The Regular Meeting of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Chairperson Simons in Room B-104, VTA, 3331 North First Street, San Jose, California.

ROLL CALL

Members Present
Eric Anderson
Steven Aufdermauer
Bob Eltgroth
Mahmoud Kamangar
David Kobayashi
Jim Stallman
David Simons, Chairperson
John Sullivan, Vice Chairperson
Bart Thielges

Members Absent
Cedric de La Beaujardiere
Marc Jensen
William F. (Bill) Manry
Curt Riffle
Al Slechta
Joe Walton

Akos Szoboszlay, Interested Citizen, expressed concern regarding signs prohibiting pedestrians on County Expressways. He noted that Sunnyvale, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills support the removal of the signs. Mr. Szoboszlay requested VTA BPAC representatives of these cities to forward letters to the County Traffic Engineer asking that pedestrian prohibition signs on County Expressways be removed.

David Sausjord, Revenue Services Manager, reported that the Business Review Team and the Ad-Hoc Financial Stability Committee recommended raising the share of operating costs funded by VTA customers and to achieve a farebox recovery ratio of 20-25 percent. The VTA Board of Directors approved this recommendation along with a fare increase on June 5, 2003. As part of the adoption of these recommendations staff was directed to return to the Board with a Fare Policy to address fare changes on a longer-term basis and a strategy and plan to achieve a farebox recovery level of 20-25 percent. Mr. Sausjord noted that the report in the Agenda Packet provides an acknowledgement of the goal and a discussion of what fare box recovery is. He noted that the fare box recovery goal will not be achieved solely through increasing or modifying fares. He provided the analogy that fare box recovery is a three-legged stool, operating revenues over operating cost. For analysis and strategy this is defined as operating revenue per hour of service divided by operating cost per hour of service. The actual operating revenue per hour of service is how many passengers per hour of service multiplied by how much each passenger on average is paying in fares. He reported that the first leg of the three-legged stool is the average fare per boarding, second being the average number of boarding passengers per hour of service and third being the cost on average per hour of service. To achieve an increased improvement in farebox recovery all three factors need to be addressed. Increase the average fare paid by the passengers, address service productivity which is average ridership per hour of service that is provided and third address the cost of providing the service. Mr. Sausjord referred to the chart in the report "Farebox Recovery Ratio Analysis Local Peer Operators Compared to VTA" on these three factors.

Mr. Sausjord reported that the schedule and timing for fare reviews is also addressed in the report. He noted that fares will be reviewed and revised as necessary for adoption with each biennial operating budget.

Mr. Sausjord noted that the third major piece of the report beyond the objective and the schedule is the discussion of the Fare Structure Policy which are the relationships within the Fare Structure addressing what level of discounts are provided to youth and senior disabled riders, how Day Passes and Monthly Passes are priced in relationship to the basic cash fare and how pricing is set for ECO Pass, transfer arrangements with adjoining transit operators, and promotional programs.

Mr. Sausjord noted that the proposed Policy is contained in the Agenda Packet and is similar to the establishment of new rates and fares for VTA bus, light rail, and paratransit services that was adopted last year and stated that the Fare Policy if adopted will provide guidance and constraints for setting fares in the future.

Member Stallman encouraged providing incentives for Member Agencies to subscribe to the ECO Pass Program. He noted that the public should be informed of Translink discounts through marketing. Mr. Stallman asked if the City of San Jose might secure inexpensive electrical power for light rail system use from the new power plant that is being built.

Member Sullivan asked if there is a schedule established regarding the stored value card technology and if it would eliminate the need for a cash box. Mr. Sousjord responded that in approximately one month a consortium will be established including VTA and five other major transit agencies in the Bay Area that will be the governing body for the program which will take approximately three-years to implement. He reported that cash will always be accepted however some existing options such as the paper monthly pass will be discontinued with the equivalent of the pass being loaded onto the passengers SMART Card.

Member Eltgroth asked if the RTC Card would be discontinued. Mr. Sausjord responded that the RTC Card would be maintained and continue to serve as proof of eligibility for senior and disabled discounts and will be combined with Translink Card.

Member Sullivan noted that during discussion with the Ad-Hoc Financial Stability Committee there was general consensus that a $2 basic fare would be as high as the Committee would commit to going and inquired if this might go higher than $2 if the 20-25 percent farebox recovery is not reached. Mr. Sousjord responded that VTA has not planned that far in advance.

On order of Chairperson Simons, there being no objection, the Proposed VTA Fare Policy was received.

Mike Aro, Operations Deputy Director, distributed the Draft Service Management Plan and power point presentation overview handout. He stated that he would provide an overview of the power point presentation and attend the next BPAC Committee Meeting to receive comments. The Service Management Plan would then be presented to the Board of Directors in December 2003 for consideration.

