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HomeMy WebLinkAboutattachment2 Please contact the Transit Advisory Board at TAB@ci.oshkosh.wi.us with any questions or concerns. TRANSIT ADVISORY BOARD STAFF AGENDA ITEMS June 17, 2020 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OLD BUSINESS 1. UPDATE ON K-12 STUDENT BUSING – The City Council and Oshkosh Area School District are finalizing an agreement which would allow K-12 Students to ride “FREE” with a School ID. The Program would be year-round and funded 1/3 by the City, 1/3 by the School District and 1/3 by private sources. NEW BUSINESS 2. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR POSITIONS 3. A PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION ON WINNEBAGO CATCH-A-RIDE BY HOLLY KEENAN OF MAKING THE RIDE HAPPEN This program has been extended with additional grant funding. The program provides subsidized transportation for people outside of GO Transit’s operating hours and service area. It is geared for employment but can also potentially be used for other rides. 4. CARES ACT FUNDS PLANS GO Transit was notified we will be receiving CARES Act Supplemental Public Transportation funding. The CARES Act was signed into law on March 27th providing $2 trillion in support for a variety of industries affected by COVID-19, including the transit industry. Recognizing that transit providers have seen a drastic decrease in ridership and revenue as a result of social distancing, while incurring unplanned costs for health and safety, the CARES Act provides an unprecedented $25 billion nationally to support the transit industry response to COVID-19. Wisconsin transit agencies will receive funds under this act. As is the case with our federal transit operating funds, CARES Act funding for small urban transit systems like GO Transit is allocated by WisDOT. WisDOT notified GO Transit that we will be receiving $4,553,754. FTA is requiring recipients to apply for CARES Act funds as soon as possible and asks that they be committed/spent expeditiously. Although the priority for the funding is operational expenses, FTA will generally consider all transit expenses normally eligible under regular transit operating and P a g e | 2 If unable to attend the meeting, PLEASE call one of my staff workers at 232-5340 or email Jane Boucher at jboucher@ci.oshkosh.wi.us and let her know, so we are assured of having a quorum. Capital programs that are incurred on or after January 20, 2020 to be in response to economic or other conditions caused by COVID-19 and thus eligible under the CARES Act. FTA and WisDOT are being very flexible with transit uses of these funds. These funds will allow GO Transit to cover many of our additional costs as well as fund some overdue capital projects. We are working with FTA and WisDot and keeping them updated on our plans for these funds. I have attached a spreadsheet which shows our plans for these funds. As a federally supported transit agency, GO Transit is held to the same standards as all transit agencies in the country. This includes extensive reporting and regulatory requirements. We are held to the same standards as large urban transit systems such as New York and Chicago. Large transit systems such as New York for example have seen huge revenue declines and unprecedented increased costs due to the current pandemic. GO Transit has also seen revenue declines and increased costs on a much smaller scale. I point this dichotomy out because this is a very unusual case where being grouped with all federally supported transit systems large and small benefits GO Transit. STAFF STATEMENTS 5. DOWNTOWN TRANSIT CENTER A site selection and planning study for a potential new downtown transit center will be kicking off soon. SRF Consulting Group was awarded the contract and the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will lead the process. 6. GPS AND APP GPS and the Go Transit APP has been improved with the new Android Tablets. 7. GRANT FUNDED PROCRUREMENTS A service truck & underground fuel tank replacement have been purchased. P a g e | 3 If unable to attend the meeting, PLEASE call one of my staff workers at 232-5340 or email Jane Boucher at jboucher@ci.oshkosh.wi.us and let her know, so we are assured of having a quorum.