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5 <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said that the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has discussed <br />whether transit could be drastically expanded with a transit authority. He said the MPO <br />has asked the City and Albemarle County to pass a resolution of intent to establish an <br />authority. He said City staff has outlined advantages and concerns of such a system. He <br />asked Mr. David Slutzky, MPO and Board of Supervisors member, to comment on the <br />matter. <br /> <br /> Mr. Slutzky said there is a desire to have a more comprehensive transit system. <br />He said there was unanimous support by the Board of Supervisors for the resolution, and <br />he believes an enthusiasm on the part of the Board to figure out a way to do this. He said <br />there is no desire to reduce the level of service to any community. He said we can <br />hopefully include other localities in the future. He said he would also like to involve the <br />University of Virginia. He said he believes the current Board is willing to participate <br />more financially. <br /> <br /> Mr. Norris asked why the idea of an authority, and could the same thing be <br />accomplished with the existing structure. <br /> <br /> Mr. Slutzky said that enabling legislation would be needed for an authority. He <br />said the idea is to create an entity that can provide larger service in a way that is fair and <br />equitable. He said this may be able to be done in ways other than an authority. <br /> Mr. Norris asked if it is correct that the resolution of intent does not commit <br />Council to any legal structure. <br /> <br /> Mr. Slutzky said that is correct, but is a signal to the community that Council <br />wants to move forward. <br /> <br /> Mr. Craig Brown, City Attorney, concurred that the resolution of intent is not <br />legally binding. <br /> <br /> Mr. Taliaferro said he supports the intent and thinks it is the way to go. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch asked if it is correct to say that the County recognizes the need for <br />additional transportation in the urban ring and is willing to step up financially in <br />partnership with the City provided that they are more involved in the decision making, <br /> <br /> Mr. Slutzky said for the County to invest significant money in capital and <br />operations, it makes sense for them to have more say. He said they would be interested <br />and would consider it successful if routes were increased in the urban ring. He said he <br />would like to create a integrated system and to revise the entire transit system, not just <br />add routes. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he is interested in how such a system would look structurally, <br />physically and financially. He asked for Mr. Slutzky’s thoughts on how those decisions <br />would be made and what would be the next step. <br /> <br /> Mr. Slutzky said the current thinking is that we would move to the next stage <br />through the MPO. He said there would have to be agreement on a basic structure, and <br />staff would need to be involved. He said there is no preconceived notion about a <br />structure. He said the University has specialized interests, and he does not think they will <br />jump in immediately. He said he would support asking the University to informally sit at <br />the table so they can be part of the dialogue. <br /> <br /> Referring to the question about why an authority, Mr. Lynch said he believes we <br />have the authority to have a transit authority, but we do not have any funding authority. <br /> <br /> Mr. Brown said we have the authority for a transportation district, a service <br />district, and joint exercise of power by agreement to provide joint transit. He said for a <br />transit authority he would advise considering going to the General Assembly, and <br />referred to the approach used by Williamsburg. <br /> <br /> <br />