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GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY IN THIS REMOTE MEETING OF THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD OF DIRECTORS.I'LL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
TODAY IS MONDAY, AUGUST THE 24TH, AND THE TIME IS 1205.
UM, THE USUAL LOGISTICAL, UH, UH, REMINDERS.
I KNOW WE'VE ALL GOTTEN BETTER, BUT, UM, BEST PRACTICE OF COURSE, IS TO KEEP YOUR MICROPHONE ON MUTE UNLESS YOU'RE SPEAKING.
AND THEN TO MUTE YOURSELF AGAIN, WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED, UM, SOMETHING I SHOULD, UH, REMEMBER, UH, MYSELF, UH, WHEN VOTING ITEMS COME UP AS PER USUAL, I'LL BE ASKING BOARD MEMBERS FOR A VERBAL VOTE OF YEAR NAME FOR EACH ITEM INDIVIDUALLY, UH, BOARD MEMBERS.
I HAVE ALSO BEEN ASKED TO REMIND YOU THAT IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE TEXAS LAWS ON REMOTE MEETINGS, WE'LL NEED YOU TO STAY VISIBLE BY LEAVING YOUR CAMERA ON AT ALL TIMES, IF POSSIBLE, UH, IN PARTICULAR, WE'LL NEED TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOU WHEN YOU'RE CASTING A VOTE.
UH, THAT'S IT FOR THE LOGISTICS.
UM, UH, ONE A SOMBER, A MOMENT BEFORE WE BEGIN WITH OUR AGENDA.
AS, SINCE WE LAST MET ON AUGUST THE SECOND, UH, WE LOST A BUS OPERATOR FOR MV TO THE CORONA VIRUS, AND, UH, WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT OF SILENCE AND NOW, UH, JUST TO KEEP, UM, OUR DRIVER AND HIS FAMILY OR HER FAMILY, UM, IN, UH, OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.
AND, UH, SO IF YOU WOULD PLEASE JOIN ME IN THIS A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR OUR DRIVER, RIGHT? THANK YOU.
WE, UH, JUST WANT TO MAKE A QUICK COMMENT TO COMPLIMENT ALL OF OUR DRIVERS AND, UH, FRONTLINE COLLEAGUES WHO ARE OUT THERE EVERY DAY, UH, MOVING PEOPLE TO WHERE THEY NEED TO GET.
AND I APPRECIATE THEIR, UM, EFFORTS EACH AND EVERY DAY.
AND, UH, THE SPECIAL CHALLENGES THAT THIS IS A CORONA VIRUSES PUT INTO EACH OF THEM.
SO HEARTS GO OUT TO THAT FAMILY AND, UH, AND, UH, WE WANT TO RECOGNIZE ALL OF OUR COLLEAGUES WHO ARE OUT THERE EVERYDAY DOING A GREAT JOB FOR OUR CITY AND THOSE WHO NEED TRANSPORTATION.
[I. Public Comment]
ITEM ON OUR AGENDA IS PUBLIC COMMENT.I THINK WE HAVE ONE PERSON SIGNED, SIGNED UP TO SPEAK, MS. JOSEPH'S, IF YOU'RE ON THE LINE WITH US AND, UH, ARE READY TO GO, YOU'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES AS ALWAYS.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN BOARD MEMBERS.
MY COMMENTS TODAY ARE SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO ELECTION CODE SECTION TWO 55.003, WHICH IS SPECIFICALLY UNLAWFUL USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISING.
AND SO I DID GO BEFORE THE BOARD BACK IN 2018, MAY 9TH, 2018, WHICH WAS THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING.
AND I GAVE THE MEMBERS WHAT I CALLED THE PLANTATION PLAN.
IT ACTUALLY SHOWED THE 15 AND 30 MINUTES, SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL AND THE 40 AND 60 MINUTE ROUTES THAT ARE IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN.
WHAT I WANT TO CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION IS THAT I HAVE SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED A CEASE AND DESIST MEMORANDUM ON MAY 15TH, 2022 K Z.
I, I ALSO SENT THAT TO COMMISSIONER TREVELYAN FOR OPERATIONS, JULY 15TH, 2020, AND THE ADS CONTINUE TO PLAY.
ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IS THAT THE CURRENT AD, WHICH STARTED AUGUST 18TH, 2020, SPECIFICALLY TALKS ABOUT CONNECTING THE RIDERS TO NORTH LAMAR AND COLONY PARK THAT IS STRETCHING THE TRUTH.
COLONY PARK HAS 60 MINUTE BUSES BEFORE CAP REMAP.
THE WRITERS HAD ACCESS TO 20 MINUTE RIDES ON 37, 33 SEVEN ONLY RUNS ZONE DECKER AND LOYOLA, AND THE PEOPLE STILL HAVE TO WALK TO THE BUS STOP.
IT IS DISINGENUOUS TO STATE NORTH LAMAR, BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW, IT'S 24 TO 30 YEARS NORTH OF US, ONE 83.
YES, WE HAVE A $12 MILLION ALLOCATED THROUGH PUBLIC FUNDS FOR THE PRE ENGINEERING ON NORTH LAMAR.
BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT'S WHAT THE VOTERS WILL BE VOTING ON NOVEMBER 3RD, 2020.
[00:05:01]
SO I AM ASKING YOU ONCE AGAIN, TO REMOVE THAT INFORMATION FROM K A Z I, THE ENFORCEMENT FOR THAT IS TEXAS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.THE EMAIL IS VIOLATION AT
THERE'S ALSO A PHONE NUMBER (844) 584-3006, FOR ANYONE WHO IS LISTENING AND WOULD LIKE TO CHIME IN.
I ALSO WANT TO CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN PROPOSITION A IS VERY MISLEADING BECAUSE IT SPECIFIES THAT THE LIGHT RAIL WILL ACTUALLY EXPAND SERVICE FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS AND CREATE JOBS.
AND WHILE THIS MAY BE TRUE, THAT THERE WILL BE SOME EXPANSION OF JOBS AT SOME POINT, THIS IS NOT GOING TO HELP THE ESSENTIAL WRITERS WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT NINE PARKING RIDES.
SO I'M ASKING THAT PROPOSITION A BE FACTUAL.
IT DOESN'T EVEN SPECIFY $7.1 BILLION.
AND SO I WANT GIVE YOU A REFERENCE.
I WANT TO PUT YOU BACK ON JULY 25TH, 2016, WHEN JARED WALKER BRIEF THE BOARD, HE ACTUALLY TOLD YOU THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIDERSHIP AND COVERAGE, RIDERSHIP, BEING THAT YOU ARE THINKING LIKE A BUSINESS, CHOOSING THE AUDIENCE YOU WANT TO SERVE.
AND THE 5,000 SURVEYS ON OR ABOUT WERE FROM WHITE MILLENNIALS.
AND SO IT IS DISINGENUOUS TO KEEP TRYING TO SELL TO BLACK PEOPLE WHO ARE WAITING 60 MINUTES, THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL HELP THEM.
THE OTHER THING THAT I WANT TO CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION TO IS THAT LAST YEAR WHEN HOUSTON METRO ACTUALLY VOTED ON THEIR PROPOSITION, A WHICH WAS SPECIFICALLY THE THIRD PHASE OF THEIR LIGHT RAIL, IT IS VERY CLEAR ONLINE.
YOU CLICK AND YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE RAPID BUSES ARE GOING, WHERE THE LIGHT RAIL LINES ARE GOING.
BUT WHEN YOU GO TO THE PROJECT CONNECT PAGE, IT IS VERY CONVOLUTED, MR. CHAIRMAN.
AND SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO PLEASE ASK THEM TO JUST PUT THE TABS FOR EACH OF THE AREAS THAT ARE BEING IMPROVED ONLINE.
BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, WHEN YOU GO TO THE WEBSITE FOR PROJECT CONNECT, IT ACTUALLY SHOWS YOU THE EXPANSION.
SO AN INDIVIDUAL WHO WANTS TO DO DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE VOTING CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT CHANGED FROM $10 BILLION TO $7.1 BILLION.
AND SO THOSE ARE MY BASIC COMMENTS.
I WOULD JUST CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT IF PROJECT CONNECT IS ALL YOU SAY IT IS, THEN PLEASE DON'T USE TRICKERY TO GET PEOPLE TO VOTE.
JUST GIVE THEM THE FACTS AND LET THE VOTERS DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING MY COMMENTS.
[II. Advisory Committee Updates:]
WE WOULD NORMALLY HAVE, WELL, NO, WE SHOULD HAVE ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATES.MR. BAY, ARE YOU WITH US? YES, SIR.
UH, WE'RE A MEMBER OR CHAIRMAN COOPER VS CLARK.
YON IS A BANK, UH, CAP METRO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND BOTH THESE COMMITTEES.
THEY HAD QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION, UH, THIS GO AROUND.
UM, THEY WENT FOR A VERY LONG TIME TO GET MY CAMERA AND I'M SORRY.
I THOUGHT I HAD IT ON, UH, THERE WE GO.
UH, THEY WERE LITTLE ALONE, THIS GO AROUND, BUT A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION.
UM, DAVE COUCH FOR ACCESS WAS ABLE, ABLE TO GIVE THEM THE LATEST PROJECT CONNECT UPDATE.
UH, SAM SERGEANT BRIEF THEM ON SOME SARGE, UH, SOME SERGEANTS AND PROJECT CONNECT DO'S AND DON'TS AS FAR AS THE ACCESS COMMITTEE, WHAT THEY CAN OR CAN'T DO, UH, JUST SO THEY CAN BE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT THE LAW IS AS WELL AS WHAT METRO WILL BE GOING INTO AS FAR AS ITS EMPLOYEES OF HOW WE'RE ABLE TO, UH, TALK ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT.
UH, LAWRENCE DIETER GAVE HIM, UH, AUGUST SERVICE CHANGE, UPDATE, EXCUSE ME.
SO THERE'LL BE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT'S COMING.
UH, THEY WERE GIVEN AN UPDATE ABOUT THE BUDGET AS WELL FROM KEVIN COLLIN, UM, JONATHAN TANZER.
AND I'LL SEE IF THEY, UH, BRIEFED HIM ABOUT SOME OF THE CUSTOMER PAYMENTS SYSTEMS UPGRADE AS WELL AS A PILOT, WE'RE LOOKING TO ROLL OUT.
UM, AND THEN THEY WERE UPDATED ABOUT THE STRATEGIC SCORECARD AND GIVING A PUBLIC SAFETY UPDATE, AS WELL AS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO IN THE FUTURE.
I KNOW HOW'S SAFETY IS LOOKING ON OUR SYSTEM FOR C SEC.
UH, PAT, JUST AS LONG AS THE MEETING, UH, JUST ABOUT, UM, THEY WERE GIVEN A PROJECT CONNECT UPDATE AS WELL.
UH, AND THEN, UH, THEY WERE ALSO BRIEFED.
THEY HAD BEEN BRIEFED BEFORE IN PROJECT CONNECT DO'S AND DON'TS WHEN THEY WERE BRIEFED AGAIN, UH, JUST AS A REFRESHER ON WHAT THEY CAN, AND CAN'T SAY WHAT'S EXPECTED FROM THEM.
AND ONCE AGAIN, HOW METRO EMPLOYEES WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT, UH, PROJECT CONNECT, MOVING FORWARD, WHAT WE CAN AND CAN'T DO, UH, AUGUST SERVICE CHANGE UPDATE AS WELL AS WHAT DOES IT UPDATE UNDER BUDGET AND A PUBLIC SAFETY UPDATE,
[00:10:01]
LETTING THEM KNOW WHAT THE PLAN IS FOR THE FUTURE, WHEN IT COMES TO METRO SAFETY AND SECURITY, UH, HOW THAT WILL BE LOOKING.AND THEN THEY WERE ALSO BRIEF ON THE UPGRADES WE'RE DOING TO THE CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEM, AS WELL AS THE PILOT.
WE'RE LOOKING TO ROLL OUT, UM, WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, I'D SAY, UH, I WOULD SAY SO JUST TO KEEP THEM INFORMED.
UH, AND THAT IS PRETTY MUCH IT I'M HERE FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT IF ANYBODY HAS THANK YOU, YANA CITY QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I WAS SO INSPIRED BY YOUR HAIRCUT.
WELL, YOU KNOW, IT CAN BE SAFE IF YOU, IF YOU'RE CAREFUL, UH, NEXT I WANT TO KNOW, UH, YOUR TAILOR SO I CAN REPLICATE THAT.
LOOK, I WILL GET THAT TO YOU TOO.
I NEED A LITTLE PIZAZZ IN MY LIFE.
DO WE HAVE ENOUGH INSURANCE TO COVER THAT TRANSACTION? THANK YOU FOR BRINGING A LITTLE SUNSHINE TO OUR BOARD MEETING.
UH, WE WOULD NORMALLY HAVE BOARD COMMITTEE UPDATES, BUT OPS COMMITTEE, UH, WAS NOT ABLE TO MEET THIS MONTH AND A BOARD MEMBER.
MITCHELL HAS A FAMILY COMMITMENT THAT DOESN'T ALLOW HIM TO PARTICIPATE TODAY.
SO, UH, WE'LL SKIP A FINANCING CAMPO, UH, REPORTS THIS MONTH.
UM, I WILL NOTE THAT, UM, A NUMBER OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE DID MEET AND A NUMBER OF THE ITEMS THAT WE, UH, UH, CONSIDERED AND LOOKED AT ARE NOW ON THE CONSENT AGENDA, WHICH
[IV. Consent Items:]
IS OUR NEXT ITEM.THERE ARE FIVE ITEMS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.
NUMBER ONE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JULY, 2020 20 BOARD MEETING APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH RSM, US LLP FOR EXTERNAL AUDITING SERVICES.
NUMBER THREE APPROVAL OF AN INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF LAGO VISTA FOR TRANSIT PASSES, A NUMBER FOUR APPROVAL OF AN EXTENSION TO AN INNER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH TRAVIS COUNTY FOR EMPLOYEE TRANSIT PASSES, AND FINALLY, NUMBER FIVE APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT EXTENSION WITH UNITED HEALTHCARE FOR CONTINUED ADMINISTRATION OF THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATION SERVICES AND STOP LOSS INSURANCE.
ANY BOARD MEMBERS WANT TO REMOVE ANY OF THESE ITEMS FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA, HEARING NONE, THEN A CHAIR WOULD ENTERTAIN A MOTION, UH, WITH RESPECT TO OUR CONCERNS ARE FIVE CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS, CERTAINLY BY A MEMBER TREVELYAN TO APPROVE AS THERE A SECOND, SECOND BY A MEMBER OF RENTER MARIA.
ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM? ARE WE GOING TO HAVE VOICE VOTES SINCE WE'RE REMOTE? YES, WE WILL.
ANY, UH, ANY DISCUSSION MEMBERS VERY WELL THEN, UH, WE'LL VOTE ON THIS ITEM AND NOW, UH, UH, CALL ROLL INDIVIDUALLY.
AND IF YOU WOULD JUST ANSWER, UH, A YAY OR NAY, UH, VICE CHAIR GARZA.
REMEMBER STRATTON ONE MORE TIME.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS IT, BUT DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE THE LIBERTY OF INTERPRETING.
UM, REMEMBER TREVELYAN I LIKE YOU REMEMBER RENTERIA, REMEMBER HILL? I REMEMBER KITCHEN AND COOPER IS AN AYE MOTION CARRIES SEVEN TO ZERO.
THANK YOU WITH BOARD MEMBER MITCHELL, ABSENT
[V1. Approval of an interlocal agreement for creation of a joint local government corporation with the City of Austin to implement Project Connect. ]
A NEXT STEP.THEN WE'LL START OUR ACTION ITEM AGENDA BOARD MEMBERS.
UH, YOU'LL NOTE OF COURSE, THAT OUR FIRST TWO ACTION ITEMS LOOK FAMILIAR AS THEY ARE THE SAME TWO ITEMS THAT WE PASSED ON OUR AUGUST 7TH JOINT MEETING EARLIER THIS MONTH WITH THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
UM, YOU MAY RECALL OR MAY HAVE NOTED THERE WERE SOME TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE AUDIO AND VISUAL ASPECTS OF THE LIVESTREAM THAT OCCURRED THAT DAY.
AND IN PARTICULAR, SOME OF THE AUDIO ISSUES THAT, UH, CONTINUED EVEN AS WE TOOK OUR VOTES, SO ON THE ADVICE OF OUR ATTORNEYS, AND WE ALWAYS WANT TO LISTEN TO THEM AND TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT WE HAVE A CLEAN RECORD OF EVERYONE'S VOTE ON THOSE TWO ITEMS. WE'D LIKE TO DO A QUICK REVOLT ON BOTH ITEMS TODAY.
UH, IT'S NOT MY INTENTION TO HAVE STAFF PRE PRESENT THE ITEMS TO US AGAIN.
UM, AND IF YOU RECALL THAT DAY, UM, UH, REMEMBER TREVELYAN GO AHEAD.
I JUST WANTED TO ASK THE QUESTION, WHETHER THE MEMBER AND THE SECOND ARE AVAILABLE, UH, TO BE, UH, TO BE THE MOTION, THE MOTION THERE.
[00:15:01]
WE'LL GET AS TIGHT AS WE CAN.I DON'T REMEMBER WHO WAS THE MOVEMENT.
UM, AND WAS THAT YOU? DID YOU EVER INFLAMMATION? OH, THAT'S RIGHT.
WE DID HAVE MS. MR. CHAIRMAN, REMEMBER STRATTON, GO AHEAD.
