People share input at the Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s workshop. Photo by Eva Ruth Moravec

Eighty-nine people attended the fourth and final workshop for the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 25-year mobility plan, making it the best attended of the series.

“This is by far the largest turnout I’ve seen and I’ve been to three meetings,” said Stone Oak resident Tim Ferry during the listening session.

Ferry attended MPO workshops to give the organization’s 25-year plan called Mobility 2035, which will be adopted in 2010.

During the three-hour workshop, participants were divided into tables of eight to 10, where RJ Rivera Associates representatives facilitated discussions and led the participants through a workbook.

“We’re up in the stratosphere,” said William Long, an RJ Rivera Associates facilitator. “What we’re really trying to do here is to listen.”

Activities included mapping where participants live, work and play; listing transportation behavior during a typical day; estimating what transportation needs will be when Mobility 2035 is complete in 28 years; and prioritizing methods to plan a successful transportation system. At the end of the workshop was a 30-minute listening session.

“I love to ride the bus,” said Leon Valley Mayor Chris Riley, “but it’s not efficient. We have to elevate our thinking about mass transit. That’s what we need to capitalize on for the next 28 years, I believe.”

Participants input will help the MPO determine which values residents think are most important to consider while creating the MTP.

“I’m interested in the MPO fully planning and completing the process,” said Chuck Saxer, president of the Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development.

At the end of the workshop, participants’ workbooks were collected so the MPO can document all comments. Citizen feedback on Mobility 2035 will be accepted through Oct. 19 via a public opinion survey online at www.mtp2035.org.