SUMMARY OF MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY, June 11 th, 2014 6:30 PM BROWARD COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL CENTER 115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 329 F Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 Members Present: Mr. Dave Marshall, Chair Appointed by Commissioner Wexler, District 5 Mr. Henry Hochmair, Vice Chair Appointed by Commissioner Ritter, District 3 Mr. Steve Lim Appointed by Commissioner Kiar, District 1 Mr. Hugh Bailey - Appointed by Commissioner Holness, District 9 Mr. Howard Kaplan Appointed by Commissioner Ryan, District 7 Mr. Steve Cook Appointed by Commissioner Gunzburger, District 6 Ms. Pattie Gertenbach Appointed by Commissioner Sharief, District 8 Members Excused or Absent: Mr. Michael Kroll Appointed by League of Cities Mr. Art Seitz Appointed by Commissioner LaMarca, District 4 Mr. Larry Stuart Appointed by Commissioner Jacobs, District 2 County Staff: Mr. Kevin Fischer Broward County EPGMD / PRD Cindy Corbett-Elder Broward County Transit Guests: Ms. Debbie Griner City of Ft. Lauderdale Ms. Jennifer Fierman FDOT District 4 Complete Streets Coordinator Ms. Mirsa Alemany Resident & Commuter Cyclist Mr. Ben Suero Visitor Ms. Mary O Hara Visitor
Mr. Kenneth Theis Visitor Ms. Bianca Lemay Visitor Mr. Matt Swinehart Visitor Ms. Sally Culver Visitor Mr. Jaysen Moore Resident Visitor Ms. Patricia Piersall Visitor and Concerned Citizen Ms. Tiffany Ason Broward Bicycle Ms. Pamela Adams Visitor, Speak Up Broward Mr. Randall Hans Cyclist Resident Mr. Chris Clark Resident Hollywood Cyclist Sgt. Hector Martinez Fort Lauderdale Police Department Sgt. Tom Capano Fort Lauderdale Police Department CALL TO ORDER The Chair introduced himself and called the meeting to order. Everyone introduced themselves. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES After reviewing the minutes for May 14 th 2014 BPAC meeting, a motion was made to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR The Chair mentioned that since the last meeting the committee did some bike valet parking at a Broward Great American Beach Party. The city has approached the Chair about doing the same for some July 4 th festivities and he then asked for volunteers. RESIDENTS FORUM One visitor spoke about the lack of interest in biking by corporate structures and expressed a desire to see more police on bicycles so they can see from a biker s perspective the dangers involved. Ms. Mirsa Alemany informed everyone that since the last BPAC meeting, she received a ticket for riding two abreast with a companion cyclist on Birch Road. She then pointed out that on this road it is legal to ride two abreast.
PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS a) Fort Lauderdale Police Department Sergeant Hector Martinez Sgt. Hector Martinez explained the basic police training process for bicycle, pedestrian and traffic law enforcement at the Police Academy and at the Police Department. He mentioned there is separate training for Officers who will be assigned bicycles and they must be certified by IPMBA, International Police Mountain Bike Association to ride. Sgt. Martinez pointed out that basically pedestrian, traffic and bicycle laws are under the same umbrella called traffic laws. He continued speaking about various perceptions of these laws. Sgt. Martinez also pointed out that Police Officers are in need of being educated so they can keep up with the changing laws and used Ms. Alemany s ticketed incident as an example. At this point, Ms. Alemany recounted her incident with a Broward County Bus and discussion about this continued. Sgt. Martinez pointed out that violation of traffic enforcement is not a criminal offense but a civil violation of the law and the incident must be witnessed in order for a citation to be issued. One visitor asked what the difference was between a traffic red light camera and the camera on the bus. Sgt. Tom Capano stated that the camera on the bus is not there to monitor and record violations but the red light camera is. A visitor asked if a cyclist has a camera on their bicycle for the sole purpose of monitoring other people and there is an incident, can the cyclist call the police and show the evidence. Sgt. Capano said yes, this can be used as evidence. But a citation cannot be issued unless an Officer witnessed the event. If any incident is a misdemeanor or lower, an Officer has to witness the event unless there is an exception to the rule. Sgt. Capano used domestic battery, trespassing on school grounds and criminal mischief as exceptions to this rule. Discussion about this continued. A visitor used an example set by a large city in Texas where Officers were out on bikes with patrol cars following and writing tickets for those not adhering to the three foot law. He suggested this be done in Ft. Lauderdale so that when Officers are buzzed at 50 mph inches from their elbow, they would understand the fear and the danger that cyclist has to deal with on the road. Cyclists were also cited by the Texas Police for not having their lights on or riding the wrong way against traffic. He again suggested this might be a good program for the city of Fort
Lauderdale to adopt which would be educational for the Officers and promote public awareness of the three foot law which is not presently being enforced. A visitor asked what they can do if a car tried to run them off the road and was told to dial 911 because that would be a case of aggravated assault. Ms. Jennifer Fierman informed everyone that part of FDOT s alive today, alert tomorrow initiative is about looking at the language in the Florida Statute for the purpose of having a clear understanding of the meaning of terms used therein. Discussion regarding the statutes and educating law enforcement continued. Mr. Hugh Bailey asked what percentage of the Police Force is trained with bicycles. He also asked what percentages of the Police Force actually get on bicycles and ride in the streets. Mr. Bailey then brought up the issue of Best Practices and asked the Officers if they thought that Fort Lauderdale Police Department would be interested in studying Best Practices and adopting them. Discussion on these matters continued. Mr. Steve Cook asked if the Police Department could send a liaison to BPAC meetings. Sgt. Capano said he would ask. Ms. Debbie Griner spoke of the City of Fort Lauderdale taking inventory of the needs of the city and stated that the city is committed to prioritizing investment based on greatest needs from a planning perspective. She spoke about this process and described what this process entails and discussion followed. The video of Ms. Alemany s bus incident was shown for the Officers and they stated they did not see malicious intent on the part of the Bus Driver. Discussion on this continued. b) Speak Up Broward Update Pamela Adams Ms. Pamela Adams began her presentation by speaking of the transportation public education initiative that the MPO launched last year which is supposed to get people talking about transportation in all its modes. She also explained the Speaker s Bureau and its purpose which is to get other people to join a volunteer Corp. to go out and talk to their friends, neighbors, civic associations and business associations about transportation to find out what the public views are about it and then start formulating at a grassroots levels what the transportation choices for tomorrow are. Ms. Adams stated that the focus is on defining what the people want and how it will be paid for in the future. She mentioned that about 26% of an individual s annual income goes towards the cost of transportation, relatively speaking, and continued her presentation
which included fatalities, crossing intersections and facing the challenges of productive change. Ms. Adams mentioned that Speak Up Broward is working in tandem with the Long Range Transportation Plan, and that their commitment to the MPO is to move people, strengthen communities and create jobs. She mentioned that 88% of tri-rail riders have been riding tri-rail for 6 months or more. I-75 express lanes are coming in 2017. Ms. Adams ended her presentation passing out to everyone a brochure with her email address (PamelaAdams@SpeakUpBroward.org) for further questions or comments and asked to be liked on Facebook, Twitter or other social media and visit their website. She also asked everyone to complete a survey given by Speak Up Broward. Questions, comments and discussion followed the presentation. ADJOURN The rest of the agenda for this meeting was tabled until the following meeting and the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 13, 2014.