Provo TMAC debates role, seeks clearer staff follow-up after members say input is sidelined

Members of the Provo City Transportation Mobility Advisory Committee (TMAC) spent most of a meeting this month reviewing the committee's powers in Provo City Code and pressing city staff for clearer, regular follow-up on the committee's recommendations.

TMAC members said they routinely provide ideas and technical feedback but do not always see those suggestions reflected in later project decisions, leaving some members uncertain whether their work has influence. Staff said they value the committee and pointed to recent results as evidence the committee's input can matter.

At the start of the item, the group read aloud the committee authority in the city code (Provo City Code 14.04.020), including language that TMAC "shall monitor the status of and make recommendations for amendments to the city's visionary documents, the general plan, transportation master plan, the major local street plan, and any other document that impacts transportation and mobility within the city." That section, members said, underscores TMAC's advisory role but not final authority.

Several TMAC members voiced frustration that some recommendations appear to stall or disappear after they are given. One member summarized the sentiment: "Sometimes it does feel like we just talk about things so that we bring an awareness to city staff and then they can invite us to give them ideas of what they're gonna take to a meeting," and later said the committee can feel like "a free lunch once a month and a way for citizens to give plausible deniability to the government for the decisions that were already made before we came." Those comments were offered as part of a broader request for the city to provide explicit follow-up on topics TMAC raises.

Public works staff responded that TMAC's input has affected priorities and that staff try to keep the committee informed. Public Works staff member Lisa reported that the city's recent transportation utility fee increase was adopted in April and that it will automatically increase by 14% each year for three years, with an effective date of Sept. 1. Lisa told the committee, "So what you say does matter. It makes it on my priority list."

Committee members and staff agreed on several process changes to make TMAC feedback more visible: 1) add a brief staff follow-up item to future agendas summarizing actions taken in response to prior TMAC presentations; 2) keep an ongoing list of recurring topics (for example: micro-mobility, long-range transportation plan items) so the committee can track progress month-to-month; and 3) have staff and the TMAC chair coordinate agenda-setting so topics get adequate time and a clear purpose.

The committee approved a motion to accept the action items from the May 15 meeting; the motion passed on a voice vote. (Motion text recorded in the meeting: "I move that we approve the action items from May 15.") The transcript records members saying "Aye," but does not record a roll-call tally.

Members asked staff to report back briefly at the next meeting on what TMAC recommendations have been carried forward, and staff agreed to pursue that follow-up practice. Several council members who attend or monitor TMAC meetings were identified as part of the committee's informal influence: the presence of council members on the committee or in meetings, staff said, can make council decisions more likely to reflect earlier TMAC discussions.

The meeting closed after staff and members agreed to build clearer feedback loops and to give longer agenda time to recurring topics. TMAC will meet again in August; staff said it will work with the chair to include a standing "staff response / follow-up" action item on future agendas.