HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-03-TAC-minTransportation Advisory Committee (TAC)
Minutes — October 3, 2011
Attendees
TAC Members present: Bill Levison, Peter Levy, Sally Castleman, Elaine Dratch, Marty
Cohen, Francine Stieglitz
TAC Members absent: Larry Link
Staff: Sara Arnold
1. Minutes: The September Minutes were accepted as written except for correcting
the spelling to Barbara Deveau.
2. Updates: Bill Levison provided the following updates:
a. On a 4 -1 vote, the Board of Selectmen accepted the staff s
recommendation to put Transportation Services in the Human Services
department. Bill spoke to the Selectmen about TAC's concerns, as
identified at the previous TAC meeting, but the issues had already been
addressed by Carl Valente, Town Manager.
b. The Transportation Coordinator and Transportation Planner jobs have
been posted. Both are part -time positions. Elaine and Bill will be on the
interview committee along with Linda Vine, Charlotte Rogers, and either
Pauline Burke or Sara Arnold.
c. Two electric vehicle stations will be located in the NStar lot. A location
for the third station has not been identified yet.
d. Linda Vine is creating a temporary "Governance Committee" to review
the roles of the various transportation related committees and what kind of
staff assistance will be provided to them. Bill will serve on the committee
until December when he leaves for Florida.
e. The RFP for Lexpress service is nearly complete and distribution is
expected this week. The bidder's conference is on Oct. 18 and bids are
due Oct 27. Award of the contract should be around December 8.
3. FYI Budget: Bill reviewed the components that make up the Lexpress budget as
follows:
a. Revenue: MBTA grant, Fares, tax levy and Transportation Demand
Management (TDM) donations. It is unknown whether the MBTA grant
will be affected by the MBTA's budget problems and their plans to cut
service. When TDM funds are received, they are initially put into a
holding account. The funds are then put into a rollover fund each July 1
based on a Town Meeting vote. TDM funds can then be used to pay for
Lexpress based on a Town Meeting vote. Lexpress earns interest on the
funds while they are in the rollover account. Shire, Avalon, and
Watertown Savings make annual contributions that are mandatory. Other
developers have given lump sum payments. TAC recommends the portion
of the lump sum payments that should be used each year based on a 20
year projection. Bill completed his calculations which suggest $15,000
from the lump sum payments, $67,237 from the annual payments, and
$1,263 from the remainder in the account for a total of $83,500. TAC
agreed to this allocation.
b. Expenses: The bus estimate is estimated at 5% greater than the FY12
amount, but this is a guess. Bids will be received in October, which
provide accurate information. Wages are increasing over 40% because of
the changes in the Town's organizational structure. The bottom line is an
increase in the tax levy of almost $36,000. This is of concern.
4. MBTA Bus Stops: Bijan Afshartous drafted a letter to the MBTA regarding a
variety of concerns and sent it to TAC for comment. He would like
improvements made to T stops on the West Service Road and Watertown St.
Elaine visited the sites and reported her observations. TAC generally agreed that
some improvements may be advisable. Francine will talk to her contact at DPW
to see if something can be done. Elaine will draft a response to Bijan for Bill's
consideration and edits. She will suggest that reduce the information on his map,
only discuss the two stops in this letter to the T leaving out all the other
requests, and only ask the MBTA bus 78 to stop on the West Service Road if
there is someone waiting at the stop or someone needing to get off there.
5. Flexpass: The schools have sold 345 HS bus passes, only 4 more than last year.
They still may sell more, but it doesn't appear that the Flexpass made a significant
difference. Of the 345 HS passes, 126 are Flexpasses. In September, there were
152 rides taken with Flexpasses.
6. Lexpress Ridership: Sara provided end of the year statistics for FYI 1. Nothing
changed dramatically. There was discussion about marketing the service. It was
suggested that Lexington contact towns with similar services to see what they do.
7. Next meeting: Bill send out a doodle for the week of November 14.
Documents: September 8, 2011 Minutes, Packet of tables with budget and TDM
calculations, Letter from Bijan Afsharatous, packet of tables with ridership information,
including memo from school department regarding Flexpass sales.
Recorder: Sara Arnold