Minutes - East Texas Council of Governments

MINUTES EasTexConnects Steering Committee Meeting September 17, 2014 at 1:30 pm ETCOG ‐ Kilgore, Texas The EasTexConnects meeting was held on September 17, 2014 at 1:30 pm at the East Texas Council of Government, 3800 Stone Road, Kilgore, Texas 75662. The following were in attendance: Members Present: Last Name First Name Organization Present Allen Gary ETCOG Yes Anderson Christina Natl. Assoc. Railroad Passengers Excused Beck Ida Panola County Yes Boyd Michelle ET Lighthouse for the Blind Yes Brown Lee Community Healthcore Excused Cleveland David ETCOG Yes Dickson Davis Tyler Pounds Field Yes Garcia Guillermo Tyler Transit Yes Hale Judge (Joel) Rusk County Judge Excused Hedrick John GoBus Excused Hubbard Griff Amtrak Excused Huntsman Brett Longview MPO Yes Jones Phillip Camp County Yes Lewis Scott Longview Transit Yes Marshall Pasty Rains County Excused Mattheis Laura E.T. Center for Independent Living Yes McCune Elton Cherokee County Yes Miller Roy East Texas Regional Airport Yes Mitchell Bettye ETCOG Yes Moharer Jamal Smith County Yes Nick Heather Tyler MPO Yes Pike James DSHS Yes Range Kristy Advocate for Disabled & Elderly Yes Raymer Stephanie HHSC Yes Skinner Rick Longview Greyhound Yes Stoudt Judge (Bill) Gregg County Judge Excused Taylor Judge (Hugh) Harrison County Judge Excused Thornton Helen The Chariot Yes Vaughn Tim NETRMA Watkins Richard Henderson County Excused Williams Councilwoman (Kasha) Advocate for Disabled & Elderly Counties not represented: Anderson, Marion, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood. Others Present: Marty Allen – Citizen, Melissa Cure – ETCOG, Jim Snow ‐ East Texas Veteran’s Alliance, Dennis Kutach ‐ DARS, Heather Bolstridge ‐ Tyler Transit 1 1)
Call to Order Roy Miller, Committee Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. 2)
Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance Michelle Boyd led the Invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 3)
Roll Call Melissa Cure called roll and a quorum was present. 4)
Approval of Minutes from May 21, 2014 meeting Roy asked if there was a motion and a second to approve the July 9, 2014 minutes. Phillip Jones made a motion, Ida Beck seconded. Helen Thornton stated on page 2 that Alan Coleman not only stated she was representing The Chariot on that day but that she will be representing The Chariot and he will not be attending. Roy Miller asked if we needed to vote on appointing a new member in that seat. Helen Thornton stated no, the agency just appointed her instead of Alan Coleman. Roy Miller asked for a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Brett Huntsman made a motion, Phillip Jones seconded, all were in favor and the motion passed. 5)
Public Comments There were no public comments. 6)
Member Comments David Cleveland, ETCOG Executive Director, stated months ago ETCOG in a gesture of good faith and expression of regionalism moved to put a portion of the Alliance for Regional Mobility Funds under the jurisdiction of EasTexConnects. EasTexConnects then authorized a project that involved a number of educational videos on various transportation options and providers available throughout the fourteen county region. That project has been completed and he wanted to advise the committee that TxDOT has elected, after a great deal of scrutiny, not to reimburse the cost of that project. ETCOG was already paying $11,200 in local match to be able to make the project happen. Now ETCOG is also putting in $44,714 in additional local funds. This is not a contribution ETCOG had anticipated making but due to the decision of TxDOT this is where we stand. He continued after visiting with John Hedrick about the project at great length, ETCOG cannot afford $45,000 issues like this to emerge. To continue to work in good faith with TxDOT he decided to write a letter to Eric Gleason and indicate that we understand the agency determination in this regard and to layout that we are requesting technical assistance in this matter. He would ask to review the facts in the situation to come up with a final resolution with the intent to practice a process that would prevent situations like this from occurring in the future. He continued that ETCOG is excited they were able to be involved in supporting the project and hopefully the educational/marketing videos are of great use to the transportation providers. Roy Miller stated he appreciated everything ETCOG does for EasTexConnects and if there is anything the committee can do to assist to let him know. Scott Lewis asked if David could share the reasoning from TxDOT because obviously this committee and ETCOG did a good faith effort in proceeding with those videos. David stated he met with local TxDOT individuals about this matter and the primary concern that was indicated as an example was the videos did not allow a member of the public enough means to be able to actually access the system as an entry point to figure out what their options are. He continued ETCOG suggested modifying the videos and come up with Jamal’s, Longview Transit, and Tyler Transit’s help to develop a common 1‐800 number all providers could use and all support together. Apparently that was not a satisfactory resolution but in all fairness to TxDOT there may have been other issues not expressed which is why he wants to go after this as needing technical assistance. 