WE DID HAVE TO, TO A WAR MEMBER TO CIVILIANS POINT, WE DIDN'T HAVE SOMEBODY ACTUALLY MOVE IN SECOND.
AND THEN WE DID THE, WE DID IT BY ACCLAMATION, BUT, UH, CAUSE I REMEMBER THAT I DID, I WAS THE SECOND OR TO THE, UM, THE ILA.
UM, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO THE OTHERS WERE.
I JUST REMEMBER WHAT MY PARTNER WAS, BUT I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT MATTERS, BUT IF WE WANT TO BE CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE DID BEFORE, BUT, UM, MEMBER HILL WAS NOT HERE WITH US, UH, WHEN WE VOTED LAST TIME.
SO IT'S GOING TO BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
I DON'T PROPOSE, UH, TO DO IT BY ACCLAMATION TODAY.
SO WHAT I'VE ASKED FOR, UH, IS WITH RESPECT TO ACTION ITEM, NUMBER ONE APPROVAL OF AN INNER LOCAL AGREEMENT FOR CREATION OF A JOINT LOCAL GOVERNMENT CORPORATION WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO IMPLEMENT PROJECT CONNECT, LIKE TO HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.
AND THEN IF WE NEED ANY DISCUSSION, WE CAN, IS THERE A MOTION ON ACTION ITEM NUMBER ONE? AND IF YOU ARE THE ORIGINAL MOVEMENT AND WOULD LIKE TO, SO DO SO AGAIN, I'LL WAS THAT MEMBER KITCHEN? I'M HAPPY TO MOVE.
I DON'T REMEMBER WHO THE ORIGINAL MOVER WAS.
ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO CLAIM THE SPOT THEN MOTION MADE BY MEMBER KITCHEN AND A SECOND BY MEMBER STRATTON AND MEMBER RENTER.
MARIA, DO WE NEED ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM? NONE.
THEN I WILL, UH, HAVE A ROLL CALL.
I WOULD JUST ASK THAT WE REMIND EVERYONE THAT DURING THE VOTE, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR VIDEO.
THERE'S A COUPLE OF BOARD MEMBERS I'M NOT ABLE TO SEE ON VIDEO.
[V2. Approval of a resolution relating to guidance on funding and community commitments by Capital Metro and the terms of an interlocal agreement to be negotiated for the implementation of Project Connect. ]
ITEM IS, UM, NUMBER TWO APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION RELATING TO GUIDANCE AND FUNDING AND COMMUNITY COMMITMENTS BY CAP METRO AND THE TERMS OF AN INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT TO BE NEGOTIATED FOR THE OF PROJECT CONNECT.AGAIN, THIS IS THE SAME ITEM THAT WE VOTED ON AT OUR LAST MEETING.
THIS IS THE COMMITMENT, UM, AKIN TO THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN MADE A DESIRE VERSION OF THAT.
UM, AGAIN, UH, CHAIR WOULD, UH, UH, ASK FOR A MOTION WITH RESPECT TO ACTION ITEM.
NUMBER TWO, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE, UH, VICE CHAIR GARZA WITH THE MOTION A SECOND NUMBER KITCHEN WITH THE SECOND.
ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION.
THEN WE'LL HAVE A ROLL CALL VOTE AGAIN AGAIN, PLEASE STAY ON CAMERA FOR A FEW MINUTES HERE.
LIKE YOU STRAP A MEMBER STRATTON.
I REMEMBER HILL COOPERS AND I MOTION CARRIES SIX TO ONE WITH A MEMBER MITCHELL ABSENT.
HOPEFULLY THE LAWYERS ARE HAPPY WITH US NOW.
UH, WE'LL TAKE UP THEN OUR, UM,
[V3. Approval of a partnership agreement with Broadmoor Austin Associates for transit improvements at the Broadmoor Development property. ]
NEXT ACTION ITEM, WHICH IS ITEM NUMBER THREE APPROVAL OF A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH BROADMORE AUSTIN ASSOCIATES FOR TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS AT THE BROADMORE DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY.UH, AS I MENTIONED LAST MONTH, ONE OF THE PARTIES IN THIS DEVELOPMENT NOT CAP METRO OBVIOUSLY IS A CLIENT OF MY LAW FIRM.
SO, UH, I'LL BE RECUSING MYSELF FROM, UH, ANY DISCUSSION OF THIS, UH, ACTION ITEM.
AND I WILL NOT BE PARTICIPATING IN THE DISCUSSION OR THE VOTE ON THE ITEM TODAY.
AND WITH THAT I'M, UH, TURNING OVER MY VIRTUAL GAL, UH, UH, GAVEL TO VICE-CHAIR GARZA WHO WILL, UH, TAKE US THROUGH THE SIMON.
UH, SO THIS IS ACTION ITEM THREE APPROVAL OF A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH BROADMORE AUSTIN ASSOCIATES FOR TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS
[00:20:01]
AT THE BROADMORE DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY.AND WE HAVE A PRESENTATION BY CHARMELLA.
CAN YOU ALL SEE ALL SEE MY SLIDES OR SHIT I'M SHARING SCREEN? IS IT VISIBLE TO EVERYONE? YES.
SO SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS PRESENTATION OR PORTIONS OF THIS PRESENTATION EARLY ON.
UM, THIS IS MORE OFTEN A REFRESHER, UM, INTO THE RESOLUTION AND WITH SOME UPDATES.
UM, SO BROADMORE STATION, WHICH ALSO CALLING AS BROAD MORE MOBILITY HUB FOR THE CONNECTIONS AND INTER MODALITY THAT IT'S GOING TO OFFER IS A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.
IT'S A JOINTLY FUNDED RODMEL RAIL STATION ON A RED LINE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
AND THE KEY ELEMENTS OF OUR PARTNERSHIP IS DESCRIBED HERE.
UH, CAPITAL METRO SHARE IS A 12 MILLION NOT TO EXCEED MAXIMUM AND EACH PARTY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING ONE HALF OF THE OVERALL CONSTRUCTION COST FOR THE RADIO STATION UP TO A COLLECTIVE TOTAL OF $24 MILLION, WHICH IS ESTIMATED OVERALL PROJECT BUDGET.
ONE THING I WANTED TO DRAW EVERYONE'S ATTENTION TO IS THE FUNDING THAT WE ARE COMMITTING TO THIS PROJECT IS, UM, AVAILABLE UNDER OUR PROGRAM UNDER OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, BRANDYWINE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY REMAINING COSTS OF CONSTRUCTION, UH, DUE TO DELAY, UH, WHICH WE DO NOT ANTICIPATE ANY DELAY WE HAVE PUT IN, UM, A LOT OF EFFORT INTO REVIEWING CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE AND DESIGN, INCLUDING VALUE ENGINEERING EXERCISE TO HAVE COME TO THIS POINT.
AND THAT IS WHY WE'RE PRESENTING THIS RESOLUTION AND THE PRESENTATION THIS MONTH, AS OPPOSED TO WHEN HE WAS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TO BE PRESENTED LAST MONTH, THE REAL STATION WILL HAVE TO DOUBLE LENGTH PLATFORM, UM, CUPBOARD PLATFORM, AND HALF A MILE OF NEW DOUBLE TRACK AS PART OF THE NEW STATION.
THE
UH, THE BUDGET OVERVIEW IS PRESENTED IN THIS SLIDE, OUR ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING DESIGN PHASE, APPROXIMATELY INCLUDING VALUE ENGINEERING EXERCISE IS AT 2.9 MILLION.
AND HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN OF OUR CONSTRUCTION COST ESTIMATE, WHICH IS 21 MILLION BASED ON THE MOST CURRENT DESIGN DRAWINGS.
AND WE ARE READY TO MOVE FORWARD ON THIS.
AND MOST OF THE VALUE ENGINEERING EXERCISE HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE.
ANY ADDITIONAL ONE WOULD ONLY BE HELPING THE DESIGN OF THE PROJECT AND TO BE FOR US TO BE MORE VALUE CONSCIOUS.
THE OVERALL PROJECT TIMELINE IT'S PRESENTED HERE.
WE STARTED IN FALL BRANDYWINE EXECUTED CONTRACT WITH, UH, ENGINE ENGINEERING FARM IN FALL OF 2019.
WE PROCEEDED THROUGH 50% DESIGN AND PERMITTING PROCESS AND CITY REVIEW AND CAPITAL METRO WAS A PARTNER ALL ALONG IN 90% DESIGN.
WE, I PRESENTED TO THE BOARD AND GIVEN UPDATE ALSO TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD, SOME OF 2020.
THIS IS WHERE WE ARE HERE TODAY.
THE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
WE ARE HERE FOR THE BOARD APPROVAL TODAY AND A SCHEDULED IS, UM, THE DATE FOR A SCHEDULE.
GROUNDBREAKING IS BEING EVALUATED RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN OUR CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE, UM, INDICATES THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO PROPOSE STATION OPENING IN SUMMER OF 2022.
SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF P THREE IN BROADMORE STATION DEVELOPMENT IS QUITE OBVIOUS.
AND I HAVE GONE OVER THAT IN THE PAST THAT THIS REALLY SHOWS THE STRONG MARKET SUPPORT FOR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT IN TRANSIT AND AUSTIN.
AND IT INCREASES METRO RAIL RED LINE STATION ANNUAL VOTINGS TO 240,000.
AND TO PUT THAT IN CONTEXT IS THEN OTHER RIDERSHIP WOULD ONLY BE SECOND TO DOWNTOWN STATION.
IT PROVIDES A MULTIMODAL TRANSIT CONNECTION IN NORTH AUSTIN.
ONE OF THE GROWING AREAS OF THE CITY.
IT'S ALSO CONSISTENT WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN AND IMAGINE AUSTIN'S VISION FOR A MORE COMPACT CONNECTED CITY IN THE NORTHERN PART OF AUSTIN IT'S CONNECT THE DEVELOPMENT ITSELF.
IT'S A $2 BILLION DEVELOPMENT.
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT IS GOING TO BE A HIGH DENSITY MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT WITH SAFE WALKABLE STREET GRID.
AND IT LEVERAGES ABOUT WALL PRIVATE INVESTMENT
[00:25:01]
FOR A PUBLIC PROJECT.I WOULD TAKE YOU TO THE RESOLUTION AND I'M OPEN FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AND HOLD ON.
I NEED TO GET TO MY SCREEN WHERE I COULD SEE EVERYBODY.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE A QUESTION.
SO BRANDY ONE WILL BE IN CHARGE OF, UM, UH, FINDING TENANTS FOR THOSE BUILDINGS AND SPACES.
IS THAT CORRECT? BRANDYWINE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENT.
UM, IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR ACTION.
ITEM THREE, UH, MOVED BY BOARD MEMBERS STRATTON OR SECOND BY SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER.
I BOARD MEMBERSHIP, CIVILIAN BOARD MEMBER HILL.
I, I AM AN EYE AND, UM, THE CHAIR IS A RECUSED HIMSELF.
IS THERE, DID I MISS ANY BOARD MEMBERS? I DON'T THINK SO.
UM, CHAIR, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THE GAMBLE BACK BEFORE? THANK YOU.
VICE CHAIR, YOU RUN A GOOD MEETING.
THAT WAS A MUCH MORE EFFICIENT THAN MINE.
CHARMILLA THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I JUST WANTED TO THANK THE BOARD BEST IN CLARK AND VICE-CHAIR GARS DATRIUM AND COOPER.
ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION AND INPUT IN PREVIOUS MEETINGS.
AND THANK YOU FOR WALKING US THROUGH THIS RESOLUTION.
IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT PROJECT WE HOPE TO DELIVER ON, ON BUDGET AND WITHIN SCOPE.
MR. CHAIR, UH, REMEMBER STRATTON.
I JUST WANT TO SAY CHARMELLA THANK YOU.
THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING.
AND I KNOW FOLKS IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY THAT I REPRESENT ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR A LONG TIME, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HAVING, HAVING A GATEWAY ON THE RED LINE AND MAKING TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM, UH, THE DOME, THE BURGEONING SECOND DOWNTOWN AT THE DOMAIN AND BROADMORE OR REALITY IS SOMETHING WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS.
AND WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS PROJECT COMING TO FRUITION.
IT'S AN EXCITING DEVELOPMENT AND I THINK FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, WE'LL, UH, REALLY BE IMPRESSED WITH WHAT WE HAVE OUT THERE.
[V4. Approval of a contract with Conduent, Inc. for the annual maintenance and support of dispatch and vehicle computer systems. ]
ACTION ITEM IS APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH CONDUENT INC FOR THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF DISPATCH AND VEHICLE COMPUTER SYSTEMS. UM, DOTTIE, YOU WANT TO TAKE US THROUGH THAT ONE? SURE.WELL, THANK YOU CHAIR COOPER MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, PRESIDENT CEO, CLARK I'M, DOTTIE WATKINS, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
UM, AND THIS ITEM IS FOR APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH CONDUIT INCORPORATED FOR THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF THE DISPATCH AND VEHICLE SYSTEMS FOR A BASE PERIOD OF ONE YEAR WITH FOUR, ONE YEAR OPTIONS AND AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,300,283.
UM, THIS ITEM IS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF OUR COMPUTERATED DISPATCH AND AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION SYSTEM, UH, KNOWN AS CAD AVL.
UM, WE, UM, USE THE SYSTEM PROVIDED BY A CONDUIT.
IT INCLUDES BOTH SOFTWARE SUPPORT FOR THE SOFTWARE THAT WE USE TO DISPATCH THE VEHICLES AS WELL AS HARDWARE SUPPORT FOR THE MOBILE DATA TERMINALS.
UM, AND IN VEHICLE COMPUTERS THAT ARE ONBOARD THE VEHICLES.
UM, THIS, UM, IS A, WE ARE ASKING FOR AWARD OF, UH, BASE YEAR OF ONE YEAR WITH FOUR OPTION YEARS FOR A TOTAL FIVE-YEAR AGREEMENT, UM, TO COVER US OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WE ARE LOOKING TO, UM, EVALUATE THIS SYSTEM FOR, UM, EITHER UPGRADE OR REPLACEMENT.
IT WILL HIT ITS USEFUL LIFE, UM, IN ABOUT OPTION YEAR TWO.
UM, AND SO WE WILL BE LOOKING AT WHETHER OR NOT IT IS THIS SYSTEM THAT GETS UPGRADED OR A NEW SYSTEM THAT GETS PUT IN.
UM, BUT IT IS, IT'S BEEN, IT'S BEEN IN THE VEHICLES FOR QUITE A WHILE AND THAT HARDWARE WILL BE DUE FOR AN UPGRADE SHORTLY.
UM, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT THE BOY MAY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR DOTTIE, NO QUESTIONS, VERY WELL.
CHAIR, WE'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION WITH RESPECT TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER FOUR, WHICH IS APPROVAL
[00:30:01]
OF A CONTRACT WITH CONDUIT INC FOR THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF DISPATCH AND VEHICLE COMPUTER SYSTEMS. IS THERE A MOTION MOTION BY THE VICE CHAIR? IS THERE A SECOND, SECOND BY MEMBER TREVELYAN ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION VERY WELL.I'M SORRY YOU WERE MUTED OR I DIDN'T HEAR YOU.
UH, I THINK YOU'RE STILL MUTED.
DID THAT TIME REMEMBER KITCHEN? I REMEMBER TREVELYAN.
I REMEMBER HILL AND COOPER IS AN I AS WELL.
THE MOST INCURIOUS SEVEN TO ZERO.
[VI1.Bus Electrification Update ]
NEXT UP, WE HAVE THREE DISCUSSION ITEMS TODAY, STARTING WITH A BUS ELECTRIFICATION, UH, DOTTIE, I GUESS YOU'RE PRESENTING THAT AS WELL.SO WE HAVE A SHORT PRESENTATION TO GIVE YOU TODAY JUST TO PROVIDE THE BOARD WITH AN UPDATE ON OUR PROGRESS TOWARD ELECTRIFICATION OF OUR FLEET.
UM, SO WE'RE, AS WE'VE PRESENTED TO THE BOARD, THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, WE ARE COMMITTED TO A FULL ELECTRIFICATION OF OUR FLEET AND WE HAVE STARTED THIS YEAR REPLACING OUR DIESEL VEHICLES WITH BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
UM, AND SO I'M EXCITED TODAY TO PRESENT AN UPDATE ON HOW THAT'S GOING.
UM, WE ARE DUE TO HAVE A DOZEN BUSES BY THE END OF AUGUST.
UM, THIS SLIDE ACTUALLY BECAME OUT OF DATE ALMOST MAYBE THE DAY AFTER WE POSTED THE PACKET.
WE NOW HAVE RECEIVED 10 BUSES TO DATE.
UM, YOU, YOU MAY RECALL THAT WE RECEIVED OUR FIRST TWO ELECTRIC BUSES.
UM, WE RECEIVED IN DECEMBER AND PUT IN SERVICE IN JANUARY TWO PROTERRA BUSES, AND THOSE ARE THE BUSES THAT HAVE BEEN RUNNING AROUND TOWN WITH THE WONDERFUL, UM, WRAPS CREATED BY STUDENT ARTISTS.
UM, WE HAVE SINCE RECEIVED, UM, TWO ADDITIONAL OF THEIR VEHICLES AND HAVE TWO MORE SCHEDULED TO COME THIS WEEK.
IN FACT, ONE IS DUE TO ARRIVE.
IT MAY WELL BE ARRIVING AS WE SPEAK.
UM, WE'VE ALSO RECEIVED 40 VEHICLES FROM NEW FLYER, UM, FOUR 40 FOOT VEHICLES FROM NEW FLYER RATHER, AND TWO 60 FOOT VEHICLES FROM NEW FLYER THAT SECOND 60 FOOT BUS ACTUALLY SLIPPED IN ON US LATE LAST WEEK.
