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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 3.12.2024 (Approved) Attendees: Al Hartman Sean Lynch Jim Collins, Transportation Director Evelyn Meuret Deb Martin Steve Tomasik, Transit Operations Mgr. Jeff Armstrong Lynnsey Erickson, Council Jane Weber, Secretary Also Present: OPD Representative – Lt. Kraemer Excused: Jim Stapel The meeting was called to order by Al Hartman who then explained protocol for public comment. Public Comment Several members from the public were present but only to speak on a specific agenda item. Roll Call & Approval of Minutes Chairperson Hartman requested roll call, and later Jeff Armstrong made a motion to approve the minutes from the February meeting, seconded by Sean Lynch. Motion carried after roll-call vote. Old Business N/A New Business 1) Request to add a Bus Loading Zone on Algoma Blvd. in front of Read Elementary School Jim Collins said years ago there was a designated bus loading zone but when Algoma was reconstructed, that designation was missed. He has been working with the principal of Read School and they did a test run of a marked area which has been working fine. This request is to add it into the ordinance as a designated bus loading zone. Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve, seconded by Lynnsey Erickson. Motion carried after roll-call vote. 2) Public Hearing on the 2024 Transit Development Plan including route and fare changes Jim Collins said that approximately every 5 years, GO Transit works on a strategic plan called the TDP (Transit Development Plan). Last year, GO Transit worked with the East Central Regional Plan Commision and hired SRF Consultants to facilitate this process. He then introduced Matt Stegeman from SRF Consultants to give a presentation of their recommendations. Matt said as a result of their study, they have identified changes to 5 out of 9 bus routes: Route 2 – Streamline northbound trips via Division and Main Route 3 – Reverse direction; add service on 6th Ave to serve the new hospital planned at 6th /Oregon Route 4 – Extend north to serve industrial park near Snell/Main Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes March 12, 2024 2 | Page Route 5 – Replace current Route 3 alignment west of the river; move West Transfer Point Route 7 – Add service to the DMV on Omro Road They also identified some interlining changes to improve efficiency: Route 1 & 4 – North Oshkosh Route 2 & 8 – North/South Oshkosh Route 3/5/7 – Central/Northwest Oshkosh Route 6 & 9 – West Oshkosh Matt said after conducting a study of peer fare rates, they have identified that GO Transit is much lower and would recommend the following changes: One-Way Fare: Increase from $1.50 to $2.00 Monthly Pass: Increase from $35 to $40 Day Pass: Introduce a new day pass option at $4.00 per day and replace the current punch card option. The goal for the day pass option would be to encourage riders to use it for more trips through the day. The thought process behind eliminating the punch card is to eliminate route delays during the manual drivers sales transaction. Tokens: Switch from metal tokens to paper vouchers for healthcare or social service Agencies. It has been Go Transit’s experience that it is costly to purchase metal tokens that are still out in circulation. Transfers: Retain free transfers The goal is to finalize the document in March so it can be presented to and hopefully approved by City Council in April. Implentation would be planned for August 1st to allow ample time to change brochures, maps and bus stop signage. He then opened the discussion up for public comment and questions from the committee members. Public Comment: • Craig Kleinschmit (1339 W. Bent Ave.) Craig said he is visually impaired and a regular user of transit. He thinks how we deal with people with disabilities and how many rides are subsidized are important. He uses a reduced 20-ride punch card for $15 about 13 times per month. He said rather than the $1.00 per ride reduced fare, he would like to keep the punch card with no-expiration date. He prefers to purchase something that doesn’t expire. The other thing he commented on is it seems the new route has a large focus on the University whom he doesn’t feel are big transit riders. • Terri Westenberger (155 N. Eagle) Terri said she doesn’t own a car and relies on public transportation at least 3-4 days per week. Her first wish is for Sunday service as she has been asking for that option for years. She also said there isn’t a close option to service Tipler/Franklin students and she thinks certain residential areas are underserved like the South Main area. Her other comment was in regards to the Walmart stop; it is very difficult for riders. She was complimentary on the overall GO Transit service and said there were a lot of great drivers. 3 | Page • Cathie Books (167 W. 21st Ave) Cathie asked if there could be additional outlets to buy day passes. She supports no increase in the unlimited monthly and hopes it stays $35. She would like to see a reduced rate for a 3 month bundle. • Burgundy Johnson (392 Westbrook Drive) Burgundy is a graduate of UWO and said that UW Students absolutely do use public transportation in rebuttle to the first public comment. Burgundy also suggests not getting rid of punch cards as it is nice to have an option that doesn’t expire and is excited and supports the expansion into the north industrial park area. Also, the addition to service the DMV office is a great idea due to the danger of crossing the highway. There were no additional members from the public that wished to offer comment. Matt said Token Transit is a successful Mobile APP that is being used by Transit all over the country including GO Transit. The APP might have an electronic option that does not expire. He also mentioned that currently GO Transit is considering a possible fare system change that may also offer different options on fare types and expiration dates. Jim said the new fare collection system would be a loadable card that could be scanned upon boarding. Al Hartman said the common concern he heard today is not having an expiration date and was wondering if that would be addressed. Steve Tomasik said the problem he has with product that doesn’t have an expiration date is on his extensive audit reports that he prepares for the FTA, he needs to report revenue for the year and yearly ridership numbers. If the revenue is $100k for fares sold, but people are using punch passes and agency tickets from prior years, it is hard to explain the huge gap in revenue vs. ridership. Jim also said as far as sales outlets, both offices, City Hall and the Library will continue to be sales outlets and if they go with the new fare platform, it might become possible to purchase reloadable transit cards at places such as Pick-n-Save. Deb Martin asked if the Route 4 change considered the hours worked in the industrial park. Matt said they did receive some business surveys back and quite a few shifts are covered during the transit hours of 6am-6pm, and there is the Access-to-Jobs program for people that work outside of those hours. Jim Collins said the ATJ program has been very successful and the qualifications are to work and live within the City of Oshkosh limits, work at least 30 hours and fall within certain income levels which have been increased due to some funding from the United Way. Deb also asked if Tipler/Frankin schools were researched. Jim said Tipler uses Eagle/Witzel which is only ½ block away from the school and Franklin has very little ridership due to it being an elemtary school. 3) Committee Recommendation on the Transit Development Plan Lynnsey asked if the motion would include all changes presented including the fare changes; Jim stated it would unless specified. If the Committee approves the recomondations, the goal is to have the vendor do a short presentation for Council at the April 9th meeting and implement the changes on August 1st. Lynnsey Erickson made a motion to accept the plan recommendations as presented, seconded by Jeff Armstrong. Motion carried after roll-call vote. 4 | Page 4) Approve GO Transit’s update to their Title VI Program Steve Tomasik explained that every 3 years he is required to update the Title VI document. He works with East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to update Census data and make small changes to the document as necessary. Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve document, seconded by Lynnsey Erickson. Motion carried after a roll-call vote. Staff Statements ❖ Ridership Update – Steve said the February ridership numbers increased 31% and student ridership increased by 26% leaving us just 11% shy of pre-covid ridership numbers. ❖ The morning tripper bus has been working well and it seems to have solved the overcrowded issue on Route 2. The students are getting to school and the normal riders are getting to work which was the goal. ❖ Traffic Signal Actuation and a Left Turn Arrow is being tested on Wisconsin Street between Pearl and Algoma Blvd during the active morning rush hour traffic. It detects traffic and adjusts accordingly. One obstacle is that the pedestrian crossing takes precedence and can impact the traffic flow when pressed. Overall the system seems to be functioning well. After the staff updates, Al Hartman mentioned that he saw the new pedestrian crossing on Witzel being utilized and was glad it is helping pedestrians cross safely in a very busy traffic area. Future Agenda Requests N/A Adjournment Evelyn Meuret made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Sean Lynch. Meeting adjourned at 5:09 pm after a roll- call vote.