vehicles it increases with the projects with h o v lanes or the scenarios with h o v lanes Another comment from Cal Trans was on the performance measures that we use in unified carter study Compared to the 2018 comprehensive Multimodal car to plan guidelines these guidelines for just being finalized either yesterday or today For approval from the California Transportation Commission. So it's been a work in progress The performance measures that are provided in the 2018 comprehensive model Multimodal car to plan guidelines are examples of performance measures to use the California Transportation Commission Realizes that data availability as well as modeling capabilities vary by agency and that performance measures should be evaluated to degree degree Reasonable given the available resources of the agency. So isn't there is not necessarily one list of performance measures that fits all and There are some requirements There's various different areas that are required in the performance measures for example evaluate safety evaluate congestion accessibility greenhouse gas remission reductions But these are more generic Groupings and the performance measures used in the unified car to study does Cover these various categories Another requirement in these guidelines is that the performance measures used in the carter plan are to be Consistent with the goals and objectives to find in the regional transportation plan for Santa Cruz County Well, the performance measures for the unified car car to study were very much teed off of the the Performance measures that were developed in the 2014 regional transportation plan as well as the 2040 regional transportation plan There was a lot of work done in both of those plans to to Align our performance measures with the acceptable performance measures that are out there in California And they very much consider the data that is available for Santa Cruz County and provide a mix of measures that are understandable and provide the greatest insight for the Santa Cruz County community and As well the stakeholder and public input for the unified car to study was very much considered in developing the performance measures in this study and Lastly on that issue the unified carter investment study does meet the requirements as the carter plan that is needed to apply for funds from the Senate Bill One congested carters program for highway and other and potentially other improvements So now I want to jump back to the questions and responses that were requested of the Commission the first question Is the unified carter study exempted under sequel or is it required to have an environmental review? So the unified carter study is exempt from sequel as sequel applies to approval of a project Acceptance of the UCS report and selection of a preferred scenario Does not create any legally binding commitments as future decisions will be required to determine whether to implement a project So again acceptance of the UCS report and selection of a preferred scenario does not create a legally binding commitment The second question was can progressive rail Limit efforts to implement passenger rail service on the Santa Cruz branch rail line So the agreement as discussed earlier this morning the agreement between the Regional Transportation Commission and progressive rail Reserves the right to the RTC to use the rail corridor as long as it does not materially interfere with the railways operations It's clearly stated by mr. Phelan this morning in his presentation there is a commitment from progressive rail to cooperate and share the tracks The next request from the Commission was to provide a response from the Santa Cruz Metro on the unified carter study preferred scenario So the RTC staff has been coordinating with Metro staff on the unified carter study Staff from both agencies met a number of times to get input from Metro and the transit projects that were evaluated in the unified carter study The RTC staff presented the draft results of the unified carter study to the Metro on October 26th to receive input on the study And the preferred scenario The Metro staff recommendation was provided in your packet and the letter from Metro was provided as a handout to you today Just in summary some of the main points are that Metro supports a transit service on the rail right of way and Metro's would like to see an alternative analysis that would iteratively assess the most appropriate mode of public transport on the corridor And alternatives analysis used to be required as the first step in applying for federal transit administration funds Through the new starts or small starts program the current FTA or federal trans transit administration requirements for new starts and small starts, which is a type of funding source that would be most reasonable for our community to Apply towards transit on the rail right away So the current requirements are to include the alternatives analysis as part of the environmental review in order to expedite the process And the staff recommendation on the preferred scenario is to take the next step to perform an environmental review of passenger rail So evaluating bus rapid transit in the alternatives analysis of the environmental review Would allow for further analysis of transit in the carter while making steps toward meeting funding requirements with the environmental review Concern has been raised by Metro that funds to implement passenger rail service would take away funds for bus transit The funding assessment in the unified carter study for passenger rail service was consistent with the RTC rules and regulations And did not use funds typically available to Metro for bus transit If passenger rail service was implemented along the rail right of way an integrated rail and bus transit network Would need to be developed to provide the Santa Cruz County community with the most efficient and effective transit system Additional revenue from a new funding source would be needed to implement any of the unified carter study scenarios Including additional funding to expand transit service and implement passenger rail service Metro and RTC your partner agencies with many of the same board members Collaborative decisions can be made in steps to take advantage of this incredible opportunity that we have for our community To have a dedicated transit facility that runs the length of the county The next question was what would happen to the continuity of the rail right of way if RTC did not implement passenger rail How much of the right of way is easements across property not owned by the RTC in The 2009 title report there are approximately 120 parcels listed that are along the main tracks of the rail right of way And approximately 10% of these are easements across other properties There are also approximately 12 to 50 parcels with unknown title on the rail right of way That number is much harder to define and as projects are implemented more and more of this information will become clearer The last question was asked a new executive director guide Preston to provide his input on the draft preferred scenario With that I'd like to hand over the presentation to executive director Preston to provide a thoughts on the unified carter study Thank You ginger. I really appreciate the hard work that you've done on this and your report today was wonderful It really did answer a lot of questions I've read the report and it's really well prepared a Lot of work went into it a lot of time went into it a lot of thought went into it I I want to focus my report today on three opportunities The Uniform Corridor Study Has the opportunity to provide me and my staff with initial direction as To what potential projects to move forward with It also Number two sends a message to our funding partners that are we we are committed to improving congestion in a sustainable fashion And thirdly it'll help us to secure funding by sending By by serving as a multimodal corridor plan Which is a requirement for many of the funding programs and that's for for highway one It's potentially for some bike projects and it's also potentially for for the rail corridor itself so It's a little premature for me to come in after Staff and this community has spent a year working on the performance measures as well as the potential Projects and scenarios to say that one thing should be done or another thing should be done differently I've only been on board for four days, but I think it was really smart to do the UCS We are in a situation right now in transportation funding where there is a lot out there and a lot of opportunities to move projects forward and the UCS is a Wonderful initial step a necessary initial step for Santa Cruz County to use its measure defunding To leverage additional funds so we can actually start delivering projects There's been a lot of concern that Action on January 17th is Going to be an end all and it's going to approve projects and and ginger did a very good job today and Explaining that it does not do that We've had a lot of discussion today about next steps associated with just the environmental document for highway one I am I showed up today. I'm going to show up next month in the following month and I'm going to continue to provide the commission with guidance as to what the options are moving forward, but As of now, I think you've been provided with very good information from staff on on a direction and I Really appreciate how much has been done and the state that this agency is being handed over to me Now thank you for those remarks. This is not an action item. This is just information Are there questions that people have about the additional information? Mr. Bertrand First off my apologies to the Commission for Jumping to this item too soon. I was focused on the Caltrans report and didn't notice that it's really your report I'm awfully sorry On page 233 you mentioned in continuation of question 4 that there's 20 to 50 parcels We just don't have the information at this time. So you said as more information becomes available. Basically, you'll report so Where does that leave us right now, I mean we want to go ahead on various projects and We're sort of not knowing if we can because of the title and our ability to use the right-of-way Can you give me a sense of where you feel we stand right now? Hope that's not your general but question pass that on to our deputy director Mendez. Yes, Commissioner Bertrand As I was reported you need either a lot of parcels for which there isn't sufficient or even