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TAC reviews draft Regional Park and Ride Plan; discussion centers on EV charging, accessibility and bike connections
Summary
CCRPC staff presented a draft vision and goals for the Regional Park and Ride Plan; TAC members urged clearer definitions of “intercept facilities,” inclusion of EV charging and stronger multimodal, low-stress bike/ped connections.
Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission staff on March 2 presented a draft vision and set of goals for an updated Regional Park and Ride Plan and asked the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) for detailed feedback.
Marshall Distel, senior transportation planner for the CCRPC, summarized the process, reviewed findings from the 2011 Park and Ride Study and outlined a proposed prioritization approach that will feed into implementation. He said the plan will update existing prioritization methods and move the work toward implementation, with a planned follow‑up update to the TAC in May.
The committee’s discussion focused on definitions and scope. Amy Bell of VTrans urged clearer terminology for “intercept facilities” so the public can distinguish them from traditional park-and-ride lots. Dennis Lutz (Essex) asked whether the plan’s vision should explicitly address retrofitting existing park-and-ride locations to support electric-vehicle charging. Eleni Churchill, CCRPC transportation program manager, said EV charging could be addressed either as a new goal or as an item in the plan’s action steps; staff said they will provide revised language to clarify whether EV charging belongs in the vision, goals or implementation actions.
Members also emphasized accessibility and multimodal connections. Jonathon Weber (Local Motion) and others said the accessibility goal is central and noted the need for low‑stress pedestrian and bike routes to link to park-and-ride sites. Committee members asked staff to consider bike parking, e-bike charging and secure lockers in site design. TAC members raised questions about how park-and-ride usage is tracked; staff noted regional planning commissions typically count occupancies three times per year, which misses weekend and off‑peak usage, and requested direction if the TAC wants a different monitoring cadence.
Staff said the presentation slides are available in the March TAC packet on the TAC webpage and that they plan to return with revised goal language and a May update to the TAC.
The TAC did not take a formal vote on the plan at the March meeting; the discussion will inform a revised draft ahead of the May briefing.
