Minutes
Public Transit Advisory Committee Meeting: February 20, 2007
4:10 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Public Transit Division Office
933 New Hampshire Street
Members present: Chair Marian Hukle, Marc Epard, Darlene Mortell, Alan Black, Jessica Mortinger, David Dunfield, Richard Heckler, Martin Miller
Members absent: Ann Foster
Staff present: Public Transit Administrator (PTA) Cliff Galante, Wendy Koerner, Emily Lubliner, Mike Sweeten
Public present: Roy Taylor, Hub Collinsworth, Marion Babb, James Dermody
Call to Order
Committee Chair Marian Hukle called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.
Public Comment
Hub Collinsworth inquired about the $400,000 earmark request for a feasibility study that is scheduled to go before the City Commission this evening. PTA explained it is a joint earmark request between the University and the City to explore the feasibility of a maintenance facility.
Agenda Review
No changes were made to the agenda.
Approval of November PTAC Board Minutes
Richard Heckler moved to approve the November 21, 2006 meeting minutes; Marc Epard seconded. Minutes were approved.
Public Transit Administrator Update
a. Welcome Newly Appointed PTAC Members
PTA thanked Alan Black for his 6 year service on the committee and congratulated Marc Epard on his second appointment to the committee. New PTAC member David Dunfield was welcomed to the committee and introductions were made around the table. James Dermody is expected to be appointed to the committee by the Mayor at tonight's commission meeting. PTA offered all committee members, new and existing, the opportunity to meet with him to get a brief "orientation" into public transit. PTA said that increased public education is a main goal for 2007, and he will be relying on PTAC members to help dispel some of the "myths" about public transportation and to promote its value to the community as a whole.
b. 2006 Annual Report
PTA provided copies of the 2006 Annual Report to the committee. The report was developed to highlight the successes, partnerships, and service improvements of the system in 2006. PTA said the report has been given to the city manager and city commission, and will be distributed to many outside agencies within the community. PTA also said he will distribute the report to our congressional delegation when he visits with them in Washington, D.C. in March.
The report shows that 2006 was another solid year of LTS growth with an overall increase of 8.6%. Up until August, our ridership growth was hovering around 15%, but in September, fixed-route ridership started to slip slightly in relation to the same months of the prior year. The most likely explanation for the decrease is the fact that ridership jumped dramatically in 2005 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and declining gas prices make driving personal vehicles more attractive. However, 8.6% is still well above the national standard of 3% growth. In addition, because we've coordinated activities with the KU Park & Ride system, we will include their ridership in our overall ridership statistics to be reported to the government. By counting the Park & Ride ridership with ours, the total overall increase is closer to 40% for 2006.
PTA said last year we launched Carpool Connection, which is a free online matching service for commuters, through a partnership with the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC). So far the site has had more than 1000 registrants, with approximately 250 of them from Lawrence. Topeka has also expressed interest in joining the service.
The K-10 Connector, an inter-city commuter service, which is open to the public, launched in January. The service is a collaboration between LTS, Johnson County Transit, KDOT, the University of Kansas, Johnson County Community College and Haskell Indian Nations University to provide service linking the college campuses. This is a 1-year demonstration project which is currently providing between 250 and 300 rides per day. PTA said he hopes that after a successful first year, the service can be expanded to serve major employers, as now the service is narrowly tailored to serve students and faculty within the college community.
PTA said staff has met with lots of groups, businesses and schools in an effort to educate the public about our system. Passenger surveys performed by the consultant during the coordinated transportation study show that 47% of riders use the "T" to go to work, and 18% use it to go to school. PTA said this demonstrates that public transportation plays a significant role in the city's economic development. PTA said another discovery that came from the surveys is the fact that the 59% of the riders use the system 5 or more days per week. In addition, on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest rating, overall satisfaction with the service is 4.22. According to the consultant, these results are higher than similar surveys he has performed at many other locations throughout the country. PTA thanked Mike Sweeten and MV Transportation staff for their continued efforts serving the residents of Lawrence.
c. January Ridership and Other Performance Statistics
PTA pointed out that once again fixed-route ridership for January was down 3% from a year ago. In August and September, gas prices dropped to around $2.00 per gallon, and it seems people who were using the "T" because of higher fuel costs, ended up going back to using their vehicles. However, paratransit service has increased an unprecedented 16%. This means the demand for service is steadily increasing, without additional resources, and puts enormous strain on our system and the people we serve. PTA said that later in the meeting he will discuss some ways to manage the cost and demand on the paratransit system. On-time performance for both systems still remains above 95%, and 2.41 passengers per hour on paratransit is great for a community of this size.
d. 2007 Budget and Project Goals
PTA passed around a spreadsheet which breaks down our 2007 budget, which includes revenues, capital replacement, and a detailed breakdown of operating expenditures. He pointed out to the committee that transit is the only city department that receives half of its operating funding from federal and state sources. In addition, federal funding pays for 80% of capital expenses, which means that when we purchase new transit vehicles, the city is only required to come up with the 20% local match.
PTA said the bulk of our funding goes to our contracted service provider, MV Transportation. We have challenges moving into this year as the city's budget is very tight due to property tax revenues being down. PTA feels the City Commission is going to have some tough decisions in regards to raising taxes or making services cuts. To maintain our current service levels into 2008, transit is going to need approximately $700,000 more in local funding, which equates to ¾ mil. If transit is unable to secure the additional funds, then we may be forced to consider a 30% reduction in service.
PTA also said that our entire fixed-route fleet will meet its useful life, and be up for replacement, at the end of 2008. At the same time, our contract with MV will expire. Any company bidding on the provider contract will base their bid on the age/condition of the fleet, which will be a big factor in their pricing. PTA said his goal is to replace as many vehicles as possible before the MV contract is up, to keep preventive maintenance costs down, since the new vehicles will be under warranty. PTA has researched bus manufacturers, and has found that Gillig produces a very reliable, heavy-duty vehicle, that is used by most transit agencies in Kansas. Each of these buses will cost approximately $320,000 each. For the fixed-route, PTA feels strongly that heavy-duty vehicles will be a better long term investment for the city, even though the cost will be higher than the fixed-route vehicles we currently run. PTA also looked into alternative fuel vehicles, but they will run approximately $200,000 more per bus. At this time, we have approximately $1.2 million in federal earmarks, and $700,000 local funds in an equipment reserve account, to replace 6 fixed-route buses.
City/KU Transit Service Coordination Update
PTA said he presented the final report to the City Commission and they have directed staff to continue dialogues with the University, as long as coordination does not cost the City additional funding than what we are currently spending. Through on-board surveys of passengers, most all of the service improvements requested would require additional funds. We will be meeting with KU officials again at the beginning of March. One item to be discussed is the University's desire for unlimited student access to the city's system, which will require some form of subsidy from the University. Another item has to do with the KU routes. KU has indicated they would like to maintain their "express service" between major student housing centers and the KU campus. PTA said he would like to see KU add a few additional stops along the routes, at key destinations, to improve access for both students and citizens. This would make the KU routes more attractive to the community as a whole, much like "unlimited access" to city buses would be attractive to students.
PTA provided the committee with a memo outlining the joint FY2008 Federal Earmark Request between the city and university. PTA will be meeting with our congressional delegation next month to address our capital needs. He will ask for funding to replace the remaining 6 fixed-route vehicles that we do not currently have funds to replace. PTA also said he will be investigating the use of toll credits for our local match. In the past, the city has received several earmarks to be used towards a maintenance facility. However, our priorities have changed, and bus replacement has become our main priority. There is no denying a maintenance facility is a need, but reliable buses are a larger necessity for our system. However, KU did ask that we include in the earmark request, a request for $400,000 for a feasibility study for a maintenance facility. PTA said KU will need a place to store and maintain the new buses they will acquire. PTA feels that a shared-use maintenance facility, for both KU and the Lawrence Transit System, will be one of the biggest benefits of coordinating our services. PTA said he will be meeting with our congressional delegation in March, where he will discuss our earmark request to address capital needs. This will include a request for funding to replace 6 of our fixed-route vehicles. PTA also explained that he will be seeking toll credits to help make up the local match for the purchase of these vehicles.
PTA asked Jessica to update the committee on the referendums that went before the students on February 14th and 15th. Jessica explained the referendum had two parts. The first was to raise student fees by $20 per semester for the purchase of newer, cleaner, ADA accessible buses. The second part was to increase fees by an additional $15 per semester, to create an unlimited access system open to all students who present a KU ID. Jessica explained that although the majority of voters were in favor of increasing student fees by $35 each semester, the election failed to get the 10% of the student body vote necessary for it to be a certified election. The student body president has reintroduced the transportation bill, in an attempt to have it go before the student senate, for approval. If that doesn't pass, it will be sent back for referendum in April. Jessica added that the fee for unlimited access also allows for a 20% increase in service hours to meet projected demand during peak hours. All the buses they are looking at buying are 40-foot, ADA accessible, low floor, with top exhaust. Also, they plan on running the fleet with B5 diesel through state fueling contracts. Jessica said the University will be funding a new fueling facility that will carry B10 fuel.
PTA informed the committee that there are currently only four private fueling facilities where MV can fuel our vehicles. At this time, none of the facilities carries bio-diesel. The city is looking into costs involved in carrying bio-diesel. However, MV has found it cost prohibitive to utilize the city-owned fueling stations, because they charge approximately 30 cents more per gallon of fuel to cover operating costs.
Managing Demand and Costs of T Lift Paratransit Service
PTA said that although paratransit has been steadily increasing since service began, the past few months have seen demand grow at rates that are putting tremendous stress on the system. ADA law prohibits a pattern of trip denials, so we constantly monitor the demand and provision of our paratransit service. In the past, when we project demand will exceed the availability of service, we add service hours. However, budget constraints no longer allow us the flexibility to just increase service hours needed to meet the rising demand. PTA said we now have to look at ways to manage our paratransit demand, such as tightening up the ADA certification process, requiring physician authorization for certification approval, fare increases, decreasing the 14-day advance reservation window, and possibly overall service cuts. PTA distributed a memo addressing this issue which will be in tonight's City Manager's Report to the City Commission.
Appoint Chair and Vice-Chair of PTAC for 2007
Richard Heckler nominated Marian Hukle for 2007 chair; Jessica Mortinger seconded. Committee voted and Marian was selected as the new chair.
Richard Heckler nominated David Dunfield for vice-chair and Jessica seconded. Committee voted and David was selected as 2007 vice-chair.
Discuss Subcommittee Assignments and Possible Formation of Three New Subcommittees - Policy/Standards, Service/Amenities Improvements, and Public Education/Outreach
PTA informed committee of his desire to get PTAC members more involved in working with transit staff in developing policies, service and amenity improvements, and public outreach and education. PTA said the sub-committees will be great opportunities to "brainstorm" and come up with new ideas. He passed around a sign up sheet so each member could sign up for one (or more) sub-committees they would like to serve on. Sub-committees meet every other month, typically the months when there is no PTAC meeting.
2007 PTAC Meeting Schedule
Marian said that she has received a request to change the PTAC meeting day to the 3rd Thursday of the month, rather than the 3rd Tuesday. The committee members discussed days and week of the month, which would work best for them. Richard Heckler moved to change the PTAC meetings to the 2nd Tuesday of every other month; Jessica Mortinger seconded. No public comment was presented, and motion passed. The next meeting date will be April 10, 2007.
Schedule Sub-Committee Meetings
Staff will schedule the sub-committee meetings within the next couple of weeks.
Public Comment
Roy Taylor asked if we raise fares if we will increase service, and he pointed out that we have no service running north and south, on the west side of the city. He added that Topeka has raised their fares 3 times in the past 10 years. PTA said we always look at ways to improve the service. However, resources must be available to cover the cost of any service improvements.
Tentative Next Meeting Date
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
— Submitted by Wendy Koerner
