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5. Advisory Board Meeting - September 18, 2018

APPROVED Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

Monday, September 18, 2018

The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) Advisory Board met on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 11:30 am, at 15 Blandin Avenue, Framingham, MA, at the call of Joe Nolan, Advisory Board Chair/Wayland.

A roll call of members present was conducted. In attendance were: Ed Burman/Ashland - Clerk, James Errickson/Natick arrived at 11:40 am, Debra Galloway/Sudbury, Ellen Gibbs/Wellesley, Jack Hunter/Hudson, William Kingkade/Milford, Jean MacQuiddy/Weston, Nick Milano/Marlborough, Joseph Nolan/Wayland – Chair, Cheryl Tully Stoll/Framingham left the meeting at 12:34 pm.

Not in attendance: Kathleen Bartolini/Southborough, James Gorman/Sherborn, Brian Herr/Hopkinton, Craig Hughes/Dover, Jay Marsden/Holliston – Vice Chair, Carole Mullen/ Hopedale, Susan Stocker/Disabled Community.

Also in attendance: Ed Carr/Administrator, Eva Willens/Deputy Administrator, John Glynn/CFO, Patrick Moynihan/General Counsel, Joy Glynn/Grants Management, Linda Murtagh/Exec Asst, Ieshia Price/ Admin Staff, Sara Scully/Asst Deputy Administrator, Emily Van Dewoestine/ Intermodal Operations, Ohad Klopman/Summer Intern, via conference call at 11:45 am.

Kiessling Transit, Inc.: Chuck Curran, General Manager.

Public in attendance: Brandon Moutinho/Intern Ashland Police Department; Jim Haddadin /MetroWest Daily News Reporter.

Chairman Joe Nolan, presiding, declared a quorum was present, and the meeting was called to order at 11:35 am.

Minutes of the previous meeting:

A motion was made by Joe Nolan: Approval of minutes from the previous Advisory Board Meeting of June 25, 2018. Second. The vote was unanimous.

Public Questions/Comments:

A request was made by Mr. Nolan for any public comments from the audience. With no comments being expressed, the meeting continued.

Administrator’s Report:

Ed Carr/Administrator, in referring to the fare discussion item on the agenda, advised the Board that it is at their discretion whether or not to vote today on incremental fare increases. MWRTA has gathered data and fare comparisons have been assessed throughout the Commonwealth. Today’s presentation is intended to offer the Board relevant information regarding the current MWRTA fare structure, allowing members the oportunity to consider the information provided and decide how to proceed, either at this meeting or at a future date. He reminded the Board that setting fares is among its responsibilities, but that there is no obligation to change them.

Mr. Carr reported that the Consumer Advisory Committee has become more focused on Demand Response Services. The MWRTA needs to be focused on all services it provides, by reaching out to a more diverse segment of customers, including Fixed Route. Accordingly, Mr. Carr infomed the Board that the MWRTA has instituted office hours to be held every 3rd Wednesday from 6-7 pm, at 15 Blandin Avenue, Framingham, beginning on September 19th. MWRTA management, as well as management from its service contractor, Kiessling Transit, Inc., will be on site to meet and listen to the public for thoughts and feedback.

Mr. Carr informed the Board that with the passage of this year’s state budget (FY 2019) there was an incremental increase of $2M in state assistance and the MWRTA received an additional $52k. There is an additional $4M available to the RTA’s, with conditional requirements. The line item specifies the creation of a Task Force, chaired by Astrid Glynn/MassDOT Rail and Transit Administrator. Three RTA Administrator appointments were made by the Governor’s office, including Ed Carr/MWRTA, Ray Ledoux/BAT, and Tom Cahir/CCRTA; Three appointments made by MARTA (Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities): Eric Rousseau/SRTA, Angela Grant/VTA, and Sandra Sheehan/PVTA; remaining members of the Task Force Board are from the Administration and and the Legislature. $2M of $6M from MassDOT is designated to RTAs with a deficit, Worcester and Springfield have the largest deficits. The other $4M will go to the remaining RTAs. The purpose of the Task Force is to establish a performance measurement by which a determination can be made as to hiow to, disburse these funds among the RTAs. Mr. Carr stated that he was looking forward to the opportunity to advocate for the MWRTA for a portion of these funds. MWRTA’s annual allocation is less than some of its peers. As Administrator of this RTA, and having worked in MassDOT, Mr. Carr feels that he has a unique perspective. He stated that MetroWest is half way between the two largest cities in the state, that RTAs generally are underfunded, and that MWRTA, in particular, does not have the operating funds to be as robust as it needs to be. He went on to state that in considering the fare increases, it should be noted that our customers have one hour headways. In Boston it is 7-8 minutes. People are just not happy when fares increase. Our fixed route needs more frequency and Sunday service. Our Demand Response service is very good. MWRTA has operated for 12 years with no deficits. The spirit of Chapter 161B is local control. This Advisory Board advocates within the communities for the monies that are coming into MWRTA. We do not want MassDOT and the Administration to take over control because they have the funding. There are 15 RTAs with very different demographics and issues.

