Cap Metro

CSAC:

Below is a brief summary of the August Cap Metro Board meeting.  Many thanks to Roger Cauvin for reporting to the Board on behalf of the Committee.

The Capital Metro Board of Directors met on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009, for a board meeting. Below is a summary of the meeting.

Action Items

Here’s an update on the items they approved:

• Approve board minutes from July 27 and Aug. 10, 2009.

• Ratify the 2009 option year, and contract for FY2010, with Cigna Group Insurance, for basic life, accidental death and dismemberment and long-term disability insurance. The 2009 option year amounts to $435,000, and the contract for 2010 will not exceed $415,000.

· Contract with Veolia Transportation for Fixed Route Service, for a five-year base period in an amount not to exceed $56,504,290.

• Suspend ‘Dillo service effective Oct. 2009. Due to the continuing drop in sales tax revenue and the very low ridership on the two ‘Dillo routes, they will be suspended, and the last day of service will be Oct. 2, 2009.

• Execute interlocal agreement with the City of Austin for transit passes for city employees, for $127,000 for FY2010. The agreement allows for the issuance of 1,000 passes to city employees with the option of purchasing additional passes if demand increases.

• Appoint Board Member Riley to the Operations/Business Development Committee.

Worksession Presentations

The board received a presentation titled Austin Accessibility Assessment Improvement by the Alliance for Public Transportation. The study team applauded Capital Metro’s continued funding of bus stop accessibility, and noted their appreciation of staff’s time and cooperation during the study process.

Executive Vice President, Finance & Administration Randy Hume presented the draft FY2010 budget. The balanced budget includes a proposal to use $2.6 million of federal stimulus funding for operating expenses and deferring a planned bus replacement purchase.

Internal Auditor Marcus Horton provided a brief fraud and ethics training for the board, similar to the training given to staff earlier this year; more extensive written material will be sent to the board.

Roger Cauvin reported to the board on behalf of the Customer Service Advisory Commission.

Board Meeting Presentations

Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer Doug Allen updated the board regarding startup of the MetroRail Red Line. The operating schedule has been revised. Frequency will be every 35 minutes during morning and afternoon peak hours, with nine morning trips and 10 afternoon trips. The Federal Railroad Administration was on site Aug. 24-27. An FRA test regarding temporal separation revealed an issue with our system that we will need to work through, including additional documentation regarding system integration.

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Officer Aida Douglas and Community Involvement Coordinator Dinita Caldwell updated the board on the agency’s DBE program. The DBE goal for FY2010 is 22 percent.

Vice President of Planning and Strategic Development Todd Hemingson delivered a report on All Systems Go. We are going to submit a grant for federal TIGER funds—the application deadline is Sept. 14. We are working closely with the federal government on our MetroRapid project, and we are also working closely with CAMPO for their regional CAMPO 2035 plan. ServicePlan2020, Capital Metro’s analysis of our bus system, is moving forward, and the first round of public involvement meetings were held last week. There will be two more rounds of public meetings before the board receives the final recommendations from the study.

Todd also delivered a new Sustainability Report, which will be a recurring report for the board. The agency’s Sustainability Team meets regularly to develop better ways of doing business. Recently the group approved a new idling policy for non-revenue vehicles.

President and CEO Fred Gilliam reported that average daily ridership for July 2009 was down about 10 percent over last year. On-time performance was 91.7 percent, and we hit most of our other targets for July, too.  Revenue from sales tax is down about nine percent year to date.

Fred recognized Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Andrea Lofye, who’s been selected to participate in Leadership APTA in the coming year. Vice President of Business & Community Development Dianne Mendoza will be on the Diversity Council for APTA.

Access Committee Chair Diane Aleman delivered the Access Advisory Committee report. The public hearing regarding the MetroAccess policy changes is scheduled for the middle of the day on Sept. 14, and the committee is concerned because it will be difficult for many people to attend during the regular workday. The Access Committee is generally still concerned about the proposed changes and believes Capital Metro should wait to implement them until the IVR improvements and other improvements that were promised to the Access Committee are made. The Access Committee has interviewed 17 applicants for the Access Committee and is recommending that four be appointed.

Public Comment
The board heard public comment regarding the fare increase, rail safety, customer service, the schedule book, MetroAccess policy changes, and labor relations.

John-Michael V. Cortez

512.369.6201

512.845.8719