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Okay. Good evening everyone. As

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my trustees are grabbing a seat. Yes,

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it is now 5:01 pm and I'd like to call to order the february 24th,

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a td board meeting. Actually,

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we're gonna do, we're

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gonna call to order the february 24th via board meeting. Let's begin with roll call

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vice chair gomez. Present. Secretary malone. Present

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assistant secretary cooper. Present. Trustee flores present.

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trustee tu will, trustee rena present. Trustee

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deon. Present. Trustee howard present trustee

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fernandez present and trustee rete present welcome

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trustee. A to the via board of trustees.

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all right. Uh, we do have a quorum.

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please stand and join me in reciting the pledge of alle and the texas flag.

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a pp of allegiance to the flag of the united states of america.

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and to the republic for which stands? One nation,

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underg god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

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honor, honors texas flag to texas.

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they under god one.

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yeah. Thank you. Got it? That was too cute.

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all right. Okay. Thank you.

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mr. Duh. Do we have any announcements? No announcements, madam chair. Thank

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you. We'll, next,

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move on to a special moment for us, uh, swearing in our of our via

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transit chief of police. Um, please welcome judge william k. Shaw,

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who will serve in vias new chief, uh, who was warren vias new chief

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of police and transit security. Joseph richard rose. Jamal, would you like to introduce

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both gentlemen, please? Sure. Thank you. Madam chair. The honorable

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judge william h. Cruz shaw is a native of houston, texas. As a passion for helping people

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in his community, the pastors reflected in his educational, professional and

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public service pursuits. Judge shaw served his country as a yeoman,

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second class united states navy reserves from 2003 until 2011.

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while in reserves, shaw served in san antonio and in singapore. He graduated

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from thurgood marshall school of law at texas southern university, he 2009,

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and opened his own law practice in the heart of the east side of san antonio in september, 2010.

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judge shaw was elected as city council in june of 2017, and was appointed

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as associate judge in the 436th district court in bexar county in january of

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2019, and was elected to the 436th district court

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november, 2022.

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rick? Yes, sir. Next up,

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if we'll have, uh, you stand there, chief rose, some background on our

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chief rose. Joseph rose is an accomplished law enforcement executive with 20 plus years

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of progressive leadership in municipal and trans policing. Specialize in

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building and modernizing public safety organizations, leading complex operations

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and developing policy infrastructure and personnel systems that support accountable

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community-centered policing. Schultz was known for his commitment to ethical

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leadership, organizational development, and trust-based community engagement. His

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leadership style balances operational excellence with transparency,

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personal mentorship and strategic stakeholder partnerships. His educational

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background includes a master's of public management from the university of maryland,

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a bachelor of science in organizational leadership from johns hopkins university and

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associates in criminal justice from excelsior university. He's also attended from

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penn state university, the police executive development program, fbi, national

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academy, session 2 81 fbi, national academy graduate.

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and despite that, he's originally from brooklyn, new york.

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he began his transit career as a bus operator for new york mta

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for eight years. Uh, then he went to the world of transit policing at ada in washington, dc.

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from that point, he progressed to municipal law law enforcement in, in, uh, boy

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maryland, and made his way down to texas to help begin the start of the

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capitol metro transit police department. And we're proud to have him here today. And so, at this

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time, I'll leave you chief to, uh, be sworn in by the honorable judge

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khaw. Thank you. Without

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the line. Can

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I me in the back. Good. Okay. Oh, we get 'em. We gather for

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more than just a formal appointment. We gather to a firm commitment,

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a commitment to service, a commitment to leadership, and the commitment to

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the values that define public trust. The role of the transit

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police chief carries a profound responsibility. Our tr

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oh, okay. The role of transit police chief carries

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a profound responsibility. Our transit system is more than buses, stations,

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and routes. It's a lifeline of our community. It

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protects people to opportunity, education, healthcare,

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and one another. The chief entrusted with protecting this system

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must lead not only with authority, but with integrity.

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chief joseph rose, as you prepare to take this oath, you accept

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the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct.

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you are called to lead with transparency, ensuring that trust between

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law enforcement employees and the public is earned and

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maintained. Every day, you are expected to lead with compassion,

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recognizing that those we serve include our writers, our employees,

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and members of our community who may be experiencing vulnerability crisis

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and hardship. Now, please raise your right hand.

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do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will faithfully execute the duties

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of the office of transit police chief, that you'll support and uphold

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the organizational policies and practices, as well as the laws of

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this state that will perform your responsibilities with integrity,

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transparency, and ethical practice, that you'll serve

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our employees and our community with fairness, courage, and

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compassion. So help you guide. Yes, I do. I do. There

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you go. By the authority vested in me, I hereby recognize you

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as the trans police. Congratulations, chief joseph rose.

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trustees, uh, if you can join me, we're gonna go take a quick photo right here and recognition of

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this momentous moment here. Thank you.

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well, again, congratulations, chief, welcome to the team.

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uh, I also, again, wanna welcome in joining me today, our newest

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trustee, ms. Chris reta, uh, steward of this community,

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lots of years of experience and wisdom, uh, that she has imparted

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on san antonio. So we are, uh, just thrilled that

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you have joined our board. Welcome. Thank you. Yes.

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we got a packed house today. I I think we need to see this every, every

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meeting. Yeah. Let's do that. . All

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right. We have citizens to be heard next. Um, yes. I'm assuming we have a few

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citizens who signed up. Yes, we do. We have, we have 20 individuals signed up to speak with

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one of them. Relinquishing their time to another speaker. Very good. Thank you. We now

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come to assistance to be heard portion of our public meeting. The board is interested in hearing

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the comments and concerns from our patrons and citizens in san antonio bayar county area.

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questions or comments concerning public business or policy over which the board has supervision

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and the control may be addressed at a later date by the president, ceo and

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or his staff. This process assures that you receive the most accurate response

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to your question or concern. Thank you. And via appreciates you taking the time and effort

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to share your comments with us this evening. Our first speaker

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is mr. William hernandez.

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uh, good afternoon, uh, chair

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via board, mr. Herra and via staff.

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my name is william hernandez. I'm the president of a

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tu 6 9 4 retiree chapter, and I'm here today to speak

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on two subjects. First, I would like to bring to your attention

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the 10 99 irs forms that were mailed out in

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2025. I was notified by a handful of members that

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they did not receive their forms after advising them

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to contact payroll. They were told to come in and pick up a copy.

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the question arises of, you know, what happened to the original copies.

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they, um, they've talked to, uh, postmasters and they

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said, well, it would be sent back to payroll. So if you can have payroll

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due, due diligence and tracking down

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these original copies because their concerns about, um, identity theft.

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and, um, so if you can get with them and have them get with those people,

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we appreciate it. Secondly, um, free

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rides for all. I was a bus driver for 39 years.

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I've seen what happens when you open up the gates and let every wedding in

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to ride free at a feel for the

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homeless. I really do. But these people will come

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and they'll just camp out on the bus all day long. And if

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they're riding for free, there's, I mean, I don't know how you get 'em off the bus.

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a lot of them are dealing with mental illnesses,

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you know, and I've seen it where, you

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know, they have a manic episode and it scares

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the jitters out of the regular passengers that are riding the bus.

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a lot of them, um, they leave the bus un unsanitary

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and, you know, they'll defecate, they'll urinate, you know, I,

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I've seen it. So a driver will have to call

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transit police. And depending how close the transit police officer

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is, is to the, the bus is, uh, the re the, the

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time it takes 'em to get there. Um,

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it is a good political talking point, but it will only de

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delay service for regular rider.

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I know they already have, uh, free fare for, um, college

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students and, and elementaries and the kids, you know, and that's

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all perfect. That's, that's fine, you know, but, um,

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free for all, for everyone. I mean, I hope you all really consider that, or

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not y'all, but city council. Um, thank you for your time.

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thank you.

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roger. Signs. I,

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all right. My name is roger signs, and I am the pastor of south city church,

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and we are located at 34 32 south florida street on the south side of san antonio.

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and I made a request to have a bus stop moved, and, uh, the bus

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stop number is 6 6 8 3 6. And the reference number for my request

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is 5 5 6 8 4 0. My request was denied,

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and I asked if I could appeal, and they said no. And I said, well, there's gotta be somebody I could talk to.

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and they said, I could come here before y'all, and that's why I'm here today. The reason I made

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my request to have a bus stop movie, because there's always a lot of homeless people

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there, and on sunday mornings, there's a lot of trash. There's empty beer bottles, empty

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beer cans and stuff like that. And I'm out there, you know, picking it up. But my

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main concern is one time, one sunday morning, I went out there and I was looking, there

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was a, a big group of people waiting for the bus. It was about eight people, something like that.

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and, uh, the, there's a big concrete bench that's right in front of,

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uh, the entrance into our building. We have a gate out there, right, right in front of

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the, the, the entrance to the, to the gate. There's a big concrete bench that's part of the,

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the bus stop, right? And, uh, there was a big group out there, and our people, the

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congregation had to walk around them, walk into the street in order to get

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into the gate. And my concern is that I'm afraid somebody's gonna get hit by a car or

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something, you know? So that's why I made the request. And I wanted to ask to see, I don't know if y'all could

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look, take a look at it again. And, uh, if y'all could move the bus stop, and I wouldn't

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even mind if y'all could just move it to the edge of our property, but right now, the bus stop is

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right in front of, of our building, right where the main entrance is at

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the gate entrance. There's a big concrete bench right there, and that's where people are waiting for the bus.

