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Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes
August 11, 2014
Members Present
: Sara Arnold, Peter Levy, Sally Castleman, Bill Levison, Francine Stieglitz
Members Absent
: Elaine Dratch, Hank Manz, Matt Zhang
Staff Present
: Jeanette Rebecchi, Transportation Manager
Liaisons
: Nancy Adler, COA; Richard Canale, Planning Board
Guest:
Jacqui Vital
1.Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Minutes from the June 2014 meeting were unanimously approved with minor corrections
(typos).
2.Lex-Connect Taxi Voucher Program
During FY ’14 there were approximately 300 participants in the program. On a monthly
basis about 300 vouchers are purchased and used.
The program is funded through grants and donations. For FY ’14:
$5K from the Dana Home Foundation
o
$5K gift from a benefactor through the Senior Center
o
$10K from Friends of the Council on Aging
o
In FY ’14 $19,960 of the budgeted $20,000 was used to provide subsidies for the
vouchers.
In order to keep within the FY ’15 budget (anticipating increased use compared to FY
’14) a number of cost adjustments are being made for the vouchers
No change for taxi rides within Lexington
o
Increase in cost of vouchers for trips to adjacent towns from $6 to $10 each way
o
(decrease in subsidy from 70% to 50%.
Increase in cost of vouchers for trips to area towns from $9 to $15 each way
o
(decrease in subsidy from 70% to 50%.
3.Hartwell Avenue Shuttle
No formal information about the status of the TDM funding request was available at the
time of the meeting.
4.Lexpress GPS
A contract with Ride Systems (the GPS provider) is in place and hardware has been
installed by M&L on all 3 Lexpress buses plus the back-up bus.
The data package is being developed and uploaded by another vendor. This task is more
complicated than anticipated (due to the large number of potential stops) and is taking
longer than planned.
Target launch date for the GPS feature is October 1. Riders will be able to track the
locations of Lexpress buses and the anticipated arrival time of Lexpress buses at each
potential stop. Jeanette can track the status of each bus.
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5.FY ’14 Lexpress Performance Summaries
Ms. Rebecchi presented summaries of Lexpress performance for general information.
Total ridership for FY ’14 was 86,456, an increase of 20% over FY ’13 (71,824). The
increased ridership was primarily attributed to the free senior ride program which
provided 20,341 rides. Total ridership per vehicle hour was up from 8.3 to 9.8 (18%).
Total ridership revenue for FY ’14 was $89,867, indicating little change over the past 3
fiscal years.
Total (gross) cost per ride was $6.31; the town’s contribution to cost per ride (net) was
$3.76. Both of these costs are lower than for the two previous fiscal years.
6.New Route Performance
Ms. Rebecchi informed the Committee that July 2014 ridership is significantly higher
than July 2013 (6500 vs 5300).
Route 4, however, is not meeting its scheduled time (partly due to July service to
Minuteman Tech). The drivers have indicated that they don’t think the route timing will
allow them to keep to the schedule once the public school year starts at the end of
August.
Ms. Rebecchi provided the Committee with three proposed adjustments to Routes 4 and 6
in order to improve schedule performance.
The earliest practical timing for changing the routes would be on October 1 (so that new
route schedules and maps could be mailed with the next Real Estate Tax Bills).
After discussion, TAC approved the following motion (4 yes; 1 abstention):
“To authorize Ms. Rebecchi to proceed with adjustments to the Lexpress schedule and
map for Routes 4 & 6 as discussed at today’s meeting, pending feedback from the
drivers. Adjustments should not be implemented prior to October 1, 2014.”
7.Bus Driver Complaints about difficulty leaving Depot Square
Ms. Rebecchi reported that at a meeting with the Lexpress drivers problems leaving
Depot Square were brought to her attention. The complaint by numerous drivers was that
cars circling through Depot Square do not yield to the buses, making it difficult to leave
the bus stop and contributing to schedule difficulties.
TAC members asked Ms. Rebecchi to get more details from the drivers (frequency of
problem, specific times of day, etc.). Depending on the details, suggestions for follow-up
included observing the problem, getting help from Lexington traffic police, and writing a
letter to the Minuteman.
8.Follow-up to Town Meeting Article 24
A letter dated July 28, 2014 was sent by the Lexington Selectmen to the MBTA
requesting more frequent and later bus service.
9.FY 2014 Town Report
The Town Clerk’s Office has requested a summary of FY 2014 TAC activities for the
Town Report. This agenda was not addressed at the August meeting due to time
limitations. The co-chairs were asked to prepare a draft TAC activity summary for the
Town Report, to be reviewed at the September meeting.
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Materials Used at the Meeting:
Agenda
Minutes June 9, 2014 TAC Meeting
Changes to Lex-Connect Program Memorandum
FY ’14 Summaries
Proposed adjustments for Routes 4 and 6
Letter from BOS to MBTA (7/28/2014)
Minutes recorded by P. Levy.
(Post-Meeting Note: After additional discussions with the Lexpress drivers, Ms. Rebecchi decided to
proceed with a plan for more modest changes to Route 4 and to leave Route 6 unchanged.)
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