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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-09-TAC-minTransportation Advisory Committee Town of Lexington, Lexington Massachusetts Minutes for the meeting of May 9th, 2023, at 7 pm held remotely. Members present: Sally Castleman, Elaine Dratch, Mark Andersen, Jonathan Schwarz, Kunal Botla (Acting Chair) and Pamela Lyons (around 7:45) Liaisons: Melanie Thompson (Planning Board), Nishi Veeragantham (LHS) Sudhir Jain (Council on Aging) and Susan Barrett, Transportation Manger We began with public comments: we received complaints regarding con es migrating from sidewalks to within bus stopping zones (LPD will work on this) and MBTA signs that disappeared (new signs are on their way) and requests for Lexpress to go through Cedar Hill area. Sally asked about bus stops moving – there were slight adjustments due to Streetscape Project. Kunal noted that town vehicles park in the bus stops – he has reached out to Chief McLean who defended this practice but will look into it. Melanie gave the Planning Board update: MBTA Communities Act regulations are on the PB workplan, Tracer Lane is taking up a lot of time. Melanie emphasized that developments will still need a site plan review and Sally inquired if there is any traffic mitigation in place. There are no changes to any traffic mitigation procedures. There are no requirements for affordable housing in developments under eight units. Nishi told us about “Car Free Campus Day” at LHS on May 23rd. Purpose is to educate high schoolers on transportation options. A schoolwide survey will be created next week and distributed in a variety of ways including QR code and school wide email. Sudhir gave the COA update – no transportation issues. Sally asked if the Ad Hoc Committee had contacted the COA on transportation issues. Susan indicated that the Ad Hoc Committee could use the Age Friendly Survey for seniors’ views on transportation needs. Then we moved on to the minutes. Elaine had some minor corrections to the April minutes. The April 2023 minutes were approved by a vote of 4 to 0 with the corrections as discussed. We then entered into a discussion of route deviations (what are they, where are they, and do we have a policy.) Susan gave some examples of people who depend on Lexpress to get to work who need a deviation at a particular time of day (HMART heading back to Lexington) Wegmans and people who have disabilities. We have accommodated deviations if they still allow for the bus to return to the Depot on time. Susan suggested extending the C route (we have time and there used to be service where deviations have been requested. Other common requests are to Lahey Lexington and Brookhaven. Susan noted that we try not to duplicate MBTA bus service. Slight deviations are preferable to taxi use. Mark urged TAC to develop a policy for deviations – Elaine indicated that this should be approved by the Select Board. The consensus was that we should publish the 1x per day regular deviations as a matter of public policy. We discussed the implications of Lexpress as a function of Human Services. Susan will provide a list of deviations each month and we will determine which ones should be folded into a regular Lexpress route. Susan gave an overview of the Lexpress routes overhaul in 2020. Mark asked 1. Who creates the routes? Who approves the routes? Who makes routes policy? Susan noted that schedules need to be a standard as possible – Elaine suggested that deviations be determined by the Transportation Manager. The Ad Hoc Committee is looking at Lexpress routes as part of their charge. Mark suggested listing deviations with recommendations and codifying them. We reviewed some documents (insert link here) concerning Lexpress performance and monetary analysis. Route B (Burlington) is the most popular (Burlington Mall, HMart, Lahey) and ridership is increasing across all three routes. Susan noted that data still comes in on paper and that her counts (when she rides Lexpress) are consistently higher than the drivers’ counts. Mark suggested a normalized format that he could turn into a database accessible by the public. Susan indicated that a paper/pen information collecting system is pretty standard for a bus service of our size. There are other alternatives but they cost money. And those methods would not track demographics and have error rates. We turned to Mark’s proposal and upcoming presentation to the Select Board for a$20 annual Lexpress fare. Mark briefly reviewed elements that would go into the presentation and will work with Kunal on this. The consensus is that the proposal is fully vetted and supports whatever form the presentation takes. Sally noted that we need to start our marketing campaign in light of the (hoped for) fare change to $20 annually. Although we don’t have any funding, Susan noted that Sean Dugan is agreeable to putting out some info on his email lists and Susan has asked Sean to get us on Instagram. Susan is hoping to do a mailer and is concerned that drivers will not have to deal with misinformation. Susan gave a brief update on the bike/ped plan, Mel will return on June 9th, we were all urged to participate in the May mode shift challenge, the senior taxi program can’t get enough drivers (this applies to taxi services in general), she has put out a RFQ for senior taxi services (due to no response to RFP), bus shelter is with DPW and is moving slowly as a change order to the Streetscape Plan. There was some discussion of electronic payment systems. Susan noted that the Ad Hoc Committee recommends that we move forward with capital requests.