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and I just don't want anybody to get hit, you know, get into an accident or anything like that.

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so I would like to ask y'all if y'all could take a, you know, look at that again, if that would be

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possible. And I just thank you for your time. That's all I had for today. Thank you.

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thank you. Our next speaker, ms. Our next

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speaker, mr. Paul baal.

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all right. A little weird to be on this side of the, the board table here.

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um, madam chair board, thank you for having me. Um,

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congratulations, chris. Um,

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all right, well, thank you for allowing me to speak today. Uh, for those that don't know me,

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my name is paul alua. I'm president of, uh, sera development,

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and this year I'm serving as the chairman of the metro sa chamber.

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um, I'm here to discuss our position on free bus fairs. One

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of my priorities this year is proper infrastructure. Investment free fares

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is not proper infrastructure investment. Um, so I have

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a letter that I have written to the board that I think has been handed out to you guys.

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I'm going to go ahead and read it for you. Um, so since its

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inception in 1977, via metropolitan transit has been hobbled by

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insufficient funding, rather than the full cent sales tax that

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the texas legislator leg legislature made available to municipalities

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for public transit. C city leaders chose to only utilize

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a half cent back then. Our community has been playing, playing catchup

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since. The consequence of that decision was twofold. First,

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via, over the course of the five decades, lacked literally billions of

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dollars in revenue that its peer cities have dedicated to public transit. Second

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via, uh, could not receive federal grants for public transit. The

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transit agencies across texas and across the nation received grants paid

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for by tax dollars spent by san antonio residents

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sent to washington dc the result was a public transit system in

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san antonio that has struggled to meet the needs of our community over the past 10 years,

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via has started to change this environment, most notably with the passage of prop a.

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in 2020, the dedicated an additional one, a sales tax to the public

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transit. That additional increment not only provided via with desperately,

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desperately needed revenue, but it also unlocked those previously inaccessible

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federal transit grants. As a former via trustee,

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I know that our transit, uh, system runs a lien operation. Calling for universal free

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fairs without providing funding puts all of that at risk. Um,

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the metro sa chamber has been a strong supporter of the silver line, uh, including back in

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the policy, uh, commitment to deploy a hundred million dollars in

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advanced transportation district funds to pursue $300 million in federal grants that would make

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the silver line a reality. Eliminating fair revenue without funding replacement

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could place that strategy at risk by not just jeopardizing the a hundred million dollars in local investment,

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but the $300 million that the federal government is matching as part

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of, uh, its grant making process. The fda must confirm vias financial

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capacity to operate the green and silver lines. And a $20 million reduction

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in fairbox revenue without replacement funding would almost certainly put negative

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light on our ability to operate economic mobility,

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uh, is dependent on physical mobility. As the chair of the metros sa chamber,

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I strongly encourage my former colleagues on the via board of trustees to continue to prioritize

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the transformational investments vias making in a rt. Thank you.

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always good to see a fellow trustee over here. First, meaning out door.

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I will point out . Our next speaker,

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rebecca vran.

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good evening, everyone. Um, chair, vice chair, mr. President,

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trustees. Um, I'm here to speak on item number

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six, free fair. Um, my name is rebecca vran,

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and I serve as the president and ceo of the south texas business partnership.

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the mission of the south texas business partnership is to stimulate sustained

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economic prosperity across san antonio and south texas.

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a critical challenge in achieving that mission is mobility.

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connecting people to opportunity and businesses to the workforce

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via metropolitan transit has been a valued partner in

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addressing this challenge. Vias rapid transit

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green line, along with the planned south texas parkway

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represent transformational investment in south san antonio.

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the green line will connect with the existing brooks transit center,

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enabling san antonio residents to more efficiently access jobs, healthcare,

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education, and training opportunities throughout the city.

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it will also better connect residents across san antonio

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to the growing employment centers in south san antonio and south bexar

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county rider throughout the city have consistently

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asked for expanded mobility options and increased

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frequency improvements. The green line is

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designed to deliver. Given the significance of this

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project, we would be deeply concerned about

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any shift in priorities that could jeopardize

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the federal grants already secured for the green line. These

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funds were awarded based on a clear commitment and

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plan, any departure from that commitment risks not only

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critical funding, but also the economic momentum and public trust

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tied to this investment. On behalf of the south texas

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business partnership, I respectfully urge the via metropolitan transit

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board of trustees to adhere to its

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existing commitment to the green line, maintain its full investment

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in the project, and continue advancing increased

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mobility and frequency for the south san antonio

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and south bexar county region. Thank you for your time and consideration.

