OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Community Planning and Transportation Committee Meeting – September 25, 2025

Public Meetings & Live-Streams — Thursday, September 25, 2025
BodyNorman, Oklahoma
SessionPublic Meetings & Live-Streams
DateThursday, September 25, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:39:18

Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

Don't mind me.

0:07

I'm just doing things.

0:09

We're okay.

0:11

It's left during them there.

0:12

Okay.

0:14

Okay.

0:14

Don't know.

0:15

Just doing two.

0:15

All right.

0:15

We'll go ahead.

0:16

It is four o'clock.

0:17

So we'll go ahead and get started with the community planning and transportation committee meeting for Thursday, September 25th, 2025.

0:23

We have four items on the agenda this afternoon.

0:27

And we'll start with the first item, our usual presentation and discussion about public transit ridership in one.

0:34

Thank you, Mayor and Council members.

0:36

Yes, as always, we have a memo with some ridership reports in your packet.

0:41

Starting with the memo, a few a few updates.

0:44

So on our central local and long-range transit plan, we have that conversation on Tuesday, and as the city manager mentioned, we can send out an alert to uh public.

0:54

So I work with Tiffany, the chief communications officer, and we got that put on the website today, and uh we'll be sending that out over time just to try to get residents more opportunities to feed back or notice so that way as we wind down that long range plan, we get as much public comment as possible.

1:13

And then um we should be coming to council in October uh looking for approval on purchases for three large buses.

1:22

We're we're looking at that internally right now, trying to get it lined up.

1:25

That's using grant money that we had available through the SVG program at ACOG plus some other 5339 um FTA monies that we could utilize.

1:34

So uh it's a pretty good deal 85 percent, but it's a big uh chunk of money to uh put put aside for a few 18-20 months.

1:44

So we're we're looking at that internally, try to make sure it works with the current budget.

1:48

But that would be our last three large buses that we need to purchase since the transition.

1:53

So we're very excited about that.

1:54

The uh ACOG board we approved the amendment from Norman for the tip funds.

2:01

Yep.

2:02

So yeah, all that's lining up.

2:04

The money wasn't gonna go away.

2:05

We tried to get all the paperwork in order, but we're there today.

2:09

Yep.

2:09

Okay.

2:10

Commissioner Cleveland made the motion to approve.

2:13

And no questions, that's always good.

2:14

So yeah, there we're done.

2:16

Um let's see here.

2:18

Uh on the paratransit software transition, as council knows back in February.

2:23

Um we had a transition with embark over to a new software, so we're now under one umbrella uh software rather than the two because we kept the legacy one from OU when we transitioned.

2:35

So with that, we had some bumps, uh, some learning curves and things that we needed to iron out.

2:41

And we've been meeting monthly at the uh adult wellness at education center with some passengers to talk through those things.

2:48

Um, I think to date we've had three um four.

2:53

I think we've had four meetings, so we've had one since May, and tomorrow will be our next one.

2:58

So we're just keep following up, trying to see if we can iron out any wrinkles that are possible.

3:02

So we'll be continuing to work with them as we can.

3:06

That makes the most sense.

3:07

Uh I will say, according to our ridership reports, the paratransit service has gone up in ridership per service hour from 1.2, 1.3 to about 1.8, 1.9.

3:17

So while that metric isn't the end all be all, we are trying to be more efficient with the service, and so far we're seeing that through the data.

3:24

Um, but as always, we want to be as customer services friendly as possible.

3:28

So we're that's the ironing out the wrinkles and trying to find that best solution to the issues.

3:34

And then on the transit center parking lot improvement project.

3:38

We uh got the east side completed, and now they're working on the the west side, so we've switched and um I think they have it all demoed.

3:46

We're just now getting everything prepped and ready to go and be poured.

3:49

It's moving along pretty quickly.

3:51

So we're excited to get that finally uh completed so we don't have to worry about any large potholes in the asphalt or uh from that that uh I assume it was a 50-year-old asphalt that was there when the bank or close to it when the bank was uh completed.

4:08

For big buses to come and stop over and over again all the time.

4:12

Well, it may not have been the original either because we did find some brick papers underneath the asphalt in some some sections, so that's kind of interesting.

4:18

Um a long time ago, that corner was a car dealership from the right historic pictures I've seen before that drive-through was the again.

4:26

I can't I can't say it enough.

4:27

Great reuse of a facility.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure███████████████████████████████████35%
Parking Management████████████████████20%
Public Transportation██████████████14%
Election Planning█████5%
Technology and Innovation█████5%
Zoning And Land Use█████5%
Transportation Safety████4%
Economic Development████4%
Legal Issues██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Community Planning and Transportation Committee Meeting – September 25, 2025

This meeting of the Norman Community Planning and Transportation Committee featured updates on public transit ridership, the street maintenance bond program, vehicular detection technologies at intersections, and potential future uses for the city-owned Asp Street parking lot. No formal votes were taken, but several next steps were identified for future meetings.

