City of Denton transportation staff on Oct. 22 presented the second installment of a mobility‑plan briefing that links the city’s mobility goals to the comprehensive plan and to funding and implementation priorities, while committee members pressed for clearer public outreach and pilot projects to show near‑term benefits.

Farhan (introduced in the meeting as deputy director, Transportation Services Division) told the Mobility Committee that the mobility plan frames work under several themes — including “prioritize safe travel” and “deliver an effective network for travel” — and nests concrete objectives and strategies beneath those themes. “Safety is the number one priority,” Farhan said, summarizing an objective under the “prioritize safe travel” theme and listing education, enforcement and funding prioritization as supporting strategies.

Staff recapped fiscal‑year achievements and grant activity. Farhan said transportation staff applied for about $120,000,000 worth of federal, state and local grant funding in FY2024 and have been awarded roughly $45,000,000 so far. He said most grant applications (about 90%) included bicycle/pedestrian and safety components because federal guidance and city priorities favor multimodal projects.

Farhan outlined specific initiatives that staff is pursuing or supporting:
- Vision Zero Phase 2 implementation and multiple road safety treatments implemented in FY2024.
- Bicycle and pedestrian prioritization criteria and a project prioritization list under development.
- Collaboration across departments for a trails master plan and a demographics/transit analysis project funded in part by recent awards.

The briefing included an explanation of an “Advanced Air Mobility” grant opportunity that the city pursued in partnership with NCTCOG and TxDOT. Farhan said the $2,000,000 project would fund planning to evaluate eVTOL (electric vertical take‑off and landing) technologies, potential vertiport locations and economic development opportunities tied to advanced air mobility tests. “This $2,000,000 will help us understand,” Farhan said, explaining economic and medical uses for the technology and describing partnerships with UNT and SMU for technical work.

Committee members raised several implementation and public‑engagement questions. Council member (identified in the meeting as Doctor Beck) urged staff to keep the city “action biased” and to prioritize communications during transitions that create short‑term disruptions. Another committee member suggested creating a visible “small projects” tracker or volunteer opportunities (for example, community painting days or volunteer‑led improvements) to build public goodwill while larger projects proceed. Staff said some initiatives (for example, shade tree programs or “cool streets” concepts) are already in the downtown master plan or would require coordination with planning and parks divisions.

Other items discussed during the mobility plan briefing included:
- Relationships with DCTA: Farhan said staff meets monthly with DCTA planners and that DCTA provides annual TRIP funding to the city (city staff and DCTA collaborate on multimodal projects and signal installations).
- ADA and federal compliance: Farhan said Denton recently completed a 3‑year compliance cycle with TxDOT and USDOT and is preparing for the next cycle.
- Micro‑mobility and regulation: staff characterized e‑scooters and similar devices as “micro‑mobility” and noted regulation work is ongoing in many U.S. jurisdictions.
- Sidewalk heat‑reduction options: committee members urged staff to study alternative concrete additives (for example, titanium oxide) and pilot projects for high‑heat locations near schools; staff said they would evaluate lifecycle cost, maintainability and CIP budget impacts before proposing a pilot.

Why this matters: the mobility plan update links long‑range goals to grant seeking and near‑term projects; committee members emphasized that visible pilots, proactive communications and cross‑departmental coordination will be essential to maintain public support while the city pursues larger funding and planning goals.

Staff said they will return with additional materials — including thoroughfare plan details in a future part of the boot camp — and that they will continue to coordinate with economic development, DCTA and regional partners on grant applications and technical studies.