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I believe you all have a copy of on your, on your dais. Thank you very much.

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thank you.

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our next speaker is katie farrier.

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she greater chamber. Okay.

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good evening, chair, uh, board. My name is katie farrier,

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and on behalf of the greater san antonio chamber of commerce, I came to speak about item

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six. The greater chamber supports a strong,

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reliable and financially sustainable public transportation system.

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transit is economic infrastructure, connecting workers to jobs and

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supports regional competitiveness, while framed as an affordability

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and access measure. The proposed pilot program is a structural

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policy change that warrants deliberate and transparent evaluation.

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first, federal funding implications should be carefully considered,

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even though fair revenue is not vias primary funding source, it contributes

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to financial stability and is part of the metrics used in competitive grant

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evaluations. And today's performance driven federal funding environment,

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san antonio must remain strong fiscal metrics to remain

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competitive with pure cities. Second evidence suggests

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that ridership challenges are more closely tied to service design, including

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frequency, reliability, travel time connectivity,

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and safety, rather than fair levels. If the goal is increasing,

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ridership resources may be more effectively directed toward improving

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service quality on high demand corridors and strengthening connections

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to major employment centers. Third, operational

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and safety considerations matter. Via must remain a

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mobility first system focused on connecting people to opportunity.

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any policy change that alters usage patterns should include clearly

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defined metrics for safety, service quality,

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operational performance, and fiscal impact, along with transparent

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public reporting. Finally, fiscal sustainability

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must remain central. Eliminating fares without a dedicated revenue

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replacement source increases reliance on sales tax and public

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subsidy. Any funding strategy should avoid increasing the cost

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burden on residents or employers, particularly in a period of rising

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economic pressures. Long-term stability is essential to maintaining affordability,

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public confidence, and business support. We stand ready to work

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collaboratively with via and the city to ensure that any policy decision

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strengthens not winks san antonio's long-term economic competitiveness.

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thank you for your consideration. Thank you.

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our next speaker is jessica palacios.

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good evening, madam chair, members of the board. My name is

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jessica palacios. I'm here on behalf of the san antonio hispanic chamber

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of commerce, who represents nearly 900 member businesses, and

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we appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today. On item number six,

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the san antonio hispanic chamber of commerce has long supported strategic

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investments in mobility infrastructure that strengthen workforce

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participation, improve access to employment centers, and enhance economic

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competitiveness. Our support has always been grounded in fiscal responsibility,

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long-term sustainability, and the protection of funding streams

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critical to transit operations. We understand and respect that the

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goal of increasing access and affordability, however, we're concerned

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of the potential risk to federal funding.

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if federal dollars are jeopardized, the impact would extend beyond the five routes and could,

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um, impact capital projects. Our members rely

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on reliable transit systems to move employees to manufacturing

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plants, healthcare facilities, hos and hospitality and tourism

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corridors, and most importantly, um, small job

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sites, small and micro business job sites. Um, we believe that

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decisions of this magnitude require a clear understanding of

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federal implications, stakeholder engagement, and long term sustainability

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planning. Um, to kind of reverse course just a bit,

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in 2020, our members supported

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a, a formally adopted resolution supporting the via metropolitan

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transit proposition a, which reallocated the one eighth sales tax

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to, to via, and our position has not changed. Um,

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I wanna echo what, what members have already stood

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up here to say that we are in full support in collaboration

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efforts with via and the city of san antonio. Thank you so

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much. Thank you.

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our next speaker is mr. Robert garza.

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good evening trustees. I'm robert garza, 22 year bus operator,

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currently president of a tu local 6 9 4. I'm here to discuss

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our concerns with free fare for all. Removing fares can increase overall

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ridership, increased conflicts, higher rates of verbal abuse,

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greater risk of physical assaults, more on board disturbances, delay

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of service, and will affect our employee retention. When the bus becomes free,

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the respect for the service and the person's providing it drops by opening

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the doors to everyone without exception, we lose the ability to protect our

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passengers from those who aren't there to travel, but are only there to cause trouble.

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you can't put a price on safety, but you certainly shouldn't trade it away for,

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for a political talking point. City hall should focus on fixing real issues

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in our city, like housing and mental health, rather than try to solve a problem that

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does not exist. By eliminating fares, our operators, maintenance

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employees, and rider deserve better. This is a rare occasion where labor and management

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are 100% on the same page board members.

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our safety is in your hands. We respectfully ask that you do not allow this

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program to move forward. Thank you. Thank

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you.

