HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-08-14-TAC-min Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes
August 14, 2017
Lexington Community Center (LexCC), Room 245
Members present: Bill Levison, Co-Chair; Hank Manz, Co-Chair; Sara Arnold; Susan Barrett; Sally
Castleman
Members absent: Elaine Dratch; Su Shen
Liaisons Present: Nancy Adler, Council on Aging
Staff: Jeanette Rebecchi, Transportation Manager
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM.
Minutes: The minutes of the June 12, 2017 meeting, with suggested edits, were approved by
unanimous vote of those present. Vote: 4-0. (Ms. Castleman arrived after the vote was taken.)
Member Reports: Mr. Levison reported the following:
• He finalized and submitted to the Board of Selectmen (BoS) this Committee's recommended
goals for the BoS's consideration during their June goal setting session.
• On July 7, he attended a meeting at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital (VA
Hospital) in Bedford that was organized by Thomas Raposa, a hospital volunteer. Mr. Raposa
is lobbying for Sunday service between the Alewife subway station and the Bedford VA
hospital and is conducting a survey that can be completed on line. The meeting was also
attend by Charles Drebing, Chief, Mental Health Service Line, VA Hospital and Philip Groth,
Senior Transportation Analyst, MBTA. Mr. Groth reviewed the various issues, noting that the
MBTA is preparing a service plan that will identify recommendations for the MBTA Board to
consider. He indicated that such Sunday service may meet criteria, which include more than
ridership statistics, for being included as a recommendation. Ms. Rebecchi noted that the
Town is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan; she will inform David Kucharski,
Planning Department, about this VA Hospital meeting to ensure coordination.
FY2017 Town Report: Mr. Levison shared a draft report for this Committee. Some suggested edits
were made and will be incorporated for additional review.
Transportation Update: Ms. Rebecchi reported the following:
• Checker Cab began providing the LexConnect service on July 1. Feedback has been positive.
• No Lexpress schedule or route changes are being made for FY2017.
• There were a number of summer field trips taken on Lexpress, which boosted the July usage
to approximately 6,000 rides taken.
• The new buses are scheduled to arrive in early September. In the meantime, the Town is
paying the contractor at the hourly rate used at the end of FY2017.
• Over the past few years, Lexpress ridership has seen increases in usage by senior citizens but
decreases in usage by adults and students, with an overall decrease in ridership per vehicle
hour and increase in the net cost per passenger. This prompted additional scrutiny by Ms.
Rebecchi, who provided numerous charts and graphs and a FY2017 Lexpress Ridership and
Financial Analysis. Possible causes for the decreases may include:
o The Flex-pass for middle and high school students, which encourages combining the
use of both the school bus and Lexpress.
o The cost reduction for the school bus pass, which was supported by Town Meeting and
which made the school bus pass less expensive than the Lexpress pass.
o The School Department's program to use school buses for transporting students to
after-school programs. This will be stopped in FY2019 and some of the entities
offering after school programs have contacted the Transportation Services Office about
alternatives that might include Lexpress.
o Route changes that resulted in losing some riders without any gain.
o Changes to the early morning start time, which impacted high school students.
o Adopting 40-minute routes in the late afternoon to ensure routes didn't get skipped due
to traffic delays, but reducing the number of total routes covered.
o The cost of a single ride for an adult ($2.75).
• Marketing strategies were identified, which included the following:
o Attend Parent Teacher Association Board meetings
o Identify a student representative for this Committee
o Talk to the new high school principal about tapping into the high school business and
marketing class for ideas and perhaps assistance.
o Distribute flyers to teachers about using the buses for field trips.
o In addition to offering free rides on Discovery Day, offer free rides on World Car-Free
Day and perhaps again on Earth Day in April.
o Attend middle school orientation sessions for 7t" and 8t" graders in addition to the
orientation session for 6t" graders.
o Attend back-to-school nights.
o Offer a one-time "learn Lexpress" Saturday service so that parents (particularly working
parents) can teach their children how to use Lexpress.
o Conduct a survey to identify reasons students aren't using Lexpress and strategies that
might encourage more student ridership.
o Market the round trip cost ($4.00) for an adult.
• The annual ridership trends and ridership by time of day were reviewed. As expected,
revenue decreases reflect the ridership decreases. Although no route changes can be made
before FY2019, strategies for increasing ridership in the early mornings and late afternoons
were discussed, including:
o Make all senior rides free, not just during the middle of the day.
o Start later and stop earlier to eliminate extremely low ridership on the first and last
runs.
o Adjust the early morning runs to try and better accommodate high school students,
although this is complex because of the time the high school begins and the length of
the Lexpress routes.
It was agreed that the data provided in Ms. Rebecchi's handouts required additional review
and brainstorming.
Future Committee Activities: Ms. Arnold reported that the Lexington Garden Club had received a
Civic award for its work on Emery Park. She noted that there had been some opposition by some
club members when the design for Emery Park was being created; perhaps this Committee should
offer its appreciation for the work that had been done.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM.
Materials presented at the meeting:
• Agenda
• 2017 Transportation Advisory Committee Report (draft)for FY2017 Town Report
• Lexpress 6 Year Summary— Ridership
• Lexpress 6 Year Summary— Revenue/Expenses
Lexpress Ridership Annual Summary, Juyl 2016-June 2017
Average Daily Ridership by Demographic and Time of Day, April 2008, April 2013 and October
2016
• FY2017 Lexpress Ridership & Financial Analysis (6 pages)
Approved