[00:00:03]
WELCOME[I. Call to Order]
EVERYBODY.THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE CAP.
I'LL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
TODAY IS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER THE 27TH, AND THE TIME IS 1205.
UH, WE'LL BEGIN TODAY WITH PUBLIC COMMENT.
[II. Public Comment]
I KNOW WE'VE GOT SEVERAL SPEAKERS WITH US IN THE BOARDROOM, AND I THINK WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE WHO WILL BE JOINING US REMOTELY.OUR FIRST SPEAKER TODAY IS MR. WALKER.
IS HE HERE? DON'T SEE MR. WALKER.
AND ED, IF YOU, IF, UH, ANTHONY SHOWS UP, LET ME KNOW, UH, NEXT WILL BE, UH, UH, MR. ISAIAH SMITH, MR. SMITH.
IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE HERE, UH, TODAY.
UM, AND SPEAKING IN FRONT OF YOU GUYS, UM, RECENTLY I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE AWARE OF KX AND DID A NEW STORY ABOUT HOW MISS, UH, DONNA DEVINE WAS SUSPENDED FOR CALLING NINE ONE ONE ON HER CELL PHONE.
AFTER A SAME PROBLEM, PASSENGER HAD THREATENED TO INFLICT BODILY HARM ON HER.
UM, THIS IS A ISSUE AT CAP METRO.
UM, I'VE BEEN A BUS STRIPE BUS OPERATOR FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS.
AND I CAN TELL YOU IN MY TIME OF BEING HERE THAT ONCE MV TRANSPORTATION TOOK OVER, THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST CONTRACTORS THAT I'VE EVER HAVE EXPERIENCED.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S NECESSARILY THE ENTITY, BUT IT'S MEMBERS OF MANAGEMENT.
WHEN WE HAD HER FILL OUT OVER EIGHT INCIDENT REPORTS ON THE SAME PERSON THAT KEPT ON THREATENING HER AND SUBJECTING HER TO A HOSTILE WORKING ENVIRONMENT, THE OPERATIONS MANAGER WITH MV TRANSPORTATION, NOBODY AT CAP METRO MET WITH HER ONE TIME, ONE TIME TO DISCUSS HER SAFETY RELATED CONCERNS AND THAT SAME PASSENGER THAT WAS ON THE NEWS.
THIS IS NOT HIS FIRST INCIDENT WITH BEING WRITTEN UP BY ONE OF THE DRIVERS.
AND A LOT OF THE DRIVERS DO NOT FEEL, UH, APPRECIATED.
AND WE HAVE A LOT OF DRIVERS THAT HAVE LEFT THE COMPANY DUE TO THEM NOT BEING BACKED UP BY THE COMPANY AND DUE TO SECURITY, TAKING ONE TO THREE HOURS TO FOUR RADIO CONTROL JUST TO PICK UP THE PHONE.
SO ON THE NEWS, UM, I BELIEVE THE UNION PRESIDENT SAID, UM, IT TAKES 10 TO 15 MINUTES FOR A RESPONSE TIME.
THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT CORRECT.
I USED TO DO RADIO CONTROL AS A PART-TIME SUPERVISOR, UM, OUR VMC, AND IT TAKES ONE TO THREE HOURS FOR RADIO CONTROL TO RESPOND, TO JUST TO PICK UP THE HANDSET, TO RESPOND TO A SECURITY, UM, CONTROL SITUATION.
SO I'M HOPING THAT COULD BE CORRECTED.
UM, ONE THING THAT I BELIEVE CAN BE DONE TO CORRECT THE ISSUE IS THAT CAP METRO NOW HAS CAP METRO SECURITY DISPATCHERS ASIDE, ASIDE FROM MV TRANSPORTATION RADIO-CONTROLLED DISPATCHERS.
SO WHEN A BUS OPERATOR CALLS PUSH A PRIORITY BUTTON, UM, THE CALLS GO TO THE MV TRANSPORTATION RADIO DISPATCHERS.
I THINK THAT THOSE SECURITY CALLS SHOULD BE ANSWERED BY CAP METRO SECURITY CONTROL DISPATCHER, SINCE THEY ONLY DEAL WITH SECURITY.
AND I DID, WE COULD GET FASTER, UH, SECURITY RESPONSE TIMES IF WE DID THAT, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW IT'S TRANSFERRED TO MV AND THEN MV ON THE RADIO HAS TO TRANSFER IT TO CAP METRO SECURITY DISPATCHERS.
AND IT COULD CAUSE A LOT OF CONFUSION AND A LOT OF TIME.
SO I'M HOPING WE CAN ADDRESS THIS ISSUE.
I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN NOT PUT PEOPLE ON UNPAID SUSPENSION WHEN AN INVESTIGATION OCCURS, WHEN WE HAVE LAW ENFORCEMENT SHOOTING, UNARMED PEOPLE, THEY ARE ALWAYS PUT ON PAID SUSPENSION.
SO WHY CAN'T PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS BE PAID IF WE'RE GOING TO BE SUSPENDED FOR DOING OUR JOB BECAUSE WE HAVE BILLS THAT WE HAVE TO PAY.
THANK YOU, MR. SMITH FOR YOUR SERVICE.
AND THANK YOU FOR COMING DOWN HERE.
UH, NEXT SPEAKER WILL BE LAUREN SCOBLE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YES, MA'AM ALL RIGHT.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, CHAIR COOPER MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME IS LAUREN COCHRAN SCOVILLE, AND I'M THE VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AT PROTERRA.
AND I'M JOINED HERE TODAY BY MY COLLEAGUES, JOHN WALSH.
WHO'S OUR CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER AND MIKE FINNERAN.
WHO'S OUR VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS.
UH, PROTERRA IS A LEADER IN THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES AND CHARGING SOLUTIONS.
WE ALSO MAKE THE BATTERIES THAT GO INTO OUR BUSES AND OUR ELECTRIC DRIVE TRAINS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE APPLICATIONS.
AND I'M HERE TODAY TO CONGRATULATE THE BOARD ON PROJECT CONNECT AND TO THANK YOU ALL.
AND RANDY AND YOUR COMMUNITY FOR YOUR VISION AND LEADERSHIP IN TRANSITIONING
[00:05:01]
YOUR FLEET TO ZERO EMISSION TRANSPORTATION.UM, WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR YOUR COMMUNITY IS IMPROVING AIR QUALITY AND MAKING THIS A HEALTHIER PLACE FOR EVERYONE TO LIVE.
AND AT PROTERA, OUR MISSION IS TO DELIVER CLEAN, QUIET TRANSPORTATION FOR ALL, AND FOR ALL MEANS FOR EVERYONE.
AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, AS WE ALL KNOW, DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACT, LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.
AND SO WHAT YOU'RE DOING SHOULD BE COMMENDED AND CELEBRATED AND EXCITED, AND IT IS EXCITING AND WILL UNDOUBTEDLY HELP INSPIRE OTHER TRANSIT AGENCIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS AND TO TRANSITION THEIR FLEETS TO ZERO EMISSION TRANSPORTATION.
SO I WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTNERSHIP.
UM, AND FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY, WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO WORK WITH YOU AND TO G TO DRIVE THIS IMPORTANT CHANGE.
UH, THE WORK THAT YOU WERE DOING HERE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT, AND WE'RE JUST EXCITED TO BE ON THIS JOURNEY WITH YOU.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, THE SCOVILLE THANK YOU FOR COMING DOWN AND I SHOULD KNOW THIS, BUT WHERE DID Y'ALL COME FROM? TRAVEL FROM HERE? I LIVE IN HOUSTON.
UH, JOHN LIVES IN FLORIDA AND MIKE FINNERAN LIVES IN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA.
WELL, WE'RE DELIGHTED TO HAVE YOU ALL HERE.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COME DOWN.
AND WE ARE PROUD OF, UH, THE BUSES THAT WE, UH, HAVE YOUR BUSES THAT WE GET TO OPERATE IN THE CITY AND, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO LONG COLLABORATION.
AND THANKS FOR COMING DOWN HERE TODAY.
UM, NEXT, UH, SPEAKER WILL BE A DONNA DIVINE.
HELLO? UM, HI, MY NAME IS DONNA DIVINE.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK HERE.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, I'M A BUS OPERATOR I'VE BEEN EMPLOYED HERE FOR A YEAR AND A HALF.
I CAME HERE BECAUSE I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT, UM, SAFE ISSUES OF SAFETY THAT ARE CONCERNING A LOT OF US BUS DRIVERS.
UM, FIRST I WANTED TO MENTION THAT YOU GUYS ARE PROBABLY AWARE THAT WE HAVE A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF BUS OPERATORS RIGHT NOW SO MUCH SO THAT WE HAD TO COMPLETELY REDO ALL OF OUR SCHEDULES, UM, AND DO ANOTHER ROUND BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T PEOPLE TO FILL THEM.
UM, AS A BUS OPERATOR, I CAN SAY THAT ONE OF THE MOST CONCERNING ISSUES AS SOMEONE ON THE FIELD IS SAFETY ISSUES.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TRANSIT POLICE IN THE FUTURE AND THAT THAT MIGHT TAKE ABOUT 18 MONTHS, BUT I WANTED TO DEAL WITH ISSUES WHEN NO, IF YOU GUYS COULD DEAL WITH SOME OF THE ISSUES NOW AND MAKE IT TO WHERE IT CAN SUPPORT US BETTER, UM, OUT ON THE FIELD.
UH, SO WE DON'T LOSE OUR OPERATORS IN THE NEXT 18 MONTHS.
UM, ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT SEEMS A RELATIVELY SIMPLE ONE IS TO INSTATE AN EXCEPTION TO CALL 9 1 1.
UM, I WAS SUSPENDED FOR TWO AND A HALF WEEKS ON UNPAID SUSPENSION FOR CALLING 9 1 1 WHEN I WAS TRAPPED IN MY SEAT.
UM, AND THIS PERSON WAS THREATENING BODILY HARM TO ME.
AND, UM, AND THAT'S WHY I CALLED 9 1 1 AND I WAS PUNISHED FOR IT.
SO, UM, SOME OF MY SUPERIORS SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT THAT SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHABLE, BUT OTHERS CAN USE IT IF THEY WANT.
AND SO THERE NEEDS TO BE A CLEAR DEFINED POLICY THAT THAT SHOULD BE AN EXCEPTION.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT IS THE WAY THAT SUPERVISORS ARE NOW DEALING WITH PROBLEM CUSTOMERS IS, UM, KIND OF A REWARD BASIS.
THEY CALL IT DEESCALATION, BUT BASICALLY THEY'LL MAKE US WAIT WHILE, UH, WHILE A PROBLEM PASSENGER BASICALLY HOLDS OUR BUS HOSTAGE FOR FOUR 40 MINUTES, 50 MINUTES AN HOUR AND A HALF UNTIL SOMEONE ARRIVES.
AND, UM, THEY'LL BE CUSSING AND DEMEANING AND CONDESCENDING ME NOT WEARING MASKS, HAVING AGGRESSIVE ANIMALS, SPITTING ON PEOPLE, YELLING THINGS, FIGHTING ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND THE SUPERVISOR WILL GENERALLY GIVE THEM A RIDE DOOR TO DOOR TO THEIR HOME.
UM, EVEN THOUGH IT'S CALLED ESCALATION, I'M SURE IT TRANSLATES INTO THE PERSON, UM, THE PROBLEM PERSON THAT IT SERVES A REWARD AND DOESN'T GIVE THEM ANY MOTIVATION TO BEHAVE ON THE NEXT BUS FOR THE NEXT DRIVER.
IT'S ALSO CAN BE DEMEANING AS A BUS DRIVER TO BE BELITTLED AND MISTREATED, AND THEN WATCH THE PERSON REWARDED.
THIS IS THE ONLY JOB IN WHICH I'VE BEEN WHERE PERPETRATORS REWARDED FOR ABUSING THE EMPLOYEE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY, AS MY TIME RUNS OUT, THAT WE'RE REALLY EXHAUSTED.
AND I WANTED YOU GUYS TO KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS
[00:10:01]
SO THAT, UM, SOME THINGS CAN BE DONE AND LOOKED AT TO SUPPORT US NOW UNTIL WE GET TRANSIT POLICE.THANK YOU FOR YOUR, FOR GIVING ME THIS TIME.
THANK YOU, MS. DEVINE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICES AND OPERATOR.
AND I KNOW THAT ALL OF US ON THE BOARD TAKE YOUR SECURITY AND THE SECURITY OF OTHER FRONTLINE FOLKS SERIOUSLY, AND WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO PAY ATTENTION TO HOW WE MIGHT PROVIDE BETTER SAFETY FOR YOU GUYS, AND HOPE THAT THE SECURITY MEASURES WE TOOK WITH THE TRANSIT POLICE WILL BE VERY HELPFUL IN THE NEAR FUTURE AS WELL.
BUT WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING DOWN HERE.
I THINK ED, IF YOU HAVE NO MS. DANIELS AND MR. WALKER, WE DON'T, WE DON'T GET A, OH, I DON'T HAVE, OH, I'M SORRY.
UM, I'M GOING TO MISPRONOUNCE THIS.
IS IT GUMS OR GOMEZ AND, UM, ONE OR BOTH OF YOU WELCOME.
UM, UH, MY NAME IS CISCO GUMS. I'M HERE WITH MY WIFE, DAPHNE AND, UH, UH, WE'RE GOING TO ADDRESS OUR COMMENTS TO THE FUTURE, UH, MCCOLLOUGH RED LINE STATION.
UM, THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING US THIS OPPORTUNITY.
UM, AND I SHOULD SAY FIRST THAT WE'RE BIG BELIEVERS IN THE VALUE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, INCLUDING RAIL.
WE'RE THRILLED FOR WHAT CAP METRO DOES, WHAT PROJECT CONNECT WILL DO FOR OUR CITY, BOTH SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY.
NOW WE'RE HERE BECAUSE WE ALSO OWN A PARCEL OF LAND ADJACENT TO THE CAP METRO, RIGHT OF WAY ALONG DELTA DRIVE.
IT'S, UH, JUST UNDER AN ACRE DIRECTLY ACROSS THE TRACKS FROM WHERE THE AUSTIN FC STADIUM IS.
AND YOU'RE PLANNING ON USING, WE UNDERSTAND ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF IT FOR THE MCCULLOUGH RED LINE STATION.
UM, UH, SO WE'RE HERE TO ASK THE BOARD TO CONSIDER TWO REQUESTS.
THERE'S REALLY A PRIMARY ONE AND A SECONDARY ONE.
THE PRIMARY ONE IS TO RECONSIDER THE POLICY THAT YOU'VE ESTABLISHED, PERMITTING ONLY SIMPLE TITLE OWNERSHIP, ACQUISITION TO THE SITE.
WE BELIEVE A LONG-TERM LEASE MAKES SENSE.
AND WE'D LIKE TO, FOR YOU TO CONSIDER THAT POSSIBILITY, UM, SECONDARILY, WE'RE HOPING TO GET YOUR HELP IN CONVINCING SOMEONE WITH CAP METRO TO SHARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE PROPERTY, OUR PROPERTY WITH US.
SO SINCE YOU'RE NOT TAKING ALL OF IT, IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING SO WE COULD BEGIN TO MAKE PLANS FOR THE REMAINDER.
SO THOSE TWO POINTS FIRST, THE PRIMARY ONE, THE ACQUISITION POLICY WAS IN MARCH A LITTLE OVER SIX MONTHS AGO.
UM, WE FIRST CORRESPONDED WITH AND SPOKE WITH YOUR DIRECTOR OF REAL ESTATE.
UH, YOU KNOW, HE QUICKLY ACCESSED WHAT WE, WHAT WE WANTED FOR THE PROPERTY.
AND AT THAT TIME, UH, STATION PLANNING WAS JUST BEGINNING.
UH, HE WAS UNSURE WHETHER THE STATION WOULD REQUIRE THE ENTIRE SITE OR A PIECE OF THE SITE.
UM, SO WE PROPOSE TO PROVIDE WHAT, WHAT, WHAT YOU NEEDED, WHAT YOU WANTED ON A LONG-TERM LEASE BASIS FOR WHAT WE THOUGHT AND WHAT WE STILL THINK, FRANKLY, IS A REALLY LOW LEASE RATE.
OUR GOAL WAS TO ENABLE THE PROJECT, UH, TO ESSENTIALLY LET YOU USE THE LAND YOU WANTED THIS FOR AS LONG AS YOU WERE GOING TO USE IT AS A STATION, UM, WHICH WE HOPE WOULD BE A LONG, LONG TIME, BUT, YOU KNOW, THE FUTURE IS HARD TO PREDICT, ESPECIALLY IN THE DISTANT FUTURE.
AND WE BELIEVE THAT THE LICE, THIS STATION MIGHT BE SOMETHING LESS THAN WELL FOREVER.
UM, UH, SO IT WOULD BE APPEALING TO US TO, TO LEASE RATHER THAN HAVE A FEE TITLE ACQUISITION.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE HAVEN'T RECEIVED A COUNTERPROPOSAL FROM CAB METRO, BUT THE RESPONSE WE DID GET IS THIS, AND I'M GONNA READ IT BECAUSE IT'S SORT OF THE CRUX OF OUR REQUEST, UM, QUOTE, UH, CAT METRO'S GENERAL POLICY IS THAT CRITICAL TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE.
IN THIS CASE, THE STATION AND AMENITIES FOR THIS PROJECT SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED ON PROPERTY OWNED BY THE AUTHORITY, SUCH AS FEE A FEE TITLE TRANSACTION THAT WAS VIA EMAIL.
UM, ON THE 6TH OF MAY, UH, WE PRESUME THIS POLICY IS SOMETHING THAT WAS CONSIDERED OR ADOPTED BY THIS BOARD.
UM, AND WE'RE HERE TO ASK TODAY THAT YOU RECONSIDER THE POLICY.
IT DOES SEEM THAT CAT METRO IS WILLING TO LEASE PROPERTY OR PARTNER WITH PRIVATE ENTITIES IN SOME CASES, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU DECIDE TO PURSUE A TAKING, AND IT SEEMS CLEAR WHERE THIS TRAIN MIGHT BE HEADED TO USE, UH, MAYBE INAPPROPRIATE METAPHOR, SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL UNDOUBTEDLY PAY LAWYERS AND REAL ESTATE EXPERTS TO TESTIFY IN AN EFFORT TO MINIMIZE THE, THE JUDGMENT MARKET VALUE OF THE PROPERTY AS YOU SHOULD.
RIGHT? YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE THE BEST USE OF THE DOLLARS.
THE GOOD FOLKS OF AUSTIN HAVE PROVIDED YOU.
UM, BUT IF YOU ARE TRULY TRYING TO DO THAT, TO MAXIMIZE THE PROJECT VALUE FOR THE PROJECT DOLLAR, UM, WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO CONSIDER THAT THE, WHAT WE'VE ALREADY OFFERED YOU ACTUALLY DOES THAT FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY.
IT'S A, IT'S A WELL BELOW MARKET RATE DEAL FOR EXACTLY WHAT YOU SEEK AND, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD BE COOPERATIVE RATHER THAN ADVERSARIAL TO BOOT.
UM, A GROUND LEASE WILL NOT ONLY PROVIDE CAT METRO BETTER OVERALL VALUE, BUT IT'LL ALSO CONSERVE YOUR SUBSTANTIAL CAP, METRO AND PROJECT CONNECT, BUT NOT UNLIMITED UPFRONT BOND FUNDS TO BE USED FOR THE OTHER PARTS
[00:15:01]
OF THE PROJECT CONNECT BUILD.SO WE RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT YOU RECONSIDER THAT POLICY TO ALLOW A BROADER GAMUT OF ACQUISITION SCENARIOS, INCLUDING A GROUND LEASE.
UH, WE BELIEVE THAT IN DOING SO, YOU ALLOW THE FUNDS AND TRUSTED YOU BY THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN TO BE MORE EFFECTIVELY USED, UM, WITHOUT ANY COMPROMISE TO THE DESIGN, THE CONSTRUCTION, THE LONG-TERM OPERATION OF THE PROJECT, INCLUDING ALL THE POSITIVE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS THAT WILL ACCRUE TO THE NEARBY NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE YEAR BY LANDOWNERS IT WHEN THE STATION IS ESTABLISHED.
SO THAT'S REALLY OUR MAIN POINT.
UH, SECONDARILY WE JUST ASK, UM, YOUR HELP IN, IN GETTING THE A G C N A SITE PLAN OF WHAT YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE UP TO.
I THINK YOU'VE HAD THE 30% DESIGN PACKAGE FOR THAT STATION DONE NEARLY TWO MONTHS NOW, BUT THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A WAY TO GET TO S TO SEE THE CSI PLAN.
AND WE ACTUALLY EVENTUALLY REACHED OUT TO THE REGIONAL OFFICE AT THE FTA, TRYING TO SEE IF THEY HAD PLANS THAT THEY COULD SHARE WITH US.
UH, AND SHE DIDN'T, BUT, UM, YOU HAVEN'T APPLIED FOR FEDERAL FUNDS FOR THE MCCALL STATION YET, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE EXPECTING YOU TO, SO HOPEFULLY THAT'S ON SOMEONE'S TO DO LIST.
UM, UH, BUT, UH, IT WAS AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION.
SHE WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE PROJECT.
UH, SHE ACTUALLY THOUGHT IT WAS HIGHLY ATYPICAL THAT EMINENT DOMAIN MIGHT BE INVOKED FOR SUCH A SMALL PROJECT.
UH, AND SHE SUGGESTED THAT WAS FAR FROM THE ONLY WAY THAT, UH, THE USE OF THE SITE COULD BE ACQUIRED.
SO SHE PROVIDED US WITH THE NAMES OF OTHERS IN CAP.
METRO SUGGESTED WE REACH OUT, ASKED HER TO KEEP HER INFORMED, WHICH OF COURSE WE'LL DO, BUT IT'S THIS, I THINK THIS IS A SIMPLE REQUEST AND HOPEFULLY EASY TO, TO, TO SHARE WITH US.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS YOU.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE TREMENDOUS PROJECT Y'ALL ARE MAKING, UH, WITH, WITH, BETWEEN YOU AND THE ALSO TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
IT'S A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR TRANSIT AND AUSTIN.
THANK YOU, MR. MR. GUMS, UH, UH, IN BEHALF OF THE ORGANIZATION, UH, UH, SORRY FOR ANY, UH, INCONVENIENCE OR DIFFICULTY, UM, AND HOPE THAT THE REMAINING NET PARCEL THAT YOU HAVE WILL BE VERY LUCRATIVE AND, UH, UH, BENEFIT BY, UH, THE PROGRESS THAT WE'RE MAKING WITH THE MCCOLLOUGH STATION.
AND MAYBE ONE OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS COULD GRAB, UH, MR. CARTWRIGHT HERE, MAYBE COULD CHAT WITH THE, THE TWO OF YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON OVER THERE.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ED, DID WE GET THROUGH OUR LIST OR IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE WE'RE ALL DONE.
[III. Advisory Committee Updates]
COMMITTEE UPDATES, MS. PEREZ IS HERE.I THINK TO, UH, ALONG WITH THE VICE CHAIR, I SEE SAFELY ENSCONCED IN HIS OFFICE, BROODING LORDING HIS PRESENCE OVER US AS WELCOME, HAPPY TO BE HERE WITH THE TEAM.
UM, SO GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIRMAN COOPER, VICE CHAIR, 2 BILLION PRESIDENT CLARK MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME IS AETNA PARRA MANAGER OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR CAPITAL METRO.
UH, PREVIOUSLY YOU HAD HEARD A REPORT FROM CHIEF EXPERIENCE AND ENGAGEMENT OFFICER BRIAN CARTER THAT I WOULD BE TAKING OVER THE ROLE OF STAFF LIAISON FOR THE ACCESS AND C-SAT COMMITTEES.
UM, AND I AM HERE TODAY TO GIVE YOU THE SEPTEMBER UPDATE, UH, COMMITTEES MET ON SEPTEMBER 1ST AND EIGHTH RESPECTIVELY, AND WERE BRIEFED BY AGENCY STAFF ON PROJECT CONNECT UPDATES, METRO RAPID UPCOMING PROJECTS, SERVICE CHANGES FOR SEPTEMBER, UM, CAB METRO APP DETAILS, AND ALSO ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND RECORDINGS, UM, MEETING RECORDINGS AND SYSTEMS. UM, AT THE C-SAT MEETING, WE DISCUSSED POTENTIAL NEW MEMBERS FOR THE COMMITTEE.
WE HAD TWO APPLICANTS ON LAST MONTH'S BOARD CONSENT AGENDA, UM, AND THOSE WERE APPROVED, WHICH NOW LEAVES TWO AVAILABLE COMMITTEE SEATS, AND C SEC, UM, ONE FOR BOARD MEMBER POOL AND ONE FOR BOARD MEMBER ROSS.
UH, WE ALSO DISCUSSED THE MEETINGS, CURRENT PROCESSES AND THE CHANGES NEEDED TO RECORD AND POST MEETINGS, UM, AS WELL AS SEEK MORE PUBLIC PARTICIPATE PARTICIPATION.
UM, SO I'M GOING TO GO OVER EACH TOPIC AND PROVIDE JUST A REAL QUICK UPDATE FOR EACH ITEM.
UH, BOTH MEETINGS ARE NOW BEING REPORTED THROUGH TEAMS. UM, THIS STARTED IN SEPTEMBER AND ARE POSTED ON THE CAP METRO WEBSITE, AND I THINK, UM, ONE IS POSTED AND THE OTHER ONE WILL BE POSTED BY NEXT WEEK.
SO WE WILL BE UP AND RUNNING BY OCTOBER.
UM, THE MEETING LINK AND DIAL-IN NUMBER WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE ON EACH COMMITTEE'S WEBPAGE TO ENCOURAGE THE PUBLIC, TO ATTEND.
UM, AGENDAS WILL BE POSTED ON EACH COMMITTEE WEBSITE 72 HOURS BEFORE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND MINUTES WILL BE POSTED ONE WEEK AFTER, UH, TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
WE HAVE DEVELOPED A MARKETING AND PUBLIC PUBLICITY PLAN THAT INCLUDES, UM, SOCIAL
[00:20:01]
MEDIA, INTERNAL BUS PLACARDS, AND OTHER GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS TO THE PUBLIC.UH, CC DID EXPRESS THAT THEY WOULD ALSO LIKE PRESENTATION SLIDES TO BE INCLUDED ON THE WEBPAGE.
SO STARTING IN OCTOBER, UM, FINAL PRESENTATIONS, UM, PDF OF ALL OF THE PRESENTERS WILL BE INCLUDED ONLINE ONE WEEK AFTER THEIR MEETINGS, ALONG WITH THE MINUTES, UH, THE ACCESS COMMITTEE EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT MEETING STRUCTURE AND MAKING SURE WE PREPARE FOR AN INCREASE IN INTENDERS, UM, THAT JOINED THE VIRTUAL MEETINGS HELPFULLY, UH, TO PREPARE ANY NON-MEMBER THAT LOGS IN WILL BE ADDED AS AN ATTENDEE AND MEMBERS WILL BE PRESENTERS.
UM, AND WE'LL ALSO JUST CONTINUE TO ASSESS EACH MEETING TO MAKE SURE WE CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE THE SYSTEMS. UH, SEESAW DID EXPRESS CONCERNS ABOUT NOT, UM, CONSTITUTING A QUORUM EACH MONTH, AND WOULD LIKE TO BE PREPARED FOR THE UPCOMING CHANGES.
SO I'LL BE WORKING WITH MR EAST AND TO MAKE SURE ALL APPOINTMENTS ARE FILLED FOR THE COMMITTEES.
AND FINALLY, I'M ALSO WORKING WITH MR. EASTON COMMITTEE CHAIRS TO DEVELOP A PROCESS.
SO EACH CHAIR CAN SHARE UPDATES.
IT WOULD BE, UM, ME SUPPORTING THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND NOW WITH TEAM, THEY WOULD LOG ON JUST LIKE I DID TODAY, UH, PROVIDE AN UPDATE AND I WOULD BE EITHER HERE ON TEAMS OR IN PERSON TO SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'RE UNAVAILABLE TO PRESENT.
UM, BUT THAT WILL BE HOPEFULLY IN OCTOBER WE CAN DO THE FIRST TRY IF NOT IN, UM, NOVEMBER.
UM, BUT I WILL UPDATE AS I WORK WITH EACH CHAIR.
AND, AND IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR MS. PARRA, REMEMBER KITCHEN? I JUST WANT TO SAY, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS UPDATE.
UH, THIS IS A CONVERSATION THIS BOARD HAS HAD, UH, I DON'T KNOW, A COUPLE OF BOARD MEETINGS AGO ABOUT, UM, DIFFERENT ACTIONS THAT COULD BE TAKEN TO, TO HAVE THESE, UM, COMMITTEES, UM, MORE AVAILABLE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE PUBLIC.
SO EVERYTHING THAT YOU READ OFF IS IS, IS WONDERFUL.
I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SO ALLOWING, UM, YOU KNOW, SETTING IT UP SO IT CAN BE ONLINE SO PEOPLE CAN PARTICIPATE.
SO IT'S POSTED ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU SAID THAT'S VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.
AND JUST WANTED TO SAY, THANK YOU FOR THAT, EVERYBODY ON YOUR, ON THE CAP METRO TEAM THAT MADE THAT HAPPEN.
AND, UM, ANY UPDATE OR ANY ISSUE THAT COMES ALONG WELL, WE'LL BE SURE TO REPORT BACK.
THANK YOU, MS. PARK, THANKS FOR TAKING US INTO THE FUTURE ON, UH, BOTH THOSE COMMITTEES.
UH, WE'LL MISS YANIS IN HIS BRIGHT SUITS, UH, BUT IT'LL MAKE MY BORING SUITS SEEM A LITTLE BIT LESS BORING TO NOT HAVE HIM HERE ANYMORE.
WE'RE VERY GLAD TO HAVE YOU ABOARD.
[IV. Board Committee Updates]
NORMAL, UH, BOARD COMMITTEE UPDATES.IT LOOKS LIKE THE OPS COMMITTEE, UH, WAS VERY, VERY BUSY, UH, JUDGING FROM THE LENGTH OF OUR CONSENT AGENDA.
SO, UH, CHAIR KITCHEN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO START OFF? YES.
UM, I WOULD JUST, JUST SAY THAT WE, UM, UH, ON THE OPS COMMITTEE, WE WENT OVER A NUMBER OF ITEMS THAT ARE ON CONSENT, AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH CARTS AND, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, SO YOU CAN SEE ALL THOSE.
AND SO WE APPROVED MOVING ALL OF THOSE FORWARD.
SO THAT'S THE MAIN ACTION THAT WE TOOK WITH THE OPS.
SO WE HAD SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW, UM, HOW THESE REALLY PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CAP METRO TO WORK WITH THESE OTHER COMMUNITIES.
SO, UH, CHAR MITCHELL, FINANCE, AUDIT, AND ADMINISTRATION.
THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN, UH, WAS, UH, WE WERE THE OPPOSITE.
UH, WE APPROVED OUR MINUTES AND THEN APPROVED THE RECOMMENDED, UH, THE BOARD APPROVED THE BUDGET.
THAT WAS OUR MEETING VERY WELL.
UM, UH, YOU WANT TO AS WELL, GIVE US A CAMPO UPDATE.
CAMPO MEDIA WAS RELATIVELY SHORT, UH, UH, FOR PURPOSES OF THIS GROUP, UH, CAMPO CONTRIBUTED MONEY TO FURTHER SOME REGIONAL CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, MOSTLY IN THE PERIMETER, UH, UH, HIGHWAY PROJECTS.
UH, THEY ALSO TOOK AND RECLASSIFIED A PORTION OF FM 1462 MORE COMPLY WITH FEDERAL GUIDELINES TO QUALIFY FOR FEDERAL FUNDING.
AND LAST THEY SET UP A TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE.
UH, NORMALLY WE WOULD HAVE AN AUSTIN TRANSIT
[00:25:01]
PARTNERSHIP BOARD UPDATE, BUT BOARD MEMBERS STRATTON HAD A CONFLICT WITH HIS DAY JOB.AND SO WE'LL FOREGO THAT REPORT UNTIL NEXT MONTH BOARD
[V. Consent Items]
MEMBERS NEXT UP, WE ALL HAVE A LENGTHY CONSENT AGENDA AND, UH, UH, 12 ITEMS TOTAL I'LL READ EACH OF THE ITEMS I'LL TRY TO DO SO IN THIS DRAMATIC OF FASHION AS POSSIBLE.AND IF ANY BOARD MEMBER WISHES TO REMOVE AN ITEM, UH, AND HAVE A FULL DISCUSSION, MOVE IT TO THE, UH, REGULAR AGENDA WE CAN DO.
SO HERE ARE OUR 12 CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS. NUMBER ONE IS APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 30TH, 2021 CAPITAL, UH, CAP METRO BOARD MEETING TWO IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO AMEND THE TRANSIT SPEED AND RELIABILITY IN OUR LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, FOR THE DESIGN MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS THAT WILL IMPROVE TRANSIT SPEEDS, SAFETY, RELIABILITY, AND CUSTOMER COMFORT BY EXTENDING THE TERM OF THE ILA AND INCREASING FOR THE ILA INCREASING FUNDING FOR THE ILA IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 6 MILLION.
NUMBER THREE IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE A ONE-YEAR INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH TRAVIS COUNTY FOR TRANSIT SERVICES IN URBANIZED AREAS IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF THE COUNTY, AND FOR CONTINUED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $237,111 IN FTA, SECTION 5, 3 0 7 FUNDS AND, UH, $911,000, $911,854 AND LOCAL FUNDS FROM TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, PER YEAR CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER FOUR IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE AND AMENDMENT NUMBER ONE TO THE INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF PFLUGERVILLE FOR OPERATION OF PICKUP PILOT SERVICE, TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE PICKUP PILOT SOMEWHERE.
PETER, PIPER'S GOING TO SHOW UP IN THIS TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE PICKUP PILOT THROUGH MARCH THE SECOND, 2022, AND UPDATE THE COST ALLOCATION FOR THE PICKUP SERVICE PILOT ACTION ITEM NUMBER, I'M SORRY, CONSENT AGENDA, ITEM NUMBER FIVE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR DESIGNEE OR HIS DESIGNEE TO AMEND THE INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK FOR OPERATION OF TRANSIT SERVICE, AND TO INCREASE THE FEES FOR SERVICE BY $388,201 FOR A TOTAL REIMBURSEMENT NOT TO EXCEED 5 MILLION, $246,443 CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER SIX IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE AN INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR A BUS STOP AT ACC CYPRESS CREEK CAMPUS.
THIS MUST BE A JOKE ON CAP METRO'S, UH, ROUTE TWO 14, OR SUCCESSOR ROUTE THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2026, ITEM NUMBER SEVEN APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE AMENDMENT NUMBER FOUR TO CARTS SUPPLEMENT NUMBER EIGHT TO THE MASTER REGIONAL MOBILITY AGREEMENT WITH CAPITAL AREA, RURAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, UH, FOR THE PROVISION OF TRANSIT SERVICES TO THE MINOR AREA IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 1,000,200, $6,657 A CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER EIGHT IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE AMENDMENT NUMBER TWO TO SUPPLEMENT NUMBER 10 TO THE MASTER REGIONAL MOBILITY AGREEMENT WITH CAPITAL AREA, RURAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR THE PROVISION OF TRANSIT SERVICES TO TRAVIS COUNTY FOR A PERIOD OF UP TO ONE YEAR IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $342,638 GENDA ITEM CONSENT AGENDA ITEM NUMBER NINE IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AN EXECUTED AN INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH CITY OF GEORGETOWN FOR OPERATION OF LIMITED PARATRANSIT SERVICE FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $162,684 IN FTA FUNDS AND 244,000, UH, $26 IN LOCAL FUNDS FROM THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER 10 IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE AN ADDENDUM TO THE INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH CAPITAL AREA, RURAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR THE PROVISION OF LIMITED PARATRANSIT SERVICE TO THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $387,342 CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER 11 IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE
[00:30:01]
AND EXECUTE AMENDMENT NUMBER THREE TO THE CONTRACTED SERVICE SUPPLEMENT.NUMBER TWO WITH CAPITAL AREA, WORLD TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR THE OPERATION OF ROUTE TWO 14 NORTHWEST FEEDER FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR AND AMOUNT, NOT TO EXCEED $698,000.
AND NUMBER 12 CONSENT AGENDA, ITEM NUMBER 12 IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE AMENDMENT NUMBER THREE TO CART SUPPLEMENT NUMBER FOUR TO THE MASTER REGIONAL MOBILITY AGREEMENT WITH CAPITAL AREA, RURAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR THE PROVISION OF TRANSIT SERVICES TO THE MAINER AREA IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $210,000.
I JUST WANT TO PERSONALLY, I THINK OUR STAFF FOR THE
ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION VERY WELL.
ALL IN FAVOR THEN OF, UH, APPROVAL OF OUR CONSENT AGENDA, PLEASE INDICATE BY SAYING, AYE.
DO I NEED TO DO A ROLL CALL JUST FOR THE ONE WHO'S NOT WITH US? I THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, VICE CHAIR, EVERYBODY HERE IN THE ROOM IN FAVOR, PLEASE INDICATE BY SAYING AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? NAY MOTION CARRIES 6, 7, 8.
HOW MANY OF US OTHER 6, 7, 7 TO ZERO.
[VI.1. Approval of the Fiscal Year 2022 Operating and Capital Budget and Five Year Capital Improvement Plan]
NEXT STEP.OUR ACTION ITEMS APPROVAL OF THE FIRST ONE IS, UH, APPROVAL OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGET AND FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, MR. CONLIN IN HIS FINAL APPEARANCE BEFORE US ON THIS BUDGET ITEM.
CHAIRMAN COOPER, BOARD MEMBERS, PRESIDENT AND CEO CLARK.
MY NAME IS KEVIN CONLIN, DEPUTY CA CFO FOR CAPITAL METRO.
IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK IN FRONT OF THE BOARD FOR ONE LAST TIME TO TALK ABOUT BUDGET.
SO THIS RESOLUTION IS A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGET.
AND FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
THE TOTAL BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022 IS $649,863,389 FOR OPERATING AND CAPITAL EXPENSES.
I'D LIKE TO THANK THE BOARD, SENIOR LEADERSHIP, CAPITAL METRO STAFF, AND OUR OUTSTANDING BUDGET TEAM FOR THEIR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION.
AND PUTTING TOGETHER THIS BUDGET.
THIS RESOLUTION CAPTURES THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 BUDGET THAT THE BOARD AND COMMITTEES HAVE BEEN BRIEFED ON FROM MAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
AND IT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE PRIORITIES THAT YOU AS A BOARD HAVE SET FOR THE AGENCY.
IT MAKES INVESTMENTS BASED ON YOUR GUIDANCE AND THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
THIS BUDGET IS STRUCTURALLY SOUND AND BALANCED, AND I'M PLEASED TO SAY THAT WE'RE PROJECTING TO MEET ALL OF OUR RESERVE REQUIREMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET.
WE'RE IN GOOD FINANCIAL POSITION AND CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC FOR NEXT YEAR, BUT REMAIN GUARDED WITH THE LINGERING COVID-19 PANDEMIC SALES TAX UNCERTAINTY, AND ALSO NECESSARY FUNDING FOR FLEET ELECTRIFICATION AND OTHER LARGE PROJECTS IN THE FUTURE.
WE'VE COMPLETED OUR PUBLIC OUTREACH FOR THE BUDGET, WHICH INCLUDED IN-PERSON ENGAGEMENT AT THE WEST GATE TRANSIT CENTER, LEANDER STATION AND PARK AND RIDE NORWOOD TRANSIT STATION AND REPUBLIC SQUARE.
AND IN ADDITION, WE HELD AN ONLINE INTERACTIVE ZOOM WEBINAR AND FACEBOOK LIVE.
WE'VE HAD ALMOST 700 VIEWS TO DATE AND INVITED THE PUBLIC TO ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE.
THE WEBINAR WAS DONE BOTH IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH AND IS POSTED ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS AND THE CAPITAL METRO BLOG PAGE.
IN ADDITION, A COPY OF CAPITOL METRO'S BUDGET IS AVAILABLE IN MORE DETAIL ON THE CAPITAL METRO WEBSITE AND THE BOARD WAS PROVIDED A LINK TO THAT AS WELL.
AND JUST AGAIN, I'D LIKE TO THANK THE BOARD FOR THEIR ENGAGEMENT OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS WITH THE BUDGET AND OPEN IT UP TO ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD.
QUESTIONS FOR MR. CONLIN? NONE.
UM, ON STAFF'S BEHALF, UM, ON, UH, A PRETTY BIG BUDGET, WE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS.
I HAD A MEETING ON FRIDAY, UM, A ONE-ON-ONE WITH, UH, THE, ABOUT THE JOINT PARTNERSHIP
[00:35:01]
AGREEMENT AND ONE OF THE AREAS THAT I STARTED DIGGING INTO AND WAS LOOKING FOR SOME INFORMATION AND I WANTED TO SHARE IT WITH THE WHOLE DIOCESE, UM, IN CASE Y'ALL WERE INTERESTED IN IT TOO.AND I THINK, UM, BOARD MEMBER RENTERIA WAS ON THE CALL WITH ME.
UM, WE WERE, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE STAFFING AND A STAFFING PLAN AND WHERE THE STAFF ARE COMING FROM AND WHO IS KEPT METRO WHO'S PARTNERSHIP, WHO'S CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND WE DON'T NEED THAT INFORMATION RIGHT NOW, OBVIOUSLY, AND YOU WEREN'T PREPARED TO BRING THAT, BUT I DID SUBMIT SOME QUESTIONS TO GET SOME SPECIFIC SPECS THAT WE COULD HAVE KIND OF A SENSE OF HOW STAFF ARE SHIFTING AROUND AND WHO THEY'RE NOW ANSWERING TO AND WHERE THE FUNDS ARE COMING FROM FOR THAT.
AND JUST, AGAIN, KIND OF, SINCE THIS IS OUR FIRST FULL YEAR OF OPERATION, IT WOULD BE REALLY USEFUL, I THINK, TO THIS DIOCESE, TO HAVE A SENSE OF HOW THAT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER AND THAT, THAT WE COULD PUT TOGETHER AND ACTUALLY GIVE ANY BOARD MEMBERS OF PRESENTATION, AS FAR AS JUST THE DEVELOPMENT OF STAFFING, THE HIRING, BOTH, YOU KNOW, ON BOTH SIDES.
WE COULD MAYBE DO IT IN CONJUNCTION WITH MS. SILER FROM THE ATP, AS FAR AS THAT GOES.
I KNOW ONCE WE HAD A POSITIVE VOTE IN NOVEMBER OF 2020, WE ACTUALLY STARTED RAMPING UP ON THE CAPITOL METRO SIDE.
WE'VE ADDED QUITE A FEW POSITIONS DURING THIS CURRENT FISCAL YEAR AND INCLUDED THOSE WITHIN THE NEW BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR AS WELL.
UM, BUT WE COULD PUT TOGETHER A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT JUST TO SHOW YOU STAFFING AND PROJECTIONS.
MOST OF THAT WOULD BE COMING ON THE ATP SIDE FOR PROJECT CONNECT, OF COURSE, BUT WE ARE, WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF CONTRACTS ON THE CAPITOL METRO SIDE THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY RAMPED UP FOR, UM, FOR FULFILLMENT OF THAT, ESPECIALLY THE METRO RAPID LINES, WHICH SHOULD BE ONLINE, UM, IN FISCAL YEAR 2023.
ARE YOU SEEING A SHIFT FROM KENT METRO STAFF ONTO THE PARTNERSHIP ROLES? WELL, OF COURSE, CAPITAL METRO STAFF IS, UM, HEAVILY INVOLVED IN AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND PROJECT CONNECT I'M MYSELF.
WE HELP PUT TOGETHER THE FIRST BUDGET FOR AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP WHEN THEY FORMED THEIR FIRST MEETING BACK IN JANUARY.
SO THERE IS A LOT OF DUAL WORK.
UM, OF COURSE THEIR STAFFING, UM, HAS RAMPED UP QUITE A BIT ON THE ATP SIDE.
SO WE'RE THERE TO SUPPORT IN FINANCE.
WE ACTUALLY DO PERFORM A SHARED SERVICE FOR ATP.
YOU KNOW, WE DO ALL THEIR PAYROLL ACCOUNTS PAYABLE.
SO DOWN AT THAT LEVEL WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HAVING TO ADD MORE STAFF AS WELL.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE HERE TO SUPPORT ATP AND, YOU KNOW, JUST THE JOINT FUNCTION OF PROJECT CONNECT GOING FORWARD.
JUST ONE LAST QUESTION THEN I'LL SEE IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS ANYTHING TO ASK OR SAY, I, IT OCCURRED TO ME BECAUSE I SIT ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM, THE PENSION BOARD FOR, UM, NON-UNIFORM NON-SWORN EMPLOYEES.
UM, THE RETIREMENT IS A REALLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT.
AND SO I'M JUST CURIOUS, AND I HAVE PLANS TO HAVE THE PENSION BRIEFING FROM FOLKS, BUT WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO, TO LOCK IT DOWN.
I HAD TO POSTPONE, UH, AN, UH, A MEETING THAT WAS SCHEDULED EARLIER, UM, BECAUSE I WASN'T AVAILABLE AS IT TURNED OUT.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO GET A SENSE OF HOW WE ARE HELPING OUR EMPLOYEES, WHO WE REALLY VALUE WITH REGARD TO THEIR RIGHT I'LL HAVE TO GET WITH MR. EASTON.
UM, I THOUGHT WE WERE ON CALENDAR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON TO ACTUALLY GIVE YOU A BRIEFING.
I THINK THAT WAS A RESCHEDULE FROM PREVIOUSLY.
SO YEAH, SO WE JUST WANT, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL THAT DATA IS TO YOU.
I KNOW YOU'VE ASKED ABOUT IT A FEW TIMES AND, YOU KNOW, JUST TO SAY AT CAPITAL METRO, UM, WE DO HAVE A PENSION PLAN.
OF COURSE WE HAVE A FROZEN PENSION PLAN FOR, YOU KNOW, AN OLD STAR TRAN SYSTEM AS WELL.
SO IT WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHARE ALL THAT INFORMATION WITH YOU.
I THINK THAT, UM, UH, PUTTING TOGETHER THE INFORMATION THAT YOU JUST MENTIONED WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.
I'LL ASK ONE QUICK QUESTION BECAUSE I WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, UH, AND, AND THEN THE REST OF MY QUESTIONS, WE'LL JUST WAIT UNTIL, YOU KNOW, YOU PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION, BUT I KNOW THAT WE'RE SH THAT WE ARE, UH, SUPPORTING, UH, ATP, WHICH I THINK IS VERY VALUABLE AND NECESSARY WITH ABOUT, I THINK IT WAS ABOUT 23 MILLION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT SHOWS UP AS PART OF THIS BUDGET.
AND, UM, SO I'M JUST GOING TO WANT TO UNDERSTAND DOES THAT, UH, DOES THAT INCLUDE, SO I, SO I NOTED THAT, AND THEN I ALSO NOTED THAT OUR PROJECT CONNECT DEPARTMENT, WE SHIFTED OVER TO ATP AND THAT DEPARTMENT HAD ABOUT FIVE OR 6 MILLION IN IT.
SO I'M JUST, I'M JUST WANTING TO UNDERSTAND IT ALL TOGETHER.
IF THE 23 MILLION INCLUDES THOSE DOLLARS THAT WE'RE USING TO SUPPORT ATP OR OF THE 23 MILLION IS MORE, JUST A SET AMOUNT FOR SPECIFIC PROJECTS.
AND THEN WE ALSO SUPPORT ATP, UM, WITH VARIOUS
[00:40:01]
STAFFING AND OTHER KINDS.SO WITHIN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET, WE DO HAVE, LIKE I SAID, CAPITAL METRO CONTRACTS, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL ACTUALLY EXPEND DOLLARS FROM CAPITAL METRO CONTRACTS.
SO WE'VE INCLUDED IT WITHIN OUR BUDGET TO STAY WITHIN STATUTE.
AND THEN WE'LL HAVE, UM, ACTUAL CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ATP COMING IN AS AN OFFSET FOR DOLLARS THAT ARE SPENT.
AND THEN WE DO ACTUALLY HAVE A SHARED SERVICE FUNCTION ALSO THAT WILL BE BUILT TO ATP ON A MONTHLY BASIS FOR WORK PERFORM FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND FROM VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS, WHETHER IT BE IT ACCOUNTING, ET CETERA, THE 23 MILLION THAT WE MENTIONED, I THINK IT WAS 23 MILLION.
IS THAT, IS THAT A, IS THAT DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU JUST DESCRIBED OR IS WHAT YOU JUST DESCRIBED ENCOMPASSED IN THAT 23 MILLION? UM, I, WELL, THAT'S ON THE OPERATING SIDE FOR THE SHARED SERVICES.
I THINK WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN IS OUR CAPITAL OUTLAY.
SO IT WOULD BE METRO RAPID LINES LEADING THE FRONT, UM, ANY CONTRACTS HAVING TO DO WITH BLUE LINE ORANGE LINE PMR. SO WE'LL CAPTURE THAT AND ACTUALLY PROVIDE INVOICING MONTHLY TO ATP AS WELL.
I, I GOT THE TWO CONFUSED, RIGHT.
SO THAT WAY THEY'VE BUDGETED ALL THE DOLLARS FOR THAT WORK AND WE'LL HAVE THAT CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION COMING IN DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING THE, UM, THE INFORMATION THAT YOU JUST, UM, THAT YOU JUST SHARED AND THANK YOU, UH, BOARD MEMBER POOL, SHARING THAT WITH THE REST OF US.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MR. CONLIN? REMEMBER INJURY? YEAH, I, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE ALSO THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE ALSO TAKEN IN A LOT OF OUR CITY EMPLOYEES AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING IS THAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO BE, AND I'M SUPPORTING MY COUNTY POOL THERE TO GET THAT LIFT SO THAT WE CAN REALLY GET A SENSE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN METRO AND AUSTIN AND ATP.
SO IF YOU COULD, I REALLY AM CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT'S GO AHEAD, PRESIDENT CLASSIC GUY, KEVIN, UM, THAT'S NOT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT.
SO, UH, I APPRECIATE THE COMMENT, UH, BOARD MEMBERS.
SO I KNOW THERE'S, THERE'S SOME INFORMATION I GUESS, WAS REQUESTED LAST FRIDAY.
CARRIE IS PUTTING TOGETHER SOME INFORMATION, SEND IT OVER TO YOU ALL.
SO JUST AGAIN, SO WE CAN KEEP, WE HAVE THREE DIFFERENT GROUPS WE HAVE THE CITY OF AUSTIN DOES ITS THING.
WE'VE, WE'VE HAD BOARD ILS BETWEEN BOTH CAP, METRO AND ATP CITY OF AUSTIN ATP.
SO YOU HAVE AUSTIN AND CAP METRO.
I THINK THERE'S EIGHT OF THEM.
I THINK WE'VE COMPLETED TODAY.
I, THIS TRACK THERE'S A LOT OF THEM.
ONE OF THEM IS THE SHARED SERVICES PIECE.
THAT'S WHAT WHAT'S, KEVIN'S REFERRING TO.
SO CAP METRO, BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN SOME REQUESTS BY CAP METRO BOARD MEMBERS, WE'LL BE REACHING OUT TO ATP STAFF, ASKING FOR INFORMATION THAT INFORMATION THEN CAN BE PROVIDED TO BOARD MEMBERS BECAUSE THAT INFORMATION HAS BEEN REQUESTED AND THEY'LL GET THAT.
SO, BUT THAT WILL NOT BE KEVIN'S PIECE.
SO, SO I THINK WE JUST GOT TO REMEMBER KEVIN'S JOB IS THE DEPUTY CFO OF CAPITAL.
METRO RELATED QUESTIONS RELATE TO ATP INFORMATION.
IF THERE'S REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION, LET ME KNOW.
WE'LL COORDINATE THAT AND GET THAT BACK TO BOARD MEMBERS, UH, UH, AS APPROPRIATE INFORMATION, REMEMBER KITCHEN AND, AND THEIR MEMBER POOL.
AND I HOPE WE CAN STAY ON BUDGET AND NOT GET TOO MUCH INTO THE, WELL, I THINK THE, THE CAT METRO SIDE OF THE BUDGET IS TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, FROM CAT METRO'S SIDE, UH, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, I'M, I'VE GOT MY CAP, METRO HAT ON HERE, AND THAT'S WHAT I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND.
WHAT'S OUR, WHAT'S OUR PIECE OF THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
SO I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S VERY APPROPRIATE TO ASK THOSE QUESTIONS AND I APPRECIATE YOU MAKING THEM AVAILABLE TO US.
AND I WOULD JUST ADD ON THAT, THAT I APPRECIATE THAT WE ARE ALL THREE COLLABORATING THE THREE INDIVIDUAL ENTITIES WITH THEIR OWN APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES AND JURISDICTIONS, BUT WE ARE ALL THREE PARTNERED IN THIS EFFORT.
AND I APPRECIATE, UM, CFO CON LENS TAKING A LEADERSHIP, UH, AS POINT OF CONTEXT, SINCE WE'VE SUBMITTED THE QUESTION THROUGH THIS FORMAT TO BRING US AS MUCH COMPREHENSIVE AND CONCISE INFORMATION, AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN THINK, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
IT HELPS THE COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND TOO HOW, UH, THE VARIOUS OPERATIONS ARE MOVING FORWARD AND THAT IT, UH, UH, ADDS TO THE TREMENDOUS RESPONSIBILITY AND SENSE OF TRUST THAT WE'RE BUILDING WITH OUR COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT AUSTIN.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MR. CONLIN HEARING NONE, UH, MEMBER STRATTON, WHO COULDN'T BE HERE LEFT A STATEMENT THAT I'LL JUST
[00:45:01]
READ A FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS, STAFF, AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.I'M UNABLE TO BE PRESENT AT THIS MEETING, BUT I HAVE A CONFLICT TODAY WITH MY JOB AS A REGISTERED NURSE EDUCATOR.
PLEASE KNOW IF I WERE IN PERSON, I WOULD VOTE IN FAVOR OF BOTH ACTION ITEM ONE, THE BUDGET AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND ACTION ITEM TO THE ELECTRIC BUS CONTRACT.
AND WITH THAT, UM, IF THERE ARE NO OTHER COMMENTS OR DISCUSSION CHAIR WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION, WE'LL ENTERTAIN A, UH, A MOTION WITH RESPECT TO OUR BUDGET AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN MEMBER POOL, AND HAVE A MOTION.
IS THERE A SECOND MEMBER KITCHEN WITH A SECOND? ANY DISCUSSION, NO DISCUSSION THEN, UH, UH, WE'LL VOTE AND I'LL ASK, UH, FIRST ROW CALLED MEMBER VICE-CHAIR TREVELYAN I VERY WELL, THANK YOU ALL ON THE DIOCESE.
UH, IN FAVOR, PLEASE INDICATE BY SAYING AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? NAY? UH, NO, THE MOTION CARRIES SEVEN TO ZERO.
THANK YOU, MR. CONLIN FOR ALL THE GOOD WORK.
AND LET ME JUST SAY AGAIN AT AN EXEMPLARY JOB, I THINK BY OUR STAFF, UH, TO BRING WHAT IS ALMOST A $700 MILLION BUDGET TOGETHER, COMPLICATED BY PROJECT CONNECT AND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN OUR TWO AGENCIES.
I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE GONE TO THE COMMUNITY WITH THIS BUDGET, APPRECIATE THE TRANSPARENCY AND THE LEGACY OF TRANSPARENCY THAT WE HAVE RELATIVE TO OUR STEWARDSHIP OF A COMMUNITY FUNDS.
I APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK, EVERYBODY.
[VI.2. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President & CEO or his designee, to finalize and execute contracts with New Flyer of America Inc. and Proterra Inc., to purchase up to 197 battery electric transit buses, vehicle chargers, and related equipment over a five year period in a total amount not to exceed $ 254,984,090.]
UH, ACTION ITEM NUMBER TWO, AND, UH, DOTTIE WATKINS AND ANDREW MURPHY WILL PRESENT.IS IT STILL MORNING? NO, IT IS NOT GOOD AFTERNOON.
CHAIR COOPER MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, PRESIDENT CEO CLERK, I'M DOTTIE WATKINS, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR CAPITAL METRO.
AND I'M JOINED BY MY COLLEAGUE, ANDREW MURPHY.
WHO'S OUR DIRECTOR OF VEHICLE MAINTENANCE.
AND WE ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE, MOST EXCITING TOPICS IN THE WORLD, WHICH IS BATTERY, A BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES.
UM, SO AS WE GET STARTED FOR THE SAKE OF, UM, REMINDER AND FOLKS WHO MIGHT BE HEARING US TALK ABOUT THIS PROJECT FOR THE FIRST TIME, UM, CAPITAL METRO HAS BEEN PURSUING FOR A GOOD LONG WHILE THE BUT ELECTRIC BUS TECHNOLOGY.
IN FACT, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN WATCHING FOR A COUPLE OF DECADES AND REALLY KIND OF EXCITED TO SEE THE TECHNOLOGY COME TO FRUITION.
UM, AND SO WE ARE, ARE PURSUING BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES AS OUR PRIMARY PROPULSION SYSTEM FOR OUR TRANSIT FLEET.
A FEW OF THE BENEFITS, UM, INCLUDE, UM, GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS.
OBVIOUSLY THE VEHICLE ITSELF, UM, DOES NOT ADMIT POLLUTION.
THERE'S ALSO REDUCED AIR POLLUTION FROM, UM, AS COMPARED TO THE DIESEL VEHICLES THAT WE CURRENTLY OPERATE.
UM, TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES IS THAT THEY ARE EXTREMELY QUIET, UM, AS WELL AS THEY ARE MUCH COOLER TO OPERATE.
UM, I KNOW, UM, RECENTLY I WAS, UM, HELPING STAFF ONE OF OUR Q2, UM, STADIUM EVENTS AND WALKING DOWN THE LINE OF BUSES.
AND I IMMEDIATELY NOTICED WHEN I WAS WALKING PAST THEM ELECTRIC BUS, CAUSE IT WAS BOTH COOLER AND QUIETER JUST ON A DIME.
AND SO IT'S A MUCH BETTER ENVIRONMENT, NOT JUST FOR OUR WRITING PUBLIC, BUT FOR OUR COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.
UM, WE ALSO EXPECT TO SEE REDUCED FUEL COSTS, UM, AS THE COST OF ELECTRICITY OVER TIME WILL, UM, IS EXPECTED TO BE LESS FORCE THAN THE COST TO, TO KIND OF FEEL THE SAME PROPULSION WITH DIESEL FUEL.
UM, AND WE'RE ALSO VERY EXCITED TO BE A PARTICIPANT IN AUSTIN ENERGY'S GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM, SUCH THAT A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE ENERGY THAT WE USE IS GENERATED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES.
UM, AND SO EVERYTHING THAT WE POWER OUR ELECTRIC BUSES WITH WILL ALSO BE RENEWABLE.
SO IN 2019 ON EARTH DAY IN 2019, WE ANNOUNCED OUR TRANSITION TO ZERO EMISSION VEHICLES AND OUR COMMITMENT, UM, TO BUY ZERO EMISSION TRANSIT BUSES MOVING FORWARD, UM, AND HAVE CONSTRUCTED OUR ELECTRIC BUS CHARGING FACILITY AT OUR NORTH OPERATIONS, UM, FACILITY UP NEAR 180 3 IN BURNET ROAD.
UM, YOU CAN SEE A LITTLE BIT OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND THAT TOP PICTURE AND THE BOTTOM PICTURE, UM, IS, UM, ONE OF OUR BEAUTIFUL 60 FOOT NEW FLYER BUSES.
AND I'M I GUESS IN THE BEST, RIGHT? WHERE'S THAT A 40, I'M SORRY, I CAN'T TELL, UM, ONE OF OUR BEAUTIFUL BUSES, I SHOULD QUIT TRYING TO GUESS FROM PICTURES WHO MAKES THEM, I'M SITTING NEXT TO THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO THOSE WHITE BOXES YOU SEE HERE, UM, IS ACTUALLY, UM, ELECTRIC CHARGING.
UM, SO OUR, UM, 2022 TO 2026 FLEET PLAN, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, WHICH THE BOARD JUST APPROVED, UM, INCLUDES 136 BUSES FOR OUR LOCAL TRANSIT BUS FLEET, UM, WHICH ARE REPLACEMENT VEHICLES FOR OUR SERVICE AS WELL AS 65 BUSES TO SUPPORT METRO RAPID PROJECTS, UM, WHICH WILL BE, UM, EXPANSION
[00:50:01]
TO OUR FLEET.UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING OUR LONG-TERM CHARGING STRATEGY.
WE HAVE PLUG-IN CHARGERS FOR OUR CURRENT 12 BUSES.
WE KNOW THAT AS WE GROW THE FLEET, WE WANT TO TRANSITION TO OVERHEAD CHARGING, UM, SO THAT THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE CAN KIND OF, YOU KIND OF PARK UNDER IT AND IT CHARGES THE BUS AS OPPOSED TO HAVING TO PLUG IN AND UNPLUG EVERY SINGLE BUS.
AS WE GET TO A FLEET OF 400 BUSES, WE WANT TO HAVE NOT HAVE 400 PLUGS TO.
AND SO WE ARE LOOKING AT WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME AND EXACTLY HOW DO WE ASSESS THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE, UM, CONSULTANT SUPPORT RIGHT NOW HELPING US, UM, FINALIZE OUR BATTERY ELECTRIC BUS ROADMAP SO THAT WE KNOW EXACTLY, UM, WHAT IMPROVEMENTS WE NEED TO PUT WHERE, UM, INCLUDING WHAT IMPROVEMENTS WE NEED TO PUT ON VARIOUS ROUTES.
SO WE ARE ALREADY ANTICIPATING THAT FOR, UM, OUR FIRST TWO METRO RAPID LINES UNDER THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM THAT WE WILL INTRODUCE EN ROUTE CHARGING TO HELP US GET THE RANGE.
SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST LIMITATIONS CURRENTLY WITH BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES AS THEY IS THAT THEY WON'T RUN FOR 14 HOURS ON A SINGLE CHARGE, UM, LIKE A DIESEL BUS MIGHT.
AND SO, UM, WE'RE LOOKING TO INSTALL CHARGERS AT THE ENDS OF THE LINE SO THAT WE CAN, UM, KIND OF REFRESH THE BATTERIES AS WE GO THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
AND PART OF THIS LONG RANGE FLEET TRANSITION PLAN THAT WE'RE DEVELOPING WILL HELP US IDENTIFY FOR THE REST OF OUR FLEET, WHICH LOCATIONS DO WE NEED TO LOOK TO PROGRAM THAT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT GOING FORWARD? UM, SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND I THINK WE'VE MADE A LOT OF GREAT PROGRESS.
I ALLUDED EARLIER TO OUR 12, UM, EXISTING BUSES IN OUR FLEET.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE, UH, 10 40 FOOT BUSES AND TWO 60 FOOT BUSES.
UM, THEY ARE HALF AND HALF FROM TWO DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS, PRO TERRA AND NEW FLYER.
UM, AND WE'VE LEARNED A LOT IN THE LAST YEAR.
WE ACTUALLY PUT THESE BUSES IN SERVICE A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO.
UM, AND WE'VE, WE'VE LEARNED A LOT, WE'VE TRAINED, UM, 240 DRIVERS.
SO JUST ABOUT A QUARTER OF OUR DRIVER FLEET, UM, DRIVER RANKS HAVE BEEN TRAINED.
UM, WE'VE LOOKED TO DEMONSTRATE CHARGER INTEROPERABILITY, UM, BETWEEN THE TWO MANUFACTURERS AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT THE CHARGER PROVIDED BY ONE MANUFACTURER CAN CHARGE THE OTHER MANUFACTURERS BUS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO ASSISTED OUR FRIENDS AT THE TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE OUT OF TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY IN COMMISSIONING THEIR CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE ON THEIR, THEY HAVE A ROBUST TRANSPORTATION TEST FACILITY IN COLLEGE STATION.
UM, WE STILL HAVE PLENTY TO LEARN AND, UH, WE WANT TO BE UPFRONT ABOUT SOME OF OUR CHALLENGES.
WE'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH THE PUTS AND TAKES OF DAY TO DAY LOGISTICS, UM, WITH ONLY 12 BUSES OUT OF OUR CURRENT FLEET OF 424, UM, THE EXTRA CARE AND FEEDING REQUIRED BY AN ELECTRIC BUS IS SOMETHING WE'RE STILL GETTING USED TO IN TERMS OF HOW TO ASSIGN THE BLOCKS WHEN YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH STATE OF CHARGE LEFT IS ENOUGH TO MAKE IT BACK AT THE END OF THE DAY AND REALLY WORKING THROUGH ALL OF THAT.
UM, AND THEN YOUR OVERNIGHT ROUTINE WITH AN ELECTRIC BUS IS DIFFERENT AS WELL BECAUSE WE DON'T RUN THEM THROUGH THE SERVICE ISLAND AND FUEL THEM, BUT WE DO NEED TO WASH THEM AND CHARGE THEM.
SO WORKING THROUGH ALL OF THOSE PROCESS CHANGES, UM, IS A WORK IN PROCESS.
WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT, UM, INNOVATIVE PROPULSION TECHNOLOGIES.
WHAT IS OUR, UM, LONG-TERM STRATEGY GOING TO BE THERE? UM, FOR OUR, OUR BATTERY PACKS, WE COULD PUT HUGE, HUGE BATTERIES ON THE BUSES, BUT THEN THEY'D BE SO HEAVY.
WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO PUT PEOPLE ON THE BUSES LEGALLY.
SO THAT'S KIND OF A PROBLEM FOR US.
UM, SO WE'RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT ALL OF THE OPPORTUNITIES AS THE MARKET MOVES FORWARD.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE ALSO LEARNING ABOUT SOME OF THE INNOVATIVE AUXILIARY SYSTEM.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT AN ELECTRIC BUS IS THAT EVERY, ALL OF THE ACCESSORIES ON THE BUS ARE NOW ELECTRIC.
AND SO, WHEREAS WE MIGHT HAVE HAD HYDRAULIC STEERING IN THE PAST, WE NOW HAVE ELECTRIC STEERING AND REALLY JUST LEARNING THOSE NEW SYSTEMS AND UNDERSTANDING ALL THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES OF HOW THOSE WORK.
UM, SO WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EVALUATE THE TECHNOLOGY AND ARE CONFIDENT THAT THIS IS A TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL WORK FOR US, UM, FOR, UM, THIS UPCOMING CONTRACT.
UM, BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH OUR LONG-TERM PLANNING AND OUR DAY-TO-DAY KIND OF LESSONS LEARNED.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE TO TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL ACTION WE'RE ASKING YOU TO TAKE TODAY.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, CHAIR COOPER, BOARD MEMBERS, UH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, RANDY CLARK.
UM, I'M ANDREW MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF VEHICLE MAINTENANCE AT CAPITAL METRO.
SO THIS IS JUST TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE FEATURES THAT WILL BE COMING ON OUR BUSES.
UH, WE'RE BUYING BOTH 40 FOOT BUSES AND 60 FOOT BUSES.
UH, THEY'LL HAVE AN OPEN SEATING FLOOR PLAN, WHICH IS ALSO CALLED PERIMETER SEATING, WHICH FACILITATES PEOPLE MOVING AROUND INSIDE THE BUS, BEING ABLE TO QUICKLY GET ON AND OFF THE BUS.
UM, WE WILL HAVE, UH, IT'S CALLED A QUANTUM.
IT'S A BRAND NAMED BY, UH, Q STRAIN.
IT'S A SEMI-AUTOMATIC WHEELCHAIR SECUREMENT SYSTEM.
WE PILOTED ON OUR FIRST TWO 60 FOOT BUSES AND IT'S BEEN WARMLY RECEIVED.
SO WE'LL BE PUTTING THOSE ON BUSES GOING FORWARD.
UM, WE ARE EQUIPPING ALL OF THESE BUSES WITH PASSENGER AWARENESS MONITORS.
THESE ARE MONITORS THAT ROTATE THROUGH THE VARIOUS, UH, UH, CAMERA VIEWS INSIDE OF THE BUS.
SO PEOPLE CAN SEE THAT THEY'RE BEING RECORDED TO SORT OF HELP IN THAT SENSE OF SECURITY AND SAFETY FOR OUR PASSENGERS.
[00:55:01]
BUSES WILL COME WITH A BLIND SPOT MIRRORS.UM, ONE OF THE CHALLENGES IN DRIVING A BUSES WHEN YOU'RE TURNING LEFT THROUGH AN INTERSECTION, THERE'S THAT LITTLE BIT OF BODY BETWEEN THE WINDSHIELD AND THE SIDE WINDOW CREATES A BLIND SPOT.
UM, IT'S A RISK TO PEDESTRIAN.
SO WE'VE NOW PUT A CAMERA ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOSTON, A MONITOR ON THE INSIDE.
SO YOU CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THAT PILLAR KEEPS IT SAFE WHEN YOU'RE TURNING LEFT.
UM, THESE BUSES WILL ALSO HAVE, UM, ON ALL THE DOORS, A PUSH BUTTON TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE DOORS SO THAT WHEN THE BUS IS ON LAYOVER, IF A PASSENGER IS ON THE BUS AND THEY WANT TO GET OFF, THEY CAN JUST PUSH A BUTTON IT'LL OPEN.
AND 10 SECONDS LATER, IT'LL RECLOSE.
THIS HELPS TO KEEP THE AIR CONDITIONING INSIDE OF THE BUS AND THE, IN THE SUMMERTIME AND THE HEAT IN THE WINTER TIME.
SO AIR CONDITIONING USE EQUATES TO RANGE.
SO THAT HELPS TO KEEP THE, UH, THE ELECTRIC CHARGE INSIDE THE BUS WHERE WE WANT IT.
UH, THE BUSES WILL COME WITH THE VINYL SEATS AS WELL AS WE'VE RECENTLY OUTFITTED ALL OF OUR VEHICLES, UH, AS WELL AS USB CHARGER PORTS ON ALL THE SEATS.
UM, THEY'LL COME WITH A PASSENGER DIGITAL DISPLAY SCREENS.
THIS IS, INSTEAD OF IT, JUST THAT SIMPLE LED THAT SAYS, HERE'S YOUR NEXT STOP.
IT'LL HAVE A FULL COLOR GRAPHIC WITH A ROUTE LADDER.
YOU CAN ALSO DO, UH, UH, NOTICES AND BULLETINS THAT GO OUT.
SO WE'RE CURRENTLY PILOTING THAT ON SOME VEHICLES NOW, BUT IT'LL ROLL OUT ON THESE VEHICLES.
WE'LL HAVE VALIDATORS ONBOARD VALIDATORS THAT ALL DOORS ON ALL THE VEHICLES, UH, WE'RE EQUIPPING THE BUSES WITH WIDE DOORS TO FACILITATE.
IT'S ALMOST WIDE ENOUGH FOR TWO PEOPLE TO GET ON AND OFF AT THE SAME TIME OR ONE TO GET ON AND WANTING TO GET OFF.
AND WE'RE INSTALLING WHEEL COVERS ON THE MIDDLE AXLE AND THE REAR AXLES, WHICH AGAIN HELPS WITH THAT DOWNTOWN ENVIRONMENT WHEN YOU'RE WALKING RIGHT NEXT TO A BUS, IT'S NICE NOT TO HAVE THAT TIRE RIGHT THERE.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE HIGH POINTS OF THE VEHICLES.
UM, HERE'S HOW THE VEHICLES ARE BEING PURCHASED.
THIS IS A CONTRACT RUPTURE 197.
THESE FOUR BLOCKS ALL SHOW THE SAME INFORMATION, UH, OR THE SAME NUMBERS, JUST IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
THERE ARE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT, FORTY FOOT BUSES IN THIS PROCUREMENT AND 1960 FOOT BUSES, UM, BY SERVICE, UH, 132 OF THESE ARE, ARE ZEROED IN ON FIXED ROUTE REPLACEMENT BUSES.
THIS IS STATE OF GOOD REPAIR AND 65 OF THEM ARE TO SUPPORT OUR PROJECT CONNECT, METRO RAPID EXPANSIONS.
UM, AND THEN THE BOTTOM RECTANGLE, UH, SHOWS HOW THE CONTRACT IS BROKEN OUT.
THE BASE AWARD IS FOR 50 TO 40 FOOT BUSES AND FOUR 60 FOOT BUSES.
AND WE'VE, UH, CONFIGURED ALL OF THE OPTIONS.
UH, AS, AS SHOWN THERE, THEY'RE BROKEN OUT BY VARIOUS FISCAL YEARS OR PROJECTS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
UH, THE CONTRACT ALSO INCLUDES OPTIONS, UM, FOR CHARGERS, CAUSE YOU GOTTA CHARGE THE BUS, UM, FOR STAFF TRAINING AND FOR EXTENDED WARRANTIES ON THE BATTERIES AND ON THE CHARGERS THEMSELVES.
UH, THE BOARD ACTION THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR TODAY IS TO, UH, AWARD THE CONTRACT FOR, UM, UP TO, UH, 254 MILLION, $984,090.
THIS IS FOR THE BASE AWARD OF BUSES, WHICH IS 53 MILLION, $42,646.
UH, THE OPTIONS COME IN AT 136,000,080 9,900.
UM, THE, UH, THE OPTIONAL ITEMS, WHICH ARE THE CHARGERS, UH, THE STAFF TRAINING AND THE WARRANTIES COME IN AT 65.8 MILLION.
UM, I WILL POINT OUT THAT THIS CONTRACT, UM, AMOUNT DOES EXCEED WHAT'S IN OUR PROJECTED BUDGET OR WHAT'S IN OUR APPROVED BUDGET.
UH, THIS IS BECAUSE WE'RE STILL UNDERGOING THE ANALYSIS ON WHAT KIND OF CHARGES WE'RE GOING TO DO.
AND SO WE'VE INCLUDED OPTIONS FOR BOTH IN THE CONTRACT.
WE WON'T OBVIOUSLY BE BUYING EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THAT CONTRACT AS OPTIONAL ITEMS, BUT IT DOES ALLOW US THE FLEXIBILITY TO GROW IN WHATEVER DIRECTION WE NEED TO GROW BASED UPON WHAT OUR CONSULTANTS TELL US.
UH, AND OF COURSE THE OPTIONS CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE EXECUTED OR EXECUTED UNLESS FUNDING IS IN A BOARD APPROVED BUDGET ITEM OR A BOARD APPROVED BUDGET.
UM, OH, AND I GUESS WE HAVE A FOOTNOTE, THE, THE PRICES THERE ARE FOR THE BASE VEHICLE, WE DO HAVE ADDITIONAL FUNDING AND OUR BUDGETS FOR A FINAL CONFIGURATION, SUCH AS ADDING PASSENGER, WIFI ROUTERS, UM, FAREBOXES UM, ITEMS LIKE THAT.
UM, I THINK THAT'S THE LAST SLIDE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BUSES? REMEMBER POOL? OKAY.
I WAS CURIOUS IN THAT THAT'S A BIG NUMBER.
DO WE HAVE, ARE WE ENJOYING IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE THERE, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THE 254 MILLION? ARE WE ENJOYING ANY KIND OF A VOLUME DISCOUNT AS A RESULT OF BUYING IT LIVE SAMPLE 40 OF THE 44? UM, THE, THE, THE VEHICLES WERE COMPETITIVELY BID, SO WE HAD FOUR BIDDERS AND WE PICKED THE BEST VALUE PROCUREMENT.
UM, SO, UM, YES, WITH 197 ORDERS BUSES IN THE ORDER, UM, WE THINK WE GOT A GOOD PRICE, BUT IT ISN'T LIKE YOU BUY 10 AT THIS PRICE AND YOU BUY 20 AT THAT PRICE.
SO, AND IT'S PART OF A NEGOTIATION.
SO YOU DON'T DO ANY NEGOTIATION AFTER THE RFP.
YOU JUST GO WITH WHAT THE BOTTOM LINE IS
[01:00:02]
IN THIS PARTICULAR CONTRACT.I KNOW SOMETIMES YOU CAN GET RIGHT.
ON, ON THESE, THE, THE PRICES AND, UH, W WE GO TO THE EVALUATION TEAM, UM, EVALUATES EACH PROPOSAL.
WE REACHED CONSENSUS ON WHAT WE THINK THAT EACH ONE OF THE, UH, THE BITTERS, HOW THEY SCORED, UM, THEN WE GET TO SEE PRICING AND THEN WE DO AN EVALUATION FOR BEST VALUE.
SO YOU MAY HAVE HAD ONE THAT SCORED POORLY, HAD A GREAT PRICE, BUT SCORED POORLY.
MAYBE WE DON'T WANT THAT ONE, OR YOU MIGHT HAVE ONE THAT DID GREAT, BUT THEY'RE ALSO TWICE THE PRICE AND I'M EXAGGERATING.
BUT, UM, SO WE EVENTUALLY GET DOWN TO A BEST VALUE PROCUREMENT.
AND THE LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, DO YOU EXPECT THAT NUMBER TO GO UP AT ALL THE PRICE OF THE 2 54? YEAH.
UM, THE PRICES ON EACH VEHICLE ARE TIED TO A PRODUCER PRICE INDEX.
SO WHATEVER THAT HAPPENS, THAT PRICE TENDS TO GO UP BY, YOU KNOW, 1% A YEAR OR, OR WHATEVER THAT HAPPENS.
SO, UM, SO, UH, BUT NO, WE DON'T, WE DON'T EXPECT THAT PRICE TO CHANGE BY MUCH, OTHER THAN MINOR CONFIGURATION CHANGES.
IF WE ADD A SECOND ROUTER TO THE VEHICLE OR SOMETHING, BUT WE COULD DO THAT WITH HER INSIDE OR OUTSIDE OF THE CONTRACT.
REMEMBER, MARIA, CAN YOU, UH, UM, LET US KNOW WHERE, WHERE ARE THESE BATTERIES AND, AND BUSES, UH, ASSEMBLED IT? UM, THERE'S, THERE'S TWO VENDORS, UH, PROTERRA WHO ARE IN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND NEW FLYER BUS, WHICH IS A, THE BUSES WILL BE BUILT IN ANNISTON, ALABAMA.
OTHER QUESTIONS, REMEMBER KITCHEN, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE ABOUT TO PRESS THE BUTTON.
I JUST WANT, WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THIS SUMMIT, THE OPS COMMITTEE, WHICH WAS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED AND JUST WANTED TO REITERATE THAT WE HAVE BUILT INTO THE CONTRACT PROTECTIONS IF FOR SOME REASON, YOU KNOW, FOR SOME REASON, UM, YOU KNOW, DELIVERY IS NOT APPROPRIATE OR THERE'S SOME PROBLEM WITH THE BATTERIES OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO MAYBE YOU COULD JUST SPEAK TO THAT.
SO THIS, UH, W WHAT, WHAT WILL IMMEDIATELY HAPPEN IS WE'RE REALLY AWARDING THE INITIAL BASE ORDER OF 54 54 BUSES.
UM, THAT'S THE, REALLY, THE ONLY COMMITMENT WE HAVE ALL THE OTHER 100, THE OTHER 140 BUSES IN THE CONTRACT ARE OPTIONAL ITEMS. SO AS, UH, AS WE APPROACH NEXT YEAR, AND IT'S TIME TO BUY MORE BUSES, WE CAN SORT OF REEVALUATE IT IF WE'VE BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE BUSES OR DELIVERIES OR WHATEVER THOSE ISSUES ARE.
WE'RE NOT COMMITTED TO HAVE TO BUY THOSE.
SO W W WE ALWAYS GET TO MAKE THAT CHOICE, THAT OTHER QUESTIONS I HAVE A COUPLE ONE IS IN THAT SAME VEIN, I'M SURE YOU TALKED ABOUT THIS EXTENSIVELY AT THE OPS COMMITTEE, BUT GIVE US A LITTLE BIT OF A SENSE OF WHAT OUR EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN HERE TO FOUR ON USEFUL LIFE, BATTERY, LIFE, COST OF OWNERSHIP, TOTAL COST OF OPERATIONS, I GUESS.
UH, THOSE ARE ALL THINGS I'M SURE YOU'VE BEEN THINKING EXTENSIVELY ABOUT LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE THINKING ABOUT THOSE THINGS.
UM, AND SO WE'VE HAD HIM, UH, IN USE FOR ABOUT A YEAR AND I, I WILL SAY IT'S BEEN A VERY CONSERVATIVE IN USE.
UM, IT ACTUALLY TAKES A LOT OF MILES TO TRAIN 240 DRIVERS FOR ONE.
SO, UH, WE'VE, UH, WE'RE GETTING THE RANGE OUT OF THEM THAT WE EXPECTED, WHICH IS NICE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE 40 FOOT BUSES CAN EASILY GO 170 MILES.
THE 60 FOOT BUSES CAN EASILY EXCEED 95 MILES.
UM, UH, WE, WE ARE NOT SEEING ANY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WITH BATTERIES OR WITH VEHICLE PERFORMANCE.
UM, WE'VE HAD SOME GROWING PAINS, YOU KNOW, LITTLE, LITTLE CHALLENGES HERE AND THERE, BUT THAT KIND OF, KIND OF GOES WITH JUST ABOUT ANY BUS.
UM, SO YEAH, I IT'S, IT'S BEEN A FAIRLY SMOOTH YEAR.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO ADD TO THAT.
SO THERE WAS A SLIDE IN WHICH YOU HAD AVERAGE MAX.
SO THIS IS IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND CORNER.
SO WE'VE LOGGED, UH, ON THE 40 FOOT BUSES, 200, 8,500 MILES.
THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY HAS BEEN 2.1, FOUR KILOWATT HOURS PER MILE, UH, WHICH IS, WHICH IS A GOOD NUMBER, UH, AVERAGE TRIP.
THIS MEANS THAT THE, ON AN AVERAGE DAY WE PUT THE BUS OUT FOR 114 MILES.
THAT'S JUST WHAT FITS FOR US FOR ON OUR BLOCKS.
UM, WHEN WE LOOKED OVER THE LAST YEAR, SOMETIMES WE DO RUN THE VEHICLES AS LONG AS WE CAN JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, SEE IF WE CAN GET THEM TO GO AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE 10 40 FOOT BUSES, THEIR MAXIMUM RANGE IS AVERAGING 185 MILES.
NOW, IF IT'S AN ESPECIALLY HOT DAY OR ESPECIALLY COLD DAY, OR YOU HAVE A DRIVER WITH A LITTLE BIT OF A LEAD FOOT, THAT NUMBER IS GOING TO COME DOWN A LITTLE BIT.
SO, SO IT'S, BUT IT'S NICE TO KNOW THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A GOOD DRIVER AND A GOOD DAY, THIS IS THE KIND OF MILES YOU CAN GET.
AND LIKEWISE FOR THE 60 FOOT BUSES, WE'VE LOGGED OVER 28,000 MILES ON THOSE TWO, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY HAS BEEN 3.4, WHICH IS GOOD.
THE AVERAGE TRIP ON THOSE, JUST WHEN WE PUT THEM OUT AS 95 MILES AND THE AVERAGE MAXIMUM RANGE THAT WE'VE SEEN ON THOSE
[01:05:01]
BUSES WHEN YOU RUN THEM UNTIL IT'S REALLY TIME TO LIKE, OKAY, PULL IT BACK TO THE YARD, OR WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TOW IT IN HAS BEEN 139 MILES.WE, WE ROUTINELY PUT THE 60 FOOT BUSES OUT, FOR EXAMPLE, ON 125 MILE BLOCKS.
AND THEY, THEY COME BACK WITH ABOUT EIGHT OR 9% STATE OF CHARGE LEFT.
AND WITH RESPECT TO THE EFFICIENCY, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT SORT OF, BECAUSE WE PAY A PREMIUM FOR AN ELECTRIC BUS OVER A DIESEL BUS, UH, BUT WE SAVE ON DIESEL FUEL AND THE EFFICIENCY NUMBER THERE'S SORT OF, I CAN'T TELL WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT HOW DOES A SORT OF TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP OF AN ELECTRIC BUS COMPARE WITH A DIESEL? WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN ANALOGY, AN ANALYST DOING THOSE NUMBERS RIGHT NOW.
SO I CAN, I CAN COME BACK AND GIVE YOU SOME SOLID NUMBERS, BUT I WOULD ANTICIPATE OVER THE LIFE OF THE BUS TO SPEND 40% LESS DOLLARS ON FUEL FOR ELECTRICITY OVER DIESEL.
BUT THAT NUMBER COULD GO EITHER WAY, BUT IT'S, IT'S CERTAINLY A SAVINGS WITH RESPECT TO THE FUEL COMPONENT, BUT WE PAY A PREMIUM FOR THE BUS ITSELF.
SO ALL THINGS TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION, HOW WOULD IT COMPARE? I THINK IN THE END, THE ELECTRIC BUSES SHOULD COST LESS.
UM, IF YOU'RE DOING A BUS BY BUS COMPARISON, UM, YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL HOW YOU DEPLOY IT, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO YOU DON'T END UP WITH A LOT OF EXTRA, UH, DEADHEAD TIME, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S SOME CAREFUL LOGISTICS.
THAT WAS WHAT THE OTHER SLIDE WAS IN THE BOTTOM CORNER WAS TALKING ABOUT IS LEARNING HOW TO DEPLOY BUSES.
SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND DRIVERS HOURS SWAPPING THEM OUT, RIGHT.
SO HOW DO YOU CUT YOUR BLOCKS AND STUFF, BUT IN THE END, UM, THE ELECTRIC BUSES WILL WILLING TO COSTING LESS THAN A DIESEL BUS.
IF YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT, EVEN WITH THE PREMIUM, THE, THE EXTRA, YOU KNOW, FOUR OR $500,000 PER BUS, UH, WHEN YOU, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, WE EXPECT TO SEE A REDUCTION IN MAINTENANCE COST AS WELL.
THAT'S ALSO ONE OF THOSE, YOU KNOW, $64,000 QUESTIONS IS YEAH.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT AS WELL.
WELL, AS WE RAMP UP OUR RELIANCE ON ELECTRIC, WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO MORE INFORMATION IN TERMS OF HOW WE'RE DOING ON SORT OF A TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP.
THERE'S A LOT OF REASONS TO DO DIESEL, UH, AS A DOWNTOWN, UM, EMPLOYEE AND, UH, SOME FORMER RESIDENTS, THE QUIET, IMPORTANT, THE, THE, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT.
SO HOPEFULLY IT WORKS OUT GREAT, BUT WE NEED TO STAY FOCUSED ON HOW WE'RE DOING AND THE IMPACT OF THE ON ROUTE, UH, CHARGING.
I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
AND THEN FINALLY, I THINK, UH, IT SOUNDS LIKE WE WON'T BE ELIMINATING OUR DIESEL FLEET ENTIRELY ANYTIME SOON, BUT AS THE LAST WINTER SHOWED US, ELECTRICITY IS NOT AS ALL, ALL, UH, ALWAYS AVAILABLE AS WE MIGHT LIKE FOR IT TO BE.
AND SO HAVING SOME DIVERSITY OF FUEL SOURCES OVER TIME MIGHT BE SOMETHING WE'D WANT TO BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AWAY FROM ANYWHERE BEING CLOSE TO THAT.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE A COMMENT ON THAT CHAIR IF I CAN, BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE BRINGING UP POINTS THAT WE'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT, WHICH IS HOW TO MANAGE RISK THROUGHOUT THE PROGRAM, ULTIMATELY DO ROI ANALYSIS.
SO I THINK PART OF THE CHALLENGE WE'VE HAD IS WE ONLY HAVE 12 BUSES AND WITH ALL OF OUR DIFFERENT ROUTES AND BLOCKS.
AND SO NOW WHAT THE TEAM IS REALLY WORKING ON, AND THEY'RE PUTTING TOGETHER A WHOLE KIND OF ANALYTICAL PACKAGE TO SAY, HERE'S WHAT WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO IS TEST A BOSS THAT SAYS, IF YOU'RE ON THE ROUTE 18 TODAY, AND YOU'RE ON THE ROUTE 18 TOMORROW, WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES IN WEATHER? WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES IN OPERATOR TRAINING? UH, HOW LONG HAVE YOU DRIVEN ELECTRIC BOSS? DO YOU GET BETTER DRIVING? IT, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 18 AND THE TWO WITH DIFFERENT TOPOGRAPHY AND HOW THE BUSES MANAGING TOPOGRAPHY CHANGES.
SO ALL OF THOSE THINGS WILL GO INTO, AGAIN, A PURE OPTIMIZATION MODELING, AND WE HAVE, UH, ONE OF OUR VICE PRESIDENTS LEADING A WHOLE OPTIMIZATION EFFORT RIGHT NOW.
UH, AND THIS IS A BIG PART OF THE INDUSTRY.
AND SO WE'LL DO THAT KIND OF WORK.
AND THEN AS ANDREW MENTIONED, THERE'S A BIG, BIG EFFORT UNDERWAY IN THE INDUSTRY TO REALLY BREAK DOWN MAINTENANCE COSTS.
AND WHAT ARE THE OFFSETS OF WHAT YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN VERSUS NOT HAVE TO MAINTAIN DIFFERENT PARTS AND A DIFFERENT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT ON THE BUS.
SO COMPREHENSIVELY, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT, UH, ANDREW'S PIECE HERE THAT HE WAS PRESENTING IS WE'RE NOT COMMITTED TO THOSE NEXT ORDERS.
WE'RE COMMITTED TO PERFORMANCE.
AND QUITE FRANKLY, THE BETTER THE MANUFACTURERS PERFORM, THE BETTER WE CAN QUICKER OR FASTER AND MORE, UH, OPTIMIZE THE DEPLOYMENT.
AND THEN THE INFIELD CHARGING.
WE THINK WE'LL EVEN TAKE THAT TO THE NEXT LEVEL, BECAUSE AGAIN, AS ANDREW MENTIONED, WE AVOID DEADHEAD.
AND SO WE CAN ACTUALLY KEEP PEOPLE OUT IN THE FIELD AND THEORETICALLY, THESE BUSES IS IF YOU CAN DO ENOUGH CHARGING AROUND YOUR SYSTEM CAN JUST KIND OF CONTINUE TO RUN FOR A LONG, LONG, LONG TIME.
AND SO THAT'S KIND OF THIS LARGER OPTIMIZATION.
SO THIS NEXT FLEET WILL ALLOW US TO REALLY PROBABLY GET INTO A COUPLE OF YEARS FROM NOW REALLY UNDERSTANDING THOSE, THOSE DYNAMICS A LOT MORE GOOD.
WELL, IT'S EXCITING FOR US TO BE ABLE TO, UH, UH, SEE AN INCREASE IN OUR ELECTRIC FLEET AND, UH, WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE CITY.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO OUR CITIZENS, I THINK, UM, SO CONGRATULATE YOU
[01:10:01]
ON THIS AND, AND WE'LL SAY, I KNOW WE HAVE A VERY QUANTITATIVE NEW CFO WHO WILL CONTINUE, UH, TO LOOK AT THINGS, UH, FROM AN EFFICIENCY AND COST, UH, STANDPOINT.AND, UH, WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO MORE DATA AS WE LEARN MORE.
I THINK, REMEMBER KITCHEN HAD A QUESTION OR COME AS WELL.
ANYBODY ELSE WITH QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OKAY.
I HAVE A COMMENT NUMBER IN TRIVIA, AND THIS IS A, UH, A REALLY, UH, A GAME CHANGER FOR, FOR AUSTIN AND, UH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST, UH, IT'S AMAZING THAT WE HAVE REACHED THIS POINT, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE ACTUALLY CAN NOW, IF, IF CONGRESS DOES GET OFF THEIR BUTTS AND START PASSING SOME, SOME BILLS THERE, SO WE CAN GET SOME FINANCE TO COME AND HELP, WE WILL BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS A LOT SOONER THAN IN HAMPTON TO BE HAVING TO DELAY.
AND, YOU KNOW, WITH THE CLIMATE CHANGES, AS IT IS, WE REALLY NEED TO ACCELERATE THE TYPE OF PURCHASING AND INVESTMENT, NOT ONLY TO, TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BUT ALSO TO THE WHOLE WORLD AND THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THE EXAMPLE THAT WE'RE GOING TO SHOW THE REST OF THE PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW, IT CAN BE DONE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? NONE.
ANDREW CHAIR WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION WITH RESPECT TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER TWO, PURCHASE OF, UM, AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AN EXECUTE CONTRACTS WITH NEW FLYER OF AMERICA, INC, AND PROTERRA, INC, TO PURCHASE UP TO 197 BATTERY ELECTRICAL BUSES, VEHICLES, CHARGERS, AND RELATED EQUIPMENT OVER A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD.
THE TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 254,000,980 $984,089.
IS THERE SUCH A MOVE APPROVAL? UH, VICE-CHAIR TREVELYAN JUMPING IN.
IS THERE A SECOND REMEMBER KITCHEN, ANY DISCUSSION? UH, IF THERE'S NO DISCUSSION, WE'LL GO TO VOTE VICE CHAIR.
TREVELYAN HOW DO YOU VOTE? AYE, UH, UH, MEMBERS ON THE DYESS, UH, UH, PHYSICALLY TODAY, UH, ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE INDICATE BY SAYING AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? NAY MOTION CARRIES SEVEN TO ZERO.
THANK YOU ALL FOR, UH, COMING TO BE WITH US TODAY.
[VI.3. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President & CEO, or his designee, to finalize and execute a task order contract Approval of a resolution authorizing the President/CEO, or his designee, to finalize and execute a task order contract with Pinnacle Consulting Management Group, Inc. and Stateside Right of Way Services for FTA Consulting and Relocation Assistance Services in the aggregate amount not to exceed $5,450,000 for the base period of three (3) years and three (3) one year options.]
LAST ACTION ITEM, NUMBER THREE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZED AND THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE A TASK ORDER CONTRACT APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING, I'M SORRY, MR. CARTWRIGHT.I'M GOING TO LET YOU, UH, PRESENT AND THEN WE'LL FIGURE OUT THE MOTION.
CHAIR COOPER AND BOARD MEMBERS, UH, PRESENT CEO CLARK, UH, TEMPORARILY OFF THE DICE, BUT AS YOU MENTIONED, THIS ACTION ITEM IS REQUESTING APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENCY OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AN EXECUTE, A TASK ORDER CONTRACT WITH PINNACLE CONSULTING MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC, AND STATE SIDE, RIGHT AWAY SERVICES FOR F UH, FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION CONSULTING AND RELOCATION ASSISTANCE SERVICES IN THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT, NOT TO EXCEED 5 MILLION, $450,000 FOR THE BASE PERIOD OF THREE YEARS AND THREE, ONE YEAR OPTIONS.
I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION THAT THERE WAS A 9% DV GOAL ESTABLISHED FOR THIS CONTRACT, UH, WHICH BOTH FIRMS ARE PROJECTING TO EXCEED.
AND THE FUNDING FOR THE SERVICES IS INCLUDED IN THE, UH, FISCAL YEAR BUDGET.
SO WITH THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND, AND I APOLOGIZE.
I'M KEN
THIS AGENDA ITEM WAS DISCUSSED AT THE OPERATIONS PLANNING AND SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING.
THE SERVICES HERE ARE FOR A SERVICES REAL ESTATE SERVICES.
THE AGENCY TYPICALLY, UH, KEEPS UNDER CONTRACT FOR REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION AND NEGOTIATION TITLE CLOSING SERVICES, AND IN SOME OCCASIONS, RELOCATION WHERE THAT BECOMES NECESSARY.
AND SO THE AGENCY IS REQUESTING APPROVAL FOR THESE CONTRACTS.
THE COO THERE WERE QUESTIONS THAT THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE RELATED TO DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES BETWEEN FOR REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION, FOR CAPITAL METRO VERSUS PROJECT CONNECT.
THESE SERVICES ARE PRIMARILY FOR CAPITAL METRO INITIATED REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION SERVICES.
UM, THEY COULD BE USED BY PROJECT CONNECT, BUT PROJECT CONNECT WILL HAVE AN EXPONENTIAL NUMBER OF REAL ESTATE ACQUISITIONS.
THEY ARE CURRENTLY FORMULATING THEIR OWN PROCUREMENT, WHICH WOULD GO TO THE, UH, UH, ATP BOARD FOR APPROVAL FOR THESE, FOR SIMILAR SERVICES.
SO IN THE CASE WHERE CAPITAL AND CAPITAL METRO, AS YOU ARE AWARE IS, UM, LEADING SOME OF THE PROJECT CONNECT PROJECTS,
[01:15:01]
UH, NAMELY THE METRO RAPID PROJECTS, AS WELL AS THE RED LINE REGIONAL RAIL PROJECTS.AND WHETHER THERE'S REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION RELATED TO THOSE PROJECTS, CAPITAL METRO WILL INITIATE THE REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION AND UTILIZE THIS CONTRACT WHERE ATP IS LEADING THE PROJECTS, NAMELY THE ORANGE AND BLUE, UH, LINES AND OTHER PROJECTS.
THEY WILL INITIATE THE REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION FOR THOSE PARTICULAR SERVICES.
SO I DID WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE AWARE OF THAT DISTINCTION, BUT I'LL PAUSE THERE AND SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS RELATED, RELATED TO THIS PROPOSED CONTRACT, MR. CARTWRIGHT, REMEMBER KITCHEN.
I'M NOT SURE IF I QUITE UNDERSTOOD.
SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IN TERMS OF WHICH ENTITY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR LEADING WHICH REAL ESTATE, BUT, UM, DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT, UM, BOTH ENTITIES WILL USE THIS CONTRACT OR, UH, THE, THE CURRENT, UH, PLAN IS FOUR ATPS TO SECURE ITS OWN REAL ESTATE SERVICES CONTRACT IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE W BECAUSE WE'RE LEADING PROJECTS THAT ARE UNDERWAY NOW, CAPITAL METRO HAS A MORE PRESSING NEED TO GET THESE SERVICES UNDER CONTRACT FOR THOSE PARTICULAR PROJECTS, NAMELY METRO RAPID AND RED LINE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
UM, WHEREAS, UM, ATP IS FINALIZING ITS STRATEGY FOR REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION.
THEN IT WILL PUT TO PUT OUT ITS SCOPE OF SERVICES FOR THOSE SAME SERVICES.
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MR. CARTWRIGHT.
KEN CHAIR WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION RELATIVE TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER THREE, MOTION BY MEMBER MITCHELL TO APPROVE A SECOND.
LOOK INTO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DYES FOR A SECOND.
WE'LL, UH, MOVE TO A VOTE, UH, NUMBER TREVELYAN.
UH, ALL MEMBERS, UH, PRESENT ON THE DAYAS, UH, ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, PLEASE INDICATE BY SAYING AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? NAY MOTION CARRIES SEVEN TO ZERO.
UH, THAT CONCLUDES OUR, UM, UH, ACTION ITEM AGENDA.
[VII.1. Bus Operations Update]
DISCUSSION ITEMS, STARTING WITH A BUS OPERATIONS UPDATE FROM CHIEF CUSTOMER.THAT MUST BE EXPERIENCED OFFICER DOTTIE WATKINS STUDY.
AGAIN, A CERTAIN NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, PRESIDENT CEO, CLARK I'M, DOTTIE WATKINS, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR CAPITAL METRO BUTTON.
I'M NOT GOING TO REINTRODUCE MYSELF.
UM, I JUST WANT IT TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE IN OPERATIONS.
UM, AS THIS BOARD HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN BRIEFED, WE ARE EXPERIENCING A SIGNIFICANT SHORTAGE OF BUS OPERATORS.
UM, OUR STAFFING SHORTAGE, UM, IS QUITE, UM, ACUTE AND, UM, HAS RESULTED IN OUR RECENT SERVICE CHANGE.
SO, UM, ON SEPTEMBER THE 19TH, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER THE 19TH, WE REDUCED OUR SERVICE, UM, COMMITMENTS TO BETTER BALANCE AGAINST OUR OPERATOR AVAILABILITY AND OUR KIND OF OPERATIONAL CAPACITY.
UM, WE DIDN'T WANT TO GO TOO FAR.
AND SO, UM, ADMITTEDLY, WE REDUCED IT TO A LEVEL WHERE WE STILL AREN'T QUITE STAFFED.
AND SO WE'RE STILL STRUGGLING A LITTLE BIT TODAY, BUT WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN TRAINING.
UM, THE FIRST FEW OF THE ROUTES THAT WERE KIND OF LEFTOVER AND WE DIDN'T HAVE OPERATORS TO ASSIGNED, TO HAVE ALREADY BEEN ASSIGNED TO TRAINEES, AND WE WILL CONTINUE DOING THAT OVER THAT COMING MONTH.
SO WE ARE AGGRESSIVELY RECRUITING.
UM, IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS IN THE COMMUNITY WATCHING THIS, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO VISIT US@CAPMETRO.ORG.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR FOLKS WITH A GOOD, UM, CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS AND A DECENT DRIVING RECORD.
UM, AND IT'S REALLY A GREAT CAREER.
UM, JUST AS A REMINDER, UM, THIS ISSUE, ISN'T JUST AN ISSUE AT CAPITAL METRO.
THIS IS AN ISSUE QUITE FRANKLY, THAT ALL OF OUR TRANSIT PEERS ARE FACING AND MANY OTHER SERVICE INDUSTRIES HERE WITHIN AUSTIN.
WE ARE CURRENTLY DOING AN ANALYSIS TO FIGURE OUT, UM, WHAT OUR LONG-TERM STRATEGY IS AND HOW DO WE BEST BUILD THE WORKFORCE PIPELINE.
UM, ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO, UM, LOWER THE AGE REQUIRED TO BE A BUS OPERATOR? ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO LOOK AT INTERNSHIPS OR OTHER MENTORING PROGRAMS TO HELP ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO PURSUE TRANSIT CAREERS? ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO LOOK AT THE COMPENSATION PACKAGE? SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT HOLISTICALLY RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO BE, UM, MARCHING FORWARD.
UM, FRANKLY, THIS IS REALLY OUR TOP PRIORITY RIGHT NOW IS, UM, KIND OF RE-ESTABLISHING OUR OPERATOR RANKS, SO THAT WE'LL
[01:20:01]
BE ABLE, UM, TO HOPEFULLY IN THE RELATIVELY NEAR FUTURE KIND OF GET BACK TO THE SERVICE LEVELS THAT WE WERE HOPING TO BE PROVIDING THIS FALL.UM, THE CHANGES THAT WE MADE WERE CHANGES IN FREQUENCY, UM, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF OUR EBUS ROUTES, WHICH ARE DUPLICATIVE TO OUR NIGHT OWL OVERNIGHT ROUTES.
UM, THERE WERE NO ROUTES DISCONTINUED ONLY THOSE THE BUS ROUTES.
UM, RATHER WHAT WE DID WAS WE ADJUSTED THE FREQUENCIES AND MANY CASES, UM, PRIMARILY ON THE WEEKENDS, WE REALLY TARGETED WHERE OUR ADJUSTMENTS WERE BASED ON THE RIDERSHIP THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING, UM, THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC, UM, AND THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER.
SO MANY OF OUR HIGHEST RIDERSHIP ROUTES, UM, WE, WE TRIED TO TOUCH AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE AND SOME OF OUR, UM, ROUTES THAT HAVE, UM, PERFORMED LESS WELL, MANY OF THEM WERE WEREN'T PERFORMING HONESTLY, SUPER GREAT WITH RIDERSHIP BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, UM, WERE THE ONES THAT WE TARGETED FOR THE FREQUENCY REDUCTIONS.
UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THIS IN THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS, UM, AND, UM, KEEP YOU UP TO DATE AS OUR STAFFING IMPROVES AND WE'RE ABLE TO REINSTATE SERVICES AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR DOTTIE, REMEMBER KITCHEN.
UM, I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND, AND I'M CERTAIN, CERTAIN Y'ALL ARE DOING THIS, BUT I'M WANTING TO, IF YOU COULD JUST HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING TO, TO, UM, COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS AND ALSO JUST GET A READ ON HOW THEY'RE FEELING ABOUT THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE NECESSITY TO CHANGE THE FREQUENCY.
I KNOW SOME OF THE ROUTES, I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH ONES ARE FEW.
MAYBE WE HAD TO GO FROM 15, 15 MINUTE TO 30 MINUTE, UH, WHICH CAN BE SIGNIFICANT FOR FOLKS.
AND SO I'M JUST WANTING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING TO COMMUNICATE, AND ALSO JUST TO KEEP A READ ON HOW PEOPLE ARE FEELING SO THAT WE CAN, UM, HELP MAINTAIN THE TRUST THAT WE'VE EARNED.
YOU ALL HAVE EARNED WITH ALL YOUR HARD WORK.
SO ABSOLUTELY THE GENERAL FEEDBACK WE HAVE RECEIVED HAS BEEN ONE, UH, WELL, WE DON'T LOVE IT, BUT WE KIND OF GET THAT.
UM, AND SO WE HAVE APPRECIATED THAT, UM, KIND OF GRACE, THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN WILLING TO EXTEND TO US.
UM, WE ARE DEFINITELY ABLE TO PROVIDE A MORE RELIABLE SERVICE NOW.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, I, I JOKED WITH A COLLEAGUE RECENTLY THAT WE COULD HAVE NOT CHANGED THE SCHEDULES AND TOLD YOU YOUR BEST WAS GOING TO COME EVERY 15 MINUTES, BUT WE WOULD HAVE BEEN LYING BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE THE DRIVERS TO GIVE YOU A BUS EVERY 30 MINUTES.
AND MOST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER KNOW WHAT THE SCHEDULE IS GOING TO BE AND HAVE IT BE MORE RELIABLE.
AND SO, UM, WE'RE STILL RELATIVELY EARLY IN THIS SERVICE CHANGE PERIOD.
IT'S BEEN JUST OVER A WEEK, UM, SINCE WE IMPLEMENTED THE NEW SCHEDULES, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, THE, THE FEEDBACK HAS BEEN RATHER POSITIVE.
WE, UM, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE OBVIOUSLY IF SOMEBODY IS WAITING FOR A BUS THAT DOES NOT SHOW UP, THEY'RE GONNA LET US KNOW ABOUT IT.
AND WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE AVOIDING THAT AT ALL COSTS.
UM, BUT I THINK ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I HAVE BEEN, UM, GENERALLY SATISFIED WITH THE LEVEL OF ACCEPTANCE AMONGST OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO WATCH THAT BECAUSE WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CONTINUE TO, TO HAVE TRUST IN US.
IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF ADDED CUSTOMER SERVICE OR SO FOR EXAMPLE, AND THIS MAY NEVER HAPPEN OR MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED, BUT I, YOU KNOW, IF SOMEONE CONTACTS A, I MEAN, HAVE WE SET UP A WAY THAT SOMEONE CAN CONTACT US IF OUR CHANGE IN TIMES REALLY CAUSES THEM DIFFICULTY, FOR EXAMPLE, GETTING TO A JOB OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WILL WE KNOW ABOUT IT? AND DO WE HAVE A WAY TO, YOU KNOW, TO, TO ACTUALLY SPEAK TO THEM AND TALK TO THEM AND HELP PROBLEM SOLVE WITH ABSOLUTELY.
THAT IS THE WORK THAT IS DONE EVERY DAY BY THE EXCELLENT FOLKS IN OUR CUSTOMER CARE TEAM.
THE EASIEST WAY TO GET US AS EITHER EMAILING, UM, CUSTOMER SERVICE@CAPMETRO.ORG, SORRY.
I HAD TO THINK THROUGH THAT ONE OR CALLING US AT OUR GO LINE, THE 5 1, 2, 4 7, 4, 1200 NUMBER, UM, AND THEY CAN HELP FOLKS KIND OF LOOK THROUGH THIS SCHEDULE AND UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THE IMPACT IS, HELP THEM FIGURE OUT THE RIGHT TRIPS.
AND IF THEY HAVE A CONCERN, THOSE ARE LOGGED AND TRACKED IN A DATABASE AND ACTUALLY HANDED OVER TO THE APPROPRIATE TEAMS, WHETHER IT'S OPERATIONS OR PLANNING OR SOME COMBINATION OF THE TWO, UM, TO, TO GET BACK WITH THE CUSTOMER AND ADDRESS THEIR CONCERNS.
UM, IN, IN ADDITION TO THAT AS A GESTURE TOWARD, UM, THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AND RECOGNITION THAT WE HAVE BEEN, UM, NOT AS GREAT AS WE'D LIKE TO BE.
WE HAVE ANNOUNCED THAT WE'LL BE OFFERING, UM, SERVICE WITHOUT A FARE FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, UM, AS RECOGNITION THAT WE'VE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD TO MAKE SOME FOLKS WAIT A LITTLE LONGER AND, AND, AND OUR SERVICES HAVEN'T BEEN AS GOOD AS WE WANT.
AND SO WE WANT TO, UM, JUST AS A SMALL TOKEN OF OUR APPRECIATION FOR FOLKS THAT, THAT STICK WITH US, UM, WE'RE OFFERING THOSE FREE FARES.
THEN LAST QUESTION, HAVE WE PUT OUT, UM, FLYERS OR SOME WAY TO, HOW HAVE WE NOTIFIED THE RIDERS ON PARTICULAR BUS LINE ABOUT THE CHANGE AND HOW HAVE WE,
[01:25:01]
AND HAVE WE INCLUDED IN THAT NOTIFICATION, THE PHONE NUMBER THEY CAN CALL IF THEY HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? YES.SO WE INCLUDE IN ALL OF OUR INFORMATION, WE INCLUDE THAT GO LINE NUMBER.
IN FACT, IT'S ON THE SIDE OF EVERY BUS, UM, JUST IN CASE SOMEBODY FORGETS IT.
UM, WE'VE PUT WHAT WE CALL, UM, MESSAGED CENTER NOTICES.
THERE'S A, UH, ROUGHLY EIGHT AND A HALF BY 11 PIECE OF PLEXIGLASS BEHIND THE OPERATOR THAT HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SLIP A PIECE OF PAPER IN.
AND SO THAT HAS, WE'VE BEEN ADVERTISING.
THESE CHANGES THROUGH THAT NOTICE, UM, UH, FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, UM, WE'VE ALSO, YOU KNOW, DONE SOCIAL MEDIA PUSHES.
UM, WE USE A SYSTEM THAT WE CALL METRO ALERTS FOR FOLKS THAT HAVE SIGNED UP TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS FROM US.
UM, AND WE'VE BLASTED THE INFORMATION OUT THAT WAY.
UM, SO WE THINK THAT OUR, WE DID NOT SEE WHEN WE MADE THIS, THE SCHEDULE CHANGE.
WE DID NOT SEE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PEOPLE AT ALL THAT DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS COMING.
SO THAT WAS I THINK, A GOOD JOB AND, AND SPEAKS WELL TO THE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN THAT OUR TEAM PUT TOGETHER.
OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR DOTTIE? REMEMBER RENTERIA? YEAH.
UM, I WAS KIND OF CONCERNED THEIR CITIZEN COMMUNICATION WHEN SOME OF OUR BEST DRIVERS WERE DISCUSSING ABOUT THEY'RE BEING LAID OFF OR LIKE WEEKS OR TWO WEEKS FOR PUNISHMENT, OR LIKE THE LADY SAID SHE CALLED 9 1 1 AND SHE WAS OFFERED TWO WEEKS.
AND, AND I WAS WONDERING, SHOULD WE REALLY DO THOSE KINDS OF THINGS WHERE MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF MORE TRAINING ON, UH, ON THEIR OWN OR WHATEVER, UH, INSTEAD OF, UH, YOU KNOW, TAKING ONE BUS DRIVER OUT OF THE LOOP AGAIN, I'M KIND OF, KIND OF STRANGE WHEN YOU SAYING, HEY, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE, BUT WE'RE LAYING PEOPLE OFF AND WE'RE PUNISHING PEOPLE BY, YOU KNOW, LAYING THEM OFF FOR TWO WEEKS.
AND, AND WELL, I, AND I WILL SAY IT WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR ME TO SPEAK TO ANY PARTICULAR INS ONE INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE OR THEIR CASE.
BUT, UM, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH MV TRANSPORTATION.
WHO'S OUR CONTRACTOR AND THE EMPLOYER OF THOSE, OF ALL OF OUR BUS OPERATORS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY'RE APPLYING THEIR DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES IN A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL WAY.
UM, AND, AND WE DID SO IN THAT CASE WAS ONE OF THE OTHER QUESTIONS FOR DOTTIE DANI.
I KNOW ALL OF US ON THE BOARD ARE CONCERNED ABOUT, UH, OUR INABILITY TO, TO DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO.
UH, I KNOW WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT, UH, UH, THE ROLE THAT MBS TO PLAY TO STEP UP ITS GAME.
AND IN THIS CONTEXT, UM, IT'S ALSO, UH, CLEAR TO ANY OF US OUT THERE IN THE HIRING ENVIRONMENT THAT THIS IS A UNPRECEDENTED TIME IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
I DON'T REMEMBER IT EVER BEING, UH, LIKE IT IS RIGHT NOW.
AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES, THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY AND OTHERS ARE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY DISRUPTED.
UM, I TRUST THAT YOU ALL ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE AND, AND BEES DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE FOR US TO GET BACK TO WHERE WE WANT TO GET AND APOLOGIZE TO THE PUBLIC FOR US NOT BEING THERE WHERE WE WANT TO BE.
AND HOPEFULLY THE OCTOBER FAIR, UH, UH, HOLIDAY WILL, UH, UH, BE SOME EVIDENCE THAT WE TAKE OUR JOB SERIOUSLY.
AND, UH, WE'RE GOING TO DO BETTER, UH, AS CIRCUMSTANCES PERMIT US TO DO BETTER AND APPRECIATE THE STEPS THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN, UH, IN OUR BEHALF BY STAFF.
BUT, UH, I JUST WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND THIS ISN'T ACCEPTABLE AND, UH, COLLECTIVELY WE'LL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO GET BACK TO WHERE WE WANT TO GO.
IT'S CLEAR SORT OF WATCHING THE NUMBERS ON COVID THAT WE'RE ON THE, I HOPE IT'S CLEAR THAT THE TREND CONTINUES THAT WE'RE ON THE BACKSIDE OF THIS LATEST SURGE AND, UH, ANTICIPATE SEEING AT LEAST MORE OF MY EMPLOYEES, UH, BACK IN THE OFFICE SOON.
AND I HOPE, I HOPE THAT'S THE CASE ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY, WHICH WILL MEAN MORE DEMAND FOR OUR SERVICES.
SO I THINK, UH, UH, WE'RE APPRECIATIVE OF ALL THAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING, BUT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO KEEP WORKING HARDER AND, UH, GET TO WHERE WE WANT TO GET SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
[VII.2. Capital Metro 2021 Brand Perception Study]
CYNTHIA LUCAS, UH, APROPOS PERHAPS WITH A BRAND PERCEPTION STUDY.CHAIRMAN COOPER, BOARD MEMBERS, PRESIDENT CLARK, CYNTHIA LUCAS.
I'M THE MARKETING DIRECTOR HERE AT CAPITAL METRO.
AND I'M GOING TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT TODAY ABOUT OUR BRAND PERCEPTION SURVEY.
UM, ESSENTIALLY WE HAD SOME SURVEY OBJECTIVES WE PUT TOGETHER, THIS IS AN ANNUAL SURVEY, SO, UH, WE DO FOCUS IN A LITTLE BIT FROM YEAR TO YEAR AND OUR OBJECTIVES WERE WHAT WE'VE TRADITIONALLY HAD, WHICH IS TO UNDERSTAND THE VIEWPOINTS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND CAPITAL METRO.
UH, WE ALSO QUESTIONED ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19
[01:30:01]
AND ASSESSING CONDITIONS THAT AFFECT OUR RIDERSHIP AS WELL AS MEASURING AWARENESS OF PROJECT CONNECT AND OUR METHODOLOGY AND DEMOGRAPHICS.THIS WAS PRIMARILY A TELEPHONE SURVEY, ALTHOUGH THERE WAS ONLINE SURVEY PANELS THAT WE USED, UH, WE INTERVIEWED 579 FOLKS AND CAME UP WITH A MARGIN OF ERROR PLUS OR MINUS 4.4%.
UH, WE PERFORM THE SURVEY IN, IN JUNE, EARLY JUNE OF THIS YEAR.
AND JUST SO YOU KNOW, THAT THIS IS A COMMUNITY WIDE SURVEY, MOSTLY IN OUR SERVICE AREA, BUT WE'RE ASKING EVERYBODY, SO OF THE, EVERYBODY THAT WE ASK ABOUT 62% OF THE RESPONDENTS SAID THEY DON'T ACTUALLY USE CAPITAL METRO SERVICES.
SO WE TRIED TO MATCH KIND OF THE GEOGRAPHIC INCOME AND RACIAL AND ETHNIC BREAKDOWNS, UH, TO BE SIMILAR TO PAST SURVEYS.
AND WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT WE STILL HAVE ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF RESPONDENTS THAT HAVE A POSITIVE IMAGE OF CAPITOL METRO.
NOW WE DID SEE A SIX POINT DROP FROM LAST YEAR, BUT LAST YEAR I THINK WE HAD IN OUR FAVOR THE, UH, GREAT COMMUNICATION THAT WAS GOING ON ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT AT THE TIME TO REALLY REFLECT WELL.
UM, AND THESE RESULTS, THIS TIME ARE REALLY CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN PREVIOUS BRAND PERCEPTION SURVEYS.
IT'S ACTUALLY THE SECOND HIGHEST, UH, RATING WE'VE RECORDED.
UM, AND AMONG THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY KIND OF SAW HERE, UH, WAS THAT WE'RE HOLDING STEADY WITH THE COMMUNITY.
AND I THINK THAT'S THE BIGGEST THING AS FAR AS WHERE OUR APPROVAL RATINGS ARE OVERALL.
UM, OUR NEXT QUESTION HAD TO DO WITH THE IMPACT OF COVID AND, UH, IT WAS KIND OF INTERESTING.
I FOUND THAT ONE OF THE REASONS FOLKS SAY THAT THEY'RE NOT USING CAPITAL METRO AS MUCH IS BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST NOT GOING OUT AS MUCH.
UM, THERE WAS A PERCENTAGE HERE THAT, UH, WE DID SEE WHO WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SPREAD OF COVID, WHICH IS KIND OF, UH, INSIGHTFUL AND WILL HELP US MOVING FORWARD, PARTICULARLY IN THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION WORLD TO BETTER COMMUNICATE ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO TO MAKE THOSE RIDES SAFE.
UM, AND HONESTLY, WHEN WE ASK, IF YOU KNOW, IS THE DECREASE IN RIDERSHIP WE'RE SEEING RELATED TO, COVID PROBABLY NOT.
THAT'S BASICALLY THE CONCLUSION WE CAME UP WITH.
SO NEXT THING WE WERE LOOKING FOR WAS THE CONDITIONS IMPACTING RIDERSHIP AND REALLY LOCATION.
WHAT WE HEAR FROM PEOPLE IS THE LOCATIONS OF STOPS AND STATION IS THE MAJOR REASON WHY THEY DON'T RIDE.
UM, AND THEN THE SECOND LARGEST IS THE LENGTH OF THE TRIP.
UM, A QUARTER OF RESPONDENTS MENTIONED OTHER REASONS, UM, MOST THAT WE WEREN'T GOING WHERE THEY NEEDED TO GO.
UM, WE HAD, UH, ASKED THIS KIND OF AS A NEW QUESTION IN 2020.
SO WHAT WE'RE SEEING THIS YEAR IS THAT OUR MEASUREMENT OF THE QUESTION IS REALLY CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE SAW THE FIRST YEAR, UH, WHILE WE SEE THAT AWARENESS OF CAPITAL METRO SERVICES LOOKS LIKE IT'S THE LOWEST REASON FOR FOLKS NOT RIDING, UM, THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE.
UH, YOU MAY THINK THAT YOU CAN'T RIDE BECAUSE THE STOP IS NOT CONVENIENT.
YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHERE THE STOP IS.
UH, SO THERE'S STILL WORK INCUMBENT UPON US AS MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS TO EDUCATE FOLKS ABOUT THE, ALL OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE OUT THERE, UH, TO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, INCLUDING FLEXIBLE OPTIONS WE HAVE NOW, LIKE METRO RIDE SHARE METRO BIKE AND OF COURSE PICKUP.
AND, UM, WE ASK ABOUT THE IMPACTS ON QUALITY OF LIFE.
UH, THIS GROUP QUESTION REALLY HELPS US UNDERSTAND, UM, WHERE TRANSIT CAN PLAY A ROLE IN IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE.
THIS WAS A NEW QUESTION BACK IN 2020, AND THIS YEAR WE'RE SEEING VERY DIFFERENT RESPONSES.
UM, TWO OUT OF THE SEVEN RESPONDENTS RATED TRAFFIC OR GROWTH AS A TOP ISSUE IN AUSTIN, A NET INCREASE OF 11 POINTS.
UM, BUT YOU ALSO SEE THAT THIS, UH, SURVEY, WHICH WAS TAKEN REALLY SHORTLY AFTER THE MAY BALLOT MEASURE FOR CAMPING IN PUBLIC PLACES,
[01:35:01]
UH, IT REALLY, THIS YEAR WE HEARD A LOT MORE ABOUT, UM, PEOPLE WHO WERE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS, UM, BEING THE BIGGEST THING WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH NOW, UM, THIS MAY CHANGE SINCE NEXT YEAR, SINCE THIS WAS RIGHT AFTER, UH, AN INITIATIVE, A BALLOT INITIATIVE.UM, BUT, UH, THAT WAS THE BIG SHIFT FOR THIS ONE.
UM, NO, TO HAVE MAJORITY OF FOLKS SAY PLANNING FOR GROWTH AND, OR ADDRESSING TRAFFIC IS A TOP ISSUE.
AND THIS CONTINUES TO POINT TO OUR NEED TO COMMUNICATE ABOUT TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS FOR ALL OF THIS.
THEN OF COURSE, WE ASK ABOUT AWARENESS OF PROJECT CONNECT AND THAT HAS INCREASED FROM 37% IN 2020 TO 52%.
UH, THIS YEAR NOW WE FEEL LIKE THIS WAS BIG JUMP, YOU KNOW, DUE IN NO SMALL PART TO ALL OF THE GREAT COMMUNICATION THAT ALL OF OUR TEAMS WERE PUTTING TOGETHER TO COMMUNICATE PROJECT CONNECT BEFORE WE HAD THE ELECTION LAST YEAR.
UM, IT'S THE SECOND YEAR WE'VE ASKED THIS QUESTION AND WHILE INQUIRY AWARENESS IS DEFINITELY INCREASING.
SOME OF THE THINGS WE SAW IN THAT WAS THAT PEOPLE MAY NOT ACTUALLY KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT.
THEY KNOW THE NAME, THEY KNOW KIND OF WHAT IT'S ABOUT, BUT THERE ARE WAYS WE CAN DEFINITELY IMPROVE OUR COMMUNICATION WITH FOLKS TO BETTER INFORM THEM.
UM, AND THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU ALL MAY HAVE.
ALWAYS GOOD TO HEAR WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT US AND THE ISSUES.
REMEMBER KITCHEN WITH QUESTION, I THINK MAYBE MEMBER ROSS, DO YOU WANT TO GO FIRST OR NO? OKAY.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
SO I'LL ASK, UH, ONE OF THEM AND THEN LET SOMEONE ELSE ASK AND THEN COME BACK.
SO, UM, MY FIRST QUESTION IS, UH, DO WE, UH, I'D LOVE TO SEE THE CROSS TABS FOR, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENCES IN, IF THERE ARE ANY DIFFERENCES IN HOW PEOPLE ANSWERED, IF THEY WERE SOMEONE WHO RODE THE BUS OR SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T, SINCE I THINK YOU SAID 67% DID NOT RIDE THE BUS.
I MEAN, IT'S GOOD TO GET VERY GOOD TO GET THEIR PERCEPTIONS TOO.
I WOULD JUST WANT TO SEE IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE NOTING ANY DIFFERENCES FOR ANY OF THESE MAJOR AREAS OR SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THOSE ERODING, THOSE TO D D DID YOU, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THAT ANALYSIS OR NOT? I HAVEN'T, WE DIDN'T DO A DIVE WHERE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, BUT THAT IS CERTAINLY AVAILABLE.
SO CAN YOU SHARE THAT? CAN YOU SHARE THE CROSS TABS WITH US? YES MA'AM.
I WILL, UM, SHARE, I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS, BUT I'LL LET OTHERS ASK FIRST.
I LOVE THE IDEA OF THIS AND A LOT, OBVIOUSLY BEING THE NEW KID ON THE DIOCESE, BUT, UM, I GUESS MY THOUGHT WAS IS I WAS 579.
RESPONDENTS JUST SEEMS AWFULLY LOW TO REALLY GET A GOOD IDEA.
AND I'M WONDERING IF THERE'S BEEN, UM, THOUGHTS OR IDEAS TOSSED AROUND TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THAT, UM, COMMUNICATION OUT FOR US TO GET MORE INFORMATION AND MORE PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO.
WE ACTUALLY SET THAT AS A GOAL BECAUSE BASED ON THE PERCENTAGES OF POPULATION, I THINK YOU'D BE VERY SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT SOMETIMES WE WOULD JUST GO OUT TO ABOUT 300 OR 400 PEOPLE AND STILL REACH THAT GOAL WE HAD WAS A PLUS OR MINUS 5% ACCURACY WITH THE SURVEY.
SO THAT IS KIND OF THE, THE STATISTICAL THOUGHT THAT LEADS THIS.
UH, WE CERTAINLY CAN AND HAVE, UH, AT OTHER TIMES DONE MORE SURVEYS, BUT WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS IT DOESN'T TEND TO CHANGE THE RESULT OF IT QUITE SO MUCH.
AND OF COURSE THESE ARE HIGH LEVEL SURVEYS, UH, THAT WE'RE NOT REALLY TRYING TO DIG DEEP WITH THESE FOLKS, WHICH IS WHERE I THINK PERHAPS SOME OF WHAT YOU ARE, WOULD BE INTERESTED IN AND I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN, WE COULD FIND, BUT THAT'S MORE LIKELY GOING TO BE IN A FOCUS GROUP SETTING, UH, WHERE WE REALLY COULD DIG A LITTLE MORE DEEPLY, BUT, YOU KNOW, STATISTICALLY, THIS HIT THE MARK, BUT I DO HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
AND, UH, I MEAN, WE, WE HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THOSE CHANGES.
REMEMBER? UH, YEAH, I SHARE THAT CONCERN TOO.
SO DID I UNDERSTAND STATISTICALLY WHERE WE'RE GOING FOR PLUS OR MINUS FIVE? YES MA'AM.
AND SO THAT'S BEEN OUR POLICY TO DETERMINE OUR SAMPLE
[01:40:01]
SIZE.AND THAT HAS BEEN CONSISTENT OVER THE YEARS THAT WE PERFORMED THIS SURVEY.
I WONDER WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO, TO, TO REDUCE THAT TO LIKE A PLUS OR MINUS THREE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
YEAH, I THINK, I MEAN, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT AS WE PROCEED TO GET, UH, MAYBE GET A BETTER READ.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW YOU WELL, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT WE CONSIDER A PLUS OR MINUS THREE, UNLESS YOU THINK THAT THAT JUST IS NOT GONNA, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE COST IS VERSUS WE CAN CERTAINLY LOOK AT THAT AND GIVE YOU FEEDBACK ON THAT WITH OUR PROFESSIONALS, BECAUSE WE DO WORK, UH, THIS PARTICULAR SURVEY, WE WORK WITH SHERRY MATTHEWS AND VASILY'S, UH, AND VASILY'S IS, IS GREAT TO WORK WITH AND CAN HELP, UH, US COME UP WITH THE ANSWERS TO THIS.
IF YOU WOULD SHARE US WHAT IT WOULD TAKE AND WHAT THEIR OPINION IS, YOU KNOW, OF GOING FROM PLUS OR MINUS FIVE TO PLUS OR MINUS THREE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, OKAY, SO THEN THE OTHER, UM, AND THEN I JUST HAVE TWO OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE SLIDE THAT SPEAKS TO THE PROJECT CONNECT, UM, AND IMPRESSIONS.
I DIDN'T SEE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT SLIDE NUMBER IT WAS IF YOU COULD PULL THAT ONE UP AGAIN WAS NEAR THE END.
SO THAT, THAT ONE, I NOTED THAT THE SOMEWHAT NEGATIVE AND THE STRONG NEGATIVE HAVE BOTH GONE UP.
SO WE'RE REALLY GONE FROM 9% TO 15% THERE.
AND JUST CURIOUS IF THAT'S WHERE I REALLY WANT TO SEEK LIKE CROSS TABS OR SOMETHING.
AND, UM, SO WELL, MORE PEOPLE HAVE HEARD OF IT.
THE NEGATIVE IS GOING UP NOW, YOU KNOW, THAT MAY NOT BE THAT MUCH, YOU KNOW, 9% TO 15%.
AND WE CAN EXPECT ADDITIONAL CONCERNS AS WE GET INTO IT, YOU KNOW? BUT, UM, WHAT I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE, IS THERE ANY DRILL DOWN THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND FROM THE CROSS TABS ABOUT WHAT THAT'S TELLING US, IF ANYTHING, UH, IT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT, BECAUSE IT IS A FAIRLY SMALL SHIFT, IT WASN'T SOMETHING WE LOOKED AT HARD, UH, ESPECIALLY SINCE, YOU KNOW, OUR AWARENESS HAS IMPROVED SO MUCH.
UM, BUT I'M HAPPY TO DISCUSS THAT, TO SEE WHAT WE COULD PULL OUT.
YOU JUST SEE IF THERE'S ANY CONCLUSIONS YOU CAN REACH FROM LOOKING AT THE CROSS TABS, HAPPY TO DO THAT.
AND THEN MY LAST ONE IS, UM, THERE WAS ANOTHER SLIDE ABOUT CONDITIONS THAT IMPACT RIDERS REMEMBER, WHICH THERE IT IS.
SO THAT MY QUESTION JUST, THERE WAS ONE, ONE IS IN THAT OTHER CATEGORY, IT'S A LOT OF THAT WERE THINGS LIKE PEOPLE SAYING I HAVE A CAR.
UM, AND IT WAS A WIDE VARIETY THERE WASN'T, OTHER THAN PROBABLY I'VE GOT A CAR, UH, OR DOES IT GO WHERE I NEED TO GO, IT'S REALLY GOING TO BE PRETTY DIVERSE, DIFFERENT SETS OF ANSWERS, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE DID SEE WITH PEOPLE JUST RESPOND THAT I HAVE A CAR.
WELL THAT SEEMS TO BE THE AREA THAT'S GONE UP.
AND SO I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS ANY DRILL DOWN THERE IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT DID WE SEE ANYTHING THAT WAS UNUSUAL OR DIFFERENT THAN, THAN YOU'VE SEEN IN THE PAST? I I'D BE GUESSING.
AND I MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE CROSS TABS WITH THE COVID QUESTION, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, UN UN INFORMED AT THIS POINT GUESS WOULD BE THAT PART OF THAT, UH, WOULD BE DRIVEN BY PEOPLE HAVING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF CONCERN ABOUT BEING IN PUBLIC.
WELL, IF YOU COULD JUST CHECK THAT ONE OUT TOO, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I'LL JUST MAKE A COMMENT BACK ON PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, IT'S INTERESTING THAT WE WENT IN 2020 TO 63% OF THE PEOPLE, UH, NOT BEING AWARE OF IT, NEVER HEARD OF IT TO 48%.
SO 15% MORE PEOPLE WERE AWARE OF IT.
AND THEY BROKE VERY MUCH IN FAVOR POSITIVELY AS OPPOSED TO NEGATIVELY.
REMEMBER KITCHEN POINTED OUT THE NEGATIVES WENT FROM NINE TO 15, BUT THE POSITIVES WENT FROM 22 TO 29 AS PEOPLE BECAME MORE AWARE OF IT.
SO, UM, WE'RE GOING TO RUFFLE SOME FEATHERS AND IN 2021 PEOPLE GOT TAX BILLS THAT WERE, UH, IMPACTED.
UM, SO I THINK THE FACT THAT WE CONTINUE TO SEE INCREASING FAVORIBILITY, UH, IS A GOOD THING WITH ONCE WE START TEARING UP STREETS, UM, WE'RE GOING TO BE TESTED ON THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE,
[01:45:01]
BUT WE'VE PASSED THE FIRST TEST, WHICH IS THEY GOT THE FIRST TAX BILL.SO I TAKE THAT AS A POSITIVE REMEMBER KITCHEN.
I WOULD AGREE, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WHAT THE WHY IS BECAUSE, UM, CAUSE THAT'LL JUST HELP US AS WE GO INTO THE FUTURE.
SO YES, THIS LOOKS GREAT THAT WE HAVE MORE OF THOSE FOLKS GOING INTO THE POSITIVE CON CON YOU KNOW, UH, UH, COLUMN THAN THE NEGATIVE COLUMN, BUT WE REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS THAT'S CAUSING THE NEGATIVE SO THAT WE CAN BE PREPARED TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN.
THIS IS A PRETTY SMALL SAMPLE.
SO, BUT TO THE EXTENT WE CAN INSTANT WE CAN GET ANY INDICATIONS.
SO OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS VERY WELL.
[VII.3. Project Connect Update]
CARTWRIGHT, AND A RETURN VISIT THIS AFTERNOON.UH, CHAIR COOPER, BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT CEO CLARK, AGAIN, I'M KEN CARTER, VICE PRESIDENT OF CONSTRUCTION FACILITIES.
AND FOR THIS MONTH'S PROJECT CONNECT UPDATE, WE'D LIKE TO FOCUS ON THE METRO RAPID LINE.
SO WE'VE GOT A FEW SLIDES PREPARED FOR YOU FOR YOU HERE, AS YOU WERE AWARE FROM THE ORIGINAL, UM, INVESTMENT RELATED TO PROJECT CONNECT TO ONE OF THE COMPONENTS OF THAT, WHERE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW METRO RAPID BUS, RAPID TRANSIT LINES.
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE ABOUT MIDWAY DOWN THE TIMELINE.
YOU CAN SEE PHASE ONE, METRO RAPID LINES.
THAT PHASE ONE INCLUDES THE ESTABLISHMENT OR THE CREATION OF THE EXPO, THE PLEASANT VALLEY, THE MEN CHAKA AND OAK HILL EXTENSIONS AS, AND THEN THE, THE NEXT PHASE WOULD THEN INCLUDE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOLD LINE.
THE TOTAL ALLOCATED IN THE PROJECT CONNECT BUDGET FOR THESE PROJECTS WAS $170 MILLION.
THE FIRST LINE, THE EXPO CENTER LINE, YOU CAN SEE HERE HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW BEGINS AT THE TRAVIS COUNTY EXPO CENTER THEN WORKS ITS WAY AROUND THE LBJ HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS AND THE DELCO COMMUNITY OR ACTIVITY CENTER, AND THEN WORKS ITS WAY THROUGH THE MILLER DEVELOPMENT AND EVENTUALLY INTO DOWNTOWN NEXT, WE HAVE THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE AND THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE YOU SEE HERE, UH, BEGINS IN THE MILLER DEVELOPMENT AND WORKS ITS WAY DOWN TO THE SOUTHEAST, EVENTUALLY ON PLEASANT VALLEY EXTENDING AS FAR SOUTH AS THE MCKINNEY FALLS AND THEN ENDING OUR TERMINATING AT, UH, GOODNIGHT RANCH THERE AT SLAUGHTER LANE, JUST EAST OF
SO AS YOU MAY BE AWARE, OR AS YOU ARE AWARE, WE HAVE THE METRO RAPID ROUTE 8 0 3.
THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT INCLUDES THE EXTENSION SOUTHWARD FROM OUR WEST GATE TRANSIT CENTER.
THE SOUTHERN LAKE GOES DOWN AND CHAKA TO SLAUGHTER LANE.
THE WESTWARD EXTENSION OUT TO OAK HILL GOES ALONG, UH, BEN WEIDER, STATE HIGHWAY 71 AND TWO 90, THE, UH, SOUTHERN LEG THERE, UH, OF MEN CHOCO WOULD BE ESTABLISHED FIRST.
AND, UH, WE'LL COVER THIS A LITTLE BIT LATER, BUT, UH, AS YOU MAY BE AWARE OF THE OAK HILL EXTENSION, THAT HIGHWAY IS, UH, UNDER CONSTRUCTION NOW.
SO THE TIMING OF THAT WILL BE AFFECTED BY THAT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE GOLD LINE, YOU CAN SEE HERE BEGINNING AT ACC HIGHLAND, UH, PARALLELING
SO THOSE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT ARE INCLUDED WITHIN THE SCOPE OF PROJECT CONNECT.
UH, FOR METRO RAPID SERVICE, THE, A TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE SIMILAR TO OUR CURRENT SERVICE.
WE HAVE 10 MINUTE PEAK SERVICE WITH LIMITED STOPS.
IT'LL BE A CORRIDOR BASED, UM, BUS, RAPID TRANSIT SERVICE AND MIXED TRAFFIC.
THERE WILL BE TRANSIT PRIORITY TREATMENTS, AND THOSE ARE THE DEVICES AT EACH INTERSECTION THAT ALLOW FOR EXTENDED GREENS FOR THE BUSES TO PASS THROUGH THE INTERSECTIONS AND, UH, MAKE A LITTLE BIT BETTER TIME THROUGH THOSE INTERSECTIONS.
AND AS DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY WITH THE ELECTRIC BUS, UM, UH, CONTRACT, IT WILL BE AN ALL ELECTRIC FLEET AND WILL FEATURE IN ROUTE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, THE STATIONS THEMSELVES.
THIS IS AN EARLY CONCEPT FOR THOSE STATIONS, WITH A SHELTER, WITH A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT SIZES, UH, IN TIGHT RIGHT AWAY CONDITIONS.
WE HAVE A SLIGHTLY SMALLER SIZE.
WE'RE GOING TO UTILIZE SOLAR TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE WHERE EACH SITE WILL ALLOW US TO WE'LL HAVE CAMERAS, WE'LL HAVE DYNAMIC MESSAGE SIGNS THERE AT KEY LOCATIONS WHERE WE HAVE HEAVY TRANSFERS BETWEEN ROUTES WE'LL OFFER TICKET VENDING MACHINES, AND AT EACH LOCATION WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ADD COMMUNITY INFORMATION, PUBLIC ART, AND EVEN TREES, THE ELECTRIC
[01:50:01]
INFRASTRUCTURE.UH, OF COURSE YOU LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE BUSES TODAY, UH, BUT THE FIRST TWO ROUTES WILL FEATURE 40 FOOT ELECTRIC BUSES.
ALTHOUGH EVERY STATION WILL BE DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE A 60 FOOT BUS.
SO THEY WOULD BE INTERCHANGEABLE WITH 60 FOOT BUSES.
THERE WILL BE OVERHEAD CHARGING.
THE PICTURES YOU SEE HERE ARE THE OVERHEAD PANTOGRAPH CHARGING DEVICES, AND THEY WERE INCLUDED AS OPTIONS IN THE CONTRACT THAT YOU JUST APPROVED.
AND WE WILL HAVE FAST CHARGERS, UH, TO SUPPORT THOSE AT, AT END OF ENDS OF LINE CHARGING THESE BUSES AND ABOUT A 14 MINUTE TIMEFRAME IN TERMS OF THE CURRENT STATUS FOR THE EXPO ROUTE, THAT'S A APPROXIMATELY A $44.6 MILLION, UH, PROJECT WITH A TARGET, UH, START OF SERVICE IN MID 2023.
THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE IS A $48.9 MILLION PROJECT WITH THE SAME STARTING TIMEFRAME.
UH, THE ENVIRONMENTAL APPROVALS FOR THESE TWO PROJECTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
THOSE APPROVALS HAVE BEEN GRANTED.
WE HAVE COMPLETED 30% DESIGN ON BOTH OF THESE ROUTES AND ARE NOW WORKING ON 60% DESIGN THE FUNDING, THE GRANT FUNDING FOR THESE PROJECTS.
UH, WE ARE, WE HAVE APPLIED FOR A FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING THROUGH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION.
THE FUNDING WAS INCLUDED IN THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET, UH, BACK IN MAY OF 2021.
AND WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, UH, ON ALL THE DOCUMENTS, SUBMISSIONS REQUIRED TO SUPPORT THAT GRANT APPLICATION.
THE FTA HAS ASSIGNED A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT CONSULTANT, AND THAT'S THE CONSULTING TEAM WE WORK WITH IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT THESE PROJECTS.
AND WE'RE SUBMITTING TO THEM GRANT READINESS DOCUMENTS, AND THOSE ARE THINGS LIKE OUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND OUR RISK MANAGEMENT PLANS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT THEY REVIEW AND, UH, EVENTUALLY APPROVE, UH, WHEN THEY'RE SATISFIED WITH THOSE.
AND WE NOW HAVE MONTHLY MEETINGS WITH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, UH, UM, TO UPDATE THEM ON THE PROJECT AND TO GET THEIR INPUT IN TERMS OF OUTREACH.
UH, BACK IN FEBRUARY AND APRIL, THERE WERE VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSES AND COMMUNITY MEETINGS WHERE WE, UH, RECEIVED INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC ON THESE PROJECTS.
WE HAVE, UM, UM, AND CONTINUE TO DO COMMUNITY GROUPS AND NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS.
UM, THERE WAS, UH, A, UH, A FOCUSED, UM, OPEN HOUSE ON SEPTEMBER 9TH, A VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE WHERE WE UPDATED THE COMMUNITY ON THESE TWO PROJECTS AND THEY HAD GOOD PARTICIPATION.
UH, LATER THIS YEAR, WE HOPE TO SHOW OUR, UH, FINAL CONSULTANT, UH, EXCUSE ME, SHELTER CONCEPTS WITH YOU AND THE PUBLIC TO SHOW YOU WHAT THOSE COULD LOOK LIKE.
AND WE'RE CURRENTLY TARGETING A GROUNDBREAKING FOR THE EXPO LINE AND THIS DECEMBER AND FOR THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE IN JANUARY, LIKE TO FOCUS A LITTLE BIT ON THE MEN, CHECK ON OAK HILL EXTENSIONS THERE.
AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, THESE WOULD BE AN EXTENSION OF OUR EXISTING 8 0 3 ROUTE, OUR METRO RAPID 8 0 3 ROUTE AND WOULD INCLUDE NEW CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, AGAIN, WE'RE EXTENDING, UH, TO THE SOUTH FROM THE WEST GATE TRANSIT CENTER, ALONG THE CHAKA, DOWN TO THE TANGLEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD THERE AT SLAUGHTER, AND THEN WESTWARD FROM THE WEST GATE TRANSIT CENTER, UM, OUT TO OAK HILL.
AND, UH, THE MAIN CHAKA LINE, OUR TARGET COMPLETION DATE IS FOR LATE 2023, WHEREAS THE OAK HILL LINE BECAUSE OF THE HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION OF THAT AREA, UH, THAT IS ANTICIPATED TO GO INTO SERVICE.
AND AROUND 2026, AFTER THAT HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETED AND WE'RE CURRENTLY COORDINATING WITH TXDOT ON THAT PARTICULAR LEG.
WHEN WE EVALUATED THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT AGAINST THE FTA GRANT SCORING CRITERIA, IT SEEMED TO SCORE FAIRLY LOW.
UM, AND SO AS A RESULT, WE ARE, UH, MOVING FORWARD WITH THESE PARTICULAR PROJECTS WITH LOCAL FUNDS.
AND I'VE GOT A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ON THIS AS WELL.
SO THE QUESTION WAS WHY LOCAL FUNDING, AND HERE'S JUST A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, SMALL STARTS GRANTS PROGRAM IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY EVALUATE IN ORDER TO SCORE THESE PROJECTS.
IT'S A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE GRANT FUNDING SOURCE, EH, THE EVALUATION CRITERIA THERE ON THE RIGHT INCLUDES THE LOCAL FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS IN TERMS OF FUNDING AND EFFICIENCY OF, OF THE, UH, THE COST OF THE PROJECT.
AND ON THE LEFT, THERE'S THE PROJECT JUSTIFICATION.
A LOT OF WHICH CONSISTS OF THE LAND USE THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROJECT.
AND THE CRITERIA IS GO SCORED FROM LOW TO HIGH ON THE FTAS, UM, SCALE.
AND YOU HAVE TO ATTAIN THEM AN OVERALL PROJECT, MEDIUM RATING IN ORDER TO BE, UH, IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THAT GRANT FUNDING.
SO WHEN WE, UH, RAN THESE THROUGH THE SCORING CRITERIA, WE, UH, WE SCORED LOW ON LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR THESE PARTICULAR
[01:55:01]
PROJECTS.AND AS A RESULT MADE THE DECISION TO MOVE FORWARD WITH LOCAL FUNDS AND NOT SEEK THE FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING ON THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT JUST QUICKLY ON THE METRO REP AND GOLD LINE.
WE'RE STARTING THE DISCUSSIONS, UH, FOR THIS PARTICULAR LINE WITH THE STATE OF TEXAS, UT AS WELL AS THE CITY OF AUSTIN ON THIS ROUTE AND ALL THE COORDINATION, IT TOUCHES EACH OF THOSE ENTITIES ALONG THIS ROUTE.
UM, THIS IS TO SUPPORT THE HIGH RIDERSHIP NEEDS AND THE CONGESTION RELIEF THAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
SO THIS WILL GREATLY IMPROVE THIS, UM, THIS, UH, ROUTE PARTICULARLY WAS BASED ON THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, UH, WHICH INCLUDED DEDICATED, UH, TRANSIT LANES.
AND, UH, THIS ONE, UH, THIS ROUTE WILL BE, UH, ADVANCED WITH LOCAL FUNDS.
THERE'S THE GOAL IN THE FUTURE TO CONVERT THIS TO LIGHT RAIL.
SO WE WANT TO USE LOCAL FUNDS.
SO WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS IN THE FUTURE ON THIS, IN TERMS OF METRO RAPID, NEXT STEPS.
SO WE'RE ADVANCING TOWARDS 60% DESIGN ON EXPO AND PLEASANT VALLEY.
UH, WE SHOULD COMPLETE THE GRANT READINESS DOCUMENTS AND HAVE THOSE SUBMITTED TO THE FTA.
UH, BY THE END OF OCTOBER, AGAIN, WE CONTINUE OUR MONTHLY MEETINGS WITH THE FTA ON THESE TWO PROJECTS TODAY, YOU AWARDED THE CONTRACT ON THE, UH, THE BUSES AND THE OPTIONS FOR CHARGERS, UH, WHICH ARE A LARGE PART OF THIS PROJECT.
WE, UH, NEXT MONTH, HOPE TO BRING TO YOU THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS FOR THE, UH, EXCELLENT PLEASANT VALLEY LINES FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
AND THEN BY LATE THIS YEAR, WE EXPECT TO HAVE A SHELTER DESIGNS AND FABRICATION, AND THAT PROCESS UNDERWAY.
AND AGAIN, THE CURRENT TARGETS FOR GROUNDBREAKING ARE FOR THE EXPO LINE IN DECEMBER, AND THEN FOR THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE IN JANUARY, BOTH GOING INTO SERVICE MID 20, 23, AND I'LL STOP THERE AND BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE REGARDING THIS INFORMATION QUESTIONS, MR. CARTWRIGHT, REMEMBER KITCHEN.
YOU WERE MENTIONING, UH, PLEASANT VALLEY AND HAVE Y'ALL WELL, YEAH, I KNOW PLEASANT VALLEY THERE AT OLD TAR.
IF IT DOESN'T HAVE, UH, THE STREET IS NOT COMPLETE TO 180 3 OR BEEN MITES.
AND I WAS JUST WONDERING, UH, HOW FAR ARE YOU ON THAT ONE? I NEED SOME HELP ON THAT, OR SO ANYHOW, IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
WE ARE IN DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CITY ON THAT, AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GAP IN PLEASANT VALLEY.
SO WE WILL BE ROUTING AROUND THAT GAP UNTIL A FUTURE TIMELINE WHEN, WHEN THE CITY DOES COMPLETE THE GAP, UH, THEY'RE IN PLEASANT VALLEY.
SO, UH, BUT WE ARE IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH THE CITY AND UNDERSTAND THE PLANS AND THE TIMING RELATED TO THAT.
AND WE'RE PREPARED TO ADJUST THE ROUTE TO MAKE IT CONTINUOUS LONG PLEASANT VALLEY.
WHEN, WHEN THAT PROJECT HAS COMPLETED AND HAVE THIS, HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANY DISCUSSION ON WHAT WHAT'S KEEPING THAT FROM? YOU KNOW, BILL AND THE STREET ON THE WAY, ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A QUITE EXPENSIVE PROJECT, UH, THROUGH, ACROSS THE FLOODPLAIN TO FILL IN THAT GAP.
SO I'M SURE FUNDING AVAILABILITY IS AS PART OF THAT, BEYOND THAT DON'T HAVE CLAIMANTS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF BEN WHITE IT'S ON THE SOUTH SIDE, THE, UM, THE ONE THAT, WHERE I'M TALKING ABOUT, IF, IF MY DESPERATE NEED, WHICH IS THE ONE THAT FROM OVERTOOK TO BEN WHITE FROM OLD TORAH TO BEN WHITE, THE, THE, THE GAP IN PLEASANT VALLEY THERE.
THAT'S, THAT'S THE, SO THEY'RE JUST GONNA WAIT UNTIL THEY CAN DO THE WHOLE ROAD COMPLETELY ON, ON THE, ON THE NORTH END AND SOUTH SIDE OF, UH, WE'RE GOING TO FOLLOW PLEASANT VALLEY IN ITS ENTIRETY SOUTHWARD.
UM, AND WHEN WE REACH THAT GAP, WE HAVE A SHORT REROUTE AROUND THAT GAP TEMPORARILY, AND THEN WHEN THE CITY COMPLETES THAT PROJECT AND THEN WE WILL HAVE THAT, UH, WE WILL GO STRAIGHT THROUGH.
I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AND, UM, SO TO FOLLOW UP ON A BOARD MEMBER RENTERIA, SO WE, UH, DO WE NOT KNOW WHAT THE CITY'S TIMING IS AT THIS POINT? I DON'T CURRENTLY KNOW WHAT THE TIMING IS.
WE WILL FOLLOW UP AND GET CONFIRMATION, BUT I BELIEVE AS AT LEAST A FEW YEARS IN THE FUTURE.
CAUSE I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME FUNDING FOR THAT, BUT ANYWAY.
UM, DID, DID I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS ACTUALLY HAVING THOSE CHARGERS THAT CAN BE USED ALONG A BUS LINE OR WHAT'S THE THINKING THERE? JUST AT THE END THERE'S UM, WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THOSE DETAILS RIGHT NOW.
UM, W THE, THE GOAL IS PRIMARILY TO HAVE THEM AT THE END OF THE LINE THERE.
[02:00:01]
BROWN OR END OF LINE, WE JUST NEED REALLY TWO CHARGERS PER LINE, ESSENTIALLY IN ORDER TO KEEP THOSE BUSES IN SERVICE.SO THERE'D BE ABOUT A 15 MINUTE LAYOVER AT THOSE CHARGERS TO CHARGE THEM, THEN THEY WOULD CONTINUE ON AS OPPOSED TO HAVING TO PULL THEM OFF AT THE END OF THE DAY, OR, YOU KNOW, OR TAKE MORE TIME TO CHARGE THEM.
SO THAT COULD BE VERY INTERESTING.
THEN, UM, ON THE, UH, MIN CHAKA, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY, THE, THAT WAS, IT WAS NOT SUBMITTED, SO IT'S NOT, WE GOT, IT'S NOT THAT WE GOT A LOW SCORE IT'S JUST TO, NOT TO DIMINISH IT, BUT THE ASSESSMENT OF Y'ALL'S ASSESSMENT WAS THAT IT WOULD'VE COME BACK WITH A LOW SCORES.
AND, UM, I DO, I WILL HAVE SOME MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
WE DON'T NEED TO GO INTO THE DETAIL NOW.
IT'S JUST HELPFUL FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT FACTORS ARE IMPACTING THAT, BUT LET ME JUST ASK THIS QUESTION IS THE FACT THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE USING LOCAL FUNDING AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, UM, AS OPPOSED TO THE FDA SMALL STARTS, DOES THAT DELAY, DOES THAT SLOW DOWN THE PRO UH, NOT DELAYING, BUT DOES THAT SLOW DOWN THE PROJECT AT ALL? USING LOCAL FUNDING? YEAH.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH OTHER QUESTIONS FOR KEN.
I HAVE ONE KEN OR A COUPLE, PERHAPS IT'S A LITTLE BIT CONCERNING THAT WE DON'T THINK THE MEN SHAKA OAK HILL LINE WOULD QUALIFY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS BECAUSE OF, AND I THINK THE ANALYSIS WAS LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WAS THE PRIMARY ISSUE ISSUE.
ARE THERE, IS THAT AN FIXABLE, IN OTHER WORDS, ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE THE LAND USE IN THAT CORRIDOR OR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS IN THAT CORRIDOR? YEAH.
I MIGHT DEFER TO A CHARMELLA MUKHERJEE.
SHE WENT THROUGH THE ANALYSIS WITH OUR CONSULTANTS ON THAT.
AND SO SHE COULD PROBABLY BETTER SPEAK TO THAT IF THAT'S ALL RIGHT.
CAN, CAN I ADD TO YOUR QUESTION, BECAUSE I THINK IT ADDED TO THAT QUESTION IS I DON'T KNOW THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY LOOK AT, UM, ALREADY APPROVED DEVELOPMENT THAT IS MACHACA HAS A NUMBER OF PRO UH, HOUSING PROJECTS THAT ARE ALREADY ZONED AND APPROVED.
WE JUST DON'T HAVE A BUILT YET.
SO I'M JUST, I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THAT'S, IF THE, IF FUTURE LAND USE IS FACTORED IN OR NOT.
SO, SO IT'S A MULTI-PART QUESTION.
I'M GOING TO ANSWER THE FIRST ONE FIRST.
AND, UH, I WANT TO SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE.
UM, IT WAS DONE BY A CONSULTANT.
UM, ACTUALLY TWO CONSULTANT TEAMS HAVE LOOKED AT, UM, THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT WAS REVIEWED BY ANOTHER CONSULTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF OUR COMPETITIVENESS UNDER SMALL STARTS, AND IT'S NOT LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
THOSE ARE THE TWO PRIMARY CATEGORIES WHERE WE PERFORM THE LOWEST, BUT THERE ARE OTHER OVERLAPPING IMPACTS IN CONGESTION RELIEF IN ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS AND THE, THE METRIC THAT'S USED TO, UH, UNDERSTAND HOW THE QUARTER WOULD PERFORM OUR LINKEDIN UNLINKED TRIPS.
AND I CAN HAVE A SEPARATE DISCUSSION IF YOU, HOW THAT AFFECTS LINK TRIPS IS ESSENTIALLY THE TRIPS THAT TAKE PLACE, THE REVENUE TRIPS ON ALIGN, UM, AND ON LINKED WOULD BE ALMOST THE TRIPS THAT WOULD BE COMING FROM SAY ROUTE THREE OR ANY OTHER ROUTE THAT ARE WITHIN THE, UM, WITHIN THE CORRIDOR AS WELL AS SORT OF SYSTEM-WIDE TRANSIT IMPACT ON THE ROUTE.
SO, ONE IS A LITTLE BIT MORE GLOBAL METRIC.
ONE IS SPECIFIC TO THE ROUTE WE HAVE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT LINKED ON LINK TRIPS AND HOW IT COMPARED WITH THE TWO CORRIDORS THAT ARE ALREADY IN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
SO NOT TO JUST, UM, ACADEMICALLY ASSESS, BUT ALSO ASSESS AGAINST THE RECENT FEDERAL ACTION ON AN ASSESSMENT ON THE OTHER TWO CORRIDORS IN THE SAME REGION.
UM, WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE PROJECT CONNECT, UH, THE PROPERTY PASSING WOULD, IT GIVES US, UM, STRONG FINANCIAL COMMITMENT.
SO WE RANK, WELL, ONE THING I JUST WANTED TO ADD TO THAT, THE REASON WE BELIEVE IT'S GOING TO BE LOWER, LOW, MEDIUM AT VERY BEST IT'S, UH, PROJECT, UH, FINANCIAL COMMITMENT THAT JEFF PROJECT JUSTIFICATION AND FINANCIAL COMMITMENT ARE TREATED ALMOST PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER.
SO YOU HAVE TO, A PROJECT ACTUALLY HAS TO ATTAIN MEDIUM RATING IN ORDER TO QUALIFY AS A COMBINED MEDIUM.
SO YOU CAN DO A LOW AND A HIGH AND BE A MEDIUM.
THEN YOU CAN TECHNICALLY MOVE FORWARD, BUT IT'S NOT GUARANTEED INVESTMENT DOWN THE ROAD.
[02:05:01]
IT ACTUALLY HELP, UM, EXPEDITE THE PROJECT TO SOME EXTENT WITH LOCAL FUNDING.SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER IT'S GOING TO IMPACT PROJECT DELIVERY, PROBABLY NOT BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANY ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE ON THAT AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, PROJECT READINESS DOCUMENT.
THOSE ARE VERY RIGOROUS DOCUMENTS TO BE PREPARED AND PRESENTED WITH PMOC.
SO IN TERMS OF OVERALL PROJECT DELIVERY IMPACT, I WOULDN'T SAY THERE IS ANY IMPACT, IF ANYTHING, IT MAY HELP MOVE THE PROJECT FORWARD QUICKLY.
UM, AND THE, AND IT'S FIXABLE LAND USE IN, UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS ARE FIXABLE, BUT THEY'RE NOT, SHORT-TERM FIXES, IT TAKES A DELIBERATE POLICY CHANGES AND ACTIONS ON THE GROUND TO KIND OF HAVE THAT IMPACT TO BE FELT IN ANY KIND OF SHORT TERM PERIOD.
AND, AND THEN THE SECOND PART WAS, SO WHEN THEY'RE LOOKING AT LAND USE, DO THEY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ZONING THAT'S ALREADY BEEN APPROVED? YES.
SO FOR LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT CURRENT TRANSIT, SUPPORTIVE LAND USE WHAT'S PLANNED AND PROPOSED, UM, CATEGORIES, BOAT, AND ALSO, UM, ACCESS TO EXISTING TRANSIT STOPS, HOW, UH, PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY IT IS, WHAT TYPE OF CONNECTIONS DO TRANSIT AND SOME OF THOSE CAN BE FIXED WITHIN DESIGN.
BUT THEN, THEN THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT ARE FAIRLY STATIC OVER TIME AND IT TAKES KIND OF, UM, POLICY CHANGES OVER TIME AND, UH, LAND USE CHANGES ON THE GROUND WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
WELL, I'D LIKE TO HAVE A, ANOTHER MEETING WHERE WE CAN DRILL DOWN IN THAT.
I DON'T WANT THIS TO BE CONSIDERED AS
UM, AND, UM, I, I HEAR YOU SAYING THERE'S A LOT OF COMPLEXITY TO, IN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN ALL THESE IN BETWEEN ALL OF THESE, UM, DIFFERENT FACTORS.
SO JUST FOR EVERYONE ELSE, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT WE'VE BEEN APPROVING, UH, LOTS OF HOUSING PROJECTS ALONG MAIN CHOCO, UH, FROM THE CITY'S PERSPECTIVE.
AND, AND THERE REALLY ISN'T ANYTHING IN THE, THIS, THE CITY'S CONSIDERATION OF THAT CORRIDOR.
UM, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE OF OUR, IT'S ONE OF OUR MAJOR CORRIDORS.
IT'S, WE'VE BEEN STUDYING CORRIDOR PLANNING FOR IT.
WE'VE APPROVED A LOT OF ZONING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND OTHER HOUSING, ET CETERA.
SO, UM, SO I, UH, SO, UH, I THINK WE CAN DRILL DOWN AND UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT ELSE, UM, I THINK THE COMPLEXITIES OF HOW FDA LOOKS AT STUFF, MAYBE WHAT'S IMPACTING THIS.
AND SO, AND I HEAR, HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING THERE, I'M ALSO WILL WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE FACT THAT
I'M NOT SUGGESTING IT SHOULD BE, IT'S JUST NOT AS LONG ALIGN AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO ARE WANT TO GET ON FROM SOUTH MANCHESTER, MAYBE GOING ALL THE WAY UP LAMAR INTO DOWNTOWN OR FURTHER NORTH, BUT THAT MAY NOT BE PART OF THE ANALYSIS.
SO WE HAVE DONE ANALYSIS FOR THE OVERALL CORRIDOR TO SEE HOW THE TRUE PATTERNS WOULD, UM, OCCUR.
UM, BUT TO QUALIFY THE NEW SEGMENT NEEDS TO HAVE WHAT IT'S CALLED INDEPENDENT UTILITY.
SO IT NEEDS TO HAVE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF, UH, RIDERSHIP AND, UM, NEEDS TO PROVIDE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF CONGESTION RELIEF ON ITS OWN MERIT.
SO IT'S A SORT OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COMING TOGETHER TO KIND OF MAKE THIS DETERMINATION.
WELL, I'M GLAD, I'M GLAD TO HEAR IT'S PROCEEDING.
I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, IT WAS NOT SLOWING THINGS DOWN ACTUALLY SOUNDS LIKE IT MIGHT BE FASTER.
AND THEN I'LL JUST HAVE ANOTHER MEETING WITH YOU GUYS TO UNDERSTAND IN MORE DETAIL, UM, WHAT'S IMPACTING IN WHAT WE OUGHT TO BE LOOKING AT FOR THAT QUARTER GOING FORWARD.
AND, UM, THE AMENITIES AND THE, AS FAR AS USER EXPERIENCE AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE GO, THERE ARE NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ONE LINE VERSUS ANOTHER.
IT'S JUST THE RIGHT DETERMINATION WITH THE RIGHT PROJECT FUNDING.
I HAVE ANOTHER FOLLOWUP THOUGH.
DO WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT ON THAT'S NOT BEING EXPLOITED ON EACH OF THESE, UH, METRO RAPID LINES AND, AND I WANT TO PLACE THIS IN A BROADER CONTEXT.
SO THE CITY AND CAP METRO HAVE MADE A HUGE, THE TAXPAYERS FINANCIAL COMMITMENT ON THESE LINES.
THEIR SUCCESS WILL BE DETERMINED TO A LARGE DEGREE BY, UM, THE EXISTING AND OR IMPROVE LAND USE.
AND AS WHERE WE'VE ROLLED OUT FOR PUBLIC VIEWING STOPS ON ALL THESE METRO RAPID LINES, AS WELL AS STOPS ON THE TWO TRAIN
[02:10:01]
LINES.AND SO FROM A BROADER PERSPECTIVE, UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT THIS ONE, THERE WERE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, BUT I'M WONDERING NOW THAT WE HAVE SORT OF LAID OUT THESE ROUTES, UH, IF THERE IS MORE THAT COULD COLLABORATIVELY BE DONE BETWEEN CAP METRO AND THE CITY TO IMPROVE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT ON THESE LINES THAT ARE MOVING MORE QUICKLY.
AND, AND I'M PROUD OF WHAT YOU ALL HAVE ACCOMPLISHED ON THESE, BUT WE ALSO HAVE THE TRAIN LINES THAT I'M ALSO PROUD OF HOW MUCH PLANNING HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.
BUT SO I WANT TO ASK THE BROADER QUESTION OF, WITH RESPECT TO LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
ARE WE COLLABORATING WITH CITY STAFF AND WITH THE CITY TO OPTIMIZE LAND USE BECAUSE TO A LARGE DEGREE, THE RETURN ON THE DOLLARS THAT OUR TAXPAYERS GET WILL BE DETERMINED NOT ONLY BY HOW WELL AND EFFICIENTLY WE BUILD THE SYSTEM, BUT HOW WELL OVER TIME WE OPTIMIZE THE OPPORTUNITY ON LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
SO I APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHT AND PERSPECTIVE SPECIFICALLY ON THESE LINES, THE METRO RAPID, BUT MORE GLOBALLY AS A BOARD, HOW CAN WE COLLABORATE WITH THE CITY TO OPTIMIZE THE LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL ALONG ALL THE PROJECT CONNECT? WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF US.
UM, THE QUESTION WOULD BE, I THINK WHERE WE WOULD LAND IS WE HAVE AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO USE ORANGE AND BLUE LINE WHERE WE HAVE OUR EQUITABLE TOD TOD PLANNING GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED FROM FTA TO USE IT.
AND IT WAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST AWARD OF LAST YEAR.
WE HAVE THAT FEDERAL GRANT AND WITH OUR LOCAL FUNDS, WE ARE COORDINATING WITH THE CITY TO DELIVER THAT EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK.
IT, IT ACT THE SCOPE OF WORK HAS ALMOST ALL OF THE COMPONENTS YOU TOUCHED UPON.
I HAVEN'T SEEN BETTER COORDINATION BETWEEN, UM, UH, A CITY AND A TRANSIT AGENCY.
THERE ARE GOOD TEMPLATES OUT THERE, BUT THIS IS AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY, BOTH FOR COLLABORATION AND TO DO GREAT WORK ON TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
UM, THE SEGMENT THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON IS THE MOST DEVELOPABLE SEGMENT FOR BLUE AND ORANGE LINE AND WHAT WE ARE CALLING IN TECHNICAL CONTEXT AS CATALYST STATION, BECAUSE THAT'S, UM, GIVES US HIGH, UM, RATING IN FTA, UH, WORLD.
BUT THINK OF THEM AS, UM, PROTOTYPES, STATIONED PROTOTYPES, THAT THEN CAN BE TRANSLATED AND SCALE.
WE CAN THEN TRANSLATE THAT TO METRO RAPID CORRIDORS AND HAVE STRONG TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
UM, ALONG THE CORRIDOR WE IN COMING MONTHS, WE WOULD BE UPDATING YOU ON THAT.
AND I, I EXPECT THERE'LL BE A LOT OF QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ON METRO.
RAPID CABINETRY HAS A TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT.
UM, CITY OF AUSTIN CONSIDERS THAT TO BE VERY GOOD BASIS TO WORK OFF OF CITY HAS DONE FAIR BIT OF WORK ON THAT AS WELL.
I THINK THE NEXT STEP IS ESSENTIALLY CATALYZING.
THAT'S THE WORD I WOULD USE CATALYZING, WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE AND THE TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US WITH PROPERTY PASSING AND USE THE TWO LIGHT RAIL LINES, UM, TO CREATE A TEMPLATE THAT THEN WE CAN TRANSLATE THAT TO THE OTHER CORRIDOR, SPECIFICALLY, THE EXPO PV MACHACA OAK HILL AND GOLD LINE ALREADY HAS ITS EXISTING DEVELOPMENT.
I THINK RANDY MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD.
UM, UM, BUT I WOULD, I WOULD SAY THAT WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF US.
THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT'S HAPPENING ON THE SIDE, AND I BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A FAR BETTER, MORE COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE.
SO, WELL, I APPRECIATE THAT AND LOOK FORWARD TO KIND OF ONGOING UPDATES AND EDUCATION.
I WANT US TO STAY VERY FOCUSED ON THE WHOLE IMPACT TO OUR COMMUNITY AND COLLABORATING WHERE WE CAN COLLABORATE IN AND OPTIMIZING WHERE WE CAN OPTIMIZE.
UM, AND THE FACT THAT WE HAVE THREE COUNCIL MEMBERS HERE IS VERY HELPFUL.
AND, UM, I THINK BRINGING THE MESSAGE THAT NOW THAT WE HAVE A PROJECT LET'S GO OUT AND SUPPORT BOTH ITS SUCCESS AND THE, AND THE OVERALL
[02:15:01]
SUCCESS TO THE COMMUNITY BY OPTIMIZING OUR, UH, LAND USE AROUND IT.I JUST WANT TO ADD A LITTLE BIT MAYBE ADDITIONAL LAYER TO WHAT SHAMILA SINK BECAUSE YOU GAVE A LOT OF CONTEXT.
THERE WAS, SO WE ARE GOING TO GET SCORED ON EACH ONE OF THE PROJECTS INSIDE THE PROGRAM THAT WE GIVE TO THE FEDERAL PROCESS AND THEN RESCORE YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR.
SO ANOTHER ONE DO WE HAVE TO HOLD OUR SCORE, THEY'LL BE LOOKING FOR US TO IMPROVE OUR SCORE.
AND SO I, I WOULD SAY IT'S NOT SO MUCH LIKE A BUILDING THAT'S BEING BUILT ON A CORRIDOR.
IT'S THE ZONING AND THE LAND USE POLICIES THAT ARE ALLOWED TO ACTUALLY EFFECTUATE DEVELOPMENT ON THE CORRIDOR IS, IS, IS ACTUALLY WHAT THE FDA BE LOOKING AT CORRIDOR PLANNING.
UM, SO THEY'RE GOING TO LOOK AT A COUPLE OF BIG FACTORS FOR US.
THE VOLUME OF JOBS ON THE CORRIDOR IS A BIG FACTOR AND THE VOLUME OF HOUSING ON THE CORRIDOR IS A BIG FACTOR CAUSE THOSE TO DRIVE COST EFFECTIVENESS.
SO THE MORE HUMAN BEINGS THAT ARE ON THE CORRIDOR GOING TO ACTIVITY CENTERS AND USING THAT CORRIDOR DRIVES COST EFFECTIVENESS, WHICH MEANS CHEAPER PER TRIP FOR US, WHICH MEANS BETTER SERVICE, MORE UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY ON AND ON AND ON, BETTER FOR DEMOGRAPHICS, EQUITY, ENVIRONMENTAL, ALL OF THOSE FACTORS.
THE SECOND PART OF THAT IS THEY'RE GOING TO LOOK AT PARKING.
DON'T WANT TO SEE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF PARKING AND PARKING BE AS EXPENSIVE AS POSSIBLE.
SO THE MORE PARKING WE HAVE IN A CORRIDOR IS NEGATIVE, THE CHEAPER PARKING ON A CORRIDOR NEGATIVE.
SO AGAIN, IT'S ABOUT HOW TO FTA.
WE'LL LOOK AT THESE AS NOT AS GRANTS CAUSE THEY'RE INVESTMENTS, AND THEY'LL WANT TO SEE FOR EVERY DOLLAR REPORTING IN, AND WHETHER IT'S RAPID OR RAIL RAIL, OBVIOUSLY BEING A MUCH BIGGER INVESTMENT.
HOW ARE YOU COMMUNITY FOCUSING ON GETTING AS MANY HUMAN BEINGS AS POSSIBLE ON THAT SYSTEM, OUT OF A CAR, INTO DEVELOPMENT, INTO JOB CENTERS ON THOSE CORRIDORS.
AND SO I THINK SHAMILA IS A WORD THAT SHE USED, I THINK IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE WORD, WHICH IS WE HAVE AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY AS A COMMUNITY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DRIVE ACTIVITY TO THESE MAJOR COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS.
BUT I JUST WANT TO GIVE THAT CONTEXT OF HOW FDA WILL LOOK AT THOSE, THOSE LAYERS.
AND IF I MAY ADD JUST ONE THING TO THAT, I MEAN, THAT IS THE CRUX OF WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
I MEAN, IN ORDER TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL HIGH-CAPACITY TRANSIT SYSTEM WITH FEEDER, UM, METRO RAPID AND OTHER BUS LINE, UH, IN ORDER TO HAVE RIDERSHIP, WE NEED PEOPLE LIVING CLOSE TO STATIONS.
TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT IS ABSOLUTELY KEY, BUT ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES AND HOW THAT WOULD BE INCREASED THROUGH, UM, HOUSING OPTIONS, EXTENSION OF HOUSING OPTIONS, ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOUSING, INCLUDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING AROUND STATIONS.
SO, UM, THAT IS ALL OF THOSE ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATIONS.
WE ARE, OUR EQUITABLE TOD IS TRULY GOING TO BE AN EQUITABLE TEMPLATE.
SO WE'VE FEEL THAT WE JUST, AS I SAID, I DON'T WANT TO REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN, BUT WE HAVE AN UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF US AND TO BE ABLE TO WORK ON THAT AND CREATE A VERY DIFFERENT LAND USE IN AUSTIN, REMEMBER KITCHEN.
AND I'M, I'M REALLY VERY EXCITED ABOUT HOW THE CITY IS WORKING WITH, WITH YOU AND YOUR TEAM.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE PASSED THE E TODD RESOLUTION RECENTLY, AND ONE COMPONENT OF THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, IT WAS TO WORK CLOSELY, UH, BETWEEN THE CITY AND, UM, AND KEPT METRO'S TEAM ON THE, UM, JUST AS YOU MENTIONED ON, ON ETOD.
SO I THINK THAT THAT'S, THAT'S GOING TO BE VERY HELPFUL.
YOU KNOW, THE CITY HAS HAD A PROCESS IN PLACE FOR AWHILE, UH, WHICH WE WILL EXPECT WILL CONTINUE WITH, YOU KNOW, ONCE YOU, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE GET THE LEARNINGS FROM WHAT YOU ALL ARE PUTTING TOGETHER, UH, WE HAVE A TOD ORDINANCE THAT, UM, IN, IN PLACE THAT ALLOWS US TO WORK DIRECTLY AND CLOSELY WITH, WITH NEIGHBORHOODS, UH, TO, TO SEE WHAT, UH, WHAT WORKS IN PARTICULAR AREAS ALONG LINES.
AND, UM, AND SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO USE THE LEARNINGS FROM THE ANALYSIS AND THE TEMPLATE THAT, UH, THAT CARMELA IS TALKING ABOUT AND THEN WORK WITH NEIGHBORS TO SEE, YOU KNOW, WHAT ACTUALLY FITS.
UH, SO FOR EXAMPLE, FROM AN CHAKA, SOME OF THAT WORK'S ALREADY BEEN DONE, UH, IN THE FACT THAT THERE IS A NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED, UH, AROUND, RIGHT AROUND BEN WHITE, ALL THE WAY SOUTH TO WILLIAM CANNON, UH, THAT LOOKED AT LAND USE AND LOOKED AT INCREASED DENSITY ALONG, UM, ALONG THE CHEKA.
SO THAT'S A GOOD GUIDE THAT WE CAN LOOK AT, ALONG WITH THE LEARNINGS FROM THE ETOD STUDY.
THERE'S A AT SLAUGHTER AND MAN CHECK HAS ALREADY BEEN DESIGNATED AS A, I THINK IT'S CALLED A TOWN CENTER, UM, FROM IMAGINE AUSTIN.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE ALSO, WE'LL, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT HOW THIS WORKS WITH SOUTH LAMAR.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT CHALLENGES ALONG SOUTH TOMORROW, UNFORTUNATELY.
UM, BUT WE'VE GOT A HUGE, UH, DEVELOPMENT COMING IN AT, UH, BRODY OAKS, THE PUD THAT'S GOING TO COMPLETELY TRANSFORM THAT OLD SHOPPING CENTER
[02:20:01]
INTO A MUCH MORE DENSE OPPORTUNITY FOR HOUSING.AND, UM, SO WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THAT AND HOW THAT ALL, HOW THAT WORKS WITH THE 8 0 3, UM, AND, UM, LOTS OF OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL LONG SOUTH LAMAR AND STUFF.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU A TASTE OF WHAT'S THERE AND, YOU KNOW, HAPPY TO SIT DOWN WITH YOU, WAIT, IF YOU'D LIKE TO, OR CHAIR AT SOME POINT, I CAN TELL YOU WHAT'S GOING ON ALONG THOSE LINES.
SO, YEAH, AND JUST TO BUILD ON ALL OF THE PROJECTS THAT BOARD MEMBER KITCHEN WAS TALKING ABOUT IN THE SOUTH PART OF TOWN UP IN NORTH OF THE RIVER, SPECIFICALLY IN MY DISTRICT, WE HAVE A MASSIVE, EXCITING OPPORTUNITY AT THE RYAN DRIVE NORTH LAMAR, UM, INTERSECTION WHERE CRESTVIEW STATION IS.
AND, UM, MY CONSTITUENCY IS ALREADY ON ALERT FOR, UM, PARTICIPATING IN THAT EFFORT.
IN FACT, THEY HAD A REALLY GREAT STAKEHOLDERS WORKING GROUP THAT CREATED THE DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL NOW BE BUILT THERE ON CITY OWNED LAND.
THAT ONCE WAS THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, POLE YARD, AND THAT'S MOVING TO ANOTHER PART OF THE CITY AND THAT OPENS UP MORE THAN FIVE ACRES FOR, UH, DEVELOPMENT.
THAT'LL INCLUDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN A PARK, AND IT'S RIGHT THERE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THOSE TRACKS.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT IT WILL BE A COMPLICATED, UH, INTERSECTION, UM, AND INTEND TO DO A, UH, WALK THROUGH.
IN FACT, WITH STAFF, WE WERE WAITING FOR IT TO GET A LITTLE BIT COOLER OUT AT EASTERN, WAS MAKING SOME ARRANGEMENTS FOR MY STAFF AND ME TO GO UP THERE AND LOOK ON THE GROUND TO SEE WHERE THE, UH, THE INTERSECTION OF ALL THOSE LINES WILL COME TOGETHER, AS WELL AS WITH ROW.
CAUSE YOU'VE GOT THE FREIGHT TRAIN AS WELL AS THE, THE METRO TRAIN, AS WELL AS THE TRAFFIC AND THEN ALL THE, THE SUPPORTIVE, UH, MODES OF TRANSPORTATION THAT NEED TO GO THROUGH THERE.
SO THERE'S SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM PLANNING EFFORTS WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, UH, UNDERWAY.
AND I KNOW THEY WELCOMED THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK MORE CLOSELY WITH CAP METRO IN THAT REGARD.
UM, SO YOU WILL BE JOINING A VERY ENGAGED COMMUNITY ON THE GROUND, UH, THAT HAS THAT LEVEL OF INTIMATE FAMILIARITY WITH AREAS OF TOWN THAT WE REALLY NEED THEIR INPUT.
THOSE ARE FOLKS WHO ACTUALLY LITERALLY LIVE ON THE GROUND IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEY CAN TELL US BEST HOW THINGS WORK, UH, WHERE THE BOTTLENECKS ARE AND HOW BEST TO ALLEVIATE THEM.
SO IT'S REALLY SOME OF THE MOST REWARDING WORK THAT I DO AS A COUNCIL MEMBER IS WHEN I GET OUT AND WORK ON PLANNING ISSUES, PARTICULARLY AROUND HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION AND THE DISTRICT THAT I REPRESENT.
AND I, I KNOW THAT THAT'S THE CASE FOR MY COLLEAGUE OVER HERE IN DISTRICT THREE AND CERTAINLY IN DISTRICT FIVE.
SO WE'VE GOT IT, WE'VE GOT IT PRETTY WELL COVERED AND, AND WELCOME THE ADDITIONAL, UH, COMPLEXITIES AND OVERLAYS IN WORKING CLOSELY ON PROJECT CONNECT WITH CAP METRO.
AND I, I FEEL THAT'S WHERE WE WOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, PROVIDE, UH, GOOD GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WHAT TRANSIT SUPPORTED DEVELOPMENT WOULD LOOK LIKE.
AND THERE, THERE ARE DEVELOPMENTS THAT TAKING PLACE ALL OVER THE CITY, BUT I, I FEEL SOME ARE NOT AS INTEGRATED AS WELL IN THE URBAN FABRIC.
AND I THINK TO HAVE CONTINUOUS SIDEWALKS TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS TRANSIT INTER-MODAL STOPS AND STATIONS IN A WAY THAT WOULD ACTUALLY REDUCE THE DEPENDENCE ON SINGLE OCCUPANCY VEHICLE, BECAUSE VMT, JUST TO KIND OF CIRCLE BACK TO WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, I THINK ONE OF THE, UM, FACTORS THAT FTA VERY CLOSELY LOCATED IS AUTO DEPENDENCY AND V UH, VMT USAGE ON A CORRIDOR AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS THAT 17% IN THAT, UH, THE BLUE, UH, HALF-MOON SIDE, IT ESSENTIALLY RELATES TO NOT JUST THE PROJECT COSTS AGAINST PROJECT.
I MEAN, WITH PROJECT IMPACT AND IMPACT IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT, UH, WHAT IS YOUR TRUE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT? ARE YOU TRULY ABLE TO IMPACT, UH, THE USE OF VMT THROUGH TRANSIT, INTRODUCING NEW TRANSIT INVESTMENT? SO I THINK THAT THESE ARE VERY LIKE OVERLAPPING FACTORS COMING TOGETHER, AND WE'RE VERY ENCOURAGED TO SEE CITY OF AUSTIN ALSO SEES THIS AT A, UM, AN ISSUE OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE IT'S CONSISTENT WITH AUSTIN'S STRATEGIC MOBILITY, UM, PLAN GOALS TO REDUCE THAT BMT AND MA SO I THINK WE ARE ALIGNED IN THIS AND I HAVE, UM, A LOT OF HOPE THAT WE ARE GOING TO PROVIDE A GREAT OUTCOME OUT OF THIS PROCESS.
AND I JUST CLOSE ON THIS TOPIC BY SAYING THAT THE, UH, YOU MENTIONED THE SIDEWALK PLAN AND THAT'S, UH, AN INITIATIVE THAT THIS COUNCIL THAT WAS ELECTED IN 2014
[02:25:01]
HAS BEEN WORKING REALLY HARD ON, UH, OVERCOMING DECADES PRIOR TO EVEN THE 21ST CENTURY OF ALLOWING DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT REQUIRING THAT SIDEWALKS, UM, EITHER BE INSTALLED OR FUNDING FOR THOSE SIDEWALKS, BE PUT INTO ESCROW SO THAT THOSE SIDEWALKS COULD BE BUILT.THE CITY HAS ABSOLUTELY SUFFERED FOR YEARS OF, OF BEING CONVINCED THE POLICYMAKERS BEING CONVINCED THAT IT WASN'T IMPORTANT TO PUT IN SIDEWALKS.
THIS COUNCIL, UH, IS VERY DIFFERENT.
AND I WOULD SAY THAT FOR THE LAST 20 ODD YEARS, THE COUNCILS, UM, AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAD BEEN REALLY CLEAR ON THAT CONCEPT, WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE NOW ABOUT A 50 WE'VE HIT THE 50% MARK ON OUR, UM, BIKE, UH, OUR BIKE ROUTE, OUR BICYCLE MASTER PLAN.
THERE WAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT JUST IN THE LAST SEVEN YEARS, WE HAVE NOW HIT A 50% MARK ON THE ROUTES THAT WERE PLANNED AND MAPPED.
AND THAT'S A HUGE, THAT'S A HUGE PLUS THAT'S A HUGE WIN.
AND, UH, THE SIDEWALK MASTER PLAN IS COMING ALONG TOO.
UM, IT'S NOT CHEAP, UH, AS WE ALL KNOW THAT ALL OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS REALLY, UH, PRICEY THESE DAYS, BUT THE INTENT IS A HUNDRED PERCENT, I WOULD SAY, ON THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, FOR THE MULTIPLE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT ON ELLEN ALMOST ANY AGENDA THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS.
UM, IN FACT, I'M BRINGING A RESOLUTION TO INCENTIVIZE THE PURCHASE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES, UH, WITH SOME, UH, INTERESTING PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE WILL HAVE WITH SOME LEASING COMPANIES HERE IN AUSTIN, UH, THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY TARGETING GETTING ELECTRIC VEHICLES ON THE ROAD IN REPLACEMENT FOR THE GAS POWERED VEHICLES.
AND THAT JUST HAPPENS TO BE, UH, AN ITEM THAT I HAVE ON THURSDAYS AGENDA.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE MOVING, I THINK, UH, I GUESS YOU CAN SAY IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SPEED OF LIGHT, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS A SPEED OF PROGRESS HERE IN AUSTIN.
THIS IS JUST A, ON A DIFFERENT ISSUE AND IT'S NOT REALLY A QUESTION IT'S MORE JUST, UH, WANTED TO FLAG, UH, AN ISSUE WHILE I'M THINKING ABOUT IT.
UM, I HAD A CONSTITUENT WHO LIVES ALONG, UH, SLAUGHTER AND IS, UM, UNFORTUNATELY SHE'S MORE IN THE MID POINT BETWEEN MACHACA AND SOUTH CONGRESS.
SO SHE'S TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PLANS ARE OVER TIME, SO THAT SHE CAN GET TO ONE OF THOSE BRTS.
SO, UH, SO LET'S, WE CAN TAKE THAT OFFLINE, BUT, UM, DOES B I'M SORRY, I JUST WANTED TO MENTION IT, SO MAYBE I CAN, UM, GET WITH YOU AFTERWARDS AND JUST UNDERSTAND WHAT THE THINKING IS OVER TIME FOR, FOR HER.
CAUSE IT'S A BIT TOO FAR, CAUSE SHE'S SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE, BUT OVER TIME SHE'LL BE ABLE TO CHOOSE TO GO TO MACHACA POTENTIALLY OR TO, TO SOUTH CONGRESS AND, UM, AND THEN HAVE ACCESS TO BOTH OF THOSE LINES.
BUT FOR RIGHT NOW, IT'S KIND OF A PROBLEM FOR HER AND SHE'S NOT QUITE UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE ROUTE IS.
AND SO I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND FOR THE, ALL THOSE FOLKS THAT LIVE ALONG SLAUGHTER, WHAT, WHAT THEIR OPTIONS MIGHT BE IN THE FUTURE.
AND, AND REALLY KUDOS TO EVERYBODY WORKING ON PROJECT CONNECT.
I'M ASTOUNDED AT HOW MUCH PROGRESS WE'VE MADE IN LESS THAN A YEAR.
[VII.4. Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) Update]
GARDNER WITH OUR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SAFETY PLAN.YOU DON'T LIKE TALKING ABOUT SAFETY AT ALL.
CHAIRMAN COOPER, FARISH CHAIRMAN FROM ON HIGH, WHEREVER YOU ARE BOARD MEMBERS AND, UH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, RANDY CLARK.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME IN THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH YOU, UH, INFORMATION REGARDING OUR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AGENCY, SAFETY PLAN, A NUMBER OF YOU, UH, THAT ARE HERE IN PERSON AND ON HIGH, UM, WERE A PART OF MY ONE-ON-ONE DISCUSSIONS LEADING INTO, UH, THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF THIS PLAN.
UH, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF YOU, HOWEVER, WHO WERE NOT A PART OF THIS TEAM, THIS BOARD AT THE TIME.
SO FOR YOU, IT WILL BE AN OVERVIEW AND FOR OTHERS, IT WILL BE A REVIEW AND JUST A BIT MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE REQUIREMENTS THAT THE FTA HAS IN PLACE AND WHAT WE'VE DONE TO COMPLY WITH THE REGULATION.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU AGAIN, AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM AND WHERE IT CAME FROM 2018, AFTER A YEARS OF DISCUSSION AND FORMATION OF A REGULATION
[02:30:01]
AND A NEED FOR IT, UH, THE FTA PROMULGATED A RULE SAYING THAT AGENCIES, CERTAIN AGENCIES SUCH AS CAPITAL METRO, UH, SHELL, UH, DEVELOP A PUBLIC AGENCY, A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AGENCY, SAFETY PLAN, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS A P TASK.AND, UM, SO WE BEGAN IMMEDIATELY TO PUT THE BONES AND THE MEAT AROUND THE BONES, UH, SO THAT WE COULD HAVE A GOOD, UH, SUBSTANTIAL, UH, PROGRAM IN PLACE, UH, ONE THAT MET THEIR REQUIREMENTS AND ALSO THAT WOULD MEET OUR NEEDS.
AND, UH, SO THROUGH A NUMBER OF MEETINGS WITH, UH, INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS AND OTHERS, UH, WE DEVELOPED THE PLAN THAT, UH, THE FR THE FTA, THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION HAS SINCE, UH, AUTHORIZED, WE THINK, UH, CHAIRMAN COOPER FOR SIGNING OFF IN JUNE OF LAST YEAR, HE SAID, UH, SIGNED OFF ON WHAT AGAIN.
SO IT'S BEEN SO LONG, UM, PARTICULARLY THROUGH THE, UH, THE PANDEMIC, BUT ANYWAY, A LITTLE BACKGROUND AGAIN, UH, THE PIZZA HAS FINAL RULE.
THE FINAL RULE FINAL RULE REQUIRES CERTAIN OPERATORS, SUCH AS CAPITOL AND METRO TRANSIT SYSTEMS TO DEVELOP SAFETY PLANS, INCLUDING PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES TO IMPLEMENT SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, OR S M S, WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE PLAN AGENCIES HAVE TO COMPLY, UH, BY JULY, 2021.
THAT DATE WAS MOVED A COUPLE OF TIMES BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC.
THEY EXTENDED SOME GRACE TO, UH, AGENCIES.
THE PLAN MUST ALSO INCLUDE SAFETY PERFORMANCE TARGETS, WHICH WE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED.
UH, THE PLAN MUST BE UPDATED AND CERTIFIED ANNUALLY BY CAPITAL METRO.
EACH PLAN MUST INCLUDE AT A MINIMUM, THE APPROVAL BY THE AGENCIES, ACCOUNTABLE EXECUTIVE AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS, WHICH WE'VE DONE A DESIGNATION OF A CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER.
I AM HE ESTABLISHMENT OF DOCUMENTED PROCESSES OF THE SAFETY OF THE AGENCIES, SMS EMPLOYEE SAFETY REPORTING SYSTEM PROGRAM SAFETY RELATED PERFORMANCE TARGETS BASED ON MEASURES ESTABLISHED IN THE FTAS, UM, UH, NATIONAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PLAN, THE FRAMEWORK AROUND WHICH THIS COMES FROM A PROCESS AND TIMELINE FOR CONDUCTING AN ANNUAL REVIEW AND UPDATE OF THE PLAN.
SO WHAT IS SMS? IT'S AN ORGANIZATION-WIDE APPROACH TO MANAGING SAFETY RISKS AND ASSURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SAFETY RISK MITIGATION ESTABLISHES PROACTIVE CULTURE BY ENSURING SENIOR MANAGEMENT HAS ACCESS TO THE DATA NEEDED, UH, TO STRATEGICALLY ALLOCATE RESOURCES, UH, LINES OF SAFETY.
DECISION-MAKING ACCOUNTABILITY ARE ESTABLISHED.
THE AGENCY ADDRESSES ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS THAT MAY LEAD TO SAFETY, BREAKDOWNS, IDENTIFY SYSTEM-WIDE TRENDS AND SAFETY AND MANAGE HAZARDS BEFORE THEY RESULT IN ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS.
AND I'LL TELL YOU HOW WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT.
SO HERE ARE THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH WE HAVE TO FOLLOW TO BE COMPLIANT.
SO SAFETY MANAGEMENT POLICY, WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IT, SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT, AND I'LL GO INTO WHAT THAT MEANS.
SAFETY ASSURANCE AND SAFETY PROMOTION.
SO SIX CRUCIAL ELEMENTS ARE REQUIRED IN A POLICY STATEMENT.
UH, I BELIEVE I COVERED THAT, BUT IT'S SIGNED BY THE AGENCY EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WE COMPLETED THAT JUNE OF LAST YEAR, A CLEAR STATEMENT ABOUT THE PROVISION OF RESOURCES, UH, FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SAFETY NECESSARY FOR THE DELIVERY OF SERVICE, SAFETY REPORTING PROCEDURES, CONDITIONS ON WHICH EXEMPTIONS FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION WOULD BE APPLICABLE, UNACCEPTABLE, OPERATIONAL BEHAVIORS, COMMUNICATION WITH VISIBLE ENDORSEMENT THROUGHOUT THE AGENCY.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE? WE'VE ESTABLISHED A JOINT HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEES FOR BOTH RAIL AND BUS AND A DEMAND RESPONSE WHERE WE BRING TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF, UH, TRANSIT PROFESSIONALS FROM EACH DEPARTMENT, INCLUDING THE UNION, AS WELL AS OUR SERVICE PROVIDERS
[02:35:01]
AND OUR CONTRACTORS ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THESE, UH, UH, COMMITTEES WITH WHERE THEY IDENTIFY ASSESS HAZARDS AND RISKS, AND THEY MITIGATE OR ELIMINATE A HAZARD STUDENT EXTENT.THEY CAN ULTIMATELY REDUCING RISK SAFETY ASSURANCE IS WHERE WE MONITOR AND MEASURE SAFETY, PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE.
AND I'LL EXPLAIN WHAT THAT IS, CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.
SO NOT ONE INDIVIDUAL OR A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ALL OF THE DATA AND THE INCIDENTS AND THE ACCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED.
SO MANY OF US ARE, BUT WE DO HAVE DATA ANALYSTS IN PLACE THAT HELP TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO VARIOUS MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM.
WHEN I SAY TEAM THAT'S ACROSS THE ENTERPRISE OR ACROSS, UH, THE AGENCY, UH, WE ALSO HAVE, UM, OPPORTUNITY DURING THOSE JOINT HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEES, UH, TO MONITOR AND MEASURE PERFORMANCE, AS IT RELATES TO SAFETY.
WE ALSO HAVE A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS COMMITTEE, WHICH WILL ACTUALLY BE RE-INVIGORATED, UH, RESTARTED.
WE KICKED OFF, UH, NEXT WEEK, OR I'M SORRY, LATER THIS WEEK, TIME IS FLYING BY, BUT LATER THIS WEEK, WE'VE ACTUALLY HIRED A, UH, PROGRAM MANAGER, UH, OVER THE SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PROGRAM AND A WONDERFUL YOUNG MAN BY THE NAME OF SKYLAR MOTT, HE'LL BE TAKING US TO THE NEXT LEVEL, ENSURING THAT WE ARE MEETING OUR OBLIGATION, UH, INTERNALLY AS WELL AS WITH THE FTA, UM, MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE.
SO THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, UH, HAS DIRECTED ALL TRANSIT AGENCIES UNDER THIS PROGRAM TO ENSURE THAT SAFETY RELATED ITEMS, THOSE ITEMS THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO SAFETY.
AND SOME OF THOSE ITEMS THAT WE TRADITIONALLY DIDN'T LOOK AT AS A SAFETY RELATED RELATED, AND AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE, UM, EVEN IN MY DEPARTMENT, IT OCCURRED.
SO THERE'S A, UH, UH, AN INDIVIDUAL THAT PERFORMED AS A, UH, EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, EXCUSE ME.
AND, UH, SHE WAS THEN PROMOTED TO SAFETY, UH, COORDINATOR AS SUCH.
SHE'S BEEN GIVEN A LOT OF TRAINING SAFETY, SPECIFIC TRAINING.
SO THAT WAY WE CAN ENSURE THAT SHE'S NOT JUST A VALUE TO HER IMMEDIATE TEAM, BUT TO THE ORGANIZATION.
UH ORGANIZATION-WIDE SO, AS AN EXAMPLE, CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IS WHERE THE SMS TEAM THAT'S BEEN ASSEMBLED THAT TEAM TOO.
AS A REMINDER, MULTIDISCIPLINARY, THAT UNION HAS OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN IT.
UH, OUR, OUR PROVIDERS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IF THEY ARE ON DISTRIBUTION AND THEY'RE ASKED TO PARTICIPATE.
AND SO WE HAVE THEM TO COME TOGETHER TO MONITOR, UM, TO, TO BE THAT ADDED LAYER, NOT TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE, UH, MEETING THE FTAS, UH, EXPECTATIONS, BUT WE WANT THEM TO ALSO ENSURE THAT THROUGH OUR, UH, HAZARD ANALYSIS AND OUR CORRECTIVE ACTION, UH, UH, DIRECTION THAT WE'RE TAKING WITH ITEMS THAT WE FEEL THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED AND MITIGATED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE WORKING PROPERLY.
UM, WE JUST ADD THAT EXTRA LAYER TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON, AND THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY MITIGATING, UH, TO AN EFFECTIVE LEVEL, A SAFETY PROMOTION.
SO A COMPREHENSIVE SAFETY PROGRAM, AS YOU MAY KNOW, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE AGENCY, AS WELL AS, UM, UH, ARE, ARE THERE REQUIREMENTS FOR OUR CONTRACTORS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS THAT THEY MUST HAVE THAT ARE FEDERAL, FEDERAL LEAD REQUIRED AS WELL AS, UH, THEIR INTERNAL POLICIES REQUIRED TO DO THAT? SO WHAT WE DO IS, AND IT'S PROBABLY MORE THAN SAFETY ASSURANCE, BUT WE CONDUCT AUDITS TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE MEETING THEIR OWN SET GOALS, AS WELL AS, UH, FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS, SAFETY COMMUNICATION, EVEN THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, I SHOULD SAY.
UH, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF, UH, COMMUNICATIONS THAT WENT OUT AGENCY WIDE.
UH, WE MADE SURE TO INCLUDE ESPECIALLY SERVICE PROVIDERS, UM, CONTRACTORS, THIRD-PARTY INDIVIDUALS ABOUT, UH, ALL THAT WAS GOING ON THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, THE EXPECTATIONS FROM APH, UH, CDC, WHAT TO EXPECT WHILE ON THE ROADWAY, UM, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
THERE WERE FEWER, UH, VEHICLES ON THE ROAD AT ONE POINT LAST YEAR, AND
[02:40:01]
THERE WERE MORE ACCIDENTS AND CRASHES TAKING PLACE.SO MAKING THEM AWARE OF THAT AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS, UH, WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO US.
COMMUNICATIONS NOT ONLY CAME OUT OF MY DEPARTMENT, BUT CAME OUT OF OPERATIONS AS WELL AS PEOPLE IN CULTURE.
SO WE COLLABORATED, WE MADE SURE AND CONTINUE TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING RELATED TO SAFETY, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, THOSE ITEMS ARE BEING PROMOTED.
I HAVE TO SAY MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS.
THEY WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING US WITH WONDERFUL DESIGNS AND CONTENT AS WELL.
I DON'T KNOW HOW I COULD FORGET THEM.
UH, BUT THOSE ARE JUST EXAMPLES OF HOW WE ARE MEETING OUR INTERNAL POLICY GOALS, AS WELL AS, UH, THE FTAS EXPECTATIONS OF US.
I KNOW THAT WAS FAST AND FURIOUS, BUT, UM, I COULD HOLD YOU FOR THAT OTHER TWO HOURS THAT I STILL GET ON A CLOCK, BUT I DON'T THINK YOU WANT ME TO DO THAT.
SO QUESTIONS FOR GARDNER THEN I WANT TO JUST SAY A GARNER.
I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE HERE, THAT YOU ARE, UH, STEWARDING OUR SAFETY.
UH, I'VE BEEN A LAWYER FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS.
A LOT OF DEPOSITIONS HAS BEEN AROUND A LOT OF ACCIDENTS, INDIRECTLY, YOU KNOW, SEEING PICTURES OF VICTIMS AND REX, CERTAIN AIRPLANE CRASHES, UH, HAD SOME CLIENTS WHO ARE VERY GOOD AT SAFETY.
THE KIND WHERE SOME EMPLOYEE, IF YOU'RE WALKING DOWN THE STAIRS, REMINDS YOU TO PUT YOUR HAND ON THE RAIL CAUSE THAT'S PART OF THEIR CULTURE.
AND I THINK IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US AS A BOARD FOR RANDY, AS PRESIDENT FOR YOU AS CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER THAT WE BUILD COLLECTIVELY A CULTURE AROUND SAFETY.
ONE OF THE MOST UNSETTLING THINGS IN THIS JOB IS WHEN WE GET THE REPORT THAT OUR TRAIN HAS HIT SOMEBODY, CERTAIN MORE BUSES HIT SOMEBODY.
UM, IT'S A VERY TOUGH AND INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THAT OUR OPERATORS OPERATE IN.
WE'RE DOING HEAVY LIFTING OUT IN THE MAINTENANCE YARDS.
SO I THINK IT IS INCUMBENT UPON US AS A BOARD AND INCUMBENT ON RANDY AND YOU COLLECTIVELY TO REALLY FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON SAFETY AND NOT GIVE IT JUST A, A ONE LIE, UH, INCLUDING THE UPDATES AT OUR BOARD MEETINGS ON, IN THE PAST, WE'VE GOTTEN MISSED THOSE THAT YOU MISSED, BUT, UH, I THINK, UH, I APPLAUD WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND IT'S, IT'S GRANULAR, NOT SEXY WORK, BUT OVER TIME YOU BUILD A CULTURE AROUND IT AND THAT CULTURE SAVES LIVES.
AND WITH THAT, UH, UH, BOARD MEMBERS, WE HAVE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION, BUT PRIOR TO THAT, WE'LL GO TO THE PRESIDENT PRESIDENTS REPORT
[VIII. Report]
AND THEN WE'LL GO TO EXECUTIVE SESSION.AND YES, A GARDNER IS DOING A GREAT JOB WITH THAT AND BRINGING A PREVIOUS CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER MYSELF.
I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT A GARDNER AND I ARE HIGHLY FOCUSED ON THAT AND THE ENTIRE OPERATIONS TEAM AS WELL.
SO, AND HE'S, HE'S HIRED RECENTLY SOME FANTASTIC STAFF, UH, FROM THE INDUSTRY WITH A LOT OF EXPERIENCE.
SO AS CAP, METRO'S A SYSTEM, AN ORGANIZATION MATURES AND GROWS.
UH, OBVIOUSLY SAFETY QUALIFICATION IS PART OF THAT AS WELL.
AND THEN WE GO TO THE EXECUTIVE SESSION.
NUMBER ONE, I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT LAST WEDNESDAY, WE DID A FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION EVENT WHERE SENIOR STAFF WAS OUT, UH, ANYWHERE BETWEEN FIVE IN THE MORNING, THROUGH THE EVENING, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME MUFFINS, SOME BROWNIES, LITTLE BIT OF, UH, UH, LITTLE THANK YOU TO PEOPLE THAT REALLY ARE OUT THERE ON A DAILY BASIS.
YOU HEARD SOME FROM SOME OF OUR OPERATORS TODAY AS WELL, JUST, UH, TALKING TO THEM, TELLING THEM HOW MUCH THEY'RE APPRECIATED.
I PERSONALLY, UH, DOTTIE AND I WERE OUT FOR A WHILE.
AND IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AS USUAL TO GET OUT AND INTERACT WITH THE STAFF.
UM, GREAT LISTENING SESSIONS TO, UH, BETTER, BETTER UNDERSTAND SOME TOPICS AND IMMEDIATELY TRY TO ADDRESS SOME TOPICS.
UH, SO THEY KNOW THAT THEY'RE HEARD DIRECTLY FROM THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP.
SO, UM, WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT TO THE BOARD THAT THE NEXT PIECE IS, UH, GREAT NEWS THAT APTA.
SO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION RECOGNIZED CAP METRO, AND I WANT TO GIVE A REALLY AMAZING COLLAR OUT HERE TO OUR MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION.
THEY JUST DID HAVE DONE, UH, THEY'VE JUST DONE AN AMAZING JOB YEAR AFTER YEAR.
AND WE'VE GOT RECOGNIZED AS TWO FIRST PLACE AWARDS THIS YEAR ACROSS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY.
AND THESE ARE, THESE ARE REALLY COMPETITIVE.
A LOT OF AGENCIES AROUND THE COUNTRY DO A LOT OF WORK AND PROBABLY SOME OF THE AWARDS THAT ARE MOST COMPETITIVE IN THE INDUSTRY.
AND ONE WAS TO HIGHLIGHT THE COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN, HIGHLIGHT TRANSIT NEED AND FUNDING.
AND THAT WAS RELATED TO PROJECT CONNECT.
AND OBVIOUSLY, UH, MAYBE THEIR MARKETING CAMPAIGN WAS A PART OF, PART OF THE SUCCESS OF, OF WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR.
[02:45:01]
EXCUSE ME, BEST ELECTRONIC MEDIA.SO THAT CATEGORY SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO A PICKUP AND OUR VIDEOS AROUND RIDERSHIP AND, UH, GETTING, GETTING PICKUP, UH, LAUNCHED THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
UH, THE NEXT THING I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT IS THAT THIS MONTH IS HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, AND UNFORTUNATELY WE'RE NOT ABLE TO PUT AN EVENT TOGETHER, WHICH WE NORMALLY DO EVERY YEAR BECAUSE OF COVID AND COVID, UH, CONTINUING TO DISRUPT MANY, MANY OF THE THINGS THAT WE ALL WANT TO ENJOY AND KNOCK ON WOOD.
AS THE CHAIR SAID, WE'RE COMING DOWN THE SLOPE OF A, HOPEFULLY NOT ONLY THIS, THIS CURRENT, UH, SURGE, BUT MAYBE THE LAST SURGE.
AND AS WE WORK TOWARDS MORE VACCINATIONS AND GETTING, UH, OUR COMMUNITY SAFER, BUT WE ARE FEATURING A LOT OF STORIES AND MEMORIES, UH, RELATED TO INDIVIDUALS AT CAP METRO, UH, UH, AND HONORING HISPANIC, HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.
SO WHETHER THAT'S ON OUR CAP, METRO TV SYSTEMS ROAD, OR SOCIAL MEDIA OUT PUBLICLY, UH, REALLY SHOWING, UH, UH, THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF, UH, HISPANIC AMERICANS, UH, AT CAP METRO AND ALL THE DIFFERENT SERVICES IN THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE.
AND THEN LASTLY, I WANT TO TAKE A QUICK MOMENT.
UH, I THINK SHE MIGHT'VE HAD A CHANCE TO INTRODUCE HERSELF TO A FEW PEOPLE BEFORE THE MEETING STARTED, BUT OUR NEWEST MEMBER OF THE SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM IS HERE.
AND I'LL JUST ASK ERICA MAZA TO STAND UP.
ERICA IS OUR NEW VICE PRESIDENT OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
UH, SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER FROM, UH, INTERACTING WITH HER PREVIOUS TIMES AS WELL, BUT, UH, ERICA, WE'RE REALLY HAPPY TO HAVE ERICA ON THE TEAM.
WE ARE ENTERING AN ENTIRE NEW PHASE OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO INTERACT, ESPECIALLY ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
ERICA HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE WITH THAT.
SHE'S ACTUALLY THE VICE CHAIR OF APTA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
SO, UH, THE SAUSAGE MAKING OF DC, SHE AND I SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THAT.
AND THIS WEEK IS GOING TO BE ONE INTERESTING WEEK IN DC, MAYBE THE MOST INTERESTING WEEK IN MANY OF OUR LIVES TO SEE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS THERE.
UM, BUT ERICA IS REALLY GOING TO BE WORKING ON A MULTI-YEAR, UH, FEDERAL STRATEGY BECAUSE EVERYTHING WE'RE DOING IS FOCUSED ON HOW TO GET EVERY DOLLAR.
WE CAN BACK HERE TO, UH, CENTRAL TEXAS TO BUILD AS MUCH TRANSIT AND, UH, GET THE BEST TAX PAYER BENEFITS.
SO, UM, WE'RE REALLY FORTUNATE TO HAVE ERICA JOINED THE TEAM.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I CALLED HER OUT SPECIFICALLY OUTSIDE THAT CHAIR.
I JUST WANT TO JUST THANK THE STAFF.
WE KNOW THAT SERVICE IS NOT PERFECT WHERE WE WANT IT TODAY.
I WILL SAY THAT, UH, THE TEAM IS WORKING VERY HARD, UM, UM, ESPECIALLY DOTTIE AND HER OPERATIONS TEAM, BUT EVERYTHING FROM PEOPLE IN CULTURE TO HR, TO LEGAL, TO YOU NAME IT, WE'RE ALL HANDS ON DECK, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WAYS THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO IMPROVE SERVICE WORKING WITH BOTH OUR SERVICE PROVIDER, ACCOUNTABILITY, STANDARDS, AND PERFORMANCE, AND ALSO OUR ATU PARTNER TO CONTINUE TO LIVE THE COMMUNITY.
SO IT'S NOT KIND OF GET FIXED TOMORROW, UH, BUT WE ARE EVERY DAY TRYING TO WORK TO GET BACK TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE, AND THEN ULTIMATELY GROW, UH, AS, UH, AS SOME OF THE SLIDESHOW TODAY.
WE'RE, WE'RE NOT FAR FROM GROWING OUR NEXT SERVICES, LET ALONE GETTING BACK TO NORMAL.
GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK IN OUR UNIFORM OR GLAD TO HAVE YOU IN OUR UNIFORM.
UH, AND WITH THAT, UH, EVERYONE, UH, WELL, LET ME JUST SAY, I WANT TO THANK OUR STAFF AS WELL.
UM, WE HEARD SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A BUS OPERATOR TODAY.
UH, AND I KNOW EVERYBODY FROM LEGAL TO ACCOUNTING, TO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, TO SAFETY, UM, UH, ARE ALL WORKING SUPER HARD AND HAVE BEEN FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND THE TOUGHEST OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THAT WE'VE HAD IN A LONG, LONG TIME.
[IX. Executive Session]
CONCLUDES THE OPEN PORTION OF TODAY'S MEETING.AND WE'LL NOW GO INTO OUR EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER SECTION 5 51 0.07, ONE OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE FOR LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO CONTRACT PROVISIONS.
AND WHEN WE RETURNED TO THIS, UH, THIS WILL CONCLUDE OUR EXECUTIVE SESSION AND, UH, I AT LEAST WILL HANG AROUND TO ADJOURN OUR MEETING.