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Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes
January 11, 2016
Members Present: Hank Manz, Francine Stieglitz, Sally Castleman, Elaine Dratch, Craig Weeks
Members Absent: Sara Arnold Bill. Levison, Staff: Jeanette Rebecchi
a.No public comment
b.Minutes from December meeting accepted as amended
c.Hank, Craig and Jeanette moved their meeting with Elaine Celi (school dept) forward,
but will meet before next TAC meeting. Hank also wants to invite Elaine Celi to a TAC
meeting so we can hear directly all the complications and intricacies around the after-
school bus that carries kids to extra-curricular activities at various sites. Hank thinks we
might together explore whether there is a place for Lexpress as part of the process.
d.Transportation Systems Update. Jeanette’s assistant, Linda Judkins, who has been in the
position for 15 years, is retiring. There will be a farewell coffee Wed, Jan 20, 8:30 –
10:00 and TAC is invited. Jeanette is working on an updated job description that will
include helping other divisions within Human Services. She thinks job may expand from
20 hours to 28.
e.Mid-Year Lexpress Review. Comparison of first six month of 2015 to same period in
2014.
a.The ridership is down 10%, which translates to 1 rider/trip. Adult ridership is
down 24%. Jeanette speculated that this could be a result of the fare increase to
$2.50 (from $2.00) – that either some adults stopped riding or started calling
themselves seniors.
a.Student ridership, including Flexpass users, is also down. Only senior ridership
has increased.
b.The big question remains: What should we do to attract more students?
c.Hank will bring students to our next meeting to begin a focus group
d.Lexpress doesn’t run late enough for the typical commuter.
2. Lexpress on-time performance review. Jeanette had prepared material to illustrate that on
average, every route goes over the allotted time, and suggested that it doesn’t make sense for
the service to continue like this. Especially beginning at 3:00 pm, more headway is needed.
She thought that we may need to run one later bus, as well. Hank, Craig and Jeanette will
meet to come up with some ideas for TAC to consider to address this issue.
3.TDM distribution. TAC had determined years ago that it would be most advantageous to
Lexpress to allocate individual TDM contributions (other than annual commitments) over a
20-year period. However, the current Town Manager does not agree. Using the formula
used in the past, Bill determined that $91,000 should again be the amount of the withdrawal
this year. The T.M. wants to withdraw an additional $46,000 for the REV bus. TAC has
mixed feelings about this.
a.We are concerned for Lexpress’ future if the funds are diminished at a faster rate
than determined by TAC's formula.
b.We agree the TDM money is for transportation but the REV bus is really for
Hartwell Ave businesses and was supposedly going to be underwritten by them.
c.There does not seem to be a long-term plan for funding the REV bus.
d. (On the return trip to Alewife?) TAC would like to see a stop at Stop & Shop and
at Pleasant St.
e.On the way to Hartwell, we think the bus should make a stop at Depot Square.
We delayed the vote until we have a letter to the T.M. with a statement about his proposal
that TAC agrees on. Hank will draft a letter and send it to us for comments.
4.For future meetings, we decided to continue meeting the second Monday of the month.
We compromised our start time at 3:30. This can be revisited after we see how it works.
5.There were no member reports.
Meeting adjourned at 4:15.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sally Castleman
Materials presented at the meeting:
Agenda
Minutes
Lexpress Ridership Mid-Year Summary, 2015 and 2014.
Lexpress 5 Year Comparison (for months July – December)
Lexpress On-Time Performance for October, all routes, all times