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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-6-19 TAB Meeting MinutesCommittee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 1 1 1 Attendees: Absent: Jim Collins, Transportation Director Karl Buelow, Board Korbin Figg, Operations Manager Deb Allison-Aasby, Council Marlene Binder, Secretary Lynnsey Erickson, Board Evelyn Meuret, Chairperson Philip Marshall, Board Troy Monday, Vice-Chair Mike Norton, Board Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Meeting Started Evelyn Meuret Evelyn Meuret called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. The April 17, 2019 TAB meeting minutes were accepted. 1st: Lynnsey Erickson 2nd: Troy Monday Public Comments Bill Van Lopik Bill Van Lopik said he lives in Little Chute and works for Esther. He cited the Policy: School Busing section of Chapter 5 (page 11) of our 2018 Transit Development Plan (TDP) where it states: Continue discussions with the Oshkosh Area School District (OASD) to be a funding partner with GO Transit. Identify gaps in the current bus service area and pinpoint solutions to increase student accessibility with transit. 1. Action - Coordinate with the OASD to improve student access to busing & schools; 2. Activities – Evaluate areas identified in the gap analysis for validity and potential solutions – Engage with OASC administration, staff & students to determine solutions that meet students’ needs; 3. Outcomes – Connected transportation system – Increased partnerships – Improved access to education -Reduced stigma & stress among students with transportation access issues. He stressed this document should not be put on a shelf, but put into action. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 2 2 2 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Public Comments Continued Bill Van Lopik Jennifer Considine Mr. Van Lopik told he is also a member of the Fox Valley Thrives group which is made up of members from Esther, Winnebago and Outagamie County Health Departments. He said six discussions were held in various locations, such as Senior Center, college, Boys/Girls Club, to determine what the transportation needs are. He said transportation to our schools was a need that came out of these discussions from the people of Oshkosh attending these meetings. He distributed copies of the final report sponsored by the Healthy Wisconsin Partnership Program funded by a grant to all Board members. Jennifer Considine, of 300 Dale Avenue and professor at UW- Oshkosh, said she is a member of Esther and attended the focus groups and listened to the concerns families had about getting their children to school. She told GO Transit has good information out about how to use the bus. She said one student’s parents had health issues that prevented them from taking their child to school so the student used the bus however the cost for this family was a burden because they already had medical bills. She told the kids at the Boys & Girls Club said they did not like having to scrounge up the money to get to and from school. She said she understands there are negotiations between the OASD and City Council for students to ride the city bus free but is wondering if there is room to have a conversation about a youth fare now. She explained that since the fare increase to $1.50, our fare is higher for students than much of the state and that four communities (Green Bay, Appleton, Manitowoc and Sheboygan) provide free busing to and from school. Ms. Considine distributed a sheet with student and adult fares for all the transit systems in the state to Board members. She requests the Board consider a student fare. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 3 3 3 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Public Comments Continued Deb Allison- Aasby Jennifer Considine Mike Norton Jim Collins Karl Buelow Deb Allison-Aasby asked if Esther is doing anything to form a public/private relationship to fund raise or to contribute to the school district for this program. Jennifer Considine replied last February they had raised $3,000 but that was used up very quickly providing students and refugees bus passes. She told they are not doing anything currently, but something they would be happy to work on. Mike Norton expressed his concern about students south of Ardy & Ed’s getting to Jefferson Elementary School now that Smith Elementary School is closed. Jim Collins replied that the OASD told him yellow school buses serve that area. Karl Buelow inquired if there was discussion about a youth fare when we discussed the fare increases. Jim Collins answered youth fares were not considered. Agenda Items Introduce Steve Tomasik, Transit Operations Manager Jim Collins Steve Tomasik Jim Collins introduced Steve Tomasik, Transit Operations Manager, to the Board. He told that Korbin Figg left to join as Chief Operating Officer of the large transit system in Champaign, Illinois. He said Steve comes to us from US Holland, which is a trucking company. Steve Tomasik said he is originally from central Illinois, Joliet area, but transferred here 4.5 years ago. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 4 4 4 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Election of officers Jim Collins Lindsey Erickson Mike Norton Jim Collins said the Board is to hold election of officers each year. Lindsey Erickson nominated Evelyn Meuret as chair person. Mike Norton nominated Lindsey Erickson as vice chairperson. Meuret - Chair 1st: Lynnsey Erickson 2nd: Mike Norton Carried: 7 – 0 Erickson – Vice Chair 1st: Mike Norton 2nd:Deb Allison-Aasby Carried: 7 – 0 A request for an alternate Board member Jim Collins Evelyn Meuret Mike Norton Lynnsey Erickson Deb Allison- Aasby Jim Collins said this request comes from the mayor that Boards consider whether alternate Board members should be appointed to fill in when a regular member was unable to attend a meeting. He told this would give more people a chance to participate however; historically we have not had an abundance of candidates. Evelyn Meuret said she thought it a good idea for more people to know what we do and why we are here and it may create a greater community presence. She mentioned the alternate could be an automatic replacement for a Board member that resigns. Mike Norton suggested trying one alternate and if that works in a year or if someone else wants to be an alternate decide at the time whether to add another. Lynnsey Erickson stated she thinks it is smart to have new people learn what the Board does and if there are people that can’t make it, they can step in. Deb Allison-Aasby clarified that the Board would like to try an alternate member for a year. She explained that the Mayor will bring this to Council for a vote. 1st: Karl Buelow 2nd:Philip Marshal Carried: 7 – 0 Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 5 5 5 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions UW-O Ridership Jim Collins Mike Norton Jim Collins Mike Norton Jim Collins Evelyn Meuret Jim Collins told in previous years UW-Oshkosh paid GO Transit approximately $70-$80,000 a year per revenue agreement however; they terminated that agreement and now purchase passes as needed. He said GO Transit has received $32,790 from UW-Oshkosh for passes purchased in the first five months of this year. Mike Norton inquired about the Route #10 stickers and the $1.50 fare with a current monthly bus pass to ride to Neenah. Jim Collins replied the university wanted their students/staff to be able to use Route #10 to ride to Neenah and since the regular pass is not valid on that trip, a sticker was created for the pass to make it valid for travel to/from Neenah. He said the Rt. #10 stickers are sold to the university for $35.00. Jim Collins told it was determined the Route #10 Neenah cash fare for passengers with a current monthly bus pass would be $1.50. He explained the logic behind the decision was that the regular city fare is $1.50 and the regular Route #10 fare is $3.00, and thus the pass holder theoretically paid ½ the Neenah fare with their bus pass so the remaining $1.50 balance is still owed. Mike Norton inquired about the FVTC program. Jim Collins explained GO Transit has a revenue agreement with FVTC where their students ride free with their student ID with the current semester sticker, similar to the agreement UW-O had. Evelyn Meuret told that Fox Valley, Fond du Lac and Oshkosh campuses are now part of UW-O. Jim Collins added that East Central Regional Planning Commission is studying the viability of an express commuter service from Green Bay to Fond du Lac or Lomira. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 6 6 6 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Staff Statements Student Busing Jim Collins Mike Norton Jim Collins Lynnsey Erickson Jim Collins Phil Marshall Jim Collins Jim Collins said the decision about student busing is between council and the school district. He told as Bill mentioned, it is in the TDP to work together but, at the end of the day it is a funding issue. He explained currently GO Transit receives $19,000 from the OASD and $50,000 in fares from families sending their children to school on the bus. He told GO Transit cannot absorb that large loss, so the funds have to come from somewhere. Mike Norton inquired about how the free rides to/from the library are funded. Jim Collins replied each trip to and from library are counted and after the program ends all the rides taken are totaled and the library is invoiced for the rides at $1.50 each. Lynnsey Erickson asked if GO Transit promoted the library free ride program. Jim Collins answered that we did not, as this is the library’s program and they are funding it, but he told he has seen it on Facebook and a couple media releases. Phil Marshall inquired about where the major need for busing to school is and if they are coming to the city to ask. Jim Collins replied no one has come to us other than the report that Esther has put together. He said his understanding is students in need go to the school office to obtain a bus pass. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 7 7 7 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Student Busing Continued Lynnsey Erickson Jim Collins Philip Marshall Karl Buelow Jim Collins Deb Allison- Aasby Lynnsey Erickson said as Jennifer said, Esther has a set amount of money and that runs out sometimes so students asking their social worker for a pass could be refused because there aren’t any. Jim Collins told he attended a meeting, organized by Mr. Poeschl, and was told by a school social worker there that she has never turned any student down for a bus pass. Philip Marshall stated being at Webster, an inner city school, he doesn’t come across a lot of these issues but it may be more of a problem for elementary age students living on the outskirts of the boundaries. Karl Buelow said this issue was raised at the school level, with lots of focus groups and meetings with principals and social workers, Dr. Considine has worked on this for 2 years and everybody believes there is a need, but it is the dollar sign that needs to be taken up. Jim Collins said he cannot speak for the district but, with the budgets as they are, the OASD may not want to subsidize passes for students whose parents can easily afford it. He explained Appleton schools pay for some routes and for bus passes for their students; Green Bay has a revenue neutral agreement with the school system, similar to what we proposed; Manitowoc is doing a test project; Sheboygan also has a revenue agreement with the school district. Deb Allison-Aasby stated there was never a formal ask from the OASD about this and it came about with citizen’s comment and the Esther group came to council meeting. She told that if she would ask 10 different district employees about this issue she would get 10 different answers and thus, council has stepped back from this issue. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 8 8 8 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Student Busing Continued Deb Allison- Aasby Philip Marshall Evelyn Meuret Mike Norton Jim Collins Deb Allison- Aasby Karl Buelow Deb Allison-Aasby said it is not for council to tell OASD what the needs of their students are or what their family needs are. She told homelessness also ties in with this issue. She posed the question should all student’s transportation be subsidized or only the students whose families are truly are in need. Phil Marshall told that the OASD provides transportation for a homeless student even if they are staying with a relative that lives out of the school attendance area. He said he has been asked what the needs are but, it is difficult to answer because requests are so few and far between. Evelyn Meuret said this issue is misleading because currently the school district already has something in place for students in need because they purchase and distribute $19,000 worth of bus passes annually to students in need. Mike Norton inquired what happens if a homeless student is staying outside the district, for example in the town of Algoma. Phil Marshall replied by law the OASD would have to provide transportation via bus, reimburse the parent or taxi service for that student even if the student is living outside that school’s boundary. Jim Collins said we could look at a reduced fare for students however; we just did the TDP and our fares are second lowest in the state. He went on to say that before we consider that, we need to see what the council and OASD decide upon. Deb Allison-Aasby stated we should be respectful of the OASD and their new administrator, to give them time to determine their needs. Karl Buelow said if the school district did not think it was enough of a problem to ask for assistance, then obviously it is not enough of a problem you will look to solve. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 9 9 9 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Heavy Duty Bus Procurement Update Jim Collins Jim Collins said we are four weeks from line entry for three new buses and a couple people from the department will be going down to do inspections. He told the buses should arrive in September replacing the last of the 2003 buses that are well past their useful life. Jim Collins said an open house is planned to be held sometime in September so we will be able to showcase our new buses. Triennial Review Jim Collins Jim Collins told the FTA audits us every three years and they will be coming in August. He explained he and Steve went last month to training for this audit. He said the state is doing a management review in October. Future Agenda Items Mike Norton Jim Collins Karl Buelow Jim Collins Lynnsey Erickson Mike Norton inquired if a site for a new terminal was selected. He commented that it would be nice to be able to purchase bus passes at the transit center. Jim Collins said the goal is to have customer service, supervisor’s office and public restrooms onsite at the transit center. He explained it would cost millions of dollars to move all the offices so that isn’t too feasible. He told we worked with East Central to apply for a planning grant. Karl Buelow inquired about the driver smoking policy. Jim Collins replied there is a formal policy where drivers are not to smoke onboard buses or on the platform at the downtown transit center however; policy is tricky because drivers do not get a scheduled break. Lynnsey Erickson requested information about paratransit programs. Committee Name: Transit Advisory Board Date: 6/19/19 Location: City Hall, Room 406 10 10 10 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Adjournment Evelyn Meuret The meeting adjourned at 5:22 p.m. Next meeting: July 17, 2019 1st: Mike Norton 2nd:Karl Buelow