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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-08-16 Transportation Committee MinutesTRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE OPEN SESSION MEETING MINUTES August 16, 2016 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:00 am in the Transportation AVL Office on the Boardwalk. Present were Councilmember Tony DeLuca, Councilmember Dennis Dare, Councilmember Mary Knight, City Manager Douglas Miller, Mayor Rick Meehan, Hal Adkins, Jim Parsons, Mark Rickards, Jessica Waters, Jennie Knapp, Ron Eckman, Chris Smith, Katie Tabeling, and Shawn Soper. 2. Review of Current AVL Operation – Hal introduced Chris Smith, Transportation Bus Driver Supervisor to all. Chris then proceeded to give a brief demonstration and explanation of the Bus AVL system; showing how the Airtrak system works and explaining how it assists the Transportation Department in getting buses where they need to be for optimum efficiencies and performance. Chris did bring a couple of issues to Hal’s attention:  Would be helpful to be able to maneuver the camera at Park N Ride; current position shows where are bus comes into Park N Ride to pick up passengers; but you cannot view the Shore Transit buses coming into the lot; nor can you see the number of people on the benches at the building.  If it would be possible to get more AVL cameras or granted access to more of the Police cameras, especially around Seacrets, Park N Ride, and Baltimore Avenue Northbound.  Councilmember DeLuca asked if the time between buses that they are trying to achieve is 10 minutes; Chris’s response was yes, typically. He explained that drivers’ are trained to keep an appropriate distance to keep the buses from bunching up on the highway. Especially during crunch times during the evenings the buses with bunch up at the south end do to the number of people coming off the Boardwalk; sometimes will leap frog stops, will hold at transit center to try to be certain that buses are in the right place at the right time.  When we find people stacking at certain areas; we will do flips at either 65th Street, 94th Street or Convention Center to send empty buses to the appropriate location to pick up passengers needing service.  Mayor Meehan asked if having the articulating buses has helped with moving passengers; Chris stated that he felt at the peak time; or during special events they are like a Hoover vacuum. When both articulating buses are running they are usually staged so that on is at north end and one at south.  Hal stated that some of the issues/concerns with camera locations by the Transportation Department he was not aware of; but said that he would discuss with Ross Buzzuro of Police Department to try to gain needed camera access. 3. General Update – Deployment/Ridership and Staffing – Hal stated that currently we have 139 bus drivers out of the 151 at the peak of the season.  Hal stated that he and Mark felt that the 139 drivers are sufficient. That the operation is functioning and the decrease in drivers is not costing deployments. Mark pointed out that a loss of 12 out of 151 drivers is not a bad percentage. Hal stated that to date this season he has not received any complaints about bus service.  Councilmember DeLuca asked why ridership for buses is downs; other metrics rooms/people are up and ridership is down. Is there a correlation in less deployments and ridership being down?  Mark stated that he did not really have a feel for why ridership is down; did point out that July 4th feel on a Monday which is usually a travel day; since most have to go back to work the following day.  Councilmember DeLuca stated that last year the deployments and ridership were up and it did not break the budget; Jennie pointed out that this was due to the fact that there was such a decrease in fuel cost; which helped offset those deployment costs. Jennie also pointed out that last summer was almost perfect weather which affects ridership.  Hal stated that he does not feel that there is a direct correlation between deployments and ridership and asked members to look at the 8th, 9th and 10th of August on the spreadsheet; as these were days that the deployments were either less or identical to last year and the ridership increased.  Mark also pointed out that part of the deployment decrease you are seeing is due to the use of the articulating buses. Every time the articulating buses are deployed they are like having two deployments on the street due to the number of passengers they can carry. Mark pointed out that there are a lot of variable in actual ridership i.e. weather, special events, etc.  Mayor Meehan stated that we just want to be sure that we put out the correct number of buses that we need to handle the passengers and that our ultimate goal is to increase ridership.  Councilmember Dare asked if we had bus passes; no we do not.  