HomeMy WebLinkAboutTAB Meeting Minutes Nov 2015Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board
Date: 11/18/15
Location: City Hall 1
Attendees: Absent:
Jim Collins, Transportation Director Evelyn Meuret, Board Caroline Panske, Council Member
Marlene Binder, Secretary Mike Norton, Board Diane Low, Board
David Vickman, Transit Coordinator Donna Lohrey, Citizen Lee Williams, Board
Troy Monday, Vice Chairman Cherri Pommerening, Citizen
Steve Komp, Lutheran Homes
Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions
Meeting Started Troy Monday Troy Monday called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. None
Meeting Minutes Troy Monday Acceptance of October 21, 2015 TRAB meeting minutes.
1st: Mike Norton
2nd: Evelyn Meuret
Donna Lohrey
Cherri
Pommerening
Donna Lohry, of 511 W. Bent Ave., said she feels Simeanna residents are
underserved with the bus stop being located on Eagle St. She said it takes
younger students an hour and ten transfers to travel from Bowen St. to the
YMCA on 20th Ave. Donna also said that enough time has passed since the
new routes were implemented that the routes need to be examined again.
Cherri Pommerening, 475 Marion Rd., told that Carol Schorning was ill today
and could not attend, but Tom Otto encouraged her to come and speak.
Cherri said when she rode the bus she was appalled when a woman with a
walker got off the bus by Simeanna. She wondered what building she had to
walk to. She continued that it is not a short walk to get to any of the buildings
because she has done that.
Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board
Date: 11/18/15
Location: City Hall 2
Topic Facilitated
by:
Discussion Actions
Lutheran Homes
of Oshkosh
Jim Collins
Jim Collins said Ms. Panske received a petition at the November Greater
Winnebago County Advocacy Coalition for Mobility meeting requesting the bus
pull into the Lutheran Homes complex. He explained the petition was
addressed to Common Council. He is bringing this matter before the Transit
Advisory Board as this would be the appropriate place to address the petition.
He also explained the new routes in 2013 were developed from public feedback
and recommendations received for the Transit Development Plan (TDP) which
was published in 2011. He went on to explain that plan recognized the city is
decentralizing and the transit system needed to adapt by modifying its
structure. He told service expanded to the north and west and hours of service
were extended. One of the modifications to accomplish these goals and to
improve safety was to stay out of parking lots whenever possible.
Mr. Collins stated currently the bus picks up by Lutheran Home's northern
driveway on Eagle Street. He said Route #6 is already on a tight schedule and
there is not time to add any more distance to that route therefore Route #6
would need to be modified to make time for the added distance. He explained
there are two options that would allow the extra time needed to pull into the
Lutheran Home’s parking lot. Option 1 would be to eliminate the Wal-Mart stop
which is 29% of its boardings. He told that the bus would then stop on
Washburn Street which has a grass terrace so a concrete slab would need to be
installed so the transfer point for Routes 6, 7 and 9 would be moved. He
explained Option 2 would be to eliminate stops on Sawyer St. and Southland
Ave. which would eliminate the stop by West High School, which is 7.9% of the
boardings and the Southland and Sawyer stop which is 3.3%. With this option
the closest stop for West High School would be the Lutherans Home facility.
Jim Collins explained the mission of fixed route bus service is to provide safe,
reliable, affordable, accessible transportation to as many of the residents as
possible. He said driving buses through tight parking lots is not safe for
motorists or pedestrians.
Jim explained there is Paratransit service available, which is one of the best in
Wisconsin, which provides door to door service. He told Lutheran Homes has
vans to provide their residents with transportation. Mr. Collins said changing
this route would impact more citizens negatively than those that would be
positively impacted.
Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board
Date: 11/18/15
Location: City Hall 3
Topic Facilitated
by:
Discussion Actions
Lutheran Homes
of Oshkosh Steve Komp
Steve Komp, of Lutheran Homes, said he is here to advocate for the 300
independent residents of the facility. He said the current stop on Eagle St.
could be relocated to a new central stop within the facility .2 mile away,
which would take only about one minute to travel at 15 mph. He agrees
with Jim Collin’s recommendation but encourages exploration of
alternate options to find a way to pull into the facility but lessen the
impact for others.
1st: Mike Norton
Lost: 1 – 3 (Meuret)
Paratransit RFP Jim Collins
Jim Collins told that the committee selected Running Inc. as the new
provider of service for the Cabulance program beginning January 2016.
He explained that we have reached out to riders and institutions to
communicate this change.
Budget Update
Jim Collins
Jim Collins said Common Council will be voting on the budget at their next
meeting. He said the operations budget remains unchanged for the second
consecutive year however the local share has increased due to decreased
federal and state funding. He told that it may be necessary to increase fares
sometime next year. He explained ten 2003 buses need replacement but we
have funding for only one, thus our maintenance budget will need to be
continually increased. Jim told that our building, formerly the incinerator, is
not ADA compliant. He said we will be using capital funding to upgrade the
building to make it more accessible, while also addressing safety, security and
customer service issues.
Triennial Review Jim Collins
Jim Collins explained the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) audits all
transit systems every three years. They audit for compliance and financial
management. GO Transit is being audited again in 2016.
Adjournment Jim Collins Meeting adjourned at 4:58 p.m.
Next meeting: December 8, 2015 at City Hall.
1st: Evelyn Meuret
2nd: Mike Norton