any information and that is typical for you know Very old and especially and especially railroad rights away Right, and one of the one of the challenges when we were negotiating this with any with any Pacific That you know in the time that this rail line has been existent in existence There was an earthquake in 1906 in San Francisco With fires there thereafter that destroyed a lot of us a lot a lot And including offices of Southern Pacific who owned the the line at that time so there were documents that were destroyed and They did go through an effort of trying to Redo documents, but we were told they might not have redone everything So that's part of the reason But there could be other reasons as well. They said they just didn't know why some of this information wasn't there But as the attorneys that the RTC hired to help us negotiate this purchase Communicated to the Commission, you know, it's a it's a rail line. It's been a rail line and it can continue to be a rail line So even with those With those parcels that for which we may not have information As long as the Commission wants to continue to use as a rail line. That's not a problem Once the Commission if the Commission decides to do something different indeed, there'll be work necessary to figure out Okay, what does that mean for those, you know, a few parcels that We don't have the information for so and as Ginger said as projects move forward and on some sections of the line whether it be for trail or anything else then we do delve more deeply into The ownership issues and try to clear some of those some of those things to make sure that that that we know what the situation is So we can move forward with those projects. Okay Hope you don't have problems in that regard there was public testimony that Perhaps there could be an issue if we added a different use to the quarter So if it's not rail solely rail, but if we add a different use Whether it's a fiber optics line or trail, which is part of our plan right now. Do you have any comments on that? I think again that that depends on the ownership situation in each particular section of the line so there could be some of those potential issues and As we move forward with specific Projects then we do have to do the work to you know figure out Those issues and some of what we're finding out to is that the RTC actually You know owns more than then we thought we acquired for any Pacific or the Pacific that that they owned So it's you know, so it's it's a variety of things in some cases We may actually have quite a bit more in some cases You know, we'll just need to clear up and make sure that that indeed the documentation is there For what the RTC acquired and the RTC needs. Okay? Understand that I guess The basis of my question is based on what the public input was If we change the use and my understanding of our right to use that quarter is because it's to move freight And if we change you use something to other than moving freight Is that a real issue? Is that something that? You know, we need to be thinking about From our My understanding is that there can be issues potentially and some and some sections of the line But again, we just we will need to delve into specific sections, you know more deeply to figure that and You know a lot sections of The line the RTC owns the property outright and fee and can do different you know I see it's not a problem there, but we want to continue as But if you want to continue this rock continuous a continuous right away if you do take out the track and that's something that you know Negotiators at the RTC used Law firms that that Were hired by the RTC They did say as long as you continue to use this as a rail Corridor you can you will be able to keep it as it, you know As a continuous corridor if you do something different There might be some additional work you need to do, you know to make sure that that's the case Do we know that this has come up in other situations where perhaps they did a rail and a Other means of transportation. Let's say walk path or a bike path I'm just wondering if there's some law on this particular issue. I Don't know that's up my head. Okay, so you can understand my concern. Thank you Are there other questions About this mr. Johnson, thank you chair So I'm gonna go jump right to the metro question because I think it's an important part of this whole discussion You know Churchill talked about the gathering storm pre-World War two And I think there's a storm gathering right here between the RTC and some respects and also metro And they bring up some interesting points and I'll refer to 2314 at the very bottom and forgive me for reading but I think it's significant where they say however, the scenario-based approach using the UCIS did not analyze nor Present specific data comparison between passenger rail and BRT in this corridor and would provide a clear choice between these two options And then the mode selection in this quarter should not be based on a choice between steel and rubber wheels But rather on the surface profile Alignment frequency daily span of service that most effectively needs to travel patterns and mobility needs in this area so I'm hearing that According to this and a well-respected entity namely metro is saying we need more study We need more options in order to kind of Before we kind of step out and make this You know To guys point mr.. Executive director Preston's point about this is not what we decide is not the end all But if we decide prematurely to go on in one direction before we have all the information It does set us up for moving spending money and so forth Be before we have all the data that is necessary to make an informed decision So help me understand This conflict a little bit and what we're prepared to do about it namely the conflict that Metro is saying we need more time. We have to study this corridor more effectively and Fully explore the options that are truly available for us to make the best decisions possible the staff recommendation that was presented at the November 15th meeting was to Pursue passenger rail service by initiating the environmental review Within the environmental review as required by the federal transit administration There's an alternative analysis that is required in order to pursue funding through their agency so the The next step in Staff's mind is to initiate that step with the evaluation of bus rapid transit as part of the Alternatives analysis within the environmental review So would that be would that just be a complementary? Choice added on top of rail or would it be something that would be exclusively one or the other When you said complimentary choice on top of rail. Well, I mean you have rail Conceivably which we heard before about places where there's bus rapid transit and rail and bike and everything else So would would would would bus rapid transit? be a True alternate choice, or would it just be a complimentary choice? Okay the vision that I was What the staff recommendation would be would be to evaluate bus rapid transit instead of passenger rail service So would be one service or the other there is the potential of freight was to remain For the tracks still to remain a place bus rapid transit to occur on top of that with a paved service But obviously it's up to the discretion of this commission But we're up we're on track to vote in early or middle January To choose the preferred scenario yet I'm hearing that we need more study more information particularly with respect to Bus rapid transit and all the benefits that rubber provides for the most effective Transportation modes available for the public is so Before we vote on something like that. Do we need more study? Is it premature for us to vote in January? There maybe Maybe mr. Preston has something he wants to yeah, I'll maybe it'll help if I talk about this a little bit So again The decision in January is just on a preferred scenario On a planning document That only goes so far and a lot of the additional information that people are asking for can take place in the next step It doesn't mean that we're approving any one form of transportation on the line SQL requires a scoping period. It also requires an alternative analysis so during the scoping period anybody can bring up whatever modes of transportation they would like to see analyzed and then that would be reviewed and Decided as to what alternatives would move forward so it's a iterative process and It allows a lot of flexibility moving forward, but it's It's important to have this planning document done so we can start to take those tests and Steps and and make that progress And with the way the funding works I mean there's a potential that we can get another agency to help fund these studies especially if we've cooperated with them and are looking at the performance measures that were important to them and You know prepared the plans and the prerequisites necessary to acquire that funding So it's really an opportunity and the initial additional analysis would take place no matter what so you're saying that Once a choice is made on a scenario that does not become the default Direction of this this agency and absent any sort of compelling reason to go off that that becomes that becomes the Direction that We follow well, it's initial direction and over time direction changes I mean there was a direction to pursue HOV lanes, you know at one point as our number one priority now It's after 3035 it changes over time. I mean this is The the issues associated with all of these different projects are Dynamic and we're looking at a snapshot in time based on performance measures that were provided in this this scenario analysis and Over time I Intend to come back with strategies of moving Projects forwards and that and this commission will have the opportunity to weigh in on how best to do that and You know, there's been a lot of questions already on how best to do that on other projects And and we will come back with different ideas and strategies moving forward and and project approval would be much further down the line I think that's appropriate as long as this commission and staff are Open-minded logical and moving in the best interest of the community and taxpayers So I guess I'm okay with that completely understood other questions Mr. Mulhorn Thank you very much So this the UCS is not a legally binding document planning level 50,000 feet look at a snapshot of our community The document itself also acknowledges that A lot of the project level decisions that are gonna have to be made in order to implement a scenario are actually gonna be made by other agencies Metro for example local jurisdictions will have to also agree to implement these projects or build the project or do the projects So But I also understand that we need a corridor study because it'll help us with the solutions for congestive corridors under SB 1 Which is new money for us But I don't understand why why do we need to choose a scenario if the scenarios are not legally binding and The information is useful to us in the decision-making process for future project level decisions. Why do we need a scenario? My my answer to that is because it sends a message and it helps us secure the funding moving forward that we're serious about it and often when You submit your application and you submit all the attachments that they ask for and we submit a corridor plan They're gonna want to see a resolution from our board that we have your support moving forward to the next step So so that's why it's important to Make a choice But you know, I'm trying to provide you with the assurances that you know based on the future studies And you know we can change directions strategically based on the findings that we find moving forward But this meets the requirements of that plan and they're gonna be looking to know that that this commission actually supports that that plan At this time a specific scenario will help us in our Securing new funds for these projects. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Schiffer I Think it's fascinating to hear from commissioners a desire for more studies I remember Not so vaguely Criticisms of the commission of studying things to death But somehow they keep coming I think also it's important to be real here about what this process is all about the unified corridor study It's about where there's gonna be a rail line or where there's gonna be trail only the commission made an agreement as a part of measure D That it would study the trail only option the unified corridor studies studies trail only option Scenario B, which tends to be the direction that staff is recommending is rejecting that option and saying we're gonna keep the corridors we're gonna keep the corridor for transit Maybe rail maybe bus rapid transit, but it's going to be the tracks are not going to be removed It's very important that the commission make that decision that decision will also say we're gonna have freight on the line If progressive rail can deliver it's fascinating that half the people who hate progressive rail hate them because they're gonna fail Well, if they fail they fail. I mean that's their their they think they'll succeed Maybe they will maybe they won't but on January 17th along with the reasons that executive director is giving for For approving a scenario is that it's going to put to rest at least in the short term The issue of is there is the commission supporting ripping up the tracks and just having a trail only That's to my mind. That's the key decision. That's going to be made in January I actually don't agree with the staff recommendation at this point to initiate the sequel process Assuming that the commission does approve scenario B. I think if we're going to ultimately have Rail some kind of transit on the line It's going to have to be integrated with transit district and it makes sense before we start a sequel process That will have to identify a preferred alternative is if we that we really look at the all the transit alternatives on the line Which is the way I read what the transit district is recommending is that Let's keep the option open of what kind of transit will be on the line. They don't want to rip They're not recommending Seem that they seem to be opposing the idea of ripping up the tracks But they're saying we don't know what the best transit option is Let's let's look at that and that's the study that I think needs to be done But it's subsequent to the decision as to are we going to keep the tracks or are we gonna Rip up the tracks and that's got to be the first decision once that decision is made Then I think it makes sense to hopefully get a grant if not use funds that we have to really look at What are the best options or what may be the best most feasible option for using that rail line? is it passenger rail with a train is it some kind of a Bus related kind of a vehicle. I don't know. I think it's worth looking at and once we get through that then it makes sense to do a sequel analysis with the preferred option at that time and Look for you know get get that looked at and then try to find funding to to To carry it out, but that's how I see what where we're going here And what one of the reasons why I think it's really critical that the Commission make a decision on the Unified Corridors Study as As been said it's not legally binding. It's not set in stone But it does provide an answer to the measure D problem and it does provide help it appears in terms of getting funding to go move forward with all with alternatives Whether they're highway or turn alternatives or other alternatives Thank you just This just want to make sure people haven't got a chance to ask questions Just checking here Mr. Bertrand and then Mr. Johnson Appreciate I think Andy did a good summary there and So I'm learning about the process as we go forward So I think part of the discussion has been this idea that we're making this definite decision and our new executive director You know portrays what we're trying to do We're making a decision now so we can move forward and refine our decision If that's a good way of looking at it because we're going to be studying options and we'll get a better idea what? Carrying out a decision or a scenario right now entails and at that point we'll have a better understanding of how to proceed Does that sound about right? I? Think you nailed it Okay, so I'm again. I want to go back to my original question on page 23 7 and This refers to proposition 16 funds There's been a mention of how much money we have to pay to get out of that obligation And there's other funds mentioned here Central federal lands stp and pta. So I'm just trying to get a better understanding of how all these funds Interact in terms of how we use the line for moving people If we were going to back out so what kind of obligations are we on? I mean, I know the 10.5 But I mean are there other funds and these just listing some of them So I just trying to get an understanding of that So in the unified Carter study we took a look at if the If the trail only option was chosen or if bus on the rail right-of-way was chosen What potential what would that be the potential cost associated with that and so the proposition 116 funds? Would potentially need to be paid back As well as an increase in the cost based on current real estate estimates on a Approximate number there is about 29 million when you include both the payment for to the California Transportation Commission as well as funds that were utilized to Repair of the Selva Bridge and other bridges Beyond that there was there's about ten and a half million dollars that we received or that are From central federal lands for the segment five trail On the north coast currently the requirement is to meet the deadline of construction start by 2020 We would not be able if there was a trail only or a bus rapid transit We would not necessarily be able to start that trail by 2020 because it's currently designed for the trail next to rail And There was also a cost for staff time in order to evaluate how we would move forward with not having tracks and Moving towards a trail only or a bus on the rail right away Mr. Johnson, thank you chair. I just very quickly just wanted to take issue with Commissioner Schifrin's I guess comments, you know, I think embedded in his Are the subtext that anybody who wants more information is somehow you know off track and is just a secondary way of stalling and delaying and Just wanting a trail only that's not my intention at all We you know if anything, you know We have in front of us as far as the train is concerned anemic ridership numbers We have nobody has pointed out a clear way how we're going to fund something like a train and The first and last last mile Associated with the train travel and passenger rail service has not been decided and it's very very unclear We know that every time somebody shifts from from one seat to another in Transportation whether it's from a car to a bus or from a from a train to a bus You lose ridership because of delays and so forth So the the question that we really should be asking is How are we going to pay for it? How is it going to be successful and You know before we just kind of embark on You know a train as a as a solution to all of our transportation problems We have to ask hard questions and the only way to ask hard questions is to get more information So I'm not a Trail-only person. I'm you know at some point somebody has to defend the taxpayers of this county and The only way that this any sort of you know Additional transportation solutions are going to happen is another big hefty tax increase So if you're going to do that Let's spell it out how we're going to best serve the taxpayers and make this feasible instead of just kind of pie in the sky Well, thank you for your comments. I I Appreciate that you were able to answer these questions Directly and I agree that this is a planning document for us And it it it it doesn't cast and stone the direction But it provides the guideposts that we are going to be asking you as staff to complete and we may disagree on at the moment about how that should be done, but Providing those guideposts through this scenario is the best way to give direction to you as the staff in order to Accomplish that goals. So I appreciate the clarity and I look forward to what I'm sure will be a robust discussion At the January 17th meeting. Thank you for all the work that you've put into this so far I do want to give a chance for people in the public to make comments About this Stanley so go again. Yeah, so I just want to Emphasize what I wrote in a letter to you which disturbs me a lot, but you're considering What to do with the rail corridor where you don't know that you own the corridor? that these Partials that are still clouded. Why hasn't effort been made to clear that up in court before Deciding do we want to put a bus instead of the train? You you don't know you can even do that But let's say you do decide to do the bus instead