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CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT | |||
Date: |
July 13, 2004 | |||
Author: |
Don Klimchuk | |||
Phone No.: |
873-7345 | |||
RTS No.: |
04240 | |||
CC File No.: |
3501 | |||
Meeting Date: |
July 20, 2004 | |||
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
General Manager of Engineering Services |
SUBJECT: |
Transportation Submission - Federal Opportunities Envelope Fund for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions |
RECOMMENDATION
THAT City Council approve making an application through the Province to the Federal government's Opportunities Envelope Fund (OEF), to implement alternative transportation programs and projects supporting Vancouver's Draft Community Climate Change Action Plan, as follows:
1) Give authority to the General Manager of Engineering Services' to submit an application totalling up to $8,675,000, and enter into a Memorandums of Understanding with local partners (TransLink, Better Environmentally Sound Transportation, Way-to-Go the Co-operative Automobile Network and possibly others) on cost-sharing and responsibilities;
2) To meet federal application requirements, reserve a City and partners' share for OEF funding of up to $4.34 million, from the $20 million of borrowing authority approved by voters for the City's share of projects receiving senior government cost sharing; and
3) Should the application receive favourable response, request that the General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance, report back on implementation details, including availability of other alternative funding sources to the $20 million of borrowing authority.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
This is an example where senior government funding can be leveraged to advance a Council (and Federal) priority - in this instance actions leading to the reduction of greenhouse gases. A number of measures including walking and cycling infrastructure, transportation alternative marketing, transit service priority and expansion of car co-ops can be accelerated and expanded beyond levels achieved using only local funds.
The Opportunities Envelope Fund program seeks a local financial commitment at this time. We propose using the $20 million borrowing authority approved by voters for this commitment. The $4.34 million committed would be replaced for the most part (if not all) by future capital funds, city-wide DCLs and TransLink program funding.
As a result, the General Manager of Engineering Services recommends approval of Recommendation A.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council has adopted the Transport 2021 Regional Transportation Plan (1993), Vancouver Transportation Plan (1997), Downtown Vancouver Transportation Plan (2002) and Vancouver Transit Strategy (2002) which generally require transit and other non-auto modes to accommodate future increases in travel demand. The City supports maintaining peak road capacity from the region at no more than the present level, with no further significant investment to expand motor vehicle capacity into Vancouver.
On June 24, 2003, Council received the Cool Vancouver Task Force's Discussion Paper on Greenhouse Gas Reduction Planning and approved (in principle) a target of 6% below 1990 emissions levels for the city (community) as a whole, subject to evaluation of the implications of the target to ensure it is realistic. Council also approved a process to develop GHG Reduction Plans for both the City (Corporate) and the Community.
SUMMARY
Vancouver's Draft Community Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) identifies proposed alternative transportation programs and projects that will be reported back to Council near the end of this year. Should Council decide to proceed with these or similar measures, there may be a need to identify new sources of funding, including the City's operating and capital budgets. Currently there is an opportunity to seek senior government cost-sharing for this initiative, which could significantly expand and accelerate the Action Plan proposed.
The federal government's new Opportunities Envelope Fund (OEF) provides funding of up to $5M per year, over three years starting in 2005, for implementing greenhouse gas reduction initiatives. Applications for this fund are being made by the provincial governments. BC government staff have agreed to support an application for implementing several of the alternative transportation initiatives proposed in the City's Draft Community CCAP. To meet the federal deadlines, the City must provide a detailed application to the Provincial government before the end of July 2004.
Staff recommend that City Council approve making a cost-sharing application to the OEF through the provincial government. If successful, federal funding of up to $4.34 million over three years (2005 to 2007), could be made available for implementing key parts of the City's Draft Community CCAP. This would require Council to give authority to the General Manager of Engineering Services to complete the formal application through the Provincial government, and enter into a Memorandums of Understanding with partners such as TransLink and others regarding cost-sharing and responsibilities among the local partners.
