CTAG_2.21.07

Dee Pereira gave a presentation on the proposed FY2008 and FY2009 Transit Operating Program. She noted that the Operating Income for 2007 was projected as $111 million, but staff is now projecting that it will be about $118.3 million due to an increase in the sales tax. She said staff is estimating Operating Income to be $126.4 million in FY08 and $132.9 in 2009.

Ms. Pereira said FY08 is a fare increase year and noted that the estimate revenue from the increase in FY08 will be $0.97 million. She also noted that the fare revenue from light rail is estimated to be $1.2 million in FY08 and $2 million in FY09.

With regards to Operating Expense, Ms. Pereira said bus operations are the largest expense and in the current fiscal year staff is projecting to come in about $4 million lower than the adopted budget. That is primarily due to the delay of the implementation of the light rail. Ms. Pereira pointed out an error in the slides on Page 6 regarding Operating Expense. She said FY08 should be $6.3 million and $6.7 million for FY09.

Larry Bumgarner asked what the FY07 Administration and Management expenses were. Ms. Pereira said the adopted budget was $8.9 million and staff is projecting a year-end total of $5.8 million.

Jim Zingale, CATS' Chief Operating Officer, continued the presentation with the LYNX Blue Line Operating Plan.

Ron Tober commented that in 1998 when the sales tax was passed, the transit system carried between 11 million and 12 million passengers. He said with the implementation of light rail ridership is expected to double, even though the population hasn't.

Mr. Zingale continued the presentation. He said there are 104 positions that need to be filled for light rail operations and to date staff has hired about 28 people, including seven operators who are currently testing the light rail vehicles. He noted that most of the light rail supervisors have been hired. He said the system testing is on schedule and 12 of the 16 light rail vehicles have arrived with the remaining four arriving by the beginning of March. He noted that cars 101 and 104 have completed the 1,000 mile testing phase and the other vehicles are in static testing.

Mr. Zingale said one of the most important elements of the success of the light rail system is the integration of the bus system to the rail system. He said staff has identified nine new feeder bus routes and is recommending that six of the existing routes be modified to better serve the rail to bus transfer. He noted that 18 new buses will be purchased to serve the bus to rail integration. He said $1.7 million will be used for partial implementation of the plan and $3 million will be dedicated to full integration. He added that ridership is expected to be about 580,000 in FY08 and almost one million in FY09.

Concerning STS, Mr. Zingale said the 1,600 STS customers are undergoing recertification to ensure that they qualify for the service. So far, 210 customers have been recertified and nine were found non-eligible, saving CATS $33,319. He noted that the Department of Social Services (DSS) is directing some of its clients to use STS and because of that, CATS is reevaluating how much money it gives to DSS' transportation service.

Mary Barker asked if the funds for DSS' transportation service come from the County. Mr. Tober said all those funds go to the County, but a portion of the transit sales tax goes to fund DSS' service.

Mr. Zingale continued his presentation with Facilities and Safety & Security on Page 8.

Mr. Tober said the members may have read in the Charlotte Observer that a portion of the line may open before November 26. He said staff does expect to have a good portion of the line finished by July 1, but won't have enough light rail staff hired or trained at the point for operation.

Mr. Zingale continued his presentation on fuel cost and the Countywide Transit Services Plan.

Bob Bischoff said there aren't too many cross-town bus routes that run east to west established. Mr. Zingale said staff found in the Countywide Services Study that cross-town routes are lacking. He said staff is looking at streamlining some of the other routes in the system and hope that will provide more cross-town service.

Mr. Tober said the current cross-town routes are from south to the east and only a couple are true cross-town routes. He said staff will add several cross-town routes, one from Wilkinson Boulevard to the Coliseum area past Tyvola over to South Park and connect with one going all the way out to the University area.

Fred Bryant asked how staff will coordinate the frequency of the bus routes to the rail system. Mr. Zingale said they are looking at that right now and once staff gets those time points down they will have to go back to the bus schedules and make sure that those transfers are within that service. He said that is one of the benefits of opening the line early because staff can test it.

Mr. Tober noted that the rail stations with feeder bus routes will have a signal that indicates to the bus operator that a train is approaching the station.

Ms. Barker asked if there will be a clock at the stations that tells riders how long it is until the next train arrives. Mr. Tober said every platform will have a display with that information.

Ms. Barker asked if there is a way for people to call if they are having a problem with the ticket vending machines. Mr. Tober said there will be an intercom system that will connect riders to the customer service center.

B. Procurement Policies Review *

John Trunk gave a presentation on CATS' Procurement Policies, which were adopted by the MTC in 2002 and serve as a framework for the management of the procurement processes.

Mr. Tober said the Davis Bacon provision while very important, requires a lot of bureaucracy to administer. The provision makes sure that contractors that are hired to work on federally funded projects are paid prevailing wages. He said it is a piece of Federal legislation that has been around for a long.

Mr. Bryant asked where the name Davis Bacon came from. Mr. Tober said it was two lawmakers many years ago, one by the name of Davis and the other by the name of Bacon.

Mr. Trunk said Davis Bacon is federal legislation that was adopted in the 1930's to make sure that construction workers were not taken advantage of and are paid fairly. He noted that people tried to appeal it many times, most recently after Hurricane Katrina so they could get workers into that devastated area quickly without complying with some of the federal provisions.

