Public Transportation System
15 Blandin Avenue, Framingham, MA 01702
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Advisory Board Meeting Minutes of September 28, 2020
The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) Advisory Board met on Monday, September 28, 2020, at 11:00 am at the call of Joseph Nolan, Advisory Board Chair/Wayland. Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic the meeting was held virtually, with Advisory Board members and the public provided access via gotomeeting.com.
A roll call of members present was conducted by Eva Willens, Deputy Administrator. In attendance were: Kathleen Bartolini/Southborough, Ed Burman/Ashland-Vice Chair, Debra Galloway/Sudbury, John K. Higley/Sherborn, Larry Jacobs/Holliston, Thatcher Kezer/Framingham, Jean MacQuiddy/Weston, Carole Mullen/Hopedale, Trish Pope/Marlborough.
Also participating: Ed Carr/Administrator, Eva Willens/Deputy Administrator, John Glynn/CFO, Patrick Moynihan/General Counsel, Daniel Fitch/IT Consultant, Joy Glynn, Paula Doucette, Ieshia Price, Emily VanDewoestine, Paul Spooner/MetroWest Center for Independent Living (MWCIL)
Not participating: Karen Adelman-Foster/Natick, Collette Aufranc/Wellesley (arrived late to the meeting), Craig Hughes/Dover, Christina Johnson/Hudson, Will Kingkade/Milford, Mary Jo Lafreniere of Hopkinton, Joseph Nolan/Wayland-Chair.
Co-Chair Ed Burman presiding, began the meeting with a review of the agenda, declared a quorum present, and the meeting was called to order at 11:01 am.
A motion was made by Ms. Pope of Marlborough: Approval of minutes from the Advisory Board Meeting of June 29, 2020. Second by Ms. Bartolini of Southborough. The vote was unanimous.
Mr. Burman requested any public comments from the audience. No public comments were presented.
Mr. Carr discussed the following items:
1) Taxi Project Grant: Grant received from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). The Authority will manage $176,000 in funds from the Commonwealth's Uber/Lyft fee account. The funds will be used to pay local taxi companies for qualified trips provided. Pending fully executed agreements with JFK and Tommy's Taxi, these funds will allow South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) clients to utilize the taxi services for rides.
2) CATCH App: Customers can now track vehicles, view up to date schedules, receive alerts, and even chat directly with our dispatchers from their mobile devices! More information is available at www.mwrta.com/catch .
3) Vehicle Organization Program: This program uses technology that will allow people to board the vehicles and maintain social distancing; once the vehicle is at social distancing capacity, dispatch will send out another vehicle to accommodate the overflow riders.
4) 5-year Regional Transit Plan: We continue to work with AECOM on this plan, and surveys were sent to all board members recently. We want to thank Sherborn for completing the survey, please contact Emilv.VanDewoestine@mwrta.com and she will resend it to you or go directly to https://www.mwrta.com/survey to complete the survey on-line.
5) Front Entrance Blandin (FEB) Project@ $1.7M: We are scheduled to receive the RFP results from the bid in December. The Board will be asked to vote approval of the selected contractor at the January meeting. We expect to put the shovel in the ground this coming Spring 2021.
6) New Vehicles: Eight (8) Demand Response Es arrived in August and eight (8) Fixed Route CNG D vehicles are slated to arrive in October; one (1) Electrical Transit vehicle is on order to begin our transition to electric vehicles.
7) COVID-19: We recently purchased six (6) disinfecting electrostatic sprayers for the buses. In an attempt to practice safe protocols, employee tempatures are taken daily. PPE inventory is currently on hand, and thankfully up to now, no one at MWRTA has been sick.
8) FTA Triennial Review: We received notification that this has been rescheduled to August 2021.
9) FTA CARES Act Funds: These funds have benefitted MWRTA, and we are adhering to the FTA regulations for Cares Act expenditures.
10) Microtransit Program: Funds from the PACT Workforce Program $300k and FY2020 Discretionary $150k are currently being renegotiated with MassDOT for the Microtransit Program.
The Deputy Administrator presented the MWRTA Safety Plan for approval. The PTASP rule and enforcement are due December 31, 2020 and MWRTA has updated the Safety Plan following PTASP TAC review.
A motion was made by Ms. Bartolini of Southborough: To approve the MWRTA Safety Plan as presented. Second by Mr. Ed Burman of Ashland: The vote was unanimous.
The Deputy Administrator presented the MWRTA Title VI Program for approval. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits the discriminiation of individuals on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs or activity that receives federal financial assistance.
A motion was made by Mr. Kezer of Framingham: To approve the MWRTA Title VI Program, as presented. Second by Ms. Bartolini of Southborough: The vote was unanimous.
Discussion from Larry Jacobs of Holliston ensued regarding page 20 Task 4 of the Title VI Program, which states: The Central Hub is the primary transfer center for all bus routes in the MWRTA system, and questioned primary Limited English Proficient (LEP) for the Routes 2, 3 & 7 that transfer out of the Banana Lot. . .
MWRTA is working with all staff who interface with customers, to be trained in LEP. Based on the inquiry raised by Mr. Jacobs, MWRTA will include the following information in the Title VI Program:
The Hub is the primary transfer center for the majority of bus routes in the MWRTA system. Routes 2, 3 & 7 primarily transfer from the Framingham Commuter Rail Station Banana Lot. In addition to posted notices, multi-lingual staff work at our customer service desk and assist customers at the Hub as well as those who call in. Staff at the Banana Lot will be also be LEP trained in order to assist customers there.
A motion was made by Mr. Ed Burman of Ashland: To amend the first motion, with the update above to the Title VI Program as presented. Second by Ms. Bartolini of Southborough: The vote was unanimous.
With the retirement of Jack Hunter of Hudson, the Administrator suggested Deb Galloway of Sudbury for the position of Clerk.
A motion was made by Mr. Burman of Ashland: To elect Deb Galloway of Sudbury to the position of Clerk for the MWRTA Advisory Board. Second by Mr. Kezer of Framingham: The vote was unanimous.
The Administrator suggested we would be safer if we do not change our current position of no fare enforcement. We will continue to review the subject of fare collection at the January meeting. The reason for no fare enforcement at the MWRTA at this time, is a safety issue. Some RTAs would like to eliminate fares permanently. The fare conversation was ongoing across the state pre-COVID, as a fiscal issue, not a COVID issue. One way to increase ridership is to eradicate the fares. WRTA did increase ridership when they eliminated the fares.
Q: Mr Kezer of Framingham inquired as to whether there were increases in other revenues, such as advertising, that offset the lost revenues from fares?
A: Mr. Carr did not believe there was enough time between eliminating the fares and the COVID pandemic to perform an analysis.
MWRTA will continue to keep Fare Collection on the agenda for discussion.
A member from the Holliston Senior Center stated that during the pandemic, the Senior Center lost several staff members. The Town wishes to express its appreciation for the response the MWRTA Call Center made to assist in taking transportation in-house.
The Administrator welcomed three (3) new members to the Board: Collette Aufranc of Wellesley, Christina Johnson of Hudson, and Mary Jo Lafreniere of Hopkinton.
The next Advisory Board meeting will be held in early January 2021.
A motion was made by Ms. Bartolini of Southborough: To adjourn the meeting. Second Mr. Burman of Ashland: The vote was unanimous.
Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 11:39 am.
The undersigned being the duly qualified acting clerk of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board acknowledges that the foregoing minutes accurately reflect the actions taken at a legally convened meeting of the Advisory Board held on September 28, 2020.
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Advisory Board Meeting - January 25, 2021
Advisory Board Meeting - June 29, 2020
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