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Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority
Access Advisory Committee
November 19, 2008 minutes
314 W. 11th Street, Ned Granger Building

Members Present:


  1. Diane Bomar-Aleman, Acting Chair Access Committee, Vice Chair Access Committee
  2. Mary Ward, Secretary Access Committee, Chair STS Subcommittee
  3. Jane Lansaw, Chair Fixed Route Subcommittee
  4. Will Brown, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  5. David Patterson, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  6. Amy Litzinger, Member STS Subcommittee
  7. Malcolm Graham, Member STS Subcommittee
  8. Boone Blocker, Member Access Committee
  9. Sandra Seekamp, Member Access Committee

Capital Metro Staff Present


  1. Inez Evans, Director Paratransit
  2. Rafael Villarreal, Assistant Director of Paratransit
  3. Nancy Crowther, Staff Liaison
  4. Denise Guerrero, Staff Training
  5. Barney Sifuentes, Manager of Tickets and Revenue
  6. Chad Ballantine, Superintendent, Paratransit
  7. Kirk Talbott, Chief Communications Officer
  8. Betty Craven, Paratransit Road Supervisor
  9. Julie Martin, Business and Community Development

Guests Present


  1. Rene Barrera, CSAC Committee
  2. Carlos Aleman
  3. Pat Bartel
  4. Linda Litzinger
  5. Susan Bradley
  6. Steve Bradley

Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Acting Chair Aleman with all members present.

Announcements
Jane Lansaw thanked everyone who had participated in White Cane Day in October. Capital Metro was presented with a plaque for adding extra buses on that day, especially the No. 5 Woodrow. The Plaque was provided to Mrs. Dottie Watkins for her assistance.

David Patterson announced that the CSAC group will meet on Monday, November 24 at City Hall in the Staff Bullpen Room at 6:30 p.m.

Nancy Crowther reminded everyone that both Fixed Route and MetroAccess would have reduced levels of service during the Thanksgiving Holidays.

Will Brown updated the Committee on the Austin Mayor’s Committee for Persons With Disabilities. There are regularly scheduled ADA sidewalk committee meetings. He will send out the notices when he receives them. The next Mayor’s Committee meeting will be on December 8 at noon in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall. AAAIM--Sheila Holbrook and Glenn Gadbois’ group will be doing a pilot study on the transit bus stops to identify areas where the fixed route stops present challenges to people with disabilities. They are recruiting 15 people with disabilities to assess 40 challenging sites and will then develop a 20 member advisory committee. Let the record show that no one on the Access Committee had ever heard of this, though the application due date is two days away. texascitizenfund@gmail.com , (512) 699-8136.

Approval of minutes for October 1, 2008.
Jane Lansaw moved and Malcolm Graham seconded that the minutes be approved. The motion passed.

Staff Reports.
Barney Sifuentes reported on the proposed Smart Cards. Capital Metro plans to use the one Smart Card for MetroAccess, Fixed Route and plans to incorporate the Medicare card also into the smartcard system for exemption from payment of fare. When new members become eligible for MetroAccess, they will use the smart card and may eventually be able to put money on it to pay for tickets and vouchers. Mr. Sifuentes assured the Committee that the use of the card on fixed route buses would not track individual usage. It would track that a person with a disability used the card to ride the bus. The use of the smart card for the fare exemption will not be used as evidence to disqualify a person from using MetroAccess Paratransit services. The program for use of the Smart cards should begin in January 2009 as new customers are eligible and as older customers go through recertification. Mr. Sifuentes did say he heard the concerns of the Committee Members and he is will to discuss further. His email is barney.sifuentes@capmetro.org. Phone (512) 369-6261.

Due to the strike by the ATU Local 1091 in November, MetroAccess Paratransit users with November passes can turn in the passes in December to receive a free ten-ticket booklet. Fixed Route users with 7 or 31-day passes can mail them in after the pass expires or drop them by the Cap Metro store to get a free five-day pass. Mail to: Capital Metro, Attention Treasury Office, 2910 E. 5th, Austin, TX 78702.

