Members Present: Shelly Brisbin, Julie Maloukis, R. L. Glock, Juan Muñoz, Jerry Doran, Judy Watford, Jose Loera, William Brown, Mary Ward, Scott Meyer
Capital Metro Staff Present: Nancy Crowther, John Ancera, Rafael (Ralph) Villareal, Denise Guerrero, Mark Ostertag.
Guests Present: Diane Bomar, Linda French, Richard Villa, Carlos Aleman, Audley Blackburn,Pam Scott, Cathy Shumaker, Christine Guevera
Call to Order: The November meeting was called to order by Chair Shelly Brisbin at 5:00 with all members present.
Minutes: The October 4, 2006 minutes were presented for approval. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Access Elections: Committee Chair: Ms. Brisbin announced that she would not be running for Committee Chair. The name of Julie Maloukis was placed in nomination. No other names were submitted, and it was moved and seconded that she be elected by acclamation. She was elected by unanimous vote and she accepted the position.
Nominations for Access vice chair were taken from the floor. Juan Muñoz placed the name of R. L. Glock in nomination, and he accepted the nomination. Judy Watford placed in nomination the name of Shelly Brisbin, who also accepted the nomination. Randal (R.L.) Glock was elected by a vote of 6 to 4.
The name of Mary Ward was placed in nomination for Secretary. No other names were placed in nomination, and she was elected by acclamation.
STS Sedan Door Locks: A motion was written by committee members Mary Ward and Judy Watford about concerns of many STS passengers over the locking of the back doors in the sedans with the safety locks. Mark Ostertag from Capital Metro Safety and Security responded to this motion and explained Capital Metro's reasoning for this action. He explained that ten people had tried to get out of moving sedans in the recent past. There was a unanimous consensus of the Capital Metro Safety Committee and Accident Prevention Plan Committee that the doors should be locked because of safety concerns. It was felt by them that the risk of a catastrophic accident resulting in serious injury or death was very great and they did not find evidence to suggest that locking the doors had ever posed any safety risks to passengers in Capital Metro sedans. It was pointed out by Judy Watford that the windows cannot be unrolled while the motor is off. Scott Meyer also pointed out that the driver controls whether or not the window can be unlocked by the passenger to open the door in an emergency. It has been sent to the Legal Department for review to make sure it does not violate the ADA. It was felt by most committee members that nothing can be done until a decision is handed down by the Legal Department. Ms. Brisbin stated that it is important that the committee be consulted and asked to advise when such issues come up. Committee members agreed that Mark seemed to be making a good faith effort to work with the committee, and it was agreed by the committee to await the decision by the Legal Department. When the Legal Department has made its decision, Scott Meyer asked if we could follow up on the evacuation procedure to ensure that people with mobility impairments would be able to open the windows as need. Mark agreed to the idea of asking the drivers to allow the windows to be operated by the passengers to make sure that they would be able to exit the vehicle in the event of an accident which incapacitated the driver.
It was suggested by Ms. Brisbin that the both the document written by the committee members and the relevant portion of the meeting minutes be forward to the Legal Department. The committee agreed to this.
Subcommittee Reports The STS Subcommittee meeting of October 25 was read by Juan Muñoz. The door locks took up a substantial part of that meeting. Judy Watford and Mary Ward were asked to prepare a document addressing their concerns. The IVR was also discussed. The system improvements are not working as well as expected, but most agree that it is improving. The committee now has members Juan Muñoz, Judy Watford, Mary Ward and Jerry Doran. Scott has stepped down and now sits on the Fixed Route Committee.
The Fixed Route Committee report was read by Randal Glock. This meeting included a discussion of the fixed route changes in January. The Disability Card will be required of passengers by November 16. The Committee members are now Julie, Scott, Randal, Shelly and José.
The Rail Ad Hoc Committee meeting minutes were given by Judy Watford. Kathi Young, Scott Meyer, Julie Maloukis, Shelly Brisbin were all present to discuss the signage and the ticket vending machines. The vendor will try to bring samples of each. Judy explained the need for voice guided ticket machines and explained the difference between mere speaking devices and voice-guided ones. The user would need to be able to operate all functions of the machine without access to the screen. The vendor representatives seemed to understand this concept. Shelly Brisbin gave examples of cities where it is difficult to get tickets and contrasted them with Boston, where tickets can be easily purchased by a blind person with no prior training. RFPs are being put out currently. The placement of the machines for selling tickets was discussed. It will be important for people in wheelchairs to be able to purchase tickets without having to bend sideways to reach controls. The subcommittee members and other attendees had high praise for this meeting and the way that staff and vendors took the issues to the committee before implementation so that problems could be avoided rather than having to perform costly and unproductive retrofitting. Everyone's feelings about the progress of this group were positive.
Shelly Brisbin gave the Chair's report. She wanted to make sure that the board received the positive feedback about the Ad Hoc Rail Committee meetings. She reiterated the need for this committee to get the attention of the board to address issues before they become problems. We need to think of ways to make ourselves available and useful to the board so that passengers' needs can be better met.
Discussion was held of increasing fixed route fares, which are extremely low when compared to those in other communities. The doubling of fixed route fares has been proposed, as has the elimination of passes in 2008. Up to 20% of the cost could be recovered. An increase in STS fares was also mentioned, but information is still unclear. The committee requested that it be on the December agenda.
Julie Maloukis asked to add an agenda item thanking Ms. Brisbin for her long and tireless work for the committee. She asked that the minutes reflect this. The committee officially thanked her for her hard work.
Subcommittee meeting schedules were discussed. The November subcommittee meetings would ordinarily be held on November 23. Ms. Brisbin proposed the date of November 29. December subcommittee meetings are not ordinarily held because of the holidays. We decided that if the subcommittees need to meet during that month, the meetings would occur on December 13. Otherwise, in the absence of any pressing issues, the meetings would be cancelled for December.
The full ACCESS committee is scheduled to meet on January 3, 2007. It was decided that members unable to attend at this time would email Chair Maloukis.
Citizen Communication: Six people signed up for Citizen Communications, Diane Bomar, Linda French, Richard Villa, Carlos Aleman, Audley Blackburn and Pam Scott.
Ms. Bomar voiced her concerns about the locking of the doors in Capital Metro STS sedans. She brought up the point that while the buses have emergency windows, the STS sedans do not. She also felt that Capital Metro should not be held liable for the irrational decisions of passengers.
Mr. Villa described an accident in a personal vehicle which he and his three children were involved. The only way the children were able to get out of the vehicle was for them to go outside and open the doors. If the driver had been the only person in the car and had been incapacitated, there would have been no way for the children to escape the car until EMS arrived. He stated that the windows in the STS sedans are always locked, allowing no means of escape for passengers in the back seat. He expressed his feeling that all STS riders in the back seat are treated as though they could not behave rationally.
Mr. Aleman suggested that the committee and Capital Metro engage in dialog with both riders and employees of transit systems in other cities. He also voiced opposition to the locked door policy, stating that drivers of the bus do not have to exit the vehicle to let passengers out.
Ms. French voiced her long-standing concern about fixed route drivers not securing scooters properly. She has had continuing difficulties with the straps being loose on the floor, so that she slides into the wheel well. She said that she is tired of abuse on fixed route buses.
Mr. Blackburn discussed concerns about the new Disability Fare cards. He says that they do not indicate where the fare boxes are and is concerned about how blind passengers will use them. He also asked that Braille be put on all the bus poles for all routes that stop there. He still has trouble with drivers not wanting to announce their bus number and not using the enunciators. He said that he has missed stops because of this, especially when the driver is using a cell phone. He also reported that he is still having trouble with dog guides and other service animals on sedans. Some service animal users either do not have trained animals or do not maintain good discipline and the animals are often out of control.
Ms. Scott expressed opposition to the locked door policy, feeling criminalized by being locked in. She stated that other public carriers such as the Supershuttle and Yellow Cab do not lock passengers in. She feels it is wrong for Capital Metro to put its concerns over law suits above the needs of their passengers with disabilities, calling these actions unfair and unethical.
Announcements Jerry Doran announced that Nancy Crowether had been honored at the Mayor's Committee. Scott Meyer had also received an award on behalf of CCRC. Jerry received an award on behalf of DACT. Nancy will be recognized at the Board Meeting.
Calendar Issues: The board meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 13 at 4:00. the next meetings of the Special Transit and Fixed Route Subcommittees will be on November 29. The full ACCESS committee will meet on December 6 at 5:00 p.m.
Adjournment.Shelley Brisbin moved that the meeting be adjourned. Judy Watford seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 6:17 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted, Mary Ward. Access secretary
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
2910 East 5th Street | Austin, Texas 78702 | (512) 389-7400
Specific Route Information | (512) 474-1200 | (800) 474-1201