of the train And you go through the process of all the detailed planning and then there are objections from the parcel owners You're gonna have to spend more money to do eminent domain if they don't agree to a price For buying what you thought you owned So where's the price figured in these financial estimates for doing the legal process and Paying for the the right or the parcel these are the easement of the parcel that you don't actually own for anything other than a train right now I see that as a glaring error and you're proceeding to spend money and time on studying the alternatives that you may not have so I think you should stop and Deal with the legal issue. Thank you. I appreciate that Can I just before you start mr. Nielsen get a sense of how many people want to speak to this item? I'm trying to get a sense if all those people speak for three minutes a piece We will be here Way past one o'clock, and I'm concerned about keeping my quorum together So I want to I'm gonna ask the only speak for two minutes in the hopes that we can get through as many people as possible Before I that happens Thank you, I'm Jack Nelson Bottom line up front is I encourage your commission to support a kind of scenario be perhaps Making a clarification that you in the future do intend to further evaluate Train versus bus on the rail corridor But let me back up from that a bit and suggest that you have invisible forces at work That we all need to be considering and they're some of the most important ones You know just give you an example of an invisible force Right now, and I know you commissioners are all busy people who like to get things done So just consider what you're getting done we together are all traveling right now It's 66,000 miles an hour on this planet in our orbit or annual orbit around the Sun That's a hundred times the speed of a speeding bullet So I can snap my fingers twice, and you're in Watsonville at that speed. That's how fast we're getting things done here folks another Invisible force is What's in this room over 400 parts per million carbon dioxide the scientists know from studying ancient ice cores that go back 800,000 years it hasn't been that high in all that time, and they believe not in several Million years so that's a force that's going to show up in the future The good as people already suggested in your room here today Change if not crash or civilization, so that's a pretty big force to be working to resolve as we all have an obligation to do I would like to suggest that individual travel units with a tailpipe are What we need to be think of thinking of as the past Community travel units in a place like the rail corridor is part of our future So that's why I'm here encourage you to support something like a scenario be and I hope you do that soon. Thank you Thank you Good afternoon Good afternoon, but Colligan live oak resident I want to just say that Not much has really changed in this rail trail debate over the past four years The presentation I gave to many of you in July of 2015 Outline the issues and why the plan of record did not work for ridership caused health safety and Environmental reasons and those reasons today are still the same The only thing that has changed is the price tag has doubled The price tag for the train over 30 years was 660 million in the rail transit feasibility study now It's 1.3 billion dollars over 30 years The cost of the trail next to the rail was 127 million touted by many of you for the last four years and it's now 283 million according to the UCS more than double We know we don't have this money and the likelihood of getting it is extremely small This process is really broken It's broken because the Commission has so far refused to step back and recognize That at least half the community does not agree with the plan of record The process is broken because the Commission doesn't seem to fully grasp the implications of the ACL They signed Including locking in progressive rail for 10 years for freight rail and excursion services That's the meaning of the vote on January 17th There is a possible consensus solution Five different community community groups many who usually don't agree Support Metro's proposal for an alternative analysis on the corridor Greenway has embraced public transit on the quarter to show its flexibility in trying to reach a win-win solution We have proposed scenario are For realistic that not only supports a public transit option in each of the three quarters But also spends tax-mayor money wisely saving 423 million. Thank you. Thank you Good afternoon. I'm still Jack Carroll from so kill Any train past Watsonville is going to require a new tax That tax is going to be the size of the previous Measure D Measure D had a prohibition of using money for a new train That's how much the voters hated a train now. Can you imagine a new measure D of the same size? That's going to be used exclusively for a train Nobody thinks that that's going to pass sales tax in Watsonville and Santa Cruz is already nine and a quarter percent There is no money with the California Rail plan it doesn't come funded as a matter of fact They don't even plan on asking for anything for our corridor for a generation There's just no money to be had the actual Santa Cruz SB1 is called a highway Called the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 The name should tell you how much Santa Cruz Watsonville rail money is in there I asked the staff on November 8th as to where the Available potential government funding would be Would come from and I haven't heard yet from them and I have checked my spam filter and Finally the Cal ramp rail plan acknowledges that there's going to be abandoned rail rail lines as a fact of life and That they can be rail banked for future use And I suggest that we do that as soon as possible Please don't underestimate the consequences of keeping the tracks in place Every decision you make that assumes the possibility of a train is more expensive than necessary Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hi, Gary Pico again, and I still want to have this love affair with Andy we would be married except that we'd always disagree on one final thing and And so what it marks to the entire okay? What I do want to say is Andy's completely right probably the major decision is rip out the tracks or not Okay, the disagreement with with what's going on is we are going to rip out the tracks No matter what if you're gonna have a passenger rail besides a tourist train that runs a little bit You're gonna rip it out. Everybody knows that that's in the in the study The question really is can we use the corridor? Until transit on the corridor is figured out That's really the question that Greenway and everybody else in me is actually asking is don't commit to a fine fiscal Disaster until you really have the money to pay for the end, which is also what somebody said So the question is what do you do in the meantime? And that's why I always bring up rail banking I'm not a true trail proponent by the way But rail banking will protect the county and the city or whatever Against losing money. Okay, because the federal government takes stewardship of it lastly Secondly, where's the rail trail cost that was requested at the last meeting that was Staff item that was supposed to be done. They were supposed to review the cost of the the Rail because I came up saying it would be about four hundred to five hundred million dollars if you recall And you guys voted on on that request and lastly the UC is does actually take action It it nails in the progressive contract. It kicks in so there is a there is a Result that happens with that. Thank you very much. Thank you Good afternoon commissioners Manu Koenig executive director of Santa Cruz County Greenway I sent you two documents ahead of the meeting and they're being passed around now. I hope The first is the statement of principles for the coastal corridor We drafted these at the suggestion of Kurt triplet city manager from Kirkland, Washington Whose presentation on his city's own rail to trail conversion many of you will remember We hope more groups and ultimately this commission will join us in improving and endorsing these principles so our community can move forward together Also in the spirit of collaboration today, we are introducing scenario are a realistic and doable transportation scenario for our community Scenario are embraces trail and transit on the rail right of way It makes significant investments in bus rapid transit on the corridor Which can be implemented faster and more flexibly than passenger rail by building a multi-purpose Roadway that bikes and electric bus can share we can build the trail at a much lower cost than RTC staffs current preferred scenario But scenario R does not stop there It makes significant investments in bus rapid transit light on so cal freedom in addition to the intersection improvements recommended by staff It also invests in bus on shoulder on highway one and fully funds the auxiliary lanes Project to San Andreas Road note that because of profligate spending allocations for a train RTC staffs current preferred scenario Does not have enough money to complete auxiliary lanes? Which means it's bus on shoulder program would be stuck in the worst AM traffic making it effectively making it ineffective Scenario are also has enough funds left over to fix the critical highway one and highway nine intersection with additional lanes on San Lorenzo River Bridge In conclusion scenario R is realistic effective and affordable set of projects It provides congestion relief and public transit options on all three corridors for $423 million less Then RTC staffs current preferred scenario and it costs about half the annual annual operating expenses It can be implemented sooner more flexibly and realistically and we hope you'll join us in making it our scenario for the community. Thank you Thank you Good morning afternoon commissioners my name is Rick Lajanati. I'm co-chair of the campaign for sustainable transportation Our group is supported transit on the rail quarter for many years We just don't know what kind of transit we don't have that information and the UCIS doesn't really give us that information So we support the metros requests to do more study about to turn me that I do have some slides that want to suggest an idea to add to that study because that study needs to consider the whole transit network so we know from the draft EIR on highway one that Building auxiliary lanes will have a negligible effect on traffic congestion So this the was under consideration by the draft EIR something called the TSM alternative of which the auxiliary lanes and measure D Made up less than 25% of the spending The draft EIR, whoa, whoa, it's moving faster than I want Can I back this up here? I'm not having much Okay Can you operate this for me? Yeah, thank you.  