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our our next speak. Our next speaker is amalia soto, and

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he has had time, uh, yielded to him by gilbert les.

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good evening via trustees, mr. Herrera and mr. Brown. First

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and foremost, I'd like to thank all the a two members and the families that are here today. They truly are the

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backbone of this company.

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my name is amal soto. I'm the a tu 6 9 4 treasurer business

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agent. But more importantly, I've been a bus operator for 38 years.

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I'm here today to echo what mr. Garza just mentioned concerning free fares. Eliminating

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fa eliminating fares is a bad idea, bad business from the negative,

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bad business from the negative effect it can have from a financial standpoint, at the safety

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and to the safety issues that will arise from the impact of free fares. As

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far as the negative effect that will, that will have the, uh,

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will have with the company. That's mr. Heda and mr. Brown's job.

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but as far as the safety implications that free fares can have, I can

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speak on this because a few years ago during the pandemic via was

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offering free fares. Many of us experienced a negative effect that free fares

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had during that time. Bus operator assaults and disturbances increased,

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and that had a snowball effect and caused issues with delay of service and just overall

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quality of service in general. Our passengers lost reliability service

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due to all of this in general. Uh, our passengers lost

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00:32:03,105 --> 00:32:06,965
reliability service due to all of this, not just reliable service on the buses, but at

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the transit centers too. There was overcrowding and cleanings issues

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at the transit stations. The maintenance employees were having a hard time keeping the

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facilities safe and clean. Then came the employee turnover. Our

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00:32:19,665 --> 00:32:23,465
workforce started loo looking elsewhere for work because their safety had been compromised

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and their families wanted them home safely. But vias making

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progress and we're in a better place now. Via is increasing its workforce to satisfy demand,

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and our ridership is increasing. Again. We're adding new service such as

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the new rapid, green and silver line. We're excited

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00:32:40,995 --> 00:32:44,665
that this will create new jobs and opportunities for our community. In

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00:32:45,165 --> 00:32:49,165
addition, morale is also going up due to these new opportunities. So we don't wanna

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00:32:49,325 --> 00:32:53,015
go backwards. The value of reliable service only costs a dollar 30, which

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00:32:53,365 --> 00:32:57,205
is one of the lowest faires in the nation for a major city. But that, that dollar

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00:32:57,645 --> 00:33:01,285
30 for a bus ride shows that the patron has some skin in the game

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and holds them accountable when they ride. So trustees, please

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consider the safety of our passengers and employees when making our, when making

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your decision. And remember, reliable serves is much better than free service.

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thank you.

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thank you. Our next speaker is mr. Jd salinas,

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madam chair and trustees, thanks for having me and thanks for welcoming

391
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me. To, to your chamber. That's good evening. My name's jd

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00:33:52,435 --> 00:33:56,275
salinas. I'm with at and t. I'm the vice president of external affairs. I've

393
00:33:56,565 --> 00:33:59,685
been here for, for a bit. And thank you for the opportunity, opportunity to speak.

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00:34:00,825 --> 00:34:04,745
I'm here today to respectfully oppose a proposal to fund the

395
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free pilot program and using any kind of tax, any

396
00:34:08,965 --> 00:34:12,525
type of revenue. Let me start by saying we understand

397
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and respect the goal, improving mobility and affordability for riders,

398
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but public transit is important for workforce access

399
00:34:21,985 --> 00:34:25,965
and regional competitiveness. But the question before you

400
00:34:26,165 --> 00:34:29,085
is not only whether fair free rides or a worthwhile concept,

401
00:34:30,425 --> 00:34:34,305
the question is also whether the proposed funding mechanism is

402
00:34:34,525 --> 00:34:38,025
appropriate, sustainable, and fair to san,

403
00:34:40,785 --> 00:34:44,765
any consumer tax is worth is the wrong tool because

404
00:34:45,045 --> 00:34:48,725
it increases cost on households subject to multiple federal,

405
00:34:49,215 --> 00:34:51,995
state, and local taxes already being paid.

406
00:34:53,585 --> 00:34:57,355
adding another local tax effectively creates quadruple

407
00:34:57,965 --> 00:35:01,675
taxation, and the result is higher. Monthly bills from

408
00:35:02,185 --> 00:35:05,865
san antonio household and small businesses, taxing

409
00:35:06,345 --> 00:35:09,245
san antonios in the name of increasing affordability is counterintuitive.

410
00:35:11,365 --> 00:35:15,345
a six month pilot offering free fair service on

411
00:35:15,675 --> 00:35:19,365
five routes may be well-intentioned, but if it is funded through

412
00:35:19,925 --> 00:35:23,495
consumer taxes, shifts the burden to san antonio residents and households, including those

413
00:35:24,225 --> 00:35:27,825
who may never ride the bus at all. Simply

414
00:35:28,465 --> 00:35:32,125
put, this proposal does not eliminate cost for sanitary residents.