Discussion Items

  • Public Transit Ridership Update – Transit staff reported that August 2025 fixed-route and paratransit ridership totaled 43,718 rides, an increase of less than 1,000 over August 2024 (42,950). Paratransit rides per service hour improved from 1.2–1.3 to 1.8–1.9. Fixed-route weekday ridership per service hour was 20.12. Norman On-Demand rides in August 2025 were 2,640, down from 4,694 in August 2024, attributed to intentional reduction in service hours to balance annual capacity. Saturday fixed-route service saw a 16.3% overall increase. Staff also noted upcoming purchases of three large buses using grant funding and ongoing paratransit software transition improvements.

  • 2021 Street Maintenance Bond Update and 2026 Bond Renewal Discussion – Public Works staff presented the history and success of the five-year street maintenance bond program, noting a citywide Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 77 and a backlog of poor/very poor roads at 2.2% (well below the national average of 8–12%). The program has operated on a no-new-tax basis since 2005. Staff discussed potential election dates for the renewal: February 2026 (bundled with city council elections) or April 2026. The mayor requested staff return in October 2025 with the full project map and proposed program so council can decide on the election date.

  • Vehicular Detection Options at Signalized Intersections – Staff explained Norman’s nearly citywide use of video detection (156 out of ~158 signals) and the reasons for sticking with that platform: a $2 million investment, reduced need to put maintenance personnel in roadways, ability to remotely view intersections, and standardization for technicians. While radar detection has advantages in certain conditions, switching would require replacing all hardware and retraining staff. No action was taken.

  • Possible Uses for the Asp Street Parking Lot – The mayor and council discussed several possibilities for the city-owned lot, including leasing spaces to a nearby student housing developer, accommodating a food truck operator, or constructing a parking structure. Staff noted existing game-day leases with Campus Corner merchants and the potential to use parking revenues to finance a structure. A large development group has expressed interest. Staff will bring a parking management plan update and further discussion to the next committee meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were held.
  • Staff will return in October 2025 with the complete 2026 street maintenance bond program map and project list, allowing council to decide on a February or April election date.
  • Staff will also bring an update on the Asp Street parking lot discussions, including a possible parking trust and management plan revisions, to a future meeting.
  • The committee received information on transit ridership and signal detection but took no further direction.

Meeting Transcript

Don't mind me. I'm just doing things. We're okay. It's left during them there. Okay. Okay. Don't know. Just doing two. All right. We'll go ahead. It is four o'clock. So we'll go ahead and get started with the community planning and transportation committee meeting for Thursday, September 25th, 2025. We have four items on the agenda this afternoon. And we'll start with the first item, our usual presentation and discussion about public transit ridership in one. Thank you, Mayor and Council members. Yes, as always, we have a memo with some ridership reports in your packet. Starting with the memo, a few a few updates. So on our central local and long-range transit plan, we have that conversation on Tuesday, and as the city manager mentioned, we can send out an alert to uh public. So I work with Tiffany, the chief communications officer, and we got that put on the website today, and uh we'll be sending that out over time just to try to get residents more opportunities to feed back or notice so that way as we wind down that long range plan, we get as much public comment as possible. And then um we should be coming to council in October uh looking for approval on purchases for three large buses. We're we're looking at that internally right now, trying to get it lined up. That's using grant money that we had available through the SVG program at ACOG plus some other 5339 um FTA monies that we could utilize. So uh it's a pretty good deal 85 percent, but it's a big uh chunk of money to uh put put aside for a few 18-20 months. So we're we're looking at that internally, try to make sure it works with the current budget. But that would be our last three large buses that we need to purchase since the transition. So we're very excited about that. The uh ACOG board we approved the amendment from Norman for the tip funds. Yep. So yeah, all that's lining up. The money wasn't gonna go away. We tried to get all the paperwork in order, but we're there today. Yep. Okay. Commissioner Cleveland made the motion to approve. And no questions, that's always good. So yeah, there we're done. Um let's see here. Uh on the paratransit software transition, as council knows back in February. Um we had a transition with embark over to a new software, so we're now under one umbrella uh software rather than the two because we kept the legacy one from OU when we transitioned. So with that, we had some bumps, uh, some learning curves and things that we needed to iron out. And we've been meeting monthly at the uh adult wellness at education center with some passengers to talk through those things. Um, I think to date we've had three um four. I think we've had four meetings, so we've had one since May, and tomorrow will be our next one. So we're just keep following up, trying to see if we can iron out any wrinkles that are possible. So we'll be continuing to work with them as we can. That makes the most sense. Uh I will say, according to our ridership reports, the paratransit service has gone up in ridership per service hour from 1.2, 1.3 to about 1.8, 1.9. So while that metric isn't the end all be all, we are trying to be more efficient with the service, and so far we're seeing that through the data. Um, but as always, we want to be as customer services friendly as possible. So we're that's the ironing out the wrinkles and trying to find that best solution to the issues.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com