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Capital Area Metropolitan Transit Authority
Access Advisory Committee
May 5, 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. Malcolm Graham, Chair MetroAccess Subcommittee
  4. Jane Lansaw, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  5. Sandy Seekamp, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  6. Ann Nelson, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  7. Mary Ellen Sanchez, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee
  8. Queen Walker, Member Fixed Route Subcommittee
  9. Michael Zitz-Evancih, Reserve Member, Access Associate

Members Absent

  1. Diane Bomar-Aleman, Chair Access Committee, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee (Pat Bartel acting as her proxy)
  2. Charles Shavers, Member MetroAccess Subcommittee

Capital Metro Staff Present

  1. Elaine Timbes, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
  2. Inez Evans, Director of Paratransit
  3. Rafael Villarreal, Assistant Director of Paratransit
  4. Terry Crews-Garcia, General Manager for Star Tran
  5. Chad Ballentine, Superintendent Paratransit
  6. Jeff Denning, Transportation/Field Supervisor

Guests Present

  1. Carlos Aleman
  2. Pat Bartel
  3. Monica Nwevo

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:31 pm by Vice Chair David Patterson.

Citizen’s Communication

Carlos Aleman stated that he was pleased with the way a recent complaint was handled. He asked about an update for the telephone call ride notification system. He also asked how many old vans were still in use. He thought that they had been retired but some of them still seem to be in full use. He also voiced his concern over a trip he was on in which a passenger had escorts for their ride, but that the reservationist had not properly recorded the situation as such. As a result, when the passenger tried to board the vehicle with the escorts, the driver said there wasn’t enough room on the vehicle and that the police would be called if the escorts did not exit the vehicle. Aleman stated that there has to be a better way to handle such situations if they occur in the future.

Monica Nwevo said that she got a ride on a Friday, from her home to Church and back. When she tried to book her next trip, Capital Metro notified her that because of no-shows, she was suspended from using the service. She can appeal the decision, but requested assistance from the Access Committee. Malcolm Graham and Ann Nelson volunteered to get her contact information and help her.

Malcolm Graham stated that he had a couple of concerns. During the April Capital Metro Audit and Finance Subcommittee Meeting, he said that Inez Evans had presented a package of possible changes to the Board of Directors. He noted that changes had not been discussed by the Metro Mobility Working Group (MMWG). He stated that some of the proposed changes were the same recycled ones that Capital Metro had previously tried to force through and said that filing a formal complaint with the FTA might be in order.

Sandy Seekamp reported on the unsatisfactory conditions of sidewalks behind HEB near Oltorff & Congress. She stated that if more people are forced to use fixed route buses, they would be in for a surprise when they tried to use the broken sidewalk system to get to the bus stop.

Approval of Minutes for March 3, 2010 and April 7, 2010

Secretary Blocker reported that he had lost the minutes from the last two Access Meetings and approval of the March 3, 2010 and April 7, 2010 Meetings were tabled.

Announcements

Vice Chair Patterson reported that the next Customer Service Advisory Committee (CSAC) Meeting was Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 323 Congress from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.

Access Committee Reports

Secretary Boone Blocker reported on the last meeting of the Urban Transportation Commission (UTC). Secretary Blocker has been working with Commissioner Dustin Lanier, also of the UTC, on taxicab issues.

Secretary Blocker updated the group on the April Austin Mayor’s Committee For People With Disabilities (AMCPD) Meeting. Sheila Holbrook-White and Secretary Blocker will be presenting the AMCPD information on a resolution coming from the Urban Transportation Commission recommending that the City complete its Sidewalk Network.

There was a brief discussion about the last Metro Mobility Working Group (MMWG) meeting and the upcoming meetings. The MetroAccess application that was revised and sent out to people had some positive changes incorporated into the new form.

At the April Capital Metro Board of Directors Meeting a surprise presentation was given regarding possible Metro Access changes. Several members of the Access Committee asked how is the Board of Directors going to receive proper public input on these changes in such a short time period as was presented to the Board?

Vice Chair Patterson gave a brief report about the last CSAC Meeting.

Fixed Route Subcommittee Chair Patterson gave a report about the last meeting at which the cost savings and fixed route service reduction was discussed.

