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[Capital Metro Board of Directors Public Hearing on June 12, 2024]
SO I'M GONNA GIVE IT A MINUTE.UH, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, UH, FOR THE CAP METRO PUBLIC HEARING.
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY JUNE 12TH AND THE TIME IS 12 O'CLOCK.
WE ARE MEETING IN, UH, AT THE CAPITAL METRO TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS, UM, MEETING.
I WILL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AND TODAY'S PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE TO CONSIDER AN AMENDMENT TO A PREVIOUSLY APPROVED AUGUST, 2024, UM, SERVICE CHANGES.
TO ADD AN EXTENSION TO THE CURRENT LEANDER PICKUP ZONE, WE HAVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION AND THEN WE WILL TAKE PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSED CHANGE.
UH, MS. CROMWELL, ARE YOU HERE TO GIVE US THAT PRESENTATION? YES, SIR.
BOARD CHAIR, BILION BOARD MEMBERS AND MR. S SCHABOWSKI.
MY NAME IS KATIE CROMWELL AND I'M THE REGIONAL TRANSIT AND MOBILITY PLANNER HERE AT CAP METRO.
AND I'M HERE THIS AFTERNOON TO PRESENT THE AMENDMENT TO THE PREVIOUSLY APPROVED AUGUST SERVICE CHANGES FOR PICKUP LEANDER.
IN APRIL, THE BOARD APPROVED RESOURCE NEUTRAL CHANGES TO FOUR PICKUP ZONES TO GO INTO EFFECT AUGUST 18TH.
THIS AMENDMENT IS IN ADDITION TO THOSE ALREADY APPROVED CHANGES.
OUR SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS AS ADOPTED WITH OUR SERVICE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES IN JUNE, 2023, HAS SOME MORE FORMALIZED STEPS THAT WE WORK THROUGH AS A TEAM.
WE FIRST IDENTIFY ISSUES WITHIN OUR SYSTEM BY LOOKING AT DATA AND COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
WE DEVELOP A PROPOSAL BASED ON WHAT WE SEE AND THEN WE EVALUATE THAT PROPOSAL THROUGH ANALYSIS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH THROUGH FEEDBACK FROM THE CITY OF LEAN LEADERSHIP AND PICKUP CUSTOMERS.
CAP METRO STAFF IDENTIFIED THE NEED FOR EXPANDED PICKUP ZONE COVERAGE IN LEAN TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO KEY RESIDENTIAL, MEDICAL AND RETAIL DESTINATIONS USING CAP METRO'S.
BOARD ADOPTED GUIDELINES FOR PICKUP SERVICE STAFF EVALUATED OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND THE ZONE AND ALIGNMENT WITH OUR AGENCY'S PICKUP ZONE DESIGN GUIDELINES.
THIS SLIDE PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF PICKUP LEANDER SERVICE DETAILS AS PART OF THE AUGUST SERVICE CHANGE PRESENTATION.
AT THE APRIL BOARD MEETING STAFF HIGHLIGHTED THE ONGOING COORDINATION WITH REGIONAL PARTNERS, INCLUDING LEANDER AS WE REVIEWED OUR PICKUP ZONE PERFORMANCE THROUGHOUT THE SERVICE AREA.
THROUGH ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH LEANDER LEADERSHIP STAFF AND CUSTOMERS, WE HEARD THE NEED TO EXPAND ZONE COVERAGE IN LEANDER TO FILL TRANSIT GAPS AND PROVIDE ACCESS TO KEY DESTINATIONS OUTSIDE THE ZONE.
FOLLOWING OUR SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS, WE FIRST IDENTIFIED CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES, BEGINNING WITH REVIEWING THE HISTORY OF PICKUP LEANDER, COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS, RIDERSHIP TRENDS AND CUSTOMER FEEDBACK RELATED TO THE ZONE.
EXPONENTIAL RIDERSHIP GROWTH DEMONSTRATES A STRONG DEMAND FOR TRANSIT SERVICE IN LEAN, AND AN ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER TRAVEL PATTERNS HIGHLIGHTED A PARTICULARLY HIGH DEMAND FOR TRANSIT COVERAGE TO GROCERY MEDICAL RETAIL AND RESIDENTIAL MULTIFAMILY DESTINATIONS.
