Access meetings Minutes

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
323 Congress Avenue, First Floor
ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
December 1, 2004

Members Present: Shelly Brisbin, Jerry Doran, Linda French, Randall L. Glock, Julie Maloukis, Scott Meyer, Juan Munoz, Robert Raines and Judy Watford

Members Absent: Ron Burzese

Proxy Present: Mark Thompson for Ron Burzese

Capital Metro Staff Present: Nancy Crowther, Jan Johnson, John Anciria, and Patty Guajardo.

Guest(s): Christine Guevara and Pam Scott

The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. All decisions are voted upon and all votes are unanimous unless stated otherwise.

CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Shelly Brisbin called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES. The minutes of the November 3, 2004 ACCESS Advisory Committee Meeting were approved as written.

WELCOME

Shelly Brisbin welcomed everyone to the ACCESS meeting.
Mark Thompson announced that he would be Ron Burzese's proxy for the meeting.

CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.

There were no citizens present who signed up to speak.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS.

STS SUBCOMMITTEE. The STS Subcommittee met on November 10, 2004 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Juan Munoz, Chair, asked Jan Johnson, Capital Metro, to give the report. Julie Maloukis prepared and distributed meeting notes on behalf of Juan Munoz.

Summary

Work in Progress. Subcommittee members made it very clear that the report is a reflection of a work in progress. Subcommittee members are not ready to present any recommendations for vote.
Effective Date. Juan Munoz made it very clear that the policy changes being considered would not take effect until after the IVR system is up and working efficiently for at least two to three months
Terminology. Some difficulty with the discussion was caused by terminology. It was suggested that members put aside the current meaning of "cancellation" and "late cancellation" and think of the terms differently.
Notice of Cancellation. Subcommittee members agreed that STS passengers should be required to notify STS of trip cancellations at least two hours prior to the scheduled pick up time. (Currently, passengers are required to provide only one-hour notice.)
No Show. Subcommittee members agreed that STS passengers should be credited with a No Show if he/she fails to provide notice of trip cancellation at least two hours prior to the scheduled pick up time. (Currently, passengers are credited with a No Show if they fail to provide one-hour notice.)
Penalty for No Shows. Members agreed that the penalty must be significant in order to encourage passengers to observe the cancellation policy. Most transit systems reviewed use service suspension to penalize passengers for policy abuse. We discussed several options.
1. Notification. Capital Metro will send a letter to the passenger at the beginning of the next calendar month. Passengers will have 45 days from the date of the postmark on the letter to appeal the penalty, to accept the penalty or to pay a fine equivalent to the cost of the No Shows. (The fine would be due in cash prior to the deadline; no bill would be sent.) The penalty will be as follows:
2. Penalties. Penalties were discussed at the meeting. However, there was a lot of concern about the complexity of the proposed penalty system of fines or increased suspensions based upon number of occurrences. The penalty process will need to be addressed again at the next STS Subcommittee meeting.
Late Cancellation. Subcommittee members discussed a new concept of Late Cancellation. It was agreed that STS passengers should be enticed to notify STS of trip cancellation even if they are unable to provide two hours notice.
1. Encouragement. Everyone agreed that passengers would need encouragement - in the form of a reward - for making the effort to notify STS of cancellation if they miss the two-hour requirement. Perhaps a Late Cancellation could count as ½ a No Show (or something to that effect)?
2. Process. No decision was reached about how this would work. Some members felt passengers should be given a Late Cancellation if they notify STS of cancellation any time prior to the driver's arrival. Others felt that passengers should be given a Late Cancellation if they notify STS of cancellation up to 30 minutes prior to the scheduled pick up time.
Option to Service Suspension. Members felt that STS passengers should be given an option to pay for the cost of the No Shows rather than face a service suspension. The cost would be $15 per No Show ($15 ~ the actual cost of the trip). Passengers facing a service suspension would be required to pay the cost of all No Shows in a given calendar month to avoid a suspension. Payment would be made in cash and in person. STS would not send a bill or accept credit or extend the time in which to pay.
Clean Slate following Suspension. Members felt that STS passengers should be given an opportunity to start fresh. After being penalized, passengers would be given a clean slate after 6 consecutive months without any No Shows.
Clean Slate following Fine Payment. If a passenger opts to pay a fine in lieu of service suspension, the slate will be wiped clean following payment.
Advance Reservation Period. Subcommittee members agreed that the advance reservation period should be reduced from 8 days to 3 days. (It was noted that a public hearing would be required for this change.)
Taxi Voucher Program.
1. Jan Johnson informed the committee about a serious problem with the Taxi Voucher program. Some passengers scheduled numerous taxi voucher trips and did not take them. However, STS learned that some of the taxi drivers were billing STS for the trips that were not taken.
2. Jan Johnson also brought up the issue of some passengers scheduling taxi voucher trips in lieu of STS vehicle rides. This is both expensive and inefficient. Julie Maloukis brought up the point that some passengers may just have trouble working in the system. For example, a passenger may schedule two or three medical appointments on the same day in order to limit the number of days he/she has to go out into the community. It is difficult to schedule timely rides to more than one location. She suggested that STS come up with a system to assist passengers and teach them how to schedule rides. She also suggested that STS track the reasons that Taxi Voucher rides were scheduled.
3. Discussion of the fact that taxi drivers "lose money" when picking up STS passengers. The administrative fees charged to taxi drivers for processing STS paperwork was discussed and how the mileage Capital Metro gives for trips are not correct. Jan Johnson explained that taxi drivers also have to pay administrative costs for processing paperwork for contracts with Seton Hospital so it is not just an issue with Capital Metro. He explained that there will be a hearing on Monday, December 6, 2004, at 505 Barton Springs Road (Texas One Center) from 9:00 to 10:30 AM to discuss a $5.00 increased meter rate. Apparently, taxi drivers have not received a raise in over 5 years. This will likely be a heated debate with City Council and the public. Jan Johnson explained that the mileage Capital Metro gives for trips is correct, but different routes can be taken for various reasons and therefore the distances will not add up. He stated that capital Metro pays an average of $11.77 to taxi drivers and that some trips are very short and that hopefully everything evens out. Capital Metro has a goal of creating more incentives aside from money for drivers who pick up STS passengers. There are already drivers who only pick up STS passengers and Capital Metro would like to expand on this.
Discussion About No Shows Determinations. Jan Johnson talked about how STS currently makes the No Show determination. At present, two data entry clerks need to review 8,000-10,000 entries per day and look for violations. No Shows cannot be given if the driver does not wait at least 5 minutes after the scheduled pick up time,or if the driver arrives more than 15 minutes after the scheduled pick up time. This is a very tedious task and, therefore, it very difficult to send out notices to passengers in a timely manner. However, this will change in late 2005 with the implementation of the Mobile Data Entry System. This part of the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), will allow drivers to enter logs in real time, eliminating the need for data entry. The system will be able to instantly determine No Shows and notices will be able to be sent in a timely manner. This will enable Capital Metro to efficiently use a newly proposed penalty system.
ITS. Julie Maloukis requested to be informed about ITS.
Tour. A potential tour of the STS facility will be set up on Tuesday, December 21, 2004. ACCESS members would travel to 323 Congress and then be driven to the STS facility. This will be finalized at the subcommittee meetings on December 8, 2004.

