City of Lawrence

Public Transit Advisory Committee

August 11, 2009 minutes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Alan Black, Marc Epard, Derek Meier, Mark Hurt, Jim Canaday

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Chair David Dunfield, Howard Hill, Lyle Hettinger

STAFF PRESENT:

Robert Nugent, Wendy Koerner, Emily Lubliner, Mike Sweeten

PUBLIC PRESENT:

Danny Kaiser, Tom Worker-Braddock, Saunny Scott

 

1. Call to Order

Marc Epard called the meeting to order at 4:17 p.m.

 

2. Public Comment

None provided.

 

3. Approval of Minutes

Mark Hurt moved to approve the minutes as submitted; Jim Canaday seconded. Minutes were approved.

 

4. Agenda Review

Alan Black asked if we have a policy on transporting the homeless. He wondered if they receive free rides. They do not. Alan pointed out that if the homeless shelter moves to 23rd Street, people will need transportation to and from the location. Saunny Scott raised concern about the bus being able to stop near the proposed shelter location. Wendy said the City donates money to the Lawrence Community Shelter for bus passes. No changes were made to the agenda.

 

5. Public Transit Administrator Update

a. Ridership and Other Performance Statistics

T fixed-route ridership was down 3% in July. T Lift was up 12% in June and 6% in July. Transit Administrator Robert Nugent (PTA) said Saturday ridership is lower than weekdays and skews the overall picture. They might consider separating Saturdays out from the rest of the report. Ridership was up on July 16, when the T offered a free ridership day for the Sidewalk Sale. PTA said sometimes ridership will decline on days before or after a free ridership day, if people are waiting to use the free day. That is the time to examine cutting back on free ridership promotions. That is not the case here, however, as ridership stayed strong all week.

 

b. Douglas County Coalition on Aging

Bob attended a meeting of the Douglas County Coalition on Aging and served as facilitator for the transportation sub-group. He said folks at the meeting were concerned about voids in transportation service. There was discussion about improving communication among the different agencies in Lawrence providing transportation to seniors. Centralized dispatching would be one way to achieve this.

 

c. School Transportation

PTA said during the next year Olsson Associates will be guiding us toward a new transit system. If we were to change bus schedules to match up with school times now, it would affect transfer times throughout the system. The general stance from the City is that the service is out there. If people can use it to get their children to school, please do so. But we are not able to change the schedules simply because the school decided to cut busing service at the last minute—particularly since we already have a planning process underway to evaluate and change our routes and schedules.

 

d. Vehicle Acquisition

There is an opportunity to purchase new vehicles as part of a contract where production is already in progress. The opportunity is with LYNX, the regional transportation authority in Orlando, Florida. PTA said we are looking at buying two hybrids and the rest biodiesel buses. While we are waiting for the Olsson study to guide the vehicle recommendations, PTA said about a third of the fleet may need to be 40-foot buses, if we are to continue intermingling our routes with KU routes. A third would be 30-foot buses, like the current T buses. The remaining third would be body-on-chassis vehicles, such as the paratransit vehicles, which would be used for going further into the neighborhoods. A complicating factor to vehicle acquisition is the joint operating facility with KU. There are discussions about KU paying for the facility, with the city providing funding for buses to be used by both systems. Those details need to be worked out prior to bus purchasing.

 

6. Update on Coordinated Route and Schedule Design Project

PTA said a lot of work has been done, and we are ready to roll out the coordinated Guide to Ride, as well as launch the first coordinated route. Both sides, the city and the university, have been working toward a common goal, and great teamwork resulted. PTA recognized Derek, Emily, and several other staff members for completing the project in-house.

 

7. Joint Operating Facility

Danny Kaiser began by saying that neither the city nor the university currently controls its operating facility. Both systems’ contracts require MV Transportation to procure and provide a maintenance and parking facility for the fleets. Being located on adjacent sites and having a joint contract for service provision has led to cost savings. Kaiser explained that whenever you’re in a situation where you don’t own your own facility, the service provider will include the costs within the life of the service contract. It can get expensive to pay for capital improvements within a 5-year contract. It makes sense for the city and/or university to develop its own facility to operate out of. He used the example of a home mortgage, where the costs are distributed over a number of years and it becomes more financially beneficial.

 

The city and university have agreed that KU will release a request for proposals with three alternatives: 1. develop and lease a facility; 2. a lease purchase agreement; 3. develop and sell the property (a turn-key operation). Kaiser noted that the lease on the current property expires at the end of 2010. It will be an aggressive schedule, but Kaiser said he thinks it can be achieved. Once the RFP is released, there will be a 45 day response time.

 

Kaiser elaborated on an earlier comment by the PTA about how the city would contribute financially to the facility. Part of the student fees at the university go toward bus acquisition. If the city were to provide funds for buses, that would free up the university to direct a portion of the student fees toward the facility, with the approval of Student Senate.

 

Alan Black asked whether it would involve construction of new buildings. Kaiser said it depends on what someone proposes. They could repurpose existing structures.

 

8. Service Standards and Policies

Tom Worker-Braddock said Olsson Associates is working on another draft of the Service Standards and Policies document. They have also begun the next phase of work. He directed PTAC to look at the recommended level of service. Goals include improving service frequency for the T, further defining the coverage area, and deciding when to increase service by adding buses. There are also recommendations for bus sizes and amenities. Standards for increasing or decreasing service will measure individual route performance against the system as a whole.

 

PTA summarized that the document will give us guidelines on how to add service, evaluate routes, and determine which vehicles to purchase. It will give us a foundation to say, this is why we’re making the decisions we’re making. This document will ultimately drive the recommendations that Olsson provides about the direction of the service. PTAC can submit comments to PTA.

 

9. Public Comment

Saunny said she’s amazed to see all the work that has been pulled together. There is still a lot to be done with coordinating the city and university routes.

 

10. Tentative Next Meeting Date:

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

 

11. Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

 

—Submitted by Emily Lubliner

 

Approved at 10/13/09 PTAC meeting