Transportation and Sustainability Director Eric Iverson and planners Chase Wallman and Lindsay Post presented an 18-month update to the Tempe Transportation Plan, describing the project schedule, public outreach opportunities and how the plan will support Vision Zero and the city's general plan.

"These are really important documents," Iverson said, describing the plan as the city's roadmap for maintaining and developing pedestrian, bicycle, transit and street infrastructure. Lindsay Post said the plan team is wrapping the existing-conditions phase, held a first public meeting on Aug. 13 and has a public survey open through Sept. 10.

Why it matters: the plan informs capital projects, helps win state and federal grants and will include an updated Vision Zero action plan that targets a reduction in fatal and serious crashes.

Micro-mobility rules and revenues: staff described how the city manages dockless scooters under license agreements with operators. Chase Wallman said the terms require staging at dedicated corrals, regular rebalancing, and removal of vehicles from residential areas within 24 hours. "They can't block sidewalks," Wallman said. He reported that the city invoiced operators $435,343 in 2024 for license and related fees and showed scooter ridership concentrations around the downtown/ASU corridor; average trip length was about 1.5 miles and 15 minutes.

Safety and enforcement: staff said crash and safety maps are part of the public materials. Council members asked about photo-enforcement telemetry and street-racing concerns; Iverson said the city began photo enforcement in June and that staff expect to report quarterly data on program results. "We try to give it longer than a quarter, sometimes up to years to make sure that we're seeing the trajectory that we want," Iverson said.

Federal funding uncertainty: Post and Iverson told council members that several federal NOFOs (notices of funding opportunity) the city expected to compete for were delayed or not released this summer, including certain FTA and FHWA opportunities such as a Smart Grant and TOD-related NOFOs. Iverson said Tempe has projects with secured federal funding for the next one-to-three years and that the passage of the regional transportation tax (Prop 479) provides additional regional resources, but staff noted worry about funding availability in the mid-term.

Council requests and subcommittee action: Council Member Adam Adams proposed a motorized and electric mobility device safety subcommittee; Adams and Council Member Bernetta Hodge were named to the subcommittee and the full council signaled consensus to form it. Council members also requested materials to support congressional meetings, and staff agreed to share a spreadsheet of existing grants and a summary of talking points for council members traveling to Washington, D.C.

Next steps: staff will continue outreach through fall and winter, hold another public meeting in February for needs-and-gaps analysis and return to council with draft and final plans next summer for adoption. The plan will be used in applications for state, regional and federal funding and to prioritize capital investments.

No legislative action was taken; the presentation was informational and council provided feedback and created a subcommittee to study mobility-device safety.