Hal asked if anyone knew how many J1 (foreign students) come to Town to work during the summer. Mayor Meehan stated between 4000 and 4200. A lot of these students use bikes as their mode of transportation.  Mark feels we need to bring an interface of bus traffic and bikes; and pointed out that our buses do not have bike racks. Hal informed the Committee that he has reached out to Annamarie Constable to meet with her regarding bikes and the foreign students. Mayor Meehan stated that he felt that having bike racks on the buses would slow down the buses; having to stop and put bicycles in the racks.  Hal said that he want to find out exactly who these bicycle riders are and if public transit would be an alternative solution for their transport.  Hal will report back to the Committee after meeting with Annamarie. 4. Update on Tram Operation – Mark stated that there are more people using credit while the tram is moving on the Boardwalk to pay than in the past months.  Councilmember Knight asked if there was any interest in making the P-Money application available for tram payments. Hal stated that he could not see any negative in pursuing this option and asked Mark to work with Martha to pursue the use of P-Money for the trams.  Mayor Meehan asked if we are okay on our numbers of Tram drivers; Mark stated that we were.  Mayor Meehan asked about revenue for Trams in July compared to last year; Mark stated that we were at 99.3%. 5. Rolling Stock Replacement – FY’18 – Hal informed the Committee that we need to start looking toward replacing the Trams; they were bought approximately 12 years ago; the expenditure was about 1.8 million.  Hal told the Committee that there were only 2 main Tram manufacturers when we purchased the last Trams; Trams International and Specialty Vehicles. Mark is going to start looking into Tram manufacturers and types available. 6. Status of Advertising Promotion for Tram – Hal asked Jessica Waters status of the “raise your hand to ride the Tram” promotion. Jessica stated that she is hoping to start filming on Friday @ 11 when the Trams start and be done by end of next week.  Councilmember Dare stated that he was thinking more along the lines of signage on the front and back of the tram. Dennis also suggested putting the information on the electronic signs on the Boardwalk. Mayor Meehan felt the electronic signage on the Boardwalk was a great ideas. Jessica said that she would have the electric signs on the Boardwalk changed by noon to include “raise your hand to ride the Tram”. Jessica also stated that she would design a sign with logo for installation on Tram and get to Hal for approval and print. 7. MDOT/SHA/MTA/MAA – Pre Tour Meeting – Hal brought to the Committee’s attention that there is a pre tour meeting on September 7th @ 10 in Snow Hill with Jason Krepple and this is the time to inform him of what the Mayor and Council have on their radar screen; not only transit related. This allows Jason time to go back and discuss these concerns with the appropriate people within the State before the Annual Tour Meeting with the Secretary of Transportation on September 20th. Some of the items that Hal plans to discuss with Jason are:  Thank you on Campus Plan – Paul Comfort, Administrator of MTA will be in Hal’s office on Thursday and 10 am and wants to tour the 65th Street Complex to better prepare himself with the knowledge of the Campus Plan Project; so that when he meets with the Secretary on Friday he will have better understanding and knowledge.  Hal stated that he assumed Mayor Meehan would like to use this opportunity to raise awareness and desire of the dualization of Rt. 90 again. Mayor Meehan stated that he would be writing letter and Hall will get copy of letter.  Coastal Highway Median Enhancements; Phase one should be completed by late spring of 2017; let’s keep the ball rolling. Hal asked for the Committee to allow himself and Terry McGean to sit down and discuss a potential Phase II (Convention Center Drive to 26th Street) and Phase III (26th to 9th Street) areas; that way SHA can put these in their MCTP.  If SHA were to agree with Phase III; the opportunity would present itself that if we wanted to try to extend the dedicated bus lane from 17th to 9th With the Phase III median project the median could be shifted east to allow for a dedicated bus lane. Councilmember Dare stated that the dedicated bus lane would not be as relevant if it competed with the other project (Rt. 90 Dualization, Campus Plan, Median Enhancements) for funding. Hal stated that he was not sure and that one of his personal goals was to understand the various funding opportunities available at both State and Federal levels. Hal agreed bus lane not as relevant if competes for funding. 8. Out Reach Efforts – Shore Transit and DART – Hal informed Committee that in the 4 weeks that Mark has been onboard his directive has been to learn and watch our transit system and to start looking into communicating with Dart and Shore Transit officials on future plans.  