HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-03-AHTC-minMEETING MINUTES For May 3rd Ad Hoc Transportation Committee
Meeting began at 9.10am
Participants present:Deepika Sawhney,Bridger McGaw,Varda Haimo,Sally Castleman,
Howard Cloth,Carolyn Kosnoff,and Joe Pato.
We were unable to approve the minutes as some members were unable to open the
documents.We will be sending documents as pdfs or Microsoft word in the future.
We discussed the Path Forward deliverables.Deepika mentioned the vulnerable segments of
our population who may be dependent on mass transport and the need to include their
feedback.Namely:The mobility impaired,the senior citizens who cannot drive,the economically
vulnerable who dont have cars or means to transport themselves,including employees of in
town commercial establishments,and students who may not have access to cars or have
driving licenses etc.Not sure how to get adequate numbers of survey responses unless some
extreme measure was taken -such as messaging that the ‘Lexpress was on the chopping block’
to get everyone’s attention.
Varda explained how figuring out what town employers need in terms of mass transport for
employees will require a regional solution.This information has been convered in the TriTown
study.The need for investment to make an effective regional solution was not met with the
various town managers’approval.Therefore it would not be an effective use of her time to do
such a survey.The issue with lexpress is that of funding and the various cuts made to it over the
years.That has led to the reduction in service and also the covid impact has led to ridership
loss.
Varda,Bridger:agreed on the need to figure out how to increase the funding for the Lexpress
through builders projects etc in Lexington.One suggestion was to look to the Tritown
recommendations to see what is possible given our funding.
Importance of funding to create more flexible frequent services was voiced by many.
Ms.Kosnoff explained how the builders'payments were mitigation funds for traffic,
environmental impact etc etc.It was difficult to push builders for Lexpress funds when the
service did not go to their sites.Many commercial concerns therefore were using their own
shuttles etc to transporter employees.TDM -talk to town manager and town counsel,the funds
arent enough,TDM is mitigation money,their developments.We cant ask them from Lexpress
money when we arent serving their area.Especially if their employees arent getting there via
the Lexpress.The Large commercial developments are outside the lexpress service areas.
Sally’s memo was also talked about.Finding funding sources,new fees would be helpful,
however parking meter funds are already allocated to town’s expenses,its decreased a lot lately
and is already dedicated funds.And she expressed a willingness to look into micro transit optins
mentioned by Howard,specifically Salem and Newton.There was some information in the
readings that they tended to be very expensive.
Howard will be talking with the Brookhaven ‘Carless’group on May 18th.As well as the other
senior citizen groups that he knows.There is a lot of interest for micro transit.The Ride and te
Taxi require booking 24 hours in advance and if a coupon is to be used to pay for the travel then
the taxi vendor often will not want to drive the senior citizen.Perhaps there is a possibility of a
process improvement here.
Talk to Nishi about the student survey.
Explanation of using school buses:Deepika expressed great reluctance to having strangers on
a school bus given the security concerns.And also explained that our student and family
demographics are changing which may mean that attitudes and comfort levels with mass
transport are changing.Ie parents may not be comfortable putting kids on mass transport
especially those younger than middle school.She gave some history of the school bus use for
dropping off students at after school programs in town and how it had been stopped due to
liability reasons and concerns about dropping students off in non certified spaces (not certified
by Department of Early Education and Care (EEC))
Sally explained Susan’s point that it's not putting strangers on buses but just taking a more
holistic view of mass transportation in Lexington.Perhaps Lexington Public Schools vans etc
could be used during down times.
Ms.Kosnoff explained how we dont own any vans or buses except for a food service vehicle
that is actually owned by the school dept.It is a very expensive and weighty proposition to take
on the capital costs and the personnel to manage such an operation.Not something that the
town of Lexington would likely want to do.Looking at the budget,some of the issues started in
mid 2000s when our revenue allocation model was put in place.The muicipal side has the
lexpress and the schools fund their bus vendor service.We would have to look at this model to
figure out a shared service to pool resources for transportation.
Bridger -outsource busing and not internally employ.End up being more expensive to the town.
Joe reminded us that the Select Board was still waiting to hear from the AHTC about the TAC
recommendation.Members were polled for their viewpoint.
TAC recommendation feedback-
Howard -take no position,neither approve or deny as we really dont know what is the outcome
for fiscal year 2025,
Sally -this is a trial and an experiment so no harm in doing it
Varda-would like to support it
Ck -not a risk from the financial standpoint as such small amounts of revenue are coming in
anyways.However,if we make a change in a year it can cause confusion.Not opposed to it.If
TAC feels strongly and has weighed the risk.
Varda -have to make some changes to the system to reverse the damage done by covid.
Joe -can check Price sensitivity,the inadequate route set.
After some discussion Deepika was asked to write up a viewpoint to forward to the Select
Board.Here is the text:
The TAC recommendation to restructure and simplify the Lexpress fare constitutes an
experiment to assess whether the ridership can be increased by such means in the coming
year.The AdHoc Transportation Committee would like to support this effort to understand price
sensitivity.The caveat is that this measure should be accompanied with Select Board
championship as well as funds to do an in town marketing campaign.At present people who
could be Lexpress riders may be unaware of its services.Just a price reduction may not be
enough to bring back ridership numbers.
Meeting ended at 10.10