P. WILSON asked whether the department could absorb this program into its current program to avoid any additional general fund expenditures. MR. OTTESEN advised that the DOT&PF programs are federally funded, so DOT&PF's staff must spend time on the eligible functions in the program. Thus, it is difficult to add in other elements to its program since staff must certify their time spent on the eligible criteria for the federally funded program. 2:12:14 PM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked whether the DOT&PF appoints an administrator. MR. OTTOSEN envisioned that after the first couple of years this program would require about ten percent of one staff person's time, which would represent a small fraction of existing staff time. He introduced his two staff members who are involved with bicycle programs: Steve Soenksen a Safe Routes to School Program coordinator, and Bob Laurie, a Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator. Both positions are federally funded and one of these two staff would be assigned the job as a ten percent duty, which would be funded by general fund monies, he said. In further response to Representative Johnson, he explained the $40,000 in personal services. The first two years would represent 25 percent of a staff person's time to set up the program set up, perform outreach, and develop regulations. He advised that the DOT&PF has several other grant programs and recognizes the importance of elevating public awareness. It is necessary to attend meetings and conferences to help educate people on the program, which is the reason for the extra two- year effort followed by the 10 percent staff time commitment. REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked for clarification on the contractual amount. MR. OTTOSEN answered that the contractual amounts are focused on conducting surveys, discovering how people use the program, basically to obtain feedback for the DOT&PF on how well the program is working. 2:14:19 PM REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE asked for clarification on the contractual amount, which is for $10,000, but increases to $35,000 in FY 16. MR. OTTOSEN mentioned that the DOT&PF works with the Department of Law (DOL) on its regulations so at the start of a program and every five years thereafter, the department incurs costs to prepare regulations and updating regulations. In response to Representative Gruenberg, Mr. Ottesen agreed the department would like an educational component to the program. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered that the Safe Routes to School Program provides for a training program. He related that the Department of Law has advised the bill title is for safe ridership, which would include education and training, but if the committee would prefer the title to be more specific, he would not object to amending the bill to include it. 2:16:26 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG recalled testimony on a version of this program last year. He offered to assist in developing similar language for HB 57. CHAIR P. WILSON announced that she would leave public testimony open on HB 57. [HB 57 was held over.] 2:17:24 PM