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CALLED TO ORDER at 10:38 a.m.

ROLL CALL: Members Present: Alvarado, Chavez, Dixon, McLemore, Springer

Members Absent: None

A quorum was present.

CONSENT AGENDA

REGULAR AGENDA

Approved forwarding a recommendation to the Board of Directors to approve the 2003 Santa Clara County Congestion Management Program.

Staff provided an overview of the Congestion Management Plan (CMP) which is mandated by the statutes guiding the Congestion Management Program. There are nine elements that structure the Program including: 1) transportation system definition; 2) traffic level of service standards; 3) multimodal transportation performance measures; 4) transportation demand management; 5) countywide transportation model; 6) community form and land use impact analysis; 7) capital improvement program; 8) annual monitoring and conformance requirements; and 9) deficiency plan requirements.

Staff provided changes from the 2001 CMP including: 1) information regarding the Community Design and Transportation (CDT) Program; 2) revised Capital Improvement Program (CIP); and 3) updated Traffic Level of Service section reflecting monitoring results from 2002.

Staff provided areas that VTA will address in the CMP over the next two years including: 1) Alternative Mitigation Strategies toolkit; 2) revisions to the CMP Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA) Guidelines; 3) guidelines and strategies for implementing Senate Bill 1636; and 4) revisions to the Countywide Transportation Model and Database Element to reflect the new countywide transportation model and enhanced GIS/Land Use Analysis capabilities.

Member McLemore took his seat at 10:40 a.m.

OTHER ITEMS

Discussed a Fare Policy addressing both recovery ratio and pricing/structure goals for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Staff noted that the VTA Fare Policy would be on the Administration & Finance Committee (A&F) today for approval and hopefully brought forward to the Board of Directors for consideration at the December 4, 2003 Board of Directors' Meeting.

Staff noted that the proposed Fare Policy has been revised to clarify how discount fares shall be calculated. Staff further noted that because of Federal Regulations, senior/ disabled fares could not be priced more than 50 percent of the adult fare. Senior/disabled fares would always be rounded down whereas there are times that fares for youth would be rounded up or down.

Staff noted that the proposal is that adult cash fares would be determined, youth would be 75 percent of the adult fares, senior and disabled would be 50 percent of the adult cash fares, day passes would be three times the cash fare for each perspective fare payment category, and the monthly passes would be 35 times the cash fare for each perspective category.

Staff noted that this is establishing a Fare Policy for future fare increases. It is not a new fare increase.

Expressed concern regarding keeping a fare for seniors and persons with disabilities that is not justified.

Stated that a review of fares is not going to be driven exclusively by trying to reach a numerical cost recovery ratio but would be based upon efficiencies and ridership. Further stated that it is essential that the VTA Board of Directors have full discussions whenever fares are reviewed.

Noted that there are persons including youth who are transit dependent.

Recommended that the Congestion Management Program and Planning (CMPP) Committee recommend to the Administration & Finance Committee (A&F) that the youth and senior/disabled categories be revised to reduce the discount as appropriately determined by management to the youth in the target area of a discount of between 80 and 90 percent of the adult fare and that the senior and disabled fare be discounted 40 and 45 percent of the adult fare.

Discussed a Service Management Plan to formalize the methods and procedures used to design, develop, evaluate and modify existing service and outline an overall service management strategy.

Staff reported that VTA has always used service standards, guidelines and policies to plan, evaluate, and modify service. Recently, the Board of Directors adopted the Ad-Hoc Financial Stability Committee's recommendation that the guidelines and policies be updated and codified to reflect VTA's current financial situation. The focus of the recommendation is to develop standards that would address target and minimum acceptable levels of route productivity by route and service types.

Staff provided a brief overview of the four parts of the Service Management Plan including: 1) service area/transit network, 2) service design guidelines, 3) service evaluation policy, and 4) service change process.

Received and filed the Quarterly Performance Report.

Staff provided highlights of the Quarterly Performance Report including: 1) farebox recovery for the first quarter is up 12 percent and the cost of operating the transit system during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2004 was down 2.8 percent compared to the operating cost per total hour at the end of Fiscal Year 2003; 2) overall system ridership declined 18.8 percent; and 3) service quality has improved.

Received and filed the Fiscal Year 2004 - 2013 Short Range Transit Plan.

Staff reported that VTA is required by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to prepare a Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) every two years. MTC and FTA use the SRTP for programming funds.

Staff noted that typically the SRTP is due on a two-year cycle in October. VTA is in the midst of developing a financial strategy dealing with transit priorities and, therefore, has received an extension from MTC until March 2004 to submit the formal, Board approved, SRTP.

Determined Consent Agenda for the December 4, 2003, Board of Director's Meeting.

CONSENT: None

REGULAR: Agenda Item #6., Approve the 2003 Santa Clara County Congestion Management Program (CMP).