City of Lawrence

Public Transit Advisory Committee

August 14, 2007 minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:	Chair Marian Hukle, Marc Epard, May Davis, Richard Heckler, David Dunfield, Martin Miller
MEMBERS ABSENT:	Darlene Mortell, Ann Foster
STAFF PRESENT:	Cliff Galante, Wendy Koerner, Emily Lubliner, Mike Sweeten
PUBLIC PRESENT:	Marion Babb, Saunny Scott, Anson Gock

1. Call to Order

Committee Chair Marian Hukle called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.

2. Public Comment

Saunny Scott said she wishes we would change the PTAC meeting day because the Homeless Coalition has always met on the second Tuesday of the month for years, and she would like to attend both meetings.

Saunny also said she would like the 30-minute pick-up window for T Lift shortened to a 20-minute window like the Douglas County Senior Services provides.

3. Agenda Review

Marc Epard wants to talk about subcommittees, and the item will be discussed after KU Coordination.

4. Approval of Minutes for July Special Meeting

Marc Epard moved to approve all minutes as submitted; David Dunfield seconded. Minutes were approved.

5. Public Transit Administrator Update

a. PTAC Appointments/Resignations

PTA introduced May Davis as the newest member appointed to the committee. He also said that James Dermody had submitted his resignation as he has accepted a new job out of state. PTA said he had spoken with Darlene Mortell and feels she may also step down due to health reasons.

b. Ridership and Other Performance Statistics

PTA said that for the month of June and July, fixed-route ridership was down from the previous year, but not as low as expected, considering the fare increases. He projected a 20% decrease in ridership, but the actual ridership was only down 9%. PTA said most people who have come in to buy passes have not had a problem with the fare increase, but the stricter qualifications for the reduced fare have elicited some negative feedback from those who no longer qualify. PTA said approximately 1500 notices of our policy changes were sent out to everyone certified for the T Lift. Of those, approximately 800 had been returned by the Post Office as “undeliverable”. This shows that our database really needed to be purged to remove those persons who either moved out of the area, passed away, or just no longer need the service, and to get an accurate database of current users.

c. National Comparison of Ridership Growth

PTA said that during the budget process, Commissioner Dever had asked him how our ridership growth compared to other agencies. He wanted to know if the 138% growth is average, above average or below average. With the assistance of FTA staff, PTA was able to obtain the requested information, analyze the data, and determine how our growth compared to other transit agencies throughout the country. PTA only considered agencies that are small urban systems (50,000 to 199,000 in population), systems that only provide fixed-route and paratransit services, systems that have started service since 1999, and have maintained the same level of service since their inception. PTA distributed a spreadsheet to committee members that illustrates how Lawrence Transit System’s growth compared to other transit agencies throughout the country. What he found was the average growth rate for small urban systems between 1999 and 2005 was 24.5%, and the median growth rate was 6.79%. Out of the 201 total agencies he looked at, only 4 new systems had over 100% growth since they began service, and Lawrence Transit System is one of those agencies. PTA said he has submitted his findings back to FTA for verification that his determinations are correct, and he reiterated that this analysis is to measure our percent of ridership growth, as opposed to total ridership numbers.

6. Level of Service in 2008 and Beyond

a. Approved 2008 Transit Budget

PTA advised the committee that the City Commission approved a mil levy increase of .425%, and will use approximately $230,000 out of our equipment reserve fund, to maintain existing transit service through 2008. This means we will have to order one less bus than originally anticipated. PTA said the City Commission has indicated that they will determine a dollar amount they are wiling to dedicate to public transit, and whatever that buys us in service, that is the level of service we will provide to the community. Marian said we should continue efforts to convince the commission to dedicate additional resources, and to change their minds about the value our service provides to the community as a whole. She said that the committee’s goal for the year should be to develop performance standards and ways to measure our productivity, so the system can be tweaked and improved to attract new riders. PTA said MV will begin gathering data that breaks ridership down by trip, so peak and non-peak times can be identified. He said the data collected will be a great tool in determining what our service is going to look like in the future, and will help in developing a new RFP for a service provider.

b. City Commission Direction

PTA said our current provider contract expires at the end of 2008, and the City Commission has directed him to pursue merging our system with KU’s by 2009. Direction he has received from the City Commission is to develop a joint RFP with KU in November and December of this year. They would like the RFP on the street by the first of January, in order to have the bids back by the beginning of February. They want the new contractor identified, with pricing in place, by the start of the 2009 budget cycle.

c. Challenges

PTA said some of the challenges will be the limited amount of time he will have in getting the RFP developed and turned around as requested. This coming fall, he will concentrate on gathering ridership data through passenger surveys, to assist in developing the scope of work for the operating contract. Marian suggested we survey the community as a whole, rather than just our current riders, to find out why more people aren’t using the service. She said that she has spoken to a lot of people who support public transportation, but don’t necessarily need it or use it. PTA replied that the City Commission recognizes that fact, but they are very concerned about the high cost of providing the service, when a very small percent of the community utilizes the service. PTA passed around the results of Dan Boyle’s ridership surveys from last year for the committee to review.