Yeah, thank you next slide, please Okay, so we know for the draft EIR that this TSM alternative would have quote a very slight Improvement and traffic congestion and even that is overstated according to Susan handy next slide So if we only spending a quarter of the TSM alternative how much can we expect in terms of congestion relief? That's where I get the word negligible next slide So why would we spend the money? Staff is recommending auxiliary lanes as a stepping stone to the HOV project So making this the goal of the Commission the HOV project sometime after 2035 has an impact today Because we're spending money on something that's a goal in the future a goal that is unrealistic So the idea that that I want to leave you with is instead of spending that money on the auxiliary lanes 105 million for measured you money you put it into the bus on shoulder and make a real bus on shoulder system that works Thank you. Good afternoon. Hi My name is will mail I'm a board member of Greenway, but I'm representing myself. I've lived in Santa Cruz County with my wife for over 50 40 years I was an early employee at Apple and have a deep background in technology I love to surf bike hike and ride trance The UCS has many issues and scenario B is an especially poor choice one particularly disturbing aspect of scenario B is a excursion train scenario B Requires 15 million dollars for an excursion train an excursion train does nothing to address Transportation issues in the county the new train was clearly included to or in order to satisfy the passenger train requirement That handcuffs the RTC as a result of the 11 million dollar grant from the CTC But the excursion train will cost 15 million That's 15 million to save 11 million and where will the 15 million come from? measure these expenditure plan does not allow funding for any new train or rail service Also in measure D if the RTC determines that the best use of the corridor is an option other than rail transit Funds may be utilized for other transportation improvements Instead of spending 15 million on an excursion train Perhaps it makes more sense to use the measure D funds to pay back the 11 million and save 4 million an Excursion train from Senators to Davenport for 15 million dollars is not what this county needs from the RTC It would be effectively a subsidy to the rail operator. Thank you commissioners. Thank you Brian people's trail now you receive my notice on our support of the Metro's plan Our tweak was that it's not necessarily public transit We would call it mass transit. I do want to Say that a decision on scenario B actually will Make a difference. It's already making difference in property values in Aptos village Actually, the the the rental rate was lowered for some commercial property there Because of the current rail plan so if you come out and they decide that you're gonna have a train all of the Properties on those sales will have to disclose that that's going to be a Railroad 60 trains a day. So so there is a significant issue there in that I won't go on to the other items That Greenway and everybody's called out on but we need to use the corridor today. We need to use it now I do want to Reiterate the the importance value that actually George on his retirement. I want to give him some credit here I want to give him some credit on successfully getting the highway one Plan done and get helping get in measure D through so those two achievements. We need to leverage Let's focus on that today when you go to the California Transportation Commission And you're going out and you're saying we have a plan highway one. We are very far along on that, okay? But if you go and tie our hands today on the coastal corridor with a rail plan That's not the right path follow the community's request But don't just limit to public transit caught mass transit look at alternatives look at how technology is changing the way Individuals can get around. Thank you. Thank you One easements I think we need a lot more information about easements I'm hearing so many different interpretations of what the easements say I've I've never seen the wording of one of these easements. I have no idea what they actually say We're kind of missing the scope. We have a number of parcels. We don't know if they're big parcels or small parcels I would just urge whatever steps to pursue quit quit claim deeds or you know, whatever Whatever the Commission can do to pursue full ownership of the rail corridor I think needs to be done or full, you know, just Affidavits from owners saying that they're willing to allow this to happen or that to happen I've I've heard people even allege even if we have rail plus trail that the easements might not allow bicycles to be on that trail and somebody might raise a fuss Scenario choice I'm still trying. I still don't know why people are talking about scenario B as the preferred Scenario when it really looks a lot like scenario e to me, but whatever is decided on that. I think the Maybe it should be clear that it's an agnostic that it's that the scenario includes transit on the corridor without Specifying what the transit is because I think the preferred scenario is very clear that it's rail and if If you don't want that clarity yet don't Don't approve it out that with that clarity I strongly agree with the metro that we need a comprehensive alternatives analysis And they were very clear in the last metro meeting. They're not talking about the alternatives analysis in the sequel They're talking about a separate alternatives analysis process to determine the best mode and I'm I just want to advocate that one of the modes to be studied should be personal rapid transit And I'm out of time, so I guess that's all I'll say there. Thanks. Thank you Good afternoon. Good afternoon chair Michael saying campaign for sustainable transportation quickly I want to talk about Caltrans comments on the UC is Agenda item 23-6 page 176 if you're on a computer reliability and efficiencies number one Caltrans Believes it is not enough detail on the study to depict true value of highway one or benefits of HOV and Maybe because there are no benefits is would be my understanding Number or B is forecast a decrease in carpooling for HOV lanes, which ginger talked about And they thought these are unexpected Results, let me give you some ideas why that may happen People want to drive alone 76% They do not want to wait for a ride and share it with other people They do not want to be Inconvenienced and here's an interesting one that I'll give you to think about Once HOV lane becomes successful. It becomes unsuccessful So and that's basically saying people will start out using the HOV lane. It may become popular That lane fills up and it's actually going slower than the ones that are Single occupancy my wife can answer that when she goes to Stanford every day She says my sticker does no good. She sits in lane HOV lane stopped The only way the HOV lanes are successful according to the study. I read priority for high occupancy vehicles is most Beneficial when there are large numbers of people in buses Period see HOV lanes are sustainable according to Caltrans Not It just doesn't happen and that's we can reference the previous answer on that one Basically, do not like scenario e scenario be original Without any more development for car usage and we need to do put the freight in Watsonville You do not need ox lanes to have bus on shoulder. Thank you. Good afternoon My name is Johanna Nervous so bear with me. I wanted to reiterate what mr. Garrett said that I think the preferred Scenario is not really be it's a they call it be plus or be modified or whatever It is closer to e be Was changed with four modifications to create this preferred. They added auxiliary lanes Omitted the BRT light and express and they added freight but the changes to e are only two and It would be adding the bus on the shoulder and Removing the HOV lane so and beyond the 2035 scenario is exactly like e it goes right down the list so I Encourage you to go back to study the study and reread the performance measures of e I hope you'll invite stakeholders and local agencies to do the same because their recommendations may change on The table of the preferred scenario table three if you go down the listing the beyond 2035 all those numbers are the exact same under e the preferred if you compare it to be The safety number is the same but be at this preferred scenario has auxiliary lanes So I would think the safety or collision rate would change one information what important thing is that Buses on shoulders are faster than the rail transit under this and Under equitable access the vehicle my transit vehicle miles traveled is listed at five point three Be was six point six five, which is one and a half million miles less per year For transit, so I think that that makes a difference. I hope that as you move forward You will know that transit doesn't mean train remember communities as well as Commuters and choose function over potential funding. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good afternoon Hi Sally Arnold Santa Cruz resident so this bus versus train discussion on I think you know, we've heard somebody who's talked about it. I think it can continue after you approve Scenario be preferably not e which is I agree kind of what they've presented to you in January the I don't think you should delay your decision about the tracks until after all the legal questions are About the easements are answered. It'll take way too long Whatever the future investigation does reveal our best bet to keep the easements is to save the tracks as Was mentioned in the Report that came with the packet today It's not possible to determine the extent to which the rights to the easements may occur as the courts would evaluate the records for each property Individually so that means we're going to court and that's going to take a long time It is going to be super expensive and so let's keep the tracks so we have our best shot there I think that this one piece of information clearly guides your choice unless you want to spend lots of time and lots Of money and litigation you must vote to preserve the tracks the there's there are buses and trains that can both run on tracks You can investigate those options after you approve the keeping of the tracks But you have to keep them or at best our public transportation options are going to be seriously delayed and at worst They're killed and the climate can't wait. Thank you. Thank you Morning good. My notes has good morning commissioners, but it's a good afternoon commissioners. I'm David van Brink from Santa Cruz And George is it here? So I'll change this to the third person. I wanted to thank George For everything he's done for our community and congratulations and wish him best wishes on whenever is next on his schedule And also welcome to Guy Preston. I'm sure we'll have lots of interesting times ahead. I Wanted to offer a very quick thought Please be skeptical of citizen advocacy for alternative transportation on the corridor or interim usages We've seen this strategy played out in other communities where they advocate for essentially anything but rail Then as soon as the rails are deleted that old advocacy disappears and they come back wearing their you know Mirror universe cotees saying, you know save our trail no transit on the trail So be skeptical. Thank you. Thank you Good afternoon. Good afternoon Barry Scott apt us I have a lot of favorite quotes, but one of them around transportation is by Enrique Pena Losa He says an advanced city isn't one where everyone drives a car, but one where The rich and the poor all use transit And I think as you make decisions and you look at that kind of guiding principle It won't be that hard to reach some good conclusions There's an interesting discussion. I know a lot of people are saying rail doesn't go where we need to go a lot of Transportation infrastructure and other infrastructure. It needs to be built for where things might be there's a discussion between kind of an argument between Jared Walker and Chuck Marrone both of them are trans transportation and planner planning experts and There's transportation oriented development, which is to create Transportation and then build to it and the other is development oriented Transportation which would be to pull transportation projects into where they where the existing uses are and I'd argue that if we develop our Rail plan the way we we would It goes through a lot of areas that are ripe for new development and that if we build it And it's kind of a if we build it they will come kind of an argument But I think it's been shown to be true often that you build your infrastructure And then working with a general and regional plan You see that infill starts occurring and that you're you're actually have you're actually providing for the future very effective System and of course, it's not it shouldn't it shouldn't be seen as a bus versus train thing either because the best systems are integrated BRT doesn't have An advantage over rail transit if it's express buses because you'll still have to transfer in a lot of cases to get to your Ultimate destination, so I think we can have both Finally, I'd just like to say I hope we get back to a point where Trail only is off the table because It's been such a device of thing, and I hope we make a decision in January. Thank you. Thank you Hello chair and commissioners welcome. Mr. Preston. My name is Yonikus Jalson the director of bike Santa Cruz County and Bike Santa Cruz County has been consistent for the last 15 years on our position of the rail corridor And that is to build the trail now and continue to study passenger rail We appreciate staff making it clear today that the January 17th decision is to continue that study and Perform an alternatives analysis for transit in the corridor the next step for any type of transit in that corridor We ask the commission to please make the commitment on January 7th 17th to continue building the trail as planned Which is the fastest way to implement the trail and will drastically improve safety for current cyclists And we'll encourage new cyclists to bike for daily trips. Thank you. Thank you Good afternoon. Good afternoon Ashley win from La Selva Beach I'd like to address the preferred scenario and ask that the small electric buses be the preferred option on the real corridor The cost is better The flexibility is greater the environmental consequences are better Second I would ask that the Hove lanes be prioritized sooner than 2035 They provide the most effective relief. They could be limited to electric vehicles electric buses and Carpools it creates more passenger mile results than any other option as indicated in the last board meeting third Why invest in infrastructure of the rail when one point two five Miles of the rail corridor will be gone by the end of this century. That makes no sense based on the climate issues fourth the fact that the The staff has not been able to provide more meaningful discussion of The rail banking idea and the concern over easements indicates that this problem may only be a victim of fantasy What attorney what property owner wants to challenge the corridors ownership issues? When there are no records according to mr. Luis Mendez So the likelihood of a lawsuit I think is questionable Not saying it can't happen, but I am a lawyer and I would look very carefully before I chose that lawsuit. Thank you Thank you Good afternoon Good afternoon commission and welcome mr. Preston I'm from Watsonville And I just just want you to make sure that when you make your decisions that you consider the needs of Watsonville residents And also greenhouse gas reduction. It's very important to us I also hope that all the possible Outside funding sources are pursued for the studies that are needed to determine the best use of the corridor and to move forward So that we don't use our local money for that From my point of view you already have a rail line and It seems to me that a rail line that you already have that's in existence can be brought online much more quickly Then then the massive construction and environmental impact that would be needed for highway widening or other highway projects and And as we know from the UCS study all of our options are going to be really expensive And the longer we wait The more they're going to cost so thank you Thank you Good afternoon Good afternoon commissioners Keith Otto Our Thanksgiving dinner table of conversation included discussion about things we think we know but we really don't or we don't fully understand Then included discussion about expressions or sayings that are often misused and Or they've deviated so far from their original usage and one of these was you've got another thing coming The original X the original expression was you've got another think think with the K coming And that would be my ask of the Commission here think carefully about the decisions that are being considered I try to do my part to have my other think To get involved to stay informed to get updated My view is that other than freight in Watsonville It makes no sense to pursue Passenger or freight rail services in the corridor simply put It's too costly to implement too costly to maintain maintenance being a forever Liability and there's too little benefit rather pursue maximum investments in highway one including HOV lanes As well as further investment in SC Metro. Look, I'm not a Transportation planner many that I talked to in my community share this view But I would ask that any decision go to the voters for validation or for correction So let's all get on board with have another think coming and thank you for your service. Thank you And happy Thanksgiving I Again Climate change activist Naomi Klein asks what if global warming isn't only a crisis? What if it's the best chance? We're ever going to get to build a better world Our little county has tremendous Potential we are full of people who are passionate and care and want to do the right thing Measure D can allow us to build on our history of environmental activism to show mid-sized communities around the world How to evolve their transportation systems in time to help the future of mankind? Impactful climate change planning must be affordable Adaptable and easy to implement like a better bus system and a protected bike network However, since most voters drive cars letting go of parking and lanes to prioritize buses and install protected bike lanes Will require tremendous political will Equal or greater to the tireless efforts that save our shores founders put forth to protect our marine sanctuaries 40 years ago Losing earth the decade. We almost stopped climate change in the August 2018 New York Times magazine talked about the decade from 1979 to 1989 and Explained how our future is always in jeopardy because public officials rarely possess the courage and Compassion to think beyond low-risk policies during their elected terms as a member of the public I Always feel disheartened when after a heartfelt series of heartfelt testimony from the public this commission Ties things up with a bit of comic relief as happened earlier today It feels as if the public process is little more than political theater The fact that the UCIS decision has been tied to the progressive rail contract Greatly raises our stakes the failure to understand the potential risks connected to that contract is Putting our community at risk Our children need us to recognize the severity of the climate change crisis and take bold action and Take the time to do the right thing and figure out what that right thing is. Thank you Seeing no one else and as this item does not require any action We're gonna move on to item number 24, which is the county bicycle wayfinding signage project This shank Thank you for waiting. I will try to keep this brief. Good afternoon Seems I'm often here in the afternoons so in 2015 we adopted a Implementation plan for this project and since then that has been our guiding document So I'll just give you a brief overview of the timeline. I have already talked previously about that guidance and 2015 we also received an active transportation program grant to fund the implementation of this project and then completed environmental review in 2017 in March 2018 we've completed the plan specifications and engineering phase and Then in June of 2018 we went to the California Transportation Commission to ask for construction funding to be allocated to this project They have allocated that funding and that funding In order to receive that funding we have to be under contract or award the contract by December 28th of this year So we released a bid for construction for this project on October 31st with bids due on November 21st After the the package had been out for a while We started to feel that there was not enough interest being garnered in the project This was despite efforts of staff to contact over 40 different contractors We advertised it publicly in newspapers as well as online and through the Central Coast builders exchange as well as on bid express so in order to attract more interest we Extended the bid deadline which is why in your packet there was a placeholder for the resolution We did receive one bid Linear text striping is the name of the contractor and so today we are asking for your approval to Award the contract to linear text striping with some contingencies their bid was below the engineers estimate They bid 205,000 and the engineers estimate is 208,000 I'm happy to answer any questions before you take action Specified There's a motion by shifrin seconded by Botthorff I'll just say I'm very happy to what McPherson So seconded by McPherson I'm very happy to see this moving forward. We actually first approved funding for this bike signage project Way before 2015. I think it was 2010. So I'm glad to see we're finally going to be able to do this My question is where's the vendor coming from? Is it a local vendor or they're from San Jose? We do have in the bid documents The Santa Cruz County ordinance which asks for 50% local labor So they're in the process of providing that documentation Which is one of the contingencies that we have on the award and this is countywide the ordinance is for Monterey Bay Area, so the Contractor could have employees from anywhere in the Monterey Bay area It appears that they will have employees working on this project who are in Watsonville I was just asking in terms of the signage is that countywide signage. Oh, yes Yes, it's it's through all five jurisdictions and Caltrans as well. Okay, and The turn time I've start to finish We plan to finish it in 2019. We do not have a construction schedule yet. That's one of the early submittals Okay, thank you Now see if there's anybody in the public who has any testimony about this Seeing none, I'll bring it back to our Commission for Action all in favor of the recommended actions And the opposed motion carries unanimously that takes us to closed session. There are two items on our closed session agenda Would anybody like to comment about those before we go into closed session? Mr.. Chair actually we will not need those items after all they were missed on the agenda in case they were needed But they're not neither one Right consider that your holiday gift And with that we will adjourn This meeting of the regional transportation Commission and we'll return to these very chambers on Thursday, January 17th 9 o'clock look forward to Well, we're we are not having a TPW meeting Yeah, yeah December 20th We're not meeting before January 17


What and why is phantom pain and phantom sensation? Is it just all in your head? Does that mirror trick, mirror therapy actually work? What does phantom pain actually feel like? Does it ever go away? Does ever amputee have it? We will be tackling these questions and more in today's video. Wiggling my toes right now, can't you see it? Hello there, my beautiful, lovely, talented and delightful internet friends. Welcome back to my channel. Thank you so much for joining me here today on Footless Joe, where I am still Joe and I am still missing a foot, even though it looks like I found it. I promise you this is not the one I was actually looking for. And today, we are gonna be talking about one of the most fascinating aspects of being an amputee. And by fascinating, I also mean kind of really frustrating, infuriating, but also really interesting. And that is phantom sensation and phantom pain. Chances are, if you were like most people who talk to me, you've heard about this on Grey's Anatomy. People ask me all the time, if I've watched Grey's Anatomy, have I heard the episode about phantom pain? Did I try the mirror trick? And I will be answering all that and more in this video. This is everything you have ever wanted to know about phantom pain and phantom sensation. I hope I cover everything. If I didn't, you let me know in the comment section down below and I promise you I'll do my very best to answer your questions. So just a couple days ago, I had the honor of being interviewed for a high school thesis paper on phantom pain and phantom sensation. As I was answering this lovely lady's questions, hello Laura, by the way, I hope you're doing well. It reminded me how weird this whole thing really is and I wanted to share some tidbits about it with you guys today. As I know it is a topic a lot of people are interested in hearing a little bit more about. As we dive in today, I would like to give a huge thank you and shout out to all of my patrons over on Patreon who supported this video today and make videos on this channel possible if you are interested in joining our Patreon community. I will tell you that there's a new exclusive video that went live just yesterday on my Patreon. But if you're interested in checking that out, link on screen and also down below. While you're here, if you wouldn't mind hitting that subscribe button, maybe that like button, maybe ringing that notification bell so you can see more of my videos pop up in your recommended feed. That would be fantastic. And now let us dive into the topic at hand or should I say the topic of foot? Get it? I promise no more bad puns for the duration of this video and yes, I might break that promise. I wanted to start by talking a little bit about what phantom pain is and then I'm gonna share a little bit about my experience and we're gonna answer some weird questions along the way. One of the first questions people ask me is, is phantom pain actually real? Like is it just all in your head?   Now, I am not a scientist. I will not be able to describe this in scientific terms. I have placed a couple of articles in the description down below if you are interested. But basically when you are born, your brain has a map of where your body parts are. It's how we know how to do this. It's how we realize where our body parts are in relation to our body. However, when a body part is removed from the equation, that map in your brain of those body parts doesn't necessarily get the message that that part is no longer there. And so it keeps trying to connect to it. It keeps trying to send signals. And when those nerves fire, it can produce some really uncomfortable or weird sensations. Sometimes it feels like itching. Sometimes it feels like intense pain. The skill varies really broadly when it comes to what kind of pain and sensations an amputee might experience. But to answer the question there, it's very real pain, it's nerve pain. And unfortunately nerve pain can be pretty difficult to treat. So then all amputees probably experience phantom pain, right? I was surprised to find out the answer is no. I actually have two friends who are both below the amputees and neither one of them have ever felt phantom pain. And I'm just like, how? I'm so happy for you, but how? Because I definitely, definitely experience it. How each individual body reacts to amputation is different. So some people get it really, really badly to a very disabling extent. And some people never feel phantom pain at all. I kind of fall in the middle of the spectrum. So while we were on the topic, let me share a little bit about my own personal experience with phantom pain. So one of the biggest concerns I had when heading into amputation was phantom pain because it's unpredictable. Because like I said, it affects people in different ways. You have no way of knowing what you're gonna feel after amputation and how severe it's gonna be. So the pain I was having before amputation was really bad, but there was no guarantee that the pain from phantom pain was gonna be any better. But we took an educated risk and educated guess and did the amputation. So when I woke up from my surgery, I can tell you this, from the very moment that I woke up from amputation to present day, I have always felt my foot. I can tell you right now, I'm wiggling my toes. You can't see it, but I'm definitely wiggling my toes. They are somewhere up in body part heaven and I'd like to think they're wiggling back at me. That might be too weird of a joke to leave in the video. Wiggling my toes right now, can't you see it? From that moment of waking up, the sensation of my foot being with me has never left. One of the best ways to describe it is if you take a moment and you close your eyes right now and you wiggle your sets of toes, however many you may have, that's what it feels like, right? Like, I just can't see it, but I can feel it. I can experience that it's still there, even though it's gone. Now, the first couple weeks after amputation surgery, I didn't feel a lot of phantom pain. However, once phantom pain did start up, I think it was about a week or two after amputation and started up with a vengeance. I started feeling electricity, like really painful electricity, like as if someone was sticking a cattle prod to the bottom of my foot. And I remember days of being on the couch, feeling like I was losing my mind because I was quite literally the sounds dramatic, but like writhing in pain. My husband can attest to this because I was being shocked over and over and over and there was nothing that I could do about it. Now they did put me on a nerve pain medication for phantom pain called Gabapentin, but unfortunately that didn't seem to do much for me. There's a second one people often try called Lyrica, also didn't do too much for me. So unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot I could do aside from like grit my teeth and bear it and hope to God that it went away. But I also did start doing mirror therapy, which we will talk a little bit more about here in just a second. But what I can tell you is that that first few weeks of phantom pain was agonizing, but thankfully over time it did dissipate and it's kind of gotten to the steady level of I get a lot of electrical feeling pain. Sometimes I'll feel like someone is cutting the side of my foot open, which is one of my least favorite sensations.   