Members Present: Julie Maloukis, Chair, Juan Muñoz, Mary Ward, William Brown, Scott Meyer, Josè Loera.
Absent: Randal Glock (Kathy Shumaker proxy), Judy Watford,(Julie Maloukis proxy), Shelly Brisbin, Jerry Doran
Capital Metro Staff Present: Nancy Crowther Rafael Villarreal Denise Guerrero Andrew Murphy Terry Siems, Andrea Lofye.
Guests Present: Roger Cauvin, Dadnab ,Cathie Shumaker, Proxy for Randal Glock,Diane Bomar,Carlos Aleman,Kris Eades,Linda French.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Chair Maloukis with a quorum.
Approval of Minutes: Scott Meyer moved that the January Minutes be approved. Juan Muñoz seconded the motion and the minutes were approved.
Scott Meyer also moved that the February minutes be approved, Juan Muñoz seconded, and the February minutes were approved.
Staff Updates-Legislative Update-Andrea Lofye: Legislative update was discussed by Andrea Lofye, Government Affairs. House Bill 504, introduced by Representative Eliot Naishtat, which would require reimbursement to Capital Metro from cities Capital Metro is serving with STS and have withdrawn from the service area. These cities currently reimburse Capital Metro at 50% of the cost per trip by the residents, but the legislation, if passed, would require the cities to reimburse Capital Metro at 100%. State law requires Capital Metro to serve residents of these cities. These cities include Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Westlake and Rollingwood. If the new law is passed, Capital Metro would still be required to provide services to these areas but would be fully reimbursed. Austin tax-payers are currently subsidizing the Capital Metro STS costs for riders in these cities. The new law would not in any way affect current STS riders.
Update on New Transit Vans Presentation on the current status of the new transit vans, which were slated to be purchased and running by September, 2007, was given by Andrew Murphy, Equipment Engineer in Vehicle Maintenance and Project Manager for Replacement of Paratransit Vans. Several weeks ago, the staff had begun the procurement process to purchase the 48 STS replacement vehicles. One manufacturer was selected that was similar to the one the ACCESS Committee had been shown several months ago. However, Ford had become involved in a dispute with the engine supplier, International. Because of the dispute, International will not deliver the engine, which goes into the vehicle Capital Metro had planned to buy. Mr. Murphy hopes it is resolved within the next few weeks. Later in March, the evaluation team will make a decision as to whether to go on and wait or to go through the procurement process again. The procurement process takes anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks. If the procurement process has to be repeated, it will be another 12 weeks before a vehicle can be selected. After some discussion of the vans, the committee agreed to wait until later for a report. Then, if there has been no progress in the court battle, the committee agreed unanimously that Capital Metro should start the bidding process over.
STS Issue with Minor Children Rafael Villarreal reported that the problem riders were having with making reservations to ride with minor children in the STS vehicles has been resolved to the satisfaction of the riders involved. A memorandum was issued to STS reservations staff.
STS Designated Pick-Up and Drop-Off at Super Shopping Centers Terry Siems, STS supervisor, reported that there had been many recent problems with STS drivers having trouble finding clients at the Super-Wal-Marts, Super Targets, etc. It was suggested, and the committee agreed, that it would be a good idea to designate one location at each Super-Wal-Mart for rides. Everyone agreed that the grocery entrance would probably be the best choice for drop-off and pick-up. Scott Meyer suggested that all the reservation clerks should be told this information so that they could inform riders. However, it was also pointed out that drivers would need to be involved in informing STS clients as well. It was also suggested that announcements be placed on the hold message and a date be set to make a permanent change. Staff agreed to send Chair Maloukis a copy of the memo that will go out. The policy would go into effect within 30 days of the memo.
ACCESS Advisory Committee Chair Report Ms. Maloukis went to the SWATA conference (South-West Transit Association). It was interesting to hear how things were done in other cities, such as Cleveland. Ms. Maloukis reported that most other Paratransit systems were going to roadmap-based systems instead of the type of triangulation system currently used by Capital Metro. Interestingly, all the providers do provide services to minor children.
Ms. Maloukis attended two board meetings for Capital Metro. IVR was discussed, as were the ticket vending machines and the need for voice guided ticket vending machines for Light Rail. Dwight Farrell discussed the issue with minor children and brought this issue to a resolution satisfactory to the involved rider. Ms. Maloukis attended another board meeting on March 19. The restructuring of Capital Metro was discussed.
The STS user guide is still being worked on and has not been completed. Ms. Maloukis reiterated that this guide is not being written to change any policies but simply to put them into plain, easy to understand language. The plan is to try to submit at least part of the guide before either the next STS subcommittee meeting or the following meeting.
Access Membership and Recruitment Next month, the issue of membership for the committee will be discussed. New members will need to be recruited as several members terms expire. Five new members will need to be recruited. The bylaws specify the need for a wide variety of people representing a wide variety of disability groups. The current bylaws do not allow for disability groups to select members. However, members can be recruited from various disability groups. Members must live within the service area and priority is given to people with disabilities.
Currently, members have two-year terms which can be renewed for two more years. After two years off, members can be reinstated for four more. Interested parties may email Nancy Crowther or Julie Maloukis. Those interested should be aware that besides the two-hour meetings each month, they must also attend subcommittee meetings, be available as a resource to the staff of Capital Metro and will also need to read documents between meetings.
Subcommittee Reports (February 28, 2007) Juan Muñoz and Ralph Villareal gave the STS subcommittee report. The usual reports of comparisons of ridership and cancellations were given. Since the implementation of the IVR system, cancellations have not improved significantly, nor have they gotten worse overall. There was a suggestion that Cap Metro attempt to conduct some type of survey of those who do late cancellations to try and figure out how the system can be improved. Same day cancellations have gone up by 50%, and Shelley Brisbin said she believed that a survey might help identify the reasons for late, same-day cancellations. Ralph Villareal agreed to help draft some type of proposal for this and will present it to the committee for review. Same-day cancellations are going up while other types of cancellations are either stable or improving. This could have something to do with the IVR or with some factor in Reservations, such as notification of trip changes late in the evening.
Fixed Route Committee: The report was given by Scott Meyer. There was an ADA City Sidewalk Task Force meeting. An area around Lake Creek Parkway Drive was discussed, where there is an apartment complex for people with disabilities. A sidewalk would allow the people to better access the fixed route bus system and the Wal-Mart. Capital Metro will look at this and see if the sidewalk can be done by them. Roberto will report back to the subcommittee. There were safety discussions regarding the intersection of 11th and Brazos. The bus stop sign may be put lower on the pole. A rail has been suggested.
Potential service changes were discussed, and it will be important to get information out to people as quickly as possible. The rapid bus stops were discussed. A transfer center is being considered at Ben White and Congress.
Announcements: The ad hoc Rail Committee has not met. Nancy Crowther will let us know when it is to meet. The ad hoc Technology Committee has also still been unable to meet.
Dadnab.com offers text messaging service to hook up with the Capital Metro web site. The service chooses what seems to be the best route. They will be back in April for a demonstration.
New Business: No new business was brought before the committee.
Citizens’ Communication Presentations were made by David Patterson, Linda French, Diane Bomar, Carlos Aleman.
Adjournment.Scott Meyer moved that the meeting be adjourned, and Juan Muñoz seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. Subcommittee meetings will be held on March 28.
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