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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2015-10-27 minutesAPPROVED 2015 PUBLIC TRANSIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 27th, 2015 Boone/Bancroft Conference Room 1:30 p.m – 2:30 p.m. Committee Member(s) – Present Mrs. Ann Bax Mr. William Case Mr. Terry Donner Mr. Wayne Lee Dr. William (Bill) Marshall Mr. Royal Spiedel Committee Member(s) – Absent Mr. Frank Underwood Council Liaison: Mr. Larry Henry – Absent Staff: Mr. Mark Mehmert Ms. Glenna Vernon Guest(s): Mr. Paul VanHorn, Ms. Jeanie McGowan (Citizens for JEFFTRAN), Ms. Ashley Varner, Capital Region Medical Center, and Mr. Jeff Haldiman, News Tribune. Introductions: The meeting was called to order by Chair Ann Bax at 1:33 p.m. All attendees were welcomed and self-introductions were requested. Limits of and Approval of Agenda: Chair Ann Bax asked the committee to be respectful to each individual’s time by ensuring the Transit Advisory Committee (TAC) limits discussion to agenda items only. A portion of the agenda is specifically provided for public comment. Dr. Bill Marshall moved to accept this request, which was seconded by Mr. Bill Case. The motion carried. Mr. Royal Spiedel moved to approve the agenda as presented for the October 27th, 2015 meeting, seconded by Mr. Bill Case. The motion carried. Approval of Minutes: Dr. Bill Marshall moved to approve the minutes dated, August 26th, 2015. His motion was seconded by Mr. Wayne Lee. The motion carried. APPROVED 2015 Transit Administration Report (Transit Director Mark Mehmert) With FY2015 coming to a close, Transit Director Mehmert offered the Committee a report on JEFFTRAN’s Fiscal Year accomplishments for 2015. 1) Enhanced Branding –JEFFTRAN revealed a logo as part of its branding efforts. The new logo contains a newly-minted tag line “Connecting Our Community”, which is one of JEFFTRAN’s performance measures. The new logo has been added to JEFFTRAN buses and to new employee uniforms as well. The new logo will also be extensively used in future marketing efforts. The old JEFFTRAN logo had not been updated for at least 25 years. 2) Ride the Bus Free Day took place on October 12th, 2015 (Columbus Day). Overall, the event was very successful in raising JEFFTRAN’s profile to new riders. Transit staff was very visible, and a staff person was always available to answer questions and assist new riders. Staff also provided cake to all to show appreciation for regular riders and to give the day a celebratory feel. JEFFTRAN had 1449 riders for the day, which were 743 more riders from FY2014 for the same day a year ago. 3) New Handi-wheels buses are expected to arrive soon. Three Handi-wheel buses should arrive within a few weeks. Eighty percent of the cost of these buses is the result of JEFFTRAN’s application for grant funds from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) 5310 Grant program, which specifically serves individuals with disabilities and senior citizens. While funded by FTA, the grant program is administered by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT). The acceptance of this grant will be addressed by the City Council. JEFFTRAN applied to three grant programs this year, and all were successful. 4) A revised Handi-wheels application was developed and provides more information and clarity for applicants. 5) Significant route expansions were made to provide riders access to the newly-opened Sam’s Club and other establishments located on Stoneridge/Hard Rock Drive. 6) Five new bus shelters were placed at strategic locations within the City. These new shelters were funded by private businesses. 7) JEFFTRAN’s turnover rate decreased tremendously in FY 2015. JEFFTRAN’s turnover rate declined to 4%. In FY 2014, the turnover rate was 24%. Employees were surveyed in October 2015, and the results indicated employees felt their morale had improved. Mr. Royal Spiegel and Mr. Bill Case noted the accomplishments of the past fiscal year indicated good progress and offered their thanks to JEFFTRAN employees. APPROVED 2015 Background information on Day Passes at other transit entities Mr. Mehmert provided information from other Missouri-based small urban systems regarding day passes. JEFFTRAN administrators will be working in the coming months to form a framework of how a Day Pass might work. Mr. Mehmert intends to visit other transit entities to glean some best practices. Other JEFFTRAN administrators will also be working to see how other transit entities handle their advertising functions. Currently JEFFTRAN contracts with Houck Advertising, a transit-specific agency which coordinates and markets advertising on buses. JEFFTRAN will be considering some new technology for buses, such as Automatic Passenger Counters (APC). This and other potential technology upgrades will be reviewed at a future TAC meeting. Mr. Mehmert indicated that JEFFTRAN has avoided investing in obsolete technology. However, much of transit-related technology has matured to the point it may be a good option for investment at this point. Public Comments: Ms. Jeanie McGowan (Citizens for JEFFTRAN) applauded the accomplishments for this year. Paul VanHorn (Citizens for JEFFTRAN) reminded the committee to consider an extension of operating hours to accommodate users of the proposed multi-purpose center located on Lincoln University’s campus. Ashley Varner (Capital Region Medical Center/Healthy Schools/Healthy Communities) expressed her appreciation to the committee for their hard work and look forward to working in the future with the TAC. Schedule upcoming TAC Meeting(s) At this time, the TAC agreed to meet every other month in FY2016. Administrative Assistant Glenna Vernon will draft a meeting schedule and report back to the committee. The TAC will have its first 2016 meeting in January. Ms. Vernon reminded the Committee of the Public Works inclement weather policy. If Jefferson City Public Schools are NOT in session due to inclement weather the day of the scheduled meeting, the TAC meeting is cancelled. Adjourn Mr. Bill Case moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wayne Lee. The meeting adjourned at 2:35 p.m.