FIXED ROUTE ADA SUBCOMMITTEE. The Subcommittee did not meet in November. However, Randall L. Glock, Chair, gave a brief report.

He announced that the accessibility issues at the bus stop in from of the St. David's Wheelchair Fitness Center are being addressed. Plans to provide wheelchair access to the bus stop have been approved and all parties are in agreement. Construction should begin just before or just after the December holidays.
He announced that the ID cards still need some work due to software interface issues.
He announced that the and a meeting with Downtown Alliance has been delayed until after the New Year.

CHAIR REPORT.

Ms. Shelly Brisbin expressed an interest in having a meeting devoted to technology issues. She would like to have technology consultants, Capital Metro IT staff, and ACCESS member involved.
She stated a potential interest in starting a Special Technology Subcommittee, consisting of four ACCESS members. Julie Maloukis and Judy Wafford were most interested in the topic and expressed an interest in participating. There will be some discussion on December 8, at the Fixed Route Subcommittee and perhaps a future meeting will be set up in January or February.

ANNOUNCEMENTS.

There will likely be an IVR update at the January 5, 2005 ACCESS meeting.
Patty Guajardo announced that there will only be one service change to fixed route services on January 16, 2005. This will be on the #214 - Lago Vista Service Feeder.
Julie Maloukis reported information provided be a Security Guard at Barton Creek Mall. She stated that purses and/or packages were being stolen off the laps of people using wheelchairs and caution should be taken.
Mark Thompson and Scott Meyer announced issues with blind passengers being recognized and picked up by bus drivers near the UT Intramural Field (IF) buses north of 38th Street. Nancy Crowther stated that drivers will be alerted of this issue in an attempt to solve the problem. If passengers continue to experience difficulties, they are asked to take note of the time, route, and bus number (if possible) and report this to Capital Metro.
Nancy Crowther announced that Capital Metro will order a sandwich tray to celebrate the holidays at the December 8, 2004 subcommittee meetings. ACCESS members should contact Nancy about what they will bring so she can coordinate with everyone to make sure there is not too much of the same kind of food. Food will be served between the STS and Fixed Route subcommittee meetings to make sure everyone has a chance to enjoy the food and fun together.

Any future agenda items should be submitted to Shelly Brisbin.

Next ACCESS Advisory Committee Meetings:
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Next STS Subcommittee Meetings
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Next Fixed Route Subcommittee Meetings
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 6:00 to 7:00 p.m

Capital Metro and/or the chairperson will communicate any changes to upcoming meetings via e-mail.

Respectfully Submitted by:
Scott Meyer, Secretary
Julie Maloukis, Co-Secretary

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
2910 East 5th Street | Austin, Texas 78702 | (512) 389-7400
Specific Route Information | (512) 474-1200 | (800) 474-1201