Due to federal application requirements to show firm funding commitment from cost-sharing partners, staff also recommend that Council approve reserving up to $4.34 million for this application, from the $20 million of borrowing authority approved by voters for the City's share of projects receiving senior government cost sharing. If this application is approved, alternative sources of funding such as future capital budgets, the city-wide Development Cost Levy (DCL) and TransLink funding programs will be pursued, and reported back on. Funding received from these alternative sources could then be used to credit the $4.34 million in borrowing authority.
Although the City could wait until 2005 to request an application to the Opportunities Envelope Fund (i.e. after the final Community CCAP is approved), deadlines for the first two years worth of funding would be missed and there is a risk that funding may no longer be available to the City by that time.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to request Council's approval to make an application though the Province to the Federal Government's Opportunities Envelope fund. The application would be for cost-sharing funds from the Federal Government to support expenditures by the City of Vancouver and other partners to implement alternative transportation programs and projects. This report also recommends that the General Manager of Engineering Services be given authority to complete the formal application and enter into Memorandums of Understanding with partners, with regards to related cost-sharing or the local share. Should the application receive a favourable response, this report also requests staff to report back on implementation details, including applying credits from other funding sources to the $4.34 million in borrowing authority.
BACKGROUND
On May 18th, 2004, Council received a report conveying the Cool Vancouver Task Force's Draft Community Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) for the City of Vancouver. Council approved the report's requests for authorization of a consultation process with the community and stakeholders on the Draft Community CCAP. Revisions and refinements will be made in a final Plan, to be brought back to Council by December 2004.
The Draft Community CCAP notes that about 35% of Vancouver's community greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to be transportation related. The largest source of transportation emissions is passenger vehicles (i.e. cars, vans and light trucks). Proposals in the transportation section of the Draft CCAP note two main methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - promoting transportation alternatives and improving fuel/vehicle efficiency. Proposed measures for promoting transportation alternatives include:
· Continuing to support Smart Growth,
· Supporting improved transit service,
· Improving walking and cycling infrastructure,
· Carrying out individualized marketing,
· Supporting clean commuting options,
· Supporting clean trips to school,
· Supporting car-sharing, and
· Considering travel pricing strategies.
The transportation directions in the Draft Community CCAP support existing City and regional transportation plans. However, the measures suggested for consideration provide an increased focus towards meeting Kyoto targets, including expediting and expanding specific proposals to promote transportation alternatives. One focus of the Draft Community CCAP is the need to improve alternative transportation infrastructure such as the walking and cycling infrastructure downtown. There is an additional emphasis on developing and expanding social marketing programs aimed at encouraging behavioural changes towards increased use of sustainable transportation alternatives. Besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions, these measures would produce a number of co-benefits, such as reducing other air contaminants and traffic congestion.
Recently, City staff were informed of a new federal cost-sharing program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions called the Opportunities Envelope Fund. The fund targets competitive programs and projects initiated by the provincial governments and their partners. Federal funding of up to 50% of total costs is available as follows:
Years National Funding Funding per Initiative
2004/2005 $40 million $1-5 million
2005/2006 $60 million $1-5 million
2006/2007 $60 million $1-5 million
Initiatives must be incremental (i.e. cannot include any existing funded projects or programs) and achieve measurable greenhouse gas reductions over the Kyoto period (2008-2012). Funding partners selected by provincial governments can be from the private sector or local governments. Although the federal government will consider fair regional allocation and co-benefits, the main selection criteria will be cost-effectiveness in greenhouse gas reductions. Final submissions to the federal government are due by the end of July 2004 for 2004/2005 and the end of October for 2005/2006. Although federal funding is spread over three years, applicants can request funding for all three years of the program in their July 2004 submission.
DISCUSSION
Should Council decide to proceed with initiatives to implement the Community Climate Change Action Plan, additional sources of funds will need to be identified for carrying out this work. Proposed measures for promoting transportation alternatives will require both additional capital funding for projects, and additional operating funding for programs. Staff feel that most of the increased capital requirements (excepting those required to improve transit service) can be addressed through future capital budgets, the city-wide Development Cost-Levy and TransLink cost-sharing programs. However, significant new resources may need to be found to fund the operating costs of establishing new and expanded social marketing and awareness programs.
