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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-14-TAC-min Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes May 14, 2018 Members Present: Bill Levison, Co-Chair; Hank Manz, Co-Chair; Sara Arnold, Andra Bennett, Sally Castleman, Elaine Dratch, Members absent: Su Shen Liaison: Bob Creech, Planning Board Staff: Susan Barrett Mr. Levison called the meeting to order at approximately 7:10 PM in Room 245 of the Community Center. Public comment: Ms. Barrett reported on comments she had received from residents regarding transportation services: 1. Hema Ghandi, a Diamond Middle School parent, would like more frequent and later service for Diamond students. Ms. Ghandi noted that some Diamond students attend after-school programs at Lexington High School. Discussion: It was agreed that this would require funding that is not available but is the kind of request that can be reviewed during the Tri-Town Transportation Efficiency and Regionalization Study (Tri-Town Transportation Study) that is scheduled to begin in June. 2. Smita Gohil, a Diamond parent, reported that Drummer Boy condominiums are not well served by Lexpress. Discussion: It was agreed that this also should be reviewed during the Tri-Town Transportation Study. 3. David Schindler, a Village Circle resident asked if Route 4 could get closer to Village Circle more frequently than once between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Discussion: Ms. Barrett explained that the once a day service was a pilot program approved by Charlotte Rodgers, Human Services Director and Carl Valente, Town Manager, in response to a request that came in when the position of Transportation Services Manager was vacant. Ms. Barrett supported the expansion of the service and wants it clearly identified on the Lexpress map. A motion was made and seconded to support the additional service, as described by Ms. Barrett. VOTE: 5-0 (Note: Mr. Manz had left the room temporarily.) Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to approve the Minutes for the March 19, 2018 TAC meeting. VOTE: 5-0 (Note: Mr. Manz had not yet returned.) A motion was made and seconded to approve the Minutes for the April 9, 2018 TAC meeting. VOTE: 5-0 (Note: Mr. Manz had not yet returned.) Board of Selectmen's (BoS) Goals: As in the past, the BoS is requesting committees to submit requests for action items for the Board to consider so that they can prioritize those that they plan to pursue over the coming year. The BoS also asked committees to identify projects on which they are working. Discussion started with a review of the six recommendations submitted by this committee to the BoS in 2017. Mr. Levison noted that the BoS had not previously prioritized any of TAC's recommended goals and suggested that this committee focus on one goal that is this committee's highest priority with the hope that it might garner more attention. Ultimately it was decided that there were two recommendations, as follows: 1. Support integrated transportation services that meet the needs of Lexington residents of all ages and abilities and support the infrastructure needed to facilitate the use of those services. This could involve new services or the reallocation of existing services; Complete Streets initiatives and the Center Streetscape plans should incorporate such infrastructure. 2. Develop a sound plan to fund The Rev, the Alewife/Hartwell Avenue commuter shuttle, that does not unnecessarily deplete TDM funds that are needed for other services. It was agreed that the Tri-Town Transportation Study would be reported as this Committee's focus for the coming year. 7:30-8:00 a.m. Lexpress Service: Ms. Barrett reported that the current Lexpress schedule does not include service between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. because there was reason to believe that the buses did not get back from their 7:00 a.m. run in time to operate half hour routes starting at 7:30 a.m. Because the system now has GPS trackers, she was able to provide data that mostly contradicted that understanding. It was agreed that she would experiment with driving times needed to operate Routes 1, 3, and 5 at 7:30 a.m. If this does not seem possible, she will explore the idea of running shortened routes during that time, rather than having the buses sit idle at the Depot. Any route changes need to be presented to the BoS on June 13 so that the new schedules can be printed for distribution in the tax bills that are mailed in late June. It was agreed that this committee would meet on June 5 to review Ms. Barrett's findings. Transportation Update: Ms. Barrett distributed her transportation update and reviewed the items listed. Comments not included in the written update included the following: 1. The 128 Business Council did not submit a proposal for the Tri-Town Transportation Study, probably because it does not have the depth to fulfill the required tasks. Because Lexington pays to be a member of the 128 Business Council, the Town may ask Monica Tibbits-Nutt, the Council's Executive Director, to assist with parts of this study. 2. Two of the three companies that submitted proposals for the Tri-Town Transportation Study were interviewed: Foursquare and AECOM. 3. Ridership per vehicle hour data has traditionally been based on 12 hours of daily service per bus. Because no service is provided between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. Ms. Barrett also calculated this measure using 11.5 hours of daily service per bus. For April, this increased the ridership per vehicle hour from 6.5 to 6.8 Ms. Barret urged members of this committee to review her list of coming events and to participate as much as possible. Russian School of Math, Hartwell Ave: Mr. Creech briefly reviewed a proposal that has been presented to the Planning Board to locate a Russian School of Math on Hartwell Avenue. There are concerns about traffic, and he urged members of this committee to participate in discussions about this proposal. He will inform this committee when the proponents are scheduled to attend a Planning Board meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55PM Respectfully Submitted, Sara Arnold Approved Materials presented at the meeting: • Agenda • Minutes of March 19, 2018 meeting • Minutes of April 9, 2018 meeting • Memo to BoS from Hank Manz and Bill Levison, June 14, 2017; Subject: TAC Input to Selectmen Goal Setting for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 • Data showing times when the 7:00 a.m. routes arrive at Lexington High School and the Depot. • Memo from Ms. Barrett to TAC; May 14, 2018; Subject: Transportation Update since April 9, 2018; includes dates for upcoming events • April Lexpress Ridership/Revenue report, including hour by hour data for each route • MBTA's Better Bus Project Flyer; schedule for regional public meetings • Email from Bob Creech to TAC, May 12, 2018; request to discuss Russian School of Math proposal during the TAC meeting