2 Michelle Boyd asked if at any point was there some type of written format with what was recommended stating if we did x, y, z they would fund it. David stated in every project grant agreement there are certain performance measures that you must meet and there is always back and forth on that process. He continued that we have a pretty extensive time line and communication between TxDOT officials and staff but frankly at the end of the day we thought we had moved forward in resolving this but it turned out that wasn’t the case. That’s why we need to learn from it and move forward. He feels sure that Mr. Gleason will grant his request for technical assistance. He stated we are not going to get the funding but his objective is to solve this so it doesn’t occur in the future. Rick Skinner stated he was invited to be a panelist at TxDOT’s short course conference. There will be a multimodal passenger panel and if anyone has any information they would like to convey about our facilities in East Texas to let him know. The meeting is October 14th and 15th in San Marcos. It is educational about TxDOT activities. Michelle Boyd asked if GoBus raises their rates do other providers have to raise their rates as well. Melissa Cure stated no, each provider sets their own fares. Michelle asked who she could talk to about the fares, TxDOT? Helen Thornton replied she should check with each individual provider about their fares because each provider has the right to maintain their rates separate and apart from anyone else’s. Unless providers have an interlocal agreement to honor weekly or daily passes, which is what we are looking at through seamless fare. Outside of that the rates are subject to each company. John Myers stated the new GoBus fares were approved by the board and will go into effect October 1st. Roy Miller stated he heard on the radio that the City of Marshall voted on GoBus rates. He asked how that worked. John stated we are in contract negotiations with Marshall. Our contract for the flex route system only runs in the city limits of Marshall and it ends December 31st. Right now we are negotiating with the director and city council. They formally paid us a set fee of $65,000 per year to run the flex route. It cost ETCOG $515,000 annually to run it. In order to keep the costs within our parameters we took the three routes and redesigned them into one route which covers the biggest areas where people get on and off. He stated he and Melissa did several studies on the best ways to go around the city. The city is reviewing that and we are working on redoing the contract for less money. The new route will cover all the colleges which are the majority of the ridership. They cut $30,000 out of what they are paying us so we had to do something on this end to help with the cost. We did not want to shut the whole thing down because a lot of people rely on it to get to work or to the doctor. There were no negative comments about GoBus service; it is just a cost issue. Roy stated his concern is for the people in rural areas and cities like Marshall as the funding continues to be reduced. He added he is a big supporter of GoBus and he doesn’t want to see it go away and he doesn’t understand why local governments can’t see the need for the service. In the grand scheme of things $30,000 isn’t a lot in a municipal budget but priorities are what they are. As we talk in our committee meetings it is important to consider how we can get more involved to let people know the service is needed, that we do provide it, and that it is affordable so we can keep it on a long term basis. That is part of what we do is to coordinate and let communities know what we do. He added he was concerned when he first heard the story and being a Marshall native he couldn’t understand why they couldn’t come up with $30,000. John stated it was his understanding the council needed that money to go to parks or some type of improvement. Roy stated it has always been a struggle in our part of the country because we believe we have a God given right to own an automobile and we don’t use mass transportation. In reality not everyone has an automobile. He stated many years ago in Houston they talked about adding light rail from north Houston into the city center but decided to build another freeway instead. Now the light rail system is back on the table. We just don’t tend to use mass transit and public transportation but he believes that will have to change at some point in the future. Even in 3 7)
small local communities people aren’t as supportive of public transportation and don’t realize it serves a very useful purpose for families that don’t have 3 cars for a family of 2. John stated he believes the videos need to be used to inform the public what is available. Roy added he is a supporter of the centralized number so that people can call one number and get the information. David stated he wanted to clarify the videos don’t just focus on GoBus, but all modes of transportation. He doesn’t want it branded as a GoBus video, which was not the intent. The intention was to publicize mobility in the entire region. David added if it is the desire of EasTexConnects to come up with the one common number and add it to the videos to make that a formal action and ETCOG can work with the other providers to make that happen. Jamal added it might not be a bad idea to reflect on a presentation made a couple meetings ago by Atkins that is spear heading a project for the East Texas Regional Transportation Partners. They are using a veteran’s grant to improve technology and communication between providers. Perhaps this dilemma with the videos and a desire to have a centralized number could be further alleviated by cooperating and coordinating that need with the project that is currently underway. We might have the opportunity to kill two birds at the same time. He added it seems to be a common goal. Helen stated as we move forward with the central call system, since we have two centers because of geographics, Gregg and Smith County, one number still needs to be whichever one it goes to so that people are not divided on the information they get. Michelle asked the committee to remember our elderly and disabled when hiring call takers for the call center. Committee Reports a) Planning Oversight Subcommittee Brett Huntsman stated the subcommittee is making progress on the goals and coordination strategies that TTI addressed. One strategy they are working on now is working with ETCOG to improve the website. Improvements include accessibility and ease of navigation. He aded if anyone has suggestions for the website to let him know. Helen asked if it was still a page under ETCOG’s website and stated it might be easier if it was a standalone website. Brett stated they are looking into that but the problem is the cost associated with building and maintaining the website. Helen added he should look at the DCTA website because it is easy to navigate and user friendly. 8)
Chairman Reports a) Discussion and action regarding changes to the subcommittees (Miller) Roy stated there is an email in the handouts from Susan Linnard who couldn’t be at the meeting today. He added that she will provide more information on the 5310 program at a later date. He continued that he and James Pike talked about EasTexConnects level of involvement in the 5310 program and will be sitting down with Susan to discuss. Roy then talked about the subcommittees, stating there is the executive, 5310, interconnectivity day, planning oversight/project development, membership/outreach, bylaws, and conflict resolution subcommittees. The chairs of these subcommittees met a couple of weeks ago and talked about the mission, tasks and if they are still needed. A memo will go out to the group before the next meeting; no action will be taken today. What we would like to do is reduce the number of subcommittees if they do not have a purpose anymore. For example, Jamal’s subcommittee is no longer funded but that doesn’t mean the project doesn’t need to be pursued so we thought we could put it under another subcommittee. We looked at eliminating unnecessary subcommittees but taking their needed functions and consolidating them into one of the other standing subcommittees. The subcommittee chairs will then compose the executive committee. A memo will go out with these suggestions: 4 the executive committee will take in the bylaws and conflict resolution items; interconnectivity day, planning oversight and membership/outreach will remain. He added we are legislatively mandated to have our membership like it is so there are no recruiting members like in the lions club and rotary. There is a real role to play in public information so we should emphasis that. Helen Thornton stated in the past the 5310 subcommittee has been a TxDOT appointed committee not an EasTexConnects committee and asked if that had changed. Roy stated he doesn’t know and he needs to get with Susan to discuss that. If we have a role we will become active again otherwise we can dissolve that committee. Helen added technically we are the rubber stamp to that and TxDOT establishes it. Roy continued that Susan’s memo states there have been changes to the process so he and James Pike will talk to her about the EasTexConnects role. At the next meeting he will be able to report if we will keep the 5310 subcommittee. Helen added about a year ago it was brought up for this committee to divorce themselves from the process. Melissa Cure added that we talked about Rick Skinner moving to vice chair which leaves an opening for a public provider. Roy stated that is correct, a person cannot fill two positions. Jamal stated for Smith County representation he would like to be on the executive committee and planning oversight. b) Smith County Voucher System Presentation (Moharer) Jamal stated the Smith County Voucher program started about three years ago as a decision made at the county level. It was realized they needed improved access to transportation. The concept was to make services available over and beyond what they already had access to. The idea was not to duplicate service but to enhance what was already available. The concept was to approach it from a different perspective and realizing that funds dictate the level of service and services available to the public. Funding really empowers the providers to deliver certain services. As an example from earlier if the funds are not available to the provider then the provider cannot provide the services. Therefore a conclusion was drawn that providing funding to the providers enables the provider to do that. So what would it be like if we shifted that empowerment from the provider to the passenger and put the passenger in the driver seat? Empower the passenger with the funding opportunities rather than empowering the providers with the funding opportunities. They looked at several examples of that approach and Harris County rides in Houston provides the largest number of services and rides statewide and has received numerous awards. Several studies and accolades from TTI were conducted on that service so it was a good example to follow. They provide the largest number of trips in Texas yet they do not own a single vehicle. Purchase of service through the voucher program is how they operated that. Therefore, Smith County took the same approach and provided the Smith County voucher program. Those passengers that need service have been use to using a certain provider and those services are still available to them. If they run into a situation where they want to go from point A to point B and the service is not available then the passenger is empowered to use the voucher system to procure their own service. Kristy Range helps the passengers navigate that decision process because if a passenger gets the voucher and says I want to take a taxi to Dallas that is not being a good steward of resources. As a mobility manager she will find the most effective and efficient mode of transportation to the destination. Greyhound would probably be the most effective way to travel for that example. We have had a situation where a person in Athens needed to get to an appointment in Tyler and then a follow up appointment in Dallas. Kristy will explore the options and say GoBus may be the best option from Athens to Tyler and then Greyhound would take them to Dallas. This was put into place three years ago for service that was not available. The feds call it not available or inappropriate. That just means the compatibility of the service in relation to the need for the service. It started in order to make sure everyone who needed the service received the service. In recent past that system has been relied upon tremendously because of the lack of funding by GoBus in the urbanized area in Tyler. It has been a blessing to have access to the vouchers. He asked if there were any questions. Roy asked how the person gets a voucher. Jamal responded if the passenger needs the service the first thing is to call Kristy with the destination. Once the best provider is identified then she will give them the provider contact information and voucher authorization. That voucher does not physically have to go in someone’s hand, it can be communicated electronically. For example, a ticket for Greyhound: the passenger would be given authority, Greyhound would be contacted, the passenger would get their ticket, Greyhound would send their bill to Kristy, 5 she will submit to Smith County for reimbursement, and then Smith County gets reimbursed by TxDOT. He added it is intended for the elderly and disabled and is funded by 5310 funds. Helen Thornton added she was in the same seminar when Harris County presented on this and a footnote is that nonprofits, for profits, or a workplace can donate to those funds as well. For example, DARS could contribute. Jamal added there is a huge benefit of approaching services from a purchase of service stand point. That is it is considered a capital expense, therefore the reimbursement rate is 80/20. 20% is local match and 80% is funded by TxDOT as opposed to operations which are reimbursed at a 50/50 rate. Meaning TxDOT pays 50% and the tax payers pay the other 50%. By embracing the voucher program you not only empower the passenger but also you save the local tax payers 30%. Roy stated as he looks at this from a regional standpoint and talking about some type of centralized phone number then how can we branch out the voucher program to the entire region. Jamal added baby steps, and by adding implementation steps in small pockets. Roy asked Jamal to talk about the seamless fare study. Jamal stated the group visited the DFW providers and stated they have agreements in place where they honor each other’s fare structure. He thinks it would be a good follow up task based on an earlier question to discuss the fare of one provider affecting another provider. Seamless fare does require interlocal agreements between providers. When a passenger gets on board they are required to pay a fare and if that fare is $4 that doesn’t mean the ride costs $4, it could cost $40 and the other $36 comes from somewhere else. The seamless fare study stopped at the point of discussing an interlocal agreement where we would honor each other’s fares. If a passenger rides from point A to B on GoBus and pays $4 and then goes from C to D on NDMJ that passenger is not required to pay another $4 fare. This is what is transpiring in Dallas. They honor each other’s fares and don’t require passengers to pay more than once. We first need to come to an agreement as to what to do about local copays. Roy asked how do we identify the participants at the policy level and get the decision makers within the fourteen county region to agree that we need to have a common rate. How do we get those people around a table to decide if this is something we want to do as a region. If fourteen counties are looking at fourteen different solutions then that is not going to be manageable. How can we identify over time a group of people from the fourteen counties that want to see this happen and treat the fourteen county region like it is Harris County. He asked the committee be thinking of ways to make this happen and get every county involved. He stated we aren’t reinventing the wheel because agencies already have this system in other areas. Jamal added the situation could get exasperated especially in Smith County since there are multiple providers. If one provider raises its rates and the other does not then it could cause a mass exodus of one ridership to another and adversely affect the ridership of the one that raised their rates. 9)
Old Business There was no old business to discuss. 10)
New Business Michelle Boyd stated she would like to have someone from NCTCOG come and speak about how they reached the interlocal agreements with Denton County, TRE, and DART. She added she has already spoken to a representative there and she is willing to come speak if it is ok with the group. Helen asked if that was in the written report that was presented from the Seamless Fare Study group because that is what they did when they went there. Melissa stated yes it was in the report but she is welcome to come and speak. Roy added if she has worked with multiple counties and municipalities it would be interesting to know did she talk to mayors and county judges or staff. He would be curious to know how they started the process and got everyone to the table. Roy said he was open to suggestions on which subcommittee to move the seamless fare study under. Helen suggested planning oversight. Roy added that Brett is pretty covered up but if he would like to take it on that is fine. 6 d) Future agenda items Roy asked the committee to get any agenda items to Melissa before the next meeting. 11)
Adjourn There was no other business and the meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m. 7