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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/19/2011 04B Minutes 06-16-2011 Council Transit and Transportation Planning Committee0 Transit and Transportation Planning Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, June 16, 2011 3:30 — 5:00 p.m. City Council Members Staff Other Micah Cawley (Mayor) Michael Morales, Assistant City Manager Paul Overby (City of Selah) Dave Ettl Chris Waarvick, Public Works Director John Gawlik (City of Selah) Rick Ensey (Absent) Ken Mehin; Transit Manager Jeff Louman (HLA) Kevin Futrell, Transit Planner Joe Rosenlund, Street & Traffic Operations Manager Tom Sellsted, Supervising Senior Analyst Transit Items Mayor Micah Cawley called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. in the Community & Economic Development Conference (CED) Room. Ken Mehin reported that Yakima Transit has been awarded three out of five consolidated grants that they applied for. The first grant approved was the extended hour on weekday bus service that totaled $116,000 and Transit has to match $58,000. The second grant awarded was Sunday bus service that totals $269,910 for a two -year period in which Transit has already received some funding for. The match for this grant would be approximately $79,000. The third grant awarded by the State is the Yakima /Ellensburg Commuter, which is a two -year grant and partnership with HopeSource. Kevin Futrell explained that the State has its regulations that prevent Yakima Transit from traveling past a 15 -mile- radius; therefore, Yakima Transit will request WDOT to transfer the awarded grant funds to HopeSource but City Council's Approval is needed. Futrell further explained that that they would still be in partnership with Hope Source but Yakima Transit would be a sub - recipient and HopeSource would provide the service. Futrell said surveys were taken at Central Washington University and 190 of the surveys showed that staff travels from Yakima and surrounding areas to Ellensburg. Chris Waarvick commented that they would like to be able to provide an affordable service to college students and staff that commute back and forth to Ellensburg as well as giving the people at the Firing Center access to bus service at a rate that could also be established. Futrell said that based on the needs and requests from the public they would have steady ridership on the Yakima /Ellensburg Commuter. Chris Waarvick reported that the Airporter Shuttle also applied for the State funds that Yakima Transit and HopeSource were awarded. Waarvick noted that the Airporter Shuttle has had some significant concerns about the involvement of those agencies trying to provide service to the areas they are currently serving; however, Waarvick explained Yakima Transit /HopeSource consortium would have the ability to provide a much more affordable rate based on their support from sales tax and federal, grant assistance. Waarvick added that they would be able to offer a one -way trip to Ellensburg for about $3.00 compared to the Airporter Shuttle that is about $10.00 for one -way. Futrell added that they would be able to offer eight trips per day where the Airporter Shuttle only offers five trips per day. Both Waarvick and Futrell asked Mayor Cawley and the Council for their approval in proceeding with their partnership with HopeSource to provide this service. Mayor Cawley motioned to approve. The next item brought up by Futrell was funding for additional bus shelters with an 80/20 match that he said was denied. The last grant mentioned was the Paratransit Special Needs Grant, which Futrell commented are formula funds and not a competitive grant, and they actually received $159,000 in paratransit funds and the City of Selah received $6,000. Futrell mentioned that they would like to combine funds with Selah since they are providing the paratransit service and they would just credit ® Selah's account. Futrell explained to Selah City Council Member Paul Overby that this would simplify things and be a time savings for Selah because they would not have to do any reporting because Yakima Transit would do it for them. Futrell added that it was something that* WSDOT recommended and suggested they discuss it with the City of Selah. The next item on the agenda discussed was the DAR Service Contract due by August 2011. Mehin commented that the. RFP's are due by June 23`d that they will review and select the lowest bid and compare it to their In- house calculations. Mehin said that if Council decides that Yakima Transit should have the contract, then they would provide the service: Mehin commented that the benefit to doing the contract themselves is they would have a lot more control over the daily activities. Mayor Cawley questioned whether we would save money if we did it in- house, and Waarvick responded that it was possible. Futrell added that they had about 8 -10 people that showed up for the first initial meeting so they might have some potential bidders that would be able to provide the service for a reasonable price. The following item on the agenda discussed was an update on the Westside property. Futrell reported that an appraisal is currently being done to find out how much the property is worth, then go back to the property owner with a purchase price. Futrell said they have to let the property owner know how much the land was appraised at, even if it is less than their purchase price offer. Futrell said the reason for that is in case