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Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority
Access Advisory Committee
December 3, 2008 minutes
314 W. 11th Street, Ned Granger Building

Members Present:


  1. Diane Bomar-Aleman, Chair Access Committee, Member STS Subcommittee
  2. Dave Patterson, Vice Chair Access Committee, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  3. Boone J. Blocker, Secretary Access Committee, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  4. Mary Ward, Chair STS Subcommittee
  5. Will Brown, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  6. Malcolm Graham, Member STS Subcommittee (proxy for Jane)
  7. Sandra Seekamp, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee

Capital Metro Staff Present


  1. Inez Evans, Director Paratransit
  2. Rick L’Amie, Vice President Marketing
  3. Nancy Crowther, Staff Liaison
  4. Kirk Talbott, Chief Communications Officer
  5. Betty Craven, Paratransit Road Supervisor
  6. Julie Martin, Business and Community Development

Guests Present


  1. Michael Zitz-Evanich, Millwood Neighborhood Association

Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Chair Aleman.

Citizen’s Communication
Michael Zitz-Evanich announced that he was glad to see the new officers of the Access Committee elected and that all members were focused on serving the transportation needs of the disabled.

Approval of Minutes for November, 19 2008
David Patterson moved and Malcolm Graham seconded that the minutes be approved. The motion passed.

Announcements
David Patterson announced that the date and time for the next CSAC group meeting is still to be determined.

Staff Reports.
Kirk Talbott gave a presentation focused on two areas: smart cards and the new Capital Metro blog. As the Disability Fare Card format and particulars are being finalized, now is the time to address any privacy concerns raised by the Access Committee and members of the public. Capital Metro announced that they are launching a blog, capmetroblog.blogspot.com, and there is a link to the journal on the main website. The blog has been formed to encourage more bi-directional communication between Capital Metro and the public. There will be articles posted to foster discussion and no comments, good or bad, will be edited by Capital Metro. Several members of Access relayed that when building or maintaining the blog, CAPTCHA should not be used because of the difficulty of using screen readers with it. There are several other options that can protect the website and blog from malware or other vulnerabilities without using CAPTCHA. Mr. Talbott said that Capital Metro would make the blog quite usable for all members of the public.

According to Kirk Talbott, Capital Metro has spent $30,000 per year on the IVR and $60,000 per year on Trapeze bus databases. The $30,000 figure only includes the maintenance per year and not the original purchase price of the IVR. It is estimated that purchasing a reservations web component which would interface with Trapeze would cost $100,000. Mr. Talbott will be responsible for choosing the final smart card, having the readers installed on the buses and deciding which of the 16 available pieces of information will be used in the card.

The Access Committee asked Mr. Talbott if at some point in the future it would be possible to make reservations for MetroAccess over the web/internet. Mr. Talbott said that this was 99% for sure going to happen, but before it does, the challenges and issues with the IVR and other existing technology needs to be worked out. Several members of the Access Committee with experience in designing similar systems across the country asked that they be included in the roll-out of this service. Again, several members of Access relayed that when building or maintaining the website, CAPTCHA should not be used because of the difficulty using screen readers with it. Also again, Access members mentioned that there are several other options that can protect the website from malware or other vulnerabilities without using CAPTCHA.

Nancy Crowther relayed several monthly ridership statistics: there were 2,573,511 fixed route trips, 62,911 MetroAccess rides, 858,918 UT Shuttle rides, 9,899 wheelchair fixed route rides, 208,279 disability fixed route rides with a rolling monthly total of 2,955,753. She also stated that in gathering all of this data, no individual data had been recorded.

In a follow-up to the staff reports, David Patterson and several other members of the Access Committee had the following questions: what is the status of Capital Metro’s goal of numbering all of the stops, including Braille?

The first bus pass vending machine has gone in the North Operations area. It was purchased with the input of the Access Committee and should be able to be used by voice and from a wheelchair. An on-site evaluation needs to be preformed to assess the actual accessibility for the visually impaired and customers who use a wheelchair.

Also, a pilot rail car will be in the downtown station for viewing on December 11th and the 13th.

Rick L’Amie brought samples of the different kinds of bus passes, some with markings to make them decipherable by a visually impaired person. Several members of the Access Committee commented on the notches and that less glossy finishes usually work better with text readers. He also stated that as of now, Capital Metro’s HEB partners don’t have the monthly MetroAccess passes.

Committee Reports
Jane Lansaw, Chair of the Metro Mobility Working Group, stated that at the previous Working Group meeting, Chad Ballentine discussed the GPS now installed in all MetroAccess vehicles. Several members of the Access Committee asked for clarification on acquiring information about the exact location of their ride by calling the IVR. While this feature is not yet available, Capital Metro is testing, on a limited basis, the ability of the IVR using the GPS, of calling the client 5 minutes before the ride is arriving. The working group voted to change the maximum days out to schedule a ride from 8 days to 6. The working group is coming up with a list of priorities of which MetroAccess changes will be acted on first. The call center hours of operation will be decided soon.

Old Business
Holiday schedule and the GO Line. Permanent rides will be canceled and Capital Metro will be operating on a Sunday service level. The Capital Metro Board of Director’s Work Session is at 2:00 pm and the full meeting is at 4:00 pm.

Boone J. Blocker updated the group on the AAAIM project between Capital Metro and the City of Austin. Members from the Texas Citizen Fund will hopefully come periodically to the Access meetings to give updates on the project.

New Business
David Patterson suggested there be an ad hoc meeting in the first part of January to review current bi-laws. He also updated the group on the possibility of moving the Access meetings to City Hall so they can be filmed. Further discussion with the full Access Committee is needed to address this.

Adjournment
David Patterson moved and Malcolm Graham seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.

The next Access Advisory Committee Meeting will be held January 7, 2009, 5:30 pm at 314 W. 11th, Ned Granger Travis County Commissioner’s Courthouse County Building.


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