415
00:35:32,745 --> 00:35:36,325
it just re re relocates them onto monthly household bills.

416
00:35:37,625 --> 00:35:41,525
and if long-term success requires a permanent tax stream, then it isn't

417
00:35:41,845 --> 00:35:45,425
truly a pilot. Instead, it's a policy change

418
00:35:46,275 --> 00:35:49,255
with lasting cost implications for san antonio households

419
00:35:50,755 --> 00:35:54,325
with san with. If the city and via want to evaluate fair free

420
00:35:54,885 --> 00:35:58,865
services, we encourage funding options that do not increase the burden for

421
00:35:59,085 --> 00:36:03,045
every household in san antonio. For those reasons, we respectfully oppose

422
00:36:03,685 --> 00:36:07,585
adopting, expanding any consumer facing tax and quadruple taxing

423
00:36:08,005 --> 00:36:11,475
hard work in san antonio's to fund this pilot project project.

424
00:36:12,575 --> 00:36:15,825
thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you again for having me.

425
00:36:21,055 --> 00:36:24,385
thank you. Our next speaker is diana amador

426
00:36:25,115 --> 00:36:25,115
luna.

427
00:36:36,715 --> 00:36:40,565
this one? Yes. Okay. Hello everyone. Thank

428
00:36:40,845 --> 00:36:44,765
you for letting me talk for a little bit. I have

429
00:36:44,985 --> 00:36:48,505
so much to say. So I have been with via

430
00:36:49,215 --> 00:36:52,165
going in this june for eight years.

431
00:36:53,505 --> 00:36:57,205
as much as I loved my job at greyhound lines, I sh I tell myself

432
00:36:57,725 --> 00:37:00,925
I should have been here years ago because via is a great company.

433
00:37:02,445 --> 00:37:06,225
I have great coworkers, I have met a lot of friends here. Via is

434
00:37:06,525 --> 00:37:10,505
a good company. It has great benefits, great insurance, and

435
00:37:10,725 --> 00:37:14,585
of course the good 4 0 1. I could tell you stories all

436
00:37:14,805 --> 00:37:18,545
night long, but I don't have more than three minutes. So

437
00:37:18,845 --> 00:37:22,475
I did pick my top three stories to tell you whether

438
00:37:22,965 --> 00:37:26,805
they were paying passengers or not paying passengers. I have

439
00:37:27,005 --> 00:37:30,645
been threatened to be cut up in a thousand pieces. Sapd

440
00:37:31,225 --> 00:37:34,685
had to be called out to cadillac, and it is spelled like this cadillac

441
00:37:35,285 --> 00:37:38,065
'cause it's short for kelly and lackland. Um,

442
00:37:40,365 --> 00:37:44,285
I had been also, when I was driving the 26th

443
00:37:44,685 --> 00:37:48,285
route, when I had just finished coming over the bridge, alamo jones, bill miller's,

444
00:37:49,385 --> 00:37:53,085
my bus was surrounded by unmarked cars, doors opened

445
00:37:54,105 --> 00:37:58,085
us marshals, came out with assault weapons. Little to, I

446
00:37:58,205 --> 00:38:02,125
was scared to death. I didn't know what was going on. I thought for a minute they were coming after me 'cause

447
00:38:02,245 --> 00:38:06,245
I had like maybe five passengers on my bus. Little did I know

448
00:38:06,405 --> 00:38:09,525
I had two fugitives on my bus. They said they had been keeping it on my bus.

449
00:38:11,065 --> 00:38:15,005
um, another one is where I was driving the 1 0 2, late at night. I was almost

450
00:38:15,365 --> 00:38:19,325
done with my route. I was at pleasanton, the military. I had 15 minutes left to get

451
00:38:19,445 --> 00:38:23,355
to brooks. When somebody starts breaking my fur box, just

452
00:38:23,805 --> 00:38:27,415
breaking it, he was angry. Starts kicking the mirror on the port primo,

453
00:38:27,825 --> 00:38:31,765
starts kicking my door. Had to call sapd. I was late

454
00:38:31,965 --> 00:38:35,925
getting home for two hours. That's okay. 'cause we get late pay. But I can see

455
00:38:36,085 --> 00:38:39,765
my time is finishing. I have been spit on, yelled

456
00:38:40,145 --> 00:38:43,605
at, cussed at. I have been, um, had windows broken,

457
00:38:44,855 --> 00:38:48,845
doors broken. I had somebody pay for somebody that did not have their fare on the 88

458
00:38:49,205 --> 00:38:53,165
route, only to start jumping up and down, having the bus violently

459
00:38:53,765 --> 00:38:57,485
shake because he said he was the son of god. I have had people

460
00:38:57,825 --> 00:39:01,275
try to ju use their jail card as free. Fair.

