Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-14-TAC-min Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes March 14, 2016 Members Present: Hank Manz, Co-Chair; Sara Arnold; Sally Castleman, Elaine Dratch, Craig Weeks Members Absent: Bill Levison, Co-chair; Francine Stieglitz Staff: Charlotte Rogers; Jeanette Rebecchi Public comment: 1. None Minutes: 2. Minutes from the January 11, 2016 meeting were approved as amended. Vote: 4-0 (Ms. Dratch arrived after the vote was taken.) Transportation Systems Update: 3. Ms. Rebecchi reported the following: Candidates for replacing Linda Judkins, who recently retired, are being interviewed. The person will be a Municipal Assistant working 28 hours (four days) a week and assigned primarily to the Transportation Division. Cross training between all Department staff occurs on an on-going basis. The Patriots’ Day Parade is on April 18, and a Lexpress bus will be in the parade. Those wishing to walk with the bus or participate should call the Community Center to sign-up. There was a racially tainted exchange between a passenger and a driver (Middle Eastern heritage) on Monday that is being investigated. It involved the pick-up location at Market Basket. Ms. Rebecchi is exploring options for a pre-established pick- up location with the head driver and the property manager. MBTA Fare Increases: 4. Ms. Rebecchi reported that on July 1, 2016, the MBTA is increasing fares, including fares on The Ride, their paratransit service. As described in Ms. Rebecchi’s memo to Carl Valente, Town Manager, this impacts what we must charge for our adult one- way fare because of federal regulations and our need to continue to use The Ride as our paratransit alternative for those in the Lexpress service area. Ms. Rebecchi is recommending that our one-way adult fare be increased from $2.50 to $2.75. A motion was made and seconded to increase the adult fare as recommended. VOTE: 5-0 Ms. Rebecchi will prepare a recommendation package for the Board of Selectmen (BoS). Member Reports: 5. Mr. Manz reported having invited Roy Glasser, the proponent for Annual Town Meeting (ATM) Article 35, Lexpress Resolution (Citizen Article), to the meeting, but he declined. Also, Mr. Glasser did not attend the recent Moderator’s Meeting in preparation for the Annual Town Meeting, and to-date, Mr. Glasser has not submitted a motion for the Article. It is unclear how this will proceed. Mr. Manz agreed to draft a statement that could be read if this Article raises questions on the floor of Town Meeting. Ideas for the statement included: Route changes and fare changes are only implemented after a full public review and comment period. Changes inevitably impact some passengers. Requests for service in specific neighborhood or to new establishments are frequent, and efforts are made to accommodate. Most recently, the Community Center was added to the schedule, but this required some reductions elsewhere. The buses serve the Community Center twice an hour between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The routes cannot be extended any further and continue to provide service once an hour. If we had a fourth bus, as Lexpress had when it first started, it would be possible to get deeper into neighborhoods and serve many areas more frequently. Transportation Demand Management: 6. Mr. Manz shared a draft memo to the BoS regarding the use of TDM funds and this Committee’s concern that TDM funds are being depleted faster than is wise. Those funds are being used to support the commuter bus, The Rev, as well as Lexpress. Town support for The Rev is supposed to be temporary. Mr. Manz will incorporate some suggested edits and redistribute the memo. School Transportation Needs 7. Mr. Manz and Mr. Weeks met with Elaine Celi, School Transportation Coordinator. The Flex-Pass works well for high school students but not so well for middle schoolers. Ms. Celi would like Lexpress to help more with the school population needs. It is generally agreed that collectively the Town needs better townwide transportation, but it is difficult to know how to achieve that goal. It was noted that Ms. Rebecchi has also met with school staff. There are no “magic bullets”. Ms. Rebecchi has receive 200 responses to a recent survey of Clarke Middle School parents. She will share data when it is available. Future Meetings: 8. It was agreed to continue meeting the second Monday of the month at 3:30 p.m. Ms. Rebecchi distributed two handouts about schedule changes for discussion at a future meeting. Meeting adjourned at 5:18 Respectfully Submitted, Sara Arnold Materials presented at the meeting: Agenda Minutes MBTA Rate Increases, effective July 1, 2016 Memo from Ms. Rebecchi to Mr. Valente Regarding Lexpress Adult Cash Fare Increase, March 14, 2016 Draft memo from TAC to the BoS regarding TDM Funding, March 13, 2016 Lexpress Route On-Time Performance Graphs Memo from Ms. Rebecchi to Ms. Rodgers regarding FY17 Lexpress Schedule Change Proposal