[00:00:01]
YOU.THANKS FOR JOINING US FOR THIS.
A SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING OF THE CAP METRO BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
I'LL CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17TH, AND THE TIME IS 10 OH SEVEN.
AS ALWAYS, BEFORE WE GET STARTED A REMINDER THAT, UM, BEST PRACTICES TO KEEP YOUR MICROPHONE MUTED, UNLESS YOU'RE ACTUALLY SPEAKING.
AND THEN PLEASE REMEMBER TO MUTE YOURSELF AGAIN WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED ALSO, UH, AS HAS BEEN OUR PROCEDURE FOR THE LAST YEAR WHEN OUR VOTING ITEMS COME UP, I'LL BE ASKING BOARD MEMBERS FOR A VERBAL VOTE OF URINATE FOR EACH ITEM INDIVIDUALLY, UH, BOARD MEMBERS.
I'VE ALSO BEEN ASKED TO REMIND YOU AGAIN, THAT IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH TEXAS LAWS ON REMOTE MEETINGS, WE'LL NEED YOU TO STAY VISIBLE BY LEAVING YOUR CAMERA ON AT ALL TIMES POSSIBLE.
IN PARTICULAR, WE'LL NEED TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOU WHEN YOU'RE CASTING A VOTE.
[I. Oath of Office]
TODAY WILL BE TO FORMERLY CONFIRM OUR NEWEST BOARD MEMBER BY ASKING HER TO TAKE OUR OATH OF OFFICE.WE'RE VERY PLEASED TO HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER LESLIE POOL JOIN US THIS MONTH.
SHE OF COURSE HAS BIG SHOES TO FILL WITH THE DEPARTURE OF VICE-CHAIR GARZA, BUT WE'RE VERY GLAD TO HAVE HER WITH US AND, UH, BRINGING HER ENERGY AND CONCERN FOR THE, UH, CITIZENS HERE, UH, TO OUR BOARD.
SO, UH, WELCOME A BOARD, UH, TO MAKE THIS, UH, UH, OFFICIAL, UH, UH, I WILL NOW ASK YOU TO REPEAT OUR OATH, UH, AFTER I HAVE, UH, STATED IT.
I, LESLIE POOLE DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR.
I, LESLIE POOLE DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF BOARD MEMBER, THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF BOARD MEMBER FOR THE CAPITOL METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF TEXAS FOR THE CAPITOL METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF TEXAS AND WELL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY AND WILL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND, PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF THIS STATE.
THAT WAS FOR OUR NEWEST OR MEMBER.
AND YEAH, I'LL PASS THE MIC TO YOU IN CASE YOU WANT TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS ON THIS, A HAPPY OCCASION.
JUST, UM, THAT THIS IS KIND OF THE CULMINATION OF MY MORE THAN SIX YEARS ON THE CITY COUNCIL, SECOND FULL FOUR YEAR TERM, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUING THE GOOD WORK THAT WE'VE LAID THE GROUND, LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR, WITH THIS BOARD AND THIS COUNCIL SINCE 2015.
AND OF COURSE I'VE LIVED IN AUSTIN SINCE 1980, SO THAT'S NOW 41 YEARS AND IT'S A HECK OF A LONG TIME AND IT PREDATES CAP METRO IN THIS ITERATION.
AND I'M REALLY, REALLY GLAD TO BE PART OF THIS NEW FAMILY AND TO JOIN ALL OF YOU, REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, VERY GLAD TO HAVE YOU WELCOME ABOARD.
AND NOW I'D LIKE TO PASS THE MICROPHONE OVER TO COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN FOR A SPECIAL MENTION.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, TO HAVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE, IF WE COULD, UH, FOR THE MEMORY OF BERTHA MEANS, UH, SHE WAS A COMMUNITY LEADER AND ENTREPRENEUR FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.
UH, SHE WAS A TEACHER, UH, SHE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN THE SCHOOL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN TRYING TO INTEGRATE THE AUSTIN SCHOOLS, UH, WAS, WAS SUCCESSFUL THERE AND, AND, UH, AND BECAME AN ENTREPRENEUR OWNING, UH, HARLEM CAB, WHICH ULTIMATELY BECAME AUSTIN CAB.
A LIFETIME MEMBER OF THE NAACP, UH, WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD, UH, OLD AND, UH, WAS JUST A COMMUNITY JEW AND WILL BE MISSED IF, IF WE COULD JUST HAVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE, UH, IN HER MEMORY.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN AND OUR CONDOLENCES TO MS. MEANS FAMILY AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THE LIFE THAT SHE LIVED AND WHAT SHE MEANT TO OUR COMMUNITY.
[II. Public Comment]
NEXT STEP, WE WILL TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT.WE HAVE TWO SPEAKERS SIGNED UP TO JOIN US TODAY.
AS ALWAYS, WHEN I READ YOUR NAME, PLEASE UNMUTE YOUR PHONE AND YOU'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK.
[00:05:01]
MISS FIRST STEP WILL BE, UH, MISS, UH, ZENOBIA JOSEPH IS JOSEPH, ARE YOU WITH US? THANK YOU.MY COMMENTS TODAY ARE SPECIFICALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF SAFETY, AND I SPECIFICALLY JUST WANTED TO QUOTE A FARMER TRANSPORTATION, SECRETARY ANTHONY FOX, WHERE HE MENTIONED THERE'S AN OLD MAXIM IN TRANSPORTATION CALLED DAT DECIDE ADVOCATE DEFEND.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HE SAID IN 2016.
AND SO I JUST WANT TO CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION ONCE AGAIN, THE NORTH LAMAR PEDESTRIAN SAFETY STUDY, WHICH WAS FROM 2009, AND SPECIFICALLY, I'M SPEAKING ABOUT THIS BECAUSE ON MARCH 11TH, 2021, I ACTUALLY TESTIFIED BEFORE THE MOBILITY AND THE NEW COUNCIL MEMBER MCKINSEY KELLY ACTUALLY PROACTIVELY WROTE AND THANKED ME FOR REMINDING THE COMMITTEE ABOUT A GENTLEMAN WHO WAS KILLED IN HIS WHEELCHAIR IN 2016.
AND SO ON COUNCIL MEMBER POOL DISTRICT, THE WALNUT CREEK METROPOLITAN PARK GAVE OUT WATER AFTER THE WINTER STORM.
AND AS I SAT THERE, I TOOK A FEW PICTURES BECAUSE THERE'S A MID-BLOCK STOP.
AND AS YOU MAY RECALL, FROM THIS 2009 STUDY, MID-BLOCK STOPS ARE WHERE APPROXIMATELY 70% OF PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES OCCUR.
THAT'S ON PAGE 75 OF THE REPORT.
THIS WAS A REPORT THAT WAS COMMISSIONED BY TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IN COLLABORATION WITH CAPITAL METRO, THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE.
AND I KNOW SUBSEQUENTLY YOU HAVE CREATED A SAFETY PLAN, BUT I WANT TO CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT PROJECT CONNECT ALSO TALKS ABOUT REDUCING THE FATALITIES.
AND THERE'S ALSO THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ROADS TO ZERO BY 2050, BUT YOU HAVE REFUSED AND I'M ASKING YOU ONCE AGAIN TO MOVE THE MID-BLOCK STOP THAT'S AT CHINATOWN STOP ID FIVE EIGHT FIVE SEVEN TWO, THE CVS PHARMACY AREA, IT'S ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE STOP.
SO IF YOU ARE STANDING AT THAT INTERSECTION OR NORTH LAMAR, WHEN ROUTE THREE 92 BUS APPROACHES THAT EIGHT OH ONE IS OFTEN APPROACHING THE LIGHT AND THEN THE INDIVIDUALS RUN AND HAVE TO CROSS MID-BLOCK.
AND THE AREA THAT I JUST MENTIONED AS FAR AS THE METROPOLITAN PARK, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THERE'S AN APARTMENT COMPLEX ACROSS THE STREET.
AND MR. KEN CARTWRIGHT CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE IS A SILVER BENCH THAT'S RIGHT THERE, A SHELTER AS WELL, WHICH INCENTIVIZES PEOPLE TO CROSS MID BLOCK.
AND SO I'M ASKING YOU TO DO MORE THAN JUST TALK ABOUT SAFETY, BUT TO ACTUALLY IMPROVE THE SAFETY CONDITIONS FOR US.
AND LASTLY, A BREAKER IN NORTH WIND BREAKER AND BURNET.
I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT I AM ASKING YOU ONCE AGAIN, TO RESTORE THE ONE SEED, RIGHT ON THREE 92 TO THE ARBORETUM, BECAUSE IT'S OVER 30,000 VEHICLES PER DAY, THAT THE TRANSIT DEPENDENT RIDERS HAVE TO CROSS AND IT'S UNNECESSARY.
SO I THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO MAKE MY COMMENTS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
BEFORE WE GET TO OUR ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATES, I JUST WANT TO SAY A QUICK WORD.
UM, SINCE, UH, THIS IS OUR MEETING, UH, FIRST MEETING AFTER THE POLAR VORTEX HIT AUSTIN, JUST TO SHOUT OUT TO ALL OF OUR COLLEAGUES AT CAP METRO FOR THE GREAT WORK THAT THEY DID, UM, UH, DOING EVERYTHING THEY POSSIBLY COULD DO TO GET PEOPLE MOVED AROUND IN THAT REALLY TOUGH ENVIRONMENT AND BEING A SOURCE OF COMFORT AND SAFETY AND, AND, UH, WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.
IT WAS A ONCE AGAIN, AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE HOW MUCH WE MEAN TO THE COMMUNITY AND HOW, UH, OUR FOLKS WERE ABLE TO PIVOT.
AND RE-IMAGINE THE MISSION AND, UH, REDEPLOY OUR RESOURCES, UH, TO HELP FOLKS.
SO JUST A QUICK SHOUT OUT TO ALL OF OUR FOLKS, ALWAYS PROUD TO SEE HOW WE RESPOND WHEN CONDITIONS GET TOUGH.
AND, UH, UH, THIS ONE IS WELL DESERVED.
[III. Advisory Committee Updates]
WE'LL HAVE OUR ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATES.FIRST IS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
MR. BANKS, ARE YOU WITH US? I AM EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE WEARING TODAY.
THIS IS JUST FOR YOU, CAUSE IT'S ST.
I HAVE MY GREEN AND I HAVE MY GREEN SHOES, WHICH YOU CAN'T SEE CAUSE I'M NOT THERE, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU SAW MY SHOES.
UM, GOOD MORNING, CHAIRMAN COOPER,
[00:10:01]
PRESIDENT CEO, RANDY CLARK BOARD MEMBERS, HAPPY ST.IT WAS A JOINT MEETING KINDA WITH ACCESS AND C-SECTION WE'RE DOING FEBRUARY RIGHT FEBRUARY.
UM, SO THEY HAD THEIR MEETING WITH THE APTA PEER REVIEW PANEL, AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, DEPARTMENT WERE LOOKING TO CREATE.
AND SO THEY WANTED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THEM TO SEE, UH, WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
SO IT CAN BE INCLUDED IN YOUR PEER REVIEW, WHICH YOU ALL WILL BE HEARING, I GUESS, NEXT MONTH.
UH, AND SO THERE WASN'T REALLY AN OFFICIAL MEETING, UM, FOR THEM THAT WE USE THAT TIME WHEN THEY WOULD NORMALLY MEET TO HAVE THAT TIME WITH, WITH APTA.
UH, I THINK AFTER THE PEER REVIEW PANEL WAS, WAS, IT WAS GOOD TO TALK TO THEM, HAPPY TO TALK TO THEM.
AND THEN, AND THE CONVERSATION WENT WELL.
I THINK THEY PROVIDED SOME GREAT INFORMATION, SOME GREAT FEEDBACK AND SOME GREAT INSIGHT, UH, IN PARTICULAR WITH THE ACCESS COMMITTEE.
I THINK THE ONLY DOWNSIDE IS AS WITH EVERYTHING WE'RE DOING LATELY WITH TECHNOLOGY, THERE'S ALWAYS SOME HICCUPS, SO EVERYBODY WASN'T ABLE TO JOIN FOR SOME WEIRD REASON, UH, UNFORTUNATELY, BUT WE KNOW THERE'LL BE STILL MORE CHANCES FOR THEM TO TALK TO AT LEAST CAP METRO ABOUT THE UPCOMING SAFETY DEPARTMENT OR WHATEVER WE WILL BE CALLING IT.
UM, AND SO THERE'LL BE ENGAGED IN THAT WAY AS WELL, BUT OVERALL, UH, IT WENT VERY WELL.
AND, UH, THANK YOU FOR CELEBRATING THE IRISH HERITAGE KITCHEN.
UM, UH, MR. BANKS, I HAD, UH, UH, LET'S SEE.
SO YOU WERE REPORTING ON THE RECENT, UH, ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
SO CAN YOU, UH, JUST SHARE WITH THE BOARD WHAT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEES DID TERMS OF SELECTING THEIR REPRESENTATIVES TO THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE? SURE.
THEY, THAT THEY DID THAT FOR THE MARCH MEETINGS.
SO THAT WAS GOING TO BE A PART OF THE MARCH UPDATE, BUT I CAN DO IT TODAY IF, IF YOU WOULD LIKE, UM, YEAH, YEAH, THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL IF YOU DON'T MIND.
UM, FOR THE, THE CAC MEMBERS, UM, OMAR, UH, I'M A MESS, HIS LAST NAME OF, CAUSE IT'S NOT IN FRONT OF ME FAULKNER WAS SELECTED FROM THE ACCESS COMMITTEE TO BE A PART OF THE CAC.
UM, I THINK HE'S GOING TO BE A GREAT ADDITION TO THE CAC.
UH, HE HAS A COUPLE OF DAUGHTERS WHO ARE, I BELIEVE HIS TWO DAUGHTERS WHO ARE IN WHEELCHAIRS.
UM, AND SO HE'S VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR SAFETY AND THAT'S HOW HE CAME TO BE A PART OF ACCESS COMMITTEE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR SAFETY BEING DROPPED OFF.
AND SO THEY DID SELECT HIM, UH, FROM C-SAT IT WAS, UH, DAVID SHAPIRO, WHO IS A REALTOR HERE IN TOWN.
UH, AND I THINK HE WOULD ALSO BE A GREAT ADDITION TO THE CAC.
UH, THEY BOTH WERE EXCITED TO, OR ARE EXCITED TO PARTICIPATE, UH, WITH THE COMMITTEE.
UH, AND SO, UH, I'VE SAID THEIR NAMES ALREADY TO, UM, TO JACKIE NIERENBERG SO SHE CAN BE IN CONTACT AND SHE'S ALREADY CONTACTED WITH THAT CONTACT WITH THEM.
UH, AND SO I THINK THEY'RE EXCITED TO SERVE AND THEY WILL HAVE SOME GREAT MEMBERS FROM REPRESENTING ACCESS AND CC.
THANK YOU, MR. BANKS FOR, UH, BEING A RAY OF SUNSHINE FOR US.
ONCE AGAIN, I TRY TO BRING SOME JOY TO THE DAY VERY WELL.
MR. I JUST, JUST WANT TO CLARIFY, UH, PERMIT MR. MR. BANKS, NEVERMIND THAT THAT'S, UH, THE, THE COMMUNITY REP COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES, THAT'S GOING TO BE FOR THE, UH, COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, THAT'S GOING TO HELP ADVISE HOW TO, UH, TO, TO SPEND THE $300 MILLION FOR THE AUNTIE THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT FUNDING MONEY THERE.
AND GLAD THAT, UH, THAT, THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO GO AHEAD AND, AND GET MOVING WITH, UH, GETTING THOSE APPOINTMENTS TAKEN CARE OF.
[IV. Board Committee Updates]
UH, NEXT STEP, UH, WE'LL TAKE OUR COMMITTEE, UH, MORE COMMITTEE UPDATES.OUR LAST COMMITTEE MEETINGS WERE WAY BACK, UH, ON FEBRUARY THE 10TH BEFORE WE KNEW WHAT A POLAR VORTEX WAS.
AND, UH, UH, SO OUR CHAIRS WILL HAVE TO REACH BACK A LITTLE BIT.
AND IN ADDITION TO OUR USUAL OPERATIONS, FINANCE AUDIT AND CAMPO UPDATES, UH, MEMBER STRATTON WILL GIVE US AN UPDATE AND JUST A MINUTE ON THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD ACTIVITIES.
SO, UH, CHAIR TREVELYAN, IF YOU'RE STILL WITH US, WE'LL ASK FOR THE OPERATIONS PLANNING AND SAFETY COMMITTEE UPDATE.
YEAH, YOUR, UH, YOUR VIDEO'S OFF AND WE HATE TO MISS YOUR REQUEST.
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? UM, I MIGHT HAVE TO GET OFF AND GET BACK ON.
[00:15:01]
SEE HIM FINE.IT MAY JUST BE A MICROSOFT TEAMS ISSUE ON YOUR END.
HE'S ON MY SCREEN, SECONDARY GET OFF AND GET BACK ON KAREN TOGETHER MODE.
AND THAT MIGHT SHOW EVERYONE THAT'S WORKING BETTER.
IT SEEMS THAN GALLERY, UH, STRANGE PRESENTATION, BUT, UH, THAT DOES WORK.
ALL RIGHT, THEN I WON'T GET THEM ALL LOOKING GOOD.
UH, WE HAD THE MEETING OF THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
UH, WE HAD A MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY THE 10TH AT 1230.
UH, WE HAD, UH, FOUR AGENDA ITEMS IN ADDITION TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, WE, WE APPROVED THE MINUTES WE PLACED FOR SOME REASON THE GALLERY IS NOT WORKING OR WE GOT FEEDBACK SOMEWHERE.
SO SHOULD I TRY TO GET OUT AND GET BACK IN OR, OR, UM, OKAY.
UM, ITEMS NUMBER TWO, AND NUMBER THREE WERE PLACED ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER FOUR, UH, WAS, UH, CONTINUED AS AN ACTION ITEM.
UH, THE DISCUSSION ITEM THAT WE WERE SCHEDULED FOR, UH, WAS NOT, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO CONDUCT THAT BUSINESS, UH, THAT WILL BE DONE AT A LATER DATE.
THE CUSTOMER TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS UPDATE.
UH, SO A RELATIVELY EFFICIENT MEETING.
I THINK WE WERE OUT OF THE MEETING BY ONE 31, THAT CONCLUDES PRESENTATION.
CHAIR MITCHELL WITH FINANCE AUDIT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE.
CHAIRMAN, UH, CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME? YES.
UH, WE MET, UH, THE FINANCE AUDIT ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETINGS MET ON FEBRUARY 10TH.
THE ONLY ACTION ITEM WAS APPROVAL OF THE, UH, NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBER, UH, COMMITTEE MEETING OF MINUTES.
UH, AND WE HAD A PRESENTATION REGARDING, UH, CAPITAL METRO'S FINANCIAL CONDITION, UH, AND VARIOUS AUDIT, UH, REPORTS TO THE AUDIT COMMITTEE THAT BUDGET FOR THE, FOR THE MEETING.
THEY'LL TAKE A SHORT, UH, THANK YOU, CHAIR MITCHELL.
UH, HOW ABOUT A CAMPO UPDATE? CAMPO MATT ON MARCH EIGHT, UH, UH, MINUTES WERE APPROVED, UH, CAMPO AUTHORIZED THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO BEGIN TO NEGOTIATE WITH A TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT, UH, THAT GONE THROUGH A SELECTION PROCESS.
UH, UH, AND THEN, UH, WE TOOK, UH, DISCUSSED ACTION ON FEDERAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE TARGETS, UH, JUST ANNUAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES.
AND THEN WE REVIEWED, UH, THE UNIFIED PLANNING PROGRAM, UH, VARIOUS AMENDMENTS THAT WOULD BE MADE TO THAT PLAN DURING THIS YEAR.
OTHER THAN THAT, WE HAD, UH, UH, SOME INFORMATION ON BYLAWS AND ETHICS REPORTS GIVEN THEM.
THANK YOU, MEMBER MITCHELL AND CHAIRMAN TONIGHT.
CAN I ASK A QUESTION? GO AHEAD.
HI, UH, TERRY, DO YOU MIND ELABORATING, WHAT IS THE, UH, THE TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT, UH, CONSULTANT? WHAT'S THE WHAT'S CAMPOS PLAN WITH THAT? WHAT WHAT'S THE CONSULTANT GOING TO DO? AND WE'LL ELABORATION ON TRANSPORTATION, DEMAND MANAGEMENT, IF YOU DON'T MIND FOR THEM GALLERY, UH, IT IS A FUN, UH, IT IS AN ODD, UM, UH, IT'S A TOOL, UH, THAT, UM, IT'S BASICALLY GIVING CREDIT TO MEMBERS OF CAMPO FOR MONIES THEY'VE EXPENDED ON TRANSPORTATION MATTERS AND I'M, I'M, I'M, I'M MISSTATING IT, IT IS NOT IT'S, UH, UH, I HAD AN EARLY CAMPER BOARD MEMBER EXPLAINED IT TO ME AS, AS FAKE CASH, BUT IT GOES TOWARD IF YOU'RE WORKING ON A PARTICULAR PROGRAM, A PROJECT, AND THEN THEY WANT A LOCAL PARTICIPATION, THE MONEY YOU SPENT ON THAT IS CREDITED TOWARD IT, EVEN THOUGH IT MAY BE, HAS BEEN SPENT IN OTHER MEANS OR OTHER MANNERS.
AND IT'S, IT GIVES PEOPLE CREDIT TO, UM, GIVES PEOPLE CREDIT FOR THOSE EXPENDITURES, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT EXACTLY CASH GOING INTO THE PROJECT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
UH, AND IT'S, IT'S, UM, UM, I'M MISSTATING
[00:20:01]
IT.UH, LET ME, LET ME PULL THE REPORTS AND I'LL SEND THAT TO, SO THAT YOU CAN GET, IT DOESN'T SEEM TO AFFECT, UH, THE DAY-TO-DAY, UH, DECISION-MAKING PROCESS.
IT'S JUST CREDITS FOR, UH, ACTIONS THAT ARE BEING TAKEN.
I MEAN, I MAY BE MISSTATING THAT, SO, YEAH, I APPRECIATE IT.
UM, REMEMBER STRATTON, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET, GIVE US THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD UPDATE, PLEASE? YOU JUST MUTED YOURSELF.
YOU THINK BY NOW I'D HAVE THIS DONE.
IT'S LIKE, IT'S LIKE PULLING IT'S LIKE THAT OLD, UH, UH, FAR SIDE CARTOON WHERE THE KIDS GOING INTO THE MIDVALE SCHOOL FOR GIFTED AND THE SIGN THE DOOR SAYS PULL, AND HE'S PUSHING IT SOMETIMES.
I SWEAR YOU THINK I'D HAVE THIS BY NOW? UM, WELL, IT IS, IT IS MY HONOR AND PRIVILEGE TO BE INTO, TO BE GIVING THE UPDATE OF, UH, THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IS A CAP METRO'S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE ATP BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
THIS IS THE UPDATE OFFICIALLY FOR ACTIVITIES IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY.
UM, THIS AFTERNOON AT 3:00 PM IS ATPS MARCH BOARD MEETING, AND, UH, WE WILL BE TAKING SOME ACTION ITEMS THERE, AND I AM HAPPY TO REPORT BACK TO THE BOARD IN TWO WEEKS AT OUR OFFICIAL MARCH BOARD MEETING AS TO WHAT ACTIONS WE'RE TAKING THERE AND WHAT HAS TRANSPIRED AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
UM, BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW, WHEN I'M ABOUT TO TALK ABOUT IS WHAT HAS TRANSPIRED IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY AND INTO FEBRUARY, UM, FIRST OFF.
UM, AND I'LL JUST NOTE THAT, THAT, THAT KIND OF OUR PLAN GOING FORWARD, UH, BEEN WORKING WITH CAP METRO OR WITH, EXCUSE ME, ATP STAFF ON TRYING TO DRAFT UP A ONE TO TWO PAGE KIND OF HIGHLIGHT PIECE, UH, TO, TO PROVIDE TO, UH, MEMBERS OF THE, THE W THE CAP METRO BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO JUST, UH, TO, TO PUT IN THE BOARD PACKET TO JUST KIND OF GIVE YOU SOME MORE DRILLED DOWN DATA AND INFORMATION, UH, THAT, THAT YOU CAN LOOK AT AND REFERENCE ON A, MORE, TO GET GREATER INFORMATION.
UH, I'M HAPPY TO THEN HIT THE HIGHLIGHTS.
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, WE CAN DRILL DOWN FURTHER INTO IT.
UH, BUT JUST TO OPEN UP, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, SINCE JANUARY 25TH, UH, ATP AND CAP, METRO TEAMS HAVE DONE, UH, OVER A DOZEN VIRTUAL AND COMMUNITY MEETINGS IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH, UH, HAVE OVER, HAS HAD OVER 3000 PEOPLE ENGAGED IN THOSE, THESE HAVE BEEN, UH, SELF-PACED BILINGUAL VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSES TO TALK ABOUT THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINE.
AND THESE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK.
UH, THESE MEETINGS HAVE, UH, BEEN VIRTUAL AND TARGETED ENGAGEMENTS AND ARE CRITICAL PART OF THE NEPA PROCESS.
THAT AGAIN, IS PART OF THE THAT'S THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT STUDY, UH, ATP STAFF WILL CONTINUE TO INVOLVE COMMUNITIES ABOUT, UH, THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS ON THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINES AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE DOING, INCLUDING THE, UH, THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT CORRIDORS TO DATE OVER 83,000 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN.
AND I SAY TO DATE, THAT WAS, UH, I BELIEVE AS OF THIS WEEK, UH, ATP, AS I, UH, HAVE BEEN FOND OF SAYING, AND I'VE HEARD OTHER STAFF MEMBERS SAYING WE ARE A SIN, UH, OSTENSIBLY, AND, UH, BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, STARTING UP A, UH, UH, THIS IS A NEW GOVERNMENT STARTUP, UH, BUSINESS, UH, FOR, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES.
AND SO WITH THAT, UH, EARLY ON ATP, UH, AND THANKS TO RANDY'S LEADERSHIP, ALSO SERVING AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ATP THAT HAS, UH, BEGUN THE HIRING PROCESS AND CONTINUING AT A RAPID PACE, TRYING TO GET, GET THE STAFF UP TO, TO SUPPORT THIS OPERATION SO FAR, WE'RE PROUD TO WELCOME AND PUT THE SENIOR TEAM IN PLACE.
KC BUREAU RACK IS GOING TO SERVE AS THE GENERAL COUNSEL AND CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, UH, GREG CANAL.
SHE CAME OVER FROM DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE, GREG CANALY, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER.
HE CAME OVER FROM, UH, THE CITY OF BOSTON AFTER YEARS SERVING AS THE DEPUTY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER THERE.
UH, DAVE COUCH, UH, WHO'S BEEN OVER WITH CAP.
METRO IS NOW TRANSFERRING OVER TO SERVE WITH, UH, CA WITH, UH, ATP, UH, PETER MULLEN, UH, IS GOING TO BE CHIEF OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN.
UH, WE'VE GOT JOHN ROWAN, WHO'S A DEPUTY PROGRAM OFFICER JOINING AND WORKING WITH DAVE COUCH.
WE ARE ROBBINS, UH, WE'LL WORK AS THE SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE ORANGE LINE, UH, UNDER DAVID COUCH, ALVIN LIVINGSTONE, SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR THE BLUE LINE, ALSO WORKING UNDER DAVID COUCH.
AND THEN DAVE, UH, SEC WILL BE SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR VEHICLES AND SYSTEMS ALSO WORKING UNDER DAVID THE COUCH.
[00:25:01]
BEEN A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY ON RAMPING UP AND GETTING IN PLACE, NOT ONLY THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE THAT THE CITY OF BOSTON AND CAP METRO PUT INTO THE ORIGINAL, UH, INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENT, UH, CREATING ATP ASSOCIATED WITH THE, AS, AS ANNE BROUGHT UP EARLIER, THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, IN ADDITION TO A SERIES OF WHAT WE CALL TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES THAT ARE GOING TO BE OTHER COMMUNITY, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE GOING TO BE BROUGHT ON BOARD.AND THEN FINALLY SOME, UH, WHAT WE CALL STAFF WORK GROUPS.
UM, SO CONVERSATIONS WITH PROGRAM PARTNERS ARE CONTINUING TO ADVANCE THE BALL DOWN THE ROAD ON THIS.
SO APPLICATIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE ARE NOW AVAILABLE AND UP ONLINE ON THE PROJECT CONNECT TO GET INVOLVED WEBSITE ON THE APPLICATION WINDOW, I BELIEVE JUST RECENTLY CLOSED AT THE END OF FEBRUARY.
UM, AND ADDITION TO THAT, UH, THESE OTHER CRITICAL COMMITTEES, UH, THAT, THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING, I'LL SAY THAT IN THE FEBRUARY BOARD MEETING, WE HAD PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THESE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES AND THEN THE STAFF WORK GROUPS.
AND AS I MENTIONED EARLIER AT THIS MEETING THIS AFTERNOON, THE, THE POSTED MARCH ATP MEETING WHERE WE'VE GOT ON THE AGENDA TO FURTHER DISCUSS, AND I BELIEVE, UH, IS ONE OF THE ACTION ITEMS IS TO, UH, FINALLY IS TO OFFICIALLY, UH, DISCUSS AND CONSIDER THE CHARTERS FOR THESE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
UH, ONE OF THEM IS ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION.
ANOTHER IS FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND THEN A PLANNING SUSTAINABILITY EQUITY AND, UH, DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
THOSE ARE ALL GOING TO BE, AGAIN, THAT, THAT WE'LL, WE'LL PUT OUT APPLICATIONS WHERE, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY CAN HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED AND WILL BE VETTED BY AN APPLICATIONS PUT FORWARD.
AND THE, THE ACTUAL ATP BOARD WILL, UH, WE'LL SELECT THESE MEMBERS TO, TO HELP ADVISE US ON THESE VARIOUS ASPECTS, UH, WITH AN EYE ALSO TO, UM, UH, LOOKING AT AND, AND GIVING OPPORTUNITIES TO THE INDIVIDUALS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL AND, UH, CAP METRO HAD, UH, PUT FORWARD AS RECOMMENDED BY THE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE, UH, THAT, THAT I THINK IT WAS, UH, THE OTHER, I BELIEVE THERE WERE, UH, I THINK 12 OTHER MEMBERS THAT WERE SPECIFICALLY NAMED THAT, UH, THAT THE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE SAID, HEY, WE BELIEVE THAT THESE WOULD BE EXCELLENT INDIVIDUALS AS RESOURCES FOR THE ATP LOOKING FORWARD, GOING INTO THE FUTURE.
WE WANT TO TRY TO GET THOSE INDIVIDUALS TO, TO SERVE ON THESE VARIOUS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
SO, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE'VE GOT SOME WORK GROUPS.
THESE ARE GOING TO BE STAFF WORK GROUPS, UH, BEHIND THE SCENES.
UH, WE GOT A DOWNTOWN WORK GROUP, A SOCO WORK GROUP, GUADALUPE WORK GROUP PROJECT, AND THEN, UH, AN ORANGE LINE CORRIDOR WHERE A GROUP BLUE LINE CORRIDOR, AN AGENCY TECHNICAL ADVISORY WORK GROUP.
THAT'S GOING TO BE KIND OF WITH CAP METRO STAFF, ATP STAFF, AND CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF.
AND THEN ALSO THE PROJECT CONNECT AMBASSADORS NETWORK, WHICH IS A COMBINATION BETWEEN STAFF AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS THAT WE CALL IT ALSO AFFECTIONATELY.
THE PEAK HAN THAT WAS STARTED UNDER, UNDER CAPITAL METRO SPECIFIC FOR PROJECT CONNECT.
UH, MANY OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS STATED THAT THEY WERE REALLY FIRED UP AND PASSIONATE AND REALLY LOVED WHAT THEY DID, AND THEY WANTED TO CONTINUE TO KEEP AN ACTIVE PARTNERSHIP AND ROLE WITHIN THE PROJECT GOING FORWARD.
SO THOSE INDIVIDUALS ARE GOING TO STAY ACTIVE AND ENGAGED IN, IN, IN THAT CAPACITY AS WELL.
MOVING FORWARD, UM, THE BOARD LIAISON, UM, UH, EACH ONE OF THESE COMMITTEES, THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES WILL HAVE A BOARD LIAISON WORKING WITH THEM, UH, IN, IN TERMS OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, THE, UH, IN ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE, CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE AND THE PLANNING, SUSTAINABILITY EQUITY AND DBE COMMITTEES, AND, UH, APPLICATIONS WILL BE THE, THE INTENTION IS THE APPLICATIONS WILL GO UP, LIVE ON APRIL THE FIRST AGAIN, THAT IS GOING TO BE CONTINGENT UPON BOARD ACTION TODAY AT THIS MEETING THIS AFTERNOON, AND ALL APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE.
UM, SO SPECIFIC COORDINATION WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON BETWEEN AN ALASKA TWO MONTHS, CAP METRO AND ATP.
UM, WELL AT THE LAST MEETING, UM, LAST MONTH, WELL, EXCUSE ME, BACK IN JANUARY, I GUESS IT WAS, UH, ATP EXECUTED THE INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH CAP METRO, UH, THAT ALLOWS FOR PROGRAM SUPPORT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT PER, UH, SUPPORT SERVICES, UH, AS ATP CONTINUES TO GROW AND, UH, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CAPACITY, UH, ARE RAMPED UP CAP.
METRO IS GOING TO PROVIDE THE CRITICAL SUPPORT FOR IT, HR PAYROLL, AND, UM, AND OTHER SUCH ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORTS BASICALLY TO ALLOW US TO HAVE THAT, THAT, UM, UH, THE, THE, THE ECONOMIES OF SCALE ECONOMIES OF SCALE, SO THAT THERE'S NO, NO NEED TO GO OUT AND CREATE SOMETHING NEW.
WE CAN PARTNER HERE AND PROVIDE THOSE RESOURCES AT CAP METRO WALWAY ALREADY
[00:30:01]
HAS.UM, IN ADDITION, UH, THERE ARE SOME PROJECTS THAT WERE ALREADY COMING ONLINE.
THE CAP METRO WAS WORKING ON THAT, UH, ATP AND THAT AGREEMENT RECOGNIZED, HEY, TAP, METRO CONTINUE DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND WE'RE GOING TO HELP SUPPORT THAT.
AND AS PART OF THAT PARTNERSHIP SPECIFICALLY, UH, THE F THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS, THE NEW PICKUP ZONES IN THE PLANNING PROCESS.
AND SO THE TWO ARE CONTINUING TO WORK TOGETHER, UH, THE COORDINATION BETWEEN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND ATP, WE HAVE SOME REALLY EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS GOING ON THERE.
WE'RE REALLY EXCITED TO KNOW THAT.
AND I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE EXCITED TO HEAR TOO, THAT, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN ACTUALLY HAS RAMPED UP AND CREATED ITS PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, UH, AND NAMED A NEAT, UH, BO DAY AS THE CITY'S FIRST MOBILITY OFFICER.
AND SHE'S GOING TO BE HEADING UP THIS SPECIFIC OFFICE RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATING A PERMITTING UTILITIES, INSPECTIONS, AND OTHER CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF IMPLEMENTATION.
THIS IS REALLY A FIRST OF ITS KIND OPERATION THAT THAT'S NEVER BEEN UTILIZED BEFORE.
THAT WILL REALLY HELP INCREASE THE LEVEL OF TECHNICAL AT THE TECHNICAL LEVEL, THE IMPLEMENTATION COORDINATION BETWEEN CAP METRO ATP AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO IMPROVE THINGS AS WE'RE GOING FORWARD, AND REALLY KIND OF STREAMLINED THE PROCESS ON PERMITTING AND ON CONSTRUCTION TO REALLY MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN REALLY GET THINGS GOING.
UH, AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, UH, THE CITY AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, THIS OFFICE WILL HELP WORK ON, UM, DEVELOPING HAS, AND HAS BEEN WORKING ON DEVELOPING THE EQUITY SCORECARD.
I KNOW THAT THERE WERE, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF MEETINGS THAT HAPPENED THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS ON, UH, WITH COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS AND, UH, SOME OF THE BOARD MEMBERS DEVELOPING, UH, THE EQUITY SCORECARD AND THAT EQUITY SCORECARD IS GOING TO REALLY HELP DESIGN AND, UH, AND, AND HELP DRIVE SOME OF THE, UH, GUIDELINES BEHIND HOW THAT $300 MILLION OF ANTI-DISPLACEMENT FUNDS WILL BE, UH, AND THAT INVESTMENT WILL BE SPENT.
SO, UH, FINALLY, UH, JUST TO RECAP, UH, SOME OF THE ACTION RECENT BOARD ACTIONS, JUST TO KIND OF PUT UP, KIND OF PUT A BOW ON ALL THIS BACK IN JANUARY, UH, ATP, UH, APPROVED ITS BUDGET FOR FIS FOR THE REMAINDER OF FISCAL YEAR 21.
THE, UH, JUST SO Y'ALL KNOW, THE BUDGET YEAR FOR ATP WILL BE SET TO ALIGN WITH CAP METRO AND WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO MAKE THINGS CLEAN.
SO THE BUDGET YEAR WILL RUN THROUGH SEPTEMBER THE 30TH.
AND SO WE APPROVE THE BUDGET FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
AND WE ALSO, ALONG WITH THAT IMPROVED AN APPROVED AT INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH PAT METRO, AS I SAID, FOR THOSE, UH, FOR THOSE FUNDS, UH, FOR, FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES AND PROJECT DELIVERY FUNCTIONS.
AND THEN IN FEBRUARY, WE DID PASS AN AGREEMENT THAT ALLOWS US TO JOIN THE STATE PURCHASING COOPERATIVE THAT, THAT, THAT THE CAP METRO AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN ARE ALREADY A PART OF AGAIN, TO HELP IMPROVE PROCESSES AND STREAMLINE, UH, SOME OF OUR, UH, OUR PROCUREMENT PROCESSES FOR THINGS TO, TO MAKE IT EASIER TO, TO PURCHASE ITEMS, UH, AS NECESSARY SOME OF THE LOW, LOW DOLLAR THINGS, I GUESS, AND THEN ALSO, UH, ENTERED INTO THE APPROVED THE INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY TO HELP SUPPORT AND STAND UP THE PROJECT CONNECT SUPPORT SERVICES BETWEEN ATP AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND THEN, UM, IF YOU'VE NOTICED THERE'S BEEN PROGRESS OUT IN THE FIELD ALREADY, IF YOU ALL HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT, DOWN AT, UH, LADY BIRD LAKE, THERE HAS ACTUALLY BEEN A VERY INTERESTING LITTLE MACHINE OUT THERE.
IT'S, IT'S CALLED A, UH, A, UH, A DRILLING BARGE, AND IT'S BEEN OUT THERE, UH, TAKING SOME, UH, SOIL SAMPLES OUT THERE FOR THE BLUE LINE BRIDGE PROJECT, JUST TO, UH, TO START KIND OF DOING SOME OF THE PRELIMINARY THIS, AGAIN, PART OF NEPA AND GETTING SOME OF THE PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL, UH, INFORMATION THAT'S NEEDED TO, UH, UH, TO MOVE US, TO MOVE US FORWARD FROM THERE.
SO, UM, I REALIZED THAT'S A LOT OF INFORMATION GANG.
UM, THIS IS TO TRY TO CATCH YOU GUYS UP AND THE PUBLIC THAT'S WATCHING AS A WHOLE, UH, THIS WAS REALLY TWO MONTHS OF INFORMATION WE'VE BEEN HITTING THE GROUND, RUNNING A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON.
AND, AND AS A, AS I SAID, MY, MY INTENT HERE IS TO, TO, TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A MONTH TO MONTH SNAPSHOT AND UPDATE.
AND THEN FROM THERE ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OF THE BOARD AS WE MOVE FORWARD, UH, THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF THIS PROJECT AND PROJECT CONNECT.
SO WITH THAT, I AM HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTION.
THANK YOU, MEMBER STRATTON QUESTIONS, A MEMBER INTO RHEA.
ERIC, IF, UH, IF THE PUBLIC WANTS TO, UM, LOOK AT YOUR, DO Y'ALL HAVE A WEBSITE THAT Y'ALL HAVE ALREADY SET UP, OR YEAH.
IT'S, UH, THE, THE WEBSITE IS AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.ORG.
AND THEN SHE CAN BASICALLY, UH, THE PUBLIC CAN JUST GO IN THERE AND LOOK UP ANY INFORMATION THAT BEEN GOING ON WITH THE BOARD.
THERE'S AN ACTUAL SECTION THERE FOR THE, FOR THE, THE, YOU SEE THE BOARD MEMBERS AND THEIR BACKGROUND BOARD MEETINGS ARE ON THERE.
THE ACTIONS THAT WE'VE TAKEN THE BOARD PACK IS JUST LIKE WE HAVE WITH CAP METRO.
[00:35:01]
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR, UH, UH, MEMBER MITCHELL.UH, CHAIRMAN, I WANTED TO RESPOND TO ERIC.
YOU ASKED ME A QUESTION ABOUT THE TRACKING OF DEMAND MANAGEMENT CONTRACT.
I'VE SOME REASON THAT AS PEDAL SHORT CIRCUIT, AND I WAS THINKING OF TRANSPORTATION CREDITS, THE TRAFFIC DEMAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ARE WHAT YOU THINK THEY ARE RIDE SHARING, FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULES, ALTERNATIVE MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS.
THE LAST REPORT WAS AUGUST OF 2019, AND THIS WAS HIRING A CONTRACTOR TO PREPARE A NEW PROGRAM AS WELL AS TOOLS THAT CAN BE USED IN OUR REGION.
A LOT OF THINGS HAVE HAPPENED IN TWO YEARS, LIKE THE PASSAGE OF A SMALL LITTLE TRANSIT, UH, PROGRAM AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
AND SO THEY ARE UPDATING THAT, UH, TRAFFIC DEMAND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
I DIDN'T MEAN TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT BOARD MEMBER MITCHELL IT'S OKAY.
I HEARD THE WORD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND I THOUGHT TRAFFIC OR DEMAND MANAGEMENT AND THOUGHT HMM.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, THAT, UH, THAT, THAT, THAT HAS A, UH, UH, AN IMPLICATION TO, TO CAP METRO AT ALL? AND THEN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO IS DO WE, DO WE FIT INTO THAT MIX AT ALL? WAS, WAS ONE OF MY THOUGHT PROCESSES BEHIND THAT WE SERVE.
AND I THINK THEY'RE UPDATING THAT IT'S ABOUT A HALF A MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT INSULTED SERVICES.
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MEMBERS STRATTON, ERIC, THANK YOU FOR THAT GOOD REPORT.
IT IS A SUPER GRATIFYING TO, UH, SEE SOME FOUR-AND-A-HALF MONTHS AFTER THE ELECTION, WHICH ALL OF US SPENT SO MUCH TIME THINKING ABOUT PREPARING FOR, AND HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN TALKING ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT, UH, TO SEE REAL ACTIVITY I'M ESPECIALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE QUALITY OF THE, UH, FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN HIRED.
UH, GREG CANALY WAS, UH, A GREAT, UH, UH, UH, PARTNER WITH US WHEN, AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AS WE WORKED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FINANCIAL PLAN FOR IT.
UM, PETER, UH, OBVIOUSLY HAS DONE GREAT WORK IN THE CITY AS WELL, AND TO SEE THEM ALL IN HARNESS, UH, FOR THIS, UH, MONUMENTAL PROJECT, UH, UH, AND TO SEE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN NEARLY FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS IS REALLY ENCOURAGING.
SO KUDOS TO RANDY AND STAFF AND ALL OF YOU ON THE BOARD, GETTING THE COMMITTEES, UM, FORMED UP A LOT OF MOMENTUM AND A LOT OF EXCITEMENT AROUND THAT.
AND IT'S REALLY COOL TO SEE THE PROGRESS SO KUDOS TO EVERYBODY.
[V. Consent Items]
ALL RIGHT, NEXT UP OUR CONSENT AGENDA, WE HAVE TWO ITEMS. ONE IS A RENEWAL OF AN INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR THE SMART TRIPS PROGRAM.SECOND IS APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH HERZOG CONTRACT CORPORATION FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF FOUR RAIL BRIDGES.
UH, DOES ANYBODY WANT TO REMOVE EITHER OF THOSE ITEMS FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA, MOVE APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA? WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE AND IT IS A SECOND MEMBER POOL.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION OF THE CONSENT AGENDA, UH, HEARING NO DISCUSSION, THEN I'LL CALL ROLL AND ASK YOU FOR A, UH, AN I OR AN, A, A COOPERS.
I REMEMBER STRATTON, UH, MR. CHAIRMAN.
I AM A YES, BUT IF I MAY, UM, MEMBER TREVELYAN, I I'M SAYING THAT HIS, HIS VIDEO CAMERA IS NOT TURNED ON.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S GOING TO BE AN ISSUE FOR THE VOTE.
JUST WANTED TO MAKE NOTE OF THAT REAL QUICK.
UH, IT WAS IT IT'S SHOWING THAT IT IS, BUT IF YOU CAN'T SEE ME, UM, I GUESS I CAN GET OUT AND GET BACK IN AND SEE IF THAT WORKS.
WAS ANYBODY ELSE SAM, OR IS IT JUST ME? NO, I CAN'T SEE HIM IN EITHER, EITHER MODE.
SO, SO OFFICIALLY FOR THE, FOR THE RECORD, IF I COULD I'LL VOTE YES.
AND THEN I'LL GET OUT AND TRY TO GET BACK IN, UM, FOR THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS WE HAVE AT LEAST A SIX OH, VOTE.
WHY DON'T WE PAUSE FOR A SECOND AND SEE IF A MEMBER TREVELYAN CAN GET BACK IN.
[00:40:04]
ARE YOU STILL AN EYE? I AM AN EYE.
[VI.1. Approval of a resolution electing officers of the Capital Metro Board of Directors for 2021.]
UH, NEXT, UH, UH, MEMBERS WILL BE OUR ACTION ITEMS. THE FIRST TWO OF WHICH, UH, WE STARTED DISCUSSION ON IN JANUARY, THE ELECTION OF BAR BOARD OFFICERS FOR, UH, 2021.I WILL, UH, KICK OFF THIS DISCUSSION, UM, BY ASKING FOR NOMINATIONS FIRST FOR PRESIDENT AND THEN FOR VICE PRESIDENT.
SO SORRY TO CUT YOU OFF CHAIR, BUT I THINK YOU MEAN CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
THAT'S HOW I GETTING FIRED TODAY.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE, AND THEN I'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO MY NOMINATION.
I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE COMMISSIONER JEFF TREVELYAN FOR CHAIR OF THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD FOR THE NEXT TERM.
UH, UH, I AM, I AM HONORED THAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER ME COUNCIL MEMBER POOL.
UM, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DECLINE THAT NOMINATION AT THIS POINT.
UM, UM, THIS IS, UM, GOING THROUGH A VERY DIFFICULT STRETCH AND, AND, UM, WHILE I WANT TO SERVE, UH, I, UM, I THINK THAT, UH, THAT, UH, UH, THE, THE CHAIRMANSHIP WOULD BE, UM, W WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR ME AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
UM, COMMISSIONER, AND I'LL JUST MAKE A COUPLE OF NOTES AS TO WHY I WAS FULL OF VIM AND VIGOR ON THIS GORGEOUS SPRING MORNING TO NOMINATE YOU FOR THIS LEADERSHIP ROLE IN HOPES THAT EVERYBODY ON THE DIOCESE WILL KIND OF BOOKMARK THEM, BECAUSE WHILE YOU MAY BE DEMURRING AT THIS POINT, UM, I REALLY THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE ALL SHOULD CONTEMPLATE, ESPECIALLY FOR YOU.
SO I WANTED TO MENTION YOUR LEADERSHIP OF SERVICE TO THE EASTERN CRESCENT, WHICH HAS BEEN MONUMENTAL AND INFLUENTIAL YOUR ADVOCACY FOR PEOPLE WHO DEPEND ON BUS SERVICE EVERY DAY, YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT THEIR ABILITY TO GET AROUND AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO UPLIFT THEM.
YOU ENSURE THAT PEOPLE ARE HEARD AND YOU HELP US TO REACH INTO COMMUNITIES TO TALK TO PEOPLE THAT WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO REACH, BUT YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN.
AND I THINK IN THIS NEW ITERATION OF CAP, METRO GOING FORWARD, THAT IS FROM MY ROLE ON THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR THE CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE PARTNERSHIP THAT IS ABSOLUTELY 98% OF THE COMMENTARY THAT WE ARE HEARING FROM THE CANDIDATES WHO WERE INTERESTED IN, IN BEING SELECTED.
SO YOUR ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND YOUR LEADERSHIP WILL BE ESSENTIAL AND FUNDAMENTAL.
UM, I THINK THAT CHAIR COOPER HAD MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT BIG SHOES AND THERE ARE ALWAYS BIG SHOES TO FILL.
AND WHEN LEADERS EMERGE IN OUR COMMUNITY, IT'S BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO FILL THOSE SHOES AND DO EVEN MORE TO, TO MOVE US FORWARD.
SO IF YOU ALL WOULD, UM, UH, THINK ABOUT MR. TREVELYAN IN THIS ROLE, IF WE CANNOT DO IT TODAY, AND I RESPECT JEFF STANDING ASIDE, IF WE CAN'T DO THAT TODAY, I THINK IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD VERY, VERY DEFINITELY CONSIDER IN THE NEXT SHORT TERM.
UM, SO I'M HONORED AND FLATTERED AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
UH, REMEMBER, UH, POOL AND I'LL JUST JOIN AND SAY, I THINK A MEMBER TREVELYAN WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT, UH, CHAIR OF THE ORGANIZATION.
UM, REMEMBER RENTERIA, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE YOUR MUSIC.
I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE A PRESIDENT.
I THINK HE HAS BEEN DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB HERE IN THE LAST CERTAIN SIDE, JORDAN.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT ENERGY AND EFFORT THAT YOU HAVE PUT CAPITAL IN RETRO
[00:45:01]
AND ESPECIALLY THE BOND ELECTION AND JUST HAPPENED.SO, UM, I THINK THAT UNDER YOUR LEADERSHIP THAT VERY SUCCESSFUL, I WOULD HOPE THAT YOU CONSIDER IT A VERY SELECT COOPER.
WE I'LL JUST SAY, UM, UH, HONORED TO HAVE THAT, UH, NOMINATION.
AND, UH, AS I MENTIONED TO YOU ALL IN JANUARY, UM, I'M ON THE LAST LEGS OF THIS JOURNEY AND, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO PASSING THE TORCH.
AND, UH, IF THE CONSENSUS, UH, UH, UH, WHICH I THINK IT IS, IS, UH, SURROUNDING THAT COMMISSIONER PAVILION IS A SUCCESSOR IN THE NEAR TERM.
I WILL BE DELIGHTED TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO HELP, UH, GET HIM READY AND PREPARED FOR THAT OR WHOMEVER THIS BOARD, UH, SELECTS, BUT I WOULD BE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THAT TASK AND, UH, HAVE, UH, BEEN HONORED TO SERVE IN THIS ROLE, UH, BUT UNDERSTAND THAT ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.
AND, UH, UH, SO THANK YOU, UH, MEMBER STRATTON SECOND, I THINK, DO YOU NEED A SECOND? SO I, IF THAT'S THE CASE, I WILL GIVE YOU A SECOND.
I NEED ALL THE AFFIRMATION I CAN GET, BUT, UH, I THINK THE RULES REQUIRE A SECOND AS WELL.
OTHER, A NOMINATIONS, UM, HEARING NONE, ANY DISCUSSION, UM, NO DISCUSSION, THEN I'LL GO, UH, CALL ROLE, UH, FOR YOUR I OR A MEMBER OF KITCHEN.
I, UM, REMEMBER 2 BILLION IN COOPERS AND I AS WELL.
UH, NEXT, UH, NOMINATIONS, A MEMBER POOL FOR VICE CHAIR.
I THINK I WOULD JUST LIKE TO PIGGYBACK THEN CHAIR COOPER ON WHAT YOU WERE SAYING ABOUT, UH, WORKING WITH MR. TREVELYAN AND GETTING HIM PREPARED IN THE NEAR TERM TO ASSUME THE CHAIR, UM, WHEN YOU DECIDE TO RETIRE AND I'D LIKE TO NOMINATE, UM, BOARD MEMBER TREVELYAN FOR VICE CHAIR.
REMEMBER, POOL OF MEMBERS STRATTON, IF HE'S WILLING TO DO IT, I WOULD SECOND IT FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT BOARD MEMBER POOL ALREADY, ALREADY STATED.
REMEMBER TREVELYAN, UM, I WOULD BE HONORED TO SERVE AND CONTINUE TO LEARN, UM, THAT WE'VE GOT SO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS THAT ARE TRANSFORMATIONAL.
UM, I, I WOULD BE HONORED TO SERVE IN THIS POSITION AND, AND LEARN HOW TO, TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY IN THAT CAPACITY.
ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS, UM, DISCUSSION? LET ME JUST SAY, I, I THINK, UH, UH, I REMEMBER TREVELYAN WILL BE AN EXCELLENT VICE CHAIR.
I DON'T THINK HE HAS MUCH LEARNING TO DO.
I THINK HE DOESN'T GIVE HIMSELF ENOUGH CREDIT ON THIS.
AND I THINK, UH, OUR CREDIBILITY IN THE COMMUNITY WILL BE ENHANCED BY HAVING HIM IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE AND, UH, UH, ONE DAY SOON A CHAIR ROLE.
UM, SO I'M DELIGHTED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH HIM.
HE'S BEEN A GREAT PARTNER, UH, AS WE HAVE WORKED THROUGH A LOT OF ISSUES, BUT PARTICULARLY IN CONNECTION WITH PROJECT CONNECT, UM, AND BEING A REALLY GOOD VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY THAT HE SERVES HERE ON OUR BOARD.
SO DELIGHTED TO HAVE HIM IN THAT ROLE.
AND WITH THAT, UH, WE'LL DO ROLL CALL VOTE AGAIN.
A MEMBER OF MINTS MARIA NUMBER STRATTON.
UH, I AM, UH, YES, MR. CHAIRMAN.
I HATE TO DO THIS AGAIN, BUT, BUT, UM, A MEMBER KITCHENS, UH, CAMERA WAS OFF.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S GOING TO IMPACT THIS ABOUT THERE.
SHE IS STILL A YES, I BELIEVE.
I DON'T THINK SHE HEARD YOU STILL A YES.
UH, FINALLY, UH, WE HAVE THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY, UM, ANY, UH, NOMINATIONS FOR THAT ALLAH, UH, NOMINATE, UH, OUR EXISTING
[00:50:01]
SECRETARY MEMBER STRATTON HAS DONE AN EXEMPLARY JOB, UH, AS SECRETARY AND THAT I THINK YOU OUGHT TO CONTINUE IN THAT ROLE.SECOND FOR THAT NOMINATION SECOND BY A MEMBER POOL IS A VERY QUICK LEARNER ON OUR BOARD.
UH, I CAN TELL US WHO'S GOING TO BE AN EXCELLENT BOARD MEMBER AND KEEPING THESE THINGS MOVING ALONG AND THE OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR SECRETARY, VERY GOOD, ANY, UH, DISCUSSION.
UH, WE HAVE ONE THUMBS UP I'LL JOIN IN THAT.
ERIC'S BEEN A GREAT AND ENERGETIC, UH, COLLEAGUE ON THE BOARD.
AND, AND THOUGH THE DUTIES ARE NOT GREAT.
I THINK HIS, UH, HIS, UH, ATTITUDE AND PERFORMANCE, UH, GIVES AN EXCELLENT SIGNATURE.
UH, HOW ABOUT, UH, UH, WE'LL CALL ROLL AGAIN.
REMEMBER KITCHEN? YES, I DO REMEMBER MITCHELL.
UH, REMEMBER TREVELYAN AND COOPER AS A YES AS WELL.
AND I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH EACH OF YOU IN THE NEXT, UH, IN THE REMAINDER OF THIS YEAR AND NEXT ACTION ITEM APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENTS TO THE FINANCE AUDIT.
[VI.2. Approval of a resolution confirming the appointments to the Finance, Audit and Administration Committee and Operations, Planning and Safety Committee for 2021.]
UH, NEXT, UH, APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENTS TO THE, OUR COMMITTEES, FINANCE AUDIT AND ADMINISTRATION, AND THEN OPERATIONS PLANNING AND SAFETY.IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, A MEMBER, A RENTER MARIA WANTED TO SWAP, UM, HE'S TIRED OF, UH, CHAIRMAN MITCHELL AND ME, AND WANTS TO MOVE OVER TO THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
AND, UH, IN TURN THE ROOKIE HAZING, UM, UH, LESLIE POOL, UH, WOULD THEN GO TO FINANCE AND HAVE TO SIT WITH, UH, CHAIRMAN MITCHELL AND MYSELF.
SO IF THAT IS EVERYBODY'S, UH, UH, PREFERENCE AND OTHERWISE STAY IN THE SAME, THAT WOULD BE MY RECOMMENDATION TO THE GROUP.
ANY, DID I MISS ANY OTHER CHANGES THAT PEOPLE WANTED TO HAVE? REMEMBER? ORIGINAL? YEAH.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I, I REALLY APPRECIATE WORKING ON THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, BUT IN ORDER TO BE A COMPLETE BOARD MEMBER ON THE OTHER SIDE, YOU KNOW, I, I, I WANT TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY HERE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS OF MY TERM, TO BE ABLE TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE FULL OPERATION OF CAPITAL METRO.
SO I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THAT OPPORTUNITY, YOU KNOW, AND I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO GET AN EXCELLENT MEMBER THERE IN THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND ENERGY ON THAT COMMITTEE.
AND I THINK YOU'RE MAKING AN EXCELLENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBER, UH, AND WE CAN UNDERSTAND, UH, UM, NO ASPECT FOR CHAIR MITCHELL THAT, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF US GOES A LONG WAY.
UM, AND, UH, IN THAT REGARD A NUMBER OF POOL, WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE YOU ON THE, UH, ON THE FINANCE COMMITTEE AS WELL, AND, UH, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS AND LOOK FORWARD TO LOTS OF GREAT DAYS, UH, THINKING ABOUT BUDGETS AND AUDITS.
IT'S THAT? I ENJOY KRISHA WELL, THAT'S GOOD.
UH, WE THEN NEED, I THINK, UH, WITH THAT A ROLL CALL VOTE, UH, TO FINALIZE THOSE, UM, ASSIGNMENTS.
AND SO A MEMBER KITCHEN, MR. CHAIR, YOU NEED A MOTION AND A SECOND.
I'LL MAKE THE MOTION TO APPROVE THAT ASSIGNMENT.
IS THERE A SECOND, SECOND, UH, MEMBER TREVELYAN.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THOSE NAMES FOR THE RECORD FROM THE RESOLUTION? UH, YES.
SO THE ASSIGNMENT WOULD BE ON, UM, ON THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.
IT WILL BE NOW YOU'RE PUTTING ME TO MY TEST HILL COOPER, MITCHELL, AND POOL, AND THE REMAINDER, WHICH WOULD BE TREVELYAN KITCHEN, UH, RENT AREA.
AND WHO AM I MISSING STRATTON ON OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
DO I HAVE THAT RIGHT? VERY WELL.
WE HAVE A MOTION, A SECOND, A PROPER RECITATION OF THE ASSIGNMENTS.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION, RIGHT? THEN WE'LL VOTE A MEMBER OF KITCHEN.
[00:55:01]
REMEMBER MITCHELL.WE'LL COME BACK TO THEM FROM MITCHELL.
REMEMBER STRATTON? I REMEMBER TREVELYAN COOPER IS A YES AS WELL.
LET'S SEE IF MEMBER MITCHELL'S MASTERED HIS MICROPHONE.
DOES THE THUMBS UP COUNT, CARRY LEGALLY? ARE YOU ABLE TO UNMUTE HIM OR UNMUTE EVERYBODY FOR A SECOND? OKAY.
WE'LL UH, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON.
WE'LL CALL THAT A SIX O VOTE WITH ONE NON-VOTING ONE, ONE MEMBER PRESENT AND NOT VOTING, AND WE'RE NOT PRESENT.
THE ONE THING YOU NEGLECTED TO MENTION WAS WHO THE CHAIR OF EACH OF THESE COMMITTEES WOULD BE.
WILL THERE BE ANY CHANGES TO THE CHAIRS OF THE COMMITTEES? CARRIE, DO WE NEED TO VOTE ON THE CHAIR AGAIN? YOU SHOULD.
UH, MY SUGGESTION IS THAT WE MAINTAIN THE TWO CHAIRMANSHIPS, UH, THAT WE HAVE, WHICH WOULD BE REMEMBERED TREVELYAN FOR OPS AND MEMBER MITCHELL FOR, UH, FINANCE.
AND, UH, THAT WILL BE MY MOTION.
IS THERE A SECOND, SECOND MEMBER? WAS THAT A SECOND MEMBER KITCHEN? YEAH, NO.
I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER, TO BE CHAIR OF THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, UH, TO FREE UP, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, TO CIVILIAN AS VICE CHAIR, NUMBER POOL.
I'D SECOND THAT I THINK THAT'S, UM, THAT'S A GOOD MOVE.
OTHER, UH, OTHER, UM, UH, SUGGESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
SO I'LL TAKE THAT AS A, LET'S SAY WE HAVE MY EMOTION.
TAKE THAT AS A, UH, UH, AN AMENDMENT TO MY MOTION, UM, UNLESS, UH, UM, LET ME THINK ABOUT THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE THIS.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A VOTE.
HOW ABOUT THAT? REMEMBER TO MR. MR. CHAIRMAN DID, DID ANYBODY ACTUALLY SECOND YOUR ORIGINAL MOTION? NO.
THEN IT DOESN'T BELONG TO THE BODY YET, SO YOU COULD PULL IT OUT AND THEN WE COULD JUST PRESENT.
WE HAVE THAT, I'LL PULL MY EMOTION.
LET'S JUST HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT REAL QUICK, AND THEN WE'LL MAKE A MOTION AND SECOND AND GO FORWARD.
SO WE HAVE A HANDS, UH, OFFER.
WE HAVE, UH, A MEMBER POOLS, UM, UM, SUGGESTION TO THAT EFFECT.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS OR SUGGESTIONS OR COMMENTS NUMBER RITZ MARIA, MAYBE WE COULD ASK AND IS THE EXISTING CHAIR THAT WORKS FOR HIM, AND THEN HE COULD MAKE THE OKAY.
UM, I, WELL, LET'S SEE, UH, I WILL FOLLOW, UH, MEMBERS, UH, RENTER MARIA, BECAUSE HE HAD HIS HAND UP AND THEN MEMBER THANK YOU, CHAIR.
I WOULD SUPPORT ALSO AND BEING THE CHAIR, I REALLY, REALLY RESPECT HER LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE TERM, BUT NOT ONLY THAT SHE HAD BEEN UP THERE IN THE FRONT LINE, PROMOTING OUR PROJECT CONNECTOR WAS ALSO THE CHAIR OF THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE AND THE CITY OF
I WOULD REALLY SUPPORT THEIR NO RECOMMEND.
I WOULD RECOMMEND ALL THE REST OF THE MEMBERS SUPPORT ARE ALSO THANK YOU CHAIR.
I THINK THAT, I THINK THAT IT IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA.
I THINK THAT, UH, THAT, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, A BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN, UH, DOES AN EXCEPTIONAL JOB AND I WILL LOOK, I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH HER AND WE'LL MAKE THE MOTION TO, UM, TO, UH, APPOINT HER AS A CHAIR OF THE OPERATIONS.
[01:00:02]
VERY WELL LET'S UH, THEN HAVE A VOTE THE VOTE AGAIN.THE MOTION IS FOR MEMBER MITCHELL TO, UH, RETAIN THIS CHAIR OF FINANCE AND MEMBER KITCHEN TO BECOME CHAIR OF OPERATIONS.
SO A MEMBER KITCHEN, A MEMBER MITCHELL.
AND THANKS TO ANNE FOR SERVING A MEMBER POOL.
I REMEMBER TREVELYAN COOPER IS AN I AS WELL.
MR. CHAIRMAN, CAN I, COULD I ASK A QUICK QUESTION? THIS IS, THIS IS DIRECTED TO CARRIE AS A, AS A, I GUESS, A LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY.
UM, DOES EVERYONE'S CAMERA HAVE TO BE ON WHEN THEY STATE THEIR VOTES FOR IT TO COUNT? THAT IS CORRECT.
WOULD IT JEOPARDIZE OR LATER WOULD WE HAVE TO RE VOTE ON SOMETHING? IF THE CAMERA IS OFF WHILE A VOTE IS BEING TAKEN AND WE'RE DOING A ROLL CALL AND THEY SAY THEIR VOTE THAT THEIR CAMERA'S NOT ON ONLY IF IT WOULD IMPACT THE OUTCOME OF THE VOTE.
MA'AM YOU MAY RECALL THAT, UH, DURING SOME OF OUR JOINT DELIBERATIONS WE HAD, WHEN WE WERE HAVING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, ONE DAY, WE HAD TO CARRIE, THANK YOU FOR WALKING US THROUGH THAT AND, UH, UH, DEMONSTRATING THAT EVEN AFTER AS MANY YEARS AS I'VE SERVED ANY SUBSTANTIAL HELP WITH THE PROCESS LIKE YOU.
[VI.3. Approval of a resolution authorizing the president & CEO, or his designee, to finalize and execute a contract with Simply Klean LLC for janitorial services, for a base period of two (2) years and three (3) one-year options in an amount not to exceed $4,830,001.]
OF THE CONTRACT WAS SIMPLY CLAIMED FOR JANITORIAL SERVICES.MR. CARTWRIGHT, I THINK YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, GOOD TO SEE YOU.
UH, CHAIR COOPER, BOARD MEMBERS, PRESIDENT CEO, CLARK I'M, KEN CARR, VICE PRESIDENT OF FACILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION.
AS YOU MENTIONED, THIS ACTION ITEM IS REQUESTING APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH SIMPLY CLEAN LLC FOR JANITORIAL SERVICES FOR A BASE PERIOD OF TWO YEARS AND THREE, ONE YEAR OPTIONS IN ANOTHER, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 4 MILLION, $830,000, $830,001 AND BOARD MEMBERS, UH, CAPITAL METRO CONTRACTS FOR JANITORIAL SERVICES ON AN ONGOING BASIS.
AND THOSE JANITORIAL SERVICES ARE FOR OUR PASSENGER FACILITIES, SUCH AS RAIL STATIONS AND RIDES AND METRO RAPID STATIONS, AS WELL AS OUR OPERATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FACILITIES.
THE CURRENT CONTRACT, WHICH IS HELD BY SIMPLY CLAIM IS EXPIRING.
SO WE REPORT HERE THESE SERVICES AND SIMPLY CLEAN IS AGAIN, BEING RECOMMENDED AS THE LOWEST RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE DINNER WAS THIS CONTRACT.
WE ESTABLISHED A 12% SBE GOAL FOR THIS CONTRACT.
AND SIMPLY CLEAN IS ACTUALLY 100% SPE FROM THE FUNDING FOR THIS CONTRACT IS AVAILABLE IN OUR OPERATING BUDGET.
BUT I DID WANT TO POINT OUT DURING THE PRESENTATION OF THIS ITEM AT OUR OPERATIONS PLANNING AND SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS I WANTED TO ADDRESS THOSE WITH YOU.
THE FIRST QUESTION WAS WHETHER OR NOT THIS CONTRACT REQUIRES THE CONTRACTOR TO PAY LIVING WAGES TO ITS EMPLOYEES.
AND THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS YES, THE CONTRACT DOES REQUIRE THE CONTRACTOR IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN RULES FOR LIVING WAGE TO PAY ITS EMPLOYEES OF A LIVING WAGE.
THE SECOND QUESTION WAS WHETHER OR NOT THIS CONTRACTOR PROVIDES BENEFITS FOR ITS EMPLOYEES.
AND WE DID CONFIRM THAT THE CONTRACTOR DOES PROVIDE THE, DOES OFFER THE STANDARD BENEFITS TO ITS EMPLOYEES, MEDICAL DENTAL, PAID TIME OFF, ET CETERA.
SO I DID WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE AWARE OF THOSE QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS, BUT WITH THAT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY OTHER QUESTIONS YOU HAVE REGARDING THIS CONTRACT QUESTIONS FOR MR. CARTWRIGHT.
UH, WE'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION THEN TO APPROVE ACTION ITEM, A NUMBER THREE APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH SIMPLY CLEANED LLC FOR JANITORIAL SERVICES.
SO MOVED BY EMOTION BY MEMBER TREVELYAN LOOKS LIKE A SECOND.
UH, REMEMBER RENTER MARIA, ANY DISCUSSION, NO DISCUSSION.
LET ME CALL ROLE AND AGAIN, REMEMBER KITCHEN.
[01:05:01]
COOPERS AND I AS WELL.[VII. Presentations]
FOUR REMAINING, UH, DISCUSSION ITEMS IN A PRESIDENT'S REPORT.OUR FIRST DISCUSSION ITEM WILL BE A CUSTOMER TECHNOLOGY UPDATE FROM DOTTIE WATKINS STUDY.
THAT WAS MY TURN TO HAVE DIFFICULTY GETTING MY CAMERA AND MIC TO WORK.
UM, GOOD MORNING THIS MORNING.
UM, WE'LL BE GOING OVER, UM, THE PRESENTATION THAT WAS ORIGINALLY SLATED FOR THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING, BUT WAS UNABLE TO BE, UM, SHARED DUE TO SOME, UM, ILLNESS AMONGST OUR STAFF.
UM, AND SO I'M PLEASED TO GIVE YOU SOME UPDATES ON, UM, TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS THAT ARE FOCUSED ON OUR CUSTOMER.
UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, WE'LL START BY LOOKING AT OUR APP, UM, AS WELL AS GOING OVER SOME OF OUR TICKETING AND TRAVELER TOOLS.
UM, WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE BACKEND WORK THAT WE'RE DOING, UM, THAT WE'LL HAVE A CUSTOMER FACING COMPONENTS SUCH AS OUR WEBSITE, UM, UPDATES OUR DATA WAREHOUSE AS WELL AS OUR TELEPHONE REPLACEMENT SYSTEM.
AND THEN WE'LL CONCLUDE THIS MORNING WITH AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE IN UPGRADING OUR CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEMS. NEXT SLIDE.
SO FIRST UP OUR EPAPER DYNAMIC MESSAGE SIGNS.
UM, THESE LIKELY LOOK FAMILIAR TO FOLKS WHO HAVE BEEN USING OUR METRO RAPID SERVICES.
UM, WE HAVE NOW REPLACED ALL OF THE OLD LED SIGNS, UM, AT BOTH METRO RAIL AND METRO RAPID STATIONS WITH THESE LARGE 32 INCH, UM, SIGNS, THE ONES THAT ARE, UH, PORTRAITS ARE AT OUR METRO RAPID STATIONS, AS WELL AS WE HAVE.
UH, THE ONE THERE ON THE FAR RIGHT, IS ACTUALLY AT OUR NORWOOD TRANSIT CENTER UP IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN.
AND THE ONES THAT OUR RAIL STATIONS YOU'LL SEE THERE IN THE MIDDLE ARE THE LANDSCAPE VIEW, UM, TO FIT BETTER IN THE STATION.
WE ALSO HAVE AVAILABLE A 13 INCH SIGN, UM, THAT WE'RE USING AT SOME OF OUR MORE HIGH RIDERSHIP BUS STOPS.
AND YOU SEE THAT ON THE FAR LEFT.
UM, SO WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO HAVE CONCLUDED THIS PROJECT AND WE NOW HAVE ADAPTED THE PAPER SIGNS INTO OUR, OUR STANDARD AMENITIES PACKAGE THAT WE'LL CONSIDER AS WE CONTINUE TO, UM, IMPROVE OUR BUS STOPS GOING FORWARD.
AND WE'RE ALSO PLEASED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE DID WIN, UM, THE METRO MAGAZINE, INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AWARD, UM, FOR PASSENGER EXPERIENCE FOR THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH LUMINATOR, WHO WAS OUR VENDOR ON THIS PROJECT.
UM, NEXT UP IS A CUSTOMER FACING APP, UM, FOCUSED ON HELPING IMPROVE THE PUBLIC SAFETY OF OUR SYSTEM.
UM, THIS IS THE C SAY NOW APP, THIS ALLOWS OUR CUSTOMERS TO TAKE A PICTURE OF, OR REPORT ANY, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE THAT THEY SEE ON THE SYSTEM.
THIS INFORMATION GOES DIRECTLY TO OUR OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER, UM, FOR HANDLING BY OUR PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCHERS.
UM, AND, AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ROUTE IT TO THE APPROPRIATE GROUP TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ISSUE GETS RESOLVED CURRENTLY, THIS WORKS AS A STANDALONE APP, BUT, UM, WE HAVE THIS ON OUR TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP FOR FUTURE INTEGRATION DIRECTLY INTO THE CAP METRO APP.
UM, BUT THIS IS A GREAT WAY FOR FOLKS WHO ARE OUTRIGHT IN THE SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO QUICKLY, UM, GIVE US INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THEY SEE IN SUPPORT OF THE ONGOING NATIONAL, SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING CAMPAIGN, NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THE OTHER FUNCTIONALITY THAT WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT WORKING ON IS OUR REAL-TIME PASSENGER LOAD INFORMATION.
UM, THIS SPRING WE EXPECT TO BE, UM, TO HAVE COMPLETED OUR TESTING AND B DADDY, YOU JUST MUTED YOURSELF OR GOT MUTED.
ALL OF A SUDDEN IT TOLD ME I WAS MUTED.
UM, YEAH, I KNOW THAT EDDIE SUTTON, HE'S A DIFFICULT CHARACTER SOMETIMES.
UM, OUR REAL-TIME PASSENGER LOAD INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO OUR CUSTOMERS THIS SPRING ON BOTH OUR EPAPER SIGNS AND OUR CAP METRO APP.
WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS WHETHER OR NOT THE VEHICLE THAT IS APPROACHING THEM IS CONSIDERED A CROWDED VEHICLE OR NOT.
THIS TAKES THE AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNTERS THAT ARE ALREADY INSTALLED THROUGHOUT OUR FLEET, UM, AND HELPS PUSH THAT INFORMATION DIRECTLY TO OUR CUSTOMERS.
UM, THIS INFORMATION IS ALREADY AVAILABLE, UM, TO OUR DISPATCHERS AND OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER STAFF.
UM, AND WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE FINAL TESTING PHASES OF BEING ABLE TO THEN TRANSLATE THAT INFORMATION AND PUSH IT OUT TO OUR CUSTOMERS THIS SPRING.
WE THINK THAT THIS WILL HELP AS FOLKS, UM, GET BACK INTO WRITING OUR SYSTEM, THEY'LL UNDERSTAND OF THE VEHICLES COMING FORWARD, UM, WHETHER OR NOT THE VEHICLES COMING UP LOOK LIKE THEY'RE REALLY FULL.
AND IF THEY FEEL LIKE THEY DON'T WANT TO BE AROUND A BUNCH OF FOLKS TODAY, THEN THEY CAN WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE, IF THEY'D PREFER.
UM, AND THEN NEXT STEP IS OUR ONBOARD DIGITAL DISPLAYS.
[01:10:01]
AND THIS WAS A PROJECT THAT WE HAD ORIGINALLY HOPED TO DO LAST YEAR, BUT WITH THE, UM, PANDEMIC HITTING US, UM, BOTH FROM A BANDWIDTH STANDPOINT, A SUPPLIER STANDPOINT AND A FUNDING STANDPOINT, WE PUT THE, THE PRO THE PROJECT ON PAUSE.UM, BUT WE ARE NOW UP AND RUNNING AND, AND WORKING ON GETTING 110 DIGITAL DISPLAYS ON OUR 67 METRO RAPID AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
UM, AND WE EXPECT THESE DISPLAYS TO GO INTO SERVICE IN THE FALL OF 2021.
UM, THIS WILL ALLOW US TO, UM, REPLACE WHAT'S CURRENTLY JUST A SMALL LED SIGN ON THE BUS THAT, UM, SHARES WITH FOLKS THE DATE AND TIME, AND, UH, THE NEXT STOP INFORMATION, UM, TEXTUALLY AS IT GETS IN ANNOUNCED BY THE SYSTEM, UM, AND WILL ALLOW US TO GIVE MUCH MORE, UM, RICH INFORMATION TO OUR CUSTOMERS TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE REAL TIME SERVICE ALERTS, UM, AND OTHER SAFETY INFORMATION, AS WELL AS THE NEXT STEP INFORMATION THAT THEY'RE ACCUSTOMED TO SEEING.
UM, SO WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE THIS.
WE THINK THAT THIS WILL WILL BECOME, UM, IN THE LONGTERM PART OF OUR METRO RAPID OFFERING, AS WE CONTINUE TO EXPAND OUR METRO RAPID SERVICES, UM, UNDER THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM.
AND THEN NEXT STEP IS OUR CUSTOMER, UM, OUR WEBSITE PLATFORM UPGRADES.
SO IN THE FALL OF 2020, WE TRANSITIONED OUR WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
UM, AND WHILE MUCH OF THE, UM, IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE SEEING ARE ACTUALLY IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR BACKEND ABILITY TO UPDATE THE WEBSITE.
UM, WE ALSO NOW HAVE A BETTER SEARCH ENGINE ON THE SITE.
SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ON OUR SITE, UM, THE SEARCH ENGINE IN THE NEW PLATFORM IS MUCH IMPROVED AND THE SITE NOW ALSO OFFERS MULTILANGUAGE, UM, KIND OF AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION.
SO YOU SEE HERE ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE IS THE PSYCH IN ENGLISH.
AND ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS THE SITE, UM, TRANSLATED BY THE PLATFORM INTO SPANISH.
UM, WE ALSO ARE ABLE TO, WE'RE ABLE TO OFFER SEVEN DIFFERENT LANGUAGE LANGUAGES, CURRENTLY ARABIC, UM, TRADITIONAL CHINESE, FRENCH HINDI, KOREAN, SPANISH, AND VIETNAMESE ARE AVAILABLE FOR TRANSLATION ON, UM, OUR WEBSITE PLATFORM.
SO WE KNOW THAT THIS WILL MAKE THE WEBSITE MORE USABLE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, AND AS THIS IS OUR MAIN, UM, INTERNET FACE TO THE PUBLIC, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS AS MODERN AS POSSIBLE.
NEXT UP IS OUR DATA WAREHOUSE AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PROJECT.
UM, AS YOU ARE LIKELY AWARE, WE CURRENTLY HOST PERFORMANCE DASHBOARDS ON OUR WEBSITE, AND THEY'RE AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR TRANSPARENCY EFFORTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUBLIC, UM, IS CONSTANTLY AWARE OF WHAT'S GOING ON AT CAPITAL METRO AND CAN REALLY AT THEIR OWN LEISURE AND INTERESTS DIG INTO THE DETAILS OF OUR PERFORMANCE ON A ROUTE BY ROUTE LEVEL.
UM, IF THEY SO CHOOSE, UM, THOSE DASHBOARDS ARE CURRENTLY SUPPORTED, UM, WITH A LOT OF STAFF TIME AND EFFORT, UM, AND BEING ABLE TO EXPAND OUR USE OF DASHBOARDS BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY REALLY REQUIRES US TO INVEST IN SOME, UM, MORE MODERN SYSTEMS IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO HOLD OUR DATA.
SO WE HAVE EMBARKED UPON A DATA WAREHOUSE AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PROJECT.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT PHASE.
WE HAVE A CONSULTANT HELPING US DEFINE THE, THE NEEDS FOR OUR SYSTEM, UM, AND, AND SET THE REQUIREMENTS.
AND WE WILL BE LAUNCHING A PROCUREMENT, UM, IN THE COMING MONTHS TO ACTUALLY IDENTIFY THE ACTUAL SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL GET INSTALLED SCHOOL.
UM, I SAW THE CAN, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER A QUESTION ON THIS PROJECT.
I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT THE, UM, THE TRANSLATIONS, UM, IS THAT LIKE ON THE, THE MAIN SPLASH PAGE UP IN THE BORDER WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PICK THE FLAG OF WHATEVER COUNTRY IT IS AND THEN TRANSLATES THE ENTIRE PAGE? IS THAT WHAT IS THE FUNCTIONALITY THERE? YEAH, THAT IS THE BASIC FUNCTIONALITY THAT IF YOU'RE THE PAGE WILL AUTOMATICALLY SERVE IN ENGLISH, BUT YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO THEN SAY, I WANT TO TRANSLATE IT TO A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE AND IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY THEN, THEN DO THE WHOLE PAGE FOR YOU.
I'M GOING TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE MY HAND DOWN, CLICK BACK ON THE HAND, THE SAME WAY YOU RAISE IT.
IT'S A LITTLE COUNTERINTUITIVE.
AND THEN NEXT STEP IS OUR NEXT STEP IS OUR TELEPHONE REPLACEMENT SYSTEM.
UM, SO WE'RE VERY HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE REPLACING OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
WE HAVE AN OUT OF LIFECYCLE TELEPHONE SYSTEM THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED.
AND SO, UM, IN ADDITION TO GIVING US ALL OF THE TYPICAL, YOU KNOW, KIND OF VOICEMAIL SERVICES THAT, UM, ANY BUSINESS PHONE SYSTEM NEEDS TO, UM, THIS TELEPHONE SYSTEM IS REALLY WHAT POWERS OUR TWO CALL CENTERS, BOTH
[01:15:01]
FOR CUSTOMER CARE AND METRO ACCESS.UM, SO OUR FUNCTIONALITY WILL BE GREATLY IMPROVED.
UM, WE'LL BE ABLE TO MANAGE, UM, OUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH A MULTICHANNEL, BOTH VIA TELEPHONE, EMAIL AND CHATS.
UM, WE'LL HAVE THE OPTION THAT YOU MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED IN OTHER CALL CENTER ENVIRONMENTS, WHERE INSTEAD OF SAYING ON HOLD, YOU CAN REQUEST A CALL BACK AND THE SYSTEM WILL AUTOMATICALLY CALL YOU WHEN IT'S YOUR TURN IN LINE.
UM, AND WE'RE ALSO EXCITED THAT THE NEW SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY HAS A WAY FOR US TO TRIGGER A POST-CALL SURVEY TO HELP MEASURE THAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REAL TIME AND MAKE SURE THAT THE SERVICE WE'RE GIVING TO OUR CUSTOMERS, UM, IS, IS AN EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE.
UM, IN ADDITION, JUST GETTING THE LATEST AND NEWEST TECHNOLOGY, OUR VOICE RECOGNITION SYSTEM, UM, WILL BE IMPROVED TO ADDRESS ISSUES, ESPECIALLY ISSUES WITH BACKGROUND NOISE, UM, AS MORE AND MORE OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE INTERACTING WITH OUR INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEM, UM, FROM THEIR MOBILE PHONES.
AND THERE MAY BE OUT IN THE STREET AND THERE'S A LOT OF BACKGROUND NOISE AND THIS SYSTEM WILL MAKE IT A LOT EASIER.
AND MAYBE THEY'LL, THERE'LL BE ABLE TO DO A LITTLE, YES, LESS YELLING AT OUR SYSTEM, UM, TO GET IT, TO UNDERSTAND THEM, HENCE THE REMAINDER OF THAT, OUR TECHNO CUSTOMER TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS THAT I'D LIKE TO REVIEW WITH YOU, UH, RE UH, PERTAINING TO OUR CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEMS. SO, UH, THIS ROADMAP MAY LOOK FAMILIAR TO SOME OF YOU.
WE HAVE BEEN, UM, IN A PROCESS FOR A NUMBER OF MONTHS TO UPGRADE OUR CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEMS. UM, WE STARTED WITH, UM, SOME MOBILE APP UPGRADES, UM, A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO, UM, IN JULY OF 2020, THE BOARD AWARDED THE CONTRACT TO DO THE MAJORITY OF THE UPGRADES TO OUR SYSTEM.
UM, AND WE'VE ALREADY LAUNCHED A FEW OF THESE COMPONENTS.
SO I'LL GO THROUGH EACH OF THEM KIND OF ONE AT A TIME ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
YOU'LL SEE, UM, OUR, UH, CAP METRO APP.
WE ARE, UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, WE ARE WORKING THROUGH, UM, TICKETING ENHANCEMENTS.
SO OUR CAP METRO APP NOW HAS A VIRTUAL WALLET, AND THIS ALLOWS FOLKS TO BE ABLE TO LOAD INTO THE WALLET AND NOT HAVE TO, UM, AUTHORIZE PERHAPS, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, A CREDIT CARD EXPENDITURE EACH TIME IT WORKS VERY SIMILAR TO OTHER, UM, APPS THAT I'M SURE YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH.
I KNOW ON MY PHONE, I HAVE THE PARKING APP.
I HAVE A STARBUCKS APP, ALL OF WHICH ALLOW ME TO LOAD A WALLET.
UM, AND SO WE NOW HAVE THAT FUNCTIONALITY ON THAT.
WE ALSO NOW OFFER THE METRO BIKE, TIM BUYING TICKETS TO ALLOW OUR CUSTOMERS TO PURCHASE A COMBINED METRO BIKE AND COMMUTER PASS, UM, ALL DIRECTLY ON OUR APP.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE SOME TRAVELER TOOLS ENHANCEMENTS UNDERWAY.
WE'RE WORKING ON IMPROVEMENTS TO HOW OUR REAL-TIME DATA IS PROCESSED AND MAKING THAT, UM, EVEN MORE ACCURATE, UM, AS WELL AS HOW PEOPLE CAN SEARCH ON THE APP.
UM, AND A FUTURE INTEGRATION WITH METRO BIKE TO BE, UM, AN EVEN DEEPER INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE CAP METRO APP AND THE, UM, B CYCLE APP.
UM, NEXT STEP IS THE EQUITY FAIR CAPPING PILOT AND CASH TO MOBILE UPDATE.
UM, SO ONE OF THE THINGS, AS I MENTIONED ON THE LAST SLIDE, WE NOW HAVE A WALLET IN OUR APP.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE RECOGNIZE AS A BURDEN FOR SOME PEOPLE IS THAT THE PRIMARY WAY, MOST OF OUR CUSTOMERS LOAD THEIR WALLET IS WITH A CREDIT CARD.
AND WE KNOW THAT A CREDIT CARD IS NOT AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE.
AND SO, UM, WE LAUNCHED THE OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR CUSTOMERS TO BE ABLE TO LOAD CASH CASH DIRECTLY INTO THE APP FOR PAST PURCHASES OR FOR ADDING FUNDS TO THEIR WALLET.
AND THEY CAN DO THAT THROUGH A LARGE RETAIL NETWORK.
UM, THERE'S OVER 200 LOCATIONS, UM, THAT ALLOW FOR THAT TRANSACTION TO HAPPEN.
UM, YOU SEE THERE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THE TWO APP SCREENSHOTS, UM, THAT SHOW WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
UM, THE RETAILER DETAILS ON THE FAR RIGHT SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.
IF I WAS GOING TO LOAD CASH ONTO MY APP AT THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE ON EAST RIVERSIDE, I WOULD PULL UP THAT SCREEN, HAVE THE CASHIER SCAN, THE BARCODE, THEIR SYSTEM WOULD THEN BE ABLE TO TAKE, THEY WOULD TAKE MY CASH AND THIS AND THAT CASH WOULD NOW BE DIRECT INTO MY, UM, WALLET WITHIN THE APP.
SO THAT REALLY ALLOWS, UM, FOLKS THAT NEED TO BE ABLE TO LOAD THEIR WALLET, USING CASH, TO BE ABLE TO DO SO AT A NUMBER OF LOCATIONS.
UM, WE ALSO, UM, THROUGH THE FALL, UM, LAUNCHED AN EFFORT TO TRY AND DO SOME FARE CAPPING, AND WE'RE REALLY WORKING THROUGH TRYING TO TARGET THE LOW-INCOME MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY WHO PARTICIPATE IN PROGRAMS, SUCH AS, UM, SHIP OR TNF, UM, OR MEDICAID AND HELP PROVIDE THEM THE BENEFITS OF A DISCOUNTED PERIOD PASS.
SO OUR CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASE A MONTHLY PASS, UM, ARE ABLE TO GET A DISCOUNT ON THEIR OVERALL USAGE,
[01:20:01]
PRESUMING THEY USE THE SERVICE EVERY DAY, BUT THAT DOES REQUIRE A BIT OF AN UPFRONT CASH OUTLAY.AND WE KNOW THAT OUR LOWEST INCOME CUSTOMERS STRUGGLE SOMETIMES TO BE ABLE TO COME UP WITH THAT MUCH CASH UP FRONT.
UM, WE LAUNCHED AN EFFORT TO TRY AND USE THE MOBILE APP TO, UM, PROVIDE THAT SORT OF BENEFIT TO OUR CUSTOMERS THAT PARTICIPATE IN THOSE PROGRAMS. AND FRANKLY, WE LEARNED A LOT IN THAT PILOT.
AND THE BIGGEST THING THAT WE LEARNED, UM, WAS THAT, UM, RECRUITMENT WAS VERY DIFFICULT.
UM, SO WE, UM, HAD JUST A HANDFUL OF PARTICIPATE PARTICIPATION, UM, IN, IN TERMS OF FOLKS, UM, JOINING THE PROGRAM.
UM, AND, AND I THINK WHAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED IS THAT AS WE LOOK TO EMBED THESE SORTS OF LOW-INCOME PROGRAMS INTO OUR FARE STRUCTURE GOING FORWARD, WE NEED A MUCH MORE ROBUST EFFORT TO DO OUTREACH TO THOSE FOLKS.
UM, SO THIS PILOT IS CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF WINDING DOWN SO THAT WE CAN DOCUMENT THE LESSONS LEARNED AND REALLY USE THOSE LESSONS LEARNED AS WE MOVE TOWARD, UM, OUR MORE COMPLETE ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM THAT I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MINUTE.
UM, NEXT STEP IS OUR TICKET VENDING MACHINES AND ONBOARD VALIDATORS.
UM, WE HAVE INSTALLED TICKET VENDING MACHINES AT ALL METRO RAIL STATIONS, AND WE HAVE A COUPLE ALSO AT, UH, REPUBLIC SQUARE IN DOWNTOWN GUADALUPE NEAR BETWEEN FOURTH AND FIFTH STREETS.
AND, UM, THAT WE'LL BE TURNING ON SHORTLY.
THESE, UH, PAIR NICELY WITH THE ONBOARD VALIDATORS THAT ARE NOW INSTALLED ON OUR ENTIRE BUS FLEET.
SO AT THE FRONT AND REAR DOORS OF ALL OF OUR BUSES, UM, WE NOW HAVE ONBOARD VALIDATORS THAT ALLOW PEOPLE TO SCAM THEIR MOBILE TICKET, AS WELL AS TICKETS THAT COME OUT OF OUR TICKET VENDING MACHINES, UM, USING THE QR CODES THAT ARE PRINTED ON THOSE TICKETS.
UM, AND SO WE'LL BE WORKING, UM, TO, TO ENCOURAGE MORE PEOPLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ONBOARD VALIDATORS.
UM, THIS OFFERS CONTACTLESS PAYMENT OF YOUR FAIRS, UM, WHICH ESPECIALLY, UM, DURING THE PANDEMIC AND WITH OUR INCREASED CONCERN ABOUT CLEANLINESS AND HYGIENE, UM, BEING ABLE TO HAVE A CONTACTLESS FARE PAYMENT IS DEFINITELY A BENEFIT.
UM, AND SO TO THAT END, WE ARE NOW, UM, SELLING AT THE TRANSIT STORE CONTACTLESS PASSES FOR OUR SEVEN DAY AND 31 DAY PASSES.
UM, SO, UM, THIS EFFORT IS, IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY AND WE KNOW THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO PUSH MORE PRODUCTS OUT THERE TO DO CONTACTLESS PAYMENT, WE HOPE TO SEE MORE AND MORE CUSTOMERS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT TECHNOLOGY.
UM, NEXT STEP IN TERMS OF IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEMS IS THE CUSTOMER WEB PORTAL.
UM, WE ARE, UH, WE HAVE LAUNCHED LAST MONTH, A NEW CUSTOMER WEB PORTER AT BUY DOT CAP, METRO.ORG.
SO IF YOU GO TO OUR WEBSITE TO BUY A PASS OR LOAD A PASS INTO YOUR MOBILE ACCOUNTS, UM, YOU'LL NOW GET THIS NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE, UM, THAT IS MUCH MORE, USER-FRIENDLY MUCH MORE INTUITIVE THAN OUR PRIOR SITE.
UM, IT IS ALSO, UM, ENJOYS MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT, UM, AND IS ADA COMPLIANT FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO USE SCREEN READERS IN ORDER TO BE TO ACCESS THE INTERNET.
AND THEN LASTLY, IN TERMS OF FUTURE UPDATES, UM, WE AREN'T DONE YET.
WE HAVE A LOT MORE WORK TO DO ON OUR CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEMS. AND WE'RE NOW IN WHAT WE'RE CALLING PHASE TWO OF THE PROJECT, WHICH IS REALLY, UM, ENABLING A FULL ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM.
AND SO, UM, BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR, WE EXPECT TO HAVE THE BACKEND INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY INSTALLED, TESTED, AND READY FOR US TO BEGIN THINKING ABOUT 21ST CENTURY FAIR, UM, PAYMENT SYSTEMS, IF YOU'VE TRAVELED TO OTHER LARGE CITIES, UM, IF YOU'VE BEEN TO BOSTON, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU GOT THE CHARLIE CARD.
IF YOU'VE BEEN TO THE SEATTLE AREA, YOU LIKELY GOT AN ORCA CARD.
HAVING A FULL ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM WILL ALLOW US TO TRANSITION OUR FARE PAYMENT TO A CARD-BASED SYSTEM, UM, AND ALLOW US TO DO THINGS LIKE FARE CAPPING AND OTHER LOYALTY PROGRAMS. UM, W ON THOSE CARDS, WE'LL BE ABLE TO SELL OUR SMART CARDS AT RETAIL OUTLETS, UM, AND REALLY PUSH THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR CUSTOMERS TO A TAP AND PAY SYSTEM, UM, WITH THAT REUSABLE CARD.
UM, SO THAT WILL BE COMING THE, THE BACKEND TECHNOLOGY OF THAT SHOULD BE READY BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
AND THEN WE'LL WORK TO IDENTIFY WHAT IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR US TO KIND OF ADJUST OUR OVERALL FARE STRUCTURE TO FIT INTO THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY.
UM, AND THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT WE'LL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE BOARD TO DO.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, WE ARE ALSO WORKING ON OPEN PAYMENT, WHICH IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING, UM, PAYING WITH YOUR TAP AND PAY CREDIT CARDS.
SO THE TAP AND PAY NFC CREDIT CARDS ARE NOW BECOMING PREVALENT IN THE U S MARKET.
AND SO, UM, WE WILL BE WORKING TO GET THOSE WORKING ON OUR ONBOARD VALIDATORS SO THAT ANYONE, UM, WITH THOSE WE'LL BE ABLE TO TAP AND, AND PAY THEIR FAIR DIRECT FROM THEIR CREDIT CARD WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A SEPARATE ACCOUNT.
UM, SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT ALL OF THESE UPGRADES TO OUR SYSTEMS, AND I
[01:25:01]
WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR DADI, UH, ERIC FROM AUSTRALIA, YOU'RE MUTED, GET, AGAIN, TRYING TO TOO MANY BUTTONS TO PUSH.UH, FIRST OF ALL, UH, DONNY, JUST WANT TO SAY, UM, HOW AMAZING THIS IS AND THE PROGRESS THAT I'VE SEEN WITH THIS W WITH THESE MODERNIZATION EFFORTS, THIS IS JUST PHENOMENAL ON SO MANY FRONTS, SO MANY, SO MUCH INFORMATION TO PRESENT TO US, BUT IN THIS CASE, THIS IS A REALLY GOOD THING BECAUSE WE GOT SO MUCH GOING ON THAT IS MOVING AND ADVANCING US, UM, FURTHER INTO THE 21ST CENTURY WITH ALL THESE THINGS TO IMPROVE, UH, THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, THE USER EXPERIENCE AND WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT.
AND THEN I'M HEARING HERE IS THAT, UM, AS MUCH AS WE'RE MOVING FORWARD, WE'RE NOT, IT DOES.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT THAT Y'ALL ARE MAKING EFFORTS TO ENSURE WE'RE NOT LEAVING OTHERS BEHIND WHO ARE NOT AS, UM, WHO DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO AS MUCH OF THE TECHNOLOG TECHNOLOGY, UH, IS, IS OTHERS DO THAT? WE'RE NOT JUST, JUST FOCUSING ON ONE ASPECT THAT WE'RE STILL TRYING TO LOOK AT WAYS TO, TO COVER EVERYBODY, UH, THAT THAT USES OUR TECHNOLOGY.
TWO QUESTIONS I JUST WANTED TO HIT ON REAL QUICK.
UM, THE FIRST ONE AS WE MOVE TO THIS, UH, TO THIS ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM, IS THIS ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM GOING TO BE MORE ACCURATE, MORE RELIABLE IN TERMS OF HELPING US, UH, TRACK OUR, UM, USER DATA.
SO WE'LL THAT MIRROR UP AND MATCH WITH, UH, IN TERMS OF OUR DASHBOARDS, ACTUAL RIDERSHIP NUMBERS, MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE'RE USING RIGHT NOW.
SO WE ACTUALLY DO NO LONGER UTILIZE OUR FARE SYSTEMS TO CALCULATE OUR RIDERSHIP NUMBERS.
WE ACTUALLY UTILIZE THE AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNTERS.
WE FIND THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY A MORE ACCURATE METHOD OF COLLECTING THE RIDERSHIP DATA.
SO RIDERSHIP SPECIFICALLY, UM, WILL CONTINUE TO BE COLLECTED THROUGH THE AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNTERS, BUT WE WILL WITH THE ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM AND THE TAP AND PAY SYSTEM, BE ABLE TO GET A MUCH MORE KIND OF ROBUST SET OF DATA IN TERMS OF UNDERSTANDING, UM, THE, THE, UH, FAIR USAGE.
AND, AND IT'S ALL, IT'LL JUST BE MUCH A MUCH MORE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE.
UM, THEN, UH, RIGHT NOW WE STILL HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS THAT ARE PAYING CASH, UM, EACH TIME THEY BOARD, AND WE'LL BE WORKING TO INCENTIVIZE EVERYONE TO MOVING TO THE TAP CARD, JUST TO SPEED HOARDING, TO ALLOW FOR THAT CONTACTLESS PAYMENT, UM, AND REALLY TO GIVE EVERYONE THE SAME BENEFITS THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO OFFER THROUGH THE CARD.
UM, AND THAT, THAT THANK YOU FOR THAT, THAT DOVETAILS TO MY SECOND QUESTION.
UM, ARE WE, ARE WE, ARE WE REMOVING, OR DO YOU SEE A PERSEUS A TIME POINT AT THIS, AT LEAST IN OUR PLANS THAT WE ARE REMOVING OUTRIGHT REMOVING THE FARE BOXES FROM THE BUSES THAT WE WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT CASH ON THE BUSES, BUT ONLY BEING UTILIZING, UM, THE, THE, THE, UH, ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM, THE CARDS, THE LOADING, THAT, THAT KIND OF THING.
WE DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE PLANS TO REMOVE THE FAREBOX COMPLETELY, UM, THEY ARE DO REPLACEMENT, BUT WE DO, UM, TO YOUR EARLIER POINT, WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT CASH PAYMENT IS THE ONLY PAYMENT AVAILABLE TO SOME CUSTOMERS.
UM, THE LOWEST INCOME UNBANKED FOLKS AND VISITORS ARE OFTEN, IT'S EASIER FOR THEM JUST TO PAY SOME CASH AND, AND KEEP MOVING.
UM, WE DO WANT TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CASH IN THE SYSTEM, UM, AND WE DO WANT TO GET AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGES OF SOME OF THE CUSTOMER LOYALTY SYSTEMS THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE WHEN WE HAVE THEM ON AN ACCOUNT-BASED SYSTEM USING A TAP CARD, UM, ALL OF THAT STRUCTURE AND HOW THAT WILL ALL WORK IS, IS STILL TO BE FIGURED OUT.
UM, AT THIS POINT WE'RE FOCUSED ON GETTING THE TECHNOLOGY TO DO ALL OF THAT.
UM, AND IN THE COMING YEARS, WE'LL BE WORKING ON HOW DO WE THEN TRANSITION OUR STRUCTURES, OUR FARE STRUCTURE, AND ALL OF THAT, UM, TO WORK WITHIN THAT TECHNOLOGY.
UH, I RECOGNIZE THAT, THAT THERE IS A NEED, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT ABANDONING THOSE CASH BOXES, BECAUSE ONE THING I'M LEARNING, I'VE BEEN LEARNING AS I'VE BEEN SPENDING TIME, UH, ESPECIALLY, UH, IN, IN THE VACCINATION EFFORTS.
UM, SO MUCH OF OUR SYSTEMS TODAY ARE DIGITAL, AND THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE FUNDAMENTALLY GETTING LEFT BEHIND, NOT INTENTIONALLY, IT'S NOT HAPPENING INTENTIONALLY.
IT'S JUST THAT, THAT WE, WE WE'RE HAVING INDIVIDUALS WHOSE, UM, YOU KNOW, CHILDREN OR YOUNGER OR YOUNGER SIBLINGS ARE THE ONES THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, FILLING OUT THE, THE, THE, THE INFORMATION TO GET THEM LOADED UP TO, TO GET THEM ON A WAIT LIST OR GET THEM IN AN APPOINTMENT LINE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BECAUSE THEY AREN'T, THEY, THEY ARE NOT, UH, AS
[01:30:01]
TECHNOLOGICALLY SAVVY, UH, TO YOUR POINT, THERE ARE UNBANKED INDIVIDUALS.AND, AND I THINK THAT, THAT THERE WILL BE A CONTINUED NEED FOR THAT.
AND I THINK THAT IS, UH, IT IS A, UM, A GOOD GOAL FOR US TO, TO CONTINUE TO PUSH TO, UM, TO, TO INCREASE THIS MOVE TOWARD THE ACCOUNT-BASED STRUCTURE, BUT MAKING SURE IN THE SAME TIME, WE DON'T TAKE THAT OTHER OPTION AWAY.
AND WE DON'T LEAVE THAT BEHIND JUST, JUST KNOWING THAT THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY WILL ALWAYS BE THERE.
AND HOPEFULLY AS WE, YOU KNOW, THAT WE CAN TRANSITION MORE AND MORE PEOPLE TO THE ACCOUNT BASED SYSTEM, BUT MAKING SURE WE DON'T LEAVE THAT BEHIND THAT, THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE RECOGNIZING PEOPLE THERE THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT IT JUST IT'S, IT'S A REALITY.
AND THEN MAKING SURE WE STILL HAVE THAT OPTION FOR THOSE PEOPLE THAT WE SERVE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO EXCELLENTLY AND HAVE APPROVAL.
I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION FOR MS. WATKINS.
I'M ASSUMING THAT THE TAP CARD WILL HAVE ROBUST SECURITY, UM, PROTECTIONS AROUND IT.
AND SECOND, DOES KENT METRO EVER SHARE ANY OF ITS DATA WITH ANY VENDOR OR THIRD PARTY? SO OUR TAB CARD WILL ABSOLUTELY BE THE MOST SECURE CARDS AVAILABLE.
UM, AND WE WORKED THROUGH THAT.
IN FACT, OUR, UM, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE PROCESSING DATA, IT OF THOSE TAP CARDS WILL HAPPEN THROUGH BITE MARK, WHO WAS OUR FEAR, OUR MOBILE APP AND FAIR PAYMENT SYSTEMS VENDOR.
UM, AND THEY ACTUALLY HANDLE ALL OF THE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING, NOT US.
UM, SO THAT HA THAT HAPPENS KIND OF THROUGH THEIR SERVERS AND ON THEIR END, BECAUSE THEY'RE THE EXPERTS IN PAYMENT SYSTEMS. AND WE'RE REALLY JUST LOOKING AT THE ACCOUNT AND THE TRANSIT USE.
SO WE, WE DO SHARE THAT DATA WITH OUR, OUR VENDOR PARTNERS WHO ARE PROCESSING THE TRANSACTIONS.
UM, BUT WE ARE, UM, VERY UNDERSTANDING AND, UM, COGNIZANT OF PRIVACY CONCERNS AND SECURITY CONCERNS AND MAKING SURE THAT, UM, OUR CUSTOMERS ALSO, THEY ARE COMFORTABLE USING THAT SYSTEM.
SO IT'S AN END THEN ANY DATA THAT IS COLLECTED THROUGH THE FARE STRUCTURE THAT DOESN'T GO OUTSIDE OF CAP METRO OR ITS VENDOR CONTRACTED PARTNERS.
YEAH, TO BE HONEST, WE MAY SHARE RIDERSHIP, YOU KNOW, DIS-AGGREGATED INFORMATION THAT CAME FROM THAT DATA, BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE SHARING INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT DATA.
I MAY HAVE SOME FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS IN A FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE ABOUT THAT.
AND WE WE'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER A DETAILED QUESTIONS AND EVEN GET SOME OF OUR TECHNOLOGY FOLKS TO KIND OF GET INTO THE WEEDS IF YOU'D BE INTERESTED.
AND MAYBE I CAN DO THAT SEPARATELY AND NOT SLOW DOWN THE COMMITTEE MEETING.
THANKS SO MUCH OTHER QUESTIONS FOR DOTTIE.
I REMEMBER RENTERIA, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
UH, DADDY, UH, YOU KNOW, UM, A LOT OF THE, UH, REGARDING TO THIS NEW SYSTEM THAT YOU MIGHT'VE MENTIONED IT, BUT I DIDN'T CATCH IT, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE, UH, MENTAL SYSTEM, WHEN YOU BUY A CARD AND PUT MONEY IN IT, IT ONLY GETS DEDUCTED WHEN YOU'RE USING IT AND THEN NEVER EXPIRES.
IS THIS HOW THE SYSTEM KIND OF WORKED HERE IN AUSTIN? SO THAT IS DEFINITELY A CONFIGURATION THAT WE'LL NEED TO WORK THROUGH.
UM, AS I MENTIONED, WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO, TO DEFINE EXACTLY HOW OUR PROGRAM WILL WORK.
UM, AND THAT PROCESS WILL NEED TO BE A PROCESS THAT INCLUDES INPUT FROM THE BOARD AND THE COMMUNITY.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING TO GET THE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM AVAILABLE.
UM, AND IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS WE'LL BE WORKING ON WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? AND HOW DOES THAT THEN, UH, REALLY TRANSFORMED THE, THE ACTUAL FARE STRUCTURE THAT WE, THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE.
SO THE WAY IT IS NOW TO MY UNDERSTANDING, I MIGHT BE MISTAKEN, MISTAKEN, BUT, UH, WHEN YOU BUY A CAR, YOU'RE SLIPPED NORMALLY FOR 30 DAYS AND AFTER THE 30TH DAY, WHETHER YOU USED IT OR NOT, IT EXPIRES, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS KIND OF THE, YES.
THAT IS HOW OUR CURRENT PASS HAS WORKED THERE, WHAT WE CALL PERIOD PASSES.
SO THEY'RE GOOD FOR A LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME.
SO I NEEDED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW, BUT I WISH THAT YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO REPROGRAM IT SO THAT IT DOESN'T EXPIRE AND PEOPLE DON'T LOSE THEIR MONEY BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT USING, I KNOW OUR USERS USE IT ALL THE TIME.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A PLUS FOR THEM, BUT THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT JUST OCCASIONALLY WOULD USE A CARD.
AND FOR THEM IT WOULDN'T BE WORTH BUY A MONTHLY CARD AND WE'LL JUST SETTLE FOR WHATEVER YOU HAVE WHEREVER THEY GOING TO GO TO PAY THE CASH.
THAT WAS REALLY A FABULOUS REPORT.
IT'S ENCOURAGING TO THE PROGRESS BEEN MADE, PARTICULARLY WITH THE CHALLENGES THAT WE'VE HAD.
UH, I THINK YOU WERE ON THE AGENDA NEXT AS WELL FOR THE CARROT DATE.
[01:35:01]
OFF MY, UM, MICROPHONE AND SPEAKER.UM, SO AS, UM, WE HAVE DISCUSSED IN, IN THE NUMBER OF MONTHS, IT'S REALLY, ALMOST BLOWS MY MIND TO THINK THAT IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE WE FIRST CAME INTO THIS PANDEMIC.
UM, BUT THIS IS, UH, A QUICK PRESENTATION JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME UPDATES ON WHERE WE ARE WITH OUR CARE PROGRAM UPDATE.
SO JUST A REMINDER, UM, CARE IS ACTUALLY AN ACRONYM THAT TALKS ABOUT OUR PHILOSOPHY FOR RECOVERING, THAT TALKS ABOUT FIRST AND FOREMOST, MAKING SURE OUR SYSTEM IS SAFE FOR OUR STAFF AND CUSTOMERS, UM, THAT WE'RE USING OUR RESOURCES WISELY AND EQUITABLY RELYING ON DATA FOR DECISION-MAKING AND CONSTANTLY EVALUATING OUR RESULTS AND ADAPTING.
UM, IF THIS PAST YEAR TAUGHT US NOTHING ELSE, IT WAS THE NEED TO CONSTANTLY EVALUATE AND ADAPT.
SO OUR RIDERSHIP IS SLOWLY INCREASING.
WE'RE CURRENTLY AT JUST UNDER HALF OF OUR PRE COVID LEVELS.
UM, THROUGH JANUARY, UM, WE HAD CARRIED 1.2, 6 MILLION RIDERS, UM, DURING THE PANDEMIC, UM, WE SAW OUR RIDERSHIP START TO CREEP UP IN FEBRUARY.
WHEN THE UNIVERSITY CAME BACK INTO FULL SESSION, THEY HAD A DELAYED START OF THEIR, OF THEIR IN-PERSON SEMESTER.
UM, BUT THEY ARE NOW BACK IN FULL SWING.
UM, AND WE CONTINUED LOOKING AT DAILY BOARDING DATA BY ROUTE TO IDENTIFY RIDERSHIP TRENDS.
OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO FACILITATE SOCIAL DISTANCING ON OUR VEHICLES TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE.
AND SO WE MONITOR VEHICLE CAPACITY.
AND WHEN WE SEE THAT THOSE VEHICLES ARE CONSISTENTLY MORE THAN ABOUT HALF FULL, WE WILL DEPLOY ADDITIONAL VEHICLES TO SUPPORT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND ANY POTENTIAL, UM, CROWDING OF THE VEHICLES.
WE'RE NOT ABLE TO DO THAT 100% OF THE TIME, BUT WE'VE BEEN FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL.
AND WE LOOK AT THAT DATA EVERY YEAR, SINGLE DAY, NEXT SLIDE.
UM, WE'VE ALSO DONE A COUPLE OF THINGS TO, UM, SAFEGUARD OUR CUSTOMERS ON OUR VEHICLES.
UM, THE FIRST IS A PROJECT TO CONVERT OUR FABRIC SEATS TO EMBOSSED VINYL.
UM, WHEN THIS PRESENTATION WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR THE FEBRUARY MEETING, WE WERE AT ABOUT 90% COMPLETE, BUT I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE HAVE COMPLETED THE INSTALLATION OF VINYL SEATS ON ALL OF OUR METRO BUS AND METRO RAPID VEHICLES.
UM, THIS IN BOSTON VINYL IS, UM, MUCH MORE DURABLE.
IT'S MUCH MORE EASY TO CLEAN THAN OUR FORMER FABRIC SEATS.
AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN, UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO FOR QUITE SOME TIME WHEN WE FIRST ANNOUNCED THAT WE WERE DOING THIS, WE RECEIVED A LOT OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK.
SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
UM, WE ALSO, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE BOARD AWARDED A CONTRACT FOR AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS ON OUR BUSES, UM, THAT HAS BEEN EXECUTED AND INSTALLATIONS BEGAN MARCH 1ST, UM, WITH COMPLETION BY THE END OF APRIL, WE CURRENTLY HAVE ABOUT 90 SYSTEMS AND COUNTING ON OUR FLEET AND WE WILL, UM, GET ALL 420 OF OUR BUSES INSTALLED BY THE END OF APRIL.
UM, WE, WE'RE ALSO LAUNCHING THE DISCOVERY PHASE ON OUR OTHER TYPES OF VEHICLES TO DETERMINE, UM, WHAT TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE FOR THEM AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN THOSE WOULD LIKELY FOLLOW THE SAME PROCESS THAT WE DID FOR THE BUSES, WHICH IS, UM, INVOLVES A DEMONSTRATION, A THOROUGH ANALYSIS ON BEFORE WE DETERMINE WHETHER TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION FOR PURCHASE.
UM, BUT WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BE GETTING THOSE AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS ON OUR BUSES.
UM, AND, UM, YOU'LL BE, YOU'LL START SEEING, UM, BUSES INSTALLED AND THEY'LL HAVE A STICKER, UM, PLACED ON THEM TO ALERT OUR CUSTOMERS THAT THE, UM, AIR IN THAT VEHICLE IS BEING TREATED WITH THE UV OXIDATION TECHNOLOGY.
NUMBER, REMEMBER STRATEGY, GO AHEAD.
DOTTIE JUST HAD ONE QUESTION WITH THAT ART, WAS THAT TRUE FOR THE METRO EXPRESS BUSES OR I CAN'T REMEMBER IF WE APPROVED IT FOR THOSE AS WELL, OR IS THAT A DIFFERENT ANIMAL? YES.
ALL OF THE METRICS, ALL OF THE RUBBER TIRE BUSES IN OUR, UM, SO MUCH ROBUST METRO RAPID AND METRO EXPRESS ARE RECEIVING THE AIR PURIFICATION.
UM, ON FEBRUARY 1ST, UM, UH, CDC ORDER WENT INTO EFFECT REQUIRING ALL MODES OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO REQUIRE MASKS.
UM, CAPITOL METRO HAD ALREADY BEEN, UH, REQUIRING MASS SINCE LAST SPRING.
UM, BUT THE ORDER DID SPECIFY WHAT WAS CONSIDERED AN ACCEPTABLE MASK.
AND SO THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FOR US IS THAT BANDANAS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE.
UM, AND SO WHAT YOU SEE HERE ON THIS SLIDE IN, IN THE CENTER IS THE ICON WITH THE BANDANA THAT WAS, UM, THE FACE COVERING ICON WE HAD BEEN USING PRIOR TO THIS, UM, UH, MANDATE COMING DOWN.
UM, WE NOW HAVE TRANSITIONED AWAY FROM, UH, WHAT I LOVINGLY CALL BANDANA MAN, UM, TO A MASK ICON, UM, AND ARE NOW USING MASKS REQUIRED.
SO WE HAVE, UM, CHANGED OUT THE STICKERS THAT ARE ON THE SIDES OF THE BUS AND ALL OF OUR MATERIALS ABOUT OUR, UM,
[01:40:01]
FACE COVERING REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED, UM, TO REALLY TALK ABOUT THE MASKS, UM, OTHERWISE THE REQUIREMENTS THAT WERE SET DOWN, UM, BY THE CDC FOR FEBRUARY 1ST IMPLEMENTATION, UM, ALIGNED DIRECTLY WITH WHAT WE HAD ALREADY BEEN DOING, UM, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF OUR LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS.AND I BELIEVE THAT, YES, I'M JUST STRUGGLING JUST TO CLARIFY, UM, BE SO DOTTIE BECAUSE WE ARE A FED, WE RECEIVE FUNDS FROM THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, THIS, THE MASK MANDATE WHEN THE, WE FOLLOW THE CDC GUIDELINES AND THE, THE FEDERAL GUIDELINES, WE'RE STILL REQUIRING THE MASK MANDATE.
SO I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THE GOVERNORS, THE GOVERNORS, UH, ACTIONS THAT RESCINDED THE EXECUTIVE ORDER EFFECTIVE MARCH 15TH, DOES NOT APPLY TO AND WOULD NOT APPLY TO CAPITAL METRO ANYWAY, IS THAT CORRECT? BECAUSE WE ARE CONSIDERED A BEDROLL INTO T UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES.
THE FEDERAL FEDERAL ORDINANCE REQUIRES US TO IMPLEMENT THAT MASS POLICY, UM, REGARDLESS OF STATE OR LOCAL ORDINANCE.
AND SO THAT MEANS THAT ALL THAT, ALL THE RIDERS, THEY COULD BE COMING OUT OF A PRIVATE RESTAURANT THAT THAT SAID, NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WEAR A MASK AND THEY WEREN'T WEARING THE MASK, BUT IF THEY WANT TO GET BACK ON ONE OF OUR BUSES OR THE TRAIN TO GO BACK HOME OR TO GO WHEREVER THEY WANTED TO NEXT, THEY MUST HAVE A MASK IN ORDER TO RIDE ONE OF OUR VEHICLES THAT IS BECAUSE OF THAT.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, UM, WE ARE FOCUSED AS, UM, MUCH OF THE COMMUNITY IS NOW IN, UM, HOPEFULLY COMING OUT OF OUR PANDEMIC THROUGH VACCINATION.
UM, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE COVID SURGE THAT OUR COMMUNITY EXPERIENCED IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY DID IMPACT OUR STAFF AVAILABILITY.
WE HAD SOME DAYS WHERE WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH FOLKS TO BE ABLE TO PUT OUT ALL OF THE SERVICE.
IT WASN'T SIGNIFICANT, BUT IT WAS NOTABLE.
UM, AND, UM, SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY CLOSELY SINCE, UH, LAST, SINCE LATE LAST YEAR WITH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH AND OKLAHOMA LA OTHER LOCAL PARTNERS, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, UM, COMMUNITY HEALTH TO GET OUR CAP, METRO STAFF VACCINATED.
UM, WE HAVE ALSO LAUNCHED VACCINE ACCESS, WHICH IS, UM, ALLOWS US TO UTILIZE OUR METRO ACCESS RESERVATION SYSTEM AND AVAILABLE CAPACITY ON THAT SYSTEM TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO FOLKS THAT HAVE A VACCINE APPOINTMENT.
UM, WE, WE REALLY WANT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY TO GET VACCINATED AS QUICKLY AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN SO THAT WE, WE CAN ALL BE SAFER TOGETHER.
UM, AND SO WE REMAIN FOCUSED ON BOTH SUPPORTING OUR CUSTOMERS AND BEING ABLE TO REACH THEIR VACCINE APPOINTMENTS AS WELL AS PUSHING TO ENSURE THAT WE GET VACCINE APPOINTMENTS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE FOR ALL OF OUR STAFF.
IF YOU WANT ME TO ASK IT NOW, SHOULD I GO AHEAD? I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE VACCINE, UM, ACCESS.
UM, SO CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL? SO, UM, IS IT AS SIMPLE AS THEY CALL AND THEY CAN GET PICKED UP AT THEIR DOOR, TAKEN TO THE VACCINE AND TAKEN, AND THEN TAKEN HOME? CAN JUST GIVE ME A LITTLE MORE DETAILS.
THAT BASICALLY IS HOW IT WORKS.
SO, UM, THEY WOULD CALL OUR RESERVATION CENTER.
UM, WE, UM, PREFER A PRIOR DAY APPOINTMENTS.
AND SO WE WOULD LIKE FOLKS TO CALL US THE DAY BEFORE THEIR APPOINTMENT, AND WE ARE OFFERING SAME DAY TRIPS AS OUR RESOURCES ALLOW, BUT WE CAN'T GUARANTEE THAT WE'LL HAVE A VEHICLE AVAILABLE IF YOU CALL FOR SAME DAY TRANSPORTATION.
WE WORK OUT THE TIME THAT WE WILL PICK THEM UP AND WHERE THEY'RE HEADED.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL TRANSPORT THEM TO THEIR APPOINTMENT.
THEN, UM, GIVE THEM THE NUMBER TO CALL WHEN THEY'RE READY TO COME BACK AND THEN WE'LL CIRCLE BACK AROUND AND GET THEM BACK HOME.
THAT IT'S, I'M GLAD YOU'RE ALSO OFFERING IT SAME DAY IF NECESSARY.
SOMETIMES PEOPLE THERE, THERE ARE SOME GROUPS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE GETTING CALLED ON THE SAME DAY FOR APPOINTMENT, UH, BECAUSE THEY, UM, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE VACCINES BECOME AVAILABLE AT THE LAST MINUTE SOMETIMES IF THEY HAVE NO SHOWS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO IT'S, IT'S GOOD TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS THAT THE SAME DAY IF NECESSARY.
AND THEN LASTLY, JUST A REMINDER THAT, OF THE MINI DASHBOARDS THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE IS OUR CARE DASHBOARD.
UM, GIVING AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE IN TERMS OF RIDERSHIP.
UM, OUR METRO ACCESS RIDERSHIP REMAINS SIGNIFICANTLY DOWN, BUT IS, IS SLOWLY CREEPING UP.
UM, YOU'LL SEE THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOP FIVE RIDERSHIP ROUTES REMAIN BASICALLY, UH, MANY OF THE SAME RIDERSHIP ROUTES THAT, UM, ROUTES THAT WE'RE SEEING HIGH RIDERSHIP BEFORE THE PANDEMIC CONTINUED TO BE, UM, HIGH.
AND THEN ON THE BOTTOM, THERE IS A CHART SHOWING, UM, THE
[01:45:01]
TOTAL NUMBER OF, UM, WHAT WE CALL SUPPLEMENTAL TRIPS.SO THESE ARE ADDITIONAL TRIPS WE PUT IN SERVICE TO SUPPORT, UM, CAPACITY VEHICLES AS WILL, AS WELL AS THE PERCENTAGE OF OUR TOTAL TRIPS OVER THE COURSE OF THE MONTH, UM, THAT WE'RE OVER CAPACITY.
SO THIS IS THE, UM, MORE THAN 50% FULL FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES.
AND SO, UM, OUR GOAL IS TO KEEP THAT NUMBER IS AS LOW AS POSSIBLE, AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO KEEP IT, UM, KIND OF AT, OR UNDER ABOUT 2% OF OUR TRIPS, UM, BEING OVER CAPACITY.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO MONITOR THAT, UM, UNTIL THE COMMUNITY HAS COME THROUGH THE PANDEMIC.
AND I BELIEVE THAT IS ALL THAT WE HAVE TO SHARE TODAY ON THE CARE UPDATE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, DARLING.
JUST A QUICK COMMENT IN QUESTION ABOUT, UM, VACCINATING OUR BUS DRIVERS.
I KNOW Y'ALL HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD, UH, TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
UM, IT'S, IT'S SO IMPORTANT FOR OUR BUS DRIVERS TO BE, UM, ALL VACCINATED.
SO, UM, HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT'S GOING IN TERMS OF THE, THE, THE NUMBER OR PERCENTAGE OF OUR BUS DRIVERS THAT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BE VACCINATED AND IS THERE A SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR THEM NOW, IN OTHER WORDS, DO THEY FALL INTO ONE OF THE CATEGORIES OR IS THAT SOMETHING WE MIGHT NEED TO CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR? UM, WE DO WANT TO CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR, UM, THEIR RECOGNITION AS, AS, AS A SPECIAL CATEGORY IN AND OF ITSELF.
UM, BUT AS I MENTIONED, ALL OF OUR LOCAL PARTNERS HAVE BEEN VERY GREAT AT WORKING WITH US, UM, RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF, UM, THESE FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES AS ESSENTIAL WORKERS, UM, THAT ARE TRANSPORTING PEOPLE TO VACCINE APPOINTMENTS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT THE PERSON GIVING YOU A RIDE TO A VACCINE APPOINTMENT TO ALSO BE ABLE TO BE PROTECTED.
UM, I DON'T WANT TO MISLEAD YOU ABOUT THE PERCENTAGES OF WHERE WE ARE.
UM, WE ARE ACTIVELY, UM, AND, AND MAYBE SOMEWHAT AGGRESSIVELY ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO SIGN UP.
UM, WE'VE HAD EXCELLENT SUPPORT FROM THE LOCAL UNION AND RECENTLY HAVE CREATED A POSTER CAMPAIGN FEATURING SOME OF THE UNION OFFICERS WHO HAVE BEEN VACCINATED TO ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO SIGN UP, TO GET VACCINATED.
UM, SO WE CONTINUE PUSHING THAT.
UM, AND, AND WE'LL BE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A PRETTY HEAVY PUSH, UM, TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO BE REGISTERED FOR A VACCINE AND GET OUR ON OUR LIST SO THAT WE CAN HELP WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TO GET THEM PRIORITIZED FOR VACCINATIONS.
THANK YOU SO THAT YOU ALL HAVE, HAVE, HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS, BUT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I THINK IF WE, UM, AT A FEDERAL LEVEL, IF THERE WAS SOME RECOGNITION OF BUS DRIVERS AS A CATEGORY, UH, TO BE RECOGNIZED, I KNOW AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, UH, THAT'S BEEN DONE WITH REGARD TO SCHOOLS, FOR EXAMPLE, IN SCHOOL EMPLOYEES.
AND SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE US IF, IF YOU ALL, HAVEN'T DONE THIS ALREADY, UH, TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TO, TO, TO SEND A LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND JUST URGE, UH, THAT, UM, BUS DRIVERS BE RECOGNIZED AS A CATEGORY THAT, UM, SHOULD HAVE VACCINES, UH, AVAILABLE TO THEM.
AND AGAIN, I WOULD EXPECT THAT THAT KIND OF EFFORT MAY HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED.
UH, BUT IF NOT, I WOULD ENCOURAGE THAT TO HAPPEN.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD A COUPLE OF COMMENTS TO THAT.
UM, SO I'LL TAKE BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN'S LAST PIECE AND THEN GET TO THE OTHER COMMENT WAS GONNA MAKE ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL APTA REPRESENTING ALL KINDS OF, UH, AUTHORITIES HAS, HAS CERTAINLY BEEN PUSHING OUT ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
AND SO HAS THE ETU ON, UH, ON A NATIONAL LEVEL, UH, THERE'S A GROUP OF STATES THAT HAVE DONE SUCH AND RECOGNIZE, UH, TRANSIT WORKERS AND ENTIRE CATEGORIES KIND OF LIKE TEXAS HAS DONE WITH TEACHERS AFTER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DID THAT.
SO CLEARLY THAT, UH, QUITE FRANKLY, WOULD HAVE BEEN HELPFUL.
WE'RE AT THE POINT NOW WHERE SUPPLY IS PROBABLY WE'RE, WE'RE ONLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS AWAY.
WE'RE SUPPLYING DEMAND, WE'LL PROBABLY CROSS OVER.
UM, SO THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PROBABLY REALLY HELPFUL THREE, FOUR WEEKS AGO.
UM, BUT, BUT, BUT YOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN.
SECONDLY, I WANNA, YOU KNOW, TAKE A TECH, TAKE A SECOND TO RECOGNIZE, UH, STEPHANIE HAYDEN ON THE APH SIDE, WHO HAS BEEN JUST INCREDIBLY BUSY DOING THIS FOR HER LAST YEAR.
UM, SHE'S BEEN WORKING SPECIFICALLY WITH GARDNER TABLE ON, ON OUR, ON OUR SIDE, ALMOST ON A DAILY BASIS.
LOTS OF BOARD MEMBERS STRATTON AND UP IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY HAS, HAS, UH, TRIED TO BE, UH, AS, AS HELPFUL AS POSSIBLE AS WELL.
AND, AND I JUST WANNA JUST REALLY TAKE A SECOND AND RECOGNIZE, UM, AND WE'LL SAY THIS IN MY FOLLOWING, IN MY PRESIDENT'S REPORT, BUT THE PANDEMIC HAS BEEN A LONG YEAR AND DOTTIE DID A GREAT JOB OF JUST SUMMARIZING THE WHOLE CARE PROGRAM, BUT THAT HAS BEEN AN ORGANIZATIONAL WIDE EFFORT AND IT IS EVERY SINGLE DAY, THE SENIOR TEAM ALL THE WAY DOWN.
[01:50:01]
STAFFING.WE TALK ABOUT, UM, HOW DO WE KEEP OUR STAFF SAFE? HOW DO WE KEEP OUR CUSTOMERS SAFE, UH, GROWING RIDERSHIP AGAIN, UH, ON AND ON AND ON, AND, UH, DOTTIE, UH, IT'S REALLY GREAT THAT DOTTIE DID THIS, UH, PRESENTATION CAUSE WHILE ALL THE STAFF HAS DONE A GREAT JOB, I'M JUST GOING TO TAKE A SECOND AND PROBABLY EMBARRASS HER A LITTLE BIT.
BUT DOTTIE IS BEEN THE LEADER ON OPS, OBVIOUSLY WITH THAT, THAT NONE OF THOSE ARE TIED UP, BUT, UH, HER, UH, KIND OF MORAL LEADER AS WELL.
AND JUST HER SOUL IS INTO THIS FOR LAST YEAR.
AND I JUST WANT TO REALLY TAKE A SECOND AND RECOGNIZE DOTTIE SHE'S, SHE'S DONE, UH, A HARD 15 HOUR DAYS EVERY DAY FOR LIKE A YEAR STRAIGHT, UH, DEALING WITH COVID.
AND, UH, IT, IT HAS BEEN A NEVER ENDING PIECE.
AND LIKE ALL OF YOU CAB METRO IS VERY MUCH READY TO COPE.
IT COULD BE WHAT WE TALK ABOUT IN THE PAST VERSUS THE DAILY PIECE.
SO, UM, MORE TO COME A LITTLE BIT IN THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT, BUT KUDOS TO DONNIE AND THE ENTIRE TEAM FOR REALLY JUST DOING A FANTASTIC JOB, UH, JUST TO PILE ON THAT WAS, UH, UH, WITH A SEVERAL MONTH RUN-UP ON PROJECT CONNECT.
SO THERE WAS NO PAUSE BETWEEN ALL THE EFFORTS RELATED TO PROJECT CONNECT TO THIS.
SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET A BREATHER ON THESE DAYS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR DADI? GOOD.
UH, NEXT UP WE HAVE, UH, CHAD BALLANTINE AND SHARMILA MUKHERJEE TO TALK ABOUT PICKUP SERVICE STANDARDS.
I WANT TO WARN OUR NEW VICE CHAIR THAT I HAVE A HARD STOP AT 1220.
SO YOUR DUTIES, UH, WHILE NOT PERHAPS OFFICIALLY, UH, UH, COMMENCING UNTIL NEXT MONTH, I'LL ASK THAT, UH, IF YOU DON'T SEE ME ON THE SCREEN THAT YOU, UH, GET US OUT, UH, I WILL ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE, UH, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL HOPEFULLY PUSH US A LITTLE FASTER SO THAT WE GET DONE BEFORE 12 2011.
WITH THAT INVOCATION, CHAD AND CHARMELLA THE FLOOR IS YOURS.
CHAIR COOPER, PRESIDENT CLARK BOARD MEMBERS, AND WELCOME TO A BOARD MEMBER POOL, UH, HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY, EVERYONE.
UM, CHAD AND I ARE VERY EXCITED TO, UH, UH, TO PRESENT THE DRAFT SERVICE GUIDELINES TODAY.
UM, NEXT SLIDE ED IN WITH RESPECT TO TIME, I WOULD BE SUCCINCT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
HERE'S OUR PICKUP TIMELINE, INCLUDING TODAY'S PRESENTATION.
IT'S THE SPECIAL BOARD MEETING.
WE ARE PRESENTING THE PROGRAM FRAMEWORK, WHICH WAS SLOTTED TO BE PRESENTED ACTUALLY IN FEBRUARY, AND WASN'T ABLE TO DO SO DUE TO SNOW STORM, UM, APRIL 20, 21 BOARD MEETING.
NEXT NEXT MONTH, WE ARE GOING TO COME BACK FOR APPROVAL OF PROGRAM GUIDELINES AND THEN SUMMER OF 2021, WE WOULD, UH, BEGIN LAUNCH OF THREE.
UH, NEXT THREE ZONES JUST WANTED TO ALSO POINT OUT, UH, DUE TO COVID-19 EVALUATION OF ALL EXISTING ZONES WILL BEGIN IN EARLY 20, 22 TO ALIGN WITH OUR, UH, SERVICE CHANGE AS, UH, AS WELL AS A FORMAL SERVICE CHANGE, AS WELL AS IF WHY 2023 BUDGET PLANNING.
CHAD WILL WALK YOU THROUGH, UH, FOR SOME OF YOU THAT MAY BE NEW TO, UM, UPS BACKGROUND.
UH, HE'LL WALK YOU THROUGH HOW IT ALL CAME ABOUT THE ROLE OF INNOVATIVE MOBILITY AND DEMAND RESPONSE COMING TOGETHER AND CREATING THIS AMAZING PROGRAM FOR CAP METRO.
AND THEN I'LL BRIEFLY GO OVER, UM, I'LL GO OVER THE SERVICE GUIDELINES AS WELL AS OUR NEXT STEPS CHAT.
UH, AF AFTERNOON, AS OF RIGHT NOW, I'M CHAD BALLANTINE, VICE PRESIDENT OF DEMAND RESPONSE AND INNOVATIVE MOBILITY.
UM, WANTED TO JUST GIVE YOU A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF, UM, WHAT IT IS THAT A PICKUP IS.
UM, ESSENTIALLY IT IS, UM, A PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM.
THAT'S REALLY A LOCALIZED NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE.
THAT'S REALLY ONE OF THE MAIN KEYS HERE.
IT'S NOT THE TIME SERVICE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, UM, WITH JUST A CLICK OF AN APP.
SO IT'S JUST AN APP BASED PUBLIC SERVICE THAT IS, UM, THAT'S REALLY EASY TO USE.
AND OF COURSE THERE'LL BE A SHARED RIDE SERVICE.
CAUSE AGAIN, THIS IS PUBLIC TRANSIT.
UM, IT'S GONNA RUN WITH OUR TRAINED OPERATORS IN OUR DEDICATED VEHICLES.
SO, UM, THOSE ARE THE FEATURES OF IT.
AND THEN THE BENEFITS OF, OF THIS TYPE OF SERVICE IS REALLY A RIGHT SIZE PUBLIC TRANSIT OPTION.
IT'S PERFECT FOR AREAS WHERE A 35 FOOT BUS JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
UM, AND IT'S A REALLY PRECISION SOLUTION, UM, THAT ALLOWS US TO REALLY GET IN THERE AND MAKE A REALLY GOOD OPTION FOR WHERE TRANSIT IS NEEDED.
IT'S ALSO A HUNDRED PERCENT WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE AND OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AND IT EXTENDS THE REACH OF OUR SYSTEM WITHOUT COMPROMISING SERVICE QUALITY.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY ABLE TO EXTEND IT WHILE KEEPING EVERYTHING AS HIGH QUALITY
[01:55:01]
AS POSSIBLE, ALL THE WAY TO THESE PICKUPS ZONES WITH 15 MINUTE RESPONSE TIME.SO IT'S A REALLY GREAT OPTION FOR US.
AND THEN IT REALLY SERVES THE POCKETS THAT WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY JUST FOUND REALLY DIFFICULT TO SERVICE.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY JUST THE HIGH LEVEL IF, UH, I THINK MOST OF YOU ARE AWARE OF THIS SERVICE AS WE'VE BEEN RUNNING IT NOW FOR ABOUT THREE AND A HALF YEARS.
UM, BUT IF YOU ARE NOT, I'M DEFINITELY WILLING TO TALK WITH YOU OFFLINE AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO DOWNLOAD THE APP AND TRY IT OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T.
UM, IT'S, IT'S PRETTY AWESOME.
SO OUR FIRST SUCCESSFUL PILOT WAS BACK IN JUNE OF 2017 IS WHEN WE STARTED IT.
IT CERTAINLY HAD A LOT OF ITERATIONS AND CHANGED A LOT.
UM, SINCE IT ENDED IN JUNE, 2018, WE HAD THAT UP IN THE, UH, MUELLER AREA IN NORWOOD PARK AREAS OF CENTRAL AUSTIN.
THAT'S WHERE HE LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE WHOLE SERVICE.
WE, UM, KEPT, UH, LIKE I SAID, ITERATING AND CHANGING AND TWEAKING.
UM, AND WE HAD A REALLY GOOD SOLUTION.
AND SO AT, IN 2019, WE ROLLED OUT MULTIPLE ZONES AS AN EFFORT TO GIVE THE COMMUNITY WHAT THEY WANTED BECAUSE PEOPLE HAD HEARD ABOUT IT AND, AND THEY, AND THEY STARTED TO REALIZE THAT THIS IS A GREAT SERVICE, BUT IT ALSO ALLOWED US TO CONTINUE TO LEARN MORE AND REALLY MAKE IT BETTER AND REFINE THE PROGRAM.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS A NEW TYPE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICE.
SO, UM, WE FOUND THAT THE EFFORT REALLY REQUIRES US TO BUILD THIS FRAMEWORK, UH, FROM THE GROUND UP.
AND FOR THAT REASON, WE BROUGHT IN PROFESSIONAL HELP, UM, WITH TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE AND WE BROUGHT THEM IN, IN JUNE 19.
SO IN, IN PARALLEL, AS WE WERE ROLLING SERVICES OUT, WE WERE ALSO LEARNING FROM THE SERVICES THAT WE HAD ROLLED OUT.
SO WE'RE REALLY LEADING THE INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW ON THIS FRONT, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO ON-DEMAND TYPES OF NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCULARS, UH, SERVICES, CERTAINLY WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE DOING IT, BUT THERE ARE, UH, WE'RE REALLY AT THE FOREFRONT OF IT.
SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DEVELOPED A SOLID FOOTING AND WITH THE HELP OF TTI, THAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, BECAUSE IT'S COMPLICATED, WE WERE REALLY FACING KIND OF TWO COMPETING NEEDS.
WE REALLY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS, UM, EACH ZONE WAS AS UNIQUE AS THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT IT SERVES WHILE ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE ALLOW FOR THE UNIQUENESS, BUT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A WAY TO CONSISTENTLY AND TRANSPARENTLY MEASURE SUCCESS ACROSS ALL ZONES.
UM, AND SO TTI REALLY HELPED US WITH THAT PRO WITH THAT PROCESS BY, UM, DOING, GOING THROUGH THESE STEPS HERE, THESE FIVE STEPS BY STARTING WITH THE NATIONAL BENCHMARKING RESEARCH, IDENTIFYING WHAT ELSE WAS OUT THERE, IDENTIFYING USE CASES.
SO WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE THE REASONS WHY WE WOULD BE RUNNING THE SERVICE, UM, AND THEN IDENTIFYING ELEMENTS TO MEASURE.
SO, OKAY, NOW WE KNOW WHY WE'RE DOING THIS, SO WHAT DO WE NEED TO MEASURE? UM, AND THEN, AND THEN FROM THERE WE MOVED ON TO STANDARDIZING METRICS.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO TO STANDARDIZE LIKE 15 MINUTE RESPONSE TIMES? THAT WAS A PRETTY EASY ONE EARLY ON.
WE WANT TO STANDARDIZE THAT WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO PICK PEOPLE UP 15 MINUTES OR LESS, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
SO WE REALLY WANTED TO STANDARDIZE THE METRICS AND THEN AS WE HAD ALL THESE METRICS AND, UM, AND ALL OF THESE MEASURES, WE THEN WANTED TO TEST THEM, UM, AND WITH ALL OF OUR LIVES ZONES.
AND SO THAT WAS VERY HELPFUL TO TEST AND MEASURE ALL THOSE.
UM, AND SO WHAT THE OUTCOME OF THAT WHOLE PROCESS WAS REALLY CREATING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE, UH, FRAMEWORK TO LAUNCH THE ZONES AND ALSO JUST FOR MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF THESE ZONES.
AND SO, UM, SHARMILA WILL TAKE US INTO A DISCUSSION ABOUT OUR GOALS FROM HERE, AND THEN IT WILL PICK UP A LITTLE BIT LATER.
UM, HERE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, SO WITH CHAD'S BACKGROUND ON HOW PICK-UP STARTED, WHAT WE LEARNED FROM EXISTING ZONES, AND THEN KIND OF USING THE PLANNING FRAMEWORK OF THESE ARE THE THREE, UH, KEY POLICY GOALS FOR THE SERVICE GUIDELINES.
IT'S BASED ON COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS, SUSTAINABLE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND SERVICE QUALITY.
AND, UH, YOU WILL SEE IN THE SCORING MATRIX HOW ALL THREE COME TOGETHER AND IN AN EXERCISE OF HOW BEST TO USE EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES AND, UM, TO KIND OF FOLLOW USE PICKUP AS PART OF OUR OVERALL, UH, TOOLBOX.
SO WE'RE FIXED ROUTE IS NOT A GOOD SOLUTION PICKUP COMES IN, AND IF IT'S NOT A FANCY ITEM TO LAYER ON TOP OF OUR EXISTING SERVICE, WHICH ALREADY MAY BE ROBUST, BUT TO USE IT TO FILL IN THE BLANKS, TO FILL IN THE GAPS, PROVIDE THE NEED THAT SERVE THE NEED THAT, THAT NEEDS THIS NEXT SLIDE ADD, UH, THESE ARE THE CASE SERVICE PURPOSES.
THEY CAME OUT ARE FROM OUR LESSONS, LEARNED FROM EXISTING ZONES.
AND WE'D REALIZED THAT THIS IS A FLEXIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO OUR LESS USED BUS ROUTES.
UM, AGAIN, TO FILL IN THE GAPS IN THE COMMUNITY AND FOR CONNECTIONS FOR CONNECTING CUSTOMERS TO OUR LARGER TRANSIT NETWORK, NEXT SLIDE,
[02:00:01]
CURRENT PICKUP ZONES.AND I WILL PASS IT ON TO CHAD WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE, UM, AS YOU SEE THE SIZES, THESE ARE NOT NEAT POLYGONS AT A MAP.
UM, SO THESE ARE, THEY ARE VERY UNIQUE ZONES, BOTH IN TERMS OF SIZE AND, UH, PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION.
AND THAT ENTIRELY RELATES TO THE PURPOSE AND KEY DESTINATIONS, WHAT NEEDS THEY SERVE AND HOW ALL OF THOSE COME TOGETHER.
SO CHAD DO WANT TO QUICKLY WALK OVER, UH, THE PICKUP ZONES, HOW THEY FUNCTION, AND THEN I, UH, KIND OF TAKE IT OVER, UM, INTO THE GUIDELINES, CERTAINLY.
SO WE WANTED TO JUST SHOW EVERYONE WHAT DOES ZONES THAT WE HAVE UP AND RUNNING LOOK LIKE WE'VE GOT SEVEN CURRENT ZONES AND, UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT THEY ALL LOOK A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
SO THESE ARE, UH, MAYNER WAS OUR VERY FIRST, UH, ZONE THAT WE PUT OUT THERE.
AND IT WAS REALLY REFLECTIVE OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE HOW WE WERE TRYING TO ENCAPSULATE CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS IN ORIGINS AND DESTINATIONS.
WE ALWAYS LOVE FOR THEM TO BE A NICE, PERFECT SQUARE OR CIRCLE OR A PERFECT SHAPE OF SOME SORT.
BUT, UM, THE REALITY IS, AS WE ARE DEVELOPING THESE, WE'RE ALWAYS ADJUSTING AND TWEAKING BASED OFF OF COMMUNITY FEEDBACK, MOST IMPORTANTLY, BUT THEN ALSO LOOKING AT DESTINATIONS AND ORIGINS AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, AND HEARING BACK FROM WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO GO AND THEN WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY GO.
SO THEY ALL LOOK A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
UM, YOU'LL SEE, AS, UH, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS, THOSE WERE MAINER WALNUT CREEK AND EXPOSITION.
THESE TWO ARE EAST ATX AND NORTH EAST ATX EAST ATX IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF, UM, A ZONE.
THAT'S NOT ALL THAT PRETTY, BUT IT, IT HAS, UM, A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE INCORPORATED IN THERE.
SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE HAD THE CONNIE GUERRERO SENIOR CENTER, THE, UM, PARKS ACC, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT AREAS IN THERE, MAKE AN OFFER TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CONNECT IT TO FIXED ROUTE TRANSIT.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE, WE HAVE BORDERS, NATURAL BORDERS, LIKE ONE 83, THAT ONE, RIGHT THERE IS, UH, A NATURAL BORDER FOR, UH, FOR THIS PARTICULAR ZONE.
AND ALL OF OUR ZONES SORT OF HAVE THESE NATURAL BORDERS, WHETHER IT'S MOPAC I 35, A RIVER, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
UM, AND SO YOU'LL SEE THAT ELEMENT AS WELL IN THERE.
THE NEXT ONE SHOW ARE, UM, MOST RECENT, UH, ZONES, UH, LAGO VISTA AND LEANDER.
AND SO, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THESE ZONES, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT FACTORS THAT, UM, I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED THAT REALLY HELP US DEFINE THESE ZONES.
AND LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, SIZE IS ONE OF THOSE WHERE, YOU KNOW, CONGESTION OF THE AREA IS, OR DENSITY OF THE AREA IS GOING TO DEFINE HOW LARGE A ZONE IS BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, THREE TO SEVEN MILES KIND OF THING.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE LESS DENSE AND THE LESS CONGESTION, THE MORE LARGER ZONE CAN BE THE MORE DENSE AND MORE CONGESTION, THE SMALLER IT NEEDS TO BE IN ORDER FOR US TO HIT THOSE 15 MINUTE RESPONSE TIMES AND SOME OF THOSE OTHER, UM, EXPECTATIONS THAT OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE FOR GOOD SERVICE QUALITY.
AND SO FROM HERE, UH, WE'LL JUMP BACK TO THE PLANNING EVALUATION WITH CARMELLA.
UM, SO THESE, UH, THIS IS, UH, HERE'S AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION TO MAKE, UM, IN PICK UP ZONES, UH, WITHIN OUR SERVICE AREA, AS OPPOSED TO OUTSIDE OF, OUT OF SERVICE AREAS.
SO SERVICE AREA, WE TALKED ABOUT HOW IT REVIEWED FOR CONNECTIVITY AND ACCESS NEEDS, FILLING THE GAP.
AND THIS PROPOSED SERVICE SERVICE GUIDELINES WILL APPLY TO SELECTION OF NEW ZONES.
AND IN EVALUATION OF EXISTING ZONES OUT OF SERVICE AREA IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BALL GAME.
IT'S ALL A CARD SERVICE DESIGNED FOR SPECIFIC ACCESS AND CIRCULATION NEEDS IN AN AREA.
ALL THE OPERATIONAL MATRIX, WHICH ARE DERIVED FROM SOME OF THE SELECTION CRITERIA WOULD APPLY TO THEM.
AND WE CAN WALK YOU THROUGH AT A, AT A, AT ANOTHER TIME OR TOWARDS THE END OF THE PRESENTATION, BUT THE INITIAL NEED IS IDENTIFIED IN THE COMMUNITIES, TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN OR TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
SO THESE ARE THE PICKUP ZONE PRE-SELECTION STEPS, COMMUNITY NEEDS ANALYSIS THAT REALLY GENERATES FROM, UH, THE NEED COMES OUT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, LISTENED TO WHAT COMMUNITY NEEDS AND VALUES ARE.
AND WE ALSO COMPARE THAT WITH THE REQUESTS WE RECEIVED FROM OUR TRIP PLANNING, UM, TEAM, WHERE WE CONSTANTLY HAVE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON CONNECTION NEEDS AND TRIP PLANNING ASSISTANCE WITH EACH SERVICE CHANGE, WE WOULD REVIEW THE NETWORK, IDENTIFY A GAP THAT CANNOT BE ADDRESSED BY TRADITIONAL BUS SERVICE PLANNING ANALYSIS WOULD THEN COME IN AND UNDERSTAND THAT NEED IN CONTEXT OF TRANSIT, NETWORKING EFFICIENCIES, OR EFFICIENCIES AND HIGHLIGHT AREAS WHERE THIS ON-DEMAND SERVICE WOULD BE MOST, UH, WILL SERVE THE NEEDS FOR THE COMMUNITY MOST EFFICIENTLY.
AND THEN WE'LL ADJUST OUR NEW AND ADJUSTED SERVICE ON OVERALL NETWORK, TAKE A MORE NETWORK APPROACH TO INTRODUCING PICKUP ZONES.
AND THEN FINALLY WE'LL APPLY THE SELECTION CRITERIA
[02:05:01]
TO UNDERSTAND THE VIABILITY OF THE CONSIDERED ZONES AND FIGURE OUT THE WEIGHTED PRIORITY OF, UM, HOW WE IMPLEMENT NEXT SLIDE.SO HERE'S THIS SCORING MATRIX.
AND, UM, THE CATEGORIES ON THE SIDE ON FAR LEFT ARE THE ONES THAT YOU HAVE SEEN EARLIER IN THE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES.
THESE ARE THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS, SERVICE QUALITY, UH, THAT THAT IS THE ESSENTIALLY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SERVICE THAT WOULD KEEP THIS, UH, THE REPUTATION OF, UH, PICKUP AS A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE.
SO WE NEED TO MAINTAIN THEM AND SUSTAINABILITY IS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, BUT ALSO COST-EFFECTIVENESS, UM, THE IDEA THAT WE NEED TO BE STEWARDS AND, UH, OF OUR PUBLIC FUNDS.
AND WE, THIS IS ABOUT USING OUR PUBLIC FUNDS JUDICIOUSLY TO APPLY PICKUP IN AREAS WHERE IT'S GOING TO OFFER MOST VALUE.
SO THE MEASURES THAT, UH, YOU SEE NEXT TO THE CATEGORY, OUR POPULATION AGED 65 AND OVER AND HERE, UH, ZONE, UM, PERCENTAGES ARE COMPARED TO THE OVERALL POPULATION, DEMOGRAPHICS, SAME APPLIES TO ZERO CAR HOUSEHOLD, MEDIAN, HOUSEHOLD INCOME.
SO WE WANTED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THEY'RE CATEGORIZED THE FIRST SIX.
THESE ESSENTIALLY ARE TRADITIONAL, UH, TRANSIT DEPENDENCY, LOW-INCOME AND MINORITY.
SO THE ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND THE LAST ONE IN THE TOP COMMUNITY CAT, UH, CHARACTERISTICS IS ESSENTIAL SERVICES.
SO THAT IS A FUNCTION OF NOT JUST DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, BUT HOW IT SORT OF INTERACTS WITH THE PHYSICALITY OF A ZONE.
THERE ARE PHYSICAL BARRIERS THAT CHAD TALKED ABOUT EARLIER IN THE ZONE OF CONFIGURATION.
SO SOMETIMES ACCESS TO THIS IS ESSENTIAL SERVICES ARE NOT THAT EASY AND CANNOT BE MET BY ANY EXISTING, UH, FIXED ROUTE IN TRADITIONAL BUS.
UM, SERVICE QUALITY IS THE PASSENGER WAIT TIME.
WE WANT TO MAINTAIN THAT 15 MINUTES OR LESS SQUARE MILEAGE IS ESSENTIALLY A LOT MORE THAN JUST STRICT SQUARE MILEAGE.
IT'S, UM, KIND OF A FUNCTION OF, UH, THE, THE DENSITIES THAT WE SEE THE VARIANCE IN THE DENSITY WITHIN OUR SERVICE AREA AND HOW WE RESPOND TO THAT.
I MEAN, THE DENSITY MAYBE, UM, EAST ATX IS A UNIQUE ALLIGATOR LOOKALIKE ZONE, BUT THAT SERVES, IT HAS HIGH RIDERSHIP AND IT REALLY SERVES THE NEEDS OF THAT SPECIFIC, UH, AREA AND COMMUNITY WHERE THE DESTINATIONS ARE ALL ALONG.
YOU DON'T GET ALONG ALONG THAT ZONE.
COST-EFFECTIVENESS, THIS IS PREDESIGNATED GENERALIZED COST PER PASSENGER TRIP.
AND THAT IS A VERY IMPORTANT, UM, UH, MEASURE HERE AS WELL, WHERE WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE UP IT'S IN COMPARISON WITH THE OTHER TWO SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA AS WELL.
SO NUMBER OF METRO ACCESS CUSTOMER HERE THAT CHARACTERISTICS, UM, ESSENTIALLY APPLIED TO ZONE CHARACTERISTICS AND RIDERSHIP TOGETHER ZONE WOULD BE COMPARED TO THE OVERALL POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE, UH, NUMBER OF METRO XS OR THE PERCENTAGE OF METRO ACCESS CUSTOMERS WE EXPECT TO HAVE WITHIN THAT ZONE.
SO I WANTED TO MENTION IN PRE-SELECTION STEP RIDERSHIP IN NUMBER OF A METRO ACCESS CUSTOMERS IS AN ESTIMATE.
AND THEN WE WOULD BE EVALUATING THAT DURING THE EARLY EVALUATION PROCESS AND FINE TUNE AS WE GO ALONG AND THEN SHARED RIDE.
I MEAN, THAT IS, UM, CONNECTED TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, THE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE OF SHARED TRIPS WITH OTHER CUSTOMERS OR OTHER PASSENGERS.
AND THEN YOU SEE THE ASSIGNMENT OF POINTS ON THE FAR RIGHT COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS, FOCUSING ON EQUITY ARE SERVING THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT NEED PICKUP THE MOST THAT IS ASSIGNED BASED ON EACH.
UH, IT HAS 30 POINTS DISTRIBUTED OVER SIX CATEGORIES, SERVICE, QUALITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY.
WE HAVE LESS CATEGORIES, BUT THEY'RE FAR MORE NUANCED, AS I MENTIONED, AND THEY ARE ESTIMATED IN RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER.
AND THEN WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT, UH, 50 POINTS AND OVER WE'LL ALLOW A ZONE TO BE IN FUNCTION.
WE WILL START TO TWEAK WHEN YOU SEE THAT THE POINTS GO DOWN AROUND 36 TO 50 AND DISCONTINUE, UH, AT 35 POINTS OR LESS.
AND AGAIN, I WANTED TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT THIS IS DEMAND RESPONSE AND INNOVATIVE MOBILITY COMING TOGETHER.
THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, WE ARE ONE OF THE PIONEERS, AS CHAD SAYS IN COMING UP WITH THIS SERVICE GUIDELINES, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS GOING TO NEED TO BE REFINED AS WE GO ALONG AND AS OUR COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS CHANGE.
ONE THING WE WERE NOT ABLE TO ADD IN THIS MATRIX, UM, VISUALLY, UH, IS HOW ARE WE COMPARING OUR DEMOGRAPHIC? WHAT'S THE THRESHOLDS FOR OUR OVERALL POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS.
THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY,
[02:10:01]
UM, HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING REQUIREMENTS, HOUSEHOLD IN POVERTY, MINORITY POPULATION, ALL OF THOSE ARE WE RELATED BACK TO CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, GUIDELINES, UH, WITH THAT ED, WOULD YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? HERE WE HAVE SORT OF A VISUAL OVERVIEW OF HOW THIS PRE-SELECTION STEPS GOING TO OUR COMPLETE GUIDE, UH, GUIDELINES AND HOW IT CONNECTS IT TO THE CREATION OF ZONES TO PROMOTION EVALUATION, HOW THEY ALL COME TOGETHER.AND IT'S A VERY ITERATIVE PROCESS.
CHAD, WOULD YOU QUICKLY GO OVER AND KIND OF TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW AT SIX MONTHS YOU ARE GOING TO DO MORE EVALUATION AND 12 MONTHS, UM, IT'S GOING TO BE FINE TUNED AGAIN, CERTAINLY.
SO WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO HERE WAS TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A VISUAL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE WHOLE PROCESS FLOWS, UM, AND TO, JUST TO HELP, TO BRING SOME CLARITY TO THIS, AS WELL AS WE PLAN TO USE THIS AS WE GO OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND TALK TO COMMUNITY MEMBERS SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND WHERE IN THE PROCESS WE ARE, BECAUSE WE DO A LONG COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS THAT STARTS VERY EARLY AND CONTINUES WELL PAST, UH, STARTING OF THE SERVICE.
SO ESSENTIALLY THE TOP LINE IS AS WE'RE CREATING THE ZONES AND THE BOTTOM BOTTOM ROW IS ONCE WE'VE LAUNCHED THE ZONE.
SO, UH, THE FIRST ONE WE IDENTIFY THE PURPOSE.
SO, UM, MAYBE CONNECTING TO THE LARGER NETWORK THROUGH, UH, GOING TO A PARKING LOT, THAT KIND OF THING.
ONCE WE IDENTIFY THE PURPOSE, WE'VE REFINED THE BOUNDARIES, LIKE I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, ORIGINS, DESTINATIONS, BOUNDARIES, RIVERS, HIGHWAYS, THAT KIND OF THING.
AND THEN WE MOVE INTO IDENTIFYING WHAT WE'RE GOING TO SCORE AND THEN IDENTIFYING VERY SPECIFIC GOALS FOR EACH ZONE.
EACH ZONE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, UM, UH, BASED OFF OF THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT WE SEE IN THAT ZONE, AS WELL AS, UH, COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT COMMUNITY IS REALLY FOCUSED ON A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN OTHER THINGS THAT MAYBE AS A PART OF OUR FRAMEWORK, THIS ALLOWS FOR THAT FLEXIBILITY.
SO ACCESS TO GROCERIES IS REALLY SOMETHING THAT, THAT, THAT RANKS HIGH, THAT, THAT KIND OF THING IS WHERE WE WOULD TALK THROUGH, UM, ALL THE MEASURES AND THE GOALS.
SO AT THAT POINT, WE IDENTIFY HOW WE THINK THE ZONE WILL DO.
UM, WE, WE PLAN FOR WHAT OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE FOR THE ZONE.
AND THEN WE GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM LINE WHERE WE, WE GO AHEAD AND WE LAUNCHED THE ZONE.
WE DO, UH, UH, AGAIN, WE CONTINUE TO DO THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND WE TRY TO PROMOTE THE ZONE.
AND, UM, AT SIX MONTHS OF THE SERVICE, AND THIS IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO ON OUR FIXED ROUTE BUS ROUTES, AS WELL AS WE ROLLED THEM OUT.
BUT AT SIX MONTHS WE LOOK AND SAY, HOW DID WE, HOW DID WE, UH, FIGURE OUT THE GOALS AND THE, ON THE SCORING, IS THAT WORKING TALK WITH THE COMMUNITY? IS THIS REALLY GIVING YOU THE BENEFIT THAT YOU EXPECTED? ARE WE MEETING ALL THE METRICS AND DO WE THINK THIS IS ON TRACK? AT THAT POINT, WE CAN DO SOME ADJUSTMENTS OF POTENTIALLY THE ZONE, THE METRICS, THE GUIDELINES, UM, AND THEN AT THE 12 MONTH, MARK IS WHEN WE REALLY TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THE ZONE AND REVIEW THE PERFORMANCE AND THEN SCORE IT.
AND THEN WE IDENTIFY IT, UM, BASED OFF OF, UH, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S GOOD TO GO, MAYBE NEED SOME LARGE TWEAKS AND ADJUSTMENTS, OR MAYBE IT'S JUST A ZONE THAT WE SHOULD PUT FORWARD FOR, UM, A REQUEST TO, UM, DISCONTINUE AT THE NEXT SERVICE CHANGE.
AND THEN, UM, WE REPEAT THIS EVALUATION EVERY SIX MONTHS, ONGOING FOREVER, AS LONG AS THIS IS THE ZONE, WE CONTINUE TO KEEP EVALUATING THESE ZONES.
UM, AND AGAIN, WE ALSO PLAN TO PUT A DASHBOARD OUT THERE PUBLICLY SO THAT WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE ENGAGEMENT AT THE PUBLIC LEVEL TOO, SO THAT AT ANY GIVEN TIME, FOLKS CAN SEE HOW THERE'S ZONE DOING OR HOW IT STACKS UP AGAINST OTHER ZONES OR EVEN OTHER SERVICES AT LARGE NEXT SLIDE.
SO, UH, THIS LEAVES US WITH, UH, OUR UPCOMING ZONE.
SO IN MARCH, ACTUALLY, UM, IN TUESDAY, THE 23RD, WE WILL BE LAUNCHING A ZONE IN PFLUGERVILLE.
THIS IS, UH, ONE OF THE SERVICE TYPES THAT SHARMA WAS TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS OUTSIDE OUR SERVICE AREA.
UM, WE STILL CREATE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES AND, UM, METRICS FOR THAT AS WELL.
UM, IT'S PER WE'RE PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT IT.
WE'VE DONE SOME, UH, PRELIMINARY OUTREACH AND WE THINK RIGHT NOW IS A PERFECT TIME TO BE LAUNCHING.
AND IN PFLUGERVILLE IS THEY'RE GROWING VERY FAST AND PEOPLE ARE, UM, LEAVING THEIR HOUSES AND GETTING OUT THERE AROUND THE COMMUNITY.
SO THAT STARTS MARCH 23RD, NEXT TUESDAY, AND THEN EARLY SPRING OR SPRING, EARLY SUMMER, WE PLAN TO, UM, LAUNCH THE ZONES THAT WE'VE PREVIOUSLY BROUGHT FORTH TO YOU, THE NORTH DEFAULT ZONE, UM, A ZONE IN THE NORTH OAK HILL AREA, AS WELL AS ONE IN SOUTH MINNETONKA.
AND THEN JUST, UH, MENTIONED THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TIMELINE.
THIS IS A ROUGH GUIDELINE FOR WHAT OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS.
UH, MO MORE OFTEN, WE'RE DOING A LOT HIGHER, MORE FREQUENT AND MORE INTRICATE, UM, VOLUME OF PUBLIC OUTREACH, BUT IT AT LEAST STARTS SEVEN WEEKS PRIOR TO THE LAUNCH WHERE WE DO OUTREACH TO NEIGHBORHOODS AND OUR ADVISORY COMMITTEES AND ALL THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
UM, AND OFTEN IT'LL HAPPEN A LITTLE BIT LONGER THAN THAT, BUT THIS IS OUR BARE MINIMUM HERE.
UH, AND THEN THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO THE LAUNCH, WE DO A TON OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE START DOING THE MESSAGING AND
[02:15:01]
PROMOTING THE LAUNCH, AND THEN ONE WEEK PRIOR TO LAUNCH, IT'S REALLY WHEN WE START GETTING EVERYONE EXCITED AND TRYING TO GET ORGANIZATIONS, CHURCHES, NONPROFITS, UM, ELECTED OFFICIALS TO REALLY GET REMINDERS OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND GET EVERYONE EXCITED ABOUT IT.AND THEN FROM THERE, WE DO A HEAVY PUSH WHERE WE'RE ONSITE CONSTANTLY, WHERE WE'RE IN PERSON PROMOTING THE PICKUP SERVICE OR HANDING OUT BROCHURES, WE'RE PUTTING UP FLYERS IN BUSINESSES, MAILERS, THAT KIND OF THING.
UM, AND SO THIS IS REALLY JUST A HIGH LEVEL, BUT, UM, WE OFTEN DO A LOT MORE IN DEPTH VERSION OF THIS, BUT THIS IS REALLY JUST OUR BARE MINIMUM, WHICH, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY HAPPY WITH.
AND WE'VE GOTTEN REALLY GOOD FEEDBACK ON OUR PREVIOUS ZONES WITH THIS THEN THE NEXT ONE.
SO AGAIN, JUST TO WRAP UP, UH, TODAY WAS REALLY JUST THE DISCUSSION OF THE FRAMEWORK AND WHERE WE ARE AT THIS POINT.
UH, WE'LL, WE'LL LOOK TO COME BACK AT THE APRIL BOARD MEETING, WHICH I BELIEVE IS THE 26TH OF APRIL TO GO THROUGH AND GET SOME APPROVALS ON THE GUIDELINES FOR THIS PROGRAM.
AND THEN AGAIN, IN SUMMER, WE PLAN TO LAUNCH THE NEXT THREE ZONES.
AND AT THIS POINT IN TIME, WE CAN TAKE QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU, UH, SHARMILA AND, UH, CHAD, I KNOW THERE'S GOING TO BE A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS.
LET ME JUST MAKE A QUICK COMMENT THAT I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO OUR, UH, NEWLY INSTALLED, UH, VICE CHAIR, WHICH IS, UM, I'M REALLY PROUD OF THE WORK THAT'S GONE ON FROM, IN DEVELOPING THIS.
UH, I THINK WE, THE BOARD HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO, TO REALLY FOCUS ON THESE GUIDELINES AND PARTICULARLY THE DISCIPLINE, UH, RELATED TO, UH, HOW WE DECIDE WHETHER TO CONTINUE OR MODIFY SERVICE.
UM, IT'S MANY YEARS AGO, I LEARNED HOW TO FLY AN AIRPLANE.
AND WHAT I LEARNED IS IT'S REALLY EASY TO GET AN AIRPLANE OFF THE GROUND.
ALL THE CHALLENGES LANDED IT SAFELY.
AND I THINK THE SAME THING IS TRUE HERE.
THIS IS REALLY COOL SERVICE, AND I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE VERY POPULAR, BUT IT COULD ALSO BE IN THE WRONG CIRCUMSTANCES, EXPENSIVE SERVICE, REALLY EXPENSIVE SERVICE.
AND THAT REALLY, UM, UH, WE HAVE TWO REALLY GOOD TOOLS HERE, AND WE REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THE BUS WAS RIGHT WHEN THE PICKUP IS RIGHT AND, UH, BE VERY TOGETHER ON WHAT THE ADVANTAGES OF THE PICKUP ARE AND WHERE IT'S APPROPRIATE TO DEPLOY.
UM, BUT I THINK IT'S SUPER POWERFUL AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES YOU DIDN'T MENTION IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT INSOFAR AS WE CAN, FOR EXAMPLE, ATTRACT METRO ACCESS CUSTOMERS TO THIS, I THINK WE CAN PROVIDE, UH, IN MANY CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THOSE WHO ARE MOBILE ENOUGH TO UTILIZE IT A BETTER SERVICE AND HOPEFULLY A MUCH CHEAPER THAN THE $50 RIDE THAT WE SPEND A METRO ACCESS.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF COOL STUFF HERE.
IT'S ONE OF THE NEAT THINGS WE'VE DONE, ALTHOUGH WE'VE DONE A LOT OF NEAT THINGS, BUT, UH, THIS I THINK IS GOING TO BE A GREAT CONVERSATION.
AND WITH THAT VICE-CHAIR TREVELYAN YOU GOT THE CON.
LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT A COUPLE QUESTIONS HERE.
LOOKS DRUG WITH BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN.
SO, UM, THIS IS SORT OF A FOLLOW-UP TO WHAT, UM, CHAIR COOPER WAS MENTIONING.
UM, SO I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE, UH, SCHOOL, UM, THE CRITERIA, NOT SURE IF YOU'RE CALLING THEM SCORING CRITERIA, UH, BUT THE SLIDE ON THE CRITERIA I WANTED TO ASK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, UM, THE, THE DISABILITY, UH, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THAT POPULATION.
I DID NOT SEE IT AS ONE OF THE LISTED CRITERIA.
I KNOW THERE'S A THERE'S CRITERIA RELATED TO MENTOR ACCESS.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT THAT NOT EVERYBODY WITH A DISABILITY IS ELIGIBLE FOR METRO ACCESS.
AND IN FACT, UM, THOSE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR METRO ACCESS, UH, MIGHT ARGUABLY, COULD HAVE A GREATER NEED FOR A PICKUP SERVICE.
SO, UM, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE THAT, UM, ON YOUR LIST AS PART OF THE POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
UM, I KNOW THERE MAY BE SOME CHALLENGES FROM A DATA PERSPECTIVE TO ACTUALLY, UM, GET THAT DATA, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S A REASON NOT TO INCLUDE IT.
SO PERHAPS WE CAN DO SOME MORE.
UM, AND NOW LET'S ABOUT WHERE THAT DATA COULD COME FROM.
AND ALSO THAT WOULD BE AN INTERESTING THING TO DISCUSS WITH OUR ACCESS.
UM, UM, ALWAYS GET THE NAME WRONG.
WHAT IS OUR WITH OUR, UM, ACCESS ADVISORY COUNCIL? I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY IMPORTANT TO DISCUSS WITH THEM.
SO IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, THOSE CRITERIA IS THAT PART OF WHAT WE WILL BE APPROVING AS PROGRAM GUIDELINES WHEN IT COMES BACK TO US? THAT IS CORRECT.
AND IF I, UM, KIND OF TAKE A STAB AT THAT, I ACTUALLY HEARD THIS COMMENT
[02:20:01]
FROM, UH, THE EARLY DISCUSSIONS WE HAD, AND IT WAS A COMMON FROM YOU.I NOTED IT DOWN THE CHALLENGE, AND YOU POINTED THAT OUT AS WELL, THAT A DATA SOURCE IS THE CHALLENGE, RELIABLE DATA SOURCE.
THAT'S COMPARABLE WITH THE REST OF THE INFORMATION WE ARE USING, BUT AGAIN, WE UNDERSTAND THAT IS NOT A GOOD REASON TO NOT INCLUDE THAT.
AND WE'D REALIZE HOW POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT A CATEGORY THAT IS.
UM, ONE THING WE WOULD SAY THAT I TH I THINK WE'RE USING, UH, WE, WE USED, UM, AMERICA'S COMMUNITY SURVEY, CS INFORMATION, AND WE BALANCED IT WITH, UM, CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY GUIDELINES ON, ON THE, ON THE THRESHOLDS.
WE JUST COULDN'T FIND ONE ON, ON THE 80 ACCESSIBILITY.
I THINK IT HAS TO DO WITH DATA AND RESTRICTIONS ON AND PRIVACY ISSUES, BUT I THINK WHAT A GOOD PLACE TO START, AND YOU POINTED THAT OUT AND WE'LL BE WORKING ON THAT AS WE BRINGING IT BACK TO YOU IS, UM, TO KIND OF TAKE IT TO OUR ACCESS AND OTHER GROUPS TO SEE, UH, TO GIVE THEIR ADVICE ON THAT INFORMATION.
LIKE WHAT WOULD BE GOOD SOURCES OF INFORMATION AS WELL? OKAY.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT AS A CRITERIA WHEN IT'S BROUGHT BACK TO US FOR APPROVAL.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE SOME CHALLENGES, BUT I STILL WANT TO S I STILL THINK IT'S IMPORTANT.
I MEAN, YOU MAY EVEN JUST BE ABLE TO LOOK AT METRO ACCESS DATA ABOUT PEOPLE WHO'VE APPLIED AND AREN'T ELIGIBLE BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT WITHIN THE, UH, YEAH, THANKS ERIC.
I CAN SEE BECAUSE THAT'S THE ECHO THAT, YEAH, BECAUSE, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT FOLKS THAT ARE REALLY IN NEED, BUT THEY DON'T QUALIFY FOR METRO ACCESS FOR VARIOUS REASONS, AND YOU WOULD HAVE, YOU WOULD HAVE DATA ABOUT THAT.
SO IF NOTHING ELSE, THAT WOULD BE ONE SOURCE OF DATA, A GREAT POINT.
AND I THINK I WOULD JUST WANT TO MENTION THAT THAT IS ACTUALLY HOW ORIGINALLY BACK IN 2017, THAT'S HOW WE IDENTIFIED OUR ORIGINAL ZONE WAS ACTUALLY BY, IT STARTED WITH THE USE OF OUR METRO ACCESS DATA.
AND SO THAT'S ACTUALLY WHERE THIS, THIS WHOLE PROGRAM GREW FROM WAS THAT, UM, BECAUSE AS WE HAD LOOKED AND WE HAD HAD, UH, PREVIOUS STUDIES TO HELP US UNDERSTAND, UH, ACCESS ELIGIBILITY AND DISABILITY DISTRIBUTION AROUND THE REGION, IT WAS NOT, UH, LOCALIZED ENOUGH.
AND SO WE HAD TO TAKE COUNTYWIDE INFORMATION OF DISABILITY, AND THEN THERE WERE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DISABILITY.
AND SO WE HAVE TO IDENTIFY WHAT OF DISCLOSURE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, WHICH WE PRETTY MUCH UNDERSTAND A GOOD ANGLE WITH THAT ONE, BUT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT IT LIKE A THREE MILE OR FOUR MILE ZONE, AND APPLYING THAT MEASURE, THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT ENTIRE COUNTY IS FOCUSED ON.
TYPICALLY THAT'S DONE, WE'LL HAVE A MUCH, MUCH HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT WE CAN PULL FOR THESE SPECIFIC ZONES.
AND SO IT IS A CHALLENGE AND WE'RE, WE ARE VERY AWARE OF IT.
AND WE HAVE ACTUALLY TALKED WITH THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ABOUT THIS, IN FACT, LAST MARCH, RIGHT BEFORE COVID HIT, WE HAD HAD A CONVERSATION WITH THEM ABOUT THE DEATH ZONE.
THAT WAS ONE THAT THEY HAD A LOT OF INTERESTED IN.
AND WE HAD TALKED ABOUT HOW TO MEASURE THAT AND HOW TO MEASURE THAT DISABILITY.
AND, AND, UM, THEY WERE, WE WERE ALL STUMPED.
UM, AND, BUT WE, WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION.
I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT ABSOLUTELY, THAT'S OBVIOUSLY NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART.
SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO KEEP THAT AS PART OF THIS MEASURE.
THERE ARE OTHER GROUPS YOU CAN REACH OUT TO TOO, THAT AGAIN, I'M SURE YOU'RE WELL AWARE OF, AND MAY HAVE ALREADY TALKED TO PEOPLE LIKE ADAP AND OTHER GROUPS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, WANT ME TO ADDRESS THAT, UM, MOVEMBER MEMBER KITCHEN.
I WAS THINKING THAT WE ALREADY HAVE ON THE NUMBER OF METRO ACCESS CUSTOMERS.
IF WE COMPARE THAT WITH THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS TO SEE WHO DIDN'T GET QUALIFIED, I THINK THAT IS A FAR MORE CONTAINABLE AND VERIFIABLE INFORMATION WITHOUT GOING INTO PRIVACY ISSUES AND TRYING TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT, UM, INFORMATION THAT HAVEN'T BEEN PUBLICLY.
THEY HAVE EMBEDDED AND INSTITUTED AS PART OF GUIDANCE GUIDELINES.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO START.
AND, UM, CHAD AND I WILL WORK ON THAT TOGETHER TO SEE HOW WE CAN KIND OF FINE TUNE THAT METRO ACCESS CUSTOMER MAYBE CREATE A SUB CATEGORY OF MEASURES UNDER THERE.
I HAVE ONE RELATED QUESTION AND THEN A CHAIR, I HAVE TWO OTHER QUESTIONS, BUT I'LL DEFER TO OTHER PEOPLE FOR THOSE, AND THEN YOU CAN COME BACK TO ME.
SO THE RELATED QUESTION IS I AM A, UM, I WANT IT TO SUGGEST THAT YOU ALL THINK ABOUT, UM, SETTING UP A MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY TO, UM, PROPOSE AREAS FOR OUR REQUEST AREAS FOR PICKUP.
NOW, OF COURSE YOU WANT TO DO THAT IN A WAY THAT'S REALISTIC FOR PEOPLE, BUT IT IS, BUT IT IS A, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALISTIC AND EXPLAINS TO THEM THE PARAMETERS AND, AND, UM, IN, IN, IN, IN, YOU KNOW, SETS EXPECTATIONS, BUT IT'S STILL, I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE TO SET EXPECTATIONS AND STILL ENGAGE WITH
[02:25:01]
OUR COMMUNITY.IT'S A REALLY GOOD WAY TO GO OUT AND ASK PEOPLE, UM, WHAT THEY MIGHT SEE AS USEFUL, UM, IN THEIR AREAS.
I KNOW THAT B CYCLED DID THAT FOR A WHILE, AND IT'S NOT DIRECTLY COMPARABLE, BUT BE CYCLE HAD THIS WONDERFUL MAP THAT PEOPLE COULD GO ON AND SAY, HEY, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A BEAT CYCLE STATION.
AND IT WAS JUST A, IT WAS JUST A, A FUN AND, UM, RESPONSIVE WAY TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY SO THAT THEY FELT HEARD.
SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SET EXPECTATIONS BECAUSE YOU CAN'T DO PICKUP EVERYWHERE, BUT, UM, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU ALL TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
I THINK, UM, CHAD MENTIONED THE DASHBOARD.
I THINK THAT'S A VERY GOOD WAY TO SORT OF HAVE TWO WAY COMMUNICATION AND HAVE MORE MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT THAT ALSO MANAGES EXPECTATIONS.
AND I REALLY THINK THAT WOULD GO A LONG WAY AS WE ARE ABLE TO SORT OF HAVE THAT DASHBOARD OUT THERE.
AND THERE'S AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FRAMEWORK AND WHAT'S THE FUNCTIONAL STONE.
HOW IS IT FUNCTIONING, HOW THAT RELATES TO FUTURE ZONES? I REALLY THINK I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOU THAT HEARING FROM OUR COMMUNITY ON WHERE THEY SEE A NEED FOR A ZONE, I THINK WE WOULD SET A FAR BETTER CONTEXT, UH, FOR, FOR THAT FEEDBACK.
AND THEN I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE MASHED WITH, UH, WHAT'S WHAT WE PUT OUT IN THAT DASHBOARD.
AND AS A FOLLOWUP TO THAT, WE DID, WE, UM, IF PEOPLE RIGHT NOW DO WANT YOU TO SUBMIT ANY REQUESTS FOR STONES, WE DO ACCEPT THAT THROUGH JUST CUSTOMER DOT SERVICE@CAPMETRO.ORG OR THROUGH THE GO LINE.
UM, WE DO ACCEPT THAT FEEDBACK.
WE HAVE A MAP THAT WE'VE BEEN TRACKING.
WE DON'T GET A TON OF REQUESTS, BUT, UH, WE HAVE BEEN KEEPING A MAP OF, OF THOSE AREAS AND NOT AS ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT WE LIKE TO TRACK VERY SIMILAR TO THE BEAT CYCLE, UM, UH, METRO BIKE, UH, APP.
AND THAT ONE HAS A LOT MORE OPINIONS ON IT, BUT WE ARE TRACKING THAT, BUT THAT IS A GREAT POINT.
AND AS WE DO MORE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, THAT'LL BE A PART OF IT.
THE OTHER THING ABOUT IT IS PEOPLE COULDN'T SEE IT BECAUSE SENIOR TRACK, THEY CAN SEE YOU'RE TRACKING IT, WHICH REINFORCES, UM, THEY'RE FEELING THAT, THAT THEY HAVE A WAY TO BE HEARD.
UM, RECOGNIZE BOARD MEMBER STRATTON.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU AGAIN.
UM, CHAD AND SHARMILA, THIS, THIS IS AMAZING.
I REALIZED THAT WE ARE IN THAT WE ARE PIONEERS WE'RE INNOVATORS.
WE'RE ONE OF THE FIRST SYSTEMS IN THE COUNTRY TO PILOT A PROJECT LIKE THIS.
I THINK THIS IS AN EXCELLENT START RIGHT NOW, UH, FOR, UH, FOR TRYING TO FIGURE OUT BOTH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA, PUTTING IT TOGETHER AND FIGURING OUT MEASURABLE FOR BOTH STARTING CONTINUOUS QUALITY MONITORING AND DETERMINING THEM LATER, DO WE KEEP IT, DO WE TWEAK IT? DO WE NEED TO 86? IT AND TRYING TO BE THAT LAST MILE CONNECTOR AND GETTING PEOPLE TO, YOU KNOW, TO, TO GET THE COMMUNITIES INTERCONNECTED AND GET THEM TO THE LARGER SYSTEM AS A WHOLE.
UM, I WANNA WANT TO PIGGYBACK ON WHAT BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN SAID, I WANT TO THANK YOU BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN, BECAUSE THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT POINT ABOUT, UM, MEMBERS WITH, WITH, UH, DISABILITIES.
I, I, I AGREE THAT THAT, THAT WAS, THAT WAS MISSING.
AND I I'VE BEEN SCRATCHING MY HEAD TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT HOW, HOW DO WE GET THAT? I'M, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M THINKING ABOUT, UH, FOLKS LIKE MY DAUGHTER WHO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING RIGHT NOW ON GETTING HER, TRYING TO EDUCATE HER ON HOW TO INTERACT WITH THE COMMUNITY AND ONE DAY, UH, HOPEFULLY BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATE TRANSIT, UH, AS WELL.
AND SO WE'RE, UM, AS WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT, AND, AND I THINK THAT, THAT YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD THAT THAT MIGHT BE THE WAY TO DO IT IS, IS INTERACTING.
THOSE TWO IS, IS TO TAKE THAT MEANT THOSE METRO ACCESS NUMBERS AND, AND THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD APPLIED FOR, OR WERE ELIGIBLE FOR, AND KIND OF, KIND OF WORKED THROUGH THAT AT BOTTOM GUYS.
WE MAY HAVE TO CREATE A METRIC AND THEN BE WILLING TO LOOK AT THEIR EVALUATION AND TWEAK IT AS WE GO ALONG BECAUSE WE'RE DOING SOMETHING NEW.
UM, SO WHAT I WOULD SAY TO ADD TO THAT POINT IS, UH, AND, AND MAYBE CONSIDER THAT I WAS KIND OF SCRATCHING MY HEAD ABOUT THIS TOO, BECAUSE THE TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS WERE 90 AND MAYBE THIS IS JUST THE OCD IN ME.
UM, I'M, I'M NOT USED TO GETTING GRADED ON A 90 POINT SCALE.
I'M USED TO BEING GRADED ON A HUNDRED POINT SCALE IS I'M LOOKING FOR WAYS TO KIND OF KIND OF REEVALUATE OR TWEAK THIS AND MAYBE BUMP THAT UP TO A TOTAL, A HUNDRED POINTS.
UH, MAYBE WE CAN ADD IN A LINE ITEM, UH, PER, PER, UH, PROFILE, UM, UH, BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN, AND SAID, ADD A LINE ITEM IN THERE FOR DISABILITY, UH, POPULATION, UH, EVEN IF IT'S NOT BEING, UH, YOU KNOW, MEASURED IN QUITE THE SAME WAY FOR, FOR WHAT WE DISCUSSED HERE, BUT TRY TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO MEASURE IT, PUT THAT IN THERE UNDER COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS FOR FIVE POINTS.
AND THEN I WANT TO THROW IN ANOTHER ONE.
[02:30:01]
UM, I'VE, I'VE HAD, UH, CONVERSATIONS WITHIN WITH FOLKS WHO'VE BEEN USING THE SERVICES THAT TALK ABOUT HOW USEFUL IT IS FOR INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18.UM, BECAUSE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE WORKING, UH, THE CHILDREN ARE OFTEN, CHILDREN ARE HOME ALONE ON, YOU KNOW, THESE, THESE ARE, THESE ARE KIDS WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE OF AGE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE UP ABOVE 13, THEY CAN BE HOME ALONE, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY'RE, THEY MAY BE ONE CAR HOUSEHOLD AND THEY, YOU KNOW, THEIR, THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS ARE ESSENTIAL WORKERS AND THEY'RE OFF.
THEN WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY NEED TO, IF THEY DO NEED TO, UM, ON THE, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY NEED TO GO TO THE GROCERY STORE OR THEY DO HAVE, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF A, UH, AN ENGAGEMENT OR A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND THEIR PARENTS CAN NOT BE WITH THEM, BUT THEY STILL NEED TO GET AROUND SOMETHING'S GOING ON.
UM, I HAVE HEARD FEEDBACK, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM THE LEANDER, UH, FROM, FROM FOLKS THAT UTILIZE, UM, UH, THE LEANDER PICK UP SOME EXCELLENT FEEDBACK FROM, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, CHRISTINE SETTER, CHRIS, WE MENTIONED THAT FOLKS UP THERE AND TALK TO HER ABOUT WHAT A WONDERFUL SERVICE THIS IS, AND IT IS BEING UTILIZED BY INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE, UH, UNDER 18.
UM, THAT'S THAT, THAT, THAT KIND OF, IT SERVED THE SERVICE FOR THOSE FAMILY MEMBERS, UH, WHO, WHO OTHERWISE HAD TO GO OFF AND, AND THEIR CHILD WOULD BE KIND OF STRANDED AT HOME.
MAYBE THAT'S ANOTHER CRITERIA YOU CAN LOOK AT ADDING IN THERE.
AND THEN IF YOU DID THAT, I REALIZED IT WOULD KIND OF IMBALANCE IT A LITTLE BIT, THAT YOU'D END UP WITH 40 POINTS FOR COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS, 30 PER SERVICE, 30 FOR SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM, TOTAL OF A HUNDRED.
SO JUST, JUST THE THOUGHT THERE THAT YOU WANT AND THINK ABOUT.
UM, BUT, UH, THE, THE OTHER THING I DIDN'T WANT TO, I WANTED TO GET A LITTLE CLARIFICATION ON A POINT YOU MADE EARLIER SHARMILA AS WELL.
UH, I HEARD YOU TALKING ABOUT, AND I THINK THIS MAY HAVE BEEN IN RELATION TO, AS YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU COMPARE THE ZONE TO OVERALL POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, I WANT TO COME BACK TO THIS.
I JUST ENDED TALKING ABOUT LAND OR MENTIONING LAND, OR AGAIN, WE, AND OUR 60% OF LEANDER IS AN APPROXIMATELY GIVE OR TAKE 60% OF LEANDER IS IN THE, UM, UH, IS IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY.
BUT WE ALSO HAVE ON A UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, UH, THAT ARE IN THE SERVICE TERRITORY OF THAT METRO, THAT MIGHT ONE DAY, YOU KNOW, WE, WE LOOKED AT OR CHOOSE TO POTENTIALLY CONSIDER ROLLING OUT A, UH, A, UM, UH, ONE OF THESE, UH, PICKUPS ZONES, UM, THAT I UNDERSTAND THOUGH, THAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT, THAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT COMPARING THE DATA AGAINST TRAVIS COUNTY AND, UH, AND, AND CITY OF AUSTIN DEMOGRAPHICS.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT, THAT IF YOU COULD, COULD CLARIFY THAT POINT, BECAUSE I THINK PEOPLE IN LEANDER ARE GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT CONCERNED ABOUT THAT WHEN AS OUR FOLKS IN, IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS UNDER, YOU KNOW, THE UNINCORPORATED WILLIAMS AND COUNTY.
SO WE ARE, WE ARE, UM, PREDOMINANTLY USING CITY OF AUSTIN GUIDELINES.
UM, AND, AND IN SOME CASES WE'RE COMPOUNDING THAT WITH TRAVIS COUNTY GUIDELINES AND IN SOME CASES, GUIDELINES THAT, THAT THREAT, WE CAN GO OVER THE THRESHOLDS WITH YOU IN GREAT DETAIL.
UM, BUT THE IDEA WAS TO PRIMARILY, WE, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE DATA SOURCES ARE CONSISTENT AND SO THE GUIDELINES ARE CONSISTENTLY AVAILABLE.
AND THEN WE CAN ACTUALLY MEASURE AGAINST, I WILL, WE'LL SHARE THAT WITH YOU MORE, UM, AND COULD HAVE THAT DISCUSSION.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK.
I KNOW WE'RE KIND OF RUNNING TOWARDS THE END OF OUR PRESENTATION.
ONE THING I WOULD SAY THAT, UM, TO THE POINT OF, UM, ONE CAR HOUSEHOLDS, TRANSIT SENSITIVITY, AND, UM, NEEDS FOR YOUNGER, UH, UNDER 18, UM, ONE OR THE OTHER WE CAN EASILY INCORPORATE AND WE WILL FIGURE IT OUT HOW BEST TO DO THAT, AND KIND OF STILL MAINTAIN A LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY BETWEEN CATEGORIES.
AND WE'LL COME BACK TO THAT, UM, TO THAT DISCUSSION.
I JUST WANT TO GET BACK ON THE DATA POINT THOUGH.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE SAYING GUIDELINES.
I, I UNDERSTAND IF, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE DEMO, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT A DATA POOL THAT IS, IF YOU'RE ROLLING OUT A ZONE IN AUSTIN, YOU'RE USING THE AUSTIN DATA POOL, THAT INFORMATION, IF YOU'RE ROLLING OUT ONE THAT IS AN UNINCORPORATED TRAVIS COUNTY, OR FOR EXAMPLE, PFLUGERVILLE, OR YOU'RE IN MAYNOR, YOU'RE GOING TO USE DATA THAT IS AVAILABLE IN TRA AND WILLIAM, OR EXCUSE ME, THAT IS IN TRAVIS COUNTY.
MY CONCERN THAT IF WE'RE DOING ANYTHING TO MEASURE, TO MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEANNE ANDERS PROGRAM, WE'RE NOT USING AUSTIN DATA, THAT THAT'S GOING TO BE A REAL STICKING POINT.
THERE YOU TALK ABOUT AUSTIN GUIDELINES.
SO, SO PLEASE, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU MAKE SURE THAT, THAT I GET IT.
WE NEED SOME STANDARD GUIDELINES.
SO PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THAT WILLIAMSON COUNTY IS NOT AUSTIN.
AND, AND, AND, AND AS YOU'VE GOT THESE OTHER AREAS, AND I THINK FOLKS IN LAGO ARE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO NECESSARILY BE REAL HAPPY THAT YOU'RE MEASURING THEM AGAINST THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO BE, BE REAL CAREFUL ABOUT THAT AS YOU'RE LOOKING AT, BUT QUOTE, UNQUOTE, DATA DEMOGRAPHIC POOL YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE MEASURING AGAINST IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
[02:35:02]
WE RELICENSED, IF THERE'S DATA, WE WILL DEFINITELY USE THAT FIRST.THANK YOU THAT WE USE ALL OF IT, THE DATA.
SO THE GUIDELINES, WHEN WE MEAN, WE TALK ABOUT THE THRESHOLDS, FOR EXAMPLE, AS A HOUSEHOLD INCOME, 54,000 OR LOWER, AND THAT REALLY APPLIES TO WE ALL OF THE DATA THAT WE USE OUR DATA AGAINST THAT POPULATION, THAT COMMUNITY.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS GEARED TOWARDS OUR START WITHIN OUR SERVICE AREA, NOT OUT OF SERVICE.
SO OUT OF SERVICE AREA ZONES, WHICH WE DID THIS PRE-SELECTION STEPS ONE, AS I PRESENTED, WOULD NOT QUITE APPLY TO THAT UNDERSTOOD, BUT I'M SPECIFIC, I'M TALKING ABOUT YES.
WITH THAT'S THE, THE TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN WILL INFORM WHAT THEY WANT THAT THEY'RE CONTRACTING WITH US FOR, BUT I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR LANDERS, YOUR LAGO VISTA IS YOUR MAINERS THAT MAKING SURE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT THAT DATA TO MEASURE AGAINST, AND YOU'RE NOT TRYING TO APPLY SOMETHING THAT'S OUT OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY TO AN AREA THAT IS INHERENTLY NOT WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE, WE'LL MAKE SURE AS WE GO FORWARD, WE'LL MAKE SURE AS WE GO FORWARD, THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CONSIDER ALL OF THE ISSUES THAT YOU BROUGHT TO THE TABLE, BUT IT'S JUST LIKE ERIC ASKED FOR A HUNDRED POINTS AND WORK FOR 105.
SO, UH, SO, UM, I WANT TO GO TO MITCHELL BOARD MEMBER MITCHELL, UH, CAN YOU CAN EVER, CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME? YES.
THIS IS JUST A, THIS MAY BE SOMETHING YOU ALREADY COVERED AND I JUST MISSED IT WHEN YOU SAID IT, UH, DO WE HAVE A COST DATA ON WHAT THIS IS COSTING PER RIDE THESE DAYS? AND THE REASON I ASK IS, IS IT, DOES IT INCREASE WITH ADDITIONAL RIDERS? HAS IT GO DOWN WITH ADDITIONAL RIDERS? AND THEN SECONDARILY, ARE WE MONITORING YEARS AGO IN METRO ACCESS? WE WEREN'T DOING A LOT OF MONITORING.
THIS IS FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY.
AND WE HAD SOME METRO ACCESS USERS THAT WERE USING THE SERVICE, YOU KNOW, OVER A THOUSAND TIMES A YEAR KIND OF THING.
AND WE NEEDED TO TIGHTEN UP THAT USAGE BECAUSE IT WAS NOT, IT WAS, IT WAS FAR BEYOND WHAT THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE WAS.
AND SO I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S ANY, ANY MONITORING TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY ABUSES GOING ON OR NOT, OR IF IT'S NOT AN ISSUE BECAUSE IT'S A DEFINED AREA AND THEN WHAT THE COST PER, UH, HOW'S THIS COSTING THE AGENCY.
SO I CAN START WITH THAT AND MAYBE CHAD CAN CHIME IN.
SO THE PURPOSE OF COST FOR GENERALIZED TRIPS AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL.
AND I THINK THAT GOES TO YOUR POINT FOR ONE OF OUR MORE POPULAR ROUTES, UM, OR GOOD RIDERSHIP SAY THAT AT THE, IF IT'S A $4 PER TRIP, JUST, JUST A NUMBER OUT OF ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE, AND THEN A METRO ACCESS TRIP WOULD BE COSTING $50 PER TRIP.
LET'S ASSUME THAT, UH, IT'S, IT'S A GOOD AVERAGE TO GO WITH THAT UP.
I'LL PICK UP TRIP WOULD THEN BE LIKE, WE'RE ASSUMING THAT AROUND $20, 20 TO 20 TO 20, 20 TO $22.
AND IN THAT CASE, THE TRANSFERENCE FROM METRO ACCESS AND THE NUMBER OF METRO ACCESS WRITERS THAT WE ARE ABLE TO GET THROUGH PICKUP REALLY IS A SUSTAINABLE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS.
AND EXAMPLE OF THAT, AND IT'S DEFINITELY THE BETTER, MORE COST EFFICIENT TRIP AT THAT POINT AND A BETTER SOLUTION, UM, IN TERMS OF TRACKING COSTS, BUYS, I THINK WE TRACK COST DATA BY ZONE, FOR SURE, BUT I'LL HAVE CHANCE TO SPEAK MORE TO THAT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, PRE COVID, WE WERE TRACKING THIS A PRETTY GOOD DAILY RATE.
UM, WELL, WE'RE STILL TRACKING AT A DAILY RATE.
WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO DRIVE THE NUMBERS BY GETTING MORE PEOPLE ON BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT, AS YOU GET, AS WE GET MORE PEOPLE ON THE COST GOES DOWN, UM, AND IT'S, IT'S A LINEAR FUNCTION OF THAT.
UM, AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE KEEP AN EYE ON.
SO OBVIOUSLY RIDERSHIP IS A HUGE THING FOR US THAT WE WANT TO KEEP MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE, INCLUDING THE SHARED RIDES, CAUSE THERE'S MORE SHARED RIDES.
WE HAVE, THE MORE FOLKS CAN USE THE SERVICE AND THE MORE PEOPLE WE CAN GET PER HOUR, WHICH MEANS OUR COST GOES DOWN.
AND TO ALL THOSE DO PLAY INTO THAT.
THE GOOD THING ABOUT, UM, TALKING TO YOUR OTHER POINT, THE OTHER GREAT THING ABOUT THIS SYSTEM IS THAT IT IS ALL APP BASED ON DEMAND.
AND WE HAVE A LOT MORE INFORMATION THAN WE, UM, YOU KNOW, METRO ACCESS.
WE HAVE A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION CAUSE WE TAKE RESERVATIONS, BUT THIS, WE HAVE EVEN BETTER INFORMATION BECAUSE NOW WE KNOW WHEN PEOPLE OPEN THEIR APP, HOW LONG THEIR REQUESTS TOOK ALL THIS IN REAL TIME, WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY.
SO WE HAVE A TON OF THAT INFORMATION AND WE DO TRACK AND IDENTIFY, UM, RANKINGS.
WE LOOK AT OUR TOP USERS AND IDENTIFY ARE, ARE THEY, IS THIS A INAPPROPRIATE USER? WE ALSO LOOK AT, UH, FOLKS WHO'VE TRIED IT ONCE OR TWICE AND THEY WOULD NEVER USE IT AGAIN.
WE ALSO GO AND FOLLOW UP WITH THEM AND FIND OUT WHY AREN'T YOU USING IT.
SO, UH, WE DO A LOT OF THAT ON THE BACK END AND THAT'S WHAT OUR PICKUP TEAM DOES ON A, ON A DAILY BASIS.
I THINK THAT I THINK THE BOARD MEMBER BOARD
[02:40:01]
MEMBER KITCHEN.SO THEN I HAD ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT, UM, UH, AND THIS IS MORE JUST A REQUEST.
SO WHEN WE, UM, WHEN WE, UM, GET OUR MATERIALS FOR, UH, I THINK YOU SAID WHEN WE ARE GOING TO APPROVE THIS IN APRIL, I THINK YOU SAID THE, UM, I I'D LIKE TO, UH, TO GET A MORE COMPLETE, UM, UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE SCORING IS DONE.
AND BY THAT, I JUST MEAN, UH, W I UNDERSTAND THE CRITERIA AND YOU CAN GET UP TO FIVE POINTS, BUT I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT GETS YOU TWO POINTS VERSUS FOUR POINTS.
SO IF YOU COULD PROVIDE THAT, UM, BACKUP INFORMATION, UM, OR THAT ADDITIONAL LEVEL OF DETAIL, I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
AND THEN, THEN I HAVE A QUESTION THAT RELATES TO THE, UM, PICKUP SERVICES IN SURROUNDING AREAS, UH, THAT ARE NOT, UM, OUR, UM, SERVICE AREAS.
SO, UM, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING IS THE, IS THE PROCESS A BIT DIFFERENT TO, FOR CONSIDERATION OF THOSE? AND, UM, I'M JUST SAYING THAT IT NEEDS TO BE IDENTIFIED IN THAT COMMUNITIES, UH, PLANNING, PLANNING DOCUMENTS, BUT IS THERE SOME OTHER ASPECT TO THAT, UH, THAT PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION? HOW DOES THAT WORK? UM, USUALLY IN TDP THERE'S FUNDING SOURCES ESTABLISHED AND BASED ON THAT FUNDING SOURCE, UH, THERE'S ALREADY AN ESTABLISHED BUDGET TO PREPARE, UM, TO KIND OF WORK WITH.
AND THEN WE TAKE INTO SOME OF THE SAME CRITERIA THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, BUT NOT IN THE LEVEL OF DETAIL THAT WE ARE USING IN THIS PRE-SELECTION STEPS.
AND THEN IT GOES MORE STRAIGHT INTO THE OPERATIONAL MATRIX.
LIKE IT REALLY, WE STILL ESTIMATE RIDERSHIP AND SO FORTH, BUT I'LL HAVE CHAD QUICKLY GO OVER THAT.
I KNOW WE'RE ALSO RUNNING OUT OF TIME, SO WHY DON'T YOU TAKE OFF? CERTAINLY, YES, WE DO A LOT OF WORK WITH, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, PFLUGERVILLE WORK WITH OUR CITY COUNCIL TO IDENTIFY CERTAIN METRICS AND MEASURES THAT WERE IMPORTANT TO THEM.
UM, THINGS LIKE CONNECTING TO THEIR, UM, NEW AMAZON FACILITY, THAT'S OUT THERE AND OTHER TYPES OF THINGS THAT OBVIOUSLY WOULDN'T NECESSARILY APPLY TO ALL OF OUR ZONES, BUT ALL OF THAT IS CLOSELY TIED TO THE METRICS AND MEASURES THAT THEY HELP US ESTABLISH.
WE DO GO IN AND SAY GENERAL THINGS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE HAPPEN OUR QUALITY SERVICE.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE AT LEAST GET A 15 MINUTE RESPONSE TIME AND SOME OF THOSE THINGS SO THAT WE'RE NOT DILUTING THE BRAND OVERALL, BUT IN GENERAL, THEY DO HAVE A LOT OF LEEWAY, BUT THEY DO PAY THE FULLY ALLOCATED COSTS.
SO THAT, THAT WAS WHERE I WAS GETTING TO, THEY, THEY PAY THE FULLY ALLOCATED COST.
AND THEN HAVE WE DONE THAT IN AREAS WHERE THERE'S SOME OVERLAP WITH CARDS? WE HAVE, UM, WE'VE DONE THAT AND WE'VE DONE THAT IN MAYNOR.
SO SOME OF THE PAIN MAINER AREA IS A LITTLE BIT BEYOND OUR SERVICE AREAS.
SO THAT'S A, A JOINT COMBO THAT WE DO WITH TRAVIS COUNTY.
AND, UM, SO THOSE KINDS OF PARTNERSHIPS ARE, ARE PRETTY AWESOME.
UM, WITH THOSE TYPES OF SERVICES, ESPECIALLY WITH MANOR, WE, WE HAVE THE SAME CRITERIA THOUGH THAT WE HAVE WITH ALL OF OUR OTHER ZONES.
IF THERE ARE ANY OF THEM ARE IN OUR SERVICE ZONE, THEN WE HAVE, UH, REQUIREMENTS, MAKE SURE THAT THEY HOLD THAT TO THOSE STANDARDS.
THE REASON I ASK IS IN TERM ELLA, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, THE RECENT REQUESTS FROM THE DRIPPING SPRINGS AREA.
UM, AGAIN, THAT WAS A VERY, VERY PRELIMINARY REQUEST AND IT WASN'T SPECIFIC TO THE PICKUP SERVICE.
UM, IT WAS JUST A, A EXPLORATORY CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT MIGHT, WHAT SYNERGIES THERE MIGHT BE WITH THAT COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST WANTED TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY SINCE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT, TO PICK UP, TO SEE HOW Y'ALL CONSIDERED THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
SO I KNOW THERE'S, FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING WITH THAT COMMUNITY.
I JUST WANTED TO, UH, TO THANK STAFF FOR ALL OF THE WORK THAT THEY'VE DONE, THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING CONVERSATION.
UH, WE WERE ABLE TO SIT DOWN AND LAY OUT, UH, QUALITATIVE, UH, VARIABLES THAT WE WANTED TO LOOK AT.
WE WERE, WE WERE ABLE TO SEE, UH, THE, THE BONES HAVE FLESHED PUT ON THEM AND YOU ALL HAVE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB.
I KNOW THAT THERE'S MORE WORK TO DO, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THAT WORK, BUT, BUT, UH, WHAT YOU PRESENTED TODAY IS, IS EXCEPTIONAL.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO, TO BUILD SOMETHING THAT REALLY SERVES THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
UM, I WILL CALL UP ITEM NUMBER FOUR, THE 2021 WINTER WEATHER RESPONSE.
UM, VICE CHAIR, TREVELYAN MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, PRESIDENT CEO, CLARK I'M DOTTIE WATKINS, UH, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, AND WE WANTED TO PROVIDE JUST A BRIEF UPDATE ON CAPITOL METRO'S, UH, PARTICIPATION IN RESPONSE TO, UM, THE WINTER WEATHER, UM, THE EXTREME WINTER WEATHER THAT WE EXPERIENCED, UM, VALENTINE'S DAY WEEKEND AND
[02:45:01]
THROUGH THE FOLLOWING WEEK.UM, SO FIRST UP, UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WINTER WEATHER AND ITS IMPACT ON OUR COMMUNITY, THE VERY, UM, THE MOST URGENT AND MOST IMPORTANT OF THE PIECES THAT WE RECOGNIZED VERY EARLY ON WAS THE NEED TO COMMUNICATE SERVICE LEVELS TO OUR CUSTOMERS AND HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO OPERATE IN, WHAT WE WEREN'T.
UM, WE DID THAT LARGELY THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA AND OVER 350,000 METRO ALERTS.
METRO ALERTS IS THE SYSTEM WHERE, UM, WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF OUR REGULAR CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE SIGNED UP FOR, UM, EMAIL AND OR TEXT ALERTS DIRECTLY FROM US.
UM, AND THEY CAN CHOOSE WHETHER THEY WANT TO SEE EVERYTHING.
THEY ONLY WANT TO SEE SYSTEM WIDE ALERTS, OR THEY ONLY WANTING TO SEE ALERTS THAT IMPACT THEIR PARTICULAR ROUTE OR ROUTES OF INTEREST.
AND SO, UM, WE USE THAT SYSTEM EXTENSIVELY DURING THE WINTER WEATHER EMERGENCY TO BE ABLE TO, UM, COMMUNICATE TO OUR CUSTOMERS, OUR PRIMARY ROLE DURING, UM, THE, THE KIND OF FIRST HALF OF THAT WEEK WAS, UH, SUPPORT OF THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER AND THAT INCLUDED, UM, SHELTER, TRANSPORTATION SUPPORT THAT EVEN BEGAN BEFORE THE HIT.
UM, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH DELL MEDICAL CENTER TO PROVIDE, UM, TRANSPORTATION, BOTH TO THEIR STAFF, AS WELL AS PATIENT TRANSPORT.
AND ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT AROSE WAS, UM, BEING ABLE TO GET FOLKS DISCHARGED FROM A HOSPITAL TO MAKE BEDS AVAILABLE FOR OTHER PATIENTS RELIED OFTEN ON THOSE PATIENTS HAVING A WAY TO GET HOME.
AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO SUPPORT THAT AS WELL AS GENERAL POPULATION DIALYSIS TRANSPORTATION.
AND THAT WAS ANOTHER CRITICAL AREA THAT WE, WE DID A LOT ON.
UM, WE ALSO WERE ABLE TO CONTINUE OUR ONGOING WORK WITH LOCAL PARTNERS, FOLKS LIKE MEALS ON WHEELS, UM, IN THE CENTRAL TEXAS FOOD BANK.
UM, WE DELIVERED, UM, MEALS TO 569 INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS THE WEEK OF THE WINTER STORM, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR, UM, COMMUNITY, UH, NEIGHBORS IN MOST NEED, UH, WERE ABLE TO HAVE FOOD AVAILABLE TO THEM DURING THAT DIFFICULT TIME.
NEXT SLIDE, WE FOCUS A LITTLE, A LOT ON LIFE-SUSTAINING TRIPS, AS WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, OUR METRO ACCESS SERVICE.
UM, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT WE REALIZED VERY EARLY ON WAS THE NEED TO, UM, SUPPORT OUR CUSTOMERS WHO, UM, NEEDED A TRIP TO FOR DIALYSIS.
FOR EXAMPLE, UM, WE CONTACTED BOTH OUR CUSTOMERS AND THE DIALYSIS CENTERS THAT WE SERVICE, UM, ON A DAILY BASIS.
UM, CENTERS WERE CLOSED DURING THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK AND SLOWLY OPENED OVER A TWO WEEK PERIOD.
UM, AND IN THAT TWO WEEK PERIOD, WE PROVIDED OVER A THOUSAND DIALYSIS TRIPS.
UM, REALLY MAKING SURE THAT WE WERE PRIORITIZING THE CUSTOMERS IN THE MOST URGENT NEED, UM, AS SOON AS THEY WERE DIALYSIS CENTERS AVAILABLE.
UM, AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT, UM, OUR METRO ACCESS TEAM FOCUSED VERY, VERY STRONGLY ON NEXT SLIDE.
THE, AND THEN ONCE WE, UM, HAD TALKED THROUGH KIND OF THOSE IMPACTS ON OUR CUSTOMERS, UM, WE WORKED WITH OUR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER PARTNERS TO, UM, CONTINUE TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY SUPPORT THROUGH WATER DISTRIBUTION SITES.
UM, WE SUPPORTED THREE OF THE WATER DISTRIBUTION SITES, UM, THAT THE EOC SET UP, UM, WE'RE NEARBY TRANSIT, BUT NOT REALLY CLOSE ENOUGH THAT YOU'D BE ABLE TO REASONABLY WALK FROM THE TRANSIT STOP TO THE DISTRIBUTION SITE.
AND SO WE PROVIDED SHUTTLES AT THOSE LOCATIONS, SO THAT TRANSIT CUSTOMERS COULD STILL, UM, REACH THE, THE WATER DISTRIBUTION.
WE ALSO PROVIDED MOBILE WATER DISTRIBUTION SITES, UM, WORKING WITH THOSE SAME PARTNERS TO, UH, LOAD A BUS UP FULL OF WATER AND TAKE IT TO, UM, A NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY CENTER OR, UH, AN APARTMENT COMPLEX OR AN AREA THAT, UM, WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY GETTING TO MOBILE DISTRIBUTION SITES BUT NEEDED WATER.
UM, AND THEN WE ALSO UTILIZE OUR METRO ACCESS, UM, CUSTOMER BASE, UM, TO DELIVER WATER TO METRO ACCESS ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS AND DELIVERED NEARLY, UM, 1300 CASES OF WATER TO INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS, UM, THAT NEEDED WATER.
UM, WE WERE UNABLE BECAUSE OF THE ROAD CONDITIONS TO OPERATE SERVICES ON THE 15TH, 16TH AND 17TH, THE MONDAY, TUESDAY, AND WEDNESDAY OF THAT WEEK.
UM, BUT WHEN WE RESERVED, WE, WHEN WE RESUMED SERVICE ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH, WE ANNOUNCED THAT THAT SERVICE WOULD OPERATE WITHOUT A FARE.
AND WE LATER ANNOUNCED THAT THE FREE THEATERS WOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF FEBRUARY.
WE REALLY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT AS OUR COMMUNITY CAME OUT OF THIS VERY DIFFICULT MOMENT, UM, THAT BEING ABLE TO GET TRANSPORTATION TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES WAS NOT GOING TO BE ANYONE'S CONCERN NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN MUCH LIKE THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY, THAT CAP METRO FAMILY, UM, ALSO, UM, HAD TO COME TOGETHER TO REALLY WEATHER THIS STORM, SO TO SPEAK.
UH, WE PROVIDED MEALS, BOTTLED WATER AND INCENTIVE PAY TO ALL OF OUR STAFF AT ALL OF OUR FACILITIES.
UM, WE ALSO OFFERED OUR CAPITAL METRO BUILDINGS AS WARMING CENTERS AND OR SHOWER FACILITIES FOR STAFF AND THEIR HOUSEHOLDS THAT NEEDED AN OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO GET THEIR FAMILY INTO A BUILDING WITH BOTH POWER AND WATER.
[02:50:01]
UM, WE WERE FORTUNATE THAT WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE WATER SERVICE, EVEN WHEN MUCH OF THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY HAD LOST WATER.AND EVEN WHEN THE POWER HAD GONE OUT, OUR OPERATING BUILDINGS ARE OPERATED ON BACKUP GENERATORS.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE A FACILITY WITH POWER, UM, AND S AND SEVERAL OF OUR STAFF TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME UTILIZE THOSE FACILITIES, UM, PARTICULARLY THE SHOWER FACILITIES.
UM, AND I KNOW I SAW A COUPLE OF THEM WHO HAD A COUPLE OF, OF THEIR HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS WHO SAID, YEAH, LET ME COME TO WORK WITH YOU TODAY SO WE CAN TAKE CARE OF, OF OUR, OF OUR NEEDS.
IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO US THAT WE MADE SURE WE TOOK CARE OF OUR STAFF.
AND SO, UM, WE ACTIVATED WHAT WE CALL THE CAP.
METRO FAMILY CARES TEAM TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WHO HAD PARTICULAR NEEDS.
WE HAD, UH, AN INDIVIDUAL FAMILY WHO HAD, UM, WAS REALLY UNABLE TO GET OUT OF THEIR HOMES DUE TO THE ROAD CONDITIONS.
UM, THEY DIDN'T HAVE POWER, THEY WERE RUNNING OUT OF FOOD AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET THEM FOOD AND WATER, UM, TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THEM.
AND THEN WE'VE ALSO, UM, ACTIVATED THE EMPLOYEE FUNDED DISASTER RELIEF FUND.
UM, SO CAP METRO AND OUR SERVICE PROVIDERS, ALL OF OUR STAFF ARE ABLE TO DONATE THROUGH ONGOING PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS, UM, TO A DISASTER RELIEF FUND.
UM, THAT BECOMES IS MADE AVAILABLE TO, UM, OUR, UH, CABINETS, YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS WHEN THEY INCUR A DISASTER SUCH AS THIS, TO HELP THEM, UM, BEAR THE COSTS OF THINGS LIKE REPAIRS TO THEIR HOME, OR, UM, JUST OTHER FINANCIAL BURDENS.
AND SO, UM, THAT PROCESS IS UNDERWAY AND IS AN IMPORTANT WAY THAT WE REALLY COME TOGETHER AS A CAPITAL METRO COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT TIME.
SO, UM, JUST IN CLOSING, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY SAY THIS WAS A ONCE IN A GENERATION EVENT AS A LIFELONG AUSTIN.
I, I KNOW I HAD NEVER SEEN THIS MUCH SNOW AGAIN, AND I FOR ONE WOULD BE HAPPY TO NEVER SEE THIS MUCH SNOW IN MY HOMETOWN AGAIN, IN THE FUTURE.
BUT, UM, WE LEARNED A LOT THROUGH THIS AND WE'LL BE MAKING SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR PROCESSES AND OUR EQUIPMENT TO BE ABLE TO BETTER SUSTAIN ANOTHER SUCH STORM SHOULD ONE COME OUR WAY.
AND I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE.
I JUST WANT, UM, LET'S SAY I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS, BUT, UH, I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE WORK THAT YOU, UH, THAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM DID INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY, UH, THOUSANDS OF MEALS BEING SERVED THOUSANDS OF, OF, UH, OF CRATES OF WATER BEING SERVED.
UH, I, I THINK IT IS, IT IS COMMENDABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE TAKE CARE OF THE EMPLOYEES THAT, THAT ARE IN OUR PURVIEW.
IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT WE SERVE THE COMMUNITY AND YOU ALL DID THAT INCREDIBLY WELL.
AND, UH, I, FOR ONE, JUST WANT TO THANK YOU PUBLICLY FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS A HAND FOR A SECOND, BUT, UM, BUT, UH, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
[VIII. Reports]
ALL RIGHT.WE'VE GOT ANOTHER ITEM, THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT, UH, MR. PRESIDENT.
UH, UH, I APPRECIATE, UH, DOTTIE'S UPDATE ON THE WEATHER STORMS. AND AS A NORTHERNER, I WOULD AGREE THAT IF I NEVER SEE ANOTHER STORM IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, AGAIN, I'LL ALSO BE JUST AS HAPPY AS DOTTIE.
THAT WAS NOT PART OF THE AGREEMENT.
I THOUGHT WE'RE COMING DOWN TO TEXAS.
SO, UH, I AM PROUD OF THE TEAM.
WE WILL DEFINITELY DO A DEEP AFTER ACTION REVIEW AND THINK ABOUT WAYS TO BE EVEN MORE PREPARED AND MORE RESILIENT GOING FORWARD TWO QUICK, UH, TWO ITEMS HERE.
UH, BUT THE FIRST I WANT TO UPDATE EVERYONE ON IS, AND DONNA SIMMONS HAS BEEN LEADING THIS EFFORT, BUT OUR DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION, UH, COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP HAS OFFICIALLY KICKED OFF.
AND WE HAD THAT MEETING ON MARCH 10TH.
I JOINED THAT MEETING AND WE HAD 14 MEMBERS FROM THE COMMUNITY, UH, LOTS OF COMMUNITY LEADERS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION LEADERS ATTEND THAT.
UH, IT WAS JUST A REALLY GOOD KICKOFF, UH, TO REALLY HAVE AN HONEST, OPEN CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW, UH, TH THIS TOPIC IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO CUT METRICS VALUES AND HOW WE COULD CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THIS, NOT ONLY ON THE WORK WE DO IN THE COMMUNITY EXTERNALLY AND INTERNALLY, HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO BE BETTER AT THIS TOPIC AREA AND HOW OTHERS COULD MAYBE INFLUENCE THAT.
SO I WANT TO THANK ALL OF THEM FOR DOING THAT.
AND DONNA, FOR HER LEADERSHIP, DONALD ALTO HAS POSTED A NEW POSITION, A DIRECTOR OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION, UH, THAT WILL BE THE LEAD OF THAT GROUP AND HELP US FURTHER THOSE EFFORTS.
SO, UH, THAT'S AN UPDATE ON THAT PRO UH, THAT PART OF THE PROGRAM SECOND TOMORROW, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, IS TRANSIT EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY.
AND IT'S A NATIONAL DAY WHERE, UH, ALL THOSE THAT ARE EITHER IN TRANSIT OR USE TRANSIT OR PUBLICLY SUPPORT TRANSIT, HAVE A CHANCE TO REALLY, REALLY THANK THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT, UH, KIND OF CONNECT TO COMMUNITY ON A DAILY BASIS.
AND WHETHER IT'S A BUS OPERATOR MECHANIC, A TRAIN CONDUCTOR, A DEMAND RESPONSE OPERATOR, OR DISPATCHER, YOU NAME IT, UH, INDIVIDUALS THAT WORK HERE AT CAP, METRO, KEEP THIS COMMUNITY GOING.
[02:55:01]
AND WHETHER IT WAS THROUGH THE CARES UPDATE DOTTIE MENTIONED, OR THE WINTER STORM, UH, THE ORGANIZATION JUST KEEPS DELIVERING FOR THE COMMUNITY WHEN IT'S NEEDED.UH, WE, WE HAVE A VIDEO THAT WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT, UH, YOU KNOW, TWO THINGS, ONE IN RELATION TO TRENDS THAT EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY, AND HOPEFULLY YOU ALL WILL BE ABLE TO, UH, SHARE THIS VIDEO ON SOCIAL.
WE ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU, IF YOU HAVE A FEW MOMENTS YOU WANT TO JOIN US AT ALL OF OUR LOCATIONS TOMORROW, WE'RE DOING SOME SPECIAL TACOS AND BROWNIES FOR THE WHOLE STAFF, UH, OR JUST PUT SOMETHING ONLINE ABOUT, UH, UH, ABOUT THE TRENDS IN PLACE HERE AT CAP METRO.
UM, BUT SECONDARILY IT'S BEEN A YEAR FOR COVID.
AND, UH, UNFORTUNATELY AS MANY OF, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE LOST SIX, SIX OF OUR COLLEAGUES DURING THIS, UH, HORRIBLE PANDEMIC.
AND WE'VE HAD ACTUALLY OVER 200 PEOPLE, UH, HAVE POSITIVE, UH, CASES OF COVID.
AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S PROBABLY BEEN SOME MORE ABOVE THE ACTUAL POSITIVE CASES AS WELL.
SO IT HAS BEEN A TRYING YEAR FOR CABIN METRO, BUT A YEAR OF, UH, KIND OF A LOT OF WAYS THAT REINFORCE THE VALUE OF TRANSIT AND METRO IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND I THINK THE TEAM IN A LOT OF WAYS HAS COME OUT STRONGER THAN WE WERE GOING INTO COVID.
SO, UH, THIS VIDEO IS ALSO IN REMEMBRANCE OF, UH, OF OUR LOSS COLLEAGUES.
SO WITH THAT, MAYBE, UH, IF YOU COULD CUE UP THE VIDEO, IT IS A, IT IS A FEW MINUTES LONG, UH, BUT, BUT IT IS AN IMPORTANT REFLECTION OF EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED IN THE LAST YEAR.
I WANT A SECOND BOARD MEMBER IT'S YOU MAY HAVE SOME, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO ASK MY QUESTION NOW, BEFORE THE VIDEO, I COULD BE QUICK ABOUT IT.
UM, SO, UM, I WANTED TO SAY, UH, TO, TO, TO SAY KUDOS AND, AND, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE THE, UH, CREATION OF THE NEW POSITION RELATED TO DIVERSITY AND EQUITY.
UM, AND SO, AND I ALSO APPRECIATE HEARING, YOU KNOW, ABOUT THE COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, COULD YOU PROVIDE US A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT HOW THE PUBLIC MIGHT OBSERVE, UH, ONE OF THOSE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND, AND WHERE THE INFORMATION MIGHT BE POSTED ABOUT WHEN THAT MEETING, UH, WHEN THOSE, THAT COMMITTEE MEETS, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST FOR TRANSPARENCY.
IT'S, IT'S REALLY A GREAT THING THAT, UH, CAP METRO IS DOING.
AND, UM, I THINK IT WOULD, UM, CERTAINLY HELP WITH THE PUBLIC, FOR THE PUBLIC TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS HAPPENING AND IF THEY WANTED TO OBSERVE THAT THEY COULD, UM, THEY COULD WATCH IT.
SO IT'S A, SO JUST FROM A NAMING NOMENCLATURE, IT'S AN ADVISORY GROUP, SO IT'S NOT A NATURAL MAYBE.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THAT WAS THE KICKOFF, THE NEXT MEETING AND BE JUNE, UH, I THINK DONNA'S GOAL HERE IS TO HAVE LACK OF BETTER STANDING MINUTES, OR AT LEAST AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE OUTCOME OF THAT MEETING THAT WOULD THEN BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE.
UH, BUT I WILL, UH, ASK HER TO THINK THROUGH HOW THE NEXT VERSION OF THIS GROUP, WHEN IT MEETS HOW AND WHAT THE BEST WAY IS TO, UH, PUBLICLY MAKE EITHER MINUTES OR VIDEO OR, UH, POSTING, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE REALLY NOT SET UP IN THAT KIND OF CONTEXT FOR LIVE PER SE, BUT I'LL ASK HER TO WORK THROUGH THAT, UH, WITH HER TEAM AND THINKS THROUGH THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT AND GET BACK TO THEM.
SO, SO YEAH, SO GOING FORWARD, WE JUST NEED TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT'S GOING TO BE DONE, HOW THE TRANSPARENCY WILL BE AVAILABLE AND FOR PEOPLE WHO MIGHT WANT TO, UH, CONTRIBUTE, UM, THROUGH THAT PROCESS, OR JUST BE AWARE OF IT SO THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND THAT.
AND I GUESS IF THAT'S OKAY, VICE CHAIR, WE'LL QUEUE UP ED TO, UH, PLAY THE VIDEO AND WE DON'T HAVE THE AUDIO.
MY WHOLE GOAL AND BRANDING KIND OF WORK IS TO BE THE HELPER AND TO GET EVERYONE TO BE LIKE A TEAM, INSTEAD OF YOU'RE THE PASSENGER ON THE DRIVER, IT'S LIKE, THIS IS OUR BUS, THIS IS OUR COMMUNITY.
[03:00:01]
AND IF I MENTIONED TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, THAT'S OUT THERE.AND IF IT'S BAD, UM, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT LOOKING OUT FOR ONE OF THEM, I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD OF THE WOMEN AND MEN IN THE CAB METRO FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE FOR OUR COMMUNITY THIS YEAR.
I'M ALSO VERY PROUD AND GRATEFUL TO BE PART OF THIS PUBLIC TRANSIT INDUSTRY.
PUBLIC TRANSIT HAS BEEN THERE DURING THE WORST OF THE PANDEMIC AND PUBLIC TRANSIT IS GOING TO BE THERE TO REALLY CREATE A MORE EQUITABLE, SUSTAINABLE RECOVERY.
AND I'M REALLY, REALLY PROUD OF OUR INDUSTRY WITH OUR INNOVATION AND WORKING WITH OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS TO KIND OF TAKE US TO THAT NEXT LEVEL AND BE READY THERE TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES LONG AFTER THE PANDEMIC.
I THINK THAT WE CONTINUE TO BE A COMPANY THAT IS GROWING AND IMPROVING BECAUSE OF THE ATTITUDES AND THE WORK ETHIC OF OUR, UH, ALL OF THE FOLKS IN OUR COMPANY.
THEY'VE SUPPORTED THE COMMUNITY IN A NUMBER OF WAYS.
THEY HAVE TAKEN MEALS DIRECTLY TO FAMILIES.
UH, THEY HAVE MADE SURE THAT, UH, PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN TO ACCESS POINTS WHERE MEDICAL SERVICES WERE PROVIDED ON.
THEY HAVE LISTENED TO THE COMMUNITY AND IDENTIFIED, UH, THINGS THAT PEOPLE HAVE NEEDED AND PROVIDED THEM FOR THE BIGGEST THING THAT I'VE BEEN TELLING MY MEMBERS IS PATIENCE.
A LOT OF PEOPLE, THIS IS SOMETHING IN OUR LIFETIME THAT WE'VE NEVER REALLY HAD TO DEAL WITH.
AND I WOULD HOPE THE PUBLIC WOULD HAVE PATIENCE WITH US.
I DO WANT TO THANK CAPRA METRO FOR THE SHIELDS AND THE MASTER TO PROVIDING THE PUBLIC AND THE OPERATORS.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S MY BIGGEST THING RIGHT NOW.
PETE PREACHING EVER SINCE ALL OF THIS STARTED, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE MORE PEOPLE COMING TO WORK THAN WE DID BEFORE.
NOW, WE HAVE MORE PEOPLE TRYING TO HELP OUT WORKING EXTRA HOURS.
IT'S BEEN A POSITIVE, YOU KNOW, LIKE REINFORCEMENT TO HAVE EVERYBODY, YOU KNOW, JUMPING ON BOARD AND HELPING OUT AND BEING READY TO HELP THE COMMUNITY AND HELP THE CLIENTS.
I'VE SEEN THE WAY THAT THE BUS DRIVERS HAVE JUST CHANGED MY OWN PERCEPTION OF THE WAY THIS COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO CRISISES, SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, THIS CURRENT PANDEMIC, THEY THEY'VE BEEN DELIVERING BOXES OF FOOD, BUT THEN WE'VE ADDED, YOU KNOW, CASES OF WATER AT TIMES AND DOUBLE THEIR DUTY.
AND THEY JUST SHOW UP WITH SMILES ON THEIR FACES, READY TO GO.
TRANSIT EMPLOYEES PLAY SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
THEY HAVE REALLY MET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.
THEY UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY, THEY'RE TRUSTED BY THE COMMUNITY, AND THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO PARTNER WITH THEM.
AND I JUST CAN'T SPEAK HIGHLY ENOUGH ABOUT THE JOB THAT THEY'VE DONE DURING THIS TIME.
WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE WHAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO DURING THIS TIME, WITHOUT THEIR DIRECT SUPPORT.
I'VE COME TO VIEW OUR TEAM OF FOLKS AND OUR ASSETS AS REALLY MOBILE INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, TRYING TO TACKLE WHATEVER NEEDS OUR COMMUNITY HAS WITH THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE.
AND IT'S REALLY UNUSUALLY IMPRESSIVE TO SEE HOW OUR PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO PIVOT, UH, THINK OF NEW SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS THAT DIDN'T EXIST IN EUROPE.
IT REALLY DOES MEAN A LOT TO ME, CAP METRO HAS GONE OFFLINE DURING THE PANDEMIC OR DURING THESE WINTER STORMS, I WOULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER UNEMPLOYED PERSON.
I JUST LOVED HOW THEY KEPT EVERYTHING VERY SAFE AND WAS TO THE T ABOUT HOW THEY WERE RUNNING THINGS THAT KEPT THEM METRO, AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, THE SANITIZE IT AND EVERYTHING.
AND IT KIND OF MADE THINGS A LITTLE CALMER FOR ME, AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, THE ANXIETIES OF DEALING WITH THE PANDEMIC AND EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT PART.
THEY MADE SURE WE WERE SAFE AS WELL AS THEMSELVES.
OUR TEAM IS FANTASTIC AND THEY DO GREAT WORK.
THEY, THEY, THEY JUST SHOW UP TO WORK AND WE DO OUR JOB AND THAT THAT'S, THAT'S THE KEY TO IT ALL.
A FEW OF US HAVE GOTTEN SICK THOUGH.
AND, UM, THAT THAT'S THE SCARY PART, LIKE I WAS SAYING.
AND, UM, THE FACT THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO GET THROUGH THAT AND STILL COME BACK TO WORK.
IT'S A, IT'S IMPRESSIVE OUT OF ALL THE JOBS I'VE HAD IN MY, IN MY CAREER.
THIS IS ONE OF THE ONES I ENJOY COMING TO MY TEAM IS GREAT.
ANYONE THAT WORKS AT THIS BASE LOVE EVERY SINGLE BUDDY EVERYONE'S TEAMMATE, EVERYONE SUPPORTS EACH OTHER.
WE NEED SOMETHING THEY'RE THERE FOR EACH OTHER.
NO, WITH THE PANDEMIC, THIS HAS BEEN A STRESSFUL FOR ALL OF US, BUT THEN ACCORDANCE OF THE TRANSIT SYSTEM HAS BEEN ELEVATED AREN'T THEY, BECAUSE THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT WERE STILL NEEDING THE SERVICE, AND THAT GIVES YOU A FEELING OF BEING THANKFUL FOR THE COMMUNITY.
[03:05:01]
I'VE TRIED TO HANDLE THINGS IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER, AND THAT IS TO STAY SAFE AS POSSIBLE.EVEN IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC, YOU HAVE TO BE MINDFUL THAT THERE ARE THINGS GOING ON AROUND YOU ALL THE TIME.
SO YOU HAVE TO REALLY BE VIGIL AND UNDERSTANDING FOR THEM.
ARE YOU STAYING SAFE? PUBLIC TRANSIT IS THAT MOBILITY A NECESSITY TO GET PEOPLE TO WHETHER IT'S LIFE-SAVING DIALYSIS OR FOR FIRST RESPONDERS TO WORK.
SO ALL THOSE ESSENTIAL WORKERS, FIRST RESPONDERS, SCIENTISTS, ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT GOT US THROUGH THIS HORRIBLE LAST YEAR.
AND TO THE WOMEN AND MEN, THAT CAP METRO, UH, ONCE AGAIN, JUST SO HUMBLED TO BE PART OF THIS ORGANIZATION WITH YOU AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR THE COMMUNITY EVERY DAY.
AND THAT IS THE, UH, PRESIDENT'S REPORT, UH, VICE CHAIR.
UH, THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT PRESENTATION.
AND, UH, AND ONCE AGAIN, UH, WE APPRECIATE THE LEADERSHIP THAT YOU'VE PROVIDED DURING THIS PROCESS AND THE WAY THAT YOU HAVE RESPONDED TO COMMUNITY THAT IS COMMENDABLE AND, AND THANK YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE STAFF, AND AS WELL AS MY COLLEAGUES ON THE BOARD FOR, UH, FOR THE WAY THAT WE WORK TOGETHER, UH, TO TRY TO SERVE AUSTIN.
SO IF THAT'S THE CONCLUSION OF THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT, UH, GO AHEAD.
UM, BOARD MEMBERS, STRATTON, UH, MR. CHAIR.
I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY ONE POINT FROM EARLIER IN THE MEETING WHEN I WAS GIVING MY PRESENTATION ON THE ATP UPDATE, I WAS REMINDED THAT THE ATP MEETING THIS MONTH ACTUALLY BEGINS AT 2:00 PM.
JUST WANTING TO GET THAT ON THE RECORD.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, OR BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN.
UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION FOR, UH, BOARD MEMBERS STRATTON.
I THINK I, I, I DIDN'T QUITE HEAR WHAT YOU SAID WITH THE ATP REPORT.
SO I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT IT.
UM, DID YOU MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT THE EQUITY ASSESSMENT TOOL ABOUT SOME REVIEW GOING ON ABOUT IT, OR DID I, DID I MISS THAT? NO, YES.
THE, THE EQUITY ASSESSMENT TOOL IS BEING BUILT OUT RIGHT NOW AND THERE WERE, UH, THERE WERE ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT WAS A TWO-PART MEETING THAT TOOK PLACE.
UM, THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS ON MONDAY, LATE AFTERNOON EVENINGS WHERE, UM, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, AS WELL AS MEMBERS OF THE BOARD WERE INVITED AS WELL, UH, TO, TO START GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS, GETTING PUBLIC FEEDBACK, HAVING SOME HONEST CONVERSATIONS ABOUT, UH, WHAT THEY WANTED TO KIND OF WATCH WHAT THE PUBLIC, WHAT MEMBERS WANTED WERE LOOKING FOR AND WANTING TO HAVE AS IT APPLIES SPECIFICALLY TO, UM, UH, TO HOW TO, TO, TO TAKE THE EQUITY TOOL AND MAKE IT, UH, APPLICABLE TO, UM, UH, TO THE, THE, AND BUILDING IT OUT FOR THE USE OF THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT FUND.
SO THIS WAS, UH, THIS WAS THE, THE CITY'S, UH, EQUITY ASSESSMENT TOOL AND THE ATP BOARD, UM, PARTICIPATED, WHICH IS GREAT.
I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTOOD THAT, THAT, THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING.
ATP BOARD MEMBERS WERE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE AND BE A PART OF VOTE AND PART OF THE PROCESS ALONG WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I HEARD THAT RIGHT.
NOW, ARE THERE ANY ITEMS THAT, THAT WE WANT TO PUT IN PLAY FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION? ANY OTHER ITEMS THAT WE WANT TO DISCUSS TODAY THAT, THAT, UM, THAT ARE FOR THE GOOD OF THE BODY HEARING? NONE, ADD 1:16 PM.
WE'LL LOOK, WE'LL OFFICIALLY ADJOURNED THE ME.