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Minutes Transit Bd 9 30 04 MINUTES DUBUQUE TRANSIT TRUSTEE BOARD PUBLIC MEETING TO CONSIDER MINIBUS FARE INCREASE DATE: Thursday September 30, 2004 TIME: 2:30 P.M. PLACE: Carnegie Stout Public Library Auditorium, 11111 & Bluff Streets, Dubuque, Iowa MEMBERS PRESENT: Bemis, Stedman, Lightcap, Enderson, Sand MEMBERS ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Munson, Transit Manager At 2:30 p.m. Transit Board Chair Harry Bemis called the public meeting to order and asked Transit Manager Mark Munson to present a staff presentation explaining the purpose of the meeting and the reasons for the fare increases being considered by the board. Munson provided a Power Point presentation explaining the purpose of the meeting, the ADA requirements for public transportation, the City's current ADA transit service, the reasons for the capacity constraints and the available options and recommendations to address the constraint issues. At the conclusion of the presentation Munson read a summary of public comments he had received over the phone from consumers in the two weeks prior to the public meeting. Munson Also provided Transit Board copies of written comments he had also received at KeyLine prior to the meeting. Public Comments received bv phone prior to public meetinQ: Deb Ostrander $1.50 fare doesn't begin to cover cost; very supportive of service improvements especially improvements in return ride times and late day service. Expressed some confusion as to applicability of $3.00 fare for Age-only eligible riders. Mrs. Fullbriaht Use to ride Green Line when it traveled on Rosemont but needed to switch to minibus dl,Je to distance and hills she would need to walk to get to nearest bus route on Pennsylvania. She is 84 years old and has difficulty breathing when walking that distance and on hills. She also has concerns she would be subject to $3.00 fare because she doesn't have a disability, just age. Caller unknown Caller is over age 65 and volunteers at Mercy Hospital. Uses fixed route wherever possible but not always able to use fixed route due to weather. If fare increased to $3.00 per ride she would not be able to afford to volunteer at Mercy Hospital. Dorothv Grant Expressed concern and confusion over who is subject to which fare increase. Has a health problem that prevents her from using fixed route but thought she may be subject to Age-only fare of $3.00. The board invited public comment from the approximately 35 people in attendance for the public meeting. Public Comments received at the public meetina: Geri Rea. Stonehill Adult Davcare Expressed confusion about how the board and the minibus service will define eligibility especially as it relates to ADA eligible versus Age-only eligible riders. Reminded board how most of their riders are on fixed incomes. Munson explained how eligibility is currently determined by answers to questions asked in the ADA Eligibility Certification application all minibus riders are required to complete. Application asks questions about how a person's mental or physical disability prevents them from accessing any part of the fixed route. Application also has a release of information section for those applications where additional information from a physician or counselor is necessary to make an eligibility determination. With respect to affordability, explained how the City of Dubuque would still have one of the lowest ADA fares in the state even if the fare was increased to $1.50. Marian Williams Wanted to know where there was a problem with capacity because she notice there was always available seating on the minibuses when she was riding. Asked several questions about whether the drivers were employed by the City or Project Concern, whether the service still provided transportation to Head Start students, and what was meant by stricter eligibility requirements? Noted seeing some passengers waiting 2 y:, hours for a return ride. Wondered if trolley service could assist minibus and wanted to know how to qualify for ADA eligibility. Munson explained how the incident Ms. Williams was referring to when she saw a passenger waiting 2 y:, hours for a return ride was an example of capacity constraint. Explained how the City owned the equipment, employed most of the drivers and managed the service since the service was brought in house from Project Concern two years ago. Explained there were no Head Start children riding on the minibus but that if any child was ADA eligible they would be eligible for the service. Referred to earlier explanation on eligibility given to Geri Rea and noted that the trolley, though accessible, was part of the fixed route system and not the minibus service. Beth Houseloa. Sunnvcrest Manor Wanted to know if expanded hours meant more hours of service during the day or if it meant the service would go beyond 6:00 p.m. Munson explained how the expanded hours would be within the current times of day mandated by the ADA for the minibus service. Those hours of service are based upon the current fixed route schedules of 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday. Marv Kav Patters. Scenic Valley Area Aaencv on Aaina (SVAA) SVAA purchases tickets in bulk from a grant and that any fare increase would require them to shift funds from other programs for the elderly to pay for transportation as transportation is a critical service to the elderly. Noted that they would work to use the fixed route wherever possible. Jon Romain. Area Residential Care ARC represents about 200 people with disabilities and wanted to know what percentage the current ADA fares were of the actual cost for the service on both the minibus and fixed route and how those percentages compared for the respective services especially if the board approved increasing the minibus fares. Munson explained how this information was not available for the meeting but that the fares are the smallest portion of the funding for the cost of both the fixed route and paratransit service and that both services rely on federal, state and local support. Munson also explained how fixed route ADA fares by law are half the regular fixed route fare and that minibus ADA fares are up to the local system to establish and can be up to twice the regular fixed route fare. KeyLine currently charges only half the limit allowed for minibus ADA fares and even with the proposed increase to $1.50 would still be under the legal limit of twice the regular fixed route fare of $1.00. Deb Ostrander Wanted to know what the prospects were to expand the fixed routes. Munson explained how all fixed routes are almost completely stretched to their limits of 1 hour headways and that in most instances any expansion of the route would require a corresponding reduction of service somewhere else in the route. Sarah Davidson Explained how afford ability was different for different people and that she could not afford an increase in minibus fares and would use the fixed route more if minibus fares were increased. Noted that the fixed route was extremely constrained with hour long headways and limited service areas and that increasing minibus fares to move people off minibus to fixed route could not be done without addressing constraints on the current fixed route system. Noted that the issue of capacity constraint on the minibus has been a problem for a long time. Asked if the fare increase would also affect subscription riders. Also suggested having a physician sign off on all applications. Munson explained how the fare increase as proposed would affect all users of the ADA minibus service including those being provided subscription service. Explained how KeyLine already refers certain applications to physicians for their recommendation and that staff should further investigate ADA regulations before requiring physician sign-off on all applications. Beverlv Kedlev Indicated she rode minibus to work to clean houses. Transit Board Chair Harry Bemis closed the public meeting and return the discussion to the Transit Board. George Enderson noted that the primary responsibility of the minibus service is to provide transit service to riders protected under the ADA. Enderson asked Munson whether the $1.50 fare increase would be enough to fund needed expansion of service. Munson indicated that the $0.50 increase would generate approximately 1,500 additional hours of service that would greatly reduce the current capacity constraint. Munson also noted that he was not able to speculate on how much additional revenue would be generated by increasing the fares to $3.00 for Age-only eligible riders as he did not know how many riders this would affect. Suggested staff proceed with re-certification to identify those Age-only riders currently using the service. Munson reminded the board how the City of Cedar Rapids require all riders to pay the same fare and that ADA eligible rides are prioritized over non- ADA rides wherever necessary to stay in compliance with ADA requirements regarding capacity constraints. George Enderson motioned to increase minibus fares across the board to $1.50 and for staff to re-certify all riders and to adopt scheduling policies similar to Cedar Rapids regarding prioritization of ADA eligible ride requests. Motion seconded by Don Stedman and unanimously approved by the Transit Board. Meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Michael Sands, Secretary ) ~ Proposed KeyLine Minibus Service Improvements Public Meeting September 30, 2004 ~ Purpose of the Public Meeting Mark Munson " Explain my's Public Tran~t commitment under the Americans With Disabilities />d " Identify capacity concems on the Minibus Service " Identify alternatives to address concems " ~~~~~'ia~~b~~3~ :d~~cems " ~Yi'£".~~si~~~~~%tg,gu~the Council Service KeyLine Is Required To Provide under the American's With Disabilities Act " Service Area II Response Times II Fares .. Trip Purpose Restrictions .. Hours and Days of Service .. Capacity Constraints .. Additional Service Service KeyLine Currently Provides Under the American's With Disabilities Act " Service Þrea - my Umlts IiJ Resþonse limes - 1 hour prk¡r to appointment time; 30 minute pick-up window IiJ Fare - $1.00; haW allowed under NJA IiJ Trip Purpose Restrictions - None " Hours/Days Service - Same as fixed route ill ~~~n~i~~d -~~ ~"Je '3~' late " Additional Setvice - Age-only eligibility Staff Concerns " Staff concerns over capacity & eligibility standards and concerns over ability to meet commitments to riders with disabilities II Results from a voluntary review of paratransit service by the Dubuque Human Rights Department 1m FY 2002 minibus ridership 40,000 rides 1m FY 2003 minibus ridership 46,000 rides III FY 2004 minibus ridership 62,000 rides (35% increase) l1li5 bus peak FY 2002, 2003 & 2004 Human Rights ADA Review Ii Service hours FY 2003 to FY 2004 outpaced ridership growth, .. The effect of the growth slowed down performance and limited scheduling choices for dispatchers and riders " Voluntary review requested by Transit Manager May 2004 " Conducted by Human Rights Department summer 2004 " Primary areas of concern - Trip denials for next day service, late day appointments and return ride times .. Stricter eligibility requirements " Technology improvements .. Increase number of buses in service " Increase subscription service .. Improve communication systems/procedures .. Log trip denials and monitor patterns Available Opti 0 ns/ Reco m mendati 0 ns " Trip purpose restrictions on Non-ADA rides " Cedar Rapids prioritized service for Non- ADA rides; same fare as ADA rides; scheduled as space and time permits; waiting lists; trip denial if necessary Recommendations In Process Recommendations Pending " Revised ADA eligibility Application " Automated phone o,&ns currently being explored by city staff .. Deployment of computer assisted d~patch/scheduling software .. Fixed route Infonnation provided to paratransJt requests on fixed route " Policy and procedure for logging bip denials . -"'""".""ment""""""needed"add",,, capadty consb"ak1ts . :gi:"oo'8':d.: ~~~,:~~ 'POro>dma"", 1,200-1,500 addltiooal "°'"" """'" . =ma~ ~~..:,,~ and . ~shIft_¡pfrom"",.....t""""'" 2 Public Input .. State your name and address .. Please be mindful of time, as others are waiting to provide their comment II Try not to repeat what has previously been shared by other speakers Thank you 3 -- Dubuque Transit Trustee Board: You requested rider imput on the Keyline Minibus. All realize the value of the service, but raising a round trip ride from 2 dollars to six dollars is not only a shock but unaccep- table for most riders. Who determines as we got on or off the bus what a walker pays? Many not driving a car anymore take such transportation. Many have poor eyesight. Is that a physical handicap? Many use a cane for security. How do you define physical handicap for only $1.50 ride, just wheelchairs or walkers? What about the person ridin~ with a handicapped person. What does he or she pay? I am sure you will have many questioning the costs proposed and I think $1.50 for all riders would be simpler and a sufficient raise at this' time for all. We all appreciate the city service and the scheduled bus routes, while available, are not as valuable for seniors, most years past age 65, always walking blocks for a bus., no help and weather concitions a concern. Let us divert funds for the Keyline minibus sevice as they have been for many years. 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