HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-14-TAC-minNovember 14,2023 Minutes
Transportation Advisory Committee
Town of Lexington
Location:Regarding the Open Meeting Law,the meeting was held remotely pursuant to
Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2023 which include an extension until March 31,2025 of Governor
Healey's March 29,2023 executive order.The Zoom teleconferencing session was open to the
public.
Scheduled time:7:30pm
Members Present:Vinita Verma (chair),Kunal Botla,Sally Castleman,Mark Andersen.
A quorum was present throughout the meeting.
Members Absent:Pamela Lyons (co-chair),Jonathan Schwarz.
Liaisons Present:Sudhir Jain,Council on Aging.
Liaisons Absent:Susan Barrett,Town Transportation Manager;Melanie Thompson,Planning
Board;Jill Hai,Select Board;Nishanth Veeragandham,Student Liaison.
Others Present:Sebastian Fairbairn.
Vinita Verma reviewed the authorization for meeting remotely and called the meeting to order at
7:38 pm.
Vinita Verma confirmed attendance by roll call.
Public Comment
There were no public comments from Susan Barrett or other members in the meeting.
Minutes
Approval of both October meeting minutes was postponed for review to make additional
revisions.
Lexpress Marketing Update
Sally mentioned that Susan,Kunal,and Nishi met about the planned and active marketing
methods.Sally mentioned that points of improvement or next steps were discussed.
Susan mentioned that social media is being used as a resource for marketing.Instagram was
mentioned and the time constraint for creating content was noted.Sally sent Susan text that
could be used for Real Estate agents.Sally suggested Susan connect with the League of
Women Voters and some other groups;there was limited success.
Kunal noted a press release as a method of marketing because other town’s transportation
committees use fact-sheet statements.It was noted that TAC’s approval is not required for
marketing material.Susan noted limitations that may exist since TAC is a committee advising
the Select Board—Sally noted that it has been previously done.Sally noted concern about
where those would be sent—Kunal said it would not be specifically targeted,but generally
available.Kunal noted that it could be targeted towards news outlets with social media focused
channels.Susan suggested Kunal share a draft with the Committee and timeline with or
without through the Committee channels.Vinita suggested attempting to have a shorter
timeline.Sebastian noted ‘The Link to Lexington’.Susan noted that the Town would not publish
in each issue,but rather intermittently.Sally asked about format and Kunal suggested focusing
on social media to be able to gain from its targeting and existing audience of existing outlets.
Susan presented the @LexpressBus account on X (formerly known as Twitter)via screen
sharing.Susan pointed out examples of posts including:a Chinese Americans of Lexington
(CAL)post,a Lexpress rendition of the 1989 (Taylor’s Version)cover art,a photo with a
community member showing their Lexpress Limitless pass.Sally asked about the statistics
available.
Susan presented the @lexbikewalkbus profile on Instagram and the various posts that have
been made;the Lexpress rendition of the 1989 (Taylor’s Version)cover art was the most
successful.
Sally asked about the time needed.Susan noted that X (formerly Twitter)posts are fast,but
Instagram posts take longer because of the visuals.Susan noted the importance of people
championing the content.
Susan asked for people to ask if they need content to share and if it can be tailored or
targetted.Susan noted that growing the following is important.Mark asked about building a
call-to-action;Susan said the objective is to build Lexpress ridership.Mark noted that having a
metric is the most important to reaching tangible results.Susan noted that awareness to build
ridership is important.
Sebastian noted that follower counts are abstract,but do have meaning,especially with the
younger audience;word of mouth and digital word of mouth are important.
Potential agenda items until June 2024
Vinita presented ideas around having a tighter timeline for items,shorter one hour meetings
(rather than 1.5 hour).Vinita suggested more consistent sharing of documents in advance via
email prior to the meeting.Vinita noted Select Board member Jill Hai informed that the Annual
Town Meeting Warrant was open and December 15th is the deadline.
Sally and Susan discussed the concerns around the long-term stability of Lexpress and
postponed it to the future.
In regards to the Annual Town Meeting,Mark suggested that multi-year budgeting and fossil
fuel metrics should be measured.Susan said the Town Manager does not request multi-year
budgets,but only annual budgets.Mark asked about the replacement of vehicles and where
efforts are placed to not duplicate the efforts of others.Susan noted TAC offers input to
vehicles and capital resources for Lexpress transportation.Kunal noted that electric vehicles
may be able to get their own type of grants independently of public transportation and that
sustainability town staff would likely have more information.Vinita,Susan,and Sally discussed
electric school buses have not been successful because of not having infrastructure.Susan
mentioned the Sustainable Lexington Committee spoke on the importance of integrating school
and town transportation.
Kunal mentioned a warrant article for a resolution asking the Town Meeting to pass a resolution
requesting improved MBTA service,similar to Arlington’s Town Meeting.Mark noted strong
support for it and it being placed on the agenda for the following meeting.Mark clarified that
Town Meeting makes resolutions that don’t have financial implications,but to make a
statement.Kunal noted bus benches and shelters as an additional warrant article.Vinita
suggested a meeting before December 12th to discuss the draft articles.Kunal agreed to draft
articles.
Transportation Manager’s Update
Susan informed the Committee that MassDOT awarded the Town of Lexington a $200,000
grant for operations in FY24,the second time such a grant has been awarded.Sally asked if it
could be used for printing a map and Susan noted it could potentially,but there may be other
sources.
Another grant is available and due December 8th.
481 annual Limitless passes have been sold.More keytags need to be ordered.
Ridership September to October was up about 20%.In the past,some ridership has been lost
in following winter months due to daylight savings time and the colder weather.
New Safe Routes to School High School Ambassador program.Susan already has a recruit for
the position.The ambassorer will learn pedestrian and bike safety themselves,but also be able
to run assemblies for younger kids.Community Service credit is available.
2024 calendar year programming is being planned.Two transit explorer sessions are being
planned.
The October monthly MBTA report is still in progress—a copy will be shared when done.
Liaison Updates
●Council on Aging,Sudhir Jain:A resource list is being made for seniors to have
access to resources,snow and leaf removal services are being planned.
●Planning Board,Melanie Thompson:Melanie Thompson was not present.
●Select Board,Jill Hai:Jill Hai was not present.
Future Meetings
December 12,2023 was set as the next meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:54 pm.
Documents Referred
●@LexpressBus account on X (formerly known as Twitter).
https://twitter.com/LexpressBus.
●@lexbikewalkbus profile on Instagram.https://instagram.com/lexbikewalkbus.
Respectfully submitted,
Kunal Botla