| Members present: Judy Watford, Chair Access Committee Diane Bomar, Vice Chair, Access Committee, Member STS Subcommittee Mary Ward, Secretary Access Committee, Chair STS Subcommittee Jane Lansaw, Chair Fixed Route Subcommittee Amy Litzinger, Member STS Subcommittee Malcolm Graham, Member STS Subcommittee Will Brown, Member STS Subcommittee David Patterson, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee Members Absent: José Loera (excused) Cathie Scumacher | Capital Metropolitan Staff Present Nancy Crowther, Staff Liaison Rafael Villarreal, Assistant Director STS Lenora Givens, FRS Staff Trainer Kim Peterson, HR Guest Present: Glenn Gaven, Bus Riders’ Union Carlos Aleman Pam Scott Linda Litziner Robert Frank Kathy Blackburn Rachael Watkins Boone Blocker Pat Bartel Cathy Jackson Joe Nolesco Bob Chavarri |
- Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Watford with eight members present.
- Presentation: A presentation was made by Glenn Gavin of the Bus Riders’ Union. Their next meeting is on May 17, 2008 at 12:30 at the Austin History Archives at 810 Guadalupe in Austin.
Mr. Gavin spoke about the capital bus stop, the changes to Dillo service, STS, and fare increases he riders union is against all of these changes.
The union feels Cap Metro isn’t trying hard enough to fight the loss of the 11th and Congress bus stop and said they are continuing to fight but didn’t elaborate.
The union is proposing a free fare for all instead of a fare increase. They believe the current sales tax is sufficient to run the existing service. When questioned, Mr. Gavin did allow for the possibility that free rides may lead to poorer service. He was also unable to guess at how much ridership may increase if rides are free for everyone.
The union has been talking with ADAPT regarding rebates for STS service. This is in conjunction with free fare proposal. I didn’t get details.
The union is against proposed Dillo changes as they will cut off service to south and east of downtown. This deprives working class folks who don’t live in the expensive, downtown condos.
Union website is www.busatx.org
- Calendar: Chair Watford raised the issue of the time and place of the next few meetings. The room at 323 Congress has been made available again, and the Committee voted to have the Subcommittee Meetings there, as well as the regular meetings. The motion to go back to meeting at 323 Congress was made by Diane Bomar and seconded by Will Brown. The motion passed unanimously.
Because of consumer group conventions in July, Jane Lansaw moved to change the July full committee meeting to July 16 and the subcommittee meetings to July 30. The motion was seconded by Diane Bomar and passed unanimously. Nancy Crowther was asked to help publicize all of these changes, and she agreed to do so.
- Acceptance of Minutes: Diane Bomar moved that the April minutes be approved and Jane Lansaw seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
- Announcements: CSAC will meet from 6:00 to 7:30 at City Hall at 301 West Second Street. John Michael Cortez will speak at that meeting. The Austin Mayor’s Committee will meet on Monday, May 12 at noon in the Boards and Commissions Room.
The bus rodeo was held the week end before the current meeting. Several Capital Metro drivers won prizes. Committee members wish to be sure that the minutes reflected that the Committee wanted to congratulate the drivers for their participation and for winning their competitions.
Malcolm Graham announced that Fred Gilliam had been named President of the South-West Transit Association. He also reported that there was a news story that showed that a child had been injured by a Quiet Car.
- Chair Report: Chair Watford addressed the issue of fixed route drivers not calling out stops and not using enunciators. Some riders with visual impairments are reporting that drivers will not tell them which bus is passing. The Committee has been asked to encourage people to call in and report this, but numerous complaints have not resulted in any noticeable changes. Many members of the Committee and the general public feel that relevant Capital Metro Staff may not be taking this issue seriously. Chair Watford requested that Denise make a report at the June meeting. Apparently, a formal complaint was made by a citizen, and Nancy Crowther said she was not aware of the disposition. Chair Watford said she would include a discussion of this issue in her Board Report. She would also entertain any resolution or other action the Committee might ask her to perform.
- Subcommittee Reports.
Fixed Route, Fixed Route Chair, Jane Lansaw. There were many Citizens’ Communications at the Fixed Route Committee meeting. Five resolutions were brought to the Fixed Route Committee. The Subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend all five to the full Committee.
The first resolution asks Capital Metro to make the IVR more user- friendly by reducing its sensitivity to ambient noise and giving users a touch option rather than relying heavily on voice activation. These changes should be made before the initialization of rail service. A friendly amendment was offered to change the wording so that no further changes be made to fixed route or STS services until these improvements were made. The motion was made by David Patterson and seconded by Mary Ward. It passed unanimously.
The second resolution deals with the enunciators and the displays in the fixed route buses. It asks that Capital Metro get the system working on all the buses before implementation of rail service. A friendly amendment was made asking that the changes be made by August 1. Jane Lansaw supported waiting until we learn more about the intelligent transit service. The resolution recommending that the enunciators be fixed by August 1 passed with two vote against.
The third resolution urged Capital Metro to take stronger measures to ensure that posted schedule information at the bus stops be current. A friendly amendment was offered that text descriptions be placed on the web site to make them accessible to blind and visually impaired riders. Jane Lansaw recommended that we ask Kurt Talbott to come either to the June full Access or the May Fixed Route Meeting to discuss this issue before passing this resolution. Mary Ward requested to table the resolution until that time. This motion passed with one vote against.
The fourth resolution asks Capital Metro to work more closely with the City of Austin to find better ways of notifying riders about detours and construction projects. Jane Lansaw suggested that before voting on this resolution, the Committee should begin a dialog with Capital Metro to try and find out why the system is not working. Mary Ward moved to table this resolution and Diane Bomar seconded. The motion passed with one Nay vote.
The fifth resolution asks that that Sunday service to and from the Greyhound bus Station be extended to 9:30 on Sunday nights. This resolution passed unanimously.
STS Subcommittee, Mary Ward, Chair. There will be 36 of the smaller vans and ten larger ones. Capital Metro has also decided to repair ten of the existing vehicles with new engines because the propose new fleet may not meet the projected need. At the negotiations with Capital Metro staff, all parties agreed to a period of six days maximum for STS reservations and to a name change of Metro Mobility. Other issues, such as changes to eligibility, are still being discussed and negotiated, and the meetings are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
- New Business
The next Board meeting will be on May 19.
Malcolm Graham asked to reconsider his motion that asked Capital Metro to freeze further cuts to the taxi voucher program due to the down-turn in the economy. Diane Bomar asked Chair Watford to request in her Board report that no further changes in the program be made until the end of the year. Chair Watford agreed at least to ask the Board to have Capital Metro stop canceling taxi vouchers at the Board meeting. The sense of the Committee is that work vouchers should continue through the end of the year with no further cancellations. The motion passed unanimously.
- Citizens’ Communication
Boone Blocker, Pat Bartel, and Carlos Aleman presented at Citizens’ Communication. - Adjournment
Malcolm Graham moved that the meeting adjourn at 8:30 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30.
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