Members Present:
- Diane Bomar-Aleman, Chair Access Committee, Member STS Subcommittee
- Dave Patterson, Vice Chair Access Committee, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
- Boone J. Blocker, Secretary Access Committee, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
- Mary Ward, Chair STS Subcommittee
- Jane Lansaw, Chair Fixed Route Subcommittee
- Amy Litzinger, Member STS Subcommittee
- Malcolm Graham, Member STS Subcommittee
- Sandra Seekamp, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
Members Absent
- Will Brown, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
Capital Metro Staff Present
- Inez Evans, Director Paratransit
- Todd Hemingson, Vice President Strategic Planning & Development
- Julie Martin, Staff Liaison
- Rafael Villarreal, Assistant Director of Paratransit
- Nancy Crowther, Accessible Transportation Specialist
Guests Present
- Michael Zitz-Evanich
- Linda Litzinger
- Willie Barber
- Eleanor James
- Carlos Aleman
Call to OrderThe meeting was called to order at 5:31 pm by Chair Aleman.
Citizen’s CommunicationMichael Zitz-Evanich reported that he received a mailing from the Brain Injury Group. AT&T is doing a study analyzing the communication methods used by people with disabilities. The study will also incorporate a workshop, and will have different sections and areas for various disabilities.
John Meinkowsky with the Austin Resource Center for Independent Living (ARCIL) presented the agency’s concerns, shared with the CMTA Board of Directors, regarding ADA paratransit eligibility standards being used by Capital Metro for MetroAccess applicants.
Approval of Minutes for December 3, 2008 Mary Ward moved and Malcolm Graham seconded that the minutes from the December 3, 2008 Access Advisory Committee meeting be approved. The motion passed
The minutes from the January 7, 2009 Access meeting did not include the Metro Mobility Working Group (MMWG) resolution that was unanimously passed. The January minutes will be revised by secretary Blocker to include the resolution and will be approved at the March 4, 2009 Access meeting.
AnnouncementsDavid Patterson announced that the date and time for the Capital Metro Customer Satisfaction Advisory Committee (CSAC) meeting will be January 18, 2009 at City Hall.
Diane Bomar-Aleman reported that the ACACBT meeting will be held on February 28, 2009 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at Vinny’s Italian Road. Mrs. Bomar-Aleman also announced that the NFB meeting will be February 21, 2009 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Austin History Center, which also has archives from Channel 6 City of Austin meetings.
Boone Blocker announced that the AAAIM Project between the City of Austin and Capital Metro, per Rachel Reyes-Young and Sheila Holbrook-White, has been placed on hold so the FTA can get some paperwork in order.
Access Committee Reports Jane Lansaw, Chair of the MMWG, stated that during the MMWG meeting on the first Thursday in January and the February meeting, the group will continue working on no-show issues. Inez Evans, who was not at the January meeting, is needed to give input on the no-show issues. Nancy Crowther gave the top 10 ridership no-show data which was calculated from September to December of 2008. The average age of the top 10 was 57, with a mean of 51 and the high number of no-shows for the period was 19. A member of the Access Committee asked if the MMWG has access to rider data, complaints or compliments. Inez Evans is also needed to give some clarification in this area.
Jane Lansaw, Chair of the Fixed Route Subcommittee, said that the Highland Mall signage is no longer up. Some of the pickup and drop-off locations at Highland Mall are tricky and the signage is needed. The front windows on UT buses and on all Capital Metro fixed route buses are sealed and during summer months, the heat can be an issue.
Mary Ward, Chair of the STS Subcommittee, reported that schedule changes and notifications to riders are still not being made properly. Excessive no-shows are still an issue. A fixed route bus schedule is being used when making MetroAccess reservations. As a result, people are still being sometimes left at unopened locations.
David Patterson, Vice Chair of the Access Advisory Committee and a member of CSAC, gave an update of the January 11, 2009 meeting. He said that Inez Evans made an Access Advisory Committee presentation at the CSAC meeting and that there seems to be some disagreement about ADA requirements and some questions were left unresolved. Patterson said that the new Chair of CSAC is a UT graduate student and that more CSAC members are engaged this term. He also said that CSAC and Access should work together more because of items like stop enunciators and schedules. Several other issues from CSAC and the Access Advisory Fixed Route Subcommittee also show some commonality.
