MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Nevin (Chair), Michael Church (Vice Chair), Arthur Lloyd, John McLemore (arrived 10:20 a.m.), Steve Schmidt, Manny Valerio, Ken Yeager, Sue Lempert (MTC Liaison)

MEMBERS ABSENT: Maria Ayerdi, Sophie Maxwell

STAFF PRESENT: Mike Scanlon, David Miller, Jim Gallagher, Cheryl Cavitt, George Cameron, Roger Contreras, Howard Goode, Chuck Harvey, Rita Haskin, Aurora Jose, Jerry Kirzner, Martha Martinez, Deanna Riding, Liz Wiecha

Chair Nevin called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m. The pledge of allegiance was led by Deputy Executive Director Jim Gallagher.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None at this time.

CONSENT CALENDAR

It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved by roll call to adopt the Consent Calendar, as follows:

1. Adoption of Minutes of February 7, 2002
   
   
2. Statement of Revenue and Expense, January 2002
   
   
3. Approval of Caltrain Maintenance Facility Monitoring Committee By-Laws
   
   

CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT

It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved by roll call to add the following item to the Agenda:

Resolution of Appreciation to Deanna Riding

It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved by roll call to adopt the Resolution of Appreciation to Deanna Riding (Resolution No. 2002-8).

Chair Nevin thanked Ms. Riding for her gift of herself to transportation, to SamTrans and Caltrain for a number of years. He said Palo Alto’s gain is Caltrain’s loss.

MTC LIAISON REPORT

Sue Lempert, MTC Liaison, reported MTC is extremely pleased that Proposition 42 passed on the ballot, which should be very helpful to transportation in California. Also, it appears that the Environmental Protection Agency is ready to sign off on the emissions standards for the Bay Area and release Federal transit funds. A group from MTC will be going to the APTA Legislative Conference to lobby for funding.

REPORT OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Chair Nevin stated the minutes of the CAC meeting of February 20, 2002 were distributed.

Vaughn Wolffe, Pleasanton, noted CAC member Sam Shank requested Caltrain passes for the CAC and Mr. Wolffe suggested the CAC be advised the job is a volunteer position and passes should not be expected.

Mr. Scanlon said although there is a rule that no one from the Board or staff rides free, he would like to occasionally give away a couple of promotional tickets to the CAC members in going to their CAC meeting and they could give a feedback about their ride. Chair Nevin commented he does not have a problem with giving the CAC occasional tickets. However, the most important use of passes is to encourage new riders. The BART opening at Millbrae will be a good time to give out free tickets. It will mean the most for the system.

Bruce Balshone, CAC member, reported meetings on schedule changes have been held on Caltrain in San Francisco, San Carlos and Santa Clara. The CAC has been working on its By Laws and trying to make them consistent with the By Laws of the JPB. The CAC has discussed the proposed fare study and suggests that a parking policy be adopted prior to the opening of BART at Millbrae. He further inquired what would be the fare structure when Caltrain duplicates service to San Francisco and Millbrae.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Executive Director Mike Scanlon reported average weekday ridership is down for January by 9.7 percent compared to January 2001. This is the fourth consecutive month that the ridership has continued in its downward trend. Total revenue is down 13.2 percent. On-time performance is 95.5 percent, slightly off from last January but it is still good. Shuttles ridership was down 22.7 percent. Year-to-date, ridership is down only 1.2 percent. Total revenue is off only 1 percent. On-time performance is up from 78.8 percent to 95.3 percent. The shuttles are off by 8 percent. All of these are the effect of economic downturn that has gripped the country and the Bay Area.

Mr. Scanlon referred to the safety and security reports that have been distributed, particularly on the work staff is doing with other law enforcement and Special Weapons and Tactic teams to prepare for any kind of catastrophe. He also noted the Sensitivity Training conducted by staff to build empathy to people with disabilities, and the Operation Lifesaver campaign to reinforce good behavior and make the railroad safer. Mr. Scanlon reported extra service was put in place for the Chinese New Year’s parade. Service to PacBell will resume again on March 28. Regular season opens on April 5. Caltrain and SamTrans will sponsor a ridership and safety campaign at the ballpark. An etiquette campaign using humor is going to kick off within the next few weeks.

Director Schmidt suggested the Board do something to have a special day in May where all Board members would take the train to acquaint themselves with the system. Mr. Scanlon stated the April Board meeting in Santa Clara is a good time to do this.

Director Burns asked about budget projections and Mr. Scanlon said for this year there is a shortfall in revenues. Ridership and sales tax are down. Staff will ask Board approval to set public hearings on a proposed fare increase to help cover the deficit. Also a reduction of off-peak service is being considered. The proposed fare increase is scheduled to take effect in July. Meanwhile staff is looking at ways and means to reduce expenses.

Director Lloyd recommended putting in a discounted round-trip ticket valid for the day of purchase only and strongly endorsed elimination of the off-peak one-way fare. He pointed out the difficulty being undergone by the conductor explaining to a rider the ramifications of the off-peak one-way ticket, and the chance of losing the fare for the return trip. Meanwhile, the fare of two or three passengers who rode only one zone would have been lost completely.

Mr. Scanlon remarked the proposed fare increase would only be on an interim basis to be able to balance the budget. A major fare study is under way. It will look at everything.

Ed de Lanoy, San Carlos, encouraged the Board to look at train connections with VTA at the Tamien and Mountain View Stations and with Muni at the Fourth and King streets station.

AWARD OF CONTRACT TO HERZOG CONTRACTING CORPORATION/STACEY & WITBECK, INC. CONSTRUCTORS, A JOINT VENTURE, FOR THE NORTH CTX CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

Mr. Scanlon was pleased to report that there had been very competitive bids on this large contract. The lowest bid is five percent below the engineers’ estimate. The written report gives thorough information on the extent of this project and how it is to be funded. He however, asked that Board action be deferred until next month to give staff time to resolve some issues not related to the bid.

Director McLemore, in line with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) rule, abstained from acting on any matter pertaining to this item.

Director Lloyd asked if the Redwood City improvement would also increase the speed of the train. Liz Wiecha, Director, Capital Project Management, answered the current ordinance restricts the speed to 45 miles per hour. This issue needs to be taken up. However, in terms of the condition of the tracks, this would increase the speed of the train.

Director Lloyd pointed out that cities could not restrict the speed. Restriction should come from the State. General Counsel David Miller advised that the position of this agency and any regional transportation agency would be that they cannot be circumscribed by local regulations. He opined that this Board controls these decisions.

Richard Mylnarik expressed appreciation for the services of Deanna Riding. In connection with the contract, he stated it is encouraging that there had been multiple bidders for this project. That shows the agency is heading in the right direction.

Norman Rolfe commented on the centralized traffic control. He emphasized that signal system, train control systems and everything that is being installed right now must be compatible with electrification. They should work without any more modifications when the railroad is electrified and this should be in the contract. He also thanked Deanna for being very good and helpful.

It was moved and seconded that Board consideration of this item be postponed for April 4th.

AWARD OF CONTRACTS FOR ON-CALL SPECIALIZED ENGINEERING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING SERVICES

Cheryl Cavitt, Director of Contracts and Procurement, stated Staff Coordinating Council proposes approval of award of contract as listed in Exhibit "A", authorization for the Executive Director to execute the contracts for a two-year period and authorize him to exercise subsequent options of up to three one-year terms if deemed appropriate and in the best interest of the JPB. She stated these contracts are designed to supplement the agency’s general engineering contractors in the execution of capital programs. Ms. Cavitt described the selection process they adopted, the DBE review process, and the basis for costing of the projects.

It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved by roll call that contracts be awarded as requested. (Resolution No. 2002-9).

SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED FARE ADJUSTMENTS

Chuck Harvey, Chief Operating Officer, requested the Board set a public hearing regarding proposed fare changes. The changes would take effect on July 1, 2002 in order to take full advantage of the entire fiscal year.

Jeff Carter, Burlingame, provided charts showing monthly pass increased 73 percent since 1988. The chart also shows the 1988 distribution of ridership by ticket types and the current 2001 distribution of ticket types. The monthly pass, as far as the whole ridership is concerned, has gone down significantly. Mr. Carter said Caltrain is a transit system where people are going in both directions and there is a lot of free parking, in which case, a fare increase is not an incentive to ride the train. He also pointed out that Caltrain from San Francisco to Gilroy skews the cost per mile compared to San Francisco to San Jose. Mr. Carter also commented that in previous years Southern Pacific employees used to get free passes. He thanked SamTrans for providing bus passes to SamTrans CAC members. He also thanked Ms. Riding for the great job she has done and for her professionalism.

Director McLemore expressed appreciation of Mr. Carter’s analysis and for doing it for the JPB.

Vaughn Wolfe, requested for the description of the cost per train in the presentation that would be made next month. He pointed out that the top line of the comparison chart is not legible.

Richard Mylnarik stated the point raised on Gilroy fares by Mr. Carter is good. He also supported the elimination of off-peak fares. He encouraged increasing one-way fares more than the monthly passes. He believes that it is to the agency’s interest to do it the other way around because of costs associated with issuing single tickets. On service cuts, he strongly urged the Board to maintain midday service. He encouraged the agency to keep a regular headway until 7:00 p.m. and moving a train from earlier in the evening to a little later because people are still working late at night.

Finding the foregoing input of great importance, especially the Gilroy fare, Mr. Scanlon requested that the Board allow him to make some changes on the chart that staff had distributed and put them under consideration at the public hearing.

General Counsel David Miller advised from the legal standpoint, the motion could read that the public hearing would be advertised based on the exhibit supplemented by consideration of the comments that were received today and presented by the CEO, so that the scope of the advertisement is all inclusive.

Adopting the advice of counsel, it was moved and seconded that the public hearing be set for April 4.

Chuck Harvey, in connection with the issue of Millbrae parking, reported there is a Joint Parking Facility Committee that was formed with SamTrans as the lead agency along with BART, that is working on the policies for parking and traffic flow in all of the stations on the SFO Extension. This includes charging for parking, as well as other policies with regard to 24-hour parking. The entire process will be completed prior to the SFO Extension opening and there will be a comprehensive parking program that will be jointly operated by SamTrans and BART.

Attorney Miller joined everyone in their expression of appreciation to Ms. Riding and on behalf of his staff thanked her for her patience, vigilance, persistence and all the friendship throughout the years. He wished Deanna the best of luck.

Chair Nevin reminded everyone of the next meeting on April 4, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. in Santa Clara.

ADJOURNED: 11:10 a.m.