DATE: January 6, 2004 TIME: 6:00 P.M. LOCATION: Capital Metro Transit Store 323 Congress Ave, 1st Floor Members: Rene' Barrera, Mike Waddles, Thomas Gunther, and Ruth Young Associates: Joseph Thornton and Jerry Balaka Staff: Roberto Gonzales, Barbara Chavis, and Dina Vaquera
- Meeting called to order at 6:08 PM.
- January minutes tabled, not a quorum. Announcement: Rene stated that there will be a meeting of the
- Customer Care/Amenities - Travis Hausmann
- Upgrade passenger amenities
- Involve the community
- Increase system-wide customer satisfaction
- CSAC Membership - Rene' Barrera
- Rapid Transit Subcommittee - Tepper - Houston Chronicle newspaper distributed regarding an article on their Light Rail system.
- Amenities Subcommittee - Patterson - Covered in presentation.
- Technology Subcommittee - Greenwalt - No Report
- Fixed Routes Subcommittee - Jerry Balaka- Jerry stated that he had a positive experience at the airport on the bus. He stated that he flew in from LA in December and there were 12 people waiting on the bus in the afternoon and he thought this was good because it wasn't a holiday. There was a guy that flew in from Salt Lake City, saw the sign and hopped on the bus. Carl stated that he would like to see the numbers for the Airport Route and David stated that he would like to see the numbers for the Late Night Routes.
- By-law changes - Tepper/Barrera - No Report
- Others -CSAC Membership
- Light Rail Update
- Review of complete amenities for last fiscal year
Travis Hausmann presented the Great Customer Care initiative to CSAC. Great Customer Care is defined as a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach for generating consistent, high quality, and user-friendly products and services across the Capital Metro brand "touch points". What this means is that Capital Metro is trying to raise their quality of service and trying to do this across three or four fields of organization within Capital Metro. The fields of organization are Facilities Design and Construction, Community Connection Program, and within Marketing, Wayfinding and Passenger Information. Capital Metro is trying to bring all three together to make it more integrated. This will be a phased program with an implementation period of approximate 2 ½ to 3 years.
The Great Customer Care focus group put together a consensus of objectives. David asked who was in this group, the chair of the group and if there were questions, who would take them back to the focus group. Travis stated that the focus group consists of in-house members, FD&C, Marketing, and Planning. The chair of the group is Rick L'Amie, and if there are questions from CSAC, Travis stated that he could take them back to the focus group.
Phase one objectives:Amenities were defined as anything that is on the bus system that is there to improve customer satisfaction and rider usage. Examples would be a bus stop marker, litter containers, benches, shelters, landscaping, and lighting. The task and goal of the focus group is to look at the overall system to see what the group can do economically to improve bus stops that by ridership warrant improvement. The cost for improvement could become very expensive. The cost of an amenity item plus engineering cost, multiplied by the number of bus stops on the system, can add up to approximately 3 to 4 thousand dollars. The numbers being used for preliminary estimating purposes would be $10,000 -$12,000 per stop. This would be to put in a shelter, bench, concrete pads, a couple of curb ramps, litter container, and some signage.
David asked if public telephones would be considered an amenity. Travis stated that it would depend on who made the request. David stated that if the customer asked, and Travis stated that he could see it in some cases where this could fall into this category, but he would not see it as a requirement where every bus stop would have public phones based on ridership.
Travis stated that they have been working with the Planning Department to see how many bus stops warrant significant improvement, i.e. shelter, bench, or litter container. Right now the list states that there are approximately 600 -700 such stops. The vast majority are not shelter improvement projects, but bench, litter container, curb ramp, etc. The cost to improve these sights is approximately $10,000 - $12,000 per sight (including engineering). If you do 700 projects at $10,000 the cost would add up to $7 million, which adds up very quickly. Because of this, the projects have to be prioritized. Projects are usually not completed in one year; the most aggressive project could take 2 years and may stretch out to be a 3-year project.
Rene' asked, "In respect to improvements, how is Capital Metro coordinating with the City, because there is a lot of overlapping with curbing gutters, wheelchair ramps, and are you working specifically with the Mr. Le Brock or the Public Works Department?" Travis stated that Capital Metro is working with the Public Works Department and that there is a separate program, Build Greater Austin, which Capital Metro funds money to the City. Build Greater Austin in turn builds sidewalks and curb ramps; they also develop the priority list for the projects in which Capital Metro has input. There is also a separate project called the Quarter Cent Tax Program in which Capital Metro maintains control of the money, but also builds sidewalks and curb ramps. This is coordinated with the City so that there is no overbuilding in a certain area. If CMTA knows that they are going to be doing shelters or some type of amenity in an area, either CMTA or the City can put in sidewalks or curb ramps in to connect.
Rene' stated that the reason he asked the question is that for the 600-700 stops, a lot of the stops are not on a direct path of a major material that the City would be improving. So if the City would spend their money on those major materials, this would give Capital Metro more money to spend on the more indirect routes that need sidewalks for job safety. Travis stated that they always try to do that, and these are "connecter sidewalks" which is approximately 30 to 40 feet, may be 50 feet at the most, and is put in as part of the project. This is also another factor that could quickly run up the cost by installing sidewalks and retainer walls. The lay of the land could affect the cost.
In terms of shelters, there are two styles. One is the typical 7 x 14 elongated shelter, preceding that were the 10 x 10 square type shelter. They have also been given directions from the executive staff to look at prefabricated type shelters. Travis stated that a large percentage of the next round of shelters installed would be of the prefabricated version. This will happen when there is a significant size contract where there is a design packet and a contractor putting these out and there may be about 35 to 40 shelters in that project. The exact style has not been chosen, but there are some people in-house that are looking at the style that would fit Austin and the Capital Metro style. The maintenance is also a consideration.
The goal of the amenities improvement program is to enhance present and future customer riding experiences. The objective is to aggressively construct needed passenger amenities, which will take quite a bit of dollars, which the Board has been made aware of. All the money has not been budgeted, but the Customer Care group hope and expects this to be well received by the Board during the budget process in August or September, maybe sooner, and for the amounts previously discussed.
Carl asked to know how much money the group is looking at for this year. Travis stated that it is they are looking at approximately 200 projects this year, which is close to $2 million dollars. A lot of this will end up in the front-end cost of surveying and engineering.
Rene' asked if the master plan was close to amenities as far as descriptively CMTA is putting out a more comprehensive effort into really going out and modifying and inventorying exactly where these gaps are between the stops? For example, when a major route does not have the schedule information, it may not cost much to fix that but it makes a big difference to the riders if it's not there.
Travis stated that the real driver of the program is ridership, and shelter and bench installation. Other projects will be secondary, such as a bus stop with a bench with no trashcan. A large amount of money was just expended last month by the Board for up to 500 litter containers for this coming fiscal year. This was not just for one lot of 500; it would be on a monthly allotment of 40. New litter containers will be installed as well as replacing old and damaged ones. Maintenance and FD&C have determined that 50% of the installments will be replacing damaged and deteriorated units, and the other 50% will be total new installations.
Rene' asked if CMTA keeps up with how much trash is picked up, not volume wise but which stops, which routes that doesn't have litter put in them. Travis stated that the Maintenance Department would know this because they are the ones who actually do the removal.
David asked if there is any attention given to the consolidations of CMTA and UT Shuttle stops. David stated that there are 3 Capital Metro and 3 UT stops between Woodland and Oltorf, and it seems to him that there should be just 3 bus stops. Dr. Harkins stated that each year UT looks at the passenger count for each stop each year to determine whether or not the stops should be cut back.
Travis stated that passenger information and wayfinding is the last part of the program. David stated that the Westgate stops still look the same. Travis stated that these stops would be addressed in a very significant manner. He also stated that the key person to contact would be Cynthia Lucas. David stated that next month will be a year and the concern regarding the Westgate signage is still going on. Travis stated that if was as easy as someone getting new signs and handing them to him, he would have them out tomorrow. David asked if the schedules could be bolted to the poles. He asked if this is something that will be permanent in two years. Rene' stated that what he is hearing is that there are more details involved. Carl stated that this directional signage was asked for almost a year ago, and that the committee has properly heard this presentation about 10 times in the last two years. Rene' stated that the presentations were separated. Carl stated that they were not separate presentations and wanted to know why they could not get these bus stops built. Rene' stated that what Travis is explaining is that CMTA has a new program which is more comprehensive and is focusing on a way to deliver these services and that there will be 200 more done this year which is progress because there is one more person in Capital Metro to take on the issues directly. Carl stated that CSAC has had these presentations many times and what it seems is that the Authority is dragging their feet at this point in getting these bus stops built.
Travis stated that he has been with the Authority for five months and what he knows is that he was hired specifically to get these projects going. He stated that Capital Metro has taken bids on Thursday for a project that is going to be bus stop accessibility upgrade for 35 bus stops. Carl asked when they could anticipate these bus stops going up. Travis stated that this would go to the Board at the end of January and construction will start late February.
Dr. Harkins stated that he thinks that they are getting lost in the shuffle, where are these bus stops. He stated that from a UT perspective, on their shuttle routes and the majority of the routes outside the campus area where they have large groups and passengers the bus stops have gone on to be built and CMTA has done a very good job. Capital Metro has been working very closely with UT on campus and has put 7 bus stops and shelters on campus since last summer and a program to get more. He stated that when UT talked to them and looking at the Metro stops, at least the shelters, he believes they are well satisfied that the major stops are getting hit. When you get up to a standard when you can start working your way back down, that's a critical piece. They redid the signage on the bus stops and the schedule on the bus stops approximately a year and a half ago. Dr. Harkins stated that he thought this would be a prototype for what Capital Metro would be doing for the rest of the system, and that he does not know where Capital Metro is on this.
Carl asked if this was a separate section of the budget, the UT bus stops versus the rest of the city. Dr. Harkins stated that this is part of the whole amenity package.
David stated that his issue is that if you identify a problem that you need to figure a situation, will they have to wait until enough signs are available to address an issue that is current. Travis stated they would follow up immediately to see what they could do on the interim of the Westgate bus stops. Dr. Harkins stated that going back to Carl's statement; he would call Elaine, John, or whoever was before Travis. They are coming in with a long list of accomplishments over the last year of bus stops that they had done, and it seems to him that there was over 100 or so. Dr. Harkins stated that UT looked at the system when they were trying to figure out where they were and was he surprised at the amount of shelters that already existed on the system and now he's impressed about how many shelters Capital Metro has out there now. Travis stated that there are 450 and Carl stated that these shelters were already there. Carl stated that he know the bus stops that he sees that's been sticking out like a sore thumb and there's nothing that's been done and there's nothing been done. He stated that he could be getting into more questions as to whether the money was rotating every year into a fund for these bus stops and if so it should be growing more than the $7 million dollars from the last time when they first started the presentation until now.
Dr. Harkins stated that he thought there was about 2 million dollars a year for these amenities. Travis stated that this is what's in the budget now. Carl stated that they have been hearing this for two years so it should be 4 million dollars. Travis stated that this has been the same two years that it has not been up each of those years.
Rene' stated that the bus stop on Oltorf and S. 1st has been improved and there were retainer walls added near Oltorf and South Congress. There are lots of examples like that. Travis stated that when he was talking about the 35 bus stop accessibility projects that would be starting early March, in addition, CMTA has just started a design contract with a local engineer firm for the design of 40 shelters at 40 specific sights. They will then come behind that with another grouping. Carl asked what was wrong with the shelter at Lake Austin Blvd. Travis stated that he was not familiar with this shelter. It was stated that this shelter would not be used and Carl requested to know why Capital Metro needed an architectural design firm when they had one sitting at Lake Austin Blvd. Travis stated that the firm would not be to design a shelter type but to design where a shelter would be installed at a given bus stop.
Barbara asked if it would be helpful if Capital Metro had information brought forward on the history of comments made in the last year. Rene' stated to do last year's amenities improvements that were completed by staff, and where the locations are.
David stated that they would definitely like feedback that the telephones are on the list of amenities. Barbara stated that they had a presentation that was brought back to this group and this group had some input on defining what amenities should be at the stops. Telephones were on the list, but Barbara stated that she does not believe there was a disclaimer stating that there would be telephones at every location but certainly it would be an amenity.
Travis stated that he feels that Capital Metro is going to aggressively plan, design, and construct amenities this year. They have two major things going, there are potential things going on around the UT campus, and other design contracts later in the year. When Capital Metro gets to the end of this year and compares it to the previous year, it will be quite substantial what has been done for both the previous years.
Rene' asked if they could get the Great Customer Care Power Point presentation for the meeting. Travis stated that this is a presentation that Rick L'Amie did and that he could probably contact Rick and get it from Rick.
Joseph made a general historical comment that he remembers the days when they didn't have the listings of routes at bus stops, and whatever complaint that some of them may have about the certain pace of certain things; they are certainly a lot better off than they were then.
Rene' asked if CMTA had some kind of guiding principle to help focus your efforts into earning this ridership, what kind of bus stops or signage lining the whole damage and looking up to see what is needed. Travis stated that he is relying on in-house input data (inventory) and Customer Call Reports, and Neighborhood Associations, and the Adopt-A-Stop Program.
Rene' directed comments towards the efforts of Capital Metro and the Board to allow multi disciplinary efforts where you would have someone from the public like CSAC involved in the focus group deliberation. This could be an external customer as well as an internal customer. Even though you are talking about growth, this will be really important when you have cross-functional high quality results.
BJ stated that according to the budget mentioned and the certain number of projects that will be dealt with and the change in the shelter styles, are the styles going to change while you are working on the projects you have now? Travis stated that they are looking at this, and the second big project, there will probably be 40 shelters installed. He stated that he would think that some percentage of this might be a new style of shelter. BJ wanted to know if any one stop would get attention twice before another stop gets it once. Travis stated that he does not think so, that it does not make a lot of sense to hit a stop two to three times that they would want to spread it out.
David stated that they received e-mail from Roberto regarding the prototype and wanted to know if this has been determined. Travis stated that this has not been finalized, that it rolls into this umbrella program the Great Customer Care.
Rene' asked that the stop on Airport near the Housing Authority be looked at to make more convenient for customers to board because there is bus stop on an incline going down and there is a guardrail where customers have to step over it to get on the bus.
Rene' stated that he asked membership to be placed on the agenda because they are bound to lose members and gain new members. He stated that he has seen familiar faces and always like to see new more come in.
Joseph stated that he is still thinking about becoming a member, but he is trying to decide if he is going to do more than just come to the meetings.
Rene' stated that one of the suggestions is that there are a lot of organizations like the Downtown Alliance and UT groups that they may be able to attract membership from. He stated that they would have to find a mechanism to communicate or connect to these various organizations to get new members or different organizations. Maybe they could alternate with the City Council, there are a lot of people in that group that have transportation and transit interest.
David asked what happened to working with the community groups and going after the bus riders because maybe these neighborhood groups and youth groups will have the number of population for these kind of people. David stated that the way he got involved with CSAC was through a sign on the bus. Maybe they could identify 20 routes that these signs could be placed on.
Rene' stated that newspaper publications, small print ads, CMTA "On the Move" publication, website, and flyers. Rene' stated also any meetings that Capital Metro sponsors, forums, and the first main meeting of Saltillo; they should have an opportunity to hand people flyers of CSAC and MISAC. Carl stated that they would need to put together a flyer. Rene' stated that the Marketing Department could probably push the flyers through.
Joseph asked if they were in any danger in losing members because of the term limits. Rene' stated that they would need to have a core group that will need to be present. BJ asked if the term would need to be staggered. Rene' stated that they would, and that if anyone had any fresh ideas and perspective and he would like to see some new members come in which is part of the term. Rene' stated that also think that new membership is also healthy for the success of their endeavor.
Joseph stated that members that were on CSAC several years ago, their term was over at the end of 2000 and it was about a year or so ago before CSAC got back on its feet.
Rene' stated that these were all good examples. Barbara suggested, "Each One Bring One", which is very basic and fundamental. Rene' stated that the times that he seen a good person that was interested, they were also hostile about missing the bus or something like that. He stated that he did not want that to be the driver because he wanted to be interested in going to more than one meeting instead of a being a single issue kind of person.
Subcommittee ReportsNew/Other Business: Update of ridership numbers for the Airport Route and Late Night Bus Routes.
Action Items: Complete Westgate Signage Review of shelters for the extension on route #37 Update why there is no bus stop on #37 NB across from Hancock Center
Future Agenda Items:
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
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