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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-10-20-TAC-min Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes October 20, 2014 Members Present: Sara Arnold, Elaine Dratch, Peter Levy, Sally Castleman, Bill Levison, Francine Stieglitz, Hank Manz Members Absent: Matt Zhang Staff Present: Jeanette Rebecchi, Transportation Manager Liaisons: Nancy Adler, COA; Rich McDonough, COA Guests: Jay Kaufman, State Representative; Wade Blackman, aide to US Representative Katherine Clark; Jordan Frias, Lexington Minuteman; Joe Pato, Lexington Board of Selectmen 1. Options for meeting Federal Transportation Administration (FTA)paratransit obligations • Mr. Levison provided background information on ADA requirements for paratransit and fixed route services. • Ms. Rebecchi also provided some background details and reinforced the need to be in compliance by January 1, 2015 so that we do not jeopardize the annual $40,000 MBTA grant for FY '15. • Options under discussion for meeting these requirements include: • Raising the full adult cash fare to $2.50 and extending the discount program to include the option of purchasing a round trip ticket on the bus for $4.00. • Approaching the FTA and requesting an exemption from the requirement for the Town of Lexington to provide paratransit service in conjunction with the operation of Lexpress. • Revisiting the request made to the MBTA to find a way to maintain a fare at the point of purchase for The Ride that does not exceed $4.00, even in the premium service area within Lexington. • Follow-up activities for the 3 options were discussed and are summarized below. • Full fare increase to $2.50 with round-trip ticket sale by drivers (on-board) for $4.00: • Full fare increase to $2.50 has already been approved by the BOS • A proposal for selling round-trip tickets for $4.00 on-board Lexpress buses was presented by Ms. Rebecchi and endorsed by TAC (see Motion below). • Exemption request to FTA: • Mr. Blackman (Rep. Clark's office) offered to assist in setting up a meeting with the local FTA representative to discuss a request for an exemption • To prepare for this meeting, a number of actions were assigned: ➢ Prepare a draft letter to the FTA requesting the exemption (Mr. Levy and Ms. Arnold; see Motion below) ➢ Notify the MBTA of our intention to petition the FTA for an exemption (Mr. Levy to pursue with Rep. Kaufman's assistance) ➢ Obtain information about the number of passengers using The Ride in the premium area in Lexington from the MBTA (Ms. Rebecchi to request information from the MBTA) ➢ Organize ridership information related to Lexpress (total ridership, full adult fare riders) (Ms. Rebecchi) 1 ➢ Provide a map showing premium areas within Lexington (Ms. Rebecchi). ➢ Arrange a meeting with FTA (Mr. Blackman & Mr. Levy; Ms. Rebecchi to provide information on her contact at FTA) o Discuss $4.00 or lower fare for The Ride in premium area ■ To be pursued in discussions with MBTA prior to FTA meeting. • Three motions were proposed and passed related to this discussion topic: • Motion: Authorize the TAC co-chair to draft and send (and/or to have the BOS send) a letter to the FTA (to be shared with the MBTA prior to sending) that identifies the paratransit fare problem and outlines potential alternatives to raising the Lexpress fare for solving the problem. (Approved unanimously; Ms. Castleman and Ms. Dratch were not present for the vote.) • Motion: Authorize the TAC co-chair to arrange a meeting with a representative from the MBTA to discuss paratransit fares; and to set up a subsequent meeting with a representative from FTA on the same topic. (Approved unanimously; Ms. Castleman and Ms. Dratch were not present for the vote.) • Motion: Indicating TAC's support for the full fare mitigation proposal (outlined in Ms. Rebecchi's memo), unless the fare increase can be avoided through other efforts. (Approved unanimously; Ms. Dratch was not present for the vote.) 2. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes • Minutes from the September 2014 meeting were corrected and unanimously approved. 3. Transportation Budget • Ms. Rebecchi reviewed the proposed budget for Transportation for FY 2016. There are increases in budget line items for salaries and M&L cost (3.9%) • Mr. Levison reviewed the TDM account information and,per established formula for TDM lump sum payments,presented a recommendation for FY 2016 contribution to the Transportation budget. o Motion: Authorize support of the Town transportation budget with the amount of $91,600 from the TDM fund. (Approved unanimously; Mr. Manz and Ms. Dratch were not present for the vote.) 4. Transportation Systems Update • Ms. Rebecchi requested that TAC revisit the decision to eliminate the change in the Lexpress transfer fare for seniors that was recommended last month. After further discussions with the MBTA, the existing $0.25 transfer was determined to be in compliance with fare regulations for seniors. The approved motion for eliminating this transfer fare had not been presented to the BOS. o Motion: In light of the information from the MBTA that the senior transfer fare is in compliance, the previous motion to eliminate the fare is rescinded and TAC recommends maintaining the $0.25 transfer fare for seniors. (Approved unanimously; Mr. Manz and Ms. Dratch were not present for the vote.) • GPS tracking on Lexpress buses is running. There are still some kinks in the tracking software that are being worked out by the provider. The feature has not yet been advertised on the Lexpress web-site, but some riders are using it. URL is tracker.lexpress.us. • Route 4 changes have been implemented. The route is still running a few minutes behind, but the short Route 3 helps keep the bus within the hourly limit for both routes combined. 2 5. Member Report: Transportation Forum • Mr. Levison summarized the topics covered at the last Transportation forum. • Complete Streets program (including bikes, walking,public transit). The town is planning to apply for a grant once the requirements are published. • Pavement management • Gathering sidewalk data for repair • Curb cuts at crosswalks for ADA compliance Materials Used at the Meeting: Agenda Minutes September 8, 2014 TA Meeting Draft Transportation Services FY'16 Budget TDM/PT Component of the FY'16 Transportation Budget Spreadsheet Lump Sum TDMAccounts Spreadsheet Memo: re On-Board Ticket Sales Minutes recorded by P. Levy. 3