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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-12-10 Transportation Committee Minutes OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE PUBLIC WORKS CONFERENCE ROOM—204 65TH ST BUILDING E 9:00 AM TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 2019 TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARY 1. General Update and"Follow Up's": A. Review of Bus Ridership, Revenue and Deployments ➢ "Scheduled"vs "Actual" Deployments Per Shift (Page 1) o Buses are currently running on Winter Schedule at 40 minute headways during the week with service stopping at I I pm. During the weekends schedule is for 20 minute headways and is throughout the entire weekend. o Ridership numbers are almost the same as ridership for this time period last year. o Council Member Dare stated that there is no information other than on TransLoc informing bus patrons of the 20 minute intervals on the weekends. Mark and Brain will work on putting a weekend schedule together for posting in shelters. 2. Follow Up Pertaining to the "MEDTRN"Program (2009) (Pages 2—5) ➢ Community For Life Program—Worcester County o In MEDTRN discussion at last meeting Mayor Meehan brought up the Community of Life Program offered in the County. Brian Connor did some research on that program. Some key points to this program are: 1) Emerged from requests by North Worcester County Senior Citizens; is an enhanced senior service to better assist them age in place 2) The program is stated funded and began in November 2018; the program is facilitated through the Worcester County Commission on Aging and is subsidized by a membership fee of$225/month or $400/year(fee covers 4 round trip a month to destinations within the service area); with a minimum subscription of 6 months. o Hal stated that this service is apples to oranges when comparing with our MEDTRN service; as MEDTRN is for ADA compliant residents within the Corporate limits. Mayor Meehan stated that he felt that services offered in the County to Seniors should also be made available to Town residents and that we should write a letter to County requesting extension of this service. o Motion was made by Council Member Paddack to write a letter to the County requesting the extension of the Community of Life Program for senior residents within the Town; seconded by Council Member Dare, vote was unanimous to proceed with letter. 3. Review of"Draft"FY21 Annual Transportation Plan(ATP) Capital List Submission to the MTA (Page 6) o Hal provided Committee with"Draft' of FY21 ATP Requests from MTA o MTA has already committed to $2,000,000 for the completion of the Campus Project; until completion of Campus Project not optimistic that any of the other requests will be funded (except+/- $600,000 in annual fleet maintenance funding). 4. Further Discussion: Traffic Signal Installation Status for 3rd Street/Philadelphia Avenue (Verbal Discussion) o Hal requested the Mayor's help in once again reaching out to Greg Slater who will become Secretary of Transportation effective January 1, 2020. Mayor Meehan will have further discussion on this topic with Greg Slater. 5. Other Topics Discuss o Updates on both Bus Drivers and Tram Division recruitment efforts will be included for upcoming meetings. o Mayor Meehan asked where we stood on the previous topic of bus shelter lighting. o Council Member Dare made a motion for staff to look into options for both electrical and solar lighting for bus shelters and bring back findings and costs options for upcoming budget discussions; seconded by Council Member Paddack, vote was unanimous. 6. Notice of Closed Session to discuss Contractual Matters As permitted under General Provisions Article 3-305(b)(14):Before a contract is awarded or bids are opened,to discuss a matter directly related to a negotiating strategy or the contents of a bid or proposal,if public discussion or disclosure would adversely impact the ability of the public body to participate in the competitive bidding or proposal process. This exception is being evoked to discuss pending contractual matters. o Motion made by Council Member DeLuca to prepare a Request for Proposal for another credit card payment system to process bus fare payments by the Spring and to notify the current passengers who utilize EMoney to pay their bus fare of the ending of that service on an established effective date. Motion seconded by Council Member Dare,vote was unanimous with Council Member Paddack absent. 7. Adjourn (Next meeting January 14, 2020) TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2019 Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 8:55 am by Mayor Rick Meehan in the Public Works Administration Conference Room. Present were Council Member Dennis Dare, Council Member Tony DeLuca, Council Member Mark Paddack, Hal Adkins, Mark Rickards, Brian Connor, City Manager Doug Miller,Jim Parsons, Mayor Rick Meehan, Chuck Bireley, Bethany Hooper, and Josh Kim 1. General Updates and "Follow Up's": • Review of Bus Ridership, Revenue, and Deployments: Hal asked Mark to review ridership information and revenue information with Committee. • Mark informed the Committee that we are no running on winter schedule with 40 minute headways during the week until 11 pm at night and 20 minute headways on the weekend all night long. Ridership numbers are almost the same as this this time period last year. • Council Member Dare stated that the 40-minute headway information is posted in the bus stops; however,there is nothing posted anywhere that allows people to know that there are 20 minute headways on the weekends. Brian and Mark will work on adding a weekend schedule and having it posted for riders. 2. Follow Up Pertaining to the "MEDTRN" Program and Community for Life Program: Hal stated that at the last meeting the Mayor brought up the Community for Life Program available to other areas in the County. Brian researched the programs keywords in the research done are senior service, state grant pilot program and that members of the program pay a subscription. This is apples to oranges to our current MEDTRN program; which is an ADA compliant service for Town residents. • The expenditures in FY19 for our MEDTRN service were approximately$16,801 and the revenue for FY19 was$17,359 of which $12,908 was a subsidy from Shore Transit. • Hal will continue to look for way to replace the MEDTRN Van; when needed. • Mayor Meehan stated that he felt that any service offered in the County should be offered to all County residents; not just specific areas. He stated that he feels that we should write a letter to the County requesting that the Community of Life Program be extended to include residents in the Corporate limits of the Town. Council Member Paddack made a motion to proceed with writing a letter to the County requesting the extension of this service to residents of the Town. Motion was seconded by Council Member Dare; vote was unanimous. 3. Review of Draft"FY21 Annual Transportation Plan (ATP) Capital List Submission to MTA • Hal included in the agenda package a copy of the FY'21 ATP Submissions • Financial Commitment to the Campus Project in FY21 will be $2,000,000. • Construction Management for the project is listed as to be determined. Still working to determine this amount; if needed. The original schedule for completion was July 2020; that schedule was unrealistic (due to the 24/7 365 need for the Campus to function) and has been moved back to completion in January 2021. The total cost of the project is not increasing;just the schedule for project completion extended. • Every year in the ATP we include $785,000 for one-year preventative maintenance for fleet repairs (parts and labor). We are awarded on an annual basis $600,000. • Are requesting One ADA Para Transit Van Replacement; if funded the vehicle to be replaced could possibly be kept to use for MEDTRN. • A request for 4 Articulating Buses was also included. • The ATP also included a request for 22 40' bus replacements;we are required by MTA to request replacement buses when the current fleet meets their useful life. • MTA also requested the Town to do a Transportation Development Plan every five years. Hal stated that the Committee needs to think about what the scope of this Transportation Development Plan will consist of when submitting. • Also included in the ATP are four ADA accessible Transit Supervisor Support Vehicles; this will allow Supervisor vehicles to be utilized for ADA purposes when needed due to equipment breakdowns, etc. • Also included are automated passenger counters and on board announcement system for bus fleet. • Hal stated that not optimistic that we will get much on this list of requests until the Campus project is completed. • Council Member DeLuca asked how the automatic passenger counters and on board announcement systems work within the TransLoc program and if they would be an additional charge. Mark stated that with the TransLoc program automatic passenger counters; passengers are counted with lasers. Brian stated that they would each be an additional charge to the Town to add onto our TransLoc system. • Mark stated that there are other grant opportunities out there. Such as the MDE grant that Wayne Pryor has currently been working on for an Articulating Bus. From last conversation with Wayne; should know about award of grant by end of Month. 4. Further Discussion: Traffic Signal Status for 3rd Street/Philadelphia Avenue—Hal stated that with the ribbon cutting of the new facility today; we need the Mayor's help to reach out again to State Representatives for this light. Hal also informed the Committee that Peter Rahn, Secretary of Transportation will be leaving on December 31, 2019 and that Greg Slater will be the new Secretary of Transportation effective January 1, 2020. Mayor Meehan stated that he would follow up on this discussion regarding the light with Greg Slater. 5. Other Topics—Council Member DeLuca stated that as we head into Spring we need to remain focused on revenue and deployments. • Hal stated that we need to include on the upcoming Transportation Committee Agendas; updated on our recruitment efforts. • Mayor Meehan asked that both recruitment efforts for both Bus Drivers and Tram Division be included. • Mayor Meehan asked where we stood on the previous topic of lighting in the bus shelters. Brian stated that we had stepped back from the topic to access needs. Mayor Meehan stated that the shelters that are close to electrical services could be looked at as well; having the bus shelters lighted will make people feel safer. Some of the shelters appear very dark when riding down highway. • Council Member Dare made a motion for staff to investigate both electrical and solar lighting for bus shelters; and bring back costs and ideas for upcoming budget discussions. Seconded by Council Member Paddack;vote was unanimous. • Hal stated that he would also be looking into enhanced lighting for some of the Parkeon machines. • Mayor Meehan suggested that maybe we could find funding to start a pilot program for both lighting of bus shelters and Parkeon machines for this summer. 6. Mayor Meehan requested to convene into closed session as permitted under General Provisions Article 3-305(b) (14): Before a contract is awarded or bids are opened,to discuss a matter directly related to a negotiating strategy or the contents of a bid or proposal, if public discussion or disclosure would adversely impact the ability of the public body to participate in the competitive bidding or proposal process.This exception is being evoked to discuss contract provisions. Motion to convene into Closed Session was made by Council Member DeLuca; seconded by Council Member Paddack.The vote was unanimous. Open Session adjourned at 9:25 am. Persons present: Public Works Director Hal Adkins,Transit Manager Mark Rickards, Mayor Rick Meehan, Council Member Dennis Dare, Council Member Tony DeLuca, City Manager Doug Miller,Transit Administrative Manager Brian Connor, Fleet Manager Ron Eckman, Public Works Chief Deputy Director Jim Parsons, Mark Sheely,Vector Media Regional Manager and Dylan Stedman,Vector Media Account Executive. Absent from closed session was Council Member Paddack Motion made by Council Member DeLuca to prepare a Request for Proposal for another credit card payment system for bus fares to be implemented by the Spring and to notify the regular bus passengers that currently use EMoney as their payment method that effective on x date the service will no longer be available. Motion seconded by Council Member Dare,vote was unanimous with Council Member Paddack absent. Motion to adjourn Closed Session was made by Council Member DeLuca; seconded by Council Member Dare; Council Member Paddack absent;vote was unanimous. Closed Session adjourned at 10:00 am. The next Transportation Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,January 14th, 2019 in the Public Works Administration Conference Room at 9 a.m.