STAFF REVIEWED CUSTOMER FEEDBACK RELATED TO PICKUP LEAN AND FOUND A HIGH OVERALL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATING 4.87 OUT OF FIVE FOR APRIL, 2024.
BUT WE HAVE RECEIVED RECURRING CALL CUSTOMER REQUESTS TO EXPAND COVERAGE BASED ON CUSTOMER CALL REPORT.
HISTORY, AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES CONTINUES TO BE A CHALLENGE TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMAND ACROSS ALL OF OUR PICKUP ZONES.
THEREFORE, STAFF REVIEWED RESOURCE NEUTRAL, UH, OPTIONS TO EXPAND ZONE COVERAGE TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR CITI AND CUSTOMER FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE, UH, IN A TIMELY MANNER.
STAFF IS PROPOSING A 0.64 SQUARE MILE EXPANSION IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE EXISTING PICKUP LEANDER ZONE.
THIS EXPANSION IS BOUNDED BY EAST CRYSTAL FALLS TO THE NORTH LAKELINE TO THE WEST SOUTH OF OSAGE.
DRIVE TO THE SOUTH AND BAGHDAD ROAD TO THE EAST.
THIS WOULD BRING THE TOTAL ZONE SIZE TO 5.6 SQUARE MILES AND WOULD BE THE FIFTH PICKUP LEANDER EXPANSION SINCE IT LAUNCHED IN 2019.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS AN AMENDMENT TO THE PREVIOUSLY APPROVED AUGUST.
SERVICE CHANGES WHILE DEVELOPING THIS PROPOSAL.
STAFF ASSESSED CAPACITY AND DEMAND BASED ON EXISTING LEANDER VEHICLES AND DETERMINE THE CURRENT SERVICE CAN PROVIDE UP TO 60 ADDITIONAL TRIPS PER DAY.
WITH THIS CAPACITY IN MIND, WE DEFINE 10 DISTINCT AREAS CONTIGUOUS TO THE EXISTING ZONE, BOUNDARY AND ESTIMATED CUSTOMER DEMAND FROM EACH DEFINED AREA.
THE RECOMMENDED EXPANSION SHOWN ON THIS SLIDE WOULD SERVE AN ADDITIONAL 4,000 RESIDENTS AND PRO GENERATE APPROXIMATELY 55 ADDITIONAL TRIPS PER DAY BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF CAPACITY AND DEMAND.
AND IT WOULD ALSO PROVIDE ACCESS TO KEY DESTINATIONS INCLUDING AN
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EMERGENCY CENTER, RANDALL'S, LAKELAND APARTMENTS, CRYSTAL FALLS CROSSING AND DAVITA DIALYSIS CAP METRO CREATED A PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PLAN TO INFORM WRITERS OF THE PROPOSED EXPANSION.THE PROCESS BEGAN BY PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE BOARD, INCLUDING A MEMO AND PRESENTATION FOR THE COMMITTEE ME HEARINGS, MEETINGS AND SCHEDULED PUBLIC HEARING.
OUTREACH ALSO INCLUDES WEBSITE AND ON VEHICLE SIGNAGE AT FRAIL SIGNAGE FLYERS PLACED AT COMMUNITY SITES AND POPULAR DESTINATIONS FOR PICKUP USERS, OPERATOR COMMUNICATION, PICKUP APP ALERTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA IF APPROVED.
THESE CHANGES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED ON AUGUST 18TH, 2024.
ALONGSIDE THE, THE OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE ALREADY APPROVED AUGUST SERVICE CHANGE SINCE AUGUST 18TH IS A SUNDAY IF APPROVED, THESE CHANGES WOULD GO INTO EFFECT ON AUGUST 19TH.
THIS SLIDE HAS A COUPLE PHOTOS OF THE OUTREACH WE'VE CONDUCTED SINCE OUR PLANNING OPERATIONS AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS TEAMS BEGAN WORKING ON THIS ZONE EXPANSION PROPOSAL EARLIER THIS SPRING.
