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Home My Public Portal About2015-05-12 minutesAPPROVED -Public Transit Advisory Committee 12015 Minutes Public Transit Advisory Committee (TAC) Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Boone/Bancroft Conference Room Committee Member(s): (present) Ann Bax, William Case (arrived 2:40 p.m.), Terry Donner, Wayne Lee, William Marshall, Royal Speidel. Committee Member(s): (absent) Frank Underwood Staff Present: Matt Morasch, Public Works Director, Mark Mehmert, Transit Division Director, Gerry Stegeman, Operations Supervisor, and Glenna Vernon, Administrative Assistant. Council Liaison: Councilman Larry Henry. Guests: Paul L. VanHorn, Patricia Behler, Madeleine Leroux (News Tribune), Tony Hammond, Jeanne McGowan, Sue Gibson The meeting began promptly at 1:30 p.m. TAC Chair Ann Bax welcomed everyone to the Public Transit Advisory Committee Meeting, requested round -the -table introductions. Chair Bax expressed appreciation for those willing to serve on the Transit Advisory Committee (TAC). Minutes Approval of the minutes from February 9, 2015 meeting was postponed and will be considered at an upcoming meeting. Administrative Assistant Vernon will email both first and second meeting minutes to all committee members prior to next meeting for approval. Review: Role of the Transit Advisory Committee (Mark Mehmert) Mark Mehmert, Transit Division Director, provided a power -point presentation to all committee members/guests. During this presentation, Mehmert provided information regarding the establishment and function of the Transit Advisory Committee based on the ordinance. Mr. Mehmert offered a report on the St. Mary's and Jaycee Dr. On-call routes. When the new St. Mary's Hospital neared completion, St. Mary's Administration requested the City of Jefferson provide public bus service at their new location. Mehmert reported that although public bus service is extremely important, one of the challenges for service is the hospital's new location. While substantial future development is likely to occur, at this time SSM Healthcare -St. Mary's Hospital's location off Hwy 179 at Mission Drive is rather remote. In order to accommodate the desire for service, JEFFTRAN staff devised an on -demand "loop". The first run of the day is almost a direct route to SSM Healthcare -St. Mary's Hospital and the remainder of the day reverts to an "on- call status". Riders contact dispatch office and request a pick-up. Those calls require 40 minutes advance notice of pick-up. APPROVED -Public Transit Advisory Committee I 20z5 Gerry Stegeman, Operations Manager, answered questions in regards to regular routes and JEFFTRAN's Handi-wheels service. Proposed Fare Increase Mr. Mehmert addressed the proposed fare increase for JEFFTRAN. City Staff supports the fare increase and requested the Transit Advisory Committee provide a recommendation to the Public Works and Planning Committee. A proposed time -line was offered to the committee along with proposed increase amounts. Proposed Fare Increases: This year (FY2015) adopted budget proposes: Currently, JEFFTRAN fares are as follows: Regular Fare ............ $1.00 Reduced Fare ....... 50 cents Handi-Wheels Fare....$2.00 The proposal would increase fares to the following: Regular Fare ............ $1.50 Reduced Fare......... 75 cents Handi-Wheels Fare .... $3.00 Proposed Timeline: May 12, 2015 - Public Transit Advisory Committee forwards to recommendations to Public Works and Planning Committee. May 21, 2015 -Public Works and Planning Committee considers proposal June 1, 2015 - Council Bill Introduced June 15, 2015 - Public Hearing and Potential Council Action. General Discussion and Guest Comments: Representatives from Citizens of JEFFTRAN were in attendance and felt a fare increase would constitute a significant burden to the riders of JEFFTRAN. They also stated ridership would suffer from a fare increase. Ms. Sue Gibson expressed the need for Saturday/Sunday bus service, better advertising, and NO fare increase as it will be a hardship to riders. Ms. Gibson also requested the consideration of "day passes". She also indicated it is difficult for people to move to Jefferson City since there currently is no bus service on evenings and weekends. Ms. Gibson completed a comment form. Ms. Jeanne McGowen encouraged the committee to consider extending JEFFTRAN's hours of operation. Since many individuals use JEFFTRAN exclusively for transportation, she suggested an incremental approach to fare increases as it will be a burden to many if increases are one large step. She encouraged the committee to look out into the community, be creative, and added a regular fare of $1.50 will cause decrease in ridership. APPROVED -Public Transit Advisory Committee I 2015 Mr. Paul VanHorn offered that the TAC has a very important role, and provided a survey that was completed by himself and others from Citizens of JEFFTRAN. Survey results were provided to TAC members for review. Councilman Larry Henry noted while he would like to see longer hours for JEFFTRAN, revenue is also very important. A fare increase has not been implemented since 2007, and JEFFTRAN is just attempting to keep pace. Public Works Director Matt Morasch indicated ridership may be negatively affected by the increase. However, he thought ridership would return to previous levels soon thereafter. JEFFTRAN staff is working on actions to attract more rider(s), including increased future marketing in the future. JEFFTRAN seeks to do more than just maintain; it seeks to grow ridership as well as revenue. Mr. Morasch expressed confidence Mr. Mehmert would bring innovative ideas and renewed vigor to JEFFTRAN. Chair Ann Bax said that she had spoken with United Way staff and United Way partner agency leadership regarding the proposed fare increase. Their feedback on the proposed fare increase was viewed as "burdensome" to low income families. Terry Donner (Committee Member) thought it would be worthwhile to consider how JEFFTRAN improve and increase ridership. He encouraged the group and staff to think "outside the box" and look at the budget and see what can be done. Mr. Donner thought the advertising component of revenue is very important. Mr. Mehmert noted that advertising on the buses is contracted through Houck Advertising, a company which specializes in Transit -based advertising. Dr. William Marshall (Committee Member) asked for clarification of the number of survey respondents and how respondents were obtained. Mr. Paul VanHorn indicated the surveys were distributed to JEFFTRAN patrons by providing copies of the survey at many locations JEFFTRAN serves. Mr. Van Horn indicated Citizens for JEFFTRAN will continue to procure more respondents, and thought the survey was critical data in light of the new multi-purpose building currently being proposed. Mr. Van Horn wanted to know if the survey could be made available on the bus. Mr. Wayne Lee (Committee Member) provided copies of a New York Times article regarding a Harvard study which noted the strong correlation between access to transportation and upward mobility. Mr. Lee stated that the availability of public transit via JEFFTRAN is very important, and that everyone must work together. Mr. Lee also suggested $1.25 regular bus route rate instead of the proposed $1.50. Mr. Morasch outlined options the committee could take in its recommendation to the Public Works Committee which could be: The TAC could recommend no fare increase. The TAC could decline to make a recommendation to the Public Works Committee. The TAC could recommend a fare increase using the staffs proposal. The TAC could recommend a fare increase of less than staff proposed. The TAC could recommend a fare increase of more than staff proposed. APPROVED -Public Transit Advisory Committee 12015 Chair Ann Bax indicated a motion would be in order. Mr. Royal Speidel (Committee member) moved to recommend a fare increase to $1.50 as proposed by JEFFTRAN staff, with an accompanying recommendation to consider incorporation of a one -day pass for riders. Mr. Lee (Committee Member) seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting Dates/Frequency: The next Pubic Transit Advisory Committee meeting will be on Tuesday, -August 11, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. Matt Morasch clarified committee must meet twice annually in order to report to the Public Works Committee as specified in the establishing ordinance for the Public Transit Advisory Committee; however, meetings can be held more frequently if needed. It was noted the JEFFTRAN Focus Group meets quarterly and is also an avenue for citizen input regarding the transit system. Transit Director Mehmert will report the results of future Focus Group meetings to the Public Transit Advisory Committee. Meeting adjourned at 2:59 p.m., motion to adjourn by Royal Speidel, seconded by William Marshall. Respectfully Submitted, G. Vernon, Administrative Assistant Transit Division