City of
Public
Transit Advisory Committee
April 8,
2008 minutes
|
MEMBERS PRESENT: |
Vice-chair |
|
MEMBERS ABSENT: |
Ann Foster, |
|
STAFF PRESENT: |
|
|
PUBLIC PRESENT: |
Saunny Scott |
1. Call to Order
Vice-chair
David Dunfield called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.
2. Public Comment
Saunny
Scott commented that she had attended a meeting of the Homeless Coalition where
people were discussing the need for service after 8 p.m. to get people home
from jobs. She also spoke to the commission of the 20/20 vision meeting about
this. She said we should not be talking about cuts, but rather expansion. She does
not understand why the city doesn’t view public transit as an economic
development tool.
3. Agenda Review
No changes
were made.
4. Approval of February Meeting
Minutes
February
minutes are not yet ready for approval.
5. Public Transit Administrator Update
a. Ridership
and Other Performance Statistics
In February
and March, we have continued to see decreases in ridership,
both for fixed-route and paratransit service. PTA
attributes this to the second phase of the fare increase, effective in January.
He is surprised that in February paratransit ridership dropped by 15 percent, a decline he has not seen
in three years as administrator. Revenues are up substantially, which was the
goal of raising fares. Hopefully in the future those increases will allow us to
make improvements to the service. On-time productivity is still very good, and
we have a good safety record with no major incidents in seven years of
operation.
b. Meetings with
PTA traveled
to
6. Status of Joint Procurement with
KU for Contracted Transportation Services
PTA said
we are involved in the joint procurement process. Two companies have submitted
bids to provide service for the next contract beginning in 2009. Those were MV
Transportation, Inc. and First Transit. The City and University plan to meet on
Friday, April 11, to make final evaluations of the proposals and submit
recommendations. They will submit a recommendation based on the individual
scenario and the combined scenario. PTA said that although the hope for
combining the two systems is to save costs, it looks like that will not be the
case for the City. The City’s portion of the costs would actually increase
under the combined scenario, while KU’s costs would
decrease. The main factor in the cost increase is the expense of rising fuel
costs and facility improvement, which would be necessary in the long-term to
operate both systems from the same facility. PTA said his recommendation would
be to combine the systems. There are other factors that merit evaluation
besides cost. PTA said bids show the cost to maintain existing service for LTS
next year will mean at minimum a $1 million increase, or one property mil. Reasons
for the increase involve increases in fuel, maintenance, personnel, and insurance
costs. Staff will not make any recommendation for a reduction in service. The
City Commission will have to decide whether they prefer the individual or
combined scenario, and the level of service they want to provide to citizens.
PTA anticipates the contract will be awarded in August as part of the city’s
normal budget process.
7. Results of Community Survey on
Public Transportation
PTA said
that we had a noteworthy response to the survey—about 1,300 were returned out
of the 31,000 that were sent to every household. He said it’s good to see that
the overall perception of public transportation in our community is favorable.
Given the choice between maximizing the service area but reducing frequency,
reducing the service area but increasing frequency, or increasing both the
service area and frequency, the majority of people said they would like the
latter option—both. PTA said he believes the public realizes that in order to
improve the service, a greater investment would need to be made. The question
that needs to be asked next is whether people would be willing to raise their
taxes for transit.
8. Status of Google Trip Planning
Efforts
PTA said we’ve
beta-tested one route so far. Micah from the city GIS department is working on
the rest of the information. PTA said he doesn’t know the exact timeline, but
he would hope to launch trip planning services by the end of 2008, if not
sooner.
9. 2008 PTAC Chair and Vice-Chair
Appointments
10. 2008 Subcommittee Appointments
PTA said
that the biggest issue this year will come once we know the level of service
for 2009. PTAC assistance will be needed for route evaluation and public
outreach. If there are going to be changes, there will be public meetings. For
now, it would be helpful to have the whole group involved, rather than dividing
into subcommittees. PTA said he thought the budget process would reveal a
future direction by July.
11. Public Comment
Saunny
Scott asked how to turn public transit into an economic issue. PTA said he sent
a letter to Lavern Squire, Executive Director at the Chamber of Commerce, about
existing programs offered by the federal government. The IRS provides tax
incentives to those who rideshare or use public transportation. A company can
use it as an employee benefit and write it off their corporate taxes, or they
can pass it on to employees as a pre-tax benefit. PTA did not receive a
response on the letter.
12. Tentative Next Meeting Date:
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 – Discuss Rescheduling due to FTA Triennial Review.
13. Adjournment
Meeting
was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
—Submitted
by
Approved
at 6/5/08 PTAC meeting