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Board of Directors Meeting

PENINSULA CORRIDOR JOINT POWERS BOARD

Minutes

Thursday, July 11, 2002 at 10:00 a.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Nevin (Chair), John McLemore (Vice Chair), Maria Ayerdi, Arthur Lloyd, Sophie Maxwell, Steve Schmidt, Manny Valerio, Sue Lempert (MTC Liaison)

MEMBERS ABSENT: Michael Burns, Ken Yeager

STAFF PRESENT: Mike Scanlon, David Miller, Joan Cassman, Jim Gallagher, Cheryl Cavitt, George Cameron, Roger Contreras, Chuck Harvey, Rita Haskin, Howard Goode, Aurora Jose, Ian McAvoy, Jerry Kirzner, Larry Stueck

Chair Nevin called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. and led the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Jeff Carter, Burlingame, commented the Caltrain schedule did not show a holiday schedule for July 4 and failed to note extra trains running on that day. This matter should be addressed on the bulletin boards so that people will know when the trains are coming. For the Gay Pride Parade Day, he suggested running the trains 15 minutes prior to the 9 a.m. train because the 9 a.m. train gets very crowded.

Michael Kiesling, San Francisco, congratulated the Board for the very quiet, smooth-riding, comfortable and modern-looking Baby Bullet coach.

CONSENT CALENDAR

The Board by roll call, approved the following items on the Consent Calendar:

Minutes of June 6, 2002 meeting with the following corrections:

Page 1 of 9, Public Comment, by adding the words: "for the Smithsonian Institution" after "Air Transport". It should read: "R.E.G. Davis, curator of Air Transport for the Smithsonian Institution …"
Page 3, first bullet, the word "SamTrans" should be changed to "Caltrain". It should read: "At the "Bay to Breakers" run, Caltrain had about 1,250 riders in the morning …"

Statement of Revenue and Expenses, May 2002
Resolution No. 2002-20: Authorizing Execution of Construction and Maintenance Agreement for Colma Creek Flood Control Improvements and the Replacement of the Caltrain Colma Creek Bridge
Resolution No. 2002-21: Authorizing the Filing of an Application with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, for a Security/Emergency Management Grant in the Amount of $50,000 and the Execution of Grant Agreements Required to Receive Grant Funds
Resolution No. 2002-22: Authorizing Execution of Construction and Maintenance Agreement and Ancillary Agreements for the Homer Avenue Pedestrian Underpass Project

CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT

Chair Nevin reported on the kick-off ceremony of the CTX project and the unveiling of the new Baby Bullet passenger car held on June 28. The event was attended by State, regional and local officials including Governor Davis, Senator Speier, and Business/Housing/Transportation Secretary Contreras-Sweet. The Governor expressed particular pride at launching such an important new element in the California transportation network.
Appointment of JPB Citizens Advisory Committee Members

San Mateo County representatives: Director Lloyd reported on the interview of applicants conducted by Director Schmidt and himself. They nominated incumbent Paul Bendix for reappointment and Sepi Richardson, Councilwoman, City of Brisbane, for appointment to the position vacated by Sam Shank.
San Francisco County representative: Director Ayerdi reported Directors Maxwell and Burns are joining her in recommending Bruce Balshone for reappointment.
Santa Clara County representatives: Director Valerio nominated Brian Wilfley of Los Altos for the position vacated by Rita Ching and Director McLemore nominated Mike Rodriguez for reappointment.

MTC LIAISON REPORT

Ms. Sue Lempert, MTC, reported it was wonderful to have Governor Davis and Senator Speier at the CTX ceremony to see what was going on. The Governor suggested having a card that would allow passengers to transfer from one mode of transportation to another. Ms.Lempert advised him that the MTC Translink program is underway.

REPORT OF CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)

Sam Shank, departing Co-Chair of the CAC, reported on the June CAC meeting where Steve Hanson, Manager of Stations and Parking, gave a presentation on the Parking Program and addressed several questions from the CAC. Mr. Hanson is expected to bring for Board consideration, suggestions on how to better enforce the Parking Program. Mr. Shank was concerned that failure to electrify the San Jose-Gilroy segment could result in two incompatible systems. He also outlined his top ten ideas that would help improve the Caltrain service.

Director Ayerdi asked staff to look into Mr. Shank's suggestions. Mr. Scanlon responded all suggestions are under active consideration. However, he advised against changing the name of the Baby Bullet train.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Executive Director Michael Scanlon made the following report:

He complimented Chair Nevin for his skill and spontaneity as master of ceremonies and for setting the tone for the whole CTX ceremony.
Caltrain ridership under the economic downturn continues to be slow. Average weekday ridership last May was 35,246 compared to 32,454 this May. Year-to-date, ridership is down 4 percent over last year. Revenue is down about $1 million. On-time performance is at 95.8 percent, an improvement over last year's 93.7. Caltrain shuttle ridership is off 13 percent.
During the Gay Pride Parade, Caltrain carried a significant number of additional train riders.
There were several news releases announcing the July 4 holiday schedule.
He invited everyone to stay and partake of the cake in celebration of Caltrain's 10th anniversary.
Staff is putting out a number of updated brochures, new timetables, new RRX schedule, brochure for persons with disabilities, updated bicycle rules and baseball service brochure.
Caltrain, Amtrak, Herzog, Stacey & Witbeck and numerous CTX sub-contractors met and spent a day talking about protocols and procedures focusing on safety.
Structural repairs were done on Guadalupe Creek Bridge.
Staff is working very closely with local representatives of Amtrak making plans on how to keep the service going.

Customer Service Presentation

Chuck Harvey, Chief Operating Officer, gave an overview of the initiatives of the JPB to improve the service. He discussed the methodology used to measure customer satisfaction. He stated staff oversees Amtrak in the performance of their function to insure efficient public service. He introduced George Erickson, Amtrak General Manager for Caltrain, and passed around a newsletter for Amtrak employees ("Milepost") initiated by Mr. Erickson. He also mentioned the current training being given to Amtrak employees to increase their level of awareness on customer service.

Mr. Erickson stated there is nothing more important than getting out and talking to co-workers and customers and doing something to solve problems. He showed a film specifically designed and used for the training of Amtrak employees.

Director Schmidt inquired about the implication to Caltrain of the stress that Amtrak is under at the national level. Mr. Harvey responded the stress is on the employees in regard to their employment, salaries, and benefits. He advised that the JPB has begun negotiating with Amtrak corporate officials to relocate certain functions to the West Coast so that the JPB could gain direct control of such functions and put Caltrain in a better position in the event of a crisis at the national level.

Mr. Scanlon commented one of the conditions of the loan that was given to Amtrak by the Federal Railroad Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation was that they will provide all information on all of the commuter rail operations around the country.

Director Lloyd remarked he would love to see Caltrain do its own crew dispatching.

Director Maxwell inquired about what JPB staff is doing to keep Amtrak employees informed of the developments and their safety net. Mr. Harvey responded every employee who works with Amtrak is covered under the 13C labor protection.

Report on CTX Project

Mr. Harvey reported the Caltrain service weekend shutdown started last week. Work began in Millbrae on the platforms for the intermodal station. He discussed the work to be done that will start at the north end of the project. He described the RRX substitute service that began last weekend and noted the scheduled baseball service runs. He expressed pride of the success of the bus service. He also thanked Director Burns, the San Francisco representatives, the Department of Parking and Traffic and the police agencies for their cooperation for getting JPB a staging area for the service.

Jeff Carter stated next weekend will be the big test in view of the baseball games. He suggested putting up more signage so that people will be more aware of what is going on. He also proposed a discount on the monthly pass or some arrangements with Muni and BART because he is paying more for a monthly pass and he is going to pay more to ride Muni or BART to go to San Francisco.

Chair Nevin advised that per discussions at the latest SamTrans Board meeting, six months after the BART stations open, parking charges and monthly passes will be reviewed to determine what changes are needed.

Mr. Harvey commented pursuant to a debriefing session held on Monday after the weekend shutdown, staff is preparing additional signage, some bilingual signage, and other information materials. Communication on the shutdown will continue.

Mr. Harvey gave an update on the fare system and the August 25th schedule change. He reported public meetings are being conducted. Staff is ready to move on the 76-train schedule -- the basis of the adopted JPB operating budget for fiscal year 2003. Comments were received and reviewed. Changes to the draft schedule were recommended. Some of the concerns of the public have been addressed. Changes on departure times of trains 41 and 84 were made. The schedule will be posted on the web site and will be printed and made available to the public.

Mr. Harvey also noted that the fare changes made for the system were successfully initiated. All ticket vending machines (TVMs) have been reprogrammed. Mr. Harvey passed out a chart showing significant increase in TVM revenues. With the implementation of the $3 off-board discount, additional movement is expected on the TVM. Mr. Harvey remarked the TVM systems are becoming more and more reliable.

California Avenue Pilot Project on Car-Sharing

Larry Stueck, Manager of Service Planning, reported the objective is to help reduce multiple auto ownership, to promote the use of public transportation, and ultimately, to reduce congestion. The concept is: one may use a car-share vehicle from his home, drive it to a Caltrain station, park it there, get on Caltrain, then go to his job. Someone else who is on Caltrain comes to that same station, picks up that very car and takes it to his worksite. At that point, other employees are allowed to utilize that vehicle that is parked at the worksite, to do errands. In this case, theoretically, three individuals use the same vehicle, thereby reducing auto ownership for those three people. Mr. Stueck informed that at the California Avenue station, there are 15 spaces set aside for this program. Currently, 100 participants are involved, of which 10 are corporations. Members pay a monthly fee and then provide the services to their employees. On July 1, the operations control has been transferred from U.C. Davis to FlexCar. The current comprehensive station access study of all stations is an opportunity to see exactly how this program would fit in the overall station access strategies. Further, JPB needs to determine whether it should share in the potential profits. Mr. Stueck added the on-going pilot project will be monitored and evaluated. Those findings will be incorporated in the long-range strategic plan and any future JPB car-share program will be awarded based upon a competitive bid process.

Director Maxwell informed that San Francisco has a very vigorous car-share program and it is doing extremely well.

Ms. Lempert asked what a city that is interested in participating in this program needs to do - whether the city needs to partner with the JPB. Mr. Harvey informed that studies have to be done. The car-share system in San Francisco is not directly tied to transit stations. The California Avenue program was specifically designed to measure the effectiveness or the increase in ridership by offering that connectivity at the stations for potential passengers. The other concept is to use the Caltrain facilities as the base location for car sharing, but the users of the car-sharing are not transit users.

Ms. Lempert suggested conducting a study related to the operation of the Baby Bullet train. Mr. Harvey responded staff is developing schedules for the Baby Bullet and determining where the stops should be and what types of parking access are needed for those stations.

Director Ayerdi questioned why there was no competitive bid before the operations control was transferred from Davis to FlexCar. She also asked how the transfer took place and who was involved.

Mr. Harvey advised that the U.C. Davis project was set up as a pilot project with a given period of time for them to try this concept, to develop operational data and feed that back to the JPB. A few months ago, Davis indicated that they are running out of money and that they are going to close down the project but they have contacted and made arrangements for an operator to continue the pilot project if JPB agrees. Staff allowed the transfer on a month-to-month basis, at the same time, getting the needed information on the pilot project. It was made clear that the JPB will do a competitive bidding of the work relative to car-sharing on the Caltrain line.

Director Ayerdi inquired at what point the program would go systemwide. Mr. Harvey indicated the plans are to complete the information that staff is getting by the end of the year, complete the station access study and issue an RFP in the spring of next year, for a systemwide project.

Director Ayerdi commended Amtrak for the "Milepost" newsletter that was distributed. She inquired how the public could get a copy of the publication.

Mr. Scanlon indicated the newsletter is for the consumption of in-house employees - to make sure front line employees are as informed as possible, so that they could provide better public service.

--- At this time, 11:45 a.m., Director Nevin had to leave. Vice Chair McLemore took over the balance of the meeting. ---

APPROVAL OF CAPITAL BUDGET

Ian McAvoy, Deputy Chief of Development, reported that pursuant to the Board's instruction last month for staff to find money to fully fund the increment of electrification, VTA and JPB staff worked with MTC to resolve the problem. He presented a graph that illustrates a program called RABA, which means Federal money that is available when MTC does accounts adjustments. This money is traditionally being used for high-priority regional projects. Staff invoked that electrification is of high regional significance. MTC management agreed and staff outlined a solution that would take care of this year's and next year's electrification issue. Mr. McAvoy discussed the strategy adopted and stated this would allow the Board to approve the budget inclusive of all the existing member agency contributions for 2003.

Mr. McAvoy stated staff is proposing Board approval of the following:

Adoption of the budget as proposed.
To request that the MTC reprogram RABA money to the Joint Powers Board for the electrification component.

Ms. Sue Lempert commented in addition to the fact that electrification is a major item in the regional plan, electrification is very important with the MTC because of the problems of emissions. She expressed delight in MTC's addressing this issue.

Director Valerio asked to what these RABA fundings are currently allocated. Mr. McAvoy responded the funds currently are allocated to Caltrain improvements. It originally was programmed for South Bay Fremont Corridor improvements. It was reprogrammed by MTC to Caltrain improvements for South Santa Clara County.

Director Valerio stated this is VTA allocated funding to be contributed toward improvement of Caltrain line to Gilroy. In essence, the Board will be allocating from a Caltrain benefit to another area.

Public Comments:

Edward Hullen stated electrification is absolutely vital to reduce air pollution. BART's advantage over Caltrain is acceleration. The customers will appreciate this modern system.
Francis Wong noted electrification for Caltrain should not be delayed. He urged the Board, particularly the Santa Clara County representatives, to support the budget as presented.
Margaret Okuzumi, Bay Rail Alliance, expressed appreciation of the improvements on safety and access to the stations. She stated the Alliance has been advocating for Caltrain electrification. She asked approval of the budget.
Michael Kiesling stated electrification of Caltrain is not just doing something for Caltrain riders but everybody who lives within hearing distance from the tracks or breathes the air that comes from Caltrain.
Patrick More was very pleased that electrification would be moving forward as planned. He questioned if VTA would be pleading poverty when the actual construction project begins. He suggested addressing this matter before that time comes.
Norman Rolfe, San Francisco Tomorrow, pointed to their letter of June 5 outlining the benefits of electrification. Inasmuch as funding problems have already been solved, he urged the Board to approve the capital budget as proposed and request MTC to agree to the reprogramming of funds.
Jeff Carter, Burlingame, recommended approval of the budget with electrification, to bring Caltrain to a world class transit system. It can save 10 to 15 minutes of travel time from San Francisco to San Jose. He suggested getting away from the term commuter train to a transit system because Caltrain is a transit system.
Joyce Roy, League of Women Voters, pointed out that Caltrain electrification is a necessary step to create a more efficient non-polluting commuter rail. She pointed to the regional disconnects in getting to the Peninsula from the East Bay by public transportation. She looked forward to having a new hub at the Transbay Terminal to cut the number of transfers and save travel time.
Marina Kaiser sees no compelling reason to electrify Caltrain. The train is great and clean. A lot of money has been spent to fix it up. Going 100 miles an hour between stops, the train still has to stop at stations.
Andy Chow advised electrification will make things better. It is very important to Santa Clara County and the County should support it whole-heartedly.
Paul Wendt stated electrification will reduce pollution and travel time.

Director Ayerdi moved Board adoption of the Capital Budget and to request that MTC reprogram the $12 million in RABA funds for Caltrain electrification. Director Lloyd seconded the motion.

Director Valerio did not support the motion. He stated VTA is supportive of electrification. The voters in the 2000 Measure A ballot approved raising $6 million for a multitude of projects including electrification. There are other projects that are very much needed for a better transportation throughout the valley, the county and the region. VTA will begin to receive the funds in 2006. He feels that it is premature to go ahead with the preliminary design if the funding is not fully secured by all respective partners.

Director Schmidt remarked in May 1999, comments that it was not time for electrification were received from some Board members. It would be a mistake not to take this adventurous step to make Caltrain a modern, clean, efficient railroad system. He supported the motion to approve the budget.

Director Lloyd added preliminary work should be done in order to move forward. Electrification is the most important thing for Caltrain right now.

Director McLemore expressed pride that he was one of those who suggested having JPB staff members speak with the MTC. He felt extremely comfortable voting on the affirmative using these RABA funds because these RABA funds come through the MTC. The MTC allocates them out to different areas. He had asked the MTC to put the footnote that if one project that was identified at that time did not take place, that the funds be used for Caltrain projects. He believed that using these funds in this process is a key element to promoting regional cooperation between the three counties. He stressed that after the Board approves the Capital Budget; it is imperative that the MTC approve something that gets the $12 million to the Caltrain improvement between San Jose and Gilroy.

Mr. Scanlon commented staff has to start focusing at finding a creative way to get Caltrain through the electrification construction phase either by borrowing money or by selling some tax depreciation rights. He inquired if he needs an authority from the Board to start looking at those types of creative funding mechanisms.

Attorney David Miller stated the Board previously authorized the three CEOs of the member agencies to work toward a more stable future in the form of amendments to the Joint Powers Agreement. What Mr. Scanlon indicated may require legislation to be adopted.

The Board, by roll call, Director Valerio dissenting, adopted the following resolution: