[ I. Call to Order]
[00:00:03]
IT, IT LOOKS LIKE, LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A QUORUM PRESENT.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TO THE CAP, METRO TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING.
IT IS MONDAY, JULY 28TH, UH, 20 25, 12 NOON.
UH, WE ARE, UH, WE ARE GONNA CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AT 12 NOON.
[II. Safety Briefing]
WE WILL START OFF WITH OUR SAFETY BRIEFING.UM, MR. TABBAN, COULD YOU TAKE US THROUGH THAT PROCESS, PLEASE, SIR? INDEED, SIR.
UH, WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.
I SERVE AS CAPITAL METRO'S EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, SYSTEM-WIDE ACCESSIBILITY AND CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER.
YOU ARE LOCATED AT 29 10 EAST FIFTH STREET.
IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, UH, EITHER I OR STAFF MEMBER OR SOMEONE IN SECURITY WILL DIAL 9 1 1.
IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF US NEEDING TO EVACUATE THIS, THIS ROOM, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO GO ACROSS, UH, THE, THE EAST LOT OVER INTO THE LOT AT 3,100.
WHERE, WHERE WE WILL ASSEMBLE THERE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY MOBILITY CHALLENGES AND WE HAVE TO EXIT THROUGH THIS DOOR, WE ASK THAT YOU, WE ASK THAT YOU WAIT RIGHT THERE AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS FOR SOMEONE TO ASSIST YOU TO GO DOWN THE STAIRS.
UH, SHOULD THERE BE A NEED FOR AN A ED? THERE IS ONE LOCATED RIGHT OUT HERE THROUGH THESE DOUBLE DOORS.
MAKE A RIGHT HAND TURN RIGHT TO THE ELEVATOR AND IT'S RIGHT ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE ELEVATOR.
UM, OUR FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS LOCATED HERE IN THIS ROOM.
WE NOW HAVE TWO NEW THANK YOU MA'AM.
SO WE HAVE, UM, SO APPARENTLY ART'S JOB IS IN JEOPARDY.
UM, SHE DID THAT WITHOUT ASKING YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED THERE.
SO OUR FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS LOCATED RIGHT HERE.
AND THAT CONCLUDES YOUR SAFETY BRIEFING.
SO, SO I CAN GET A JOB HERE IF I POINT OUT WHERE THE FIRE DIS EXTINGUISHER IS.
[III. Public Comment]
ITEM IS GONNA BE PUBLIC COMMENT.EACH SPEAKER'S GOING TO HAVE THREE MINUTES, UNLESS IT, UNLESS THEY'RE SPEAKING ON TWO AGENDA ITEMS OR REPRESENTING A GROUP WITH, UH, ONE MORE PERSON IN THE ROOM.
UM, IN WHICH CASE THEY'LL HAVE FIVE MINUTES.
I UNDERSTAND THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE SIGNED UP IN ADVANCE TO SPEAK, TO SPEAK REMOTELY.
FIRST OF THOSE IS MR. ZIA, JOSEPH AND MS. JOSEPH, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'VE ASKED FOR FIVE MINUTES TO SPEAK ON TWO AGENDA ITEMS. UH, MR. CHAIR, I HAVE NOT SEEN MS. JOSEPH OR OUR NEXT SPEAKER, THE REMOTE SPEAKER.
I WILL GIVE YOU A SIGNAL IF I SEE THEM.
I HAVE NOTICED THAT THAT, UH, BOARD MEMBER ROSS HAS JOINED US REMOTELY.
UH, GOOD MORNING OR GOOD AFTERNOON NOW, I SHOULD SAY.
AND, UH, SO I'VE GOT A LIST OF PEOPLE WHO, UH, WHO HAVE SIGNED IN TO, UH, TO SPEAK.
AND I'LL JUST GO DOWN THE LIST.
IS, UH, MS. SHERRY TAYLOR HERE? MS. TAYLOR? NOT HERE YET.
UH, UH, IL ADAMS. GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYBODY.
UH, MY NAME IS IL ADAMS. I'M A CAP METRO BUS OPERATOR.
I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE MARCH 21ST, 2022.
AND I'VE BEEN DOING SEXUAL HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE.
AND I CAN REMEMBER REACHING OUT TO MS. DOTY THROUGH EMAIL IN 2022.
ONE SPECIFICALLY PERSON THAT I REPORTED ON IN 2022 NOW HAS HIS GIRLFRIEND TRYING TO BULLY AND INTIMIDATE ME ON THE JOB I DONE HAD SHOP STORAGE BE VERY DISRESPECTFUL TO ME ON THE JOB WHEN IT COMES TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
I CAN'T EVEN BEND DOWN AND PICK UP A PADDLE TO PERFORM MY ASSIGNMENT WITHOUT SOMEBODY TALKING ABOUT MY BODY PARTS.
UH, I, I HAVE PEOPLE THAT I RELIEVED TALKING ABOUT WHO THEY HAD SEX WITH ON THE JOB.
AND FOR ME, I'M A PROFESSIONAL.
FOR ME, I AM THE VALUE HERE AT CAP METRO, EVEN THOUGH I KNOW I NEED A PAYCHECK AND I JUST CAN'T DO IT.
AND THE ICING, THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMERA BACK TO ME WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE WAS SEXUALLY HARASSED BY A TRANSGENDER.
EVEN THOUGH HE TALKED BACK TO HER AND THE WAY SHE WAS TALKING TO HIM, HE DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE WAS A MAN.
[00:05:01]
THAT'S PUT ALL OUR LIVES AT JEOPARDY BECAUSE IF THEM TWO WOULD'VE HAD INTIMATE RELATIONS WITH EACH OTHER, THEN HE WOULD'VE FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS A MAN.IT IT A LOT, HE PROBABLY WOULD'VE CAME, SHOT THE JOB UP AND A LOT OF INNOCENT PEOPLE WOULD'VE BEEN HURT.
IF WE ARE IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT, THAT SHOULD BE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
AND THIS SEXUAL HARASSMENT WAS EVEN IN MY TRAINING WITH A CAP METRO EMPLOYEE WHERE SHE WAS PEE POPPING ON THE DRIVERS, TALKING ABOUT SHE LIKE TO HAVE FUN.
SO I'M AT THE PER NOW WHERE IT IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME.
I'M NOT MAKING MONEY BECAUSE IT'S STRESSFUL FOR ME TO COME TO WORK AND SIT IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE I'M LOOKED AT AS A SEX OBJECT.
I CAME TO BE A PROFESSIONAL BUS OPERATOR.
AND THEN WHEN IT GOES UP TO MANAGEMENT, THEY DO THEIR LITTLE INVESTIGATION AND, AND THAT'S IT.
THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE.
SO I'M STILL PUT IN THE SAME SITUATION AND I'M NOT GONNA KEEP GOING.
I MOVED MY LIFE HERE FOR THIS.
I'M NOT GONNA KEEP GOING THROUGH THIS ON A JOB THAT SAYS IT'S ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
I DEAL WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THE BUS, AND I DON'T GET THIS FROM THE PASTORS.
WHAT I GET FROM MY COWORKERS, SHOP STEWARDS, COWORKERS, WOMEN, IT THINK I WANT THEIR HUSBANDS AND THEY HAVE ATTITUDES WITH ME.
THEN WHEN I SEE THEIR HUSBANDS IN THE FIELD, THEY WON'T TALK.
YOU BRING THAT BACK TO SOMEBODY.
THEY MAKE IT THINK THAT I WANT THEM AND I DON'T WANT NOBODY BUT A PAYCHECK.
AND I HAVEN'T BEEN GETTING A PAYCHECK.
I JUST REQUESTED A TWO MONTH LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO FIGURE OUT IF I WANNA COME HERE AND GET MY ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION UNDER CONTROL IF I WANNA STAY BECAUSE I'M NOT MAKING THE MONEY I WAS MAKING AT MY METRO.
AND THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS WORSER THAN THE METRO I WAS AT.
AND NOTHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT.
IT'S LIKE THEY, THEY SAY ALL RIGHT, THEY HEAD BUT THEY DON'T HEAD BECAUSE IT, IT, IT GOES OVER THEIR HEAD AND THE VICTIM WIND UP BEING A VILLAIN.
JUST LIKE THE, THE PERSON THAT I TOLD ON AND I WROTE A COMPLAINT ON.
I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST TRANSGENDERS 'CAUSE I HAVE A LOT OF GAY PEOPLE IN MY FAMILY AND TRANSGENDER.
I PUT HER IN A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR NOT DOING THE RIGHT THING, FOR PLAYING WITH A STRAIGHT MAN AND NOT TELLING THIS MAN, THIS IS WHO YOU IS.
AND YOU PUT ALL THE, OUR LIVES AT RISK.
A LOT OF WORKPLACES GET SHOT UP BEHIND THINGS WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT.
AND I'M JUST NOT GOING TO RISK MY LIFE FOR, FOR SOMEBODY WITHOUT MORALS.
AND I'M NOT, I'M TIRED OF BEING EVERYBODY'S SEX TOY BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHO I AM.
AND I DIDN'T COME HERE TO GET A MAN.
I CAME HERE TO GET A PAYCHECK AND I DON'T GET NOTHING.
AND MY LAST THING, A ACCIDENT, A INCIDENT HAPPENED ON THE BUS FRIDAY THE 13TH JUNE, WHERE SOMEBODY KICKED THE PASTURE DOOR.
MY KEY FILE WAS $465, WHICH PUT ME IN A REAL FINANCIAL BIND.
AND MY COMPANY WOULDN'T EVEN REFUND ME FOR MY KEYS 'CAUSE THEY SAY THEY DIDN'T SEE IT.
I KNOW I HAD MY KEYS SOMETIME THE CAMERA MISSED THINGS.
THIS HAPPENED IN THE LINE OF DUTY.
AND THEN MY DISPATCH WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE A SUPERVISOR TAKE ME DOWNTOWN TO WATCH MY CAR.
MR. WHITLEY WENT DOWN THERE WITH ME TO MAKE SURE MY CAR WAS SAFE TILL I GOT IT UNLOCKED.
AND I STILL HAVEN'T BEEN REVERS REVERS FOR THAT 4 65 AND I DON'T THINK THEY PLAN ON REIMBURSING ME FOR IT.
THIS WAS AN INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED ON THE JOB.
JUST LIKE THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT THAT'S GOING ON, ON THE JOB.
I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT AND AIN'T NOBODY BEEN LISTENING.
SO I DECIDED TO ADDRESS IT AT THE BOARD MEETING AND HOPEFULLY THE BOARD WILL HEAR MY CRIES WHEN IT COMES TO THESE MATTERS.
MS. ADAMS. UM, LET ME JUST SAY THAT, THAT WE HEAR YOU AND THANK YOU FOR HAVING THE COURAGE TO COME FORWARD AND, AND, UH, AND TELL US WHAT WE NEEDED TO KNOW.
WE SIT DOWN AND MAKE SURE THAT WE DO, UH, TALK TO THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE SO THAT YOUR ISSUES ARE ADDRESSED LEGITIMATELY.
SO, UM, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE'LL BE, UH, THAT WE WILL BE FOLLOWING UP ON THIS AS A BOARD DIRECTLY.
UH, WE WILL WITH, UH, WITH OUR CEO, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND AND ADDRESS, UH, THE THINGS THAT YOU'VE PRESENTED TODAY.
THANK Y'ALL FOR Y'ALL TIME AND Y'ALL PATIENCE.
THE NEXT PERSON UP IS MR. STANLEY NELSON MOORE SENIOR.
I'M HERE TODAY TO REPRESENT, UH, NOT ONLY MYSELF, STANLEY NELSON MOORE SENIOR, BUT MY WIFE LANA DANETTE MOORE ATKINS.
UH, MY OPERATOR NUMBER'S 3 1 1 4 8 0.
I'VE BEEN A CDL OPERATOR FOR 51 YEARS.
[00:10:01]
SIX DOWN HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.THE 2000 SERIES, 22, 23 24, THE SEATS ARE NOT PROPERLY ALIGNED.
ALSO, THEY BOUNCE, IT'S NOT SAFE.
I HAD AN INCIDENT ON JUNE 16TH, BUS NUMBER 2361.
I REFUSED TO OPERATE THE BUS ANY LONGER.
I SAID AT SOUTH PARK MIDDLES FOR FOUR HOURS, FOUR HOURS WAITING FOR A CHANGE OUT AT 9 45 T 81.
HE APPROACHED ME, HE SAID, MR. MOORE, WILL YOU OPERATE THIS BUS A FEW MORE MINUTES AND WE'LL GET YOU A CHANGE OUT.
20 MINUTES LATER HE COMES BACK AND SAY, YOU HAVE TO BOOK STATUS AND GO HOME.
I SAID, GO HOME FOR WHAT? AT 9 45 IN THE EVENING.
THEY GOT PLENTY OF BUSES IN THIS YARD.
THEY REFUSE TO GIMME A CHANGE UP.
IF YOU'RE GOING TO KEEP THE OLD EQUIPMENT, AT LEAST REPLACE THE SEATS AND THE LIGHTING ON THEM.
I HAVE 11 HOUR SHIFT FIVE DAYS A WEEK.
A LOT OF IT'S NIGHTTIME DRIVING.
IT'S HARD TO STAY FOCUSED WHEN THE SEAT IS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN OR THE SEAT GOES TO THE LEFT OR TO THE RIGHT WHEN YOU MAKE A TURN.
YOU GOT THE ELECTRIC BUSES OUT THERE.
TAKE THE SEATS OUTTA THEM AND PUT 'EM ON THE, ON THE OLD BUSES.
SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS.
MY WIFE ALWAYS GETTING THREATENED.
SHE ALWAYS HAS SOME TYPE OF ISSUE WHEN SHE COMES HOME.
AND GUESS WHO HAS TO HEAR IT? HER HUSBAND, SHE HAD AN ISSUE THIS MORNING.
THAT'S WHY SHE'S NOT HERE FROM YESTERDAY.
SO, UH, OUR SECURITY, I DON'T, UH, SHE DOESN'T FEEL SAFE.
BUT I TRY AS A PROFESSIONAL, I TRY NOT TO SAY TOO MUCH TO THESE PEOPLE DOWN HERE.
'CAUSE I KNOW IF I GET UPSET, THEY UPSET.
IT'S NOT GONNA SOLVE THE ISSUE.
WE HAVE TRASH AROUND OUR BUS STOPS.
THIS IS CAPITAL METRO BUS STOPS.
I COULDN'T PRINT IT OUT 'CAUSE UH, THE DEVIL WAS ACTING UP AND MY PRINTER WOULDN'T WORK THIS MORNING.
'CAUSE I WANTED TO BRING YOU A PICTURE OF THE BUS STOP ON RIVERSIDE GOING WESTBOUND, APPROACHING CONGRESS TRASH ALL OVER THE PLACE.
DO YOU THINK THAT LOOKS PROFESSIONAL FOR THE COMPANY OF CAPITAL METRO? WOULD YOU WANT TO BE STANDING THERE AT A BUS STOP WITH TRASH ALL OVER THE PLACE? IT'S NOT A GOOD SIGN.
THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY.
BUT THE SEATS AND THE LIGHTING ON THE BUSES, THEY NEED TO BE ADDRESSED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THANK YOU MR. MOORE FOR, FOR COMING DOWN AND UH, LET'S SEE.
UH, NEXT UP IS CARLOS LEON AND HE WILL BE SPEAKING FOR FIVE MINUTES ON MULTIPLE ITEMS. THANK YOU SOY CARLOS LEON, FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR LETTING ME SPEAK FOR FIVE MINUTES TOTAL ON AGENDA ITEMS 2, 3, 4, AND FIVE PER YOUR RULES.
IN FRONT OF YOU IS MY 10 PAGE PUBLIC COMMENT, BACKUP MATERIAL TO WHICH I WILL REFER.
LOOKING AT CAT METRO'S NEW JULY, 2025 CODE OF CONDUCT.
YOU READ AND APPLIED MY TESTIMONY IN BACKUP FROM LAST MONTH'S MEETING.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE NEW CODE PROBLEMS TO ADDRESS ASAP, DELETE PROHIBITED BULLET NUMBER.
THREES PHRASE LARGE ITEMS BECAUSE LARGE ITEMS AS AN ARBITRARY STANDARD, MEANING EACH DRIVER CAN DEFINE LARGE ITEMS AS HE OR SHE WANTS TO DENY SERVICE BECAUSE THERE IS NO LEGAL STANDARD FOR LARGE ITEMS. EQUALLY APPLIED BY ALL DRIVERS ACROSS ALL PASSENGERS, WHICH THE 14TH AMENDMENT'S EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE REQUIRES.
[00:15:02]
PROHIBITING SHOPPING CARTS IS CORRECT, NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR SIZE, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT HAND CARRIED PACKAGES OR BAGGAGE OF A PASSENGER.BECAUSE TEXAS TRANSPORTATION CODE 4 51 0.001 PART FOUR DEFINES MASS TRANSIT AS THE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS AND HAND CARRIED PACKAGES OR BAGGAGE OF A PASSENGER.
JUST AS A MUSICIAN CAN BOARD WITH A LARGE INSTRUMENT.
SO CAN A HOMELESS PERSON WITH A LARGE BAG OF STUFF BECAUSE IT'S HAND CARRIED PACKAGE BAGGAGE IN BOTH CASES.
CLARIFY PROHIBITED BULLET NUMBER 14.
SO NON DESTINATION WRITING END OF ROUTE MEANS AFTER THE PASSENGER HAS WRITTEN ONE FULL LAP ON THE ROUTE WITHOUT EXITING BECAUSE SOME ROUTE STOPS CAN BE ONLY ACCESSED IN ONE DIRECTION.
FOR EXAMPLE, ON ROUTE 3 35, CAMP MAYBERRY AND THE EXPOSITION STOPS ARE ONLY WESTBOUND, MEANING A PASSENGER MADE BOARD EASTBOUND AND STAY ON UNTIL THE BUS GOES WESTBOUND TO HIS DESTINATION.
THE BIGGER ISSUE HOWEVER, IS SOME DRIVERS, SUPERVISORS, PUBLIC AMBASSADORS AND RADIO OPERATORS ARE NOT FOLLOWING YOUR NEW JULY, 2025 CODE OF CONDUCT.
IN FACT, SOME ARE INTENTIONALLY SPEAKING AND ACTING TO CONTRADICT YOUR CODE.
IN FRONT OF YOU ARE 27 NEGATIVE DOCUMENTED INTERACTIONS I'VE EXPERIENCED SINCE SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
DARRYL JAMAL'S, JUNE 17 EMAIL SUPPOSEDLY CLEARED ALL THIS UP.
I'VE BEEN REPEATEDLY AND FALSELY TOLD I AM LIMITED TO TWO ONBOARD BAGS AND ONE SEAT ONLY.
THOUGH YOUR CODE HAS NO SUCH RULES BECAUSE THEY'D BE ILLEGAL BECAUSE YOU ARE A PUBLIC COMMON CARRIER BY LAW CO.
UM, PUBLIC AMBASSADOR 33 FALSELY TOLD ME EACH BUS HAS ITS OWN RULES.
AS A RESULT, GUILTY DRIVERS CONTINUE PASSING ME UP AND DENYING ME SERVICE.
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM TO ADDRESS ASAP IS THOSE GUILTY DRIVERS, SUPERVISORS, PUBLIC AMBASSADORS AND RADIO OPERATORS NOT FOLLOWING YOUR WRITTEN CODE OF CONDUCT ARE INSTEAD FOLLOWING CONTRADICTORY VERBAL ORDERS.
APPARENTLY COMING FROM THEIR BOSS, VICE PRESIDENT OF BUS OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MILES TURIN EVIDENCED BY IN-PERSON TESTIMONY FROM PUBLIC AMBASSADORS 10 AND 11 AND SUPERVISOR T 75 TO A PD LAST NIGHT, SUPERVISOR T 83 STOPPED MY BUS BECAUSE RADIO CONTROLLER R SEVEN TOLD HIM TO TELL ME IN PERSON I COULD ONLY USE ONE SEAT.
I TOLD T 83 R SEVEN LIED TO YOU BECAUSE KAT METRO'S CODE OF CONDUCT HAS NO SUCH RULE.
T 83 THEN WISHED ME A GOOD DAY AND GOT THE BUS MOVING AGAIN.
A DIFFERENT SUPERVISOR SHOWED ME AN EMAIL WITH A PICTURE OF ME AND MESSAGE CARLOS DELEON IS BANNED FROM RIDING CAT METRO WITH HIS LUGGAGE ALLEGEDLY FROM MILES TURIN ILLEGALLY DISCRIMINATING AGAINST ME CARLOS LEONE IN PRACTICE, BUT AGAINST YOUR MADE UP DE LEONE ON RECORD TO WIN THIS INFOR THIS MISINFORMATION.
WAR FIRING TURBAN IS NOT ENOUGH.
ENSURE ALL YOUR DRIVERS, SUPERVISORS, PUBLIC AMBASSADORS, RADIO OPERATORS, SECURITY AND POLICE UNDERSTAND AND FOLLOW YOUR WRITTEN CODE OF CONDUCT WITH AFFIRMATION, REVISIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS AS WELL AS SUPERSEDING LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS.
TRUTH DEFEATS LIES, VENGEANCE IS MINE.
ALRIGHT, UH, THE NEXT PERSON, UH, IS JOSHUA.
MY NAME IS UH, JOSHUA MALONEY.
I'M CURRENTLY A BUS OPERATOR HERE WITH CAP METRO.
I'VE BEEN HERE FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS NOW.
I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, SPEAK ABOUT A GROWING ISSUE BETWEEN CAB, METRO BUS INSPECTORS AND BUS OPERATORS LIKE MYSELF ON JULY 16TH WHILE CONDUCTING A PRE PRE-TRIP INSPECTION.
AFTER TAKING OVER A BUS, I DISCOVERED THAT THE DRIVER'S SEATBELT SPECIFICALLY THE SHOULDER STRAP WAS FREIGHT AND HAD SMALL HOLES FORMING IN IT.
I REPORTED THE ISSUE TO RADIO CONTROL,
[00:20:01]
WHICH TOOK 17 MINUTES FOR THEM TO GET TO ME.SO I HAD TO SIT FOR 17 MINUTES, WHICH DELAYED SERVICE.
EVENTUALLY, A BUS INSPECTOR STEVEN ARRIVED ON THE SCENE.
HE EXAMINED THE BELL AND CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS DAMAGED.
HE CONTACTED RADIO CONTROL TO FIND A WAY TO MINIMIZE SERVICE DISRUPTION, WHICH I UNDERSTAND AND AGREE WITH.
HE PRESENTED ME WITH TWO OPTIONS.
HE'S GONNA BRING THE BUS BACK TO THE YARD FOR MAINTENANCE TO LOOK AT IT.
IF THEY GAVE THE GO AHEAD, CONTINUE ON ROUTE WITH THE SAME EXACT BUS OR I CAN BOOK OUT SICK.
I EXPLAINED TO STEVEN THAT THE BUS SHOULD NOT RETURN THE SERVICE AS SO VIOLATE F-M-C-S-A REGULATIONS AND TEXAS DPS REGULATIONS AS WELL.
AT THE YARD, TWO MECHANICS INSPECT THE BELT.
ONE SIDE ARE SAFE, WHILE THE OTHER ONE REFUSED TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER.
SOON AFTER ANOTHER BUS INSPECTOR KNOWN AS B 38, WHICH IS NEELY, ARRIVED ALONG WITH THE KELA SUPERVISOR.
THE KEALA SUPERVISOR EXAMINED THE BELT AND AND CLEARLY STATED THAT THE BELT, THAT THE THE BUS SHOULD NOT GO BACK INTO THE SERVICE DUE, THE SAFETY RISK AND LEGAL IMP IMPLICATIONS.
DESPITE THIS, BOTH INSPECTORS PUSHED BACK AND EVEN THREATENED TO PULL ME FROM SERVICE IF I'VE REFUSED TO OPERATE THE BUS.
I REMINDED BUS INSPECTOR STEVEN THAT BUS INSPECTORS DO NOT HAVE THAT AUTHORITY AS THEY'RE NOT OUR EMPLOYER.
REGARDLESS, THEY CONTINUED TO PRESSURE ME FOR FORTUNATELY, THE KILO SUPERVISOR CONTACTED OPERATIONS KELOS MANAGEMENT AND SPOKE WITH TWO DIFFERENT MANAGERS WHO AGREED THAT THE BUS NEEDED TO BE PULLED AND THAT I WOULD NOT BE SENT HOME.
EVEN AFTER THIS CLEAR DIRECTIVE FROM KELOS MANAGEMENT, THE BOAT, BOTH BUS INSPECTORS WENT TO MY RUN DISPATCH AND TOLD THEM THAT THEY WERE GONNA PULL ME FROM SERVICE.
AT THAT POINT, I NOTIFIED THEA SUPERVISOR AND MYSELF NOTIFIED ONE DISPATCH THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY.
AT THAT POINT, BUS INSPECTOR NEELY B 38 BECAME VISIBLY UPSET AND TOLD ME, I AM KA METRO.
I'M ABOVE YOU ALL AND I'M PULLING YOU FROM SERVICE.
THIS BEHAVIOR IS UNACCEPTABLE.
AS A FREIGHT SEATBELT WITH HOLES IS CLEARLY A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL AND AND STATE SAFETY STANDARDS.
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD AN ISSUE WITH BUS INSPECTORS.
I HAVE FILED MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THAT BUS, BUS INSPECTOR WITH NO RES RESOLUTION BECAUSE OF THAT, WHEN I SAW THE BUS INSPECTOR SHOW UP, I RECORDED AUDIO, RECORDED THE ENTIRE ALTERCATION FROM THE VERY BEGINNING TO THE VERY END.
OUR UNION HAS CONSTANTLY RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT BUS INSPECTORS AND RADIO OPERATES, CREATING UNNECESSARY OBSTACLES AND FAILING TO FOLLOW PROCEDURES.
THE HARASSMENT AND DISRESPECT IS DEEPLY TROUBLING AS IT'S COMING FROM CAP METRO STAFF INTERNALLY, I CAN NO LONGER WORK PROFESSIONALLY WITH B 30 A AS HIS CONDUCT IS UNACCEPTABLE.
WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IN A, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A TEAM UNITED WITH A GOAL, WITH A GOAL TO PROVIDE SAFE, RELIABLE, AND, AND EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION.
BUT WE CANNOT MEET THAT GOAL WHEN WE'RE FIGHTING WITH PASSENGERS AND CAP METRO'S INTERNAL STAFF.
IT CREATES A BARRIER THAT WE JUST CANNOT OVERCOME.
I HOPE BRINGING THIS TO Y'ALL'S ATTENTION, WE'LL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT AS WE ARE CONSTANTLY BEING FORCED TO OPERATE BUSES THAT SHOULD NOT BE ON THE ROAD PER FEDERAL AND STATE GUIDELINES.
AND IF WE DO PUSH BACK, WE ARE SENT HOME WITHOUT PAY AND ATTENDANCE POINT.
SO THANK YOU FOR COMING AND BRINGING THE INFORMATION.
WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU TALK TO THE APPROPRIATE STAFF AND WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH, OKAY.
WILL YOU MAKE SURE YOU TALK TO MILES BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BUILDING TODAY? I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT HE HEARS IT.
HE WAS NOT IN THE ROOM FOR ALL OF YOUR TESTIMONY.
AND I WANNA MAKE SURE HE HEARS IT ALL DIRECT FROM YOU.
UH, THE NEXT PERSON UP IS JJ RAMIREZ.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, CAPTAIN MITCHELL BOARD.
I'M AN ORGANIZER AT VOCAL TEXAS, UH, POWER BUILDING ORGANIZATION THAT BUILDS A POWER WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE DIRECTLY IMPACTED IN HOMELESSNESS, MASS INCARCERATION, THE DRILL WAR, AND HIV AND AIDS.
UM, AND I'M HERE TODAY 'CAUSE WE'RE DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE ROLLBACKS OF THE FREE BUS PASS PROGRAM THAT WE, UH, THAT A LOT OF UNHOUSED AUSTINITES HAVE, UH, BEEN USING FOR THE PAST COUPLE YEARS, A YEAR OR SO.
UM, IN 2022, UH, THANKS TO THE POWERFUL ORGANIZING LED BY SOME OF OUR UNHOUSED LEADERS WHO ARE HERE IN, IN THE ROOM, UM, AND ADVOCATES ACROSS THE CITY.
WE MADE MAJOR STEPS TO RELEASING 7,000, UM, FREE 31 DAY BUS PASSES TO BE DISTRIBUTED EACH MONTH TO MORE THAN 40 ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CITY.
UM, THAT PROGRAM HAS CHANGED LIVES.
UM, IT'S WENT ON TO CREATE, UH, PERMANENT PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT UNHOUSED PEOPLE.
AND UNTIL RECENTLY, THE BUS PASSES HAVE LASTED TWO YEARS AND WERE EASILY ACCESSIBLE, UM, TO BE LIKE REPLACED IF THEY WERE LOST OR STOLEN.
UM, PEOPLE HAD A, LIKE A MODICUM OF STABILITY IN AN OTHERWISE PRETTY UNSTABLE WORLD, UM, TO LIKE AMPLIFY SOME OF THE PREVIOUS SPEAKERS.
THERE'S A LOT OF INSTABILITY HAPPENING HERE, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT I'VE HEARD DIRECTLY FROM PEOPLE IS THAT
[00:25:01]
THE BUS PASSES HELP GET PEOPLE TO A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS, TO APPOINTMENTS, TO PAROLE OFFICES, TO JOB HEARINGS, TO, TO PERKS TO WHATEVER THEY NEED, RIGHT? TO SERVICE PROVIDERS.UM, THIS MEANT, AND, YOU KNOW, PLACES TO GO IN EXTREME HEAT AND COLD, RIGHT? THIS IS MEANT LIKE EXTREME HOPE AND DIGNITY.
UM, BUT THERE'S BEEN SOME CHANGES, RIGHT? UM, AND PRIOR TO THIS, LIKE THE CHANGES, RIGHT? SERVICE PROVIDERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE OUT ISSUES WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT SCRAMBLING, UM, TO RATION PASSES BECAUSE OF DATA OR WHATEVER ISSUES THAT THEY'RE HAVING.
UM, RIGHT? SO LIKE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS I'VE HEARD, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHY THE CHANGES HAVE HAPPENED, BUT FOR WEEKS NOW, I HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN MULTIPLE SERVICE PROVIDERS NOT EITHER HAVE A BUS PASS OR HAVING TO RATION PASSES BECAUSE THEY EITHER DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SUPPLY OR FOR WHATEVER REASON.
AND IT'S LIKE KIND OF THE INFORMATION IS DISSEMINATING IN THE COMMUNITY, UH, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT REASONS.
UM, SOMETIMES I'VE HEARD THEY DON'T WORK, UH, YOU CAN'T GET ONE, THEY DON'T EXIST ANYMORE.
THE PROGRAM IS ANYWHERE AROUND ANYMORE.
YOU CAN ONLY GET ONE EVERY MONTH, A MONTH, UM, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT HAPPENS IN THE STREET WHEN THINGS GET LOST, THINGS GET STOLEN.
UM, AND THEN I LIKE TO REMIND EVERYBODY THAT STOLEN OFTEN GETS INTERPRETED AS INTERPERSONAL, BUT CAMP SWEEP STILL STUFF AND PEOPLE DON'T THINK ABOUT IT.
THEY JUST SAY, OH, MY STUFF WAS STOLEN.
AND YOU'LL HEAR THAT, OH, SOMEBODY STOLE IT, BUT MAYBE THERE'S A CAMP SWEEP AND THEY TOOK ALL THEIR STUFF, RIGHT? AND SO LIKE, WE REALLY WANT THIS PROGRAM TO BE RUN WELL, TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GOT A BUS PASS TODAY AND IT WAS STOLEN TOMORROW, I DON'T NEED TO WAIT A MONTH TO MISS MY THING, RIGHT? SO WE ARE ASKING SPECIFICALLY FOR TWO THINGS TODAY.
UM, WE ASK THAT THIS ITEM BE PUT ON AN AGENDA, LIKE SPECIFICALLY.
THAT WAY YOU CAN HEAR FROM DIRECTLY IMPACTED PEOPLE ON THE SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEM.
THAT WAY I'M NOT JUST RELAYING THE INFORMATION.
AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, A, A RECOMMITMENT FROM THE BOARD TO HAVING A PERMANENT ACCESS FOR ALL UNHOUSED.
ALSO NIGHTS HERE IN THE CITY BECAUSE LIKE THIS IS ABOUT TRANSPORTATION, BUT IT'S ALSO ABOUT JUSTICE, EQUITY AND DIGNITY FOR UNHOUSED PEOPLE.
UM, LIKE I SAID, I CAN NEVER FULLY DESCRIBE TO YOU LIKE HOW WELL AND HOW MEANINGFUL THIS PROGRAM IS TO PEOPLE, BUT UH, AN ACTUAL AGENDA ITEM ON THIS WOULD BE A BIG STEP IN THAT DIRECTION.
THANK YOU FOR COMING FORWARD AND ADDRESSING IT FORWARD.
UH, THE NEXT PERSON IS I THINK LILY HUGHES.
HI, MY NAME IS LILY HUGHES AND I'M THE OUTREACH TEAM LEAD AT TEXAS HARM REDUCTION ALLIANCE.
MY TEAM TRAVELS ALL AROUND AUSTIN TO LITERALLY MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE AND PROVIDE LIFESAVING SERVICES TO OUR UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS.
WE HAVE WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THE DIFFERENCE ACCESS TO REGULAR TRANSPORTATION MAKES IN THE LIVES OF OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR TEAM STRUGGLED TO KEEP UP WITH THE DEMAND FOR THE INITIAL TWO YEAR PASSES.
AND DUE TO THE DATA BURDEN OF THE NEW PASSES, WE ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO PROVIDE BUS PASSES TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND THIS MEANS THE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO ACCESS TRANSPORTATION THE MOST NO LONGER HAVE THAT ACCESS.
AS MY COLLEAGUE HAS SAID, THESE UH, ARE BEING LOST IN SWEEPS.
WE ARE LIKE FURTHER ENTRENCHING PEOPLE INTO THE CYCLE OF HOMELESSNESS.
UM, I CAME INTO THIS CONVERSATION VERY LATE IN THE PLANNING PROCESS, UH, AND DID NOT HAVE AS MUCH TIME AS I WOULD'VE LIKED TO SPEAK TO MY CONCERNS ABOUT THE DATA BURDEN AND HOW THAT WOULD IMPACT PROVIDERS.
AND WE'RE SEEING THOSE CONSEQUENCES IN REAL TIME FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS WHO ARE ALREADY STRETCHED THIN, WHO ALREADY HAVE TO WITNESS POOR POLICY COST THE LIVES OF THE CLIENTS WE WORK WITH.
WHEN PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION, THEY'RE ABLE TO MEET THEIR BASIC NEEDS.
AND I SEE OVER AND OVER AGAIN PEOPLE GETTING PUSHED FURTHER AND FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY, FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM BUS STOPS.
EVEN SO EVEN IF THEY HAD A BUS PASS, THEY COULD NOT RIDE THE BUS BECAUSE OF THE SWEEPS AND HOW THE CITY IS TREATING PEOPLE.
IT HAS BEEN REALLY FRUSTRATING TO SEE THIS PROGRAM BE TOWED PUBLICLY AS A GREAT SUCCESS.
AND LIKE EVERYBODY HAS MAGICALLY HAD ACCESS TO THE LIFESAVING TRANSPORTATION THEY NEED.
UM, AND CAP METRO GETS TO BRAG ABOUT THIS WHILE WE TIME AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN WATCH THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH AND LOVE SUFFER BECAUSE THEY CANNOT ACCESS THE BUS.
AND THEN IF THEY DO ACCESS THE BUS AND THEY DO MANAGE TO GET A BUS PASS, THEY ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ON THE BUS DRIVERS WILL BLOCK THEM FROM RIDING.
AND AGAIN, AS PEOPLE HAVE HIGHLIGHTED, IT'S UP TO DRIVER DISCRETION.
THESE ARE OUR UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS AND THEY ARE PEOPLE, THEY ARE SOMEONE'S MOTHER, BROTHER, DAUGHTER, SON, FRIEND.
THEY ARE BRILLIANT, THEY'RE INTELLIGENT, THEY'RE KIND AND THEY ARE GETTING PUSHED AWAY.
AND WE ARE ASKING FOR A BASIC PROGRAM SO THAT WE CAN HELP PEOPLE GET AROUND TO ACCESS SERVICES AND CHANGE THE TIDE WITHOUT THAT COMING WITH SURVEILLANCE AND A MILLION HOOPS FOR THEM TO JUMP THROUGH, IT'S ALREADY HARD ENOUGH TO BE OUTSIDE IN THIS HEAT 24 7.
AND I THINK THE LEAST WE COULD DO IS MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER FOR THEM.
THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING TO THE BOARD.
UM, LET'S SAY, I THINK I SAW, UH, MS.
[00:30:01]
SHERRY TAYLOR COME IN.I, I, UH, HAVE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE ARRIVED LATE FOR WE ARE GOOD TO SEE.
I HAVE MY HOW Y'ALL TODAY? DOING WELL AND YOU? GOOD AFTERNOON.
MY NAME IS, UH, SHERRY TAYLOR.
UM, I JUST GO BY SOPHIE TO KEEP UP WITH THIS HAT SHORT FOR SOPHISTICATED.
I COULDN'T GET ALL THAT ON MY NAME TAG.
UM, I'M HERE TO SAY THANK YOU.
CAN'T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH TO, UH, YOUR LEADERSHIP IN REGARD TO THE BUSES BEING AVAILABLE AS FREE COOLING CENTERS AS WELL AS WHEN IT'S COLD FREE WARMING CENTERS.
UM, I, UM, ALSO WANT TO THANK THOSE WHO ARE BUS DRIVERS WHO DO ALLOW FOLKS TO GET ON, EVEN THOUGH SOMETIMES IT'S A LITTLE BIT ROUGH BECAUSE IT'S HOT OUTSIDE AND, AND IT IS YOUR JOB TO DRIVE THE BUS NOT TO SELECT WHO YOU'RE GONNA LET ON.
SO I WANT TO COMPLIMENT THOSE BUS DRIVERS WHO STOP FOR EVERYONE.
'CAUSE I GOT PASSED UP TWICE ONE DAY AND I ENDED UP IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 15 DAYS AND, UH, THEY DIAGNOSED ME WITH WIG.
THEY SAID IF YOU KEEP THAT HOT WIG OFF YOUR HEAD, MAYBE YOU'LL STOP FALLING DOWN PUBLIC.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY, UM, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE USED THE BUSES, UH, SAFELY.
THE OTHER THING I WANNA POINT OUT IS, IS AUSTIN LOVES, UH, PETS AND, UH, I HAPPEN TO HAVE A, A BITE ON MY LEG IN VALENTINE'S DAY 'CAUSE SOMEBODY DIDN'T HAVE A MUZZLE.
I, I WOULD LIKE FOR THE RESEARCHERS TO LOOK INTO THOSE WHO RIDE BUSES WITH THE DOG.
NOW YOU GOT IT ON THE LEASH, BUT THE LEASH IS NOT GONNA STOP THE DOG FROM UH, ING SOMEBODY.
SO I WISH AUSTIN IN GENERAL WOULD JUST ADD THE MUSCLE TO THE LEASH SO THAT IF FOR WHAT REASON THE DOG DECIDES YOUR LEG LOOKS DELICIOUS, AT LEAST YOU GOT A MUSCLE ON THE DOG.
OH, AND, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I AM A VETERAN.
A HUNDRED PERCENT DISABLED AND VETERANS ARE GOING TO PUT ON A SHOW AUGUST, UH, COMING UP AUGUST 18TH THROUGH 21ST OUT AT 7 9 0 1, UH, METROPOLIS, WHICH YOUR BUS COMES RIGHT THERE.
800 EXPRESS TAKES YOU RIGHT TO HEB 51ST STREET TO HEB UM, RIVERSIDE.
AND 20 MINUTES YOU'RE OUT AT THE BASE.
SO I HOPE Y'ALL WILL COME OUT AND WATCH US, UH, PERFORM.
I'M SUPPOSED TO DO A FEW JOKES.
I KNOW Y'ALL HEARD ABOUT HEB DECIDE NOT TO SELL PLANTAINS, BANANAS, OR CUCUMBERS ANY LONGER.
IT'S BECAUSE THE PRODUCE MANAGER DECIDED THEY WERE ALREADY LONG ENOUGH.
ALRIGHT, UH, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA SEE IF I CAN DIGEST THAT ONE.
THOSE ARE ALL THE FOLKS THAT ARE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.
UH, ED HAVE WE HAD MR. JOSEPH OR MR. EMERSON? COME ON.
WITH THAT, UH, BEING SAID, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE BOARD WHO HAS NOT HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SIGN UP YET? ALRIGHT, I DOWN IN LOCAL TEXAS IN ECHO.
IF YOU, IF YOU'LL START OVER FOR US SO WE CAN HAVE YOUR NAME OFFICIALLY AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE IN THE RECORD.
UH, MY NAME IS VICTORIA STEIN BARONE.
I'M A PERSON WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH ECHO AND VOCAL TEXAS.
AND UM, UH, SO MY ISSUE REALLY, YOU KNOW, I AGREE WITH THE AGENDA ITEM BECAUSE WE COULD GET TRINITY WORKERS TO COME UP AND I THINK THAT THOSE PEOPLE HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPLAINING WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE BUS PASS PROGRAM.
PORTLAND HAS HUGE METRO PROGRAM THERE.
UM, AND UH, THEY HAVE HAD TO DO THAT.
SO THEY'VE HAD REALLY ROUGH HOMELESSNESS, MASSIVE HOMELESSNESS THERE.
UM, IT'S, I DON'T WANNA SEE AUSTIN BECOME PORTLAND.
BUT THE PROGRAM, IT SEEMS LIKE WHAT I'M HEARING AND WHAT I EXPERIENCED WHEN I WAS ON THE STREETS AND STILL GOING TO TRINITY WAS THE ISSUE WAS ABOUT, UM, THE SWITCH.
THE SWITCH BECAME AN ISSUE SO MUCH THAT NOBODY DISSEMINATED THE INFORMATION PROPERLY AND EFFECTIVELY TO THE HOMELESS POPULATION.
MAKING PEOPLE WITH THE NEW BUS PASSES A TARGET.
[00:35:01]
PEOPLE WERE ROBBED AND IT BECAME MASSIVE ENOUGH WHERE IT WAS AN ISSUE WHERE THE TRINITY STAFF WERE LIKE, YOU, THERE'S A 30 DAY WINDOW, WE NEED TO GET MORE SEVEN DAY BUS PASSES.AND THEN THE LONGER YOU DID THAT, THE LONGER YOU HAD TO USE THE OTHER MACHINES.
EVENTUALLY THEY PUT, UH, THE EMO FOR THE NEW APP.
THEY PUT THAT HOOKED UP ON THE, UM, INSIDE RINGS OF THE, THE BUSES.
BUT I COULDN'T EVEN GET BUS DRIVERS TO REALLY TELL ME WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE MACHINES.
THAT WAS AN ISSUE IS THAT SOME MACHINES WORKED, SOME MACHINES DIDN'T.
SO EVERY TIME SOMEBODY WHO MADE THE BUS SWITCH OR HAD GOTTEN ROBBED OR LOST A BUS PASS AND MADE THAT SWITCH, THEY STILL FELT LIKE FOR MONTHS THEY DIDN'T KNOW IF THEY WERE DOING THE RIGHT THING.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE THAT FULL CONFIRMATION.
UM, SO THEY STILL HAD TO RELY ON PROVIDERS TO BE ABLE TO GIVE THEM, UH, LIKE SEVEN DAY BUS PASSES AND THAT MADE THE SWITCH LAST LONGER.
SO IT WAS NOT AN EFFECTIVE METHOD AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, UM, OF TRYING TO MAKE THAT SWITCH.
UH, I THINK INTEGRATING AND MAYBE HAVING A MEETING AND HAVING, UH, THE PEOPLE, LIKE THE PROVIDERS IN THE HOUSE TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT WHAT THAT IS AND GIVE OUT, UH, LIKE, YOU KNOW, ACTUAL INSTRUCTION TO THAT PROGRAM MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN MAYBE MORE EFFECTIVENESS.
AND THEN MY MAJOR CONCERN IS I BROKE MY SANDALS AT CHURCH AND I TRIED TO GO TO GET ON THE BUS AND THE BUS DRIVER WOULD NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE ENOUGH TO TRUST ME OR TRUST HERSELF THAT SHE COULD TAKE OFF.
UM, AND SO I BECAME VERY AWARE THAT AN OLD LADY GAVE ME $5 AND SHE GAVE ME HER SOCKS SO THAT ONCE I PUT ON THE OLD LADY'S SOCKS, THE LADY WOULD TAKE OFF WITH THE BUS.
PEOPLE WERE REALLY EMBARRASSED.
UM, I'VE HAD MULTIPLE INCIDENCES WHERE THERE'S AN ELDERLY PERSON IN A WHEELCHAIR WHO IS NOT FACILITATING THEMSELVES PROPERLY AND I USED TO WORK AT MARYVILLE NURSING HOME, SO I WOULD HELP WHEEL PEOPLE.
I FELT IT WAS LIKE MY RESPONSIBILITY TO DO THAT.
AND THEN THE BUS DRIVER DID NOT LIKE THEY WOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT THEY'RE NOT IN THEIR WHEELCHAIR OR THEY'RE NOT LIKE, I TRY TO HELP HOMELESS PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THE WHEELCHAIR.
SO JUST THERE'S TRANSPORTATION ISSUES ALL AROUND.
THE TRUST WITH THE STAFF AND THE STAFF TRUSTING THEMSELVES AND KNOWING THAT THEY'RE TAKING CARE OF THAT THEY CAN MAKE THOSE DECISIONS LIBERALLY FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.
'CAUSE I AM ALL ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE, SO.
THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING THE BOARD.
THANK, I SAW MS. JOSEPH WALK IN, MR. CHAIRMAN.
I, I'D LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET WITH YOU GUYS BECAUSE I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING ISSUE.
I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY INVOLVED IN THIS WHOLE ISSUE FROM THE GET GO.
I'VE WORKED WITH, UH, WITH Y'ALL, WITH PAUL SALANI ON THIS ONE FOR A WHILE NOW TO MAKE SURE, I KNOW THAT OUR STAFF HAS BEEN VERY, VERY INTIMATELY INVOLVED.
IT, IT WAS ONE OF THE FASTEST TURNAROUNDS OF ANY GOVERNMENTAL PROJECT THAT I'VE SEEN HAPPEN TO TRY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN AS WE WERE MAKING THE BUS PASSES THAT THE SWITCHOVER, UM, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S FEEDBACK ON THIS BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE STILL PROBABLY MISSING SOMETHING THAT WE DIDN'T REALIZE AND, AND IT'S, IT'S HELPFUL TO GET THAT FEEDBACK FROM THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND AND Y'ALL ARE THE ONES THAT ARE ACTUALLY USING IT.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY INTENTION TO, TO HARM ANYBODY HERE.
WE, WE REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS, THIS AND THAT, THAT THIS IS, THIS IS A LIFELINE.
THIS GETS INDIVIDUALS THE OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE UP AND, AND AND, AND GET WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.
AND THAT'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE MISSING HERE TO ENSURE THAT THIS PROGRAM RUNS SUCCESSFULLY, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET, THEY GET THERE.
FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, HAVING WORKED ON THIS, UH, FROM THE GET GO, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN DO THAT.
SO IF WE CAN, UH, UH, DOTTIE, IF WE CAN GET THEM CONNECTED AND WE CAN TAKE CARE OF THIS AND I'M HAPPY TO COME ALONG TOO, IF THAT COULD BE HELPFUL AS WELL.
ALRIGHT, UM, MS. JOSEPH, YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES.
UM, ZIA JOSEPH, MY COMMENT AS THEY ALWAYS ARE, ARE IN THE CONTEXT OF TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, WHICH PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RACE, COLOR, AND NATIONAL ORIGIN.
I JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE A LITTLE CONTEXT.
I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT ON THE SLIDE YOU WILL ACTUALLY SEE DOBY MIDDLE SCHOOL AFTER PEOPLE GET THEIR GROCERIES ON SATURDAY MORNING.
THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO SIT DOWN WITH THE GROCERIES.
THEY HAVE GOOD PARTNERS, PANERA BREAD, THEIR SPROUTS, THEY HAVE GOOD PRODUCE AS WELL, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO SIT.
IF YOU LOOK BELOW, YOU'LL SEE AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
SPECIFICALLY, I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT IT WAS NATHAN WILKES, AN ENGINEER FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN AT KUT INTERVIEWED AND HE EXPLAINED
[00:40:01]
THAT IT COSTS MORE TO USE THIS RED DYE INTO THE SIDEWALK, INTO THE CONCRETE.AND SO WE ARE PAYING THIS INDIVIDUAL AND MANY OF THE ENGINEERS IN THE CITY OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST US.
I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT IT IS SO PRECISE.
EVEN THE DRAINAGE COVERAGE HAS THE RED TERRACOTTA SIDEWALK COVERING AROUND IT.
BUT AGAIN, NORTH LAMAR, I'VE, UH, INVITED CHEETO VLA TO COME TO DOBY MIDDLE SCHOOL.
THE SIDEWALKS ARE PLAIN AND GRAY AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE TO SIT AND NOT EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF PUTTING THE BUS STOP SHELTER BACK.
SPECIFICALLY, I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE AWARE THAT THIS IS PERHAPS, AND MR. EASTON, IF YOU CAN DO A FULL SCREEN, IT'S EASY FOR ME TO SEE, BUT SOME PEOPLE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO THANK YOU.
I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT FRAUD IS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING OF VALUE THROUGH WILLFUL MISREPRESENTATION AND ALL THE COMPLAINTS THAT YOU HEARD TODAY ARE JUSTIFIED, BUT YOU ARE TRYING TO GET 50% OF $7.1 BILLION FOR THE LIGHT RAIL.
AND WE KNOW SPECIFICALLY THAT THE HOUSING LAND USE IS ONE OF THE CRITERION FOR THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS, BUT WHAT I SEE ARE THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES ON THE BENCHES.
AND SO WHILE I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE YOUR MINUTES, I DO WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT WHEN I SPEAK OF TITLE SIX, IT SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED AS WELL AND THAT IT'S VIEWPOINT DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THE SCRIPT FROM YOUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND NOT THESE IMPORTANT COMMENTS THAT I MAKE AND OTHERS AS WELL.
NEXT SLIDE I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE SPECIFICALLY, AND I'M JUST GONNA STOP AND PAUSE FOR A SECOND AND ASK YOU TO STOP USING BLACK MALES IN PROPAGANDA.
YOU HAVE IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS USED THE PETERSON BROTHERS AND ANTONE'S.
AND I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE, AND I SAID IT ON THE RADIO TODAY, 88.7 FM AND COMMISSIONER TRIVI KNOWS I CALL HIM TRICKY TIAN AFFECTIONATELY BECAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS A TRICK.
AND THE TRICK IS YOU'RE USING BLACK MALES IN YOUR ADVERTISEMENT WHEN IN FACT BLACK MALES ARE SITTING AND SLEEPING ON OUR BUS STOP BENCHES.
THIS IS MIDDLE FISHVILLE 3 25 AND YOU'LL SEE THERE'S NOT EVEN A BACKING.
SO WHEN IT RAINS, YOU LITERALLY GET POURED ON.
AND IF YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE HOMELESS, ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING ISSUE AS OPPOSED TO SIMPLY TAKING THE SERVICE AWAY FROM EVERYONE ELSE WHO USES IT.
YOU HAVE A PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, YOU CAN HAVE THEM ACTUALLY PATROL THIS AREA AND OTHERS THAT ARE HOTSPOTS TOO, BUT PROVIDE A PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO STAY.
THIS IS WHERE THE INVESTMENT IS.
YOU'VE SEEN THIS SLIDE BEFORE.
THE TRIANGLE HAS TWO PEDESTRIAN HYBRID BEACONS.
I HAVE ASKED DOTTIE WATKINS IN 2020 ON OR ABOUT JULY 8TH, 2020, THE MEETING MEETING MINUTES ALSO SAY THAT SHE'S HEARD MS. JOSEPH SAY THIS MANY TIMES.
THIS IS THE METROPOLITAN PARK ON NORTH LAMAR, IT'S THE HAKA PROPERTY ON THE LEFT.
YOU HAVE CONTINUED TO PUT THESE MID-BLOCK STOPS.
YOU REFUSE TO CLOSE THE MID-BLOCK STOPS.
YOU ARE NOT COMMITTED TO SAFETY.
EVEN THOUGH THE CITY HAS RECEIVED OVER $47.5 MILLION IN SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL.
STUDENTS CANNOT GET TO THE BUS STOP SAFELY.
IT'S OVER 11 FEET WIDE FOR BOTH OF THOSE LANES.
AND IF YOU TRY TO CROSS, YOU WILL GET KILLED JUST LIKE MR. NORTON WAS KILLED ON OR ABOUT JANUARY 30TH, 2016.
I WANT YOU TO SEE THERE WAS AN OPERATOR WHO SPOKE TO YOU EARLIER ABOUT OVERFLOWING TRASH CANS.
AND IF I HAD THE TIME, I WOULD'VE SHOWED YOU THE PICTURE FROM NORWOOD THIS MORNING.
THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE VA CLINIC OVERFLOWING TRASH CANS.
I HAVE RECOMMENDED THAT YOU ACTUALLY INVEST IN THE UNHOUSED AND ACTUALLY PAY THEM A LIVING WAGE.
THEY'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES THAT ARE USING THESE RECEPTACLES, BUT IT IS DISTURBING.
I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS WHAT HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE LOOKS LIKE.
THIS IS PLEASANT VALLEY AND EAST RIVERSIDE, WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO PUT THE RED LINE OR THE LIGHT RAIL TAKING THE BUS AWAY.
THE SHEL THE STOP AWAY ONLY PUTS PEOPLE ON THE GROUND AND THIS LADY IS SLEEPING THERE.
AND I JUST WANNA ADDRESS, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
MR. EASTON, AS IT RELATES TO THIS CONTRACT THAT YOU HAVE SPECIFICALLY $49,789.
UH, I DON'T REALLY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT.
I WOULD JUST ASK YOU TO HAVE THEM ACTUALLY INCLUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE.
SOME OF THE OPERATORS ARE SUPER NICE, BUT THERE ARE OTHERS.
YOU SAY THANK YOU DRIVER AND THEN IT'S LIKE TALKING TO A ROCK.
I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT NADIA RAMIREZ BARRA IS THE PERSON WHO WAS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN 2010 WHEN MONIES WERE ALLOCATED FOR NORTH LAMAR AND $0 WERE ACTUALLY SPENT.
SO CHEETO VILLA SIDEWALKS ARE BEYOND THE PALE.
[00:45:01]
TODAY.IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GO AHEAD AND ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
BOARD MEMBERS, ANY QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE, THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING TO THE BOARD.
IS THERE ANYONE ELSE THAT'S IN THE ROOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO, UH, SPEAK TO THE BOARD THIS MORNING OR THIS AFTERNOON? ANYONE ELSE? ANYONE ELSE? I ALREADY HAD A CHANCE.
UH, WELL ALSO, ALSO, BENNETT ALSO HAD A CHANCE TO, UH, TO SPEAK AS WELL.
BUT WE WILL, IF WE, UH, ASSIGN YOU TO THE PROPER STAFF, THEY WILL ADDRESS YOUR NEEDS.
HELLO, MY NAME IS JOHN TORRES.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, UH, SPEAK ABOUT IS US AS OPERATORS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I GET IT THAT SOME OF US DON'T HAVE GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO WORK ON EVERY SINGLE DAY.
BUT ANOTHER THING I WOULD LIKE TO SAY IS IN REGARDS TO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ISSUE THAT THE, THE FEMALE HAD ABOUT THE SHOES WE'RE INSTRUCTED.
IF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY SHOES, WHETHER IT BE, IF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY FOOT COVERING, THEY'RE NOT TO BOARD, IT DOES HAVE TO BE DOCUMENTED TO RADIO.
UM, THE REASON WHY I'M USING THAT AS AN EXAMPLE IS BECAUSE A LOT OF THE POLICIES WHEN THEY COME OUT, WE'RE INFORMED OF THEM.
WHEN WE HIT THE STREET, IT'S A DIFFERENT STORY.
UM, WE CALL RADIO TO INFORM WHAT WE'VE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO DO AND SOMETIMES RADIO GOES ALONG WITH IT.
SOMETIMES THEY DON'T, THEY TELL US TO DO OTHERWISE.
SAME WITH SOME SUPERVISORS, BIS, BUS INSPECTORS, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY AMBASSADORS.
NONE OF US ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.
UM, SOME OF US ARE, SOME OF US ARE NOT.
UH, LIKE THE GENTLEMAN WAS SAYING ABOUT HIM HAVING A BOOK OF STATUS, THAT'S ANOTHER THING.
UM, WHENEVER THERE'S A DISAGREEMENT AND WE CAN'T COME TO A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OR WE CAN'T COME TO AN AGREEMENT OR ONE FEELS THEY'RE THEY'RE CORRECT RATHER THAN THE OTHER ONE FEELS THEY'RE CORRECT.
THAT'S WHERE THE BOOK OF STATUS COMES IN A LOT OF TIMES.
UM, I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON WITH MY ISSUE THAT I HAD LAST, NOT LAST SUNDAY, BUT THE SUNDAY BEFORE.
I DIDN'T ARGUE I ABOUT BOOKING A STATUS AT THAT POINT IN MY HEAD.
IT DIDN'T MATTER TO ME, BUT I HAD A GENTLEMAN WHO TRIED TO ASSAULT ME.
UM, I WAS TOLD BY MANAGEMENT THAT THE VIDEO WAS REVIEWED.
I WASN'T WORRIED ABOUT WHETHER I WAS OR WAS NOT ASSAULTED.
I COULD NOT OPERATE THAT UNIT AFTER THAT POINT BECAUSE MY MENTAL STATUS WAS NOT AT THE RIGHT SPOT.
I WENT INTO FIGHT OR FLIGHT MODE.
I'M DOING EVERYTHING I POSSIBLY CAN TO CONTINUE TO BE AN OPERATOR HERE.
SO IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD, I HAD TO CONSISTENTLY REMIND MYSELF I CAN'T FLY OUTTA THAT SEAT AND HE'S NOT WORTH THE FIGHT BECAUSE THAT'S NOT, THAT'S WAY BEYOND, IT'S NOT WORTH IT.
I REMAINED MY COMPOSURE THE BEST I COULD.
I WAITED UNTIL A SUPERVISOR GOT THERE AND I TOLD THE SUPERVISOR I NEEDED TO GO HOME.
UM, WHETHER I WAS GONNA GET PAID OR NOT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, I DIDN'T CARE.
BUT I NEEDED TO GO HOME BECAUSE I WAS NOT IN THE RIGHT MENTAL.
SO I CANNOT CONSISTENTLY CONTINUE TO DRIVE A BUS.
SO YEAH, A LOT OF US ARE, ARE KIND OF WEIGHING LEFT AND RIGHT AND WE GET THE MEMOS, WE GET THE MEMOS ABOUT THE, UH, THE NEW POLICIES, THE NEW POLICY CHANGES, BUT WE INFORM PASSENGERS.
OR THEY DON'T KNOW, BUT THAT'S JUST ALL I WANTED TO SAY.
MY MAIN THING I WANTED TO SAY WAS, UH, WE'RE WE'RE A LOT, WE'RE A LOT OF US JUST ARE CONFUSED OR WE GET PUSHBACK.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING TO THE BOARD AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, SIT DOWN WITH THE APPROPRIATE STAFF AS WELL.
ALRIGHT, I DON'T SEE ANYONE, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE OF WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT TO THE BOARD AND IT'S NOT PRESENTED ALREADY? ANYONE ELSE? OKAY.
I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY WHO DID PRESENT AND NEXT
[IV. Advisory Committee Updates]
WE'RE GONNA GO TO OUR BOARD ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATES.UH, MR. BRENTON ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATES.
GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR TROIAN, VICE CHAIR ELLIS AND PRESIDENT, AND CO WATKINS MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
I AM THE STAFF LIAISON FOR OUR ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
SINCE LAST MONTH'S UPDATE, OUR PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MET AT ITS REGULARLY SCHEDULED TIME.
THE PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMITTEE OPENED WITH SOME
[00:50:01]
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT AND CEO WATKINS AND FOLLOWING THOSE REMARKS, WE HAD A PRESENTATIONS FROM EMMANUEL TUTIN, DIRECTOR OF BUDGET AND FINANCIAL PLANNING ON THE INITIAL FY 26 BUDGET REVIEW, A CODE OF CONDUCT UPDATE FROM NINA LAHR, A PROGRAM MANAGER ON EXECUTIVE STAFF.AND LASTLY, WE HAD A TPD UPDATE FROM OUR NOW FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE, ERIC ROBBINS AND CURRENT INTERIM CHIEF OF POLICE JOSEPH ROSE.
THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR THIS MONTH.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER 'EM.
UH, BOARD MEMBERS, ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS? THIRD TIME? ANY QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE.
[V. Board Committee Updates]
WILL, UH, MOVE INTO OUR, OUR REGULAR BOARD COMMITTEE UPDATES.UH, CAN I HAVE YOU START US OFF OPERATIONS PLANNING AND SAFETY? UH, THANK YOU CHAIR.
WE, UH, REVIEWED SOME OF THE, UH, ITEMS THAT WILL BE ON THE CONSENT, UH, AGENDA TODAY AND HEARD, UH, SOME REPORTS ON, UH, ON PROGRESS, UH, ON A HANDFUL OF, UH, CAPITAL PROJECTS AS WELL.
UH, THERE WAS A RELATIVELY SHORT AND UNEVENTFUL, UH, OPERATIONS MEETING AND THAT'S ABOUT ALL I HAVE TO PRESENT FOR TODAY.
ALRIGHT, UH, NEXT OUR FINANCE AUDIT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE CHAIR HARRIS THANK YOU CHAIR.
UH, FINANCE AUDIT ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MET ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 16TH AT 10, UH, 10:00 AM IN ADDITION TO APPROVING THE MINUTES, WE ALSO APPROVED AND RECOMMENDED FOR ON THE CONSENT AGENDA, UH, AN EXTENSION OF OUR AUDITOR CONTRACT WITH R-S-M-U-S-L-L-P.
AND FINALLY WE HEARD, UH, AN UPDATE ON THE 2026 BUDGET PROPOSAL AND ALSO THE INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN STATUS, UH, FROM MR. FULL.
ALRIGHT, BOARD MEMBERS, ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE, UH, CAMPO UPDATE, NO CAMPO MEETING, NO CAMPO MEETING.
AND WE ALSO DID NOT HAVE AN AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, UH, MEETING THIS MONTH EITHER.
THE NEXT MEETING IS GONNA BE ON WEDNESDAY, SO, UH, WE'LL HAVE A REPORT FOR YOU NEXT TIME THAT WE COME.
[VI. Consent Items]
NOW WE'LL CONTINUE ON OUR CONSENT AGENDA.WE'RE POSTED FOR ACTION ON SIX ITEMS TODAY.
UH, BOARD MEMBERS, IF YOU HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE, UH, CONSENT ITEMS. ANYONE WISH TO, UH, REMOVE ANY, ANY ITEM FROM CONSENT? ANYONE WANNA MOVE? OKAY.
UH, IF, UH, THE, UH, CHAIR WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION, UH, FOR OUR POSTED CONSENT AGENDA.
ALRIGHT, SO IT IS, UM, LET'S SEE.
IT'S BEEN MOVED AND PROPERLY SECONDED THAT WE RECEIVED THE, UH, CONSENT ITEMS WITHOUT OBJECTION.
UM, ALL IN FAVOR? DO I NEED TO READ THEM ALL IN OR ARE WE GOOD? WHERE WE'RE OKAY.
NOT HAVING TO READ THEM IN? ALL IN FAVOR OF, OF APPROVING THE CONSENT ITEMS AS WRITTEN, PLEASE LET IT BE KNOWN BY SAYING AYE.
THE CHAIR WILL MAKE IT UNANIMOUS.
[VII.1. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President & CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract with DLT Solutions, LLC to provide Oracle Fusion Cloud Licensing renewal in support of our Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, with a base term of one (1) year and three (3) option years, in a total amount not to exceed $2,886,858.]
LET'S SEE.WE HAVE ONE MORE ACTION ITEM TODAY AND I THINK JONATHAN TANGER IS HERE TO BRING THAT TO US.
UH, LET ME READ THAT ONE IN, UH, ACTION ITEM ONE IS APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HER DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AN EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH DLT SOLUTIONS LLC TO PROVIDE ORACLE FUSION CLOUD LICENSING RENEWAL IN SUPPORT OF OUR ORACLE ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEM WITH A BASE TERM OF ONE YEAR AND THREE OPTION YEARS AND A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $2,886,858.
UH, BOARD CHAIR PAVILION PRESIDENT, CO WATKINS BOARD MEMBERS.
I'M THE, UM, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT WITH CAP METRO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
UH, THIS ITEM IS FOR, UM, OUR ORACLE LICENSING WITH OUR ENTERPRISE, UH, RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEM THAT ALSO HANDLES, UH, BOTH THE FINANCE, BUDGETING AND HR PARTS OF, UM, UH, THE ADMIN FUNCTIONS FOR CAT METRO.
AND, UM, THIS ITEM IS JUST FOR, UH, LICENSING WITH A, UH, BASE SHARE AND, UH, THREE AUCTIONEERS, UH, TOTALING, UH, UH, THE, UM, TWO, UH, $2,886,858.
UM, SO BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS.
ALRIGHT, BOARD MEMBERS, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE CHAIR WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE ACTION ITEM NUMBER ONE.
[00:55:01]
BOARD MEMBER HARRIS' TIME AND, AND BOARD MEMBER AL WITH THE SECOND.ALRIGHT, IT'S BEEN MOVED AND PROPERLY SECONDED.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? IS THERE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE.
ALL IN FAVOR? LET IT BE KNOWN BY SAYING AYE.
AND I THINK I SAW A BOARD MEMBER ROSS SAYING, AYE.
THE CHAIR WILL MAKE IT UNANIMOUS.
[VIII.1. Update on CapMetro Ridership]
MOVE ON, UH, WITH ONE DISCUSSION ITEM AND MS. UM, UH, LET'S SEE.UM, YOU HERE JAY IS, IS GONNA BE HERE TO PRESENT MILLER.
SO MAYBE WE SHOULD TAKE A SECOND, CALL HER BACK.
I'M SURE SHE IS OUT WORKING WITH, UH, SOME OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
IT'LL ONLY BE ONE SECOND GUYS.
UH, CHAIR ILIAN, CEO WATKINS AND THE BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, I WOULD PRESENT TODAY, UM, KINDA GIVE YOU A RIDERSHIP OVERVIEW OF CAP METRO.
UM, I'LL START OUT WITH, UM, JUST OUR COLLECTION PROCESS AND HOW WE REPORT OUT OUR RIDERSHIP, BOTH ON THE TECHNICAL SIDE AS WELL AS, UM, HOW WE USE THAT IN OUR SERVICE PLANNING PROCESS.
AND THEN I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE MAJOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS THAT YOU ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH AND PROBABLY THINKING ABOUT HOW, UH, THAT WOULD IMPACT OUR SERVICE.
UH, KIND OF A TOUCH ON THAT APPROACH TOWARDS THE END OF THE PRESENTATION.
UH, WITH THAT, UM, IF I COULD GET TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
NEVER WORKS WHEN IT'S SUPPOSED TO.
SO, AS I MENTIONED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DATA COLLECTION, THEN RIDERSHIP TRENDS, UH, RIDERSHIP BY MODE, KEY PERFORMING ROUTES AND APPROACH TO MAJOR CONSTRUCTION.
SO, CAMP METRO RIDERSHIP, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO US, YOU HEAR A LOT ABOUT THAT.
WE, UH, REPORT OUR RIDERSHIP TO OUR FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, HOW WE MANAGE OUR SERVICE PLANNING THROUGH MONITORING RIDERSHIP.
BUT THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS AND TOOLS AND, UH, INSTRUMENTS WE USE TO CONTINUALLY MONITOR OUR ROUTE PERFORMANCE.
AND TODAY WE WANTED TO SHARE AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FOUR OF THEM.
SO SERVICE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES, IT IS A TECHNICALLY BASED PROCESS THAT IS ALSO A POLICY DOCUMENT.
IT EXPRESSES OUR AGENCY'S VALUES FOR HOW WE PROVIDE SERVICE ON THIS STREET.
IT INCLUDES ROUTES, ALIGNMENTS, AND STOPS, WHAT AMENITIES WOULD BE PROVIDED AT STOPS AND SO FORTH.
AND IT ALSO, UH, RELATES TO HOW WE ARE GONNA IMPLEMENT THOSE STOPS AND ALIGNMENTS IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PROCESS.
IT INCLUDES GUIDELINES ON HOW WE ARE GONNA EVALUATE AND MONITOR OUR SERVICE.
AND THAT BRINGS ME TO THE NEXT ONE, THE WEEKLY EVALUATION.
THAT'S ONE OF THE VERY IMPORTANT AND KEY WAYS WE MONITOR OUR SERVICE BASED ON WHAT WE PUT OUT ON THE STREET AND OPERATIONAL TWEAKS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S RUN SMOOTHLY AS WELL AS MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS.
LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST IS I'LL TALK ABOUT TRANSIT PLAN 2035 A LITTLE BIT MORE.
BUT SERVICE CHANGES ARE, UH, ARE KEY.
UH, THE, THE, THE WAYS WE PROVIDE.
THREE TIMES A YEAR, WE PROVIDE SERVICE CHANGES THAT THROUGH WHICH WE MAKE CHANGES TO OUR ROUTE STOP ADJUSTMENTS.
WE, UM, SERVE NEW DESTINATIONS WHEN NEEDED, COMBINED ROUTES WHEN NEEDED, AND JUST TWEAK
[01:00:01]
IT JUST ENOUGH TO, UM, TO ACCOMMODATE, UH, THE CHANGING NEEDS OF OUR, UH, TRANS, UH, OF OUR COMMUNITY TRANSIT PLAN 2035.THAT IS A 10 YEAR SERVICE, 10 YEAR PLAN.
SO THROUGH THAT WE LOOK AT, UH, ROUTE PERFORMANCE AND NETWORK AS A WHOLE.
IN THAT SPACE, WE LOOK AT THE OTHER FACTORS THAT WE TYPICALLY DON'T GET INTO TOO DEEP AT THE SERVICE CHANGE LEVEL.
AND THOSE WOULD BE DEMO DEMOGRAPHICS AND, UM, MAJOR DESTINATIONS AS COMMUNITIES, TRANSPORTATION NEEDS ARE CHANGING, COMMUNITIES GROWING, HOW WE ADDRESS THAT AT A BROADER LEVEL.
EVERY FIVE YEAR WE LOOK AT THAT AGAIN, AND THEN WE GO ABOUT IT AND, UM, FINE TUNE THAT AS AS WELL.
HERE'S A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE COLLECTION PROCESS, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT.
THERE ARE, UM, LOT OF WAYS TO THINK ABOUT IT.
I WOULD SAY THAT TRANSIT AGENCIES, AND CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF TRANSIT AGENCIES ARE MAJOR CONSUMERS OF DATA.
DATA IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INFRASTRUCTURE WE HAVE.
AND USING THAT WE, UH, NOT ONLY PUT OUT, PUT OUT OUR SERVICE, BUT ALSO, UH, MAKE DECISIONS IN-HOUSE AND SHARE OUR INFORMATION WITH OUR CUSTOMERS.
HERE YOU SEE OUR ENTERPRISE DATA ANALYTICS PLATFORM.
WE, YOU HAVE HEARD E DAP, YOU UM, THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, CUSTOMER FACING INFORMATION ON IT.
HERE'S A SORT OF SIMPLIFIED INFRASTRUCTURE OF THAT THAT YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT.
SO AT THE BOTTOM YOU WOULD SEE OUR END USER ANALYTICS.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE POWER BI AND ALL THE TECHNICAL TERMS. ONE THING I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT HERE, WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY AS AN AGENCY IN THIS SPACE.
20 YEARS AGO, A LOT OF THESE DATA COLLECTION PROCESSES WERE LARGELY MANUAL AND NOW WE ARE ALMOST FULLY AUTOMATED.
AND I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A HIGHLIGHT OF HOW, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BUS PULLS INTO OUR YARD.
WE HAVE ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO DOWNLOAD ON WIFI, THE INFORMATION THAT COMES IN, AND IT COMES OUT OF OUR AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNT INFORMATION FROM VEHICLE.
AND THEN THERE'S AN OFFLOADING PROCESS.
AND THEN WE HAVE, IN ADDITION TO THAT, A CLEANING PROCESS THAT REALLY GIVES US THE VALIDITY OF THE DATA THAT WE ARE GETTING DIRECTLY OFF THE A PC OR AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNT, AUTOMATIC AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION SYSTEM.
THIS IS HOW WE LOCATE WHERE OUR VEHICLES ARE.
THIS IS ALSO ONE OF THE WAYS WE MONITOR OUR ON TIME PERFORMANCE, COMMUNICATE INFORMATION TO OUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH SWIFTLY.
WE DO A LOT OF TARGETED ANALYSIS TO USE THOSE INFORMATION TO BETTER PERFORM NEXT TIME.
NOW, I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE RIDERSHIP TRENDS AND OUR RIDERSHIP BY MODE AFTER THIS SEGMENT.
I'LL PAUSE FOR A MINUTE TO SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR I CAN CONTINUE THROUGH.
SO IN THE NEXT SLIDE, WE SPEAK ABOUT OUR ANNUAL BUS RIDERSHIP.
I MEAN, THAT IS OUR, OUR, UH, MAJOR PART OF OUR NETWORK.
SO OUR RIDERSHIP RECOVERY HAS OUTPACED OUR PEER AGENCIES BY 9% SINCE 2021.
YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOOD NEWS STORY, UH, DURING COD THAT WE RETAINED 50% OF OUR RIDERSHIP ONE NATIONWIDE.
THERE WAS A, A MUCH SHARPER DECLINE IN OTHER MAJOR TRANSIT SYSTEMS. WE CONTINUED ON THAT PATH THROUGHOUT, THROUGHOUT, UM, 2021.
AND NOW, RIDERSHIP RECOVERY, I MEAN, IT'S, IT, WE CAN CONTRIBUTE THAT TO VERY MANY FACTORS.
UM, IT'S OUR, HOW RESILIENT WE ARE, HOW MUCH DEMAND THAT EXISTS IN THE COMMUNITY, CONSISTENCY OF SERVICE.
BUT HERE ARE SOME OF OUR, UM, SOME OF THE, SOME OF OUR METRICS THAT YOU WOULD SEE ON THE FIXED ROUTE BUS RIDERSHIP.
SINCE 2018 AND 2019, WE HAVE CONTINUALLY STAYED A LITTLE ABOVE NATIONAL AVERAGE.
I JOINED IN 20 RIGHT BEFORE COVID.
I LOOKED AT CAMP METRO'S, UH, RIDERSHIP INFORMATION.
AT THAT TIME BETWEEN 2018 AND 2019, WE HAD GAINED 19% OF OUR RIDER, LIKE WE HAD A 19% GAIN.
SO IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A STRONG STORY THAT CONTINUES TO BE TOLD, AND WE ARE CLOSELY MONITORING TO SEE IF IT HOLDS IN THE FUTURE.
SO, RIDERSHIP TARGETS, WHY DO WE SET TARGETS? WE SET TARGETS FOR VERY MANY REASONS.
OBVIOUSLY, ONE OF THE KEY WAYS, UH, PLANNING, FINANCE, AND OPERATIONS COME TOGETHER PRIMARILY.
AND THEN WITH VERY MANY OTHER LEVELS OF INPUT THAT GET TO THIS RIDERSHIP, TARGETS IT.
[01:05:01]
PLAN FOR REST OF THE YEAR.THIS IS HOW WE PUT OUT WHAT, WHAT OUR, HOW WE ARE GONNA PROVIDE SERVICE.
UM, AS YOU SEE YEAR TO DATE, WE HAVE, WE ARE ABOUT 97% ON OUR BUS AND 99% ON RAIL.
SO REAL RIDERSHIP IS VERY CLOSE, AND BUS RIDERSHIP IS AT 97%, WHICH IS ALSO PRETTY CLOSE TO OUR, OUR, UH, OUR TARGET, THE DIP.
AND I THINK I MENTIONED THAT IN ONE OF THE, UM, UH, ONE OF OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS THAT LAST YEAR WAS A LEAP YEAR.
SO ONE DAY, ONE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.
AND THAT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS, IF NOT THE SOLE, UM, FACTOR THERE.
SO, UH, THE NEXT FEW SLIDES, I WILL, WE, I'LL ADDRESS, UH, DIFFERENT MODES AND HOW WE ARE DOING ON RIDERSHIP BY MODE.
SO, FIXED ROUTE, RIDERSHIP'S BEEN STABLE AND STRONG, AND THERE ARE SOME SEASONAL DIFFERENCES THAT THAT HOLD OVER TIME.
AND, UH, APRIL, WHEN UT GOES, UM, OUT, OUT OF, I MEAN, AND, AND DURING SUMMER, WE SEE, UH, A DIP IN OUR, OUR STUDENT RIDERSHIP.
SO THAT IS ALWAYS REFLECTED AND CONSISTENT OVER TIME.
UH, 2.4 MILLION, UH, IS WHERE WE ARE, UM,
AND THAT'S A VERY STRONG RIDERSHIP NUMBER.
AND AS YOU SEE, THAT'S THE ORANGE, THE YELLOW LINE, UM, ON TOP THAT WOULD TELL YOU HOW WE ARE FARING FROM OUR LAST YEAR, UM, MONTH TO MONTH RIDERSHIP IN COMPARISON.
AND WE ARE DOING REALLY WELL, EXCEPT IN FEBRUARY.
THAT'S, I THINK WHEN WE WERE, WE SAW A DECLINE AND WE ARE NOW IN MAY.
WE ARE STARTING TO SEE THAT IT'S ALMOST STARTING TO KIND OF COMPARE WELL AND TRENDING ABOUT THE SAME AS LAST YEAR.
SO WE ARE CLOSELY MONITORING THAT TO SEE, UM, HOW IT'S CONTINUED TO BE DOWN THE ROAD.
YOU CAN REALLY TALK ABOUT RIDERSHIP BY MODE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT HOW YOUR TWO NEW ROUTES ARE FARING.
SO HERE'S OUR METRO, RAPID, PLEASANT VALLEY AND EXPO CENTER.
AND I WANTED TO MENTION THAT BOTH OF THESE ROUTES ARE IN INITIAL SERVICE.
SO WE HAVE, UM, THESE ARE SMALL STARTS, FTA FUNDED SMALL STARTS, UM, GRANT FUNDED PROJECT.
BUT WE ARE NOT IN THE REVENUE SERVICE YET.
AND, UH, WE, IN THE INITIAL SERVICE, WE ARE LEARNING HOW OUR CUSTOMERS ARE INTERACTING WITH THE NEW LINE.
AND THEY ARE ALSO ADJUSTING THEIR TRAVEL BEHAVIOR TO SEE HOW THAT FITS INTO THEIR OVERALL TRANSPORTATION HABIT.
AND GOING, UH, TO THE DESTINATIONS THAT THEY, UM, TYPICALLY WOULD, UM, MONTH TO MONTH, AS YOU SEE FROM FEBRUARY 25 TO MAY 25, THERE'S A VERY POSITIVE STORY TO BE TOLD HERE THAT WE ARE GAINING OUR RIDERSHIP MONTH TO MONTH, AND THAT IS STEADY, UM, FROM, UH, MARCH TO APRIL AND APRIL TO MAY.
AND THAT'S TRUE FOR BOTH LINES.
AND IT'S REAL, UH, RIDERSHIP IS STRONG.
WE HAVE HAD, UM, A LOT OF SPECIAL EVENT RIDERSHIP THAT, UH, DEFINITELY WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO THAT.
BUT OVERALL WE ARE STARTING TO SEE, UH, A STEADY UPTICK IN RAIL RIDERSHIP AS WELL.
AND AS I MENTIONED, WE ARE 99% OF THE, OUR ANNUAL TARGET.
SO RESOURCE WISE, WE ARE ALSO VERY CLOSE TO WHERE WE ARE.
NEXT SLIDE HERE, WE TALK ABOUT RIDERSHIP BY MODE.
OUR, UH, DURING COID, WE HAD, UM, ESSENTIALLY, UM, WE SAW ABSOLUTELY NO, I MEAN, THAT'S WHERE EXPRESS AND RAIL SAW A MAJOR DECLINE INITIALLY IN COVID, AND THEY WERE THE SLOWEST TO COME BACK.
WE HAVE NOT SEEN, UH, EXPRESS RIDERSHIP TO GROW, UM, SIMILARLY TO RAIL.
BUT THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER FACTOR HERE THAT OUR SERVICES ARE STILL AT THE POST COVID LEVEL.
WE ARE NOT QUITE AT 20, WE'RE NOT AT ALL AT 20 18, 20 19 LEVELS.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT RETURN TO WORK HAS A, A KEY, UH, FACTOR IN THIS.
WE EXPECT THAT OUR RETURN TO WORK IMPACTS, WE WOULD START TO SEE POSSIBLY IN FALL.
'CAUSE IT TAKES A FEW MONTHS TO SORT OF HAVE THAT TRAVEL HABIT BE ESTABLISHED.
AND THEN WE'D SEE, UM, WE WOULD SEE SOME IMPACTS ON, WE HOPE TO SEE SOME RIDERSHIP INCREASES ON EXPRESS SERVICES AS WELL.
OUR PICKUP, IT'S ONE OF OUR, IT'S ONE OF OUR, ONE OF OUR SERVICES THAT ARE GROWING EXPONENTIALLY.
[01:10:01]
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT BOTH IN THE GRAPH AS WELL AS IN MANY OF OUR, UH, DISCUSSIONS.SO PICKUP IS ALSO, UM, THERE, THE NEW ZONES THAT WERE ESTABLISHED, UH, BOTH DURING, UH, PROJECT CONNECT IMPLEMENTATION, PICKUP PICKUP SERVICE IS GOING REALLY STRONG AND TOTAL RIDERSHIP FOR PICKUP SERVICE YEAR TO YEAR AS THE GROWTH IS, AS I MENTIONED IT, EXPONENTIAL.
NOW, AS AN EXAMPLE, DOVE SPRINGS WAS LAUNCHED ON, UH, 2024, JANUARY, 2024.
AND IT HAS A NOTABLE INCREASE IN RIDERSHIP FROM JANUARY TO FEBRUARY 24.
SO OUR DOVE SPRINGS NEW ZONE HAS A, AS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE OVERALL PICKUP RIDERSHIP FOR THE AGENCY AS WELL.
UM, OUR DECKER PICKUP WAS LAUNCHED IN JANUARY OF 2025.
SO HELPING KIND OF BUILD THAT MOMENTUM FOR PICKUP.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION HERE THAT ALL OF OUR DIFFERENT SERVICE OFFERINGS HAVE OPERATING COST ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
EACH ONE OF THEM HAVE DIFFERENT SETS OF NEEDS AND BENEFITS THAT THEY PROVIDE TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND WE CONSTANTLY MONITOR TO SEE HOW WE CAN BEST PROVIDE OUR SERVICES TO, TO ALL OF OUR, ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS, UH, GIVE THEM A, A BALANCE SET OF MOBILITY OPTIONS WITHIN OUR OPERATING RESOURCES.
SO THAT IS, UH, THAT IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT WE REALLY CLOSELY, UM, APPLY TO PICK UP.
AND, UM, BUT PURPOSES THE, FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PRESENTATION, I WOULD SAY THAT IT'S GOING STRONG HERE.
UH, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR, OKAY, I, I MENTIONED THAT I WOULD PAUSE HERE FOR ANY QUESTIONS, BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, BOARD MEMBER
WHERE ARE YOU SEEING, WHERE ARE WE SEEING RIDERS GOING TO? 'CAUSE UH, UH, I KNOW INITIALLY THERE WAS A IDEA THAT PICKUP WOULD KIND OF BE THE, THE LAST MILE BETWEEN, UH, THE TRANSIT, UH, STOPS AND A PERSON'S HOME.
ARE WE SEEING THAT? ARE WE SEEING MORE KIND OF DESTINATIONS WITHIN THE PICKUP ZONE, GROCERY STORES, OTHER PLACES THAT WE WANNA GO TO? YOU KNOW, HOW ARE PEOPLE USING THE P PICKUP SERVICE? UM, I WOULD START BY, UM, SAYING THAT DIFFERENT PICKUP ZONES HAVE DIFFERENT TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS, AND THEY SERVE VERY DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS IN, UH, A LOT OF OUR CITY OF AUSTIN PICKUP, UH, ZONES WITHIN CITY OF AUSTIN.
THEY HAVE, UH, THEY DO CONNECT TO, THEY HAVE A COMBINATION OF TRIP CHARACTERISTICS, UH, FOR OUR CUSTOMERS ARE GOING TO GROCERY STORES, MEDICAL CENTERS, AND OTHER ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS FOR THEIR DAILY TRANSPORTATION NEEDS.
UM, THEY'RE ALSO CONNECTING TO OUR OTHER, OUR LOCAL BUS ROUTES.
SO IT, IT DOES BOTH FUNCTIONS FOR SOME OF OUR OTHER PICKUP ZONES.
UM, IT PICKUP IS ESSENTIALLY SERVING THE NEED FOR INNER CITY TRANSPORTATION.
AND WE WOULD, WE ARE SEEING THAT IN SOME OF OUR ZONES WHERE WE HAVE EXTENDED THE ZONE BOUNDARIES TO MEET THAT NEED AND THAT, SO, UH, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO KIND OF PROVIDE YOU WITH SORT OF MORE ZONE SPECIFIC INFORMATION IF YOU'RE INTERESTED DOWN THE ROAD.
BUT, UH, THE EACH ZONE IS OPERATING DIFFERENTLY.
AND I WOULD SORT OF PAUSE HERE AND SEE IF OUR CEO HAS ANYTHING TO ADD.
NO, I THINK THAT IS A, A FAIR ASSUMPTION.
THEY'RE ALL KIND OF DESIGNED FOR DIFFERENT THINGS.
UM, WE DO SEE A LOT OF CONNECTION WITHIN THE ZONE, WHICH WE KNOW IS IMPORTANT THOUGH.
A LOT OF THESE ZONES ARE IN PLACES WHERE WE HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY RESOURCES THAT ARE HARD TO GET TO OTHERWISE, RIGHT? AND SO WE INCLUDED THOSE RESOURCES IN THE ZONE ON PURPOSE.
UM, WE OBVIOUSLY SEE A LOT OF TRANSFERS TO THE LARGER SYSTEM TOO, WHEN PEOPLE WANNA GO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER.
SO IT DOES DEPEND A LOT, UM, BY THE ZONE.
UM, BUT THE, AS SHARMILA MENTIONED, THE, THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT PICKUP PARTICULARLY IS WE HAVE RIDER BY RIDER SPECIFIC TRAVEL DATA, UM, ON PICKUP ORIGINS AND DESTINATIONS, JUST BASED ON THE, THE VIRTUE OF HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS.
AND WHEN A, WHEN A HUMAN BEING GETS ON A BUS, WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT HUMAN BEING'S GONNA GET OFF THE BUS, BUT THE PICKUP ZONE, WE KNOW WHEN WE PICK UP AN INDIVIDUAL WHERE THEY WANT US TO TAKE THEM.
AND SO WE, WE HAVE MUCH MORE RICH DATA THERE.
UM, SO WE'RE HAPPY TO DIVE IN ON ANY PARTICULAR ZONES IF YOU, IF YOU WANNA DIG IN DEEPER, GREAT.
I WON'T, I WON'T, UH, DO THAT RIGHT NOW.
BUT I AM INTERESTED IN JUST UNDERSTANDING KIND OF HOW THAT IT'S A NEW SERVICE.
UH, AND, AND WE, I WANT TO GET A GOOD, UH, GRASP ON IT, UH, ON EXPRESS.
'CAUSE I, I'M, I'M SEEING HERE AS A, A SLOW RECOVERY.
UH, OF COURSE AT THIS POINT, ALL THE DATA IS POST, UH, COVI.
UH, WHERE IS THE EXPRESS RIDERSHIP? TODAY'S EXPRESS RIDERSHIP
[01:15:01]
COMPARED TO PRE COI EXPRESS RIDERSHIP.AGAIN, THIS IS, WE'RE GONNA TAG TEAM ON THIS ANSWER, BUT I WOULD SAY THAT, UM, I WOULD SAY THAT IT'S NOT GONNA BE A FAIR COMPARISON TO DO A PRE AND POST COVID COMPARISON OF EXPRESS SERVICE BECAUSE OUR SERVICE IS NOT THE SAME FOR EXPRESS.
WE ARE TRYING TO SEE WHERE, UM, OUR DEMAND EXISTS, OR EVEN TRICKLE OF A DEMAND EXISTS.
AND THEN WE ARE STARTING TO BUILD OFF OF THAT.
AS I MENTIONED, ONE OF OUR, UH, KEY FACTORS HERE IS THE RETURN TO WORK.
WE WANNA SEE HOW THAT IMPACTS, UH, OUR, UH, OUR RIDERSHIP ON 9 85 AND OTHER RIDES THAT ARE SORT OF PARALLEL TO, UM, RAIL AND SEE IF THAT TRANSPARENCY AND INTERACTION BETWEEN RAIL AND 9 85 AND ANYTHING THAT'S COME COMING FROM LAKE LINE VANDER IS REALLY GOING TO START TO HOLD.
AND THEN I THINK WE'RE GONNA MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS.
YEAH, WE, UM, THE SHORT ANSWER IS WE HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS COMMUTER BUS RIDERSHIP TODAY THAN WE HAD PRE PANDEMIC.
BUT WHAT WE SAW IN THE DATA AS WE WERE DOING THE TRANSIT PLAN IS THAT HUMANS, NOT, WHETHER THEY'RE USING THE BUS OR DRIVING CARS OR OTHERWISE MOVING AROUND, SEEM TO BE MOVING A LOT DIFFERENTLY, RIGHT? WE, THAT, THAT COMMUTE TRIP IS NO LONGER THE PREVALENT TRIP MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, LIKE IT WAS PRE PANDEMIC.
UM, SO WHAT A BIG PART OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON IN THE TRANSIT PLAN IS HOW DO WE REBALANCE WHERE WE PUT OUR RESOURCES TO KIND OF MATCH HOW PEOPLE ARE MOVING ABOUT TODAY.
BUT WE HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS COMMUTER BUS SERVICE OUT BECAUSE WE HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS COMMUTER RIDERSHIP OUT THERE.
AND THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF A CHICKEN AND EGG THING, RIGHT? PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE LESS LIKELY TO RIDE IF YOU DON'T HAVE A VERY ROBUST SCHEDULE.
BUT YOU CAN'T JUSTIFY A VERY ROBUST SCHEDULE IF YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE RIDERSHIP.
AND SO, UH, WE DO RECOGNIZE THE INTERCONNECTIVITY OF THOSE, BUT WHEN WE STEP BACK EVEN FURTHER AND LOOK AT THE DATA, THE MOVEMENT, THE MOBILITY DATA AS A WHOLE, WE SEE THAT THAT COMMUTE TRIP ISN'T NEARLY THE SAME KIND OF GENERATOR OF MOVEMENT.
UM, AND SO WE THINK IT PROBABLY DOESN'T MAKE AS MUCH SENSE FOR US TO FOCUS ON, ON IT AS HEAVILY, NOT TO NOT FOCUS AT ALL, BUT TO FOCUS ON IT AS HEAVILY AS WE WERE PRE PANDEMIC BEFORE THE PANDEMIC HIT.
WE WERE LITERALLY STANDING ROOM ONLY ON MOST OF OUR, UM, COMMUTER BUS ROUTES TO THE NORTHWEST.
UM, I, I CAN SPEAK TO THAT FIRSTHAND
THERE WERE TIMES WHEN YOU ALL WOULD HAVE TO DEPLOY A SECOND BUS ON SOME OF THE, ON THE 9 85 ROUTE FROM DOWNTOWN BACK UP NORTH IN, IN, IN, IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE FOLKS.
I HEARD THAT PER, NOW I SAW THAT MYSELF AND HEARD IT FIRSTHAND FROM NEIGHBORS AS WELL.
AND, AND LASTLY, UH, UH, AND THIS IS AGAIN, MY, IF MEMORY SERVES FROM PRIOR, UH, BRIEFINGS, THE, THE RIDERSHIP AND THINKING ABOUT THE CORE KIND OF BUS SERVICE THAT THE RIDERSHIP, UH, WAS LESS OF YOUR TRADITIONAL, UH, MORNING AND AFTERNOON PEAKS AND THE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, WHEREAS NOW IT'S SPREAD KIND OF THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DAY INCREASED IN, IN, UH, ON, ON WEEKENDS.
ARE WE STILL SEEING THE SAME TRENDS OR ARE WE STILL, YOU, ARE WE GOING BACK? HOW IS IT LOOKING THE, THE, WITHIN THE, THE, THE BIG NUMBERS? HOW IS IT LOOKING ON A, UH, ON A, YOU KNOW, OVER THE ENTIRE WEEK PICTURE? SO, UM, FOR POST COVID, WE CAME BACK AND WE CAME BACK IN A VERY, SORT OF VERY INDIVIDUALIZED, UH, TRAVEL HABITS, SHALL WE SAY.
SO WE SAW, UM, UH, TYPICALLY MONDAY AND FRIDAY ARE BEING, THEY WERE, THOSE ARE SLOW DAYS AND MOST OF THE TRIPS WERE CONCENTRATED BETWEEN TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS.
AND I THINK WHAT WE ARE STARTING TO SEE, UM, AND OUR, OUR DATA THAT WE ARE USING ARE STILL SPEAKING TO THAT, THAT THERE'S A LOT MORE AND THE WEEKEND, UH, AND WHILE YOU IN THE WEEKEND TRIPS HAVE GONE UP.
SO MONDAY AND FRIDAY BEING SLOW, TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY ARE STRONGER AND OUR, UM, WEEKEND TRIPS ARE, ARE STRONG AS WELL.
SO THE, ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WITH EXPRESS BUS IS THAT AS, UM, UH, BOARD MEMBER STRATTEN MENTIONED THAT THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN OUR EXPRESS, SPECIFICALLY FROM THE NORTHERN, UM, UH, THE LINES THAT ARE COMING FROM LEANDER LAKE LINE, THEY HAD AN INTERACTION SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR METRO RAIL.
SO ONE WOULD GET FULL STANDING ROOM ONLY, OR SOMEONE MISSES RAIL, THEY WOULD JUST GO TO 9 85 AND TAKE IT DOWN, UH, TO DOWNTOWN.
WE ARE STARTING TO SEE SOME PICKUP ON 9 85, BUT IT'S NOT STABLE YET ENOUGH.
AND THE, TO SPECIFICALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ON ARE WE SEEING CHANGES TO POST COVID, I WOULD SAY THAT DATA THAT WE USED FOR 2035 TRANSIT PLANS STILL SEEING THE SAME LEVEL OF NOT SO REGULAR TRAVEL PATTERN, BUT WE ALSO ARE KEEPING THAT IN MIND THAT THAT IS BASED ON DATA HAS A LAG.
SO IT'S BASED ON INFORMATION FROM EARLIER THIS
[01:20:01]
YEAR.UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS AND THE IMPACTS OF RETURN TO WORK TO SEE HOW IT IMPACTS OUR, OUR TRAVEL DEMAND ON OUR SYSTEM.
UH, CHARLA DID, DID HAVE A, UH, QUESTION RELATED TO, UH, RAIL.
UH, I AM CURIOUS, 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT, UH, RAIL IS VERY HEAVILY UTILIZED FOR THE, UM, FOR, FOR SOCCER GAMES.
UM, DO WE, UH, DOES THAT GET INCLUDED IN THE RAIL DATA HERE THAT YOU'RE PRESENTING TO US? UM, I WOULD SAY YES AND WITH SOME CAVEAT.
SO, UH, WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT DATA COLLECTION, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT THERE'S A CLEANING PROCESS INVOLVED.
AND THE CLEANING PROCESSES IS, YOU BROUGHT UP A GOOD POINT FOR ME TO KIND OF GO BACK AND TALK ABOUT THE EXAMPLE OF THE CLEANING PROCESS.
UM, WHEN WE HAVE, UH, SORT OF OVERCROWDING ON OUR VEHICLES, WHETHER THAT BUS OR RAIL, BUT MORE, IT'S MORE APPLICABLE TO RAIL THE, THIS AS MULTIPLE PEOPLE GET ON THE TRAIN AT THE SAME TIME, THERE'S ALWAYS THAT OP OPPORTUNITIES FOR DUPLICATION OR UNDER COUNTING.
SO WHAT WE DO IS WE USE THAT OUR SWIFTLY UH, SYSTEM HAS A VIDEO CAPABILITY, WE THEN GO BACK AND REVIEW TO SEE HOW THAT IS WORKING AND UH, TO KIND OF MATCH UP INFORMATION WITH THE, THE VIDEO, LIVE VIDEO THAT, UM, THAT WE HAVE AND THE BUS BRIDGES THAT WE USE SOMETIMES TO SUPPORT OUR, UM, SPECIAL EVENTS AT FC.
WE HAVE SOME OF THE SAME, UH, IMPACTS THERE TO, TO SAY THAT USUALLY WE WOULD BE ABLE TO, ON A NORMAL REGULAR DAY, WOULD BE ABLE TO CAPTURE RIDERSHIP IN A LOT MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD WAY FOR SPECIAL EVENTS.
THE, THE REASON I WAS, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THAT IS, IS WONDERING, UM, HA HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHAT RIDERSHIP IS TAKING OUT THE SPECIAL EVENTS KIND TO, TO GET A, TO GET A MORE CONSISTENT, 'CAUSE THOSE ARE OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE SPECIAL.
THEY HAPPEN ON TYPICALLY WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AND SATURDAY NIGHTS, USUALLY DURING SOCCER SEASON.
SO IF WE WERE, AND, AND, AND I THINK THAT IT WOULDN'T BE QUITE RIGHT TO JUST LOOK AT THE RIDERSHIP NUMBERS OUTSIDE OF SOCCER SEASON BECAUSE THEN YOU'VE GOT OTHER SEASONAL FACTORS THAT COULD FACTOR INTO THAT.
SO HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHAT THE RIDERSHIP NUMBERS WOULD BE FOR, YOU KNOW, TAKING OUT THOSE, UM, SPECIAL EVENTS JUST TO GET TO SEE KIND OF WHAT THE UNDERLYING BASELINE IS BECAUSE THEN WE COULD CAPTURE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UH, INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE USING IT BECAUSE HEY, THIS IS A SPECIAL EVENT AND I KNOW I CAN GET THERE VERSUS THE MORE, UM, COMMUTER DAILY RIDER THAT'S GONNA, OR EVEN, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY THAT'S OKAY, I I I WANT TO TAKE THE TRAIN DOWNTOWN FOR SATURDAY AND COME BACK.
BUT YOU KNOW, YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? SO WE CAN NO ENTIRELY KIND OF OF BREAK THAT OUT A LITTLE BIT.
WE DO, WE DO HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
I DON'T HAVE IT WITH ME TODAY, BUT WE DO HAVE OUR, OUR REGULAR WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP WITH OUR SPECIAL EVENT RIDERSHIP.
THAT I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL MAYBE TO, YES.
BUT THEY'RE, IN SOME CASES THEY'RE INTERSPERSED.
SO I, I WOULD SAY THAT IT TAKES, AGAIN, THAT WOULD TAKE, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT AI WOULD DO FOR US.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO
WE DO THAT MANUALLY AND UH, WE WOULD THEN MAKE SURE HOW, HOW THAT HAPPENS.
WE'LL PUT YOU GUYS TOGETHER SOMETIME SOON, BUT THEN WERE THERE BRIEFING A BOARD MEMBER.
ELLIS, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE PICKUP SERVICE.
CAN YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT HOW OFTEN YOU REVIEW RIDERSHIP, WHERE PEOPLE ARE GOING AND HOW OFTEN YOU CAN ADJUST THE MAP IF YOU HAVE, FOR INSTANCE, A NEW GROCERY STORE, A NEW, YOU KNOW, RETAIL CENTER WITH A DOCTOR'S OFFICE.
CAN YOU TALK THROUGH HOW FLEXIBLE THOSE PICKUP SERVICES ARE AND WHEN YOU ADDRESS ANY CHANGES IN PICKUP AND DROP OFF LOCATIONS? ABSOLUTELY.
AND I THINK PICKUP IS, UM, STARTED OUT AS INNOVATIVE MOBILITY SOLUTION AND DEMAND RESPONSE.
IT IS ONE SPACE BECAUSE IT'S APP BASED AND WE, UM, ALSO GET A LOT OF USER INFORMATION AND THEY'RE TRIP PATTERNS.
UM, WE OPERATIONALLY WE HAVE PLANNING AND OPERATIONS COME TOGETHER AND ROUTINELY REVIEW REGULARLY DURING WEEKLY EVALUATION.
AND OUTSIDE OF THAT WE REVIEW OUR ZONE PERFORMANCE ZONE CHARACTERISTICS.
AND WHEN A MAJOR DESTINATION, LIKE A GROCERY STORE OR A DIALYSIS CENTER OR UM, A OTHER MEDICAL FACILITY OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT OR SCHOOL, UM, WHETHER IT'S ADDED OR WE START TO SEE TRIPS TAKING PLACE THERE, WE TAKE THAT INTO EQUATION AND ADJUST, UM, SMALL CHANGE, MAKE SOME SMALL CHANGES WITH THE ZONE.
SO THEY CAN HAPPEN ANYTIME OF YEAR IF SOMETHING MAJOR HAPPENS.
[01:25:01]
LIKE I WOULD SAY MAJORITY OF THE TIME THAT'S HOW WE DO IT.WE MAKE SMALL ADJUSTMENTS WHEN IN, WHEN WE LOOK AT A ZONE AND WE SEE THAT THIS ADJUSTMENT WOULD REALLY BE BENEFICIAL AND OPERATIONALLY VIABLE ONLY WITH ANOTHER FIXED ROUTE THAT IT'S GOING TO BE CONNECTED TO AS FIRST AND LAST MILE AS WELL, THEN WE MAY POSTPONE SOMETIMES AND ALIGN THAT WITH A SERVICE CHANGE.
SO JUST TO MAKE, KIND OF OPTIMIZE THAT, THAT CHANGE TO, TO MAKE IT MORE SUCCESSFUL.
BUT GENERALLY WE DO THAT OPERATIONAL TWO WEEKS, UM, JUST ALMOST ON A REGULAR BASIS.
OKAY, THAT'S PERFECT BECAUSE I KNOW OUT IN MY DISTRICT THERE'S A COUPLE OF YES REZONINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT BEING ABLE TO INCREASE RIDERSHIP, MAKING SURE THAT IF THEY WANT TO UTILIZE PICKUP SERVICE, THAT THAT'S AVAILABLE TO THEM.
BUT I KNOW WHEN THE HEV MOVED, UM, FROM THE WYATT OAK HILL JUST TO 1826, IT WAS LIKE A VERY EASY SWITCH OF CLEARLY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT THE PICKUP SERVICE CAN GO IN AND OUT OF THAT LOCATION.
'CAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS.
UH, SO I WILL MOVE TO THE NEXT, UM, SEGMENT OF THIS AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT RIDERSHIP, WHERE WE HAVE OUR RIDERSHIP AND OUR, UH, TOP PERFORMING IN OUR LOW PERFORMING ROUTES.
SO WHERE IS RIDERSHIP CONCENTRATED? AND THAT IS ESSENTIALLY A REFLECTION OF THE STOPS WHERE WE HAVE HIGH BOARDINGS AND A LIGHTINGS.
UM, THESE ARE MAJOR TRIP GENERATORS AND THEY, YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE IN OUR CITY.
THEY ARE IN DOWNTOWN IN REPUBLIC SCORE.
IT'S ONE OF OUR, UM, DOWNTOWN TRANSFER POINT IS, UH, IT'S VITAL TO OUR SYSTEM.
IT CONNECTS TO 18 ROUTES, UH, WITHIN OUR SYSTEM, UT SHUTTLES AND RED LINE IN, UM, DOWNTOWN STATION AND PLAZA SALTILLO.
SO, UH, YOU WOULD ALSO SEE, UH, GOING BACK IN OUR, UH, OUR CONCENTRATED RIDERSHIP TOPIC, I WOULD SEE THAT YOU WOULD SEE THE SOUTHERN PART OF OUR, UM, TWAR, UH, AREA.
WE SEE STRONG RIDERSHIP THERE.
AND THEN IN THE NORTH YOU SEE DOWNTOWN WITH LIKE CONCENTRATED ORANGE DOTS AND THEN CLUSTERS ALONG ROUTE 20 AND 300.
AND THEN AIRPORT IS CALLED OUT IT.
WE ARE ALSO STARTING TO SEE PICKUP THERE AS WELL.
PICKUP OF RIDERSHIP THERE AS WELL.
AND THEN ROUTE 8 0 1 AND, UM, THE, THE 800 CORRIDOR ESSENTIALLY THAT HAS A LOT OF RIDERSHIP, UH, CHARMILLA, IF I MAY, THAT TINY LITTLE.IN THE VERY, VERY TOP RIGHT HAND OR LEFT HAND CORNER.
IS THAT LEANDER OR LAKELINE THAT IS OR NEITHER ABOVE FAIRGROUNDS? UH, THAT'S WHAT I LAKE LAKELINE? YES, THAT IS LAKELINE, YES.
THAT'S LAKELINE AND THAT IS THE BIG AND THE DOTTED LINE THERE.
IS THAT THE, IS THAT THE TRAIN? OH, THAT DOES LOOK LIKE THE TR TRAIN, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THE NEXT STOP DOWN.
THAT'S HOWARD, ISN'T IT? OKAY.
UM, AND THE NEXT SLIDE, WE TALK ABOUT OUR TOP PERFORMING ROUTES AND THEY ARE OUR WORKHORSE OF OUR SYSTEM.
AND, UH, FIRST COMES 8 0 1 NORTH LAMAR TO SOUTH CONGRESS.
IT'S OUR MOST FREQUENT, MOST, UM, UM, FREQUENT ROUTE 10 MINUTES.
AND IT ALSO REFLECTED THAT FREQUENCY IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY OUR VERY HIGH AVERAGE DAILY RIDERSHIP, UH, 327 AND 10.
AND ALL OF THESE, THESE FOUR TOP PERFORMING ROUTES, UM, THEY'RE ALSO SUPPORTED BY, THEY TAKE A LOT OF RESOURCES.
BUT OUR SYSTEM RIDERSHIP COMBINED SYSTEM RIDERSHIP ON THIS FIVE ROUTES IS, UH, ATTRIBUTES TO ABOUT 42% OF OUR RIDERSHIP COMES FROM THIS TOP FIVE ROUTES.
AND THE AREA POPULATION THAT IT SERVES IS 13%.
AND WHAT DOES THAT TELL US? THAT THESE ARE ALSO OUR DENSEST CORRIDORS.
SO THIS IS, UM, IT'S SUPPORTED BY THE DENSITY ALONG THE ROUTE, THE TRANSIT PROPENSITY AND RIDER DISPOSITION, AND THEN THERE'S SUPPORTED BY FREQUENCY.
AND HERE WE HAVE OUR TOP PERFORMING ROUTES, UM, GOING TO OUR LOW PERFORMING ROUTES IN THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND THAT'S WHERE I THINK WE HAVE A BIT MORE NUANCES, A BIT MORE NUANCED THERE.
SO HERE WE HAVE OUR NORTHEAST FEEDER 2 37, 2 17, 3 45 2.
AND THE AVERAGE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP IS ONLY 1261.
AND THEY ONLY CARRY COMBINED RIDERSHIP SYSTEM.
RIDERSHIP PERCENTAGE IS ABOUT 4%.
[01:30:02]
A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER.UH, SO WHAT I, WHAT WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE IS I'LL FOCUS A LITTLE BIT ON TWO 17.
IT GOES THROUGH ESPERANZA COMMUNITY.
THE LENGTH IS ONLY THREE MILES WEEKDAY.
FREQUENCY IS COM QUITE COMPARABLE TO OUR OTHER LOCAL, UH, WELL PERFORMING ROUTES.
IT'S 30 MINUTES, BUT WE CONTINUE TO SERVE THEM.
AND BECAUSE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO SERVE THIS AREA IN OUR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
SO WE WANT, WE TAKE THAT INTO EQUATION AND MAKE SURE THAT THE WEEKDAY FREQUENCIES ARE MAINTAINED AT HALF HOUR AVERAGE DAILY RIDERSHIP IS 232.
SO THERE ARE VERY MANY DIFFERENT CONSIDERATIONS WHY WE, UM, ADJUST FREQUENCIES AND HOW WE MANAGE THROUGHOUT OUR SYSTEM.
RIDERSHIP IS ONLY ONE FACTOR IN THAT.
AND IN THE NEXT SLIDE I WILL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.
SO LOOKING BEYOND RIDERSHIP, RIDERSHIP IS, WE DON'T PRODUCE WIDGET RIDERSHIP IS OUR, HOW WE MANAGE OUR PRODUCTIVITY.
THAT'S, IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF HOW WE DO PROVIDE SERVICE AND USE OUR RESOURCES FOR GREATER GOOD.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING SUCCESS OF A ROUTE.
AND FREQUENCY VERSUS COVERAGE IS SOMETHING THAT ALL ALL OF THE TRANSIT AGENCIES ACROSS UNITED STATES ARE STRUGGLING WITH.
AND WE ALSO TRY TO STRIKE A GOOD BALANCE IN THAT.
UM, OUR NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF, UH, HOW WE DO SERVICE PLANNING, RELIABILITY, AND ARE UNDERSERVED AND VULNERABLE POPULATIONS WE MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDE SERVICES FOR TO MEET THEIR DAILY NEEDS AS WELL AS NEW AND EXISTING SPECIFIC DESTINATION TRANSIT PLAN.
2035 IS, AS I MENTIONED, IT'S UH, GOING TO PROVIDE, UM, A FRAMEWORK AND A ROADMAP FOR EVALUATING OUR TRANSIT NETWORK AS A WHOLE.
YOU HAVE SEEN, UM, PRESENTATIONS ON THAT AND UH, HERE ARE LIKE THE OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC AND COMMUNITY EVALUATION FACTORS ARE GOING TO COME TOGETHER AND MORE ON THAT TO COME.
SO WITH THAT, I WOULD, UH, WRAP UP AND THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AT THE END OF A RATHER LONG BOARD MEETING BOARD MEMBERS.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? UH, BOARD MEMBER VELA, LOOKING AT THE, THE TWO GLASSES, THE 2 33 AND THE 2 37, HOW ARE THEY INTERACTING WITH THE 8 37 NOWADAYS? ARE THOSE ROUTES BOTH FEEDING INTO THE, THE 8 37, THE PARKING RIDE RIGHT THERE? THIS IS A GREAT QUESTION.
THIS IS THE BEST QUESTION FOR ROBERTO GONZALEZ
NO, I WANT YOU TO HAVE THE BEST EXPERTISE ANSWERING TO YOUR QUESTION AND HE WOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT BETTER THAN I WOULD.
NOW, NOW THAT WAS A POINT GUARD'S ASSIST, RIGHT?
THAT'S GONNA SHOW UP ON THE FLOOR SHEET, HUH? TINY AL.
I'M WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
YOU ASKED ABOUT ROUTES 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 7.
THOSE ARE TWO ROUTES THAT ARE OUT IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE RIGHT THERE IS THE WAY OUR BOUNDARIES, UH, ARE, ARE INTERACTING, WE HAVE OUR SERVICE AREA BOUNDARY, WHICH MIMICS THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S BOUNDARY.
AND THEN WE HAVE TRAVIS COUNTY DISTRICTS AND, AND AREAS THAT WE SERVE.
SO THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE, WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, WE'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE THOSE TWO ROUTES.
YOU ALSO SEE A LOT OF CONVOLUTED KIND OF MOVEMENTS IN THAT AREA BECAUSE THE STREET NETWORKS ARE NOT CONNECTED WITH ONE ANOTHER.
SO THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE AROUND THERE IS THAT WE'VE PROVIDED THAT SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS JUST BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT WE COULD, WE COULD SERVE THOSE AREAS.
BUT THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION OF PICKUP SERVICE, WE'RE NOW ABLE TO, UH, OVER, OVER, UH, UH, NOT OVER SERVE, BUT SERVE IN SOME OF THOSE SAME AREAS.
SO MUCH LIKE WHAT WE MET RECENTLY WITH SOME OF YOU, WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO MAYBE REDUCE OR CHANGE OR MODIFY THOSE SERVICES NOW THAT WE DO HAVE PICKUP IN THOSE ZONES.
SO WE, WE USE 'EM RIGHT NOW AS A, AS A STAND IN BEFORE WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE PICKUP.
BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE PICKUP AND TRANSIT PLAN GIVES US A CHANCE TO EVALUATE THEM, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK TO SEE IF THOSE RESOURCES COULD BE BETTER USED SOMEWHERE ELSE.
NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT, THE ONE CHALLENGE WE WILL HAVE IS ANYTIME WE HAVE A FIXED ROUTE SERVICE, A BUS ROUTE, WE, WHAT WE HAVE MIMICKING IN THAT AREA IS PARATRANSIT SERVICES.
SO WE FOLLOW ALONG WITHIN THREE QUARTERS OF A MILE OF THAT, OF THAT OPERATION, THAT AREA.
SO WHEN WE DO COME TO THAT POINT WHERE WE HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION ON THAT ROUTE, WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO THINK ABOUT THOSE, UH, CLIENTS AND, AND RESIDENTS THEY'RE IN AND AROUND THE AREA TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PARATRANSIT AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE.
AND THOSE WOULD BE THE, THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAD RECENTLY WITH, WITH THE CHAIR ABOUT WHAT ARE SOME OPTIONS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT AT RETAINING SOME SERVICE FOR FOLKS THAT, THAT ARE IN NEED.
AND WE, AND WE REALLY HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE SOME, SOME, UH, COMMUNITIES
[01:35:01]
THAT HAVE BEEN THERE FOR A LONG TIME.LAKESIDE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE, ACTUALLY.
COMMUNITY FIRST IS IN THAT AREA TOWARDS THE EAST AND THEY'RE EXPANDING TO, TO SECTIONS TWO AND THREE THAT WE'RE BEEN CLOSELY WORKING IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM.
THE PARK AND RIDE THAT WE'RE BUILDING NOW THROUGH THE PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAD BETWEEN CITY OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, AND OURSELVES AT, AT, AT THE, UH, EXPOSITION CENTER, WILL NOW ALLOW US TO CONVERGE ALL ROUTES INTO THAT AREA SO THAT WE CAN THEN, UH, COEXIST BETWEEN PICKUP, PARATRANSIT, FIXED ROUTE AND METRO RAPID IN THAT AREA.
SO 'CAUSE 'CAUSE YOU HAVE OTHER RESOURCES THAT ARE GOING INTO THAT AREA, WE'VE GOTTA TALK, UH, TO CENTRAL HEALTH.
WE'VE GOTTA TALK TO INTEGRAL CARE, UH, CHURCHES THAT ARE IN THE AREA ABOUT HOW THEY MANAGE A SICK AND SHUT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS.
WE'VE PUT OVER 13,000 DOWN TOGETHER.
UM, AND THEN MAINOR, I, UM, MAINOR ISD HAS, UH, AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND A MIDDLE SCHOOL ON DECK.
SO THERE, UH, SO THE PARADIGM IS SHIFTING.
THAT WAS AN AREA, UH, THAT FROM A FAIR HOUSING PERSPECTIVE WAS PROBABLY CONSIDERED TO BE A LOW ACTIVITY AREA, IS A HIGH ACTIVITY AREA NOW.
AND WITH ALL OF THE NEW THINGS COMING THERE, WE'LL HAVE TO CONSIDER, WE WILL, UH, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE THEIR ECONOMIES OF SCALE, WHERE THERE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW PARTNERSHIPS.
UH, SO, SO THAT WE ACTUALLY, AS WE CHANGE, WE CHANGE, WE RIGHTSIZE IT RATHER THAN JUST CHANGE IT.
FOLLOWING UP ON THE, WE COMBINED THE 2 33 AND 2 37, UH, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE AREA OF 400 OR SO AVERAGE DAILY RIDERSHIP.
HOW, WHAT'S THE PICKUP SERVICE DOING, UH, IN THAT, UH, AREA? I COULDN'T TELL YOU OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WHAT, WHAT THAT ONE IS DOING ON A DAILY BASIS, BUT I KNOW IT'S BEEN WELL RECEIVED IN THAT AREA.
THE SPRINGDALE SHOPPING CENTER WITH THE HEB IS A, IS A BIG DRAW.
WE'VE GOT SEVERAL SCHOOLS IN THAT AREA.
AND THEN WHEN WE CHARTED PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT ZONE, WE SAW METRO ACCESS CLIENTS, PEOPLE WHO ARE USING OUR, OUR SERVICE JUST TO MOVE WITHIN THAT ZONE.
SO WE'VE LIKELY TAKEN AND WE HAVE TAKEN SOME OF THOSE TRIPS OFF OF METRO ACCESS BECAUSE THEY'RE ABLE TO USE THAT SERVICE AND THEN BE ABLE TO USE METRO ACCESS FOR OTHER PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THERE'S A GOOD, UH, SYNERGY GOING ON IN THERE BETWEEN THOSE SERVICES.
AND THEN THE, THE, THE 2 37 AND 2 33, THOSE ARE, WHAT LOCATIONS ARE THEY HITTING WITHIN THOSE, UH, A FEED RISE? I MEAN, ON THE ONE HAND WE, THEY'RE, THOSE ARE BEING USED TO GET TO A, A, A LINE THAT GOES DOWNTOWN, RIGHT? THAT GOES TO OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY.
WHAT ABOUT, BUT WITHIN THE ROUTES, WHAT ARE THE MAJOR KIND OF DESTINATIONS WITHIN THE ROUTES? SO SPRINGDALE SHOPPING CENTER IS ONE OF THE LOCATIONS, UM, JOHNNY MORRIS ROAD, UH, NORTH JOHNNY MORRIS ROAD, WHERE YOU HAVE, UH, MANUFACTURED HOUSING DIN LANE.
I'M NOT SURE IF YOU KNOW WHERE DNE LANE IS, BUT IT'S SIT SITS OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARY, UH, EAGLES LANDING, UH, APARTMENT COMPLEX, WHICH IS ONE OF THE FIRST COMPLEXES THAT KIND OF STARTED TO RECEIVE OUR KATRINA, UH, UH, RELOCATION, UH, RESIDENCE.
AND WE HAD STRUGGLES AT THAT TIME TO SERVE FOLKS IN THAT AREA, BUT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SERVE IT WITH THAT AREA DOWN, UH, DECKER LANE.
AND THEN THERE ARE POCKETS OF DEVELOPMENT IN AND AROUND, UH, LIKE THE CHAIR SAID INSIDE, UH, COLONY PARK, OVERTON ELEMENTARY, WE'VE GOT, UH, THE COMMUNITY CENTER THAT'S THERE.
WE JUST HAVE THE BRAND NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL, NEW CAR, MIDDLE SCHOOL.
WE HAD THE BRAND NEW, UH, FACILITY FOR SWIMMING THAT, THAT'S OPENED UP NOW.
THE MEDICAL CENTER IS LOOKING WELL IN PRETTY SOON.
SO YEAH, THE MEDICAL CENTER'S LOOKING AND THEN COLONY PARK, THE ENTIRE REDEVELOPMENT PLAN THAT'S GOING TO LOOK AT CONNECTING COLONY LOOP DRIVE.
WE JUST HAD A MEETING WITH THE DEVELOPER LAST YEAR, I NOT LAST LAST WEEK, TO TALK ABOUT FIRST PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THAT AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO BE INTERACTING AND, AND BRINGING SERVICE TO THAT AREA.
SO THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF THE, THE HIGHLIGHTS.
COMMUNITY FIRST DIMENSION WAS ANOTHER POCKET OF DEVELOPMENT.
SO, UM, IT'S AN INTERESTING, UH, MIX OF LAND USES THAT ARE IN AROUND THAT AREA.
SO YEAH, JUST THINK THAT, THAT, THAT'S ONE OF THOSE AREAS THAT'S GOING, GOING TO NEED A LOT OF FOCUSED ATTENTION OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO.
ANY ADDITIONAL? SO I HAVE A QUESTION TO DOVETAIL OFF OF THAT THEN.
UM, THI THIS IS, IS KIND OF WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT TOO, WHICH IS AS WE'RE WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, THE, THE LOOKING BEYOND THE RIDERSHIP THAT, THAT LAST SLIDE IN TRANSIT PLAN, THIRD, UH, 2035, YOU KNOW, ARE WE, DO WE CONSIDER AND ARE WE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT, UM, THESE, THESE EFFORTS FOR, UM, AT, UH, AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND, AND THESE, THESE NEW COMMUNITIES THAT ARE POPPING UP? LIKE WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT WHAT, LITERALLY WHAT YOU JUST SAID, UH, MR. CHAIRMAN, IT'S COMING UP RIGHT THERE IN, IN, UH, IN, UM, EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY, BUT OTHER AREAS THAT ARE ALONG THE ROUTES AS WE HAVE, UM, NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS OR, UM, AREAS THAT ARE SERVING THE UNHOUSED THAT ARE GONNA BE, THAT, THAT ARE GONNA BE COMING ONLINE THROUGHOUT, THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
ARE WE LOOKING INTO THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN CONNECT THOSE, BECAUSE IT WOULD SEEM A REAL, NOT JUST A SHAME, BUT A, A COMPLETE, I'D SAY, FAILURE ON OUR PART IN, IN, IN TERMS OF LIKE,
[01:40:01]
UH, CONNECTION AND COORDINATION BETWEEN THE CITY, THE DEVELOPERS AND CAP METRO.IF, IF WE DON'T HAVE A TRANSPORTATION OPTION, LIKE, LIKE IF WE ARE NOT ABLE TO CONNECT A NEW SUBDIVISION OR, UH, APARTMENT COMPLEX OR, OR HOUSING UNIT OF SOME KIND TO THE INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD MOST LIKELY NEED THOSE NEED, NEED TRANSIT SERVICES THAT WE COULD PROVIDE? YEAH, I MEAN THE, THE EASIEST ANSWER IS IF THEY'RE WITHIN PROXIMITY TO OUR EXISTING SERVICES OR WITHIN OUR SERVICE AREA, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT PROBABLY THE EASIEST ONES TO, TO ADDRESS.
THE ONES THAT ARE IN THE CHALLENGE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE JUST OUTSIDE THE SERVICE AREA THAT WE'VE GOT TO LOOK AT PARTNERSHIPS.
WE'VE GOT SOME SITUATIONS IN THE DELL VALLEY COMMUNITY, DOWN SOUTHEAST THAT ARE A CHALLENGE THAT WE'VE HAD DISCUSSIONS WITH, AS THE CHAIR MENTIONED UP IN THE NORTHEAST.
AS THINGS DEVELOP IN AND AROUND COLONY PARK, SOME OF THEM WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP.
AND WE'VE TALKED TO SOME OF THESE DEVELOPERS IN AREAS THAT ARE JUST OUTSIDE AND WE'LL BE, WE'LL BE WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP THERE.
SO TRANSIT, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY HAS THEIR OWN TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN THAT LOOKS AT SOME OF THESE AREAS.
BUT YEAH, WE ARE COORDINATING CLOSELY WITH THE DIFFERENT DEVELOPERS.
OFTENTIMES WHEN THE CITY OF AUSTIN MEETS WITH A POTENTIAL, UH, DEVELOPER, WHETHER IT'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR ANYTHING, IT'S, IT'S INCUMBENT UPON THEM AND THEY DO ASK THAT THEY MEET WITH US TO COORDINATE CURRENT OR FUTURE SERVICE OPTIONS IN AND AROUND THAT AREA.
SO, AND I'LL GO, I'LL GO A LITTLE FURTHER.
ANYTIME A A UH, DEVELOPER COMES INTO PRECINCT ONE AND, AND INTO THE, THE CITY DISTRICTS AS WELL, WE ASK THEM TO TALK TO CABINET MITCHELL, RIGHT? WE ASK THEM TO TALK TO THE ISDS.
WE ASK THEM TO, UH, TO TALK TO CENTRAL HEALTH AND INTEGRAL CARE AND ALL OF THOSE SERVICES THAT YOU NEED, UH, FOR STABILITY.
AND THE IDEA IS HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT'S COMING, WHEN IT'S COMING AND HOW WE CAN, UH, COLLABORATE WITH EACH OTHER.
SO, SO, UH, TO, TO FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO THAT, UM, UH, CENTRAL HEALTH IS, IS BUILDING THEIR, THEIR NEW HUB, UH, THERE AT THE OLD, UM, UH, THE OLD SEARS SHOPPING CENTER, HANCOCK CENTER AT HANCOCK CENTER, RIGHT.
UM, ARE WE IN TALKS WITH THEM ABOUT ENSURING THAT WE'VE, WE'VE GOT GOOD, WE, WE CONTINUE TO HAVE, UH, GOOD SERVICE, RELIABLE SERVICE TO FEED INTO TO, TO THAT AREA.
WE JUST HAD SIX TOWN HALLS WITH THEM.
GEAR EXCELLENT FROM THE COMMUNITY, WHAT WAS NEEDED AND HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER.
SO CITY OF AUSTIN, MOST RECENTLY, STARTING FROM NEXT WEEK, UH, CREATED A FORUM WHERE WE ARE GOING TO BE COORDINATING ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UM, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF INFORMAL, INFORMAL DISCUSSIONS WITH THE DEVELOPERS.
AND, UH, AS NEW DEVELOPMENT COME IN, WE MEET WITH THEM.
ROBERTO'S TEAM, UH, THEY HAVE A VERY ACTIVE, UM, SORT OF DISCUSSION PROCESS THAT GOES ON INTO SERVICE PLANNING.
BUT NOW, ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE, UM, THIS IS STARTING WITH CITY OF AUSTIN AND THEN WITH TRAVIS COUNTY AS WELL, WHERE WE ARE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT TRANSIT AROUND AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
AND AS DEVELOPMENTS COME INTO THE PIPELINE, WE WOULD HAVE THAT INFORMATION AHEAD OF TIME AND IT'S BEING SPEARHEADED BY CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO I WANTED TO KIND OF SHARE THAT JUST AS, UM, SIDE NOTE ON THIS.
I, I AM CURIOUS AND IS, ARE WE HAVING THOSE SAME KIND OF CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR OTHER PARTNERS? LIKE, UM, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, LEANDER OR MAYNARD, THE OTHER, THE OTHER SMALL COMMUNITIES OR WILLIAMSON COUNTY? DO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THE WORKS GOING ALONG WITH THAT? AS GROWTH IS COMING ONLINE? WE HAVE HAD DISCUSSIONS WITH LEANDER SPECIFICALLY ON IT.
AND WE ARE, THE, THE WAY I WOULD LOOK AT IT IS THAT WE ALWAYS HAVE HAD, ROBERTO'S TEAM HAVE HAD VERY ROBUST DISCUSSIONS AROUND IT.
BUT I THINK WHAT WE ARE STARTING TO DO NOW IS STARTING TO FORMALIZE SOME OF THESE PROCESSES.
AND IF THIS IS A GOOD TEMPLATE, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO THEN USE IT TO OTHER COMMUNITIES AS WELL.
I I LOVE TO SEE THAT WE'RE COORDINATING LIKE THAT.
I WOULD, I WOULD JUST ADD THAT, YOU KNOW, IN DOTTY'S TENURE HERE, SHE'S ASKED US TO LOOK MORE REGIONALLY AND, AND THAT MAKE SURE OUR MEMBER CITIES KNOW WHAT, WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH OUR, WITH OUR SERVICES.
SO WE, OUR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIVISION IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED WITH EACH ONE OF OUR MEMBER CITIES.
WE HAD REALLY GOOD MEETINGS IN THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS WITH BOTH MAINOR AND LEANDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND THEIR NEEDS AND BEFORE WE GO OUT WITH THE TRANSIT PLAN ON 2035, MUCH LIKE WHAT WE'VE DONE WITH EACH OF YOU ALL, WE'VE BEEN MEETING WITH THEM IN ADVANCE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT SOME OF THE ITEMS ARE THAT WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT TO THE PUBLIC, AS WELL AS IF THERE'S SOMETHING IN THERE THAT PERHAPS IS NOT READY TO BE PRESENTED PUBLICLY, WE KNOW THAT BEFORE WE GO OUT IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
BUT, UH, OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, YOU'LL START TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE PLAN AND WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS FOR THE FUTURE.
AND, AND WE'RE MORE THAN HAPPY TO INCLUDE YOU IN OUR PROCESS.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE LIKE THE POTENTIAL OF USING, UH, WILLIAMSON COUNTY DOLLARS OVER THERE
UH, WITH THAT, I'M ASSUMING THIS ITEM IS WRAPPED UP AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
UH, THANK YOU VP MUKERJI, AND,
[01:45:01]
UH, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE.LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THAT, UH, THAT WORK AS WE GO FORWARD.
[IX.1. President and CEO Monthly Update - July 2025]
AGENDA ITEM TODAY IS OUR REGULAR, REGULAR MONTHLY UPDATE FROM OUR PRESIDENT AND CEO.UM, I WANNA, WE'LL, WE'LL GET STARTED TODAY.
WE OFTEN, UM, KICK OFF OUR PRESIDENT'S REPORT TALKING ABOUT CAT METRO IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND I WANNA START OFF BY THANKING ALL OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS WHO HAVE RESPONDED TO AND FRANKLY CONTINUE RESPONDING TO, UM, THE RECENT FLOOD EMERGENCY IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
UM, FROM OPERATIONS IMPACTS, PARTICULARLY TO OUR RAIL RIGHT OF WAY, UM, TO THE ONGOING EMERGENCY, UM, RESPONSE, UM, SUPPORT OUR, UM, EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROFESSIONALS HAVE BEEN, UM, EMBEDDED WITH THE TEAM TO, UM, HELP MANAGE, UH, THE COORDINATION OF TRANSPORTATION FOR NOT JUST PEOPLE IMPACTED BY THE FLOODING, PARTICULARLY UP IN KIND OF THE LAND, THE LEANDER AREA, UM, BUT ALSO HELPING TO COORDINATE THE TRANSPORTATION OF VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE, WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO COME IN AND HELP WITH THE, THE CLEANUP.
UM, OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ANSWERING QUESTIONS, UM, ABOUT HOW TO HELP PEOPLE NAVIGATE THOSE SERVICES.
UM, COUNTLESS MAINTENANCE CREWS, UM, CLEANING UP.
UM, WE HAVE MANY OF OUR ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF WHO IMMEDIATELY RALLIED TOGETHER.
WE DID HAVE WITHIN THE CAT METRO TEAM, ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO LOST THEIR HOME IN THE FLOODING.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN ONGOING PROGRAM FOR, UM, EMERGENCY SUPPORT FOR TEAM MEMBERS WHO, WHO FACE THINGS LIKE FIRE OR FLOOD OR OTHER CATASTROPHIC EVENTS, UM, TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THEM SOME SUPPORT.
AND WE IMMEDIATELY HAD A CRY FROM OUR TEAMS TO SAY, HEY, IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THAT, WE WANT TO GIVE BACK AS WELL.
UM, AND SO WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE UNITED WAY TO JUST DO A GIVING CAMPAIGN AMONGST OUR TEAMS TO MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS WHO WANT TO GIVE, UM, HAVE KNOW OF AN OUTLET THROUGH A TRUSTED SOURCE, UM, WHERE THEY CAN DO SO.
SO, UM, JUST WANT TO, YOU KNOW, IT IS OFTEN IN OUR, UM, SCARIEST TIMES THAT THE, THAT THE BEST AMONGST US, UM, COMES, UM, TO LIGHT.
AND THIS MOST RECENT FLOOD EMERGENCY HAS BEEN, UM, NO EXCEPTION TO THAT ROLE.
SO MANY THANKS TO KIND OF THE ENTIRE CAT METRO TEAM, UM, FOR THEIR SUPPORT THERE.
UM, ALSO IN TERMS OF BEING OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, AS Y'ALL KNOW, WE RECENTLY, UM, CELEBRATED OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY AND THEY SAY LIFE BEGINS AT 40.
UM, MANY THANKS TO THE MANY OF YOU WHO WERE ABLE TO JOIN US ON JULY 1ST.
SO, UM, JULY 1ST, 1985 WAS OUR FIRST DAY OF REVENUE SERVICE AS CAP METRO.
UM, WHEN CAP METRO CAME INTO BEING, WE TOOK OVER THE, WHAT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN KNOWN AS THE AUSTIN TRANSIT SYSTEM, UM, FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, MANY THANKS TO OUR BOARD CHAIR FOR, FOR HIS REMARKS AND WORK IN HELPING US SECURE A PROCLAMATION FROM TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, WE ALSO HEARD FROM, UH, MAYOR PRO TIM FUENTES, WHO PRESENTED A PROCLAMATION FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, AND WE WERE THRILLED TO BE JOINED BY STATE REPRESENTATIVES, JOHN BUSEY AND LULU FLORES, WHO ALSO PRESENTED A PRO PROCLAMATION ON BEHALF OF THE STATE OF TEXAS.
SO, UM, WE LOVED CELEBRATING THAT DAY AND WE WILL CONTINUE CELEBRATING THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THIS YEAR, UM, CULMINATING IN OUR ANNUAL FAMILY FUN DAY.
UM, I'M TRYING, I'M THINKING OF IT MORE OF AS A FAMILY REUNION.
UM, WHEN WE DO OUR BUS RODEO THIS FALL, WE'LL BE CELEBRATING AS WELL.
SO, UM, WILL, WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 40 YEARS AND ALSO VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WE KNOW IS TO COME IN THE NEXT 40.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, IN TERMS OF BEING OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, JUST LAST WEEK, UM, OUR CAP METRO CARES PROGRAM UNVEILED A BUS WRAP AT EL WIND CEMETERY.
YOU, I CAN'T, I I AM GONNA CALL IT ELWYN 'CAUSE I, I, I CAN'T SAY THAT WORD WITHOUT SAYING SAMARITAN, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST THE, IT'S THE ANGLO IN ME, I CAN'T HELP MYSELF.
UM, ELWYN IS A FANTASTIC COMMUNITY RESOURCE THAT HELPS ENGAGE, UM, THE SPANISH SPEAKING AND LATINO COMMUNITY IN, IN PROVIDING ALL MANNER OF SERVICES, WHETHER, WHETHER THAT BE, UM, ESL CLASSES OR FINANCIAL LITERACY CLASSES.
THEY HAVE A FOOD BANK, THEY HAVE A GARDEN WHERE COMMUNITIES CAN GROW THEIR OWN FOOD.
AND THEY RECENTLY, UM, COMMISSIONED A LOCAL MURALIST, REX HAMILTON TO DO A MURAL ON THE SIDE OF ONE OF THEIR BUILDINGS, UM, DOWN SOUTH ON THEIR CAMPUS.
UM, AND THROUGH THE CAT METRO CARES PROGRAM, WE HAVE REPLICATED THAT MURAL ON THE SIDE OF A BUS, AND THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE HERE.
UM, SO LAST WEEK WE WERE OUT, UM, AT EL ONE TO JUST CELEBRATE THIS AMAZING, UM, ORGANIZATION, UM, THROUGH OUR CAT METRO CARES PROGRAM.
THIS IS A PROGRAM WHERE CAT METRO PARTNERS WITH NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, UM, WHO SHARE A SIMILAR MISSION TO OURS, UM, TO HELP UPLIFT THE WORK OF THOSE NONPROFITS.
UM, AND SO I LIKE TO THINK OF, UM, THIS BUS MURAL AS PLANTING LITTLE SEEDS OF GOODNESS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AS IT WORKS ITS WAY, UM, THROUGHOUT OUR REGION IN THE COMING MONTHS.
IT'S, IT IS BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK, UM, AND A BEAUTIFUL MURAL.
WE WERE THRILLED TO BE OUT THERE TO CELEBRATE IT.
UM, NEXT UP IN TERMS OF AWARDS AND RECOMME IGNITIONS, UM,
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LAST WEEK OUR CAT METRO TEAM WAS RECOGNIZED, UM, BY COM TO, WITH A CHAPTER OF THE YEAR AWARD.SO COM TO IS ACTUALLY AN ORGANIZATION THAT FOR ABOUT THE LAST 50 YEARS, IT GREW OUT OF A CONFERENCE OF MINORITY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS THAT STARTED IN THE 1970S, REALLY TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT A DIVERSE, UM, REPRESENTATIVE OF MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION, UM, PROFESSIONALS HAD A PLACE TO GO, UM, TO GET PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT AND HAVE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE PREEMINENT TRANSPORTATION ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS, UM, IN THIS COUNTRY.
UM, COTO HAS AN AUSTIN CHAPTER, UM, AND MANY OF THE, UM, LEADERS OF THE LOCAL AUSTIN CHAPTER ARE CAP METRO EMPLOYEES, UM, THAT WERE ON HAND TO HELP RECEIVE THE, UM, CHAPTER OF THE YEAR FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD.
UM, SO OUR OWN MARTIN CRE YOU SEE THERE, UM, WITH THE AWARD AS WELL AS, UM, IN THE PICTURE YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE JANNIS BANKS.
HE IS A MEM UH, STAFF MEMBER FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
HE'S THE PRESIDENT OF OUR LOCAL CHAPTER.
SO MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COM TO AUSTIN CHAPTER FOR, UM, SUPPORTING THE AMAZING ADVOCACY WORK OF THAT NATIONAL ORGANIZATION HERE LOCALLY.
UM, AND FOR THIS AMAZING RECOGNITION, UM, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE HEARING THROUGH OUR CUSTOMER CARE.
UM, WE HAD FLAT-ISH, SLIGHTLY DOWN CALL VOLUME FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE, BUT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THINGS HAPPEN IN THE MONTH OF JUNE.
WE ALL BREAK FROM SCHOOL, WE GO ON VACATION, WE SEE A LOT OF THINGS DIP DOWN.
I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO THINK THAT THINGS GOT QUIET.
'CAUSE JUNE STILL WAS OVERALL THE FOURTH HIGHEST EVER CONTACT VOLUME WE'D HAD IN OUR CALL CENTER.
SO WE CONTINUE TO HEAR A LOT FROM OUR CUSTOMERS, UM, AND CONTINUE TO ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR FAIR PROGRAMS. YOU KNOW, MANY OF OUR, OUR CUSTOMERS ARE STILL GETTING USED TO THE NEW PROGRAMS. UM, IN JUNE 1ST, UM, MARKED THE SERVICE CHANGE AS WELL AS, UM, A TIMELINE WHEN A LOT OF OUR OLD PASSES, UM, THAT WE, YOU KNOW, WE CONTINUE TO ACCEPT MANY OF THE OLD PASSES EVEN AFTER THE MARCH LAUNCH OF THE NEW ONBOARD VALIDATORS, UM, TO GIVE THE COMMUNITY TIME TO USE THOSE PASSES.
UM, BUT THE MANY OF THOSE OLD PASSES STOPPED WORKING JUNE 1ST, SO WE SAW A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND THEN WE, WE CONTINUE, UM, TO ALWAYS HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS AROUND THE MANY EVENTS, UM, THAT HAPPENED IN AUSTIN AS WELL.
UM, IN TERMS OF WHERE I HAVE BEEN, IN FACT IT OUR, UH, I MISSED OUR LAST, UM, BOARD MEETING BECAUSE I WAS PRIVILEGED TO JOIN, UM, A GROUP FROM THE AUSTIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, UM, THEIR ANNUAL FEDERAL ADVOCACY VISIT TO WASHINGTON DC UM, THIS ANNUAL TRIP BRINGS TOGETHER, UM, THE VOICES OF, OF, OF LOCAL AND UH, COMMUNITY LEADERS THROUGHOUT CENTRAL TEXAS TO ADVOCATE FOR THE FEDERAL POLICIES THAT WE ALL NEED TO HELP SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY.
OBVIOUSLY WE ARE HEAVILY FEDERALLY FUNDED, BUT RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, IT WAS GREAT TO BE UP THERE WITH SUCH A, A DIVERSE GROUP OF LOCAL LEADERS.
UM, WE MET WITH MEMBERS OF OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION.
WE HEARD FROM, UM, CONGRESSMAN DOGGETT, UM, CONGRESSMAN SESSIONS.
WE MET WITH CONGRESSMAN CARTER AND ROY, AS WELL AS, UM, HEARD DIRECTLY FROM CONGRESSMAN CASAR AND BOTH OF OUR SENATORS, BOTH CRUZ AND CORNIN, UH, MET WITH THE GROUP.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THIS TRIP HAS BE, HAS BEEN WHAT HAS BECOME OUR ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO MEET WITH THAT GROUP.
UM, BECAUSE AS I TALK TO MY OTHER TRANSIT COLLEAGUES ACROSS THE, THE COUNTRY, UM, IT IS AMAZING TO BE ABLE TO WALK INTO A ROOM, UM, WITH 20 INDIVIDUALS WHO REPRESENT ALL MANNER OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS THAT REPRESENT THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR, AND HAVE A UNITED FRONT AND UNITED VOICE FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF MOBILITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN OUR REGION.
AND THE AUSTIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAS CONTINUED TO BE A STRONG LEAD IN THAT EFFORT AND WE WERE ABLE, UM, TO AGAIN, WITH, UH, THE NEW ADMINISTRATION REINFORCE HOW WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE WORKING TOWARD THE SAME GOOD.
UM, AND IT WAS, IT WAS A LOT OF FUN TO GET TO DO THAT.
AND THEN LASTLY, WE HAVE A FEW NEW TEAM MEMBERS THAT I'D LIKE TO PUT ON THE SPOT BRIEFLY AND MAKE SURE GET INTRODUCED TO YOU.
UM, SO FIRST AND FOREMOST I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO, UM, UH, KEITH DAVIS, WHO GOES BY SONNY.
UM, THIS IS MR. DAVIS'S VERY FIRST DAY WITH US, SO WE MUST BE NICE WITH HIM 'CAUSE HE, HE MANAGED TO START ON A BOARD MEETING DAY.
THIS IS THE, I STARTED AT CAP METRO ON A BOARD MEETING DAY ALSO.
SO I THINK THAT'S A, THIS IS A GOOD SIGN.
UM, MR. DAVIS, UM, COMES TO US AS OUR NEW SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BUS MAINTENANCE.
UM, AND RECENTLY TRANSITIONED FROM A 20 PLUS CAREER IN THE US ARMY, RETIRING AS A CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER FOR, UM, AND SPECIALIZING IN FLEET MAINTENANCE, LOGISTICS, COORDINATION AND ADVANCED TECHNICAL OPER.
UH, I'M I, TECHNICAL OPERATIONS.
I JUST COMPLETELY LOST THE WORD OPERATIONS.
UM, HE BRINGS A, AN AMAZING, UM, WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE AND FRESH EYES, UM, TO OUR VEHICLE MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS, UM, IN BUS OPERATIONS AND WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO HAVE HIM ON BOARD ALSO.
UM, LAST MONTH WE WERE JOINED BY,
[01:55:01]
UM, ARI BODEN WHO SITS BEHIND, UM, MR. DAVIS, UH, AS OUR, UM, DIRECTOR OF SAFETY.UM, ARI BRINGS TO US OVER 28 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ACROSS A DIVERSE, UM, OF SAFETY EXPERIENCE ACROSS DIVERSE ROLES IN TRANSPORTATION, SAFETY AND SECURITY COMING MOST RECENTLY FROM, UM, ORLANDO.
UM, WE ARE VERY HAPPY AND THRILLED TO HAVE HIM ON BOARD HERE IN AUSTIN, UM, HELPING SUPPORT OUR SAFETY PROGRAM.
AND THEN LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, I'M LOOKING AROUND TO MAKE SURE I KNOW WHERE TO POINT.
UM, ZANE BARNES ALSO JOINED US LAST MONTH.
UM, HE WAS UNABLE TO BE AT OUR LAST BOARD MEETING 'CAUSE HE GOT THE PRIVILEGE OF GOING TO DC WITH ME.
UM, ZANE JOINS US AS OUR VICE PRESIDENT OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
UM, AND HE IS, UM, BRINGS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE, UM, TO THAT ROLE.
HE MOST RECENTLY COMES TO FROM THE CITY OF SAN JOSE, UM, CALIFORNIA, UM, AND, AND SAN JOSE BEING A CITY WHERE MANY OF THE SAME ISSUES THAT WE ARE FACING HERE IN AUSTIN WERE ISSUES THAT HE, HE TACKLED IN HIS CAREER THERE.
PRIORITY ISSUES LIKE HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS, LAND USE, PUBLIC SAFETY, ALL THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
MIGHT RING A FEW BELLS AROUND HERE.
UM, ZANE STARTED, IT BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A US DIPLOMAT, UM, AT EMBASSIES THROUGHOUT, UM, ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST.
HE ALSO HAS SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
UM, HE IS A, A REMARKABLE TALENT AND WE ARE VERY THRILLED TO HAVE HIM ON BOARD, UM, HELPING US, UM, WITH GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WELCOMED THESE THREE GENTLEMEN PROPERLY, UM, TO THE ORGANIZATION.
UM, AND LASTLY, AND I DON'T REALLY HAVE A SLIDE FOR THIS, BUT I WANTED TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE KIND OF WRAP UP OUR, OUR THINKING TODAY.
YOU KNOW, WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT RIDERSHIP, UM, TODAY BECAUSE RIDERSHIP IS OBVIOUSLY AN IMPORTANT METRIC.
IT'S ONE OF THE CRITICAL RESULTS IN OUR STRATEGIC PLAN.
UM, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE BOARD HAS A COMPREHENSIVE, UM, UNDERSTANDING OF IT, ESPECIALLY AS WE LOOK TO BE LAUNCHING INTO THE FINAL PHASE OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ON OUR TRANSIT PLAN.
UM, SO IN THE COMING WEEKS, DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST, WE WILL START OUR, OUR FINAL ROUND OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ON, UM, THE TRANSIT PLAN.
UM, BRIEFING THE COMMUNITY ABOUT WHAT WE THINK IS ARE THE BEST, UM, INVESTMENTS OF OUR TRANSIT RESOURCES, UM, IN THE COMING YEARS.
UM, THAT PLAN, AS YOU'LL RECALL, WE'LL COVER KIND OF THE, WHAT WE'RE CALLING NEAR TERM.
SO THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEAR PERIOD, THE THINGS THAT WE KINDA KNOW NEED TO HAPPEN IN THE NEAR TERM.
UM, BUT ALSO IT HAS OUR INTERMEDIATE TERM WHICH REALLY LOOKS AT WHERE DO WE NEED TO BE IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
AND IT'S IN THAT, UM, REALM THAT OUR, UM, INTEGRATION WITH THE FUTURE, UM, LIGHT RAIL PROGRAM THAT OUR FRIENDS AT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP ARE WORKING ON, UM, BECOME VERY IMPORTANT.
SO WE WILL BE IN THIS ROUND OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, BEGINNING TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF TOUCHPOINT ON OKAY, HOW EXACTLY DO THE BUS ROUTES AND THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM NEED TO INTEGRATE? UM, THIS IS PERFECT TIMING 'CAUSE UM, THE PARTNERSHIP IS WORKING RIGHT NOW ON OUR FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PROCESS, UM, WITH THE, UM, FULL INTENT OF GETTING TO A RECORD OF DECISION AND KIND OF CLOSING OUT THAT ENVIRONMENTAL STEP OF THIS PROCESS ROUNDABOUT THE END OF THIS YEAR.
UM, SO THERE'S JUST A LOT OF THAT ONGOING COORDINATION INTEGRATION HAPPENING, UM, AND THAT WE WILL START TALKING PUBLICLY ABOUT IN THE COMING WEEKS.
UM, IF THIS COMMUNITY IS TRUE TO FORM, WE EXPECT TO HEAR FROM A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, UM, AND, AND EXPECT TO HEAR A LARGE AMOUNT OF, OF FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PLAN.
SO WE WILL, UM, OUR CURRENT PLAN IS TO DO THAT, UM, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT LARGELY IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST.
I'M CERTAIN IT WILL BLEED INTO THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.
UM, AND THEN TAKE A DEEP BREATH, PUT, PULL THAT, THAT FEEDBACK BACK AND THEN COME BACK TO THIS BOARD IN OCTOBER TO BEGIN TALKING ABOUT THE ADOPTION OF THAT PLAN.
SO, UM, A WHOLE LOT MORE TO COME AS WE LOOK TO DO THAT.
UM, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THIS CITY, WHETHER IT'S THE RECONSTRUCTION OF I 35, UM, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEGUN IMPACTING US.
UM, THE DEMOLITION OF THE CONVENTION CENTER, WHICH IS, UM, HAVING, YOU KNOW, MINOR BITS AND PIECES OF IMPACT ON US RIGHT NOW AS WE LOOK TO MAKE SURE THAT WE KEEP OUR DOWNTOWN RAIL STATION USERS SAFE DURING THAT CONSTRUCTION, UM, PROGRAM.
UM, THERE, THERE'S JUST A LOT GOING ON, BUT WE ARE THRILLED TO BE A PART OF IT AND, UM, GRATEFUL FOR THIS BOARD'S ONGOING SUPPORT AND THAT WORK.
AND THAT CAN CONCLUDES MY REPORT FOR THE MATTER.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU AND BOARD MEMBERS.
THAT CONCLUDES OUR BUSINESS FOR TODAY.
UNLESS WE HAVE ANYTHING FURTHER FROM ANY BOARD MEMBER.
IF NOT, I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR COMING OUT TODAY AND WE WILL STAND ADJOURNED AT 1 59.