So for the past two years or so, phantom pain has been pretty steady and my phantom sensation, that being the feeling that my foot is still there that I can move my toes, or even things like someone touching my foot or itching have existed every day. A lot of amputees who do experience phantom pain and phantom sensation will tell you that the itching is one of the most crazy making things because there's nothing you can do. Like imagine having an itch on a part of your body that lasts for hours and you can't touch it. Like that is torture right there. I've had it last for like hours a couple times and I'm like, oh my God, I am going to lose it. Thankfully, it does eventually go away. Now there is one other thing that they tried for phantom pain and phantom sensation for me and that was a TMR procedure that stands for targeted muscle re-innovation where essentially, again, not a scientist, not a medical professional, they embed your nerves into your muscles so that they have something to fire into and the risk of neuromas forming is a lot less. A lot of amputees have said that this completely cures their phantom pain and other ones such as myself, it doesn't do a lot for. When I had my second amputation surgery because the first one ended up not going well because of a fall, I had to have another couple of inches taken off my leg. While they were in there doing that surgery, they thought we might as well give this a shot as well. Unfortunately, it did not do too much for me but I'm grateful that that surgery exists and it happens to help a lot of amputees who have a really hard time with phantom pain. And if you are around me long enough, you'll see me being in conversation, being animated and talking with you and then all of a sudden just being like, because someone in the afterlife of my foot has decided to start shoving a kettle prod against it and I feel that and it's very painful and it usually only lasts 10 to 15 seconds and then it goes away.  So let's talk a little bit about the question that everyone seems to want to know. Does mirror therapy work? Have I tried the mirror trick? Most people who ask me this are like, have you watched Grey's Anatomy? Did you try the mirror thing? And I'm like, I think you're talking about mirror therapy and yes I have. So mirror therapy is one of the most bizarre and fascinating things and I couldn't tell you why it works but I can tell you that a lot of amputees have a lot of success with it and I happen to be one of those amputees. When I started experiencing phantom pain to a large extent in those first couple weeks after my amputation surgery, I got a big mirror and I started trying this out. Now mirror therapy is essentially where you place a mirror in my case in between your legs and you look into the side of the mirror where your remaining leg is and you're able to suddenly see that you have two legs again and you start making movements with your good foot and moving your ankle around, maybe moving your toes and watching your other foot, your other leg that you can now see in the mirror, your brain now sees you have two legs and you make these movements and for whatever reason this can be therapeutic to your brain. For instance, if you are having a bad itch on your phantom foot and there's nothing you can do about it because it's not there anymore, you could try putting a mirror up and looking into the mirror at the foot that's itching and scratching your remaining foot and it looks like you're scratching your phantom foot. Some people experience relief by doing this. However, practicing mirror therapy over time, doing it a couple times a day for weeks was really helpful to me. I thought it'd be like immediate relief from pain. It's definitely not. It took a while to set in. I'd practiced just making little movements in the mirror every day for quite some time and eventually it helped. I don't do mirror therapy too much anymore because like I said, it's kind of at a manageable level and I haven't seen a whole lot of improvement by doing more mirror therapy but it's something that can be really beneficial to people. I would love to know more about why it works. If there are any articles I find about that I will also link them down below. So let's pause for a moment and go back to phantom sensation. I explained that I can always still feel my foot as if it was a real foot that was still there but one of the weirdest things to me is that as time has gone on I can still move my toes. I can still move my ankle but it feels like I'm moving through like wet cement or mud. Like it feels like everything is just so slowed down. Like if normally I could just like move like this it's like just barely moving. Like I can make it move but it takes effort to do so. One thing that was really interesting to me about phantom pain is that it does not mimic what I was previously feeling. For instance, the pain that I had in my ankle from all of those surgeries of my initial accident and all of that I wondered if maybe because I had felt that pain for so long if those pain pathways had been created in my brain and if I would then feel phantom pain in my ankle in those same places very glad to report that it's not been the case for me. I don't feel ankle pain anymore except if I'm feeling like phantom cramping or something like that but I don't feel the same kind of pain that I experienced previously. Okay, so I need you to bear with me for this next part because I know it sounds super weird but I promise you it is true. The most bizarre thing about having phantom pain and sensation is the fact that sometimes real movements and actions can be felt. What I mean by that, if I am looking at my prosthetic foot here and I drop something on my toe or someone touches my foot, I feel that for a second. Like if I visually see it, if I'm looking at my foot and something happens to it even when it's this plastic foot I feel the actual sensation that I would have felt had my real foot been there and my darling husband Brian knows this so the other day I was sitting in my office with my feet up on my desk because I'm a monster and I have no respect for my furniture and he came in and he grabbed my big prosthetic toe and I was like, babe, I can feel that. You know I can feel that and he's like, yeah, I know. It's such a bizarre thing. I've had a friend give me a foot massage before just to see what I could feel and I can feel parts of it. There's something about our brains and anticipating some kind of sensation where if we expect to feel something we end up feeling that and I have also felt this when I've stepped in weird ways that previously used to give me a lot of ankle pain and I feel like that movement is similar. I'll feel like a flash of that old pain for a second before my body kind of catches up and realize like, oh, it's not there anymore. It really makes me wonder about the nature of pain and how we experience or feel anything when I can feel something just because my mind thinks that I should. It's absolutely fascinating. Something I would love to learn more about but I would definitely say the weirdest thing about phantom pain and sensation is the fact that, yeah, if someone steps on my toes I feel it for a second even though I can't technically feel it. Bodies are weird. So there's only been one thing I've been able to find that actually makes phantom pain worse or really triggers it and that's if I put my leg on in some kind of way that must be pushing on a nerve that doesn't want to be pushed on. There have been times when I like put my liner on and all of a sudden I am in like a ton of this crazy electrical pain and I have to rip it off really quickly and then it's fine. It's like that nerve gets irritated, agitated or pinched or something like that and I feel all of that and then it goes away. But aside from that, there's been no way that I've found to predict when I'm gonna feel phantom pain to know what makes it worse, to know what makes it better. It really is kind of random. Some days I barely feel anything. Some days I have these phantom pain attacks that last for a long time. Does phantom pain or phantom limb sensation get better over time? Different people have reported different experiences with this. I can tell you that for me it hasn't, it hasn't resolved at all. It's been pretty steady. But for some people they have phantom pain for a little while and then it completely dissipates.   However, compared to the pain that I was in before amputation, I will take this kind of phantom pain any day. And there we have the definitive guide to phantom pain and phantom sensation. I hope I answered most of the questions that you might have in your head. These were a lot of things that I wondered about. If you have any questions, like I said, please leave them in the comment section. I will do my very best to answer as many comments in the comment section as possible. And maybe if I forgot enough things that you're interested in hearing about, I'll make a second video addressing more in the world of limbs that don't exist sending you signals. For the record, I also think it's entirely possible that we are still connected to our amputated limbs. And there's someone up in severed body part heaven that just keeps stabbing and cattle prod to the bottom of my foot, which is very unkind of them. And that's why I feel phantom pain. But scientists would disagree. But I mean, what do they know, right? They've only spent their whole life studying this. It is really odd that when you get rid of a body part that's been giving you trouble. In my case, of course, there are many other reasons for amputation that you still feel it. And almost seems kind of cruel of your brain, even though I realize that cruelty is not involved in our biology and physiology and how we work. But it does seem kind of cruel that your body's like, no, even though it's gone, I'm still gonna make you feel it. But I do not dictate how nerves work. I just live at the mercy of them. Thank you for hanging out with me today and learning all about the wondrous world of phantom pain. Not quite wonderful. It's a little weird, it's a little uncomfortable. But it is really fascinating, isn't it? I really appreciate your time and spending a few minutes out of your day here with me today. You could be anywhere in the world doing anything else. And you chose to hang out with me for a few minutes and I truly appreciate that. Also, a huge thank you to my patrons again for making these videos possible. I love you guys. I am so eternally grateful for your generosity. Thank you. I love you guys, I'm thinking about you and I'll see you in the next video. Bye guys. And her from the sky.