Mr. Aro reported that the Board of Directors adopted the Ad-Hoc Financial Stability Committee´s recommendation to update and codify guidelines and policies used to plan, evaluate, and modify service. He stated that the Board of Directors requested that the Plan address target and minimum acceptable measures of productivity by route and service type to improve system efficiency.

Mr. Aro noted that the Plan is broken into four parts: service area/transit network design, service design guidelines, service evaluation policy and the service change process.

He reported that factors that influence service area/transit network design are local geography, land use and development patterns, travel patterns, socio-economic characteristics, historical development of transit service and agency goals. He described the radial network as being similar to San Francisco's transit network with a strong central business district with a lot of service going in and out with passengers coming from many locations to one location to get to the city. He commented that the grid network provides a lot of service for low-density areas and frequent passenger transfers are usually necessary and provides many trips from many origins to many destinations. He reported that VTA operates Light Rail Service and partners in regional and intercity commuter rail service as well as regional express bus service and paratransit service using a mix of the different transit networks.

Mr. Aro noted that the purpose of the Service Design Guidelines the second part of the Plan, are to provide objective and consistent criteria for the development and modification of services, provide guidelines for defining services in terms of span of service and frequency, and to establish vehicle loading guidelines which balance passenger safety, comfort and operating efficiency.

Mr. Aro reported that the purpose of the Service Evaluation Policy the third part of the Plan, is to provide service standards and guidelines that can be used to evaluate current services, to work toward meeting VTA's service performance and farebox recovery goals, and identify corrective actions for those services not meeting service performance standards.

He further noted that the purpose of the Service Change Process the fourth part of the Plan, is to provide a process that is compliant with Federal Transit Administration guidelines for public involvement, provide a process which solicits public and community participation at all stages of the process, and to provide a process that allows staff to implement appropriate changes in an expeditious and responsive manner.

Member Aufdermauer took his seat at 6:35 p.m. and a quorum was declared.

Committee discussed community outreach regarding fare increases and service changes, school service, and the collection of passenger service complaints.

Chairperson Simons suggested that guaranteed ride home and transportation on-demand programs could serve as incentives to increase and sustain ridership.

On order of Chairperson Simons, there being no objection, the Service Management Plan was received.

Chairperson Simons restated the Nominating Committee's recommendation of John Sullivan for Chairperson and Marc Jensen for Vice Chairperson for FY 2003-2004.

Chairperson Simons opened nominations from the floor.

M/S/C (Stallman/Thielges) to close nominations and elect John Sullivan as Chairperson and Marc Jensen as Vice Chairperson for FY 2003-2004, on a white ballot.

Newly-elected Chairperson Sullivan presided over the remainder of the meeting.

Mr. Aro reviewed the FY 2003 Preliminary Annual Performance Report.

On order of Chairperson Sullivan, there being no objection, the FY 2003 Preliminary Annual Performance Report was received and filed.

Ed Speck, County Roads Department, reported that the development of a bicycle and pedestrian project priority list is the first step in the process to qualify for Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 funds. Mr. Speck reviewed each project on the listand noted that project 1 through 6 are unfunded projects listed in the same order as the previous year and projects 7 through 11 are new projects submitted by local agencies.

The Committee discussed the order of the projects on the list and the possibility of alternate funding options for some of the proposed bicycle and pedestrian projects.

M/S/F (Stallman/Simons) on a vote of 6 ayes to 3 noes to 0 abstentions to approve the project priority list with the following change in order: 7 followed by 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 11 with 5 and 6 removed from the list. Members Sullivan, Anderson and Kamangar opposed.

M/S/F (Simons/Eltgroth) on a vote of 8 ayes to 1 noe to 0 abstentions to approve the project priority list with the following change in order: 7, followed by 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 5, and 6. Member Anderson opposed.

M/S/F (Eltgroth/Manry) on a vote of 7 ayes to 2 noes to 0 abstentions to table Agenda Item 10, TDA Article 3 Project Priority List for FY 2004-2005 Guarantee Funds for one month. Members Anderson and Kobayashi opposed.

M/S/C (Stallman/Simons) to approve the project priority list with the following change in order: 1, followed by 7, 10, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 5, and 6.

Member Simons announced that the City of Sunnyvale is using the VTA Bicycle and Pedestrian Guidelines as references for the redevelopment of the downtown area.

Member Elgroth announced that he has copies of the California Association Bicycle Organization Newsletter.

Member Anderson announced that the Mountain View City Council approved the Bicycle Plan.

Member Stallman inquired about VTA's Travel Reimbursement Policy. Ms. Chung responded that staff would research the policy for the information.

Chairperson Sullivan announced that the City of Santa Clara Bicycle Advisory Committee will meet next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. in Santa Clara City Hall.

On order of Chairperson Sullivan, there being no objection, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara R. Cappa, Board Assistant
VTA Board of Directors