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The Regular Meeting of the Committee for Transit Accessibility (CTA) was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by Chairperson Tamez in Building A, Auditorium.                              

Members Present

Members Absent

A quorum was present.

Received introductions from the audience including:  Jane P. Kennedy, VTA Board of Directors Chairperson; Lisa Ives, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Extension to Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara Project Manager; Joanne Benjamin, Congestion Management; David Ledwitz, Natalie Wells and Sheri Fisher, VTA Accessible Services; Carolyn Grattan-Aiello, Human Resources;  Sue Cabrera, Employee Relations and Tom Giuffre, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

There were no Public Presentations.

M/S/C (Gouveia/Slack) to approve the Minutes of January 8, 2003.

M/S/C (Morrow/Gallo) to receive and file the Minutes of September 11, 2002.

Jane P. Kennedy, VTA Board of Directors Chairperson and Campbell City Council Person, recognized Committee for Transit Accessibility (CTA) 2002 Chairperson Aaron Morrow for his strong leadership and the tremendous work he did to bring consensus to the CTA for many important decisions.  He guided CTA through the development of the Paratransit Business Plan.  Board Chairperson Kennedy presented Member Morrow with a gift of appreciation from the VTA Board of Directors.

Member Morrow stated that it was an honor to serve CTA for one year during which time he learned a lot.  Member Morrow further stated that he looks forward to working with the CTA.

Chairperson Tamez provided suggestions to be observed by CTA during the year including: 1) obey the rules of courtesy with each other; 2) keep side conversations to a minimum; 3) speak up if at all possible; 4) ensure that only one person speaks at a time; 5) speakers need to be recognized through the Chairperson; 6) each person is requested to speak to each item no more than twice; 7) couch negative or positive feelings in a motion; and 8) conduct meetings on a professional level, moving meetings along and taking action whenever possible.

NOTE:  M/S/C MEANS MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED AND, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Lisa Ives, BART Extension to Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara Project Manager, provided an update of the BART Project.  Ms. Ives reported that in January 2002, the environmental compliance process was initiated, which involves the preparation of environmental impact statements for Federal requirements and an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for State requirements.  Preparation of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and EIR documents is mainly to identify potential impacts of the BART extension and the proposed mitigations for those impacts.

Ms. Ives noted that the EIS/EIR document would be released in text version and that specific sections of interest can be provided as requested by Members of CTA.  Ms. Ives stated that the document would be released for comment at public hearings.  The document will be released in July 2003 and public hearings will be held at the end of July 2003.  The document will be finalized in spring 2004.

On order of Chairperson Tamez,there being no objection, the BART Project Update was received.

David Ledwitz, Management Analyst, provided the Fiscal Year 2003 Second Quarter Accessible Services Performance Report including: 1) Paratransit ridership increased 5.2 percent between the second quarter of 2003 and the second quarter of 2002; 2) the number of scheduling calls per day decreased by 4.1 percent compared to the same period last fiscal year; calls for dispatch assistance per day rose 12.9 percent during the Fiscal Year 2003 Second Quarter; 3) 41.6 percent of trips provided on weekdays are subscription trips and  4) pull-outs with down lifts for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2003 were only 0.75 percent, down from 1.00 percent recorded last year.

George Tacké, Accessible Services Manager and Staff Liaison, commended Outreach for trying to protect the bottom line.  The net cost per passenger trip is down from $31.43 to $27.40 from the same period last year.

On order of Chairperson Tamez,there being no objection, the Fiscal Year 2003 Second Quarter Accessible Services Performance Report was received and filed.

Mr. Tacké reviewed the Eligibility Certification process.

Mr. Tacké noted that if a customer is denied eligibility, the enrollment packet and originals of reasons for denial will be forwarded to VTA.  VTA staff will handle the appeals process.  Details regarding the appeals process have not been finalized. Functional assessments will take place if the appeals process cannot be resolved administratively.  Staff will review proposals, interview prospective firms and make a selection based on a combination of the best facility plan, best staffing plan and best price.

Mr. Tacké reported that on January 8, 2003, a Paratransit Application Development Work Group convened to review drafts of the application and the physicians letter.  Mr. Tacké directed the Committees attention to the fully formatted versions of the application and physicians letter which were included in the Agenda Packet for the review and input of the Committee.

The Committee provided suggestions and input for the application and physicians letter.

Member Eljas expressed concern that people who are poor may not be able to obtain a physicians letter and expressed further concern that the language and the tone of the brochure is a deterrent to applicants.

Member Grant expressed concern that some people do not have medical coverage.

M/S/F (Grant/Bruntz) on a vote of 8 ayes to 5 noes 0 abstentions to have VTA provide an alternate enrollment process on the application for persons without a doctor.

Mr. Tacké requested that suggestions and changes regarding the application, questionnaire and/or brochure be provided to him by Friday, February 21, 2003.

Mr. Tacké stated that he would defer forwarding information for the brochure to the Marketing Department until Friday, February 21, 2003.

M/S/C (Gouveia/Slack) to see the product as it will appear to the public for comments and changes of the Committee before it is finalized by the Marketing Department.

Member Rhodes reported that #711 is now available for those persons who are deaf and disabled rather than the #800 used for California Relay.

On order of Chairperson Tamez,there being no objection, the MTC Elderly/Disabled Advisory Committee Report was received.

There were no Legislative Updates.

Mr. Tacké reported that the contractor managing the Guadalupe Line retrofit has requested that VTA close three stations, Japantown, Gish and Metro for 84 days for the first phase of the Guadalupe Line platform raising.  The shutdown date is tentatively set for on March 2, 2003, at 2:00 a.m.  Mr. Tacké noted that a fully accessible bus bridge would be available.  Community Outreach and the Marketing Department will disseminate this information to the public.

Mr. Tacké reported that staff would work with Outreach to develop a preliminary pilot project for trip-by-trip eligibility for subscription trips.  Mr. Tacké further noted that staff is reevaluating VTAs role in coordinating inter-county trips.

NOTE:  M/S/F MEANS MOTION SECONDED AND FAILED.

Mr. Tacké stated that in April 2003, the draft phase three of the Paratransit Business Practices Improvement Plan would be brought to the Committee for comments.  It will then go to the community and back to the Committee before going on the Board Standing Committees and the Board of Directors.

On order of Chairperson Tamez,there being no objection, the Committee Staff Report was received.

There was no Chairpersons Report.

There were no Items of Concern and Referral to Administration.

Member Julian announced a Rights and Responsibilities of the Disabled Users of Public Transportation Workshop to be held on Friday, February 14, 2003, at the AARP Capital Office Conference Room in Sacramento.

On order of Chairperson Tamez, there being no objection, the meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

                                Respectfully submitted,

                                 Judith Tinlin, Board Assistant

                                 VTA Board of Directors