ON THE LEFT, YOU CAN SEE PHOTOS OF CAT METRO STAFF AND OUR COO ANDREW S KOWSKI AS THEY ADDRESSED THE LEAN CITY COUNCIL ON MAY 2ND AND MAY 16TH.
WE PLACED THE FLYER ON THE RIGHT THROUGH PO THROUGHOUT POPULAR LOCATIONS IN THE CURRENT ZONE AND KEY DESTINATIONS IN THE PROPOSED EXPANSION AREA.
THE PHOTOS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SLIDESHOW ARE STAFF AT LEAN OLD TOWN FEST TO INFORM CUSTOMERS OF THE PROPOSED EXPANSION AND CAT METRO WILL BE AT LEAN'S UPCOMING JUNETEENTH BLOCK PARTY TO CONTINUE ENGAGING RESIDENTS AND CUSTOMERS.
WE PLAN ON CONTINUING THIS LEVEL OF OUTREACH, ENGAGEMENT AND CONSENSUS BUILDING WITH OUR MEMBER CITIES AS WE ARE, AS WE GEAR UP FOR TRANSIT PLAN 2035.
AND WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
BOARD MEMBERS, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? BOARD MEMBERS? OKAY.
I'LL SAY, UH, THANK YOU MS. CROMWELL.
AND WE'LL NOW MOVE INTO OUR PUBLIC COMMENT SECTION.
WE'VE GOT SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE SIGNED UP AND, UH, SO WHEN I'LL CALL YOUR NAME AND, AND WHEN I CALL YOUR NAME, IF YOU'LL UNMUTE YOURSELF OR IF YOU'LL COME TO THE PODIUM, UH, THEN EACH SPEAKER WILL BE ALLOWED THREE MINUTES FOR THEIR CON UH, FOR THEIR COMMENTS.
FIRST SPEAKER IS JACOB EMERSON.
ARE YOU AVAILABLE? MR. EMERSON? MR. CHAIR? I DON'T SEE MR. EMERSON ON THE LINE WITH US.
SO, UH, WE WILL GO TO THE SECOND THEN.
UH, WHICH IS ALAN PATRICK, ARE YOU AVAILABLE? MR. PATRICK, MR. CHAIR? I ALSO DON'T SEE MR. PATRICK WITH US.
UH, THE NEXT WOULD BE, UM, MS. ZIA JOSEPH.
UM, MS. JOSEPH, IF YOU WOULD UNMUTE YOURSELF.
MS. JOSEPH? THANK YOU MR. CHAIR MEMBERS, I'M ZIA JOSEPH SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION TO THE LEANDER PICKUP EXPANSION.
I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT WHILE IT IS CERTAINLY NICE THAT YOU'RE MAKING THIS A CONTIGUOUS ZONE FOR THEM, I HAVE MENTIONED THAT THE PICKUP ZONE FOR DEA DOES NOT CONNECT THE RIDERS ON ROUTE 3 92 TO BREAKER NORTH LAMAR TO THE 8 0 1 METRO RAPID.
AND SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO USE THAT SAME LEVEL OF TENACITY TO SERVE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN AS WELL.
I JUST WANNA CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT BACK ON AUGUST 22ND, 2019, MEMBER STRATTON AND CEO CLARK AT THE TIME WITH DOTTIE WATKINS ACTUALLY BRIEFED THE REVENUE SHORTFALL OF APPROXIMATELY, UH, $5 MILLION IN LEANDER.
OR ACTUALLY THE COST OF SERVICE WAS 9 MILLION AT THE TIME.
THERE WAS A REVENUE SHORTFALL OF $4 MILLION AND YOU'VE NEVER RECOUPED THOSE FUNDS.
I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT WHEN THEY STARTED THE PICKUP SERVICE IN LEANDER, IT'S AWARDED THE ELECTION.
SO YOU GAVE IT TO THEM, QUOTE UNQUOTE, FOR FREE.
I WANT YOU TO BE TRANSPARENT WITH THE PUBLIC AND ASK AND LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE ACTUALLY CHARGING LEAN OR FOR ANY OF THE PICKUP SERVICES.
I WANT YOU TO ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT WHEN YOU ARE MEASURING THE ON TIME PERFORMANCE, IT IS MEASURED FROM THE TIME THAT THE PHONE IS PICKED UP UNTIL THE TIME THAT THE PERSON IS DROPPED OFF.