Access Advisory Committee Chair Aleman gave a report on her presentation to the Capital Metro Board of Directors at their January 21, 2009 meeting. She said that the board and senior management were discussing ways to request more money from the proposed $190 million federal economic stimulus package. Chair Aleman stated that there was no mention of expanded fixed route bus or Access services. She is also concerned that the Capital Metro Board of Directors is reviewing the Access Advisory Committee by-laws. During a recent Board of Directors’ meeting, Andrea Lofye stated that some Capital Metro staff were working on the issue. Julie Martin disagreed with this, but it is agreed by all parties that further discussion is needed between Capital Metro and the Access Advisory Committee. At the January 21, 2009 Board of Directors’ meeting, Aleman was told that during her report she should stick strictly to the happenings of the Access Advisory Committee meeting. She thinks she should be open, honest and able to engage in back and forth communication with the board. Several members of Access asserted that the by-laws of the Access Advisory Committee affect the Metro Mobility Working Group and that the litigants of the recent lawsuit should have some input into what happens in the future.
Capital Metro Staff ReportsNancy Crowther, of Capital Metro, gave a report on why the January 28, 2009 Access Advisory Subcommittees meeting was cancelled by Capital Metro. She stated that the meeting was cancelled because of weather, staff sickness issues and to her knowledge, a lack of a printed meeting agenda. Crowther also stated that she had only arranged for MetroAccess rides of the committee members to be revised and not cancelled. Chair Aleman stated that illnesses are understood, but that the decision to cancel meetings should be left up to the Access Advisory Committee, and not Capital Metro. She also stated that in the future, the Access Advisory Committee Chair or the Vice Chair needs to agree to cancel the meeting. There was an agenda for the meeting that encompassed the standard meeting protocols with Citizen Communication. Per Malcolm Graham, a citizen named Robert Frank was scheduled to attend the meeting to share some thoughts, but due to the cancellation, he was unable to attend.
Todd Hemingson, Vice President of Strategic Planning & Development, gave an in depth report of the upcoming opening of Capital Metro Rail. He covered issues relating to the planning, the rail Red Line running from Leander to downtown Austin and the actual cost of the initial rail setup, which is $105 million and was only budgeted at $90 million.
Mr. Hemingson said that within a month of opening, Capital Metro projects that 1700-2000 trips will be made daily. He was asked about the maximum capacity of the individual rail cars and stated that it was a hard question to answer because people will be constantly getting on and off. There are 108 fixed seats per train, with a limit of 150 with standing passengers. There will be wheelchair seating available in most areas of the train in which users will wheel themselves into a desired position and lock themselves into place. No straps will be available for wheelchair users to secure themselves. Jane Lansaw asked about the gap between the platform and the rail car that exists in some other cities. Mr. Hemingson said that the rail cars will incorporate technology to balance the load of the train to help minimize this space. The top speed of the rail car will be 65 miles per hour, but the only place it will be able to go this fast will be between Leander and Lakeline. The car will slow down when it reaches the Austin downtown business core. There still is some work to accomplish before the March 30, 2009 Metro Rail opening, including some signals and schedules. The train will run every 30 minutes in intervals of 3 hours, which will increase as ridership does. Hemingson also stated that pre-revenue testing of Metro Rail will soon begin and that a current public relations campaign, including talking to local schools and open houses, is currently underway. Schedules and fare books with the price of $1.00 within zones and $1.50 out of zones are also currently being worked on.
Metro Freight will still operate on the same tracks as Metro Rail. However, according to NTSB rules, freight and passengers cannot be on the tracks at the same time. So, when Metro Rail is running (during the morning and late afternoon rush hours), Metro Freight will not be operating. Metro Freight’s new hours will be from 9 pm to 4:30 am.
David Patterson asked about the cost comparison of Metro Rail and the Express fixed route buses to Leander. Mr. Hemingson, said he did not have that data at the present time, but that he would report back to the Access Advisory Committee. When Metro Rail first begins operations, the Express fixed route buses to Leander will continue with a full schedule, but that over time Capital Metro expects the Express buses to decrease in number. Capital Metro projects that thousands of trips to and from Leander will be saved and the Express buses will not have to sit idle in traffic when Metro Rail is being used.
Several Access members had questions and comments about the Metro Rail stations, such as what would happen to the stations when the trains aren’t running? Some of the stations out of the city are mixed-use but it varies depending on the location of the station. Chair Aleman asked about the pedestrian access to the Metro Rail stations. Mr. Hemingson stated that the Plaza Saltillo and the Downtown stations are very pedestrian friendly. Leander is currently working on a sidewalk project to make its station even more pedestrian friendly. Chair Aleman also stated that many times pedestrian access takes a backseat to parking facilities at the stations and would like Capital Metro to address this issue. It was reported that the stations will have tactile markings and include some type of audio component. The Highland and Downtown stations will have connector buses that will be timed to service the new Metro Rail service. However, as previously stated, the routing of the Highland station can be tricky, so the current schedule signage needs to be made available.
Chair Aleman and several other members of Access had questions regarding the proposed federal economic stimulus package. It was reported that there might be a rail upgrade, $36 million for bus purchases, a Park & Ride in Manor and new signage. The local transportation package is being handled by CAMPO, which is serving as the clearing house. The Access members also asked if the proposed stimulus package would include the Georgetown Park & Ride, upgrading the Red Line Rail to Georgetown, doing something about the dangerous Airport Drive area and the Howard and Braker quiet zone.
Old BusinessThere will be an evaluation of the ticket vending machine (TVM) on February 5, 2009 from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm at the 323 Congress Capital Metro location.
Malcolm Graham reported that he had received a disturbing complaint about the PTS service. A PTS driver showed up late to pick up a client with breakfast and when asked to drive fast to make sure the client was on time, stated that he/she couldn’t because of 5 outstanding warrants. No specific details were given due to the fear of future retribution, but it was stated that without times and dates, nothing can be looked into properly.
Sandra Seekamp stated that the IVR is still not working properly to reserve rides. A message on the system says there is a problem with the programming. She said that people are not using the IVR because of this and past problems. She also said that she will be going to the next Capital Metro Board of Directors’ meeting to give testimony on this issue.
New BusinessJane Lansaw made a motion and David Patterson seconded a proposal to move the next Access Advisory Subcommittee meeting to February 26, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm to resolve a scheduling conflict with the Board of Directors’ meeting. The motion passed.
Chair Aleman stated that fixed route bus schedule times were being used to make MetroAccess reservations and that this was not good.
Chair Aleman also asked Inez Evans about the appeal process if a citizen was denied MetroAccess services. Evans stated that Nancy Crowther, the application processor and herself, with the specifics contained in the denial letter, are present at the appeal hearing.
Citizen CommunicationWillie Barber, a past member of the Mobility Impaired Service Advisory Committee (MISAC) who is now on the City of Midland Transportation Board of Directors, talked about Midland using Austin and other cities as models. He spoke of the need to include the disability community in the planning stages of projects and efforts to decrease the need and cost to revise and accommodate things later on. He also said that all complaints addressed should be brought only with possible solutions and for his desire to see a state wide TX Disability ID.
Carlos Aleman spoke to the group about a couple of issues. The first was a PTS driver who was a little late and drove from SW to SE Austin to get to North Austin. Then, on a Monday, Aleman made an appointment to go to school by 11:00 am. He was given a pickup time of 9:55 am. He then called the IVR the morning of his appointment to confirm his time and the system gave a pickup time of 10:10 am. He called Where’s My Ride? to inquire about his ride and the dispatcher told him that the driver had never gotten the correct manifest to pick him up. After they did finally pick him up and after two other client drop-offs, he was late to his class.
AdjournmentMary Ward moved and Amy Litzinger 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 March 4, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at 314 W. 11th, Ned Granger Travis County Commissioner’s Courthouse Building.
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