PTC Steering Committee meeting - Minutes

Jan 6, 2006

Present: Judy Bayliss, Olive Bryanton, Bob Dunn, Leo Garland, Ron Kelly, Irene Larkin, Jane Ledwell, Len MacPherson, David McKay, Jim Munves, Matt Ward, Ann Wheatley

12:10 meeting began

-Introductions

-David McKay began by reading feedback from the survey conducted in December, with Bob Dunn responding to some key points.

-Some positive feedback: attractive comfortable buses, staying on schedule, City willing to continue monitoring and improving schedules and bus stop locations.

-Some people are still having trouble finding schedules. Bob Dunn explained that large signs with routes and schedules will be posted at 26 landmark locations pending partial funding from the “One Tonne Challenge” – the funding is currently on hold until after the election.

-Charlottetown Transit has plans for an 8 page insert “Transit Tabloid”
It was suggested that they could also just post the daily schedules directly in the newspaper. The Guardian has informed the PTC that they would print these for free. As well, because the Guardian reaches mostly a middle class readership, the “Transit Tabloid” should be included in the weekly flyers.

-UPEI will be voting soon to add transit to student fees. Holland College is still deliberating on the idea of including transit in the student fees.

-There have been comments on the buses being quite dirty on the outside. Although water conservation should be a consideration, keeping the buses attractive and clean encourages use. Bob Dunn assured that they are up early every morning cleaning the buses. The amount of dirt and salt from the roads that get on the buses is unavoidable to a degree during the winter months.

-Plans to expand: No Cornwall officials have been made formal contact with Charlottetown regarding transit. Stratford Council is evaluating three proposals offered to them by Charlottetown.

-It was highlighted that snow removal for pedestrians and the trolleys must be a priority for the system to work well and safely.

-Currently, only one bus is wheel chair accessible. They are having some trouble with the salt and cold resulting in the ramp getting stuck. The next buses will have new folding ramps to avoid this. In the event that they jam, they can be unfolded manually.

-In order to keep the new system in the public conscience, it was suggested that Charlottetown Transit does daily public notices on the radio – a 30 second transit update.
Bob Dunn said that they are low on staff right now, and thus could not commit to that. The PTC offered to organize the radio spots if Charlottetown Transit provided them with the info.

-The “Caboose” bus is currently running what was previously known mistakenly as the “Senior’s Bus” route. This route works in conjunction with the rest of the system.

-Bus shelters are not expected until late summer or early fall.

-The PTC has offered to help distribute schedules.

-Jim explained a letter that he researched and wrote regarding a province wide system. In the letter, he details the funding that is available to each province for infrastructure and solely for public transit – funding that the Province has yet to commit to public transit. It was also suggested that the letter be submitted as a guest opinion piece in the Guardian. The PTC endorsed the letter.

1:10 meeting adjourned

PTC Enews #6

1. Local
1.1 Dunn meets with PEI PTC
1.2 City urged to join transit

2. National
2.1 CUTA Federal Election Strategy
2.2 Premiers release transportation plan
2.3 Action Centre Promotes Transit During Federal Election

3. International

3.1 Final FY 2006 Transit Funding Set at $8.5 Billion
3.2 Future Highway and Public Transportation Financing
3.3 Enhancing mobility options for older Americans
3.4 Transit ridership showed increases in all modes in 3rd quarter


1. Local

1.1 Dunn meets with PEI PTC

On Friday, January 6, Bobby Dunn, representing Charlottetown Transit met with members of the PTC Steering Committee. The PTC used the opportunity to present results of a survey conducted in December, discussing the strengths of the new system and the areas that should be a priority for improvement. Dunn updated the PTC on the progress of the new system. Now that the system is well established, the PTC will be working with the City and TRIUS to help increase awareness and ridership of the system.

1.2 City urged to join transit

The PEI PTC wants summerside to jump on the public transit bandwagon and help the group in its goal of introducing a provincewide system. David MacKay, representing the PTC, made presentation to the council's public relations and recreation committee on Tuesday, Jan 10. The PTC will continue making similar presentations across the province.
Journal Pioneer


2. National

2.1 CUTA Federal Election Strategy

With a federal election now called for Monday 23 January 2006, CUTA is implementing a federal election strategy, consisting of five initiatives. First, each CUTA member will receive a Federal Election Toolkit, including tips on how to sensitize local candidates to transit issues, generating grassroots support for transit during the election, and guidelines on letter-writing and organizing meetings with candidates during the campaign. Second, Transit Information Kits will be provided to candidates across the country. Third, CUTA's Transit Action Centre website will be equipped with election content and we are encouraging all members to include a link to the centre on their own websites. Fourth, CUTA will be contacting all major federal political parties and providing members with an in-depth analysis of their platforms as they relate to public transit.
www.cuta-actu.com

2.2 Premiers release transportation plan

The Council of the Federation, composed of Canada's provincial and territorial premiers, last week released a national transportation strategy and infrastructure investment plan. The strategy calls for the continuance and extension of federal investment in urban transportation, as well as dedicating the unallocated portion of the federal fuel tax to a Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Fund. According to the Council, such a fund should be distributed on an equitable basis to provide stable and adequate core funding for air, rail, marine, highway, urban road and public transit infrastructure.
www.cuta-actu.com

2.3 Action Centre Promotes Transit During Federal Election

The CUTA Transit Action Centre is an excellent resource for promoting transit issues during the current federal election campaign, and CUTA encourages all members to provide a link from their corporate web sites to maximize the exposure of transit issues during the campaign deliberations. The web site provides direct links to the public transit sections of the respective web sites of the major federal political parties and highlights the two key components of CUTA's platform: infrastructure investment and a tax exemption for employer-provided transit benefits. It also allows individuals to send postcard messages to their current Members of Parliament by completing a structured form. Please visit the Transit Action Centre and promote its use in your community. We are also encouraging members and local elected officials to meet with federal candidates and show how important public transit is as a local election issue. Specific transit information kits have been sent to all transit systems and to
candidates across Canada.
http://transitaction.ca


3. International

3.1 Final FY 2006 Transit Funding Set at $8.5 Billion

Shortly before adjourning for 2005 on December 22, both Houses of Congress passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2863). As the last appropriations bill of the year, the bill became the legislative vehicle for a number of issues unrelated to defense spending. The bill included a 1% across-the-board cut of FY 2006 funding for all discretionary programs, including regular Department of Defense funding, but excluding programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs. President Bush signed the bill into law on December 30, thus enacting the 1% cut, which is technically a rescission of previously appropriated FY 2006 funds. The federal transit program, like highway and other discretionary spending programs, is subject to the cut, and consequently the federal transit program is funded at $8.504.5 billion in FY 2006. The cut will be applied proportionately to each program, account, item, project, activity and earmark. Funding programs within the Department of Homeland Security, including rail and transit security grants, will also be subject to the 1% across-the-board reduction.
www.apta.com

3.2 Future Highway and Public Transportation Financing

A new study by the National Chamber Foundation (NCF) of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calculates the funding shortfall that immediately threatens national mobility and identifies and quantifies specific strategies to address this deficit. This study is the first to provide a detailed blueprint for policymakers containing long-, medium-, and short-term strategies for closing the funding gap and transitioning to a new financing mechanism.

The implementation of these strategies will require policymakers at all levels of government to make difficult decisions, but their leadership and the successful implementation of these strategies will help fuel U.S. economic productivity and competitiveness. Specifically, the federal government should provide incentives for the states to employ new financing mechanisms that will help fully fund transportation.

This study is the second phase of a two-part study researched by Cambridge Systematics and sponsored by NCF. Phase I found that the federal funding share falls short of what is needed to maintain and improve our nation’s transportation infrastructure. Phase II lays out long-term options to fully fund our transportation system and quantifies specific strategies that can guide the transition to a new financing mechanism. This study was initiated in response to the gridlock, the decaying roads and bridges, and the inadequate transportation infrastructure that are costing the U.S. economy billions in productivity.

All levels of government -- federal, state, and local -- are responsible for maintaining, building, and upgrading transportation systems to meet the needs of industry and the public. Current revenues, however, fall far short of what is needed to maintain or improve existing infrastructure. Maintaining existing infrastructure means that pavement and bridge conditions and travel levels of service will remain the same. Below this level, conditions will deteriorate and congestion will grow. Improving transportation infrastructure means that all additional highway and transit spending will have a positive benefit/cost ratio and will improve U.S. economic productivity.
for more: www.apta.com

3.3 Enhancing mobility options for older Americans

In the next 25 years the number of Americans age 65 and older will double. Americans 85 and older comprise the fastest-growing segment of the population. As life expectancy exceeds the age at which many Americans typically cease or significantly limit driving, the need for increased and enhanced mobility options to enable Americans to age in place will become more urgent. Today’s transportation infrastructure is unprepared for the transformation in America’s demographic shape. Older adults identify mobility with driving. Other options, such as public transportation and walking, are often inconvenient or inaccessible. A recent report has shown that over half of all non-drivers age 65 and older stay home on any given day.

In communities throughout the country, many innovative programs have been developed to help older adults maintain mobile lifestyles. In June 2004, AARP convened over 40 experts, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of aging and transportation to develop priorities and strategies that would contribute to reaching a five-year goal of increasing the percentage of adults who have the mobility choices they need to remain independent as they age. Meeting this goal will require even more innovations in service, as well as changes in the policy framework and new levels of coordination among policymakers, human services agencies, transportation planners, advocates, engineers, transit agencies, road builders, and other stakeholders.
for more: www.apta.com

3.4 Transit ridership showed increases in all modes in 3rd quarter

With high gas prices in the third quarter of 2005, national transit ridership grew by 3.3 % from the same period in 2004, according to a report released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) today. At the same time that transit ridership was increasing during the 2005 third quarter, Americans parked their cars and vehicle miles of travel (VMT) decreased by 0.2%, according to the Federal Highway Administration statistics. Additionally, a recent survey of transit systems conducted by APTA indicates that this growing ridership trend continued in November, despite a drop in gas prices that month.

"The increased ridership results of the third quarter, combined with the November ridership increases, indicate that more and more Americans want other options besides the automobile," said APTA President William W. Millar. "Transit ridership was on the move in 2005 and I fully expect that it will continue to grow as more people discover the convenience and affordability of public transportation."
for more: www.apta.com


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