UM, SO WE WILL HAVE A DOZEN BUSES REALLY BY THE END OF THIS WEEK, UM, THAT WILL ALLOW US TO REALLY TEST OUT THE COMPONENTS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE FULL DEPTH AND BREADTH OF OPERATING THE BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES, UM, BEFORE WE CONTINUE THE REPLACEMENT OF THE FLEET.
WELL, WE WE'VE BEEN DOING A LOT TO REALLY GET OUR CURRENT OPERATIONS READY.
AND A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH TRAINING.
UM, THESE VEHICLES, UM, REQUIRE BOTH OPERATOR AND MAINTENANCE TRAINING, UM, WE'VE TO DATE TRAINED A SMALL GROUP OF TECHNICIANS AND BUS OPERATORS TO OPERATE THESE VEHICLES AND WORK ON THEM.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO GROW THAT GROUP OVER TIME.
UM, WE HAVE ALSO HAD TECHNICIANS FROM THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS ONSITE TO SUPPORT THE STANDUP OF THE FLEET.
SO BOTH PROTERRA AND NEW FLYER HAVE BEEN GREAT PARTNERS AND WE HAVE HAD THEM ONSITE TO HELP US WORK THROUGH, UH, THE INEVITABLE ISSUES THAT COME WITH STANDING UP A NEW FLEET.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN CHARGING THE VEHICLES, UM, THROUGH OUR INTERIM CHARGING.
WE HAD TWO CHARGERS INSTALLED, UM, BETWEEN THE RAIL FACILITY AND THE SURFACE ISLAND UP AT NORTH OPS, UM, THAT HAVE ALLOWED US TO CHARGE THE INITIAL TWO PROTERRA BUSES AND THROUGH CYCLING THE BUSES THROUGH WILL ALLOW US TO CHARGE ALL 12 OF THE BUSES WE HAVE NOW.
UM, WE ARE ALSO RECEIVING A MOBILE CHARGER, UM, ALONG WITH OUR NEW FLYER BUSES AND THE IDEA THERE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALWAYS ABLE TO GO ADD SOME CHARTS TO AND RESCUE A VEHICLE IF IT GETS STRANDED, EVEN OFF OUR PROPERTY WITHOUT NECESSARILY HAVING TO TOW IT.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S COMING WITH THE CONTRACT AND WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE MANUFACTURERS ON THE INTEROPERABILITY OF THE CHARGERS, UM, BECAUSE WE'RE OPERATING A MIXED FLEET.
WE ALSO HAVE A MIXED SET OF CHARGERS.
UM, AND OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO USE ALL OF THE CHARGERS ON ALL OF THE VEHICLES.
THEY HAVE UNIVERSAL CONNECTIONS AND CONNECTORS.
UM, AND WE'RE WORKING NOW ON JUST THE KIND OF TECHNOLOGICAL HANDSHAKE TO HELP MAKE SURE THAT THE VEHICLES AND THE CHARGERS CAN SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER.
SO TODAY WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN REALLY PLEASED WITH WHAT WE'VE SEEN.
SO THE FIRST TWO BUSES, UM, IN THE
[00:35:01]
FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR, UM, WE WERE ABLE TO USE THEM AND ALMOST 7,000 MILES OF SERVICE.UM, WE HAVE, UM, WE'RE SEEING REALLY BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED RANGE.
YOU'LL SEE ON THE CHART THERE THAT OUR PROJECTED RANGE IS OVER 190 MILES PER VEHICLE.
EVERY TIME WE OPERATE THESE VEHICLES, THE SYSTEMS ONBOARD THE VEHICLE, SHOW US HOW MANY MILES WE ACTUALLY OPERATED THE VEHICLE.
AND BASED ON THAT OPERATION, HOW MANY MILES THE VEHICLE IS PROJECTING WERE LEFT IN THE BATTERY CHARGE.
WE HAVE ADMITTEDLY BEEN OPERATIONALLY CONSERVATIVE AND HAVEN'T TRIED TO PUSH THE LIMIT OF THE, ON THESE VEHICLES YET.
UM, BUT AS WE WERE REALLY ANTICIPATING BEING ABLE TO OPERATE WITHIN 150 MILE PROJECTED VEHICLE MAXIMUM RANGE.
AND SO THEY'RE ACTUALLY PERFORMING A GOOD BIT BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT.
WE KNOW THAT THE BAD THAT THE PERFORMANCE WILL DEGRADE OVER TIME AS THE BATTERIES AGE, BUT TO START THIS HIGH AS IS ACTUALLY VERY, UM, PROMISING, UM, ON THOSE FIRST TWO VEHICLES, WE'VE WORKED THROUGH A COUPLE OF MANUFACTURING ISSUES THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT THEY WERE BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES.
ANYTIME YOU BUY NEW BUSES AND YOU CONFIGURE THEM FOR YOUR PROPERTY, YOU'RE GOING TO FIND ISSUES.
AND WE FOUND A COUPLE OF BUGS THAT WE NEEDED TO WORK OUT.
UM, WE'RE PLATT PROUD TO REPORT THAT THIS FLEET HAS ALREADY REDUCED OUR COT TWO EMISSIONS, UM, BY 17.5 TONS AND OUR NOX EMISSIONS BY NEARLY 40 POUNDS.
UM, TO PUT THAT INTO TERMS THAT A LAY PERSON MIGHT UNDERSTAND, THAT'S EQUIVALENT TO THE CARBON CAPTURED BY NEARLY 30 ACRES OF US FORCE IN ONE YEAR.
AND WE DID THAT WITH TWO BUSES IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS THAT WE USE THEM.
AND SO REALLY THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO DO IN TERMS OF REDUCING EMISSIONS OVER THE COURSE OF THE ENTIRE FLEET IS QUITE EXCITING.
SO THE, THE LAST THING WE'RE WORKING ON IS TO REALLY SUPPORT THESE VEHICLES.
WE HAVE BEEN UPGRADING OUR NORTH OPS BUS YARD.
UM, YOU MAY RECALL THAT ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF, NOT QUITE A YEAR AND A HALF AGO.
UM, WE CELEBRATED THE DEMOLITION OF AN OLD SERTA MATTRESS FACTORY WAREHOUSE BUILDING ON THAT SITE.
UM, THE STAGE ONE OF THIS CONSTRUCTION PROJECT WAS TO DEMOLISH THAT BUILDING AND TO INSTALL A PARKING SURFACE ON THE FOOTPRINT WHERE THAT BUILDING WAS.
UM, THE PICTURE ON THE BOTTOM IN THE MIDDLE THERE SHOWS YOU BUSES PARKED ON OUR STAGE.
ONE SURFACE THAT SURFACE IS, UM, COMPLETELY, UH, PREPARED FOR ELECTRIFICATION.
ALL OF THAT NEW CONCRETE HAS CONDUIT UNDERNEATH IT AND STEP UPS TO ALLOW FOR ELECTRIFICATION HIGHLANDS FOR EVERY SINGLE BUS THAT CAN, THAT CAN PARK ON THAT PROPERTY.
WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON STAGE TWO, WHICH IS THE AREA THAT WAS ORIGINALLY OUR METRO RAPID PARKING ON THE AREA ON THE PROPERTY THAT SITS IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF THE BUSES.
YOU SEE PARKED IN THAT BOTTOM PICTURE.
UM, AND WE HAVE TORN OUT THE OLD PARKING AND ARE WORKING ON INSTALLING THE ELECTRICAL CONDUIT.
YOU SEE THERE A STAGE TWO PICTURE ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND SIDE, UM, AND ALSO ARE WORKING ON THE ELECTRIFICATION OF OUR CHARGERS.
SO WE HAVE, UM, RECEIVED THE CHARGERS TO SUPPORT OUR PERMANENT, UH, CHARGING FACILITIES AND STARTED PUTTING THEM IN PLACE AND HOOKING THEM UP.
WE WILL BE READY FOR CHARGING ALL 12 OF THOSE BUSES IN THE NEW, UM, STAGE ONE PARKING SURFACE BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER NEXT SLIDE.
SO IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS, WE ARE READY TO LEARN.
WE ARE REALLY POSITIONED NOW IN A GREAT POSITION TO HELP US LEARN.
UM, A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, THE BOARD APPROVED A CONTRACT FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM, UM, WITH THE CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
THEY WERE ONE OF OUR PARTNERS IN OUR, UH, 2019 LOW NOTE GRANT AWARD FROM THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION.
AND THEY WILL BE US THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO REALLY MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A GOOD ROADMAP FOR MOVING FORWARD TO THE CONVERSION OF OUR FLEET, INCLUDING, UM, THINKING THROUGH HOW WE SCALE UP OUR CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE WILL GET TO A POINT OF CAPACITY WHERE IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO INDIVIDUALLY HAND PLUG IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR BUSES EVERY TIME.
AND SO WE WANT TO START THINKING NOW ABOUT HOW DO WE SCALE UP THAT INFRASTRUCTURE AND WE CONTINUE TO OPERATE THE BUSES TO GAIN REAL ROY REAL WORLD DEPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE.
AND THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE WAY YOU OPERATE A VEHICLE, HOW YOU ASSIGN THE VEHICLE, LITERALLY HOW YOU DRIVE A BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE HAS A LOT TO DO WITH ITS RANGE AND A LOT TO DO WITH HOW YOU'RE ABLE TO DEPLOY THEM IN YOUR FLEET.
SO WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO LEARN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, GET AS MANY PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAM AS POSSIBLE BY EXPANDING OUR TRAINING POOL OF TECHNICIANS AND DRIVERS AVAILABLE.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR NEXT RFP.
UM, WE WILL BE, UM, SLATED TO PURCHASE, UM, MORE BUSES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022.
AND SO, UM, WE'LL BE, UM, BEGINNING OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PROCESS SHORTLY, UM, TO INCORPORATE OUR LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE INITIAL USE OF THESE VEHICLES AND TO GET A CONTRACT IN PLACE TO SUPPORT, NOT JUST OUR, UH, REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE, BUT ALSO TO HAVE OPTIONS FOR VEHICLE GROWTH NECESSARY TO SUPPORT, UM, MANY OF THE MINI BREAST PROJECTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN PROJECT CONNECT.
[00:40:01]
CONCLUDES MY UPDATE ON OUR VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAM.I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU, DOTTIE, UH, BOARD MEMBERS QUESTIONS FOR DOTTIE MEMBERS STRATTON.
UM, SO ARE WE ACTUALLY DEPLOYING THESE ON ROUTES THAT THOSE FIRST TWO BUSES ARE THEY RUNNING ROUTES WITH, WITH, UM, WITH RIDERS NOW? OR ARE WE JUST OUT THERE FIELD TESTING IT, RUNNING IT ON THE ROUTES JUST TO GET THE EXPERIENCE AT THIS POINT, A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH THE ORIGINAL PROTERRA BUSES ARE RUNNING IN SERVICE.
UM, THE REMAINING BUSES THAT WE JUST RECEIVED, THE FIRST OF THE NEW FLYERS SHOULD BE HITTING SERVICE PROBABLY THIS WEEK.
UM, WE'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF GETTING EVERYONE, ALL OF OUR TECHNICIANS, TRAINED, GETTING LICENSE PLATES AND ALL OF THAT KIND OF STUFF.
IT TAKES US ABOUT TWO AND A HALF WEEKS AFTER WE RECEIVE A VEHICLE TO DO ALL OF THE IN PROCESSING AND GET IT IN SERVICE, BUT THESE WILL BE RUNNING IN REVENUE SERVICE, UM, ON BUS ROUTES SO THAT WE CAN, UM, REALLY GET THAT FULL REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE.
CAN YOU, SO GOING BACK TO THAT, THE SLIDE THAT WAS SHOWING THE PERFORMANCE TO DATE ON THAT BUS NUMBER 21, 11 AND 2112, UH, DO YOU, UH, DO YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW WHICH ROUTE OR ROUTES THEY'VE BEEN RUNNING ON PRIMARILY THEY'VE REALLY BEEN RUNNING ON A SERIES OF DIFFERENT ROUTES.
I'D BE HAPPY TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION PULLED IN.
WE CAN, WE CAN SHOOT THE BOARD IN EMAIL TO, TO GIVE YOU THAT INFORMATION.
THESE RUN OUT OF OUR NORTH OPS GARAGE AND TO DATE THOSE FIRST TWO BUSES HAVE WRITTEN, UM, BEEN DRIVEN PRIMARILY ON ROUTES THAT ARE OPERATED OUT OF THAT GARAGE SPECIFICALLY, BUT WE WILL WITH THE FULL 12 BE RUNNING THEM THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM, INCLUDING ROUTES THAT ARE TRADITIONALLY DISPATCHED OUT OF OUR, UM, AND, UH, ON AVERAGE HOW MANY HOURS I KNOW THAT, THAT THE PERFORMANCE, AS FAR AS THE, THE EFFICIENCY LOOKS AMAZING, IF WE'RE ONLY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE BARELY SCRATCHING THE SURFACE WITH HOW MANY MILES WE'RE ABLE TO PUT ON, ON A CHARGE, HOW MANY HOURS IN OPERATION HAVE WE BEEN PUTTING THOSE BUSES? AND AGAIN, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THESE TWO WITH THE NUMBERS YOU WERE.
YEAH, I KNOW THAT IT'S BEEN, UM, ABOUT 6,700 MILES, TO BE HONEST, I COULDN'T TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT THAT IS IN HOURS.
I COULD PULL THE, I COULD PULL THAT NUMBER, BUT I, I THINK A V I I'M THINKING YOU STILL THINK OF VEHICLES AND MILES AND NOT HOURS, WHICH IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT, UM, WITH A DIESEL BUS, YOU REALLY DO THINK THINGS IN MILES WITH ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY, YOU START LOOKING AT HOURS.
SO, UM, I CAN PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL.
IT LOOKS LIKE A GREAT INVESTMENT.
THE ONLY OTHER THING THAT, AND I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, UM, BE CURIOUS TO TRACK AND SEE WHAT THE ELECTRIC USAGE IS.
I KNOW WE'VE, WE'VE HISTORICALLY BEEN LOOKING AT, AND PART OF OUR BUDGET HAS BEEN BASED ON THE, THE, UM, THE HEDGING OF THE DIESEL CONTRACTS TO SUPPORT OUR DIESEL FLEET.
UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE VERY INTERESTING AND VALUABLE TO LOOK AT, AS WE CONTINUE TO DEPLOY THIS, UH, HOW MUCH ELECTRICITY WE ARE CONSUMING.
AND I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT THERE WAS GOING TO BE THE POTENTIAL OF, OF, UH, SETTING UP SOME SORT OF AN AGREEMENT WITH AUSTIN ENERGY FOR, UH, OVERNIGHT CHARGING AND, AND WORKING OUT SOME SORT OF A SPECIAL RATE WITH THEM, PERHAPS FOR CHARGING THESE SPOUSES.
WE GO ONLINE JUST TO KIND OF GET, AGAIN, MORE DATA POINTS AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH WITH THIS, BUT, BUT EARLY ON, THIS LOOKS PHENOMENAL, BOTH IN TERMS OF WHAT IT'S DOING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND IN TERMS OF, FOR THE OVERALL USE, I COULDN'T BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT WHAT, WHAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAVE GOTTEN, WHAT WE'RE SAYING HERE JUST EARLY ON WITH THESE RESULTS.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION AND FOR WHAT WE GOT COMING ONLINE.
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR DOTTIE DOTTIE? UH, UH, I HAVE ONE, WHICH IS, UH, WHAT ARE THE REPORTS BEEN ON THE AIR CONDITIONING THAT WE'RE TESTING THESE IN THE PRETTY TOUGH SUMMER? UH, HOW'S THAT GONE? THEY'VE ACTUALLY BEEN PERFORMING WELL.
UM, I HAVE CHALLENGED MY TEAM TO PUT AS MANY MILES ON THEM AS POSSIBLE AND IN THE LAST HALF OF AUGUST AND FIRST PART OF SEPTEMBER WHEN WE'RE IN THE WORST OF THE HEAT, UM, BUT THEY, THEY ARE, HAVE SO FAR BEEN PERFORMING WELL.
WELL, UM, AND SO I THINK WHAT WE'LL BE REALLY WATCHING IS HOW THAT, UM, RESULTS IN A DEGRADATION OF THE CHARGING, UH, THE RANGE ABILITY.
SO THAT DOES, WE ARE HAVING TO USE ELECTRICITY TO RUN THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS. SO, UM, WE'LL BE WATCHING THAT CLOSELY, BUT SO FAR WE'VE BEEN QUITE PLEASED.
AND ARE THERE ANY, UH, MEASUREMENTS I WOULD GUESS ARE REASONABLY QUIETER THAN OUR DIESEL BUSES, UM, IN THE ENVIRONMENT THAT'S MEANINGFUL? UM, YES.
ANY, ANY WAY TO MEASURE THAT? YES, THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY SILENT.
UM, THE LOUDEST NOISE THAT YOU HEAR INSIDE THE VEHICLE IS ACTUALLY THE AIR MOVING THROUGH THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM.
SO IF YOU TURN OFF THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM, IT'S ESSENTIALLY SILENT, BUT ALLOWED US NOISE THAT THE VEHICLE MAKES MOVING DOWN.
THE ROADWAY IS ACTUALLY THE SOUND OF THE TIRES AGAINST THE PAVEMENT.
UM, THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY SILENT VEHICLES.
UM, AND SO THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE IN TERMS
[00:45:01]
OF NOISE POLLUTION.AND SO, ESPECIALLY ON A HOT DAY, IF YOU'RE WALKING DOWN THE SIDEWALK AND YOU WALK PAST A BUS, THAT'S SITTING AT A BUS STOP, YOU FEEL THE HEAT FROM COMING OFF THAT DIESEL ENGINE.
YOU WON'T FEEL THAT WITH AN ELECTRIC PRESS IT'LL IT'LL.
YEAH, THAT'S A, THAT'S A THOUGHT I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT IS JUST GETTING THE BLAST.
DIESEL IS THE BEST IT GOES BY AND YOU'RE ON THE SIDEWALK.
WELL, FOLKS WILL APPRECIATE THAT.
WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO MORE AFTER YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH THE AUGUST SEASON TO MAYBE GET AN UP DATE, HOW THEY TOLERATED TEXAS.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY GOOD NEWS.
CAUSE I WAS ON ONE OF THOSE DIESEL BUS THAT JUST HAPPENED TO OVERHEAT AND IT MAY BE BEEN FOUND THAT WAS JUST HORRIBLE AND THERE WAS NO WAY YOU COULD STOP IT.
AND I JUST GO AND THEY WERE JUST DRIVING ME NUTS AND THEN HE HAD TO WAIT 10 MINUTES TO COOL DOWN AND THEN TAKE OFF AGAIN.
AND THEN IT STARTED BEEPING AGAIN.
AND I SAID, WELL, WE'RE GOING TO GET A NEW BUS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? FUN TO SEE THE FUTURE.
[VI2. FY 2021 Budget Update ]
NEXT A DISCUSSION ITEM.NUMBER TWO, OUR FISCAL 20 FISCAL YEAR 2021 BUDGET UPDATE.
UM, KEVIN, WE'RE READY WHEN YOU ARE.
CHAIRMAN COOPER, BOARD MEMBERS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF CLARK.
I'M KEVIN CONLIN BUDGET DIRECTOR FOR CAPITAL METRO.
AND TODAY I HAVE A SHORT BUDGET UPDATE WITH ANY CHANGES THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE WE PRESENTED THE BUDGET PROPOSAL LAST MONTH IN JULY.
AND I BELIEVE THAT'S GOING TO CUE UP THE PRESENTATION FOR ME.
THE BOARD SEEN THE BUDGET CALENDAR MANY TIMES SINCE WE FIRST STARTED ENGAGING THE BOARD IN MAY.
NEXT SLIDE IS YONIS MENTIONED EARLIER TODAY.
WE ACTUALLY THINK OF ONE SLIDE BACK, PLEASE.
WE ACTUALLY DID GO TO THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND SEE SAC.
AND THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF AUGUST, WE DID PRESENT THE BUDGET PROPOSAL TO THOSE TWO COMMITTEES.
WE'RE HERE TODAY TO UPDATE THE BOARD.
UM, WE'LL GO THROUGH THE, OF THE CALENDAR AND THE LAST SLIDE IN OUR NEXT STEPS.
SO TO UPDATE OPERATING REVENUE AND EXPENSE UPDATES, UM, FROM OUR LOW POINT IN APRIL SO FAR, WE WERE ALMOST 20% DOWN YEAR OVER YEAR IN SALES TAX RECEIPTS.
UM, MAY WAS ONLY 7.6% DOWN YEAR OVER YEAR.
AND THEN ACTUALLY WE SAW AN INCREASE IN JUNE, SO OR $4.8 MILLION HIGHER THAN OUR MOST LIKELY UPDATED FORECAST SCENARIO FOR THIS YEAR.
AND OF COURSE WE'RE MAINTAINING A GUARDED OUTLOOK FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS YEAR AND NEXT YEAR FOR SALES TAX RECEIPTS ON THE OPERATING EXPENSE SIDE, WE'VE ADDED $2 MILLION OF CONTINGENCY FOR NEXT YEAR.
THIS IS MAINLY FOR FLEXIBILITY IN CASE WE DO HAVE, AND WE'RE ANTICIPATING ADDITIONAL COVID RELATED EXPENSES, OR WE'RE ABLE TO ACTUALLY PERFORM SOME OF THE ITEMS ON THE OPERATING SIDE AND OUR RECOVERY BUDGET.
WE DID ADD ANOTHER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS AFTER WE'VE RECEIVED OUR ACTUARY REPORT IN LATE JULY FOR ADMINISTRATION PENSION PLAN.
WHEN THE ACTUARIES REPORTED OUR B 68 EXPENSE FOR THE YEAR, NEXT SLIDE FOR A FIVE YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR PROJECT CONNECT, WE'VE ACTUALLY ALLOCATED $31.5 MILLION FROM OUR CAPITAL EXPANSION FUND TO PROJECT CONNECT FOR RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS AND THREE METRO RAPID LINES FOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT NEXT YEAR OF $6.5 MILLION.
THAT'LL ACTUALLY OUTLINE THE SPENDING FROM THE CAPITAL EXPANSION FUND AND OUR PROJECT CONNECT COMMITMENTS AS WELL AFTER SURVEYING THE DEPARTMENTS.
WE HAVE A SHIFT IN FUNDING ON OUR CAPITAL SIDE FROM THIS YEAR INTO NEXT YEAR OF $12.6 MILLION OVER VARIOUS PROJECTS.
THIS IS DUE TO TIMING OF PROJECT WORK AND SOME SLOWDOWNS THAT WE'VE HAD DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AS WELL WITH OUR, UM, UNEXPECTED SALES TAX RECEIPTS AND THOSE BEING HIRED.
WE DID ADD $3.3 MILLION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS FOR A NEW ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
WE ADDED ANOTHER $1.2 MILLION IN FISCAL YEARS, 22 AND 23 FOR OUR CUSTOMER PAYMENT SYSTEMS WITH THE, UM, APPROVAL OF THE VOTE ON THAT CONTRACT.
IN LAST MONTH'S BOARD MEETING WITH BITE MARK, WE ADDED JUST OVER A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A DATA WAREHOUSE AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
[00:50:01]
PROJECT.THAT'S A NEW PROJECT COMING UP SO WE CAN FULLY IMPLEMENT THAT OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.
AND THEN WE'RE EXCITED TO SAY THAT WE'VE ADDED $275,000 NEXT YEAR FOR A NEW PLEASANT VALLEY TRANSIT HUB.
THAT'S GOING TO BE JUST NORTH OF RIVERSIDE UNPLEASANT VALLEY, NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS IS AN UPDATED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR THE FIVE YEARS.
WE DID SHOW THIS TABLE AT THE, AT THE JULY BUDGET PROPOSAL.
THE MAIN TWO UPDATES IS ADDING THE ADDITIONAL RED LINE AND VENTURE RAPID PROJECT DEVELOPMENT EXPENSE FOR PROJECT CONNECT.
AND THAT CARRY OVER OF JUST OVER $12 MILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 21.
NEXT SLIDE FOR PROJECT CONNECT COMMITMENTS ON THE TOP, WE SHOW OUR RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE COMMITTING FROM OUR CAPITAL EXPANSION FUND OF $15 MILLION NEXT YEAR, $10 MILLION FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
AND THEN WE HAVE OUR THREE METRO RAPID LINES THAT ARE ON THE INITIAL INVESTMENT MAP FOR EXPO CENTER PLEASANT VALLEY IN SOUTH LAMAR TOTALING $6.5 MILLION OF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
SO BY THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 21, OUR CAPITAL EXPANSION FUND IS EXPECTED TO BE AT $60 MILLION WITH AN ADDITIONAL 10 MILLION, $10 MILLION COMMITTED IN FISCAL YEAR 22 AFTER THE SPENDING FOR RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS AND THE METRO RAPID LIONS WILL HAVE A REMAINING $38.5 MILLION, WHICH WILL THEN TRANSFER TO THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
AND THEN BELOW WE SHOW THE $13 MILLION IN FISCAL 21 AND $10.4 MILLION IN 22 THAT WE HAD IN THE ORIGINAL BUDGET PROPOSAL.
THAT CAPITAL METRO IS ALSO COMMITTING FOR PRELIMINARY DESIGN IN NEPA OF OUR ORANGE, BLUE AND GOLD LIONS.
SO OUR NEXT STEPS AND THE BUDGET PROCESS, WE ACTUALLY POSTED OUR DRAFT BUDGET DOCUMENT.
ONLINE THIS MORNING BOARD MEMBERS SHOULD BE RECEIVING A DIRECT LINK FROM OUR CFO THROUGH EMAIL TO THAT DOCUMENT THIS WEEK ON WEDNESDAY, WE'LL HOLD A PUBLIC WEBINAR INVITE PARTICIPATION FROM THE FABRIC ON ZOOM.
WE'LL RECORD THAT WEBINAR AND THEN POST IT ONLINE ON OUR WEBSITE ON THE 16TH OF SEPTEMBER, WE'LL HOLD OUR BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND THEN COME BACK TO THE COMMITTEES WITH ANY UPDATES TO OUR BUDGET AS WELL.
UM, DURING THAT SAME COMMITTEE PROCESS, WE'LL GIVE THE BOARD AN UPDATE ON THE LONG RANGE, FINANCIAL PLAN FOR CAPITAL METRO, AND THEN ON THE 28TH AT THE BOARD MEETING NEXT MONTH, WE'LL SEEK FINAL APPROVAL AND AMENDMENT OF OUR FIVE-YEAR CIP AT THE BOARD MEETING.
AND THAT'S GOING TO CONCLUDE MY PRESENTATION TODAY, BUT I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL QUESTIONS FOR KEVIN, REMEMBER STRATTON.
UM, THANKS FOR THE UPDATE, KEVIN, JUST QUICK, A QUICK QUESTION.
UM, SO JUST TO CLARIFY, MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND.
SO SALES TAX, YOU SAID THE SALES TAX RECEIPTS AND MAY IN JUNE ARE UP COMPARED TO WHAT WE THOUGHT THEY'D BE, BUT YOUR, YOUR FUNDAMENTALLY, YOUR MODELING CAP, METRO STAFF'S MODELING FOR THE BUDGET GOING INTO
AS IN YOU GUYS ARE STILL PROJECTING BASELINE LESS SALES TAX REVENUE THAN WHAT WE JUST SAW, CORRECT? CORRECT FOR MAY AND JUNE, WE WERE STILL DOWN IN MAY, WE'RE DOWN 7.6% TO PRIOR YEAR, BUT WE'RE STICKING WITH OUR PLAN AND OUR MOST LIKELY SCENARIO THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THIS YEAR AND NEXT, UM, BECAUSE THERE'S STILL A LOT OF UNKNOWN WITH THE PANDEMIC RIGHT NOW.
UM, YOU KNOW, COMING INTO WINTER TIME, WE'RE JUST GUARDING AGAINST FLARE UPS, ET CETERA.
AND WE WANT TO TAKE A CONSERVATIVE GUARDED APPROACH TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN PULL OFF THIS BUDGET WITHOUT ANY HITCHES AT ALL.
AND THANK YOU FOR, UH, FOR THE APPROACH THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN, GIVEN US THOSE OPTIONS AND, AND, UH, SETTLING HERE AT THIS POINT.
IT I'D SAY IT'S GOOD NEWS THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT RECEIPTS ARE UP.
I'D RATHER JUST BE IN A POSITION WHERE WE'RE BUDGETING FOR A WORST CASE, RATHER THAN BEING IN A POSITION WHERE WE'RE STRUGGLING AND, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THREE OR FOUR MONTHS DOWN THE ROAD AND STARTING TO CUT STUFF BECAUSE WE WERE OVERLY OPTIMISTIC.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR THAT AND BRINGING THAT TO US LIKE THIS.
AND THAT'S THE APPROACH WE TOOK.
WE, I MEAN, WE DIDN'T WANT TO PIVOT ON OUR WHOLE APPROACH FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS YEAR AND NEXT YEAR OFF OF JUST TWO MONTHS AND YOU KNOW, A LOT OF UNKNOWN IN THE FUTURE AS WELL.
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR KEVIN ON THE BUDGET, KEVIN OR, UH, RANDY, PERHAPS, COULD YOU REMIND US AGAIN WHAT THE RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS WERE THAT WERE IN THERE?
[00:55:03]
I CAN GO AHEAD AND TAKE THAT THE RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE SLATED FOR THE 15 AND $10 MILLION.IT DID, IT DOES INCLUDE SOME BROAD, MORE FUNDING SIGHTINGS FROM LANDER TO LAKELINE.
UM, WE DO HAVE SOME MCCOLLOUGH TRACKS SIGNAL ON PTC WORK, AS WELL AS DOUBLE TRACKING TO OUR MAINTENANCE FACILITY AT NORTH OPS.
SO BETTER THROUGHPUT, RIGHT? JARED ALSO, YEAH, IT'S THE MACOLA.
IT WAS KIND OF MENTIONED THE MCCULLOUGH STATION.
IT'S THE STATION, THE TRACK I'LL CALL IT JUST SIGNALS PTC WE'LL JUST FOR NOW AND JUST ADD INTO SIGNALS, MAKE IT EASIER, ATTRACT SIGNAL, WORK THE STATION.
WE HAVE SOME MONEY FROM THAT DEVELOPER.
WE HAVE A BILL GRANT IN OTHERWISE A THAT IS ALSO ADDED IN THE PROJECT CONNECT BUDGET, UH, DEPENDING ON WHAT HAPPENS ON THAT, UH, IN NOVEMBER.
UH, AND AS KEVIN MENTIONED, A DOUBLE TRACK THAT SECTION BETWEEN LAKELINE AND LEANDER, JUST A REMINDER, THE DOUBLE TRACKING IS KIND OF DON'T GET CAUGHT UP, I GUESS, FOR ANYONE ON WHERE THE TRACK IS.
IT'S ALL BASED ON AN OPTIMIZATION MODEL TO SAY WHERE WE NEED TRAINS TO PASS.
SO THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO A VALUE IN A SENSE OF A DISTRICT OR A JURISDICTION OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
IT'S LITERALLY WHERE THE TRADES HAVE TO PASS.
SO ONE OF THE CHOKE POINTS THAT WE HAVE IS BETWEEN LAKELINE AND LEANDER.
UH, SO THAT INVESTMENT THERE MAKES TRAINS WORK BETTER IN DOWNTOWN TO MLK IS EXAMPLE.
AND IF THE DOWNTOWN, AND IF WE NEEDED A DOUBLE TRACKING BETWEEN MLK AND DOWNTOWN, THAT'S WHERE WE GO.
IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT ABOUT TRYING TO SPREAD IT TO A CERTAIN JURISDICTION.
IT'S ABOUT THROUGHPUT OF THE ENTIRE LINE.
THIS IS THAT ALGEBRA PROBLEM THAT WAS ON THE SAT OF TWO TRAINS ARE HEADED TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND ONE'S AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND ONE'S AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
AND IF YOU HAVE ONE TRACK, THEY STILL MEET IN THE SAME, THEY JUST MEET FASTER OR SLOWER.
BUT, BUT, UH, UM, MR. CHAIRMAN, GO AHEAD.
SO JUST TO CLARIFY THIS THOUGH, UM, THIS WAS KIND OF GETTING AT WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT AT OUR, AT OUR LAST JOINT MEETING ON AUGUST 7TH, THAT PROD THAT, UH, AS IT, AS, AS IT APPLIES TO PROJECT CONNECT, THERE ARE FUNDS THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY, THAT WE WILL SEE REAL IMPROVEMENTS AND REAL PROJECT DELIVERY SPECIFIC TO THE RED LINE SPECIFIC TO THE TRAIN THAT RUNS FROM LANDER ALL THE WAY DOWNTOWN.
UM, UH, BASICALLY NEXT YEAR, BEGINNING OF NEXT YEAR, THAT'S PART OF THE PROJECT CONNECT FUNDS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE SAW THERE IN THE CAPITAL, THE CAPITAL, UH, EXPANSION BUDGET, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, THAT MONEY WE ARE ALLOCATING TO GO TOWARDS PROJECT CONNECT IS PART OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE RED LINE GOING, GOING, GOING UP AND DOWN WITH THOSE DOUBLE TRACKINGS.
I WOULD WORD IT THAT WE HAVE A, AN OVERALL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR THE RED LINE.
I WOULDN'T GET SO CAUGHT UP NECESSARILY ON WHICH BUCKET OF MONEY IT'S COMING FROM, PER SE.
YOU HAVE DOWNTOWN STATION THAT WILL, WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE SOME PEOPLE BEEN OPENING POTENTIALLY AS EARLY AS THIS FALL.
CAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE AHEAD A LITTLE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND ON BUDGET, TEAM'S DOING A GREAT JOB THERE, UH, WHERE YOU JUST, THIS BOARD PASSED NOT TOO LONG AGO, THE CON UH, CONTRACT FOR US TO DO A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP WITH BRANDYWINE FOR NEW STATION OF BROADMORE.
UH, THAT IS A BIG IMPROVEMENT.
DAVE DECK HAS MONEY IN THE RAIL OPERATIONS BUDGET, UH, COMING INTO THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR TO DO WHAT WE CALL A SINGLE BLOCK CUTS.
SO SHORTENING THE LENGTH OF SIGNAL BLOCKS, WHICH WOULD ACTUALLY KEEP SPEED AND SLOW DOWN ORDERS WHEN WE DO WORK.
UH, THOSE ARE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE LINE.
HE'S CURRENTLY DOING A LOT OF GRADE CROSSING WORK.
UH, THEY'VE BEEN IN IMPROVING ALL GRADE CROSSING, WHICH IS GOOD FOR THE SAFETY OF THE RAIL, BUT ALSO FOR ALL, ANYONE IN THE VEHICLE GOING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION AS WELL.
AND THEN THERE'S THE MONEY FOR MY KALA, AS WE JUST MENTIONED THAT PROJECT, THE DOUBLE TRACKING.
SO THERE'S CIP MONEY, THERE'S PROJECT CONNECT MONEY, THERE'S REGULAR OPERATING BUDGET AND THERE'S STUFF THAT'S ALREADY IN WORK.
SO ALL OF IT IS TO SAY A BETTER RED LINE, WHICH ULTIMATELY IN THEORY, CONNECT TO, DEPENDING ON WHAT HAPPENS IN NOVEMBER, A LARGER CONNECTED SYSTEM AS WELL.
OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON ASYLUM? UM, LET'S PAUSE FOR A SECOND.
UM, DID MS. JOSEPH'S WANT TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM? OKAY.
MY COMMENTS, MR. CHAIR ARE REALLY THAT I DON'T SEE ANY IMPROVEMENTS IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN.
AND SO I AM LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT PAGE ONE 14, WHICH HAD THE $2 MILLION FOR COVID CONTINGENCY.
AND I WOULD JUST CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION ONCE AGAIN, THAT THERE IS NO ACCESS TO SAINT DAVID'S HOSPITAL ON THE WEEKENDS, IT'S A 10 BLOCK WALK AND THAT
[01:00:01]
THE SERVICES CONDENSED DURING THE WEEKDAY, IT WAS 10:00 AM TO 6:00 PM.AND SO THAT PARTICULAR BUS ROUTE WAS $945,000.
AND I WOULD ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE NEED IN THAT AREA.
ANOTHER WAY THAT YOU COULD SHORTEN IT IS THERE'S FOUR 66, WHICH IS THE DOMAIN CIRCULATOR, WHICH USED TO SERVE ONLY SEVEN RIDERS AN HOUR, AND IT'S ONLY APPROXIMATELY A QUARTER MILE AWAY.
SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RESTORE TO 40 IN ITS ENTIRETY, THERE ARE SOLUTIONS THAT ARE COST EFFECTIVE.
I WOULD JUST ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE TOO, THAT WHILE THERE'S LOTS OF EXCITEMENT ABOUT BRANDY WINE, YOU CAN ACTUALLY PUT THE EIGHT OH THREE AT BURNET AND BREAKER.
AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR JUST MAKING THAT A STOP SO THAT THE TRANSIT DEPENDENT RIDERS CAN GET TO THE DOMAIN TWO, BECAUSE YOU ELIMINATED THE THREE 92 AND THIS BUDGET, YOU COULD ALSO RESTORE THE THREE 92, FOUR ESSENTIAL WORKERS TO GET TO THE JOBS LIKE ATB RANDALL'S AND TARGET.
AND AGAIN, THE PROJECT CONNECT LANGUAGE THAT YOU JUST APPROVE AGAIN TODAY, AND THE PROJECT CONNECT LANGUAGE THAT'S IN PROPOSITION, A SPECIFIES THE CENTRAL WORKERS.
AND SO I'M JUST ASKING YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOU HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING FOR THE PEOPLE NORTH OF US, ONE 83 IN THIS CURRENT BUDGET, AS IT IS PROPOSED.
SO EITHER I WOULD LASTLY ASK AND I HAD THIS QUESTION AT THE FINANCE MEETING, BUT MR. MITCHELL NEEDED TO LEAVE.
SO I DIDN'T ASK IT, UM, THERE'S $189,000.
THAT WAS IN THE FINANCE BOARD PACKET ON PAGE 51, WHICH WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT AN UPDATE FROM FISCAL YEAR 2020.
AND IT SAID TRANSFER FUNDS TO START THE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF NORTH LAMAR MOBILITY HUB CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ON YOUR SLIDES TODAY, MR. CONLIN DIDN'T MENTION NORTH LAMAR.
HE ONLY MENTIONED PLEASANT VALLEY.
AND SO IT IS UNCLEAR TO ME WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING IN NORTH LAMAR.
AND IF SO, WHY IT'S NOT REFLECTED IN THE BUDGET.
AND IF YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING, IF YOU COULD BE TRANSPARENT AND JUST LET US KNOW.
AND LASTLY, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THE, THE RECORDED ASIDE FROM THE ONES THAT LIKE TODAY, WHERE CAN THE PUBLIC FIND IT LIKE C-SAT IS RECORDED? I UNDERSTAND THE BUDGET MEETINGS WILL BE RECORDED, BUT I DON'T SEE ONLINE WHERE THAT IS SPECIFIED.
AND THEN THE LAST THING I WOULD JUST CALL YOUR ATTENTION IS THAT SINCE PROJECT CONNECT IN 2019 20, YOU HAVE MADE IMPROVEMENTS.
COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN GOT HER ONE OH THREE FLYER, WHICH IS MANCHESTER AT A SAN JACINTO.
I MENTIONED ALREADY THAT, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBER UNTIL MARIA SENIORS GOT A SECOND BUS FOR 93, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER GUARDS THAT GOT HER TO 71 BECAUSE IT WAS PROMISED THAT NOTHING WOULD CHANGE.
BUT ONCE AGAIN, WE CONTINUE TO BE, UM, THE AREA AND WE'RE IN THE SERVICE AREA, HARRIS BRANCH, NORTHEAST AUSTIN, ALL THE WAY TO HOWARD LANE THAT SAW.
SO CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE WITH ME WHAT, IF ANYTHING IN THE BUDGET WILL REFLECT THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY PAYING TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE WHO PAY TAXES TO IN THE SERVICE AREA NORTH OF US, ONE 83.
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME, BUT IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO GET EXCITED ABOUT BROADMORE.
WHEN IN FACT, YOUR LAST ANALYSIS FROM 2016 ON THE RED LINE TOLD YOU THAT THE PEOPLE WERE DISCONNECTED FROM THE DOMAIN, AND THEN YOU DISCONNECTED OUR BUS.
SO PLEASE RESTORE THE SERVICE ON THREE 92.
AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING MY COMMENTS AND ALSO TO TAKE US OUT OF ALL THAT TRAFFIC AND JUST MOVE THE BUS OUT OF THE CVS PHARMACY.
IT DOESN'T COST YOU ANY MONEY.
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF ALLELE, ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
UM, IF IT'S, MAYBE IT COULD ALWAYS ANSWER, UH, IF, IF THE NEED CLARITY ALREADY DEVELOPED, PROBABLY EVEN BETTER WITH MS. JOSEPH ON WHERE, WHERE ITEMS ARE ON THE WEBSITE FOR ALL THAT.
CAUSE OBVIOUSLY ONE OF OUR MAJOR COMMITMENTS IS TRANSPARENCY AND EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS OUT THERE.
UH, DOTTIE, I DON'T DO YOU WANT TO, UH, I TALKED ABOUT OUR, UH, EIGHT OH THREE STOP THAT THAT IS ALSO BEING WORKED ON, UH, THAT I THINK WOULD BE ADDRESSED WITH MRS. JOSEPH, UH, BROUGHT UP.
UM, I'LL ADD A COUPLE OF THINGS.
SO FIRST ON THE, THE CONNECTIONS WITH THE, UM, EIGHT OH THREE, WE WERE ACTUALLY WORKING WITH THE CORRIDOR PROJECT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, TO PUT A METRO RAPID STOP AT BURNET AND BREAKER.
SO THERE WILL BE ONE FAR SIDE OF THE INTERSECTION.
SO NORTH OF THE INTERSECTION, UM, HEADED NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION HEADED SOUTH, UM, FOR OUR ROUTE EIGHT OH THREE, AND THAT WILL IMPROVE CONNECTIVITY, UM, THROUGH THERE AS WELL AS TO ROUTES THAT ARE ALONG BREAKER.
UM, AND THEN TO THE SPECIFIC QUESTION ABOUT NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER, WE ARE CURRENTLY
[01:05:02]
DESIGNING SOME MINOR IMPROVEMENTS TO THAT CENTER.THAT WAS THE VERY FIRST PARKING RIDE EVER BUILT BY CAPITAL METRO.
UM, THE ROOF STRUCTURE OF THE CANOPY.
THERE NEEDS SOME WORK, THERE'S SOME UNDERGROUND PLUMBING THAT NEEDS SOME IMPROVEMENTS.
WE'LL ALSO BE ADDING A HANDFUL OF SHELTERS.
UM, SO WE'RE JUST MAKING STATE OF GOOD REPAIR NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO THAT PERSON.
ANYTHING ELSE ON A DISCUSSION ITEM, NUMBER TWO, BEFORE WE MOVE ALONG
[VI3. Pandemic Recovery and Improvement Plan Update ]
VERY WELL, THEN WE'LL GO TO DISCUSSION ITEM NUMBER THREE, WHICH IS PANDEMIC RECOVERY AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN UPDATE BY SHARMILA MUKHERJEE.AND I THINK MR. GONZALES IS JOINING AS WELL.
SO THIS IS MY MONTHLY UPDATE, UM, AND THIS IS AUGUST UPDATE OF OUR CARE PROGRAM, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY FOCUSED ON OUR NOT ONLY OUR RECOVERY IN COVID-19 KIND OF MOVING FROM THE COVID-19 RESPONSE TO RESTORATION RECOVERY AND THEN IMPROVEMENT.
IT'S REALLY FOCUSED ON IMPROVEMENT AS YOU WOULD SEE, AS I'D GIVEN A KIND OF AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE HAVE WORKED ON SINCE THE LAST UPDATE.
AND THEN ROBERTO GONZALEZ IS, UM, GONNA SPEAK TO, UH, THE THINKING BEHIND HER DISCIPLINE.
I, I WENT OVER THAT LAST MONTH, BUT ROBERTO'S GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, THAT IN SPECIFICS AND, AND THE THINKING THAT GONE INTO CREATING THAT, AND THEN LAST, BUT NOT THE LEAST ON THE TOPIC OF, UH, TRANSPARENCY AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND HOW WE ARE SPENDING OUR COVID-19 OPERATIONAL RESOURCES, UH, PAT, THE JURY WHOM YOU'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH.
UM, SHE IS GOING TO BE GOING OVER THE DASHBOARD.
THAT'S GOING TO COME ON LIVE AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INDICATORS THAT WE'RE MEASURING INTERNALLY.
AND THEN NOW WE ARE ALSO SHARING WITH A BROADER AUDIENCE AND OUR CUSTOMERS WITH THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, I WILL TOUCH A LITTLE BIT UPON THE RECOVERY PHILOSOPHY BECAUSE I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO REMIND OURSELVES WHY WE ARE MAKING CERTAIN DECISIONS, UM, IN THIS PHASE.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS ON TWO ITEMS BEFORE I TOUCH UPON THE SPECIFIC MEASURES AND GIVE IT TO ROBERTO TO TALK ABOUT THE SERVICE PLAN.
UH, I THINK WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED, AT LEAST WE ATTEMPTED TO DEMONSTRATE OUR FOCUS ON SAFETY OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND WE ARE DOING THAT BY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WERE FEAR-FREE IN APRIL, IN MAY, AND THEN IN JUNE WE, UH, INSTALLED OPERATOR SAFETY BARRIERS AT THE SAME TIME WE ARE PURSUING, UM, SOME THE HAND SANITIZERS THAT ARE BEING INSTALLED ON BUSES THIS MONTH AND IT'S TIMED WELL WITH OUR NEW SERVICE PLAN.
I THINK KEVIN GAVE UP A PRESENTATION JUST, UM, A LITTLE WHILE AGO ON OUR FISCAL, UM, UH, APPROACH TO THAT.
AND WE ARE TAKING A VERY LONG AND HARD LOOK EVERY MONTH, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR R D OUR DECISIONS, OUR FINANCIAL DECISIONS ARE IN SYNC WITH OUR APPROACH AS WELL.
AND THEN WE ARE RELYING ON DATA FOR DECISION MAKING.
SO EVERYTHING'S IN FLUX AND WE ARE PUTTING OUR SYSTEMS IN PLACE SO THAT WE CAN APPROACH THEM IN THAT FASHION.
AND WE ARE CONSTANTLY ADOPTING, WE'RE TAKING COMMENTS AND ADDRESSING THEM AS WE MAKING, AS WE MAKE OUR DECISIONS.
SO THIS MONTH WE INSTALLED RIGHT BEFORE OUR AUGUST SERVICE PLAN, THAT WAS, UM, PUT, UH, WENT INTO EFFECT, WHICH WAS AN AUGUST 16TH, UM, THAT SATURDAY BEFORE, UH, SUNDAY, WHEN SERVICE CAME INTO EFFECT, WE, UM, WE, UH, INSTALLED THIS, UM, DISPENSERS THAT SANITIZER DISPENSERS AT KEY AT SIX, UH, LOCATIONS.
AND IN ADDITION TO THE MOUNTED DISPENSER, WE ARE ALSO, THESE ARE THE KEY FOR SIX KEY BUS STOPS.
WE ARE, IT'S ALSO COMING ON ONBOARD VEHICLES.
SO THIS IS, UM, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT ON TOP OF MASK MANDATE ALMOST.
AND THEN WE'RE, WE'RE PROVIDING MASKS TO OUR CUSTOMERS IN NEED.
AND THEN WE ARE PROVIDING HAND SANITIZERS ON BUSES AND MOUNTED DISPENSERS AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS THAT ARE HEAVILY IN USE DURING THIS TIME.
WE ALSO, UH, DELIVERED CARE PACKAGES TO VITRO ACCESS CUSTOMERS, TO SORT OF ALMOST TO APPRECIATE, UM, THE EFFORT THAT THEY ARE.
THEY'RE WRITING WITH US DURING THIS TIME, AS WELL AS TO REMIND THEM OF THE NECESSITIES THAT WE NEED TO, WITH OUR KEY, OUR GLASSES, OR WE ALSO HAVE TO HAVE MASKS.
[01:10:01]
WE PROVIDED THEM WITH A CARE PACKAGE THAT WAS VERY WIDELY APPRECIATED.THE CONTACTLESS FARE PHASE ONE PILOT IS UNDERWAY.
THERE'S A LOT OF PREPARATION IN HOUSE, UM, AROUND THAT.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF EXCITEMENT.
I THINK IT'S FOCUSES OUR COMMITMENT ON EQUITY, AND THIS IS GOING TO OFFER A FAIR CAPPING FOR CUSTOMERS.
AND I THINK THIS IS REALLY IN THE INDUSTRY WHEN WE MADE PRESENTATION, UM, THAT THERE WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED AND THERE WAS A LOT OF INTEREST AROUND THAT.
BUT BEFORE I MOVE ON TO A SERVICE PLAN, I JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT TWO THINGS.
I THINK OUR SERVICE PLAN TAKES INTO ACCOUNT AND PUTS OUR FOCUS ON ESSENTIAL WORKERS.
WE REALIZE THAT MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO TELL YOU WORK, AND THE GROCERY STORE WORKERS, THE HOSPITALITY, HEALTHCARE, AND MANY OTHERS THAT TAKE THEIR ESSENTIAL TRIPS USING CAP METRO.
AND WE ARE PUTTING OUR OPERATIONAL RESOURCES ON OUR LOCAL SERVICE.
SO THAT IS WHERE OUR FOCUS LIES.
AND THEN THE OTHER PART OF THE OPERATIONAL RESOURCES ARE GOING INTO SOCIAL DISTANCING SUPPORT AND HOW WE ARE MAKING THOSE DECISIONS.
ROBERTA IS GOING TO TALK MORE ABOUT THAT IN THE NEXT, UM, IN THE NEXT, UH, PART OF THE PRESENTATION AND NEXT SLIDE, OKAY.
THIS IS WHERE I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO HAND OFF TO THE BORDEAUX.
UM, WE ARE MONITORING OUR VEHICLE CAPACITY DAILY, WEEKLY, AND THEN COMING TOGETHER AS WE ARE MAKING DECISIONS, SOCIAL DISTANCING SUPPORT, UH, IS ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF OUR AUGUST, UM, SERVICE PLAN.
AND THEN I MENTIONED RIDERSHIP MODELING.
WE HAVE, UM, A RIDERSHIP FORECASTING PROCESS THAT WE ARE FOLLOWING WITH CUSTOMIZED LEVERS WITH UT IN SESSION WITH HYBRID LEARNING, UH, WITH CLASSES, WITH A GREATER SPAN IN EARLY DISMISSAL.
AND THEN ALL OF THIS INPUT ARE GOING INTO OUR REVENUE SERVICE, OUR FORECASTING.
SO, UH, THAT IS ALMOST THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF THINGS, BUT HOW THERE ARE ACTUALLY COMING IN FORM OF OUR SERVICE PLAN TO OUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH BOARD WAS GOING TO WALK YOU THROUGH THAT.
THIS IS WITH CAPITAL METRO PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE LAST SPOKEN.
UM, I WANTED TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE AS TO WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW WITH AUGUST, UH, SERVICE CHANGES, WHICH ACTUALLY WE IMPLEMENTED JUST LAST WEEK.
SO I WANT TO TAKE YOU A LITTLE BIT DOWN THE LINE AS TO HOW WE GOT THERE.
SO, SIR, AS, AS WE WERE CONTEMPLATING WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO THIS COMING FALL, AS EVERYONE KNOWS MARCH, UH, THE CONDITIONS THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH CAME AT US VERY, VERY QUICKLY.
WE HAD TO LOOK AT MODIFYING OUR SERVICE.
IN FACT, UM, SOME OF OUR PEERS, WE'RE STILL WORKING ON, UH, TRYING TO DETERMINE HOW THEY'RE GOING TO ADJUST OUR SERVICES WHEN WE HAD ALREADY ADJUSTED OURS.
UH, SO WE, WE WERE VERY, VERY FORTUNATE THAT WE HAD SOME CONTINGENCY PLANS IN PLACE THAT WE HAD LOOKED AT SOME THINGS IN ADVANCE AND ALSO THAT WE HAD MADE UP PRETTY SYSTEM WIDE CHANGE JUST TWO YEARS PRIOR WITH CA WE MAPPED TO WHERE WE COULD, UH, REVERT TO A MODIFIED SUNDAY LEVEL SERVICE AND STILL DELIVER GOOD QUALITY SERVICE THROUGHOUT TO OUR, OUR COMMUNITY, OUR COMMUNITY.
SO WITH THAT, WE KNEW THAT AT SOME POINT WE WERE GOING TO NEED TO DETERMINE WHEN WOULD IT BE APPROPRIATE TO THEN START, UM, RECONSTITUTE AND SOME OF OUR SERVICE.
AND IT BECAME CLEAR THAT FALL WAS GOING TO BE THAT PERIOD.
ALTHOUGH WE'VE GOT RIGHT NOW STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ORDERS TO STAY AT HOME, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT EVERYONE IS, IS ACTUALLY STAYING AT HOME.
THERE'S A NEED TO GO OUT AND GET GROCERIES, GO TO MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS, GO TO WORK AND OTHER MATTERS.
AND WE HAVE SEEN THAT REFLECTED IN OUR RIDERSHIP OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IS A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON OUR, ON OUR SERVICES EACH YEAR.
ANYONE WHO'S LIVED HERE LONG ENOUGH KNOWS THAT WHEN THE UNIVERSITY RETURNS INTO FULL SESSIONS, UH, TRAFFIC PATTERNS CHANGE, UH, WE HAVE AN INFLUX OF STUDENTS COME INTO OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR ACTIVITY ON OUR SERVICES ALSO STARTS TO BECOME ENOUGH THAT, THAT WE REQUIRE MORE SERVICE LEVELS.
AISD WAS ALSO A MAJOR INFLUENCE IN OUR THOUGHT PROCESS, AS EVERYONE KNOWS, THEY'VE DELAYED THEIR START AND THEY'VE MODIFIED HOW THEY'RE GOING TO WORK, BUT STILL AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF HOW WE WERE LOOKING TO, TO STRUCTURE OUR SERVICE GOING FORWARD IN THE FALL, WHEN IT CAME TO ONGOING MONITORING OF, OF SERVICE.
UH, WE CONTINUED TO DO THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY WITH OUR SERVICES.
WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT, UM, RIDERSHIP AT A ROUTE LEVEL AT A STOP LEVEL, OUR LOAD PATTERNS, AND WE'VE QUICKLY UNDERSTOOD AND DISCOVERED THAT OUR HIGH-FREQUENCY NETWORK IS CARRYING THE BULK OF OUR, OF OUR RIDERS AND THAT AREA.
[01:15:01]
UM, THAT TRADITIONALLY CARRY MOST OF OUR, OF OUR WRITERS THAT CONTINUED TO DO SO DURING COVID.AND THAT WE EXPECTED THAT ALTHOUGH WE WERE DOWN DURING COVID, THEY WOULD THEN START TO RECEIVE AN INFLUX AS SOON AS THE UNIVERSITY WOULD RETURN BACK IN THE FALL.
SO WE WERE, AS WE WERE LOOKING AT THE FALL AND HOW WE WERE GOING TO RESTORE SERVICE, WE LOOKED AT SOME OF THOSE ROUTES.
WE HAVE SOME LOCAL STOP SERVICES THAT WE OPERATE EVERY 30 MINUTES, UH, NOT IN THE SAME REALM WITH THE HIGH FREQUENCY NETWORK THAT ARE EVERY 15 MINUTES, BUT THERE WERE SEVERAL ROUTES THAT WERE ALREADY EXHIBITING RIDERSHIP PATTERNS THAT NEEDED US TO LOOK AT HOW WE WOULD HANDLE THEM IN THE FALL.
AND I'LL GIVE YOU SOME ECZEMA, SOME EXAMPLES RIGHT NOW, AND THEN METRO RAPID METRO RAPID HAPPENS TO BE SOME OF OUR CORE SERVICE, UM, IN OUR COMMUNITY, UM, WITH, UH, WITH THE, UH, MODIFICATION OF SERVICE DURING COVID, WE ACTUALLY REDUCED SOME OF OUR SERVICE LEVELS AND FREQUENCY FROM 15 MINUTES FROM EVERY 10 MINUTES.
TRADITIONALLY ON WEEKDAY IS DOWN TO EVERY 15 MINUTES.
WE'VE NOW REVERTED BACK TO EVERY 10 MINUTES, UH, AS OF LAST WEEK.
AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE THAT DURING THE COURSE OF THE FALL.
AND LASTLY, WITH OUR COMMUTER SERVICES, SPECIFICALLY, OUR EXPRESS AND FLYERS DRAIN COVID, YOU KNOW, IT WAS IMMEDIATELY APPARENT THAT, UM, THE PASSENGERS THAT WE WERE SERVING WERE NOT USING THE SERVICE AS A DOWNTOWN AREA, STARTED TO, TO SHUT DOWN BUSINESSES, STARTED TO CLOSE OFFICES WHERE WE'RE ASKING EMPLOYEES TO STAY AT HOME, THE STATE, UH, THAT THE SAME AND THE UNIVERSITY HAD, HAD ALSO GONE TO ONLINE SERVICES.
SO OUR EXPRESSES SUFFERED PRETTY DRAMATICALLY AT THE ONSET.
AND WE WERE FORCED TO, TO START TO CURTAIL SOME OF THAT SERVICE.
WE ARE, UM, NOT RECONSTITUTING.
UM, THE MAJORITY OF THAT SERVICE, THIS COMING FALL, BECAUSE WE STILL ARE IN A SITUATION TO WHERE EVERYONE HAS NOT RETURNED TO DOWNTOWN, BUT WE ARE PUTTING BACK A LIMITED NUMBER OF AM AND PM TRIPS ON SELECT ROUTES THAT WE KNOW HAVING INFLUENCED BOTH BY THE UNIVERSITY AND SOME OTHER FACTORS.
SO, AS I MENTIONED, WE'VE BEEN WATCHING OUR RIDERSHIP PATTERNS, UH, THROUGHOUT THIS COURSE OF COVID GROCERY AND SHOPPING HAPPENED TO BE OUR HIGHEST ACTIVITY, UH, GENERATORS IN AND AROUND OUR COMMUNITY.
WE'VE BEEN MONITORING WHERE THOSE HAVE OCCURRED.
WE HAD ADD ADDITIONAL VEHICLES ON EXISTING LINES TO HELP SUPPORT LOAD PATTERNS THAT WE SEE ON A DAILY BASIS.
OUR CORE NETWORK CONTINUES TO PROVIDE ARE A GOOD STABILITY FOR US.
WE'VE NOT, UM, LOOKED AT CHANGING OUR RESTRUCTURING, OUR OURS, OUR SYSTEM.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING TO DO IS CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SERVICE AND THOSE KEY CORRIDORS AND ROUTES WHERE WE KNOW THAT WE WOULD, THAT WE NEED ADDITIONAL SERVICE FOR PHYSICAL DISTANCING AND OUR FREQUENT NETWORK.
WE'RE FORTUNATE TO HAVE A, A GOOD, ROBUST, UH, FREQUENT NETWORK THAT ALLOWS SERVICE TO OPERATE EVERY 15 MINUTES OR BETTER SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
SO AS WE'VE LOOKED TO, TO ADVANCE INTO THE FALL, WE KNOW THAT WE'RE IN A, IN A GOOD MODE, KNOWING THAT WE CAN PROVIDE A HIGH LEVEL OF QUALITY SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK FOR OUR, FOR OUR COMMUTERS AND FOR OUR USERS.
SO SHARMILA GAVE PERHAPS AN OVERVIEW OF THE FALSE SERVICE CHANGES LAST MONTH.
THIS IS KIND OF A, IN A NUTSHELL, WHAT WE'VE DONE AND THAT BEGAN, THIS BEGAN LAST WEEK.
WE'VE ADDED SOME ADDITIONAL FREQUENCY ON SELECT ROUTES, AND I'LL SHOW YOU A MAP OF SOME OF THOSE ROUTES RIGHT NOW WE'VE INCREASED OUR SERVICE SPAN.
SO WE ARE NOW ON, ON A WEEKDAY SERVICE SPAN LEVEL.
WE'RE OPERATING EARLIER IN THE MORNING AND LATER IN THE EVENING AND ALREADY WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF RIDERSHIP NUMBERS THAT WE'VE RECORDED RIGHT NOW, WE DO SEE THAT PEOPLE ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT SERVICE TO GET TO WORK AND TO OTHER DESTINATIONS EARLY.
AND THEN TOWARDS THE EVENINGS, SATURDAYS HAS HAD THE SAME KIND OF, UM, CHANGE, OR WE ARE OPERATING EARLIER AND LATER IN THE EVENING.
AND SUNDAYS AS REMAINED THE SAME IN TERMS OF SPAN WITH THE START OF THE UNIVERSITY AND AISD, YOU KNOW, COMING A LITTLE BIT LATER ON, WE ARE LOOKING TO RESUME SCHOOL SERVICE ALREADY.
OUR UT SHUTTLES ARE AN OPERATION RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE IN REGISTRATION MODE UP UNTIL TOMORROW, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WE WILL GO INTO UT UT WEEKDAY SERVICE LEVELS.
AND I'LL GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IN THE NEXT FEW SLIDES.
WE'VE ALSO LOOKED TO ADJUST OUR RUNNING TIMES.
SO WE ARE NOW WHILE WE'VE REPLACED SOME SERVICE AND MODIFIED OUR SERVICE, UM, AS OF LAST WEEK, WE'VE ADJUSTED OUR, OUR RUNNING TIMES TO REFLECT THE FACT THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME KIND OF TRAFFIC PATTERNS, AND WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME KIND OF RIDERSHIP PATTERNS, BUT THERE IS A NEED TO CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THOSE AND CONTINUE TO ADJUST THEM BECAUSE THERE IS A, A CHANGE THAT HAS OCCURRED.
AND LASTLY, WITH RAIL EXPRESS AND FLYERS, UH, WE'RE MAINTAINING A REDUCED SERVICE LEVELS.
SO WE HAVE NOT REPLACED EVERYTHING IN ITS ENTIRETY, PRE COVID.
WE'RE CONTINUING WITH WHAT WE HAVE DONE.
DO YOU WANT IT? OF COURSE, OF COVID AND THEN BE BEING SELECTIVE AND WHERE WE ADD ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THERE.
I MENTIONED A COUPLE OF THE ROUTES WHERE WE'VE ADDED FREQUENCY.
METRO RAPIDS ARE NOW OPERATING AT EVERY 10 MINUTES ON WEEKDAYS.
PREVIOUSLY, WE WERE OPERATING EVERY 15 MINUTES ON WEEKDAYS.
[01:20:01]
IS, UH, AN ENHANCEMENT, UH, BACK TO PRE COVID LEVELS.AND THIS WAS IN PREPARATION FOR THE, FOR THE, OF UT STUDENTS INTO THE SYSTEM.
UM, THE 10 MINUTES SERVICE HELPS US TO DO, TO CONTROL THE PHYSICAL DISTANCE SEEN ON OUR SERVICES.
AND WE WERE ALREADY RECEIVING LOAD PATTERNS, UH, THAT REFLECTED THAT YEAH, WHEN IT COMES TO SOME, A SELECTION FREQUENT AND LOCAL ROUTES, THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THOSE ROUTES THAT HAVE RECEIVED ENHANCEMENTS.
ROUTE ONE IS NOW OPERATING EVERY 20 MINUTES PRE COVID.
IT WAS OPERATING EVERY 30 MINUTES, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, BUT NOW WE'VE, WE'VE ADJUSTED AND WE'RE OPERATING EVERY 20 MINUTES, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, ABOUT SEVEN IS OPERATING EVERY 10 MINUTES PRIOR TO COVERT.
IT WAS EVERY 12 TO 15 MINUTES.
AND THAT'S A ROUTE THAT IS HEAVILY UTILIZED BY UT STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY IN NORTH OF THE CAMPUS AREA, ROUTES 10 AND 20, UH, ROUTE TENNIS SOUTH FIRST RED RIVER ABOUT 20 IS MAINER.
AND, UM, RIVERSIDE, THOSE ARE OPERATING EVERY 12 MINUTES AND SERVICE PREVIOUSLY
AND LASTLY, OUR, UM, OUR TOP ROUTE, UM, CALLED ROUTE 300, IS IT CROSSED ON SERVICE.
AND THAT TRAVELS FROM, UH, WEST GATE TRANSIT CENTER ALL THE WAY UP TO, UM, CRESTVIEW STATION ALL THROUGH THE EASTERN PORTION OF OUR COMMUNITY.
THAT'S NOW OPERATING EVERY 10 MINUTES, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK PREVIOUSLY PRE COVID.
IT WAS EVERY 15 MINUTES THAT ROUTE HAPPENS TO SERVE SEVERAL GROCERY STORES, SEVERAL MAJOR, UH HEBS AND, UM, WE'VE ALREADY SEEN RIDERSHIP PATTERNS OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER, AND WE CONTINUE TO SEE THEM, AND WE WANTED TO BE PREPARED FOR ANY INFLUXES INTO THAT SERVICE.
AND WE STILL HAVE ADDITIONAL SIR, UH, VEHICLES THAT WE CALL, UH, STANDBYS THAT ARE, THAT ARE BEING PLACED AND READY TO GO SO THAT WE CAN SUPPLEMENT WHEREVER WE DO NEED ADDITIONAL SERVICE NEEDS.
WHEN IT CAME, WHEN IT COMES TO, TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SHUTTLE SYSTEM, WE WERE IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH THEM THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER TO SEE WHAT THEIR PLANS WERE AT PONDER RETURNED FOR THE FALL.
UM, WE RUN A SERIES OF ROUTES IN THE SYSTEM TO SUPPLEMENT, UM, UM, THE REST OF THE, OF THE CORE ROUTES THAT WE OPERATE.
UH, THESE ARE SPECIFIC TO TRY AND ADDRESS WHERE WE KNOW WE HAVE HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF STUDENTS THAT ARE TRAVELING TO, AND FROM THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS AREA.
WE HAVE SOME COMBINATION ROUTES THAT WE DO FOR EFFICIENCIES.
WE'RE NOT DOING THAT EVERY ROUTE RUNS INDEPENDENTLY.
THE UNIVERSITY IN YEARS PAST THAT TRADITIONALLY OPERATE UNDER A MODEL WHERE STUDENTS WENT TO CLASS EARLY IN THE MORNING AND STARTED TO RETURN HOME BY EARLY AFTERNOON, IN ORDER TO, TO KIND OF, UH, ALLOW FOR SOME DISTANCING FOR THE STUDENTS, UNIVERSITY HAS SWITCHED HER SCHEDULE SO THAT THEY OPERATE, OR THEY ACTUALLY OFFER COURSES FROM EIGHT IN THE MORNING TILL 8:00 PM.
AND THEN GO ON TIL MIDNIGHT WITH SOME SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS LIBRARIES AND DINING HALLS.
SO, AS WE LOOKED AT HOW WE WERE GOING TO REINSTATE THE SHUTTLES, WE TOOK THAT INTO ACCOUNT SO THAT WE MADE SURE THAT WE HAD ADEQUATE AND SUFFICIENT FREQUENCY THROUGHOUT THE DAY FROM EIGHT IN THE MORNING, TILL 8:00 PM, AND THEN TAPER OFF AFTER 8:00 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT.
SO THAT IS, IS, WILL BE GOING INTO PLACE STARTING ON WEDNESDAY.
AND THEN WE'VE MADE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO TRADITIONAL REGISTRATION OF SUNDAY SERVICE.
WHAT WE'VE KNOWN PRE COVID WE'LL COME BACK.
AND AS I SAID, WE ARE RIGHT NOW OPERATING UNDER REGISTRATION LEVELS.
THAT'S WHERE WE OPERATE A MINIMUM LEVEL OF SERVICE WITH ONE VEHICLE PER ROUTE AT ABOUT EVERY 30 MINUTES AND FREQUENCY FROM ABOUT EIGHT IN THE MORNING UNTIL FIVE.
AND THAT'S SO STUDENTS CAN GET TO, AND FROM THE MAIN CAMPUS FOR REGISTRATION AND OTHER MATTERS THAT THEY NEED IN ORDER TO GET READY FOR SCHOOL.
LASTLY, YOU SEE A, A BULLET THAT SAYS NO FINALS SERVICE, AND THAT'S BECAUSE THE UNIVERSITY WANTS, THEY WERE PLANNING ON HOW THEY WERE GOING TO RETURN TO CAMPUS.
THAT STATED TO US THAT ONCE THEY, THEY DID BRING STUDENTS TO CAMPUS, THEY WOULD GO INTO FULL FALL MODE.
BUT THEN ONCE THANKSGIVING BREAK CAME ABOUT TO BE, THEY WERE GOING TO SEND STUDENTS HOME AND NOT RETURNED THEM TO CAMPUS.
THEY WERE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH FINALS ONLINE ONLY.
SO WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS ONCE THE SHUTTLES TURN ON THE SPECIFIC ROUTES, THEY WILL, THEY WILL BE AN OPERATION ONLY UP UNTIL THANKSGIVING, AND THEN WE'LL SUSPEND THE OPERATION SOON, RIGHT AFTER.
SO THAT REFLECTS THE FACT THAT THE STUDENTS WILL BE AT HOME FROM THERE.
THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE CHANGED.
AS I MENTIONED, UM, WE ARE CONTINUING TO MONITOR SERVICE AS OF LAST WEEK.
WE ALREADY DID SEE AN INCREASE IN RIDERSHIP.
UH, PERHAPS MR. CLARK HAD POINTED SOME OUT MAYBE TO YOU ALL VERBALLY, BUT WE'VE ALREADY SEEN AN INCREASE IN RIDERSHIP.
THE, SOME OF THAT RIDERSHIP IS SPECIFIC TO THOSE ROUTES WHERE WE'VE ALREADY MADE THOSE FREQUENCY INVESTMENTS.
I MENTIONED A LITTLE BIT, WE HAVE SEEN SOME GROWTH IN THE MORNINGS AND IN THE EVENINGS THAT REFLECTS PEOPLE NEEDING TO GET TO AND FROM WORK IN THAT AREA.
AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO MONITOR THE SITUATION ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
OUR STAFF, A COMBINATION OF PLANNING AND OPERATION STAFF WILL BE OUT AND ABOUT, UH, MONITORING THE UT ROUTES TO MAKE SURE THAT THINGS ARE OPERATING AS THEY SHOULD BE.
[01:25:01]
AND THAT WE ARE ABLE TO SEE HOW THINGS ARE CHANGED IN AND AROUND THE SYSTEM SO THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND PLAN FOR CONTINUED, UM, IMPROVEMENTS AS NEEDED.SO WITH THAT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AND, OR HAND IT OVER TO PAT D'ADDARIO, WE'LL DO THE LAST PORTION OF THIS PRESENTATION QUESTIONS FOR, UH, ROBERTO CAN'T BECAUSE WE'RE STILL SCREEN SHARING.
SO YOU MAY NEED TO JUST SHOUT OUT ROBERTO.
I HAVE ONE, WHICH IS, UH, ANY GUESSES AS TO THE AMOUNT OF RIDERSHIP INCREASE YOU WOULD EXPECT.
AND THEN IN THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS, WELL, I MEAN, I, I HAD MENTIONED TO MR. CLARK, SOME OF MY IDEAS OF WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE.
UM, I MENTIONED TO HIM, WE, WEREN'T GOING TO SEE A RETURN OF A HUNDRED PERCENT, OF COURSE, BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE SITUATION IS, BUT THAT I, I DID BELIEVE THAT ANY, ANY INFLUX THAT WE HAD, WHETHER IT BE A, A FIVE, 10 OR 15%, UM, INPUT INTO OUR SYSTEM WAS GOING TO BE ENOUGH TO PUT US INTO A SITUATION WHERE WE DID HAVE TO ADJUST OUR SERVICE.
AND I BELIEVE THAT WE WE'VE DONE ALL THE RIGHT THINGS AND MONITORING OUR, OUR SERVICE PATTERNS UP TO THIS POINT AND TRYING TO PREDICT FORWARD THE UNIVERSITY GAVE US SOME INFORMATION JUST A WEEK AND A HALF AGO AS TO HOW MANY STUDENTS HAVE NOW BEEN ENROLLED ABOUT WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE ONLINE, WHAT PERCENTAGE WILL BE DOING, UM, DUAL IN TERMS OF SHOWING UP TO CAMPUS AS OPPOSED TO BEING ONLINE.
BUT IT'S HARD TO TELL RIGHT NOW, I THINK, I THINK WE'VE GOTTEN TO A GOOD POINT RIGHT NOW.
I THINK WE'VE BEEN SMART ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE DONE, GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE, BUT I WOULD HATE TO GIVE YOU AN EXACT FIGURE.
I DO HAVE SOME ESTIMATES AND AS SHARMILA POINTED OUT, WE DO HAVE SOME MODELS, SOME MODEL THAT WE'VE RUN.
WE DO HAVE SOME TARGETS, BUT WE'LL HAVE TO SEE HOW THINGS GO AND WE'LL KNOW MORE WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO.
WELL, WE WON'T MAKE YOU GET ON THE RECORD HERE, MR. GONZALES.
UH, YES, JUST A QUICK FOLLOWUP TO A BOARD CHAIR, COOPER.
UM, HOW FLEXIBLE DO YOU FEEL YOU ALL ARE RIGHT NOW? DO YOU NEED ANY, WILL THERE REQUIRE ANY FURTHER DECISIONS OR BOARD ACTION AS THIS SITUATION CONTINUES TO, TO EVOLVE? UH, AS, AS THINGS CHANGE, IF YOU ALL ARE, ARE IN, AS IF IT TURNS OUT THAT WE, THAT OUR RIDERSHIP NEEDS CONTINUE TO GROW, AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE TO ROLL OUT ADDITIONAL, UH, ROUTES OR ADDITIONAL SERVICE, UH, FLEXIBILITY TIMES DECREASING THE AVAILABILITY OF, UH, THE, THE PICKUP TIME OR DECREASE THE PICKUP TIMES BETWEEN THE BUSES AND STUFF.
UM, DO YOU NEED ANY ACTION BY US AS A BOARD TO, TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS AND DETERMINATIONS THAT'S, I GUESS, 0.1 0.2.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT, UM, YOU'VE, YOU'VE, YOU'RE GETTING THE INFORMATION AND HAVE THE RESOURCES AND FLEXIBILITY THAT YOU NEED TO CONTINUE TO MAKE SUCH DECISIONS AND DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO PIVOT.
AND THIS REALLY, YOU KNOW, JUST AN UNPRECEDENTED TIME, I GUESS, IS WHERE WE'RE KIND OF, WE'RE ALL SORT OF FEELING OUR WAY AS WE GO ALONG THROUGH THIS AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S NEXT AND WHAT DIRECTION THINGS ARE GONNA GO IN AS, AS WE MEET THESE NEW BENCHMARKS.
AND AS NEW POINTS IN TIME HAPPENS SUCH AS THE START OF UT VERSUS THE START OF AISD VERSUS, YOU KNOW, TAKE YOUR NEXT PICK AS WE GO ALONG THROUGH THIS, UM, THIS FALL AND INTO THE WINTER.
UM, I WOULD START OFF FIRST BY, UH, ON THE FIRST QUESTION.
UM, THE BOARD DID GIVE MR. CLARK SOME EMERGENCY, UM, AUTHORITY AT THE ONSET OF COVID OKAY.
SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SOME CHANGES AND WERE STILL FUNCTIONING UNDER THAT OPERATION THERE.
SO I THINK MR. CLARK HAS THE AUTHORITY AND I, AND I ALSO WANT TO SAY HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE HIS, HIS KNOWLEDGE OF OUR SYSTEM.
I MEAN, IT HELPS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT WHEN STAFF IS WORKING TOWARDS RECOMMENDATIONS OF HOW WE SHOULD APPROACH THINGS.
AND HE IS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO, ASKS US CHALLENGING QUESTIONS, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES THAT WE BELIEVE ARE NECESSARY MUCH TO YOUR SECOND QUESTION AND THAT WE'RE READY TO PROCEED.
AND THAT, AND THAT THESE DECISIONS ARE BASED ON FACTS AND DATA, THE BEST THAT WE HAVE ON HAND, BUT ALSO ANTICIPATING WHAT THINGS ARE GOING TO LOOK LIKE MOVING FORWARD.
SO I THINK TO YOUR FIRST QUESTION, MR. CLARK HAS THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE THESE EMERGENCY DECISIONS.
IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT WE NEED, WE DO ALWAYS WANT TO ADVISE THE BOARD OF WHAT WE ARE DOING.
AND WE HAVE HOPEFULLY DONE THAT TO THIS POINT.
AND SECONDLY, WHEN IT COMES TO RESOURCES, IF WE HAVE AN INFLUX MORE THAN WHAT WE
[01:30:01]
WERE SEEING RIGHT NOW AND WHAT WE'RE PREDICTING, IT'S GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE, UM, GOING FORWARD AS TO HOW WE'RE GOING TO MEET THAT, GIVEN THAT WE HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF, OF, OF VEHICLES AND OR OPERATORS, AND WE'RE USING THIS AS MANY AS WE CAN RIGHT NOW, BUT THAT'S GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE.IF WE FIND OURSELVES IN A SITUATION TO WHERE, UH, CONDITIONS CHANGE IN THIS COMMUNITY, WE DO HAVE CONTINGENCY PLANS.
AND, UM, FOR THAT, AND WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE THINGS AND SEE HOW QUICKLY WE, WE CAN MANEUVER, BUT WE'VE GOT A, A GOOD STAFF AT ALL LEVELS THAT ARE ABLE TO, TO PIVOT QUICKLY.
UH, WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE.
I THINK WE, WE YOU'RE ABLE TO SEE IN THE COMMUNITY WAS ABLE TO SEE HOW MUCH AND HOW QUICKLY WE WERE ABLE TO PIVOT FROM THE TIME WHEN THIS WAS BECOMING A SITUATION TO WHERE IT, IT REALLY CHANGED OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WITHIN A MATTER OF FIVE DAYS, WE WERE ALREADY IN A MODIFIED SERVICE.
WHEREAS SOME OF OUR PEERS HAD STRUGGLED FOR WEEKS ON END THAT DETERMINED HOW THEY WERE GOING TO REACT, AND WE WERE ABLE TO DO IT QUICKLY.
AND I THINK WE'RE IN GOOD HANDS AND GOING FORWARD.
AND WE'RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO SEE HOW UT, UM, DEVELOPS OVER THE COURSE OF THE FALL.
MR. CLARK, DID YOU WANT TO SAY ANYTHING? THOSE ITEMS? I THINK HE DID A GOOD JOB OR BURDEN AND JUST OUTLINE HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE IT.
THE STAFF, UH, THEY'VE BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY TO DO THIS.
IT'S HEAVILY CONNECTED INTO THE INDUSTRY AS WELL.
NO AGENCY HAS A SOLUTION AND WE JUST GOT TO STAY ON OUR TOES, ALL DRIVEN BY DATA.
AND THE ONE PART THAT ROBERTO SHOWED THAT I DO, I THINK THE CAP METRO SHOULD TAKES A PRIDE ON THE BOARD ALL THE WAY THROUGH EVERY ONE OF THE ORGANIZATION IS WE SAID, WE'RE GOING TO DO OUR RECOVERY BASED ON, UH, ON THIS CARE PRINCIPLE.
AND THAT EQUITY IS SPECIFICALLY HELPING PEOPLE WITH ESSENTIAL TRIPS AND SOCIAL CENTRAL WORKERS.
AND THE 300 TO ME IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THAT.
BOSTON NORMALLY RUNS EVERY 15 MINUTES, WHICH IS KIND OF A WORKHORSE OF OUR SYSTEM.
WE'RE NOW RUNNING A 10 MINUTE FREQUENCY TO REALLY SPACE PEOPLE OUT AND GIVE THE SERVICE POSSIBLE TO THOSE THAT ARE TRULY THE MOST TRANSIT DEPENDENT AND NEEDING A TRANSIT.
SO I'M REALLY PROUD OF HOW THE TEAM HAS RESPONDED.
AND THAT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE COMMUNITY VALUE OF THE ORGANIZATION.
THANK YOU ALL APPRECIATE THE UPDATE.
I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY, I ALSO TOOK YOUR CUE AND I GOT A HAIRCUT.
I HAD BEEN, IT HAD BEEN FIVE MONTHS AND IT WAS, UH, IT WAS REALLY, REALLY NICE.
WELL, YOU'RE A YOU'RE BACKLIT, SO WE CAN'T FULLY APPRECIATE IT.
WE'LL HAVE TO, UH, UH, UH, WAIT FOR THE NEXT MEETING TO GET A FULL GLIMPSE OF IT, BUT I SUSPECT YOU DIDN'T GET YOURS CUT AS SHORT AS I GOT MINE.
DO WE HAVE A PAT FALLING? YES.
BOARD MEMBERS, PRESIDENT CLARK.
I'M PAT BADARI DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES.
IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL VIRTUALLY TODAY.
AS CHARMELLA MENTIONED, WE'VE DEVELOPED A DASHBOARD TO HELP US ACHIEVE A COUPLE OF THINGS.
FIRST OF ALL, TO MAINTAIN OUR COMMITMENT, TO TRANSPARENCY AS AN ORGANIZATION, AND THEN I'LL BRING HOME THE CARE, UM, PHILOSOPHY BEHIND OUR RECOVERY AND THAT'S TO HELP US SUPPLY OUR RESOURCES WISELY.
INEQUITABLY RELY ON DATA TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT OUR SERVICE AND PERFORMANCE, AND THEN EVALUATE OUR RESULTS AND ADAPT ACCORDINGLY.
SO TODAY WE'RE PRESENTING FOR YOUR REVIEW AND COMMENT THE CARE DASHBOARD.
CAN WE GET THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE ADD, CAN WE GET THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE? THANK YOU.
SO THIS IS THE DASHBOARD THAT WE HAVE CREATED FOR MONITORING OUR PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING OVERALL SYSTEM RIDERSHIP.
AND WE WANTED TO SEE THE IMPACT THAT COVID HAS HAD ON OUR SYSTEM RIDERSHIP.
AND REALLY THIS DASHBOARD IS TO SUPPORT ALL OF THE EFFORTS THAT ROBERTO JUST DISCUSSED ABOUT OUR RIDERSHIP AND MANAGING OUR RIDERSHIP.
HOWEVER, WE ALSO WANTED TO INCLUDE OUR TOP FIVE ROUTES AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE RIDERSHIP LEVELS THAT ARE STILL GENERATING SIGNIFICANT RIDERSHIP IN HOW WE MANAGE THE, THOSE ROUTES AS WELL BELOW THE TOP FIVE ROUTES, A QUADRANT YOU'LL ALSO SEE DATA REGARDING THE SOCIAL DISTANCING CAPACITY CAPITAL.
METRO MAINTAINS A COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL DISTANCE DISTANCING, ONBOARD OUR VEHICLES.
AND SO THIS MEASURE REALLY HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE NUMBER OF TRIPS WITH CAPACITY OVER 50% FOR 15 MINUTES OR MORE.
SO WE, WE SUPPORT OUR OPERATIONS GROUP AND MANAGING THE CAPACITY ON BOARD OUR VEHICLES.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ARE ALSO DISPLAYING DATA.
SO YOU'LL ALSO SEE THE RIDERSHIP IMPACT OF OUR PARATRANSIT
[01:35:01]
SERVICE.UH, WE ALSO, UH, CAN OTHERS SEE THE DASHBOARD? I DON'T, I'M NOT ABLE TO SEE IT.
IS IT JUST ME? YEAH, I CAN SEE IT.
CAN EVERYBODY ELSE SEE IT? OKAY.
AND COULD YOU CONFIRM FOR PORTABLE KITCHEN? THIS WAS IN THE PACKET SENT TO HER.
I CAN SHARE MY SCREEN IF THAT HELPS.
UM, WELL IT JUST SAYS IT'S GOT THE HEADER AND THE BLUE BACKGROUND AND THAT'S IT.
MAYBE BOARD MEMBER, IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THE PACKET, IT'S A SLIDE 14 OUT OF 16 IN THE SECTION.
AND IF IT, THE PACKET EITHER THE PACKET WASN'T UPDATED, BUT I WAS SEEING THE UPDATED DASHBOARD ON THE SCREEN.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS A LOADING ERROR OR SOMETHING.
WOULD IT HELP IF I SHARED MY SCREEN, WE'LL ADMIT IT.
UM, BUT UM, IT'S DONE IN THE BACKUP.
SO AM I ABLE TO SHARE MY SCREEN? CAN EVERYBODY SEE THAT? YES, YES, I CAN SEE IT NOW.
SO THIS IS THE, THE ACTUAL DASHBOARD THAT IS ON, UM, OUR POWER BI FLAT PLATFORM.
SO, UM, AS I WAS MENTIONING, WE DO HAVE PARATRANSIT DATAS AVAILABLE AS WELL.
WE ALSO INCLUDED THE NUMBER OF MEALS THAT OUR PARATRANSIT FOLKS HAVE DELIVERED, WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT MEASURE FOR US, UH, DURING THE COVID, UH, PRICES, WE DID DELIVER MEALS, AND THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT MEASURE FOR US TO PROBABLY DISPLAY ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE DASHBOARD.
WE DO HAVE MEASURES THAT INCLUDE STAFF SAFETY AND ALL OF THE EFFORTS WE'VE MADE IN ENSURING OUR STAFF IS SAFE BY DISTRIBUTING MASKS, GLOVES, HAND, SANITIZER, AND THEN INSTALLING THE PLEXIGLASS BARRIERS ON BOARD OUR VEHICLES.
SO THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF THE MEASURES FOR STAFF SAFETY.
WE'VE ALSO INCLUDED SOME NARRATIVES ABOUT EXTRA MEASURES, INCLUDING, UM, SUPPLEMENTAL LEAVE, UH, THAT EMPLOYEES TOOK AS A, AS PART OF OUR COBOT CRISIS, UH, ENFORCING OUR REAR DOOR BOARDING AND SKIP SEATS, SIGNS OF SUPPORT, THE SOCIAL DISTANCING EFFORT, UH, DISTRIBUTING CARE PACKAGES TO OUR CUSTOMERS THAT INCLUDE HAND SANITIZER AND MASK.
UH, SO THEY HAVE THE READILY AVAILABLE WITH THE MASK MANDATE THAT HAS BEEN ENFORCED.
AND WE ARE ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF UPGRADING THE STATES FROM CLOTH TO VINYL, UM, ON LOCAL, ON LOCAL FLEET TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DISINFECT THE SEATS.
SO THOSE ARE JUST THE FEW THINGS THAT, UH, WE ARE DISPLAYED ON THIS CARE DASHBOARD, UM, TO HELP US MONITOR AND EVALUATE OUR RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY.
HI, PAT, THIS IS A BOARD MEMBER STRATTON.
I JUST WANT TO, UM, FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS PHENOMENAL AND AMAZING, AMAZING DATA THAT YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT ENTERTAINMENT PUT TOGETHER TOO FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING THAT THE SOCIAL DISTANCING, UH, METRIC HERE.
UM, CAN YOU, CAN YOU REAL QUICK DEFINE WHAT IS A W WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A TOTAL SUPPLEMENTAL TRIP ON THAT SOCIAL DISTANCING SLIDE? THOSE ARE THE TRIPS THAT WE SUPPLEMENTED, UH, TO HELP RESTORE SERVICE OUT AT LESS THAN 50% CAPACITY.
AND THEN THE, THE PERCENT OVER CAPACITY TRIPS BACK WHEN WE STARTED THIS OUT IN MARCH, WE WERE STILL GETTING THINGS UNDER CONTROL 9.6%.
SO THEN WHAT THAT'S SAYING HERE IS THAT LIKE, IN JUNE 2.3% OF THE TOTAL TRIPS EXCEEDED WHAT WE WERE PROJECTING IS WHAT OUR GOAL WAS FOR THE SOCIAL DISTANCING.
ARE WE TALKING ABOUT JUST THAT THAT PASSENGERS WERE, WERE SIX FEET APART? OR HOW ARE WE, HOW DO WE DEFINE WHAT THAT SOCIAL DISTANCING IS BY OUR METRIC TO JUMP IN ON THIS? SO THIS IS KIND OF A CONFUSING METRIC AND IT'S, UM, SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT TO DEFINE.
SO I WANT IT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ASK DOTTIE TO EXPLAIN THIS WAY.
I'M HAPPY TO, AGAIN, I'M DANNY WATKINS, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
SO THE, UM, OUR CAPACITY EXPECTATION IS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP OUR BUSES
[01:40:01]
TO LESS THAN 50% OF THE TOTAL SEATS ON THE VEHICLE.UM, AND SO OUR OVER CAPACITY, OUR TRIPS THAT, THAT EXCEED THAT FOR 15 MINUTES OR LONGER, UM, WE ACTUALLY LOOK AS STAFF AT BOTH ANY, ANY EXCEEDING IMPACT CAPACITY PLUS THE 15 MINUTES OR LONGER, UM, MORE THAN HALF OF OUR TRIPS THAT EXCEED HALF OF THE SEATED LOAD, RESOLVE THAT ISSUE WITHIN A MATTER OF MINUTES.
SO SOMEBODY GETS OFF TO THE NEXT STOP.
UM, AND SO IT DOESN'T BECOME A PROLONGED ISSUE.
UM, BUT THESE ARE THE PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL TRIPS THAT WE HAVE RIGHT IN THE SYSTEM THAT WE'RE OVER 50% OF THE NUMBER OF SEATS ON A BUS.
UM, FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES, I GOT TO SAY THAT EVERYTHING THAT Y'ALL ARE HAVING TO DEAL WITH AND DO THIS IS PRETTY FREAKING AMAZING AND PHENOMENAL THAT, THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO KEEP THE SYSTEM BALANCED.
YOU'RE YOU'RE HAVING TO WATCH THIS LIKE A, AND IN MANY CASES, MICROMANAGE THIS IN WAYS.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY EVER CONSIDERED AND THOUGHT OF, AND IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT, THAT METRIC IS, IS IT 1.6 1.9 2.38? WOW.
KUDOS, KUDOS TO ALL OF YOU ALL.
AND JUST, JUST REITERATE AND SHOWS.
I THINK THIS, THIS SHOULD SHOW THE PUBLIC HOW MUCH WE'RE TAKING, YOU KNOW, TAKING HEALTH AND SAFETY SERIOUSLY WITHIN OUR OPERATIONS AND, AND TAKING THE CARE OF A CENTRAL WORKER SERIOUSLY.
AND THEN ALSO FOR ANYBODY ELSE THAT NEEDS TO USE THE SERVICES TO WHERE WE'RE HEALTHY, WE'RE SAFE AND WE'RE, WE'RE READY TO DO BUSINESS.
SO, ONE MORE THING I'LL MENTION IS THAT AS ALL OF OUR DASHBOARDS, AS IN ALL OF OUR DASHBOARDS, WE DO HAVE TOOL TIPS THAT DEFINE EVERY SINGLE METRIC ON OUR DASHBOARD.
SO WE HAVE DEFINED EVERYTHING ON OUR DASHBOARDS.
SO, UM, THAT IS MY PRESENTATION AT THIS TIME.
I'LL PAUSE AND ASK IF THERE'S ANY OTHER FEEDBACK THAT YOU HAVE OR ANY QUESTIONS THAT I CAN ANSWER.
PAT, YOU MIGHT JUST SAY AGAIN, WHERE THIS CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS AND CLIENTS.
WE HAVE NOT PUBLISHED THIS YET.
WE WANTED TO PRESENT THIS TO YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK, BUT ONCE IT IS FINALIZED, WE WILL BE PRESENTED AS PART OF OUR PERFORMANCE, UH, DASHBOARDS, AS WELL AS OUR COBIT SECTION ON OUR WEBSITE CAP, METRO.ORG.
THE ONLY, UH, UH, FEEDBACK I WOULD GIVE ON THE SOCIAL DISTANCING QUADRANT, A LITTLE MORE, UH, INFORMATION, AND MAYBE THE QUESTIONS WHEN YOU GO TO THE DEFINITIONS HELPS, UH, JUST TO CLARIFY WHAT TOTAL SUPPLEMENTAL TRIPS MEANS AND PERCENTAGE OVERCAPACITY TRIPS, BUT OTHERWISE THIS IS FABULOUS, VERY HELPFUL.
AND AS BOARD MEMBERS STRATTON SAID REFLECTS WHAT A CAREFUL JOB, UH, STAFF IS DOING TO FINE TUNE OUR OPERATIONS, TO DELIVER A SERVICE WITH THE GOAL OF KEEPING SOCIAL, DISTANCING, INTACT, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR PAT? ALL RIGHT.
THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO'S BEHIND ALL THIS TOO.
[VII. Reports]
I THINK NEXT WE HAVE A PRESIDENT, A REPORT FROM PRESIDENT CLARK AND THEN, UM, THAT WILL BE THE END OF OUR REGULAR MEETING AGENDA.AND WE'LL GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DO, TO DISCUSS A LAWSUIT.
UM, AND THERE'S A DIFFERENT LINK.
SO WE'LL TAKE JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES AFTER PRESIDENT CLARK'S, UH, COMMENTS, UH, AND THEN A RECONVENE ON THE OTHER LINK, PRESIDENT CLARK.
UH, THANK YOU, CHAIR COOPER, AND YOU ARE CORRECT.
THE STAFF HAS DONE AN AMAZING JOB OF JUST REMEMBER SHUT-INS, IT'S BALANCING THE SYSTEM.
SO THAT'S NOT JUST THE BUS OPERATIONS TEAM, IT'S THE IT TEAM, UH, UH, PLANNING TEAM, A LOT OF PEOPLE WORKING VERY HARD ON THAT, AND I APPRECIATE ALL THEIR EFFORTS.
A COUPLE OF THINGS I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT DOTTIE, UH, MENTIONED IT, BUT JUST IN THE LAST WEEK WE GOT OUR FIRST DELIVERY OF OUR SIX 60 FOOT ELECTRIC BOSS.
UM, PROBABLY SEVEN OR EIGHT OTHER PLACES IN NORTH AMERICA NOW HAVE GOT A 60 FOOT BUS.
UH, IT'S PROBABLY THE NICEST BOSS EVER ACTUALLY MANUFACTURED BY A NEW FLYER.
WE WANT TO REALLY HIGHLIGHT THIS AS KIND OF THE BUS OF THE FUTURE.
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHOWING, UH, ALL THAT OFF TO, UH, BOARD MEMBERS AND THE COMMUNITY IN THE COMING DAYS AND WEEKS.
I ALSO WANT TO MENTION, UH, THE UNFORTUNATE PASSING OF, UH, AND I WASN'T ABLE TO MEET THIS INDIVIDUAL, BUT I THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE NOTED STEVEN BAYER.
AND HE WAS THE FORMER CAP BOARD MEMBER, UH, OF A MEMBER OF THE BOARD AND THE CHAIR.
AND HE SERVED ON THE BOARD FROM 1987
[01:45:01]
TO 1990 AND THE LAST TWO OF THOSE YEARS WITH THE CHAIR.UM, AND HE PASSED AWAY IN JULY AND WE WANT TO JUST RECOGNIZE, UH, HIM AND FOR HIS SERVICE.
AND, UH, WE SENT A NOTE AND, UH, TO HIS FAMILY AS WELL ON THAT WANTED TO MAKE YOU ALL AWARE OF THAT.
A COUPLE HIGHLIGHTS, UH, OF NEW SERVICES OR NEW INITIATIVES COMPLETING ONE IS, UH, WE JUST LAUNCHED ON THE 18TH, A NEW PICKUP SERVICE AND LOG IN VISTA, VERY SIMILAR TO WHEN WE HAVE A MAINER LEANDER AND MULTIPLE ONES IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND IT'S NOW AVAILABLE WEEKDAYS FROM 10 TO SIX, UH, CHAD, SUSIE, JAMES BUSH, AND THE ENTIRE TEAM PLUS THE, UH, THE IT, UH, IT, UH, TEAM AND, UH, VIA TEAM DID A FANTASTIC JOB ON THAT.
LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, CONTINUING TO GROW THOSE ZONES.
UH, I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, UH, WHAT THE NEXT ZONES MAY LOOK LIKE.
WE'RE TRYING TO PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER, MAYBE FOR THE OCTOBER BOARD MEETING TO BRING BACK TO YOU WHAT THE NEXT, UH, THREE ZONES WOULD LOOK LIKE.
UH, IF WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT SERVICE.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON THAT, ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT, UH, A QUOTE FROM THE CITY OF LOG OF VISTA FACEBOOK PAGE THAT I THOUGHT WAS INTERESTING WAS QUOTE LIFE-CHANGING.
SO IT IS GREAT TO SEE PEOPLE, UH, UH, NOT ONLY USING THESE NEW SERVICES, BUT, UH, THAT THEY'RE REALLY ARE VALUABLE FOR MEMBERS OF OUR, OF OUR COMMUNITY.
THE OTHER PIECE THAT I KNOW SHARE THIS GOES TO YOUR HEART.
UH, I WANTED TO GIVE AN UPDATE ON PTC.
SO ON AUGUST 10 CAPITAL METRO RECEIVED OUR CERTIFICATION FROM THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION FOR A FINAL STATUTORY, UH, CERTIFICATION FOR, UH, OUR POSITIVE FRANK CONTROL SYSTEM.
UH, IT HAS BEEN WHERE THE WORK, UH, SO FINANCIAL BURDEN, THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT, THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PUT ON, NOT JUST CUTTING UP ALL THE RAILROADS, BUT THE WORK THAT, UH, DAVE TED AND THE ENTIRE PGC IMPLEMENTATION TEAM, THERE'S TOO MANY PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY CALL OUT THAT THOSE TWO INDIVIDUALS, I DEFINITELY WANT TO PERSONALLY THANK, UH, ALSO MODERN RAILWAY SYSTEMS, MRS. HERZOG, UH WAKO AND, UH, ACTUALLY THE FRA TEAM HAS JUST BEEN FANTASTIC, UH, ADMINISTRATOR VITORI AND HE TOOK OVER A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO AND HIS WHOLE TEAM, THEY ARE INCREDIBLE PARTNER.
AND I JUST WANT TO GIVE A REALLY A BIG SHOUT OUT AND KUDOS TO THE ENTIRE TEAM TO WORK ON PTC, TO GET THAT CERTIFICATION IS A BIG WEIGHT OFF ALL OF OUR SHOULDERS.
OUR RAILROAD IS INCREDIBLY SAFE.
THIS IS ANOTHER LAYER OF SAFETY, UH, THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MANDATED ACROSS ALL RAILROADS, BUT, UH, THE TEAM DID A GREAT JOB.
WE MET OUR STATUTORY DEADLINES AND NOW THE WORK GOES ON AND ON TO CONTINUE TO MODIFY OUR SYSTEM, UH, AND MAKE IT AS EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE.
SO I KNOW DAVE DECK SPECIFICALLY WILL, UH, HAVE, UH, TOOK A BIG BREATH OF RELIEF THE OTHER DAY WHEN THIS HAPPENED AND HE AND HIS TEAM DESERVE A LOT OF KUDOS AND, UH, A FEW MINUTES TO RELAX UNTIL WE CONTINUE TO DO A LOT MORE.
SO WITH THAT, UH, I'LL PASS THAT'S THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT CHAIR, AND, UH, HAPPY TO TAKE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ANY OF YOU MAY HAVE, BUT, UH, UH, AGAIN, JUST ALWAYS AS USUAL THING, THANK THE STAFF.
THEY'RE JUST DOING A GREAT JOB FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND I WANT TO THANK THE BOARD AS WELL.
YOU'VE ALL COMMITTED A LOT OF TIME, INCLUDING AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF PROJECT CONNECT MEETINGS.
AND, UH, SINCE WE MET LAST AND, UH, APPRECIATE ALL THE VOTES, YOU'VE ALL TAKEN TO A ADVANCED TRANSIT IN THE COMMUNITY.
YOU'RE ON MUTE CHAIR ACTUALLY AFTER 400 OF THESE MEETINGS, YOU'D THINK I FIGURED THAT OUT QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR PRESIDENT CLARK.
I JUST HAVE ONE AND THAT'S TO CONGRATULATE DAVE AND EVERYBODY, UH, ON, UH, THIS PTC PROJECT WE'VE BEEN UNDER THE GUN AND, UH, ON DEADLINE FOR YEARS.
AND, UH, NOW I THINK WE CAN QUIT TALKING ABOUT PTC.
UH, AND, UH, I THINK YOU EARLIER SAID PRESIDENT CLARK, THAT WE'LL REFER TO IT AS, UM, UH, SIGNALING, RIGHT? SO I DON'T HAVE TO HEAR PTC EVER AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME.
I THINK SO KUDOS TO OUR TEAM FOR GETTING OUR GOAL WILL BE TO NOT MENTION PTCT AGAIN, WORDS THAT SHE'LL NEVER BE SPOKEN AGAIN IN MY PRESENCE.
THERE WAS SOME COMMENT MADE EARLIER BY EVERY ONE OF THE SPEAKERS.
THEY HAD A, YOU KNOW, THAT I GOT MY, MY TRANSIC OUT.
I HAVE NEVER ASKED FOR A ROUTE TO BE PUT INTO MY DISTRICT OR ANYWHERE IN AUSTIN, AND I LEAVE IT UP TO THE SPECIALIST AND THE ONES THAT, UH, THEY RUN THE NUMBERS AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, AND IF I FEEL LIKE IT'S A VERY GOOD PLAN
[01:50:01]
AND IT'S GONNA INCREASE RIDERSHIP, AND I DO SUPPORT THOSE, AND I HAVE NEVER ASKED RANDY TO PUT HER OUT IN MY DISTRICT AT ALL.SO I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY GOT THAT INFORMATION, BUT I NEVER REQUESTED ONE.
I'LL ACTUALLY JUST FOR THE TRANSPARENCY OF THE RECORD, I'VE NEVER HAD A BOARD MEMBER, UH, ASKED FOR A ROUTE OR ANYTHING.
SO WE'VE HAD LOTS OF QUESTIONS, LOTS OF, UH, I WOULD CALL IT EDUCATION OR ASKING ABOUT INFORMATION TO, TO UNDERSTAND TOPICS OR SAY, CAN YOU TALK TO OTHER PEOPLE? BUT, UH, I WILL SAY KUDOS TO THIS BOARD.
THIS BOARD REALLY DOES, UH, DEFERENTIAL TO PEOPLE LIKE ROBERTO AND THE STAFF.
THAT'S MY, MY JOB IS ALSO TO DO THAT VERY DATA DRIVEN PROCESS.
AND I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT ON BEHALF OF THE STAFF MEMBER HILL.
WERE YOU TRYING TO GET IN NOW? MY SON WAS JUST ASKING FOR MONEY, BUT THAT'S OKAY.
[VIII. Executive Session under Chapter 551, Texas Government Code:]
UH, THAT WILL CONCLUDE OUR REGULAR MEETING AND, UH, WE WILL COME BACK ONLY TO ADJOURN IT.NOW, BOARD MEMBERS, I ASK THAT YOU LOG OUT OF THIS MEETING AND IF YOU GO TO YOUR CALENDAR APPOINTMENT, PRESIDENT CLARK SENT ME ONE TO SAY, DO YOU WANT TO GIVE EVERYONE A COUPLE OF MINUTES CHAIR? JUST SO FOR ROTATION? UH, SURE.
SO, UH, LET'S, UH, HOP OFF OF THIS MEETING AND THEN IN YOUR CALENDAR, UH, THERE IS ANOTHER LINK FOR THE EXECUTIVE SESSION.
WHY DON'T WE TAKE FIVE MINUTES AND CONVENIENT, UH, IS NOW ONE 57, TWO MINUTES AFTER THE HOUR ON THE OTHER LINK.