BUT IN THE CASE OF NORTHEAST AUSTIN RESIDENCE, WE'RE ON HOLD FIVE TO 60 MINUTES.
SO YOUR ON TIME PERFORMANCE IS FRAUDULENT.
FRAUD IS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING OF VALUE THROUGH WILLFUL MISREPRESENTATION AND THAT AS THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DEFINITION.
I WILL ALSO TELL YOU THAT I LISTENED TO THE MAY 16TH, 2024, UH, BRIEFING FROM ANDY SKALSKI TO LEANDER CITY COUNCIL AND HE IS BRANDING IT AS UBER PICKUP SERVICE IS NOT
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UBER.IT DOES NOT TAKE YOU FROM POINT A TO POINT B DISPATCH CAN ACTUALLY ADD RIDES IN BETWEEN THE TIME YOU START YOUR TRIP UNTIL YOUR FINAL DESTINATION.
AND SO I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT AS IT RELATES SPECIFICALLY TO THE FALL 2024 SERVICE CHANGES FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, YOU ARE CONNECTING SIX 40 AND 6 41 TO MAKE IT EASIER TO GET FROM EAST TO WEST KARMA.
LANE HAS THREE HEBS 425 ACRE DEVELOPMENT EAST VILLAGE ACROSS FROM SAMSUNG.
SAMSUNG TO APPLE IS ON A, IS ON PARMA LANE AS WELL.
I WOULD ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO PUT SOME TRANSPORTATION THERE.
THERE ARE OVER 2000 UNITS RIGHT BY SAMSUNG AND NO TRANSPORTATION.
SO IT IS DISINGENUOUS FOR YOU TO ACTUALLY IMPROVE SERVICE FOR THE LEANDER WHITE RAIL RIDERS.
IT'S $214 PER RIDE ONE WAY $428 PER DAY.
BUT YET WE, THE BLACK PEOPLE AND MINORITIES, NOT THE US 180 3, CAN'T EVEN GET RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION OR THE TRASH PICKED UP ON A DAILY BASIS.
I'M IN OPPOSITION BECAUSE THIS IS NOT AN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESOURCES.
AND I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE, AND I WILL CLOSE ON THIS NOTE, TITLE SIX OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RACE, COLOR, AND NATIONAL ORIGIN.
I APPRECIATE YOU ALLOWING ME TO MAKE MY COMMENTS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GO OUT AND ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
BOARD MEMBERS, ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE.
THANK YOU MS. JOSEPH FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
ALRIGHT, UH, THE NEXT PERSON SIGNED UP IS, UH, SOPHIE OLINSKY.
UM, I LIVE IN THE EMERSON APARTMENTS IN LEANDER AND I DID NOT HEAR Y'ALL EXPANDING THE PICKUPS TO HERE.
IT'S LIKE I HAVE TO WALK LIKE FIVE MINUTES TO THE PICKUP FROM THE BENBROOK, UH, PARK, RANCH PARK TO GET TO THE BUS.
SO IT WOULD BE NICE TO GET LIKE THE BUS TO COME OVER HERE WHERE THE EMERSON APARTMENTS ARE, UM, AND TO, UH, GLEN HIGH SCHOOL, THAT AREA.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO, UM, TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD.
UH, THE NEXT PERSON SIGNED UP IS, UH, MAYOR LAU.
I'VE BEEN PRACTICING TOO, SO, ALL RIGHT, GO AHEAD.
THIS IS A REALLY GREAT DAY AND I JUST WANNA SAY THAT MY HEART IS FULL.
I KNOW THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LOT OVER THE YEARS, UM, AND I'M JUST SO APPRECIATIVE THAT TODAY WE ARE DISCUSSING THIS EXPANSION.
UM, THOSE OF YOU VERY FAMILIAR WITH LEANDER KNOW THAT THERE IS A, A LOT OF, UM, TROUBLE GETTING FROM END TO END.
AND THERE ARE, UH, A WIDE VARIETY OF NEEDS AND SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES THROUGHOUT OUR CITY.
WE HAVE LOTS OF HAVES, BUT WE ALSO HAVE LOTS OF HAVE-NOTS.
AND, UM, AND THERE'S BEEN A TREMENDOUS NEED FOR AN ABILITY TO GET AROUND TOWN FOR THOSE WHO ARE MOBILITY CHALLENGED OR JUST DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A VEHICLE OF THEIR OWN.
AND SO, UM, THIS IS FANTASTIC BECAUSE THIS OPENS UP SO MUCH.
IT OPENS UP HEALTHCARE, IT OPENS UP SOME OF THAT EDUCATION.
IT OPENS UP TO MORE OF OUR RESIDENTS, UM, AND, AND IT GOES TO MORE OF OUR SHOPPING.
UM, AND IT'S JUST A FANTASTIC CONNECTION.
AND, UH, I, ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF LEANDER, I AM IN FULL SUPPORT.
I APPRECIATE Y'ALL SO MUCH AND I HOPE THAT WE CAN DO THIS AGAIN IN LIKE A YEAR, MAYBE TWO.
UH, THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO, UH, DRIVE IN TOWN AND, UH, ADDRESS THE BOARD.
UH, LET ME CHECK AND MAKE SURE, UH, HAVE WE LOCATED MR. EMERSON.
UH, WHAT ABOUT MR. PATRICK? OKAY.
UH, SO, UH, IF, IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEN UH, WE WILL, UH, WE WILL CLOSE, UH, THE PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND I WILL SAY FOR THE RECORD, UH, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC, THAT CAP METRO DOES HAVE A PROCESS FOR FILING COMPLAINTS THAT, THAT, UH, REGARD COMPLIANCE WITH TITLE VI.
AND THERE'S INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE ON THE WAY THAT YOU CAN DO THAT.
AND THEN WE HAVE STAFF AVAILABLE, UH, IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE TO MAKE A, UH, A TITLE SIX CLAIM.
SO, UM, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT IF THEY, IF THEY HAVE AN ISSUE, THERE'S A WAY TO ADDRESS IT.
UH, DO WE HAVE ANYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM THAT DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO SIGN UP BUT WOULD LIKE TO, UH, SPEAK TO THE BOARD?
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I'LL DO IT THREE TIMES.ANYONE ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO, UH, TO ADDRESS THE BOARD HASN'T, HASN'T HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO? ANYONE ELSE? ALRIGHT.
HEARING NONE, UH, THEN WE WILL, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE, UH, WE'RE CLOSING DOWN THE PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.
UH, THIS CONCLUDES OUR PUBLIC HEARING.
UH, I WANT TO GIVE YOU A REMINDER THAT OUR OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BEGIN IN THIS ROOM VERY SHORTLY.
HOLD, HOLD ON, HOLD ON ONE SECOND.
BUT BEFORE WE, UH, CLOSE THE MEETING, I'LL TURN TO, UH, I'LL TURN TO OUR, UH, COO AND MAKE SURE HE HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE CRAP.
UH, ACTUALLY DOTTIE WANTED ME TO, UH, MENTION ONE QUICK THING.
UH, MY APPRECIATION AND HER APPRECIATION FOR THE STAFF OF PLANNING, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, IN PARTICULAR, HOW THEY CAME TOGETHER AND CREATIVELY WORKED THIS SOLUTION.
UM, ALSO WE WANTED TO THANK THIS NOT ONLY STAFF MEMBERS, BUT THE BOARD, BOARD MEMBER, ROSS AND, UM, THE CITY OF ORLANDO FOR THEIR HELP THROUGHOUT THIS.
AND, AND WE WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN HERE WITHOUT EVERYBODY WORKING TOGETHER THE WAY WE DID.
SO JUST WANTED TO SHARE THOSE.
NOW IS THERE ANYONE ELSE ON THE BOARD THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT ON? I, UH, DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ANYONE OUT WHO WANTED TO SAY ANYTHING.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE HEARING NONE THEN.
WE WILL CALL, WE WILL, UM, WE, AT THE TIME OF 1216, UH, WE WILL CALL THE MEETING TO, UH, TO A CLOSE AND WE'LL BE BACK SHORTLY FOR THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING.