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Home My WebLink About2023-02-16-TAC-min (2)Minutes Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) February 16, 2023 Place: The meeting was held remotely pursuant to Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022 which includes an extension until March 31, 2023 of Governor Baker's July 14, 2022 executive order. The Zoom teleconferencing session was open to the public. Scheduled time: 7:00pm Members Present: Vinita Verma, co-chair, Pamela Lyons, co-chair, Kunal Botla, Sally Castleman, Elaine Dratch, Mark Andersen, Jonathan Schwarz Liaisons and Town Staff: Susan Barrett, Town Transportation Manager, Melanie Thompson, Planning Board, Sudhir Jain, Council on Aging, Nishanth Veeragandham, Lexington High School, Suzie Barry, Select Board Others Present: Jay Luker, Alola Mahma Pamela Lyons reviewed the authorization for meeting remotely and noted that the meeting was being called to order at 7:03 pm on February 16, 2023. Vinita Verma conﬁrmed attendance by roll call. Public Input 7:06pm, Jay Luker, a Town Meeting member, precinct 1, and member of Lexington Cluster Housing, spoke regarding MBTA zoning. Mr. Luker noted that there is a small but vocal group discussing Lexington withdrawing from participation with MBTA and that it would be helpful for interested parties to make public comment counter to that at public meetings. Mr. Luker wanted to understand how recommendations were made to the Select Board, and brought up an example of the Transportation Safety Group recommending “no right on red” signs for Maple and Mass Ave as a case where he would like more transparency in the recommendations being made to the Select Board. Elaine Dratch responded that this was a recommendation from Transportation Safety Group, not TAC, and feedback should be directed there. Susan Barrett clariﬁed the makeup of the TSG. Kunal Botla added comments on the MBTA zoning situation and that the TAC might want to make a statement in favor. Ms. Barrett clariﬁed that leaving MBTA would mean losing transit and paratransit, and the cost of replacing paratransit alone would be greater than the contribution Lexington makes to MBTA. Elaine Dratch commented that the construction of 1,000 new housing units would not be well served by existing MBTA service. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the November 15, and November 9th 2022 draft minutes. In a roll-call vote, the motion passed with 5 in favor, 2 abstaining. Change of Meeting Date There was a discussion of changing the standing time in order to accommodate member and liaison schedules. No change was made to the usual meeting date. FY 24 Budget and Lexpress Ms. Lyons asked Suzie Barry to update the group on the Select Board status of FY 24 budget for Lexpress. Ms. Barry provided an update from the previous week’s Select Board meeting. The Select Board approved the FY 24 budget, including the approval of the use of $140,000 from the Transportation Demand Management Stabilization Fund. Sally Castleman asked Ms. Barry about the goal of the Ad Hoc Transportation Committee. Ms. Barry responded they were looking into FY 25 and future budget. Nishanth Veeragandham noted that there were not many student or school representatives on the Ad Hoc Transportation Committee. Ms. Barry noted that this was a good suggestion and that she would bring that back to the Board, but that adding only one seat would create an even number of members and that was generally avoided. Kunal Botla brought up the scope of the Ad Hoc Transportation Committee, and if focusing only on Lexpress was too narrow. Ms. Castleman supported the addition of a student representative, even if only as a non-voting member. Ms. Barrett asked why the Transportation Advisory Committee and herself were not consulted previously, as much of the work the committee is tasked with has already been looked at by others. Ms. Barry mentioned that the creation of the committee came from the Town Manager, not from the Select Board itself, and that modifying the charge would require at least three votes. Mr. Botla mentioned that it seemed like the TAC members were involved and interested in the adhoc committee’s work but not vice-versa. Ms. Barry responded that the committee was a full committee and had to follow open meeting law, rather than being set up as a working group, and that the purpose of having a representative from the TAC was to act as a conduit between the groups. Ms. Lyons pointed out that the charter was quite broad, and as a group meeting publicly, TAC members and others should feel free to attend and ask questions. Mr. Botla asked if the intent of the Select Board was to keep the expenditure of Lexpress in FY 25 and afterwards around the current level or if it would be based on need. Ms. Barry responded that the Select Board had not had those conversations yet. Lexpress Operations, Marketing, Pricing, Funding Comment from Alola M on lack of awareness of Lexpress among seniors in the community. Ms. Mahma depends on Lexpress and ﬁnds her peers love the service once they are aware of it, but feels there needs to be more marketing in the community. Ms. Verma pointed out that Mr. Veeragandham had made a similar point recently. Ms. Barrett responded that more marketing would be helpful and that historically there was a working committee doing that work, but now that work falls to town staff, and that there isn’t a budget speciﬁcally for marketing Lexpress. Mr. Botla asked who would be partners among the town staff on an effort to market Lexpress more, and whether using the new digital signs would be an option. Ms. Barrett discussed that the topic came up at the 128 Business Council meeting of marketing varying forms of public transit through the town. Ms. Castleman noted that previously there were recurring articles in the Minuteman in the past, but that readership was a high percentage of the town at that time, and that there were also ﬂyers distributed directly to households with route maps. Ms. Barry pointed out that tax bill inserts were an option and would need to be approved by the Select Board. Mark Andersen raised the question of an annual pass for Lexpress for residents and what next steps would be to proceed. Ms. Barry noted that nothing formal had been sent to the Board, but that could happen. Mr. Andersen asked what kind of analysis would be helpful to provide, and if a budget estimate would suffice. Ms. Barry said that would likely be helpful. Mr. Andersen suggested meeting to review such an analysis and that he could work with Ms. Barrett or someone else on TAC could. There was a discussion of meeting February 28th or March 2nd to proceed on this, with February 28th working for more members. Mr. Botla asked if there was interest in forming a working group that would meet before that date in order to make progress on the subject. Ms. Castleman, Mr. Botla, and Mr. Veeragandham, and Ms. Mahma volunteered to work on marketing ideas. Mr. Botla, Mr. Andersen, and Ms. Barrett will work together on pricing data. Update on MBTA Mr. Botla presented an update on the digital destination sign status, ridership numbers from MBTA on 62 and 76 compared to pre-pandemic, the car crash at Alewife Station, driver hiring concerns, trip delays, service disruptions, and the MBTA Communities Housing. The document was shared with the Committee. Melanie Thompson presented an update from the most recent Planning Board meeting regarding the MBTA zoning. Ms. Thompson reminded the group that this was a zoning approval and could be years before any actual housing was constructed. Ten village overlays, including Maguire Rd at Hartwell and East Lexington, are in the plan. There will be a presentation Monday at Select Board. Height was a large subject of discussion. Mr. Andersen commented that adding housing without additional service would be unhelpful. Ms. Thompson responded that this was purely a zoning discussion. Mr. Botla noted that this is called the MBTA Communities Housing, but that the legislation isn’t transit-oriented rather than governing areas adjacent to Boston based on the legal deﬁnition of coverage. Mr. Andersen asked why Sunday service to Lexington was removed. Mr. Botla mentioned that 62 service was proposed to return on Sundays. Liaison Reports Sudhir Jain, Council on Aging, reported that potential cuts to Lexpress service was brought up at the last COA meeting, and was a topic of concern amongst the members. Ms. Barrett agreed to attend the next meeting and give a presentation. Mr. Jain requested consideration of seniors in the pricing plan. Mr. Jain also brought up concerns about the taxi service and the requirement to book a day or two in the future. In Burlington, trips are coordinated via Lyft, which is much easier. Ms. Barrett replied that lack of employees is impacting the vendor, but that seniors can call the town to ﬁnd an alternative ride provider. For the future, Ms. Barrett said it would be possible to set aside some of the taxi funds to support a Lyft trial. There is ongoing work to ﬁnd ways to have multiple vendors in the taxi pool as the driver shortage is impacting many vendors. Mr. Veeragandham, student representative, mentioned that there should be more of a focus on transportation serving the high school as the plans for the new building are discussed, as one or two students are hit by cars every year. Ms. Castleman asked about the difficulties students have getting MBTA Student Charlie cards through the schools, and Mr. Veeragandham reported more students seemed to be getting them, but that tickets through Michelson’s is difficult as most students don’t carry cash. Ms. Barrett pointed out that Lexpress passes and tickets can be bought online currently, but that smartphone payments would require technology upgrades at an additional cost. Future Meetings February 28th, 2023, focusing on pricing and marketing plans. Adjournment 8:57pm Respectfully submitted, Jonathan Schwarz Materials used at the Meeting: Agenda Draft November 9 and 15th Meeting Minutes The Ad Hoc Transportation Committee Charge Kunal Botla’s February 16, 2023 MBTA Status Update Document