d. Procurement of Vehicles/Future Operating Contract

The City Manager has asked the PTA to hold off on ordering new vehicles until we have further discussions with the university to determine if a different type of vehicle would be more beneficial in a merged system. PTA said that unfortunately MV is going to have quite a challenge making the old buses last until we are allowed to replace them. The hot weather is really taking a toll on the buses and we’ve had to replace an engine on one vehicle already this summer. Marc Epard asked if the age of the fleet had any bearing on the future operating contract. PTA said it would be a huge factor in the future contract. Since it takes approximately 18 months to build a bus, the PTA’s original goal was to have the new buses ordered this summer to assure they would be delivered just prior to the start of the new contract. That way, any new contractor coming in would factor the lower preventive maintenance costs into their bid. PTA said as it stands now, the new contract is expected to come in with higher costs for preventive maintenance, since they will be responsible for maintaining old buses without warranties.

7. KU Coordination Status

PTA said that two weeks ago, representatives for the City and KU met to discuss the feasibility of merging the two systems by 2009, as requested by the City Commission. KU agreed to accelerate discussions with the City regarding a merger, but felt the timeline was too aggressive to fully merge before the new provider procurement occurs. PTA said he felt the two biggest issues to tackle are governance and funding a merged system. PTA said KU has since sent a letter to the City that says any coordination must be beneficial to the student body and meet future campus transit needs, the University and students must have adequate on-going participation in the proposed governance structure, and they are not in favor of paying any subsidy to the City for transportation.

May Davis expressed concerns that the students haven’t been consulted regarding merger plans, and that KU administration had not kept her apprised of accelerated merger talks, since this is the first time she has heard of them. Marc Epard felt that the old KU Coordination Subcommittee should be resurrected, and PTAC should invite KU student representatives to attend meetings to get a better idea of their issues and concerns. PTA said that KU has formed a new transportation committee, and he has asked May to keep him apprised of their meeting times as well, so he can get a better understanding of what is happening on a student level. May advised the transit committee has not yet been formed, and even though recommendations have been submitted, no one has been appointed.

PTA introduced Anson Gock, Transportation Planner for the City. Anson said it is important to remember that KU has not built any new dorms on campus since 1968, when the student population was approximately 13,000. Now KU enrollment exceeds 27,000, and all new growth in student housing has occurred off-campus, into the surrounding community. This issue should be priority for current students, and future students and their parents. May said that most students who live off campus come with cars, and she feels they have no use for public transit. Marian said that when she was a part of student senate (2002), they tossed around the idea of not allowing freshman to come with cars at all. However, they dropped that requirement because there was not a reliable public transit system in existence at that time. PTA said the larger picture is that students who live off campus not only have to get to and from class, but they must have access throughout the community for employment, shopping, entertainment, medical…etc, and this is where the “T” can come in and fill some of the gaps. Marian said the trend is to move all vehicular traffic off campus. It does not make sense for students to drive across town to park in a lot, and then use a bus to get to class. What does make sense is to use public transit in the community to get to campus, and then use campus transportation to get to class. The city would benefit with increased ridership and less wear and tear on the roads, and the university would benefit from reduced traffic and parking constraints on campus. PTA said the goal for the merged system is crafting a balanced system that meets the needs of the students and the community as a whole. Marc said he thinks PTAC and the students should get together to determine some common ground. Marc gave the example of the network effect where the more nodes there are on a network, the value of each node goes up. If we are able to develop a system with transfers that go each way, the system will be more valuable to both the students and public at large. PTA reminded the committee that their role is to gather information, and the City Manager will decide who will be involved with negotiations with the University. Marian said negotiating with KU is not the purpose of getting together with students. The purpose is to develop a trusting relationship, where everyone feels free and comfortable discussing their concerns, so students can get a better understanding of what’s going on. It was pointed out that any meeting where a majority of a PTAC quorum exists must be previously announced as open to the public.

Marian said the old subcommittees were KU Coordination, Amenities, and Route Review. Marian asked how the new bus stop signs were coming along. PTA said the installation of new bus stops is on hold at this time, and that our new priority is the merger with KU, and developing the scope of work for the new provider contract. Marian said she understands new signs are not a priority, but that the committee would like to see some progress in moving towards a designated stop system.

Marian suggested the new subcommittees should be Route Review and Performance Standards, KU Coordination, and Amenities. She will e-mail a sign up sheet to PTAC members so they can sign up for the subcommittees of their choice.

8. Public Comment

Marion Babb said Cottonwood is having problems with the three-day booking period, especially on Sundays, and asked that the committee consider changing it to a five or seven-day period.

Tentative Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m.

Submitted by Wendy Koerner Approved at October 9, 2007 PTAC meeting