Capital Metro Staff Reports

Elaine Timbes gave the same presentation given by Inez Evans to the Capital Metro Board of Directors at the April Audit and Finance Subcommittee Meeting. The presentation gave the Board of Directors five (5) options plus the base option for at total of six (6) MetroAccess service levels, service area and eligibility.

She stated that the ADA had set out paratransit service as comparable and complementary to fixed route bus service. The factors that are included in this process are: days of the week, hours of service, area (from fixed route service), ride duration, convenience and no priority on trip purpose.

The six (6) total options are the Base (minimum ADA of ¾ of local fixed route), Option 1 (base + grandfathered clients), Option 2 (base + Express Routes), Option 3 (base + ¾ mile, which is 1 ½ miles total), Option 4 (option 3 + Express Routes) and Option 5 (entire service area).

The methodology in compiling these options were based on a study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and incorporates salaries and benefits, other expenses (fuel, parts, services) and capital expenses (facilities, vehicles, technology). The TTI study states that 14.4% of the population has a disability and Capital Metro reports that 6.68% of the people that currently use their system are disabled, but the TTI study projects that the user percentage will go up to 10.38%. The information presented to the Board of Directors projected two scenarios: Fiscal Year 2010 and Fiscal Year 2015.

In Fiscal Year 2010 and at the 6.68% utilization rate, the total expenditures for Capital Metro to provide MetroAccess service at the Base level would be $22.2 million, $27.8 million for Option 1, $23.1 million for Option 2, $26.6 million for Option 3, $27.4 million for Option 4 and $36.4 million for Option 5.

In Fiscal Year 2015 and at the 6.68% utilization rate, the total expenditures for Capital Metro to provide MetroAccess service at the Base level would be $23.6 million, $30.2 million for Option 1, $27.4 million for Option 2, $30.7 million for Option 3, $31.5 million for Option 4 and $37.9 million for Option 5.

In Fiscal Year 2010 and at the 10.38% utilization rate, the total expenditures for Capital Metro to provide MetroAccess service at the Base level would be $38.6 million, $44.4 million for Option 1, $42.5 million for Option 2, $47.7 million for Option 3, $49.0 million for Option 4 and $61.4 million for Option 5.

In Fiscal Year 2015 and at the 10.38% utilization rate, the total expenditures for Capital Metro to provide MetroAccess service at the Base level would be $38.5 million, $42.3 million for Option 1, $40.2 million for Option 2, $44.9 million for Option 3, $46.0 million for Option 4 and $56.1 million for Option 5.

In addition to the service area proposals, Capital Metro also presented several service level options, including changing from door-through-door to curb-to-curb (no cost savings), reducing the reservation hours from Monday-Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and weekends from 8:00 am to 5:00 to all week from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (cost savings of $68,781) and reducing the advanced reservations from 1 to 6 days in advance to 1 to 3 days in advance (cost savings of $268,300).

Lastly, the presentation focused on the proposed eligibility policy changes including self assessment by the applicant with professional verification to in-person interviews, functional assessments as needed and third party provider for eligibility (cost savings of $1,000,000). Capital Metro also recommended changing the voucher on request program to placing a limit on the service (cost savings of $189,000), changing open returns to eliminating same day service and having the passenger estimating a pickup time (cost savings of $92,075) and reducing the reliance on overflow taxi vouchers to below 10% of overall service (no cost savings given).

The next steps in these proposals are: May-June for Community Outreach and Input, June for a Committee Meeting, June for Board approval of the policies, July for the ADA plan update and July for the Board approval of the ADA plan.

Several members of the Access Committee had questions about the methodology and the numbers used to generate the presentation. Several members of the Access Committee also expressed their reservations and opposition to reducing MetroAccess service levels down to the bare ADA minimums. Also, several members asked how the Board can make such decisions in such a tight time frame.

Old Business

Vice Chair Patterson stressed the need to have a uniform Compliment/Concern Form, as it is hard to track issues across different customer service platforms.

New Business

A discussion is needed about Access Committee Bylaws, as some are followed and some are not.

Adjournment

Secretary Blocker moved and Queen Walker seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 7:33pm.

The next Access Advisory Committee Meeting will be held June 2, 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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