HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-09-TAC-minTransportation Advisory Committee
Town of Lexington
January 9th 2024
Location:Zoom teleconference
Regarding the Open Meeting Law,the meeting was held remotely pursuant to Chapter 22 of the Acts of
2023 which include an extension until March 31,2025 of Governor Healey's March 29,2023 executive
order.The Zoom teleconferencing session was open to the public.
Members Present:Kunal Botla,Sally Castleman,Pamela Lyons (Co-chair),Vinita Verma(Chair),
Nishanth Veeragandham
Others Present:Jill Hai (Select Board),Dana Bickleman (New Director of HR),Melanie Thompson
(Planning Board Liaison),Sebastian Fairbairn (LHS Liaison),Susan Barrett (Transportation Manager).
*Note that the Transportation Advisory Committee approved the contents of the minutes but not the nal version
Public comments:
Ms.Barrett shared public comments from Waterstone residents expressing dissatisfaction with the
developer's transportation provision,speci cally requesting a bus stop.Ms.Barrett suggested developer
contributions to Lexpress,but they opted for their own inaccessible service.The possibility of
deviation with developer nancial support was mentioned,emphasizing the importance of developer
backing for public transportation,relayed to Sheila Page and Lexington’s planning department.
Minute Approvals:
A vote was held regarding November 14th Meeting minutes which were written by Kunal Botla,the
minutes were approved unanimously.
A vote was held regarding December 12th Meeting minutes which were written by Sally Castleman,
the minutes approved unanimously.
Response to “AD-HOC Transportation Committee”Final Report:
Susan Barrett had distributed a memo that Sally and Pam had drafted which was forwarded to all TAC
members but not liaisons.
Ms.Lyons and Ms.Castleman were pleasantly surprised to nd out that the AD HOC Committee’s
report mainly suggested that the Town of Lexington should increase Lexpress services and then the rest
of the report’s recommendation was detailed.Ms.Lyon’s informed Ms.Hai that TAC supports the
recommendations of the AD HOC Committee.
Ms.Castleman also noted that everyone in the AD HOC committee started in di erent places but
agreed on the fact that the Lexpress today was the result of a series of budget cuts and shrinkages,but
ended at similar viewpoints.
Ms.Hai also noted that there may be a stricter budget as increased health insurance rates and other
factors may contribute to spending reduction across many town departments and services.
Ms.Lyons moved to approve the TAC Recommendations,which was approved unanimously.
Discussion on transportation warrant article:
A discussion about whether the Warrant article should be presented as a letter to the select board
continued.Mr.Botla shared that he preferred that this should be a warrant article,as while it was
appointed to the MBTA,it was also targeted towards the town legislatures and “decision-making”
bodies.
Ms.Hai recommended that the article must contain a more broad approach as funding allocations
from the MBTA Board typically do not meet granular needs,rather they cover amounts in which the
recipient can decide what to allocate the funds to (Similar to a school system).
Ms.Castleman expressed her concerns regarding the e cacy of the article,Ms.Barrett expressed similar
thoughts due to a conversation that she held with Brian Kane (Executive director of the MBTA
Advisory board)who thought that it wouldn’t do anything but it wouldn’t have any harm to continue.
Ms.Lyons shared that she would prefer a more speci c approach to this issue,and that a letter should
be targeted to the issues that a speci c community or demographic faces as this may be more e ective.
A vote was not held as the committee preferred to wait until other members would be able to contribute to
the discussion as well.
Transportation Manager’s update:
Lexpress Data Updates:
Limitless Pass:
●544 passes have been distributed (does not account for other sales from Michealsons and LHS)
●440%More passes sold (note that a di erent structure in the prior year)
Ridership:
●November Ridership was up 46%compared to ridership in past years (11/2023:15,106
Rides,11/2022:10,335 Rides)
●A and B grew 43%each while Route C only grew 14%
●Demographics:39%Seniors 30%Adults 30%Youth
Vehicle Grants:
●We applied for vehicle grants (requesting 4 vehicles)
●If we do get them we would nd out in April 2024 and these vehicles would go into service
around June 2025,these vehicles would be for the FY 26 operatings years
●Regional Transit Innovation Grant (RTIG):
○Due Jan.19th,State has 15 Million Dollars that it can provide through the grant
○The state wants to use this grant on services that they can learn from
○Ms.Barrett,a representative from 128BC,and a representative from LRTA Board are
proposing a through route from Waltham Center (Commuter Rail station)to
Burlington Via Lexington by North-South TransitLines.The idea is to test
circumferential transit hubs besides those in Boston/Cambridge.While also seeing
how to improve connectivity within RTA and MBTA services
○Ms.Barrett later presented a concept route and answered questions presented by
members
○This pilot also aids other town’s and their transportation issues
Vehicle acquisition strategies:
-Tabled for the next meeting
Liaison Reports:
Melanie Thompson (Planning Board):
●The rst planning board meeting is coming up and they will be talking about zoning
amendments and items to put on the town meeting warrant.While there wasn’t scheduled to
be any transportation related discussions,MBTA overlay district discussions may still occur
The Committee adjourned at 8:48 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Nishanth Veeragandham