Finalizing proposals for transportation recommendations in the Community CCAP is the subject of further consultation with the community and stakeholder groups. Measures which are currently in the Draft Community CCAP may change somewhat as a result of this consultation. However, staff feel that the general scope of measures to increase transportation alternatives will need to be similar to what is proposed, in order to meet planned targets for reducing emissions from passenger vehicles.
Ideally, the City's application to the Opportunities Envelope Fund would be made after the consultation process for the Community CCAP (i.e. in late 2004 or early 2005). However, waiting until then could seriously jeopardize the City's ability to try and maximize funding received from this program. Experience with other similar federal cost-sharing programs has shown that demand for funding from applicants far exceeds the amount of federal funding available. Concerns with delaying the City's application include:
· Missing the opportunity to receive funding for 2005 and 2006
· Possibly missing out on 2007 funding due to risks such as:
o Funding for all three years could be substantially allocated in 2004 (applications for up to 3 years of funding allowed in July 2004),
o 2005 and 2006 funding given to other local applicants could limit or eliminate further awards to Vancouver (federal regional equity criteria), and
o The provincial or federal government could modify the funding procedures to limit or bypass municipal participation.
Accordingly, staff recommend that Council approve submitting an application at this time.
PROPOSED SUBMISSION
In preparation for making an application for funding, staff have prepared approximate cost and greenhouse gas emission reduction estimates for implementing several of the alternative transportation initiatives noted in the Draft Community CCAP. Provincial staff have reviewed this information and have agreed that this proposal could be included with their package of submissions to the federal government.
It is proposed that the City's submission be in the form of a coordinated package, which would reduce GHG emissions by a total of approximately 15,700 tonnes per year, as follows:
Expedited Implementation of Downtown Walking and Cycling Infrastructure (Downtown Transportation Plan)
Walking and cycling are truly zero emission modes. Despite some successes with increasing them, the challenges of providing needed facilities in a high density urban setting needs to be overcome for continuing success. This part of the submission would extend full staffing of the Downtown Transportation Plan office until the end of 2007 (i.e. 2 additional years) and carry out an additional $4,500,000 in walking and cycling capital projects in the Downtown.
Total Cost: $5,320,000 Estimated Annual GHG Reductions: 2700 tonnes
Individualized Marketing of Transportation Alternatives (expanding the Kitsilano TravelSmart "Showcase" pilot project)
Other jurisdictions have documented sustained mode shifts away from single-occupant vehicles through personal transportation marketing. The region's TravelSmart "Showcase" pilot project proposes to include the Kitsilano neighbourhood in Vancouver. This part of the submission would extend the sample size for the Kitsilano neighbourhood and include one additional Vancouver neighbourhood.
Total Cost: $225,000 Estimated Annual GHG Reductions: 1800 tonnes
A. C. Expansion and Enhancement of Clean Trips to School Programs
8% of all auto trips in Vancouver are grade-school related. Despite the short distance for most of these trips, driving has increased significantly over the last 10-15 years. Reversing these trends will have long lasting benefits for not only the environment , but also the life-long health of our children. This part of the submission would offer increased support to ICBC's existing "Way-to-Go" elementary school program, and provide funding for renewal of Better Environmentally Sound Transportation's (BEST's) "Off-Ramp" program.
Total Cost: $1,000,000 Estimated Annual GHG Reductions: 6000 tonnes
D. Main Street Transit Service Priority
Although bus signal priority measures were originally to be included as part of TransLink's Urban Transportation Showcase Program, TransLink staff have advised that they are seeking alternative sources of funding for this project due to the $1.2 million shortfall in funding for the Showcase (discussed in the General Manager of Engineering Services' report to the February 10th, 2004 Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic). This part of the submission would fund signal priority for transit along the entire Main Street corridor, thus completing the package of measures proposed for Main Street under the Urban Transportation Showcase Program.
Total Cost: $2,000,000 Estimated GHG Annual Reductions: 2500 tonnes
E. Expansion of Car-Sharing programs
Car-sharing helps reduce emissions by providing an effective alternative to private vehicle ownership and by charging members on a per trip basis for vehicle use. Despite this potential, it is not well known or understood by many members of the public who could benefit from it. The Cooperative Automobile Network (CAN) who provides car-sharing services in Greater Vancouver has identified financing new vehicles as a significant barrier - potential members do not want to sign up unless they know a car will be provided for their area, yet CAN cannot commit to providing a car until enough members in the area are signed up. This part of the submission would provide a grant to CAN to bridge financing for additional vehicles and provide translation and multi-cultural outreach.
Total Cost: $130,000 Estimated Annual GHG Reductions: 2700 tonnes
Further funding details are discussed below under the Financial Implications section.
PROCESS
If Council approves proceeding with this submission, the steps anticipated are as follows:
July 30, 2004 - Package of submissions from provincial government forwarded to the
federal government
Fall 2004 - Federal government decision on funding allocations anticipated
- Memorandums of Understanding negotiated with local partners and
signed by the General Manager of Engineering Services
Late 2004/ - Contribution agreements with the federal government, provincial
Early 2005 government and partners negotiated and funds made available
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Funding that would be needed for a successful OEF application is summarized in the table below.
Proposal Element Estimated Cost
A. Downtown Walking andCycling Infrastructure $5,320,000
B. Individualized Marketing (expansion of TravelSmart) $ 225,000
C. Expansion of Clean Trips to School Programs $1,000,000
D. Main Street Transit Service Priority $2,000,000
E. Expansion of Car-Sharing Programs $ 130,000
Maximum Total Proposal Costs $8,675,000
- OE Funds (50%) $4,337,500
- City/Partners Funds (50%) $4,337,500
As part of the OEF application requirement, partners must provide a letter of commitment confirming their funding contributions. TransLink staff have committed to obtaining $1million in TransLink funding towards the City/Partner's share of Element D. It is anticipated that there are also other sources of funding that could be used for the remaining City/Partners' share of the funding from 2005 to 2007. This includes future capital budgets, anticipated city-wide Development Cost Levies for transportation, and the TransLink share of TransLink Bicycle Program projects (for Downtown walking and cycling infrastructure).
In the interim, to meet the requirement for confirmed funding sources at the time of the application, it is recommended that the City reserve up to $4.34 million from the $20 million in capital borrowing authority approved by voters for the City's share of projects receiving senior government cost-sharing. Use of this funding source requires that the majority of the project funding be provided by outside sources, including senior governments.
Should no additional outside partner funding be available, Council would likely have the opportunity to utilize this capital borrowing authority funding source or to require the City portion to be provided from existing operating or capital funding. OEF funds would be used to fund the full costs of Elements B. through E. and part of the cost of Element A. It is recommended that the General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance, report back on the availability of these funding sources at the time confirmation of any OEF funding for the City is reported to Council.
To ensure that the City's partners roles and responsibilities (including any funding they are contributing) are understood and documented, it is recommended that the General Manager of Engineering Services sign Memorandums of Understanding with the City's partners.
CONCLUSION
Proceeding with implementation of transportation measures identified in the City's Draft Community Climate Change Action Plan could require significant expenditures, especially with regards to the City operating budget. As part of the consultation process for the Draft Community CCAP staff have bee discussing opportunities to share these costs with TransLink. There is a limited opportunity to try and maximize potential federal funding to support this work, through the recently announced Federal Opportunities Envelope Fund. By applying now, federal funding of up to $4.34 million over three years (2005-2007) could be made available for cost-sharing with the City and its partners. Accordingly, it is recommended that Council give approval for proceeding with the submission to the Federal Opportunities Fund, including reserving up to $4.34 million in borrowing authority funding for the local partners share, and requesting that staff report back on implementation details should the application receive a favourable response.
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