Hal stated that the Rt. 50 corridor is growing with motel development; wants to find out does Shore Transit have plan to provide service out there to aid these guests in West Ocean City, transit service to get into Town. There has to be a line drawn in the sand somewhere regarding service.  Hal also brought up on the same topic that the Rt. 54 corridor has just as much growth going on; does Dart have focus on providing transit services for that area?  Mark stated that he has meant with both agencies twice. He said Dart is getting electric buses currently and does not have a focus on transit service for the Rt. 54 corridor. Shore Transit however is looking at the Rt. 50 corridor they just don’t have the funding or assets to implement.  Mayor Meehan asked who funds Shore Transit – They compete for the same funding the Town does; they are partially a 5311 Rural Transit Service and get a small amount of urban funding.  9. Adjourn – Councilmember Knight motioned to adjourn the open session at 10:04 am; Councilmember DeLuca seconded the motion, vote was unanimous. Adjourned to Closed Session to discuss legal issues and real estate issues. 10. Synopsis/Action Items  Chris Smith, Transportation Bus Driver Supervisor gave the Committee a demonstration of how the AVL system for the buses functions and the different camera views available.  Chris Smith, Transportation Bus Driver Supervisor discussed the need for additional camera locations for the AVL system; Hal is going to work with Ross Buzzuro of the Police Department to gain access to the additional camera view requested for the AVL system.  There are currently 139 bus drivers; deployments have not been affected by loss of drivers and no one to date has received any complaints about bus service.  Councilmember DeLuca asked why ridership was down; when other metrics show an increase in visitors; is there a direct correlation between deployment numbers and ridership. Hal pointed out that if you look at the ridership and deployment numbers for August 8th, 9th, and 10th you will notice that the deployments are either less or equal to last year’s deployments; however the ridership is up; does not feel that there is a correlation between deployments and ridership. Mark Rickards also pointed out that in part the deployment decrease that you see is due to the articulating buses; every time an articulating bus is put in service that is like having two deployments on the schedule. Mayor Meehan stated that we just want to be sure that we have the correct number of buses in service at any given time, that we need to handle the passengers needs and that are ultimate goal is to increase ridership.  Hal brought to the Committees attention that he has requested a meeting with Annamarie Constable regarding the foreign students and finding out who they are; where they live and work and if public transportation could be an alternative solution for their transit needs. Hal will report back to the Committee the results of that meeting.  Councilmember Knight asked about using P-Money to pay for riding the Boardwalk Tram. Hal stated that he could not see any negative in pursuing and asked Mark to work with Martha Bennet to pursue the use of P-Money on the Trams.  Hal informed the Committee that the Transportation Department needs to start looking into replacing the Boardwalk Trams; which were purchased approximately 12 years ago and an expenditure of approximately $1.8 million. Mark will start evaluating manufacturers and what is available as replacements for the Trams.  Jessica Waters will be filming the “Raise Your Hand to Ride the Tram” video Friday at 11 am when the Trams begin service. She hopes to have the video completed by the end of next week. Councilmember Dare also asked about signage on the Trams for this promotion. Jessica will design and sign and give to Hal for approval, fabrication and installation on the Trams. Per Councilmember Dare’s request the electronic signs on the Boardwalk will also be changed to add the “Raise Your Hand to Ride the Trams” logo; by noon today August 16th.  Hal informed the Committee that there is a Pre-Tour Meeting on September 7th @ 10 am in Snow Hill with Jason Keppel of MTA; which will give us an opportunity to bring to the table any issues we have that would fall under MDOT/SHA/MTA/MAA; this would include transit issues, Rt. 90 Dualization issues, any Coastal Highway Improvement/Enhancement issues. This meeting is to bring to light any concerns the Town has prior to the September 20th Annual Tour with the State Secretary. Mayor Meehan will be sending a letter regarding the Rt. 90 Dualization and will provide Hal a copy of this letter.  Hal informed the Committee that Mark has been doing outreach efforts to both Shore Transit and DART; to get a better understanding of their services and future plans; especially as they relate to the Rt. 50 corridor in West Ocean City and the Rt. 54 corridor.