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Capital Area Metropolitan Transit Authority
Access Advisory Committee
January 6, 2010 Draft Minutes
314 W. 11th Street, Ned Granger Building

Members Present:

  1. Dave Patterson, Vice Chair Access Committee, Chair Fixed Route Subcommittee
  2. Boone J. Blocker, Secretary Access Committee, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  3. Ann Nelson, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  4. Mary Ellen Sanchez, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  5. Queen Walker, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  6. Charles Shavers, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  7. Michael Zitz-Evancih, Reserve Member, Access Associate

Members Absent

  1. Diane Bomar-Aleman, Chair Access Committee, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  2. Malcolm Graham, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  3. Jane Lansaw, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  4. Sandra Seekamp, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  5. Darcus Scott, Reserve Member, Access Associate

Capital Metro Staff Present

  1. Kirk Talbott, Chief Information Officer
  2. Rafael Villarreal, Assistant Director of Paratransit
  3. Inez Evans, Director Paratransit
  4. Jeff Denning, Transportation/Field Supervisor

Guests Present

  1. Carlos Aleman
  2. Clifford Manor
  3. Mrs. Clifford Manor
  4. Monica Nwevo
  5. Cheryl Fszol
  6. Patty Timmerman


Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 5:33 pm by Vice Chair David Patterson.

Citizen’s Communication
Carlos Aleman spoke about his continued displeasure with the new 30 minute pickup window and the fact that the call notification system is still not working properly. Aleman also had some difficulties when he took a trip on MetroAccess to the Barton Creek Mall on Christmas Day. He was told that the movie theater at the mall was no longer an official Capital Metro drop-off and pickup location and that California Pizza was now the official drop-off and pickup location. He placed a phone call to MetroAccess supervisor Tony Palacious to report the confusion, but has still not received a return phone call from Palacious with a possible solution to the issue. Inez Evans stated that California Pizza had been incorrectly listed as the official drop-off and pickup location and that the movie theater had been reinstated as the official location.

Clifford Manor stated that the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is worthless and is not working.

Monica Nwevo stated that while most of the MetroAccess drivers are good she has also had some interesting drivers. She stated her concern that if she is not ready for her ride, she is charged with a no-show.

Patty Timmerman spoke about the fact that she is not receiving the ride notification phone calls. She also stated that she is not receiving the ride notification emails letting her know the following day’s itinerary. In addition, she spoke of a driver who said that unless she is outside waiting for her ride, the MetroAccess drivers would not knock on the door and would leave her behind. Inez Evans asked for the date of her ride in which the driver incorrectly told her this and reiterated that MetroAccess is still a door through door service and drivers are required to knock on a client’s door.

Cheryl Fszol spoke about how she had taxi vouchers but now they had been taken away from her. When she recently tried to reserve a MetroAccess ride the operator told her that she was only eligible for a trip to the North Lamar Transit Center to transfer to a fixed route bus to complete her trip. She has seizure problems and the thought of seizing out of her wheelchair while waiting for a bus was not something she wanted to experience again. While Veronica Davis of Capital Metro temporarily reinstated her taxi vouchers, Fszol’s situation has still not been permanently resolved.

Approval of Minutes for November 4, 2009
Secretary Boone Blocker moved and Queen Walker seconded a motion to approve the Minutes from the November 4, 2009 Access Advisory Committee Meeting. The motion passed.

Approval of Minutes for December 2, 2009
Queen Walker moved and Secretary Blocker seconded a motion to approve the Minutes from the December 2, 2009 Access Advisory Committee Meeting. The motion passed.

Announcements
Vice Chair Patterson reported that the next Customer Satisfaction Advisory Committee (CSAC) Meeting will be held on January 13, 2010 at the Capital Metro Building at 323 Congress from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.

Access Committee Reports
Vice Chair Patterson stated that CSAC could not reach a quorum at its December 2009 Meeting and consequently no official meeting was held. However, the members of CSAC who were there continued to meet, an informal meeting was held and pertinent topics were discussed.

Secretary Blocker briefly reported on the last meeting of the Urban Transportation Commission (UTC). He restated that the City of Austin had chosen consulting group Kimley-Horn to operate and manage the City’s upcoming Strategic Mobility Plan (SMP). Secretary Blocker once again stressed the importance of the disability community being engaged from the beginning of the project to ensure proper measures be taken to make sure any transportation methods or recommendations have a core accessibility component built in.

Secretary Blocker also talked about the last meeting of Mayor’s Committee For People With Disabilities (AMCPD). During the meeting, the AMCPD received an update on local youth employment opportunities.

Vice Chair Patterson gave a brief report on the December 2009 Capital Metro Board of Directors Meeting. The Access report given by Chair Diane Aleman talked about the 30 minute pickup window policy and MetroAccess ticket book pricing after the new January 2010 fare increase went into effect.

In the discussion of the last Metro Mobility Working Group (MMWG) Meeting, Vice Chair Patterson stated that the group was nearing completion of its stated duties, but that work on eligibility and the appeals process for denial of services is still ongoing. The next MMWG Meeting will be January 28, 2009 at 323 Congress from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

In discussion about Capital Metro’s Comprehensive Analysis (COA), Vice Chair Patterson talked about Perteet Consulting Group, which is managing the analysis project for Capital Metro. Perteet will soon be conducting the second round of community meetings. Vice Chair Patterson spoke of the need to carefully monitor the findings of the COA and incorporate the bi-annual service changes with the findings of the study.

The notes from the last meeting of the STS/MetroAccess Subcommittee were emailed out to all of the members of the Access Advisory Committee.

The Fixed Route Subcommittee Meeting again focused on the comment and compliment procedures used by Capital Metro and the ability to track trends over time. Fixed Route Chair Patterson reiterated the need to incorporate the multiple Access member generated forms into Capital Metro’s official comment and compliment systems.

Capital Metro Staff Reports
Kirk Talbott gave an update on the technology tools that are being tested and rolled out by Capital Metro to assist MetroAccess in running more smoothly. He stated that the pilot testing phase of the ride notification call system is on hold until the required technical problems are addressed.

Talbott also presented an update on the IVR system. He once again acknowledged that the IVR is not functional and that it has actually gotten worse in the last 5-6 years. The first company that was working on the system has been fired and the new company is evaluating what it would take to build an entirely new IVR system from the ground up.

Talbott then talked about the web-based scheduling and cancellation tool for booking MetroAccess trips. The new tool has already booked over 500 trips and a 2nd round of improvements is in the works. As he stated previously, a client must schedule their online trip by 2:00 pm the previous day for a next day trip.

Several members of the Access Committee asked Talbott questions about the Where’s My Ride? phone line and how text readers work with the Trip Planner on Capital Metro’s website.

Inez Evans restated her request for volunteers from the Access Committee to assess official MetroAccess drop-off and pickup locations.

Meredith Highsmith was not at the January 6, 2010 Access Meeting but can come back for the February 3, 2010 Meeting to discuss the January 2010 service changes.

Old Business
Vice Chair Patterson stated that the Bylaw Subcommittee of the Access Committee would soon begin its work on revising the bylaws.

New Business
Secretary Blocker stated that the 2010 Access Work Plan would soon be coming out and the input of the Access members is needed to refine the document.

Adjournment
Queen Walker moved and Secretary Blocker seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 7:21 pm.

The next Access Advisory Committee Meeting will be held February 3, 2010 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at 314 W. 11th, the Ned Granger Building- Travis County Commissioner’s Courtroom, 1st Floor.


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