Presentation for the Fare Increase

Mr. Carr introduced Ohad Klopman, a Framingham High School graduate and summer intern with the MWRTA, who was tasked by the Administrator to research, analyze and present the effects of fare increases within MWRTA service communities, the state and also outside the region. During and after his presentation there were a number of questions and comments offered by various Board members:

Q: If riders leave the service, does it say the reason?

A: No explanation why they leave, just the cause and effect, preference, cost or cost effective.

Hudson: The study does not address headways and Sunday service. We have a Town Administrator who is frustrated with the lack of headways and the need for Sunday service to increase ridership.

Q: Has MBTA or RTAs performed study on lost ridership, do they get them back?

A: We did not obtain that data.

Simpson Analysis would provide info on riders returning after time. When MWRTA relocated its Hub from Waverly St. to Blandin Ave., we experienced a loss in ridership.

Q: Have you evaluated the cost of the fares? At current revenue collected, $332k, what is the extra cost of handling the cash? If you did not collect fares, you would have more ridership?

A: We have not performed that analysis. Will Kingkade, board member from Milford, may be able to give us MBTA insight, as they are going to a cashless system. Hudson is a good example of fares that pay for fuel.

Q: What is the cost to collect and count the money?

A: Approximately $30k annually, for employee to count the money.

Q: Fare increase or no fares at all? A: Reviewing the analysis at the end of the report there were suggestions to generate revenue in other ways: social media, corporate partners, etc.

Q: How many customers currently use Charlie Cards versus cash?

A: Approximately 65% - 70 % use Charlie Cards.

Q: How many customers currently use Charlie Cards versus cash?

A: Approximately 65% - 70 % use Charlie Cards.

Upon completetion of the presentation a discussion ensued on the issue of fares and the advisability of an increase. Mr. Carr reiterated that the Board is not mandated to vote on a fare increase, it is at its discretion. He pointed out that MWRTA fare rates were structured to be on the high side 12 years ago, but now its fares fall within the middle range of all the RTAs. At this point in time, Mr. Carr does not recommend that fares be increased. However, he stated that if the Board should decide to increase fares, it would not happen overnight. There is a statutory procedure to increase fares that requires extensive public outreach and the holding of at least one public meeting/hearing. He stated that in time the MWRTA will have to raise fares, but this in not the time. He added that at the very least, any fare change should wait for the MBTA to complete the AFC 2.0 Project (cashless fare collection system), to be sure all the issues are worked out.

Framingham: I am not in support of increasing fares. We have approximately 1,000 transit oriented apartments (4 construction projects underway) in the City at this time that could provide increased ridership to fill the buses. We do not want to lose our senior and low income population to a fare increase. People are buying cars now in a strong economy, but when the economy flips, this could change and people will need alternative transportation.

In response, Mr. Carr stated that statistically MWRTA has had double digit increases in ridership every year, except 2017. Average increase is 3% throughout the U.S. We have obtained grants and created partnerships to increase ridership and offset fares. Distribution of funds is incremental, it is not based on equity. We build ridership one rider at a time.

Marlborough: We should review numbers at budget time, then consider an incremental fare increase.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the consensus of the Advisory Board was to hold off on the vote for incremental fare increases and to place it on the January agenda for further review and discussion.

Board Member Comments:

Ashland: Thank you to the MWRTA for rerouting the bus through Ashland to low income apartments and into the train station. This route began on Monday.

Natick: Request to provide the board with stats on particular routes, lines, data points for each meeting so we can understand the methodology of fare increase, increased ridership, and how the formula for federal funding works into the equation.

Sudbury: Sudbury has seen an estimated 5% population growth and another new development off Route 117 near Concord is planned. A new town wide Transportation Committee has been formed with several departments involved. They have contracted with Micro transit for a software application to review companies who provide software platforms that input regional information into a database, to supply a proposed use of resources such as: commuter shuttles, afterschool rides, on demand service. We have involved MAPC (Metropolitan Area Planning Council) to experiment with the application.

The next Advisory Board meeting will be in January (date to be determined).

A motion was made by Mr. Nolan: To adjourn the meeting.

Second: The vote was unanimous.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:42 pm.

Certificate

The undersigned being the duly qualified clerk of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board, acknowledges that the foregoing minutes accurately reflect the actions taken at a legally convened meeting of the Advisory Board held on September 18, 2018.

________________

Ed Burman, Clerk

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