they apply for grant funds later. Mayor Cawley and the Council Transit Committee said they have their support in trying to move ahead with their plans in the West Valley area. Next on the.agenda was the ILA with Pahto Public Transit, which Futrell said Yakima Transit .is trying to 0 get an interlocal agreement between them and PAHTO so they are both able to coordinate transportation services. Futrell explained that PAHTO provides service in the reservation areas and currently has a pick -up point at Miners. Futrell noted that at some point in the future they decide to provide services in the Lower Valley they could coordinate their times with Pahtos so that passengers can transfer from one bus to another. The next item mentioned was the Service Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP). Futrell commented that. there are issues, which they will discuss at their next CCTC Meeting, but one of them is the Transit operating expend itures,where they get their funds every year. Futrell said they need to update the plan every year and have Council's approval before they can draw any funds. Mayor Cawley said they would do whatever they needed to do to get the plan completed. Tom Sellsted from Information Systems gave a presentation on Google Transit Technology and other transit related systems that he is currently working on and has worked on the past 2 years. Sellsted demonstrated how to access Google Maps. for Yakima Transit's website and how we are be able to share transit information across the globe. Sellsted demonstrated how to access "Where's My Bus" and Google Map_Trip Planner that allows a way to plan a trip and get detailed information based on the days and times of departure and destination. Sellsted's final demonstration was on Transit's GPS system and how passengers can locate their bus on "Where's my bus." The 4th of July shuttle bus service request from Selah was next on the agenda. Overby commented that after reviewing the information Mehin gave them, it was apparent that the shuttle bus service they provided for Selah Community Days was very under - utilized. With that in mind, Overby said it would not ® ..be a sound investment for a handful of people utilizing the shuttle bus service. Mehin reminded Overby they will be providing shuttle bus service from the Gateway Center that could also be an option for their 2 ® Selah residents. Mayor Cawley commented that if they do decide they want the service they can discuss a cost. The request for transit service to the Training Center was the next item on the agenda that was discussed. Mehin said they had met with the Yakima Training Center and they conducted an extensive survey about the interest in having bus service. Mehin said they were very disappointed with the outcome of.the survey that showed veR, little interest. John Gawlik said they have always had a strong interest from the Training Center and they were disappointed with the outcome of the survey. Jeff Louman commented that it is up to each Unit Commander to decide whether their troops are able to leave the base and that could have been the problem with the results of the survey. Mayor Cawley suggested Mehin and Louman meet with the Training Center Unit Commanders and Selah Officials to find out how strong the interest is and how much a pilot project would cost to provide service out to the Training Center. Mehin mentioned that the Sunday service is doing very well and ridership continues to grow each week with an average of 800 passengers. Mehin commented that the next item on the agenda is informational and wanted the Council to know-they are looking for grants to replace six vanpool vans with over 200,000 miles and add five more vanpool vans to their fleet. The New Abstract Licensing was the following item on the agenda brought up by Mehin. Mehin explained to the Council Committee that they have the option to participate in a new licensing program done by an agency named Envision. Mehin said they would go through WSTIP, their insurance provider, 40 who then contacts Envision for the drivers license check or driver's license abstracts. The first.option available would be a monthly drivers license check that would alert them if anything new is on their driving record for only $1.00 per person. The second option would be a more extensive search that Would include a driver's abstract for $3.00 a month per person. Mehin said they will start with the Vanpool Drivers then gradually start checking licenses on the DAR and Transit drivers. Mayor Cawley commented that it sounds like a. safety issue and if Transit has the money in their budget then they have his approval. Last comments made by Mehin were that ridership is up 6 1/2 % compared to last year. Overby's last comments were that from the beginning, Selah's ridership was slow in moving but now he has observed an increase in bus ridership along 15Y Street in Selah. Overby added that the community is now starting to see and respond to the need for bus service in Selah. Street and Traffic Operations The committee's discussion centered on how best fund future street maintenance: The four funding sources suggested are a bond measure, a car license tab fee, an in -lieu fee on utility services, and modify the priorities of government model to dedicate 'a higher. percentage of general funds towards street maintenance. The committee determined that it was time to bring the discussion to the full council at the July 19 city council meeting. Approved by- IV3 I'M "