Kirk Talbott then reported on updates to the IVR and other technologies. All the hardware for the IVR has been rebuilt, but the script changes have not all occurred yet. The software vendors have not responded as well as Cap Metro had hoped. Once the system is rebuilt, a specialist from the outside will be hired who will make recommendations to bring the system up to standards. Members of the Access Committee told Mr. Talbott that some users with disabilities might find it easier to use voice commands while others will benefit more from using touch tones and the web. Mr. Talbott said that trying to repair the system while it is still in use has proved frustrating for users and staff alike, but he hopes that the improvements will be made soon. One positive change is that for MetroAccess Paratransit, it is now possible to get a very accurate estimated time of a trip when making a reservation on the IVR.

Elections
Elections were held for Access Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary. Secret ballot votes were conducted by using cards with or without a corner torn off. Nancy Crowther conducted the election for Chair. Diane Aleman and Jane Lansaw were nominated. Diane received six votes, Jane three. Diane was congratulated as the new chair of Access.

Cake was served in recognition of Rafael Villarreal’s birthday.

For the office of Vice Chair, Will Brown nominated Jane Lansaw, who declined. Sandra Seekamp nominated David Patterson, who accepted. There were no further nominations from the floor. It was moved by Malcolm Graham that David Patterson be elected by acclamation. The motion passed.

For the office of Secretary, Sandra Seekamp nominated Boone Blocker. There were no further nominations from the floor. Will Brown moved that he be elected by acclamation. The motion passed.

As the new Access Chair, Diane Bomar-Aleman officially named the subcommittee members.

  • The MetroAccess Subcommittee will be Mary Ward, Diane Aleman, Malcolm Graham and Amy Litzinger. Mary Ward was elected chair of the subcommittee
    • .
  • The Fixed Route Subcommittee will be David Patterson, Jane Lansaw, Boone Blocker, Sandra Seekamp and Will Brown. Jane Lansaw was elected chair of the subcommittee.

Citizens’ Communication.
Carlos Aleman spoke to his concerns regarding the IVR and the need for the new officers and Access members to work effectively for the disability community.

Committee Reports:
The Metro Mobility Working Group (MMWG) report was given by MMWG Chair Jane Lansaw. There had been some confusion about whether Capital Metro’s representatives on the group had to actually work for Cap Metro or StarTran. Two members, Inez Evans and Chad Ballantine, actually are employed by StarTran. The Access Committee members want to be sure that the Capital Metro representatives actually have the authority to make decisions relevant to the MMWG’s mission. The MMWG will be meeting on November 20 and will elect a Vice Chair. That meeting will occur at 323 Congress at 4:30 p.m. The next meeting will be December 4th, 4:30 at 323 Congress.

Subcommittee Reports.
Subcommittee reports were given by Fixed Route Chair Lansaw and STS Chair Ward. The meetings were held jointly October 22, 2008. There was a presentation by Meredith Highsmith on the proposed January 2009 fixed route schedule changes. Roberto Gonzales talked about the server change for the IVR, which he hoped would make it more stable. Andrew Murphy reported on the new vehicles for MetroAccess Paratransit. The pilot vehicle was considered a success and was to be sent back for a few changes to its design based on feedback from passengers and drivers. The first batch of vehicles should arrive in December. The potential strike and contingency plans were discussed.

New Business.
There was some concern among Access Advisory Committee members about what happens to complaints on the Go Line or on the Passenger Assistance line. Chair Bomar-Aleman asked that information be sent to the committee prior to the meeting or that Customer Service Manager Alan Walker come to the December Access Committee meeting.

David Patterson moved and Will Brown seconded that the subcommittee meetings in December be moved to December 17 (third Wednesday of the month). The motion passed.

Access Advisory Chair Bomar-Aleman and Sandra Seekamp met with Commissioner Gomez Chairman of the Capital Metro Board of Directors to discuss problems with the taxi voucher program during the strike. Sandra Seekamp tried to discuss this at the Board Meeting, but was denied the opportunity because it was not on the agenda.

Adjournment.
Mary Ward moved and Jane Lansaw seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 8:01 p.m.

The next Access Advisory Committee Meeting will be held Dec 3, 2008, 5:30pm at 314 W. 11th Ned Granger Travis County Building.


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