Mr. Bischoff asked if the no local preference provision goes all the way down to things as small as art at the stations. He said there are artists around here that are upset because artists from New York are getting the contracts to do the work. Mr. Trunk said there is no local preference regardless of the dollar amount or the project.

Ms. Barker asked if CATS runs into the problem of being able to meet the Buy American provision that requires 50 percent of all the parts to come from the U.S. Mr. Trunk noted that it has to be manufactured in the U.S. and more than 50 percent of the total cost of the component has to be U.S. manufactured as well. He said so far staff hasn't had too many problems. He said on the light rail vehicles about 69 percent of those components were made in the US.

Ms. Barker said she was delighted to know that there is still that much manufacturing in this country.

Mr. Trunk continued his presentation with DBE and Procurement Processes.

Concerning qualification based selection for architects and engineers, Ms. Aussieker asked if they decide to go that route in the future does staff have to get it approved by the MTC, or because it is already approved by the State can they move forward without any further approval. Mr. Trunk said CATS has the legislation in place to do that and it does not require the MTC approval. He said staff would of course inform the MTC.

Mr. Tober said they need to make sure the wording in the Procurement Policies doesn't preclude that.

Mr. Bischoff asked a question about piggybacking. Mr. Trunk said CATS does have the ability to do that and is exploring that option in the North Corridor. He said CATS may piggyback with a transit system up North that is looking to purchase locomotives.

Mr. Tober said to be more specific CATS needs five locomotives in the North Corridor and staff is talking about piggybacking with the MBTA in Boston who are bidding for 38 locomotives. He said if we end up not needing the five locomotives, we are not obligated to purchase them.

Mr. Bryant asked if the addition of our locomotives would also lower the cost for Boston. Mr. Tober said yes.

Ms. Barker asked when the price of the North Corridor was estimated did CATS estimate that it would be buying the locomotives by itself. Mr. Tober said yes.

Ms. Barker said the total cost of the project may decrease if CATS piggybacks with Boston. Mr. Tober said yes, but staff isn't assuming anything yet.

V. Chief Executive Officer's Report

Ron Tober said this month the MTC will have a public hearing regarding a proposed fare increase to be effective on July 1. He said every two years CATS' policy is to have a small incremental fare increase. He noted that this will be CATS' third fare increase and fares will go up by .10 cent.

Ms. Barker asked how CATS' fares compare with other cities the size of Charlotte.

Mr. Tober said there is a wide range of fares. He said Atlanta's base fare is $1.75, Boston's is $1 and ours lies in the middle with $1.20.

Christopher Edwards asked what the fare increases are based on. He asked if it is based on the inflation rate or on a formula CATS uses.

Mr. Tober said the formula is based upon the changes in consumer prices rounded to at least ten cents. He said the express and regional express fares are a little more.

Mr. Tober continued his report. He said the lowest performing route in the system is the South End Shuttle, which replaced the Historic Trolley Line. He said staff is discussing with South End residents and businesses about discontinuing the service sometime this spring. Concerning the upcoming MTC agenda, he said next month the MTC will take action on the Procurement Policies and staff is scheduled to give the North Corridor Funding Plan Report. He noted that there have been several meetings in the North Corridor in the past two months with regards to financing the gap of $66 million for the North Corridor.

Ms. Baker asked if at the March CTAG meeting the group would make its recommendation on the budget. Mr. Tober said no, they would do that in April.

Ms. Barker said if that is the only thing they have to do, why couldn't they do that at their March meeting and cancel the April meeting. Mr. Tober said that is up to the Committee.

Larry Bumgarner asked what the ridership on the South End Shuttle is. Mr. Tober said 190 to 200… not much.

Mr. Bumgarner asked what the route of the Shuttle is. Mr. Tober said its route mirrors that of the Historic Trolley, going northbound on College and southbound on Tryon then cutting over on Camden and turning around at Atherton Mills.

Mr. Bumgarner said if the light rail does start up in July does that mean …

Mr. Tober said it won't start up in July. He said some of the construction is scheduled to be done in July and some in September, then we have a lot of testing and training to do. He said the very earliest that we would be in a position to operate the northern portion of the line would be November 1.

Mr. Bumgarner asked if there is a transit strike would that include the light rail operators.

Mr. Tober said no because they will be City of Charlotte employees, unlike bus operators who are members of the Teamster's Union.

Ms. Barker asked when CTAG would get to ride light rail. Mr. Tober said perhaps they could have their March meeting in the Maintenance Facility.

Ms. Aussieker suggested doing it in April since the only thing they have to vote on that month is the budget. After some discussion, it was decided to have the April meeting at the South Boulevard Light Rail Maintenance Facility.

Mr. Bischoff said the news he's hearing is that no one at CATS had anything to do with the approval of the office space issue. Mr. Tober said after City Council turned down what was proposed, CATS did what they asked, which was to try to get the cost down. He said what happened was miscommunication between the City Manager's office and CATS. He said it wasn't an attempt to mislead anyone.

VI. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m.

Next CTAG Meeting: March 20, 2007

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