461
00:39:02,145 --> 00:39:05,775
yes, we do have free fairs in honor of ms. Rosa parks.

462
00:39:06,325 --> 00:39:08,985
december 1st of last year was the day that we honored her for free. Faires

463
00:39:10,785 --> 00:39:14,605
fia came out with a new program, free fairs for children 12 and eight.

464
00:39:15,885 --> 00:39:19,705
I wanted to tell you that this is my schedule, which is a schedule for

465
00:39:19,925 --> 00:39:23,295
this. I try to keep it on time because I have my regular passengers

466
00:39:24,265 --> 00:39:28,125
and I have my irregular passengers. So I wanted to

467
00:39:28,285 --> 00:39:32,125
tell you that all the, all the bus drivers

468
00:39:32,475 --> 00:39:36,325
here, extra board and regular passengers, they start coming at three 15

469
00:39:36,705 --> 00:39:40,505
in the morning. So you, you do the math, they're probably waking up

470
00:39:40,725 --> 00:39:44,625
at two o'clock in the morning to be here to get the routes running. Please

471
00:39:45,065 --> 00:39:49,045
do not have free fare. It causes a lot of problems. I'm echo echoing everything

472
00:39:49,485 --> 00:39:53,485
what robert and amalia said. Oh, by the way, amalia 36 years.

473
00:39:54,145 --> 00:39:56,125
safety. Alia, where are you?

474
00:40:00,105 --> 00:40:00,845
36 years.

475
00:40:04,865 --> 00:40:07,615
that's my friend, my coworker. Thank. Alright, diane,

476
00:40:13,055 --> 00:40:16,425
thank you. The next speaker is georgina galong

477
00:40:17,265 --> 00:40:21,125
or kalo. Am I pronouncing that right?

478
00:40:24,825 --> 00:40:26,465
she wanted to speak on route number two.

479
00:40:29,735 --> 00:40:33,415
all right. She, she might have left. Um, our next speaker is

480
00:40:33,985 --> 00:40:34,685
barbara stock.

481
00:40:45,895 --> 00:40:46,835
if I hit it, I hit it.

482
00:40:50,105 --> 00:40:53,555
okay. Am I close enough now? Yes. Hello everyone.

483
00:40:54,595 --> 00:40:58,495
I know it's been a hard week. Um, the reason why I came tonight is

484
00:40:58,715 --> 00:41:02,035
to tell you that I appreciate the service so much.

485
00:41:03,555 --> 00:41:06,795
I know about the, what we're talking about.

486
00:41:07,675 --> 00:41:11,385
I have been on a regular bus just once or twice and experienced

487
00:41:12,075 --> 00:41:16,075
that for myself. But, um, via trans

488
00:41:16,455 --> 00:41:20,095
is a wonderful service. Okay? Without you,

489
00:41:21,155 --> 00:41:24,855
I don't have my independence to go anywhere or do

490
00:41:25,475 --> 00:41:29,365
anything. So I want you to know how much I appreciate

491
00:41:30,035 --> 00:41:33,645
it and my family or my friends that live nowhere

492
00:41:34,195 --> 00:41:37,005
near me whatsoever. Thank you for your service.

493
00:41:39,105 --> 00:41:42,965
we all have issues, but we can all work together and get

494
00:41:43,165 --> 00:41:47,145
things accomplished. Thank you for your time. And

495
00:41:47,365 --> 00:41:50,915
sometimes the buses do run early, sometimes they run late.

496
00:41:51,505 --> 00:41:54,565
and I anticipate that. Thank you very much.

497
00:41:58,655 --> 00:42:02,565
thank you. Our next speaker is sina calvin,

498
00:42:08,585 --> 00:42:09,005
can I make it?

499
00:42:18,715 --> 00:42:22,525
good evening trustees. Um, I had a big, long thing written

500
00:42:22,915 --> 00:42:26,685
down because of the number two and I, but I still

501
00:42:27,065 --> 00:42:31,045
wanted to come and, uh, thank bob cuomo for helping

502
00:42:31,425 --> 00:42:34,785
me get my concerns. Um, elevated thank mr. Herrera

503
00:42:36,305 --> 00:42:39,745
for hearing those concerns, not only mine, but others

504
00:42:40,315 --> 00:42:43,925
that have been expressed and for pulling that from the agenda

505
00:42:44,545 --> 00:42:48,445
and giving us another bit of time to take a

506
00:42:48,565 --> 00:42:52,525
look at that. So I did wanna, uh, thank uh, those

507
00:42:52,805 --> 00:42:56,805
people. I also wanted to let staff know that I empathize with them. I

508
00:42:57,065 --> 00:43:00,725
myself have worked on projects for multiple months or multiple years,

509
00:43:01,515 --> 00:43:05,245
only to have someone or someone's come out of the woodwork

510
00:43:05,745 --> 00:43:08,965
at the last minute and say, what I didn't know,

511
00:43:09,905 --> 00:43:13,805
I'm against this. So I get it. And again, I appreciate the opportunity

512
00:43:14,505 --> 00:43:18,105
to be heard and to have further discussion. Um,

513
00:43:18,765 --> 00:43:22,745
I have lived on magnolia beacon hill for 20 years, and

514
00:43:23,345 --> 00:43:26,445
in 2022 I decided to give up my vehicle,

515
00:43:27,505 --> 00:43:31,475
um, because of the number two, because I have that easy access, half

516
00:43:31,805 --> 00:43:35,565
a block from my house. And that gets me downtown phil harberger park,

517
00:43:35,995 --> 00:43:39,685
roosevelt park, lots of places. So it is an important route to me.

518
00:43:40,385 --> 00:43:44,265
I'm also, um, the planning team rep for beacon hill and

519
00:43:45,115 --> 00:43:49,015
multimodality, and improving biking, pedestrian

520
00:43:50,065 --> 00:43:53,885
access and transit is very important to us. And so I think

521
00:43:54,545 --> 00:43:58,365
if we can keep the number two, we can really work on bolstering

522
00:43:58,725 --> 00:44:02,645
that ridership, encouraging folks in those neighborhoods that live along

523
00:44:02,925 --> 00:44:05,885
the route to see it as a viable way to get downtown.

524
00:44:07,365 --> 00:44:11,325
I do wanna take this opportunity since I'm here. Um, on a separate

525
00:44:11,455 --> 00:44:15,285
topic, I would like to encourage via to look for ways to engage the untapped

526
00:44:15,725 --> 00:44:19,485
households that live along via routes. I know that via recently mailed out

527
00:44:19,845 --> 00:44:23,615
free bus passes for february, since a few folks posted about

528
00:44:23,965 --> 00:44:27,845
that on our neighborhood page. I like this idea. I also think

529
00:44:28,045 --> 00:44:31,115
there would be value in working with neighborhood association

530
00:44:32,605 --> 00:44:36,125
associations and other groups on bus field trips where a coordinated

531
00:44:36,685 --> 00:44:40,645
trip could be planned with a via steward. A fun trip to phil harburg or

532
00:44:40,805 --> 00:44:44,125
park or roosevelt park kind of helps get people over that intimidation

533
00:44:44,985 --> 00:44:48,905
factor. And once they've done it once, believe you me,

534
00:44:49,125 --> 00:44:53,125
they'll do it again. My sister now thinks she's this great transit writer because

535
00:44:54,125 --> 00:44:57,765
I taught her how to do that while she was here. Lastly, I do wanna

536
00:44:58,325 --> 00:45:01,825
register a complaint about the fact that there is no ability to load money online

537
00:45:02,395 --> 00:45:06,365
onto the go-karts. It practically defeats the purpose and is pretty

538
00:45:06,525 --> 00:45:10,405
disappointing in the day of an age of advanced technology. I hope that's

539
00:45:10,725 --> 00:45:14,705
something that's a priority. Um, as to the free bus, uh,

540
00:45:14,925 --> 00:45:18,245
thing, I respect the via drivers. They get me to where I need to go.

541
00:45:18,965 --> 00:45:22,895
I would hope that a limited pilot program would be something that could be considered. Thank

542
00:45:23,245 --> 00:45:26,525
you. Thank you.

543
00:45:29,135 --> 00:45:31,725
thank you. Our next speaker is elizabeth cheney.

544
00:45:50,895 --> 00:45:54,645
hello. Thank you so much for letting, um, us speak. My name's

545
00:45:54,925 --> 00:45:58,885
elizabeth cheney. Um, I'm a member of the alamo council of the

546
00:45:58,965 --> 00:46:02,365
blind, um, the blended veterans association,

547
00:46:03,115 --> 00:46:06,995
auxiliary and a few other, um, groups that

548
00:46:07,315 --> 00:46:11,145
have lost, got lost in my mind at this moment. , um,

549
00:46:11,765 --> 00:46:15,685
I just wanted to speak, uh, about drop off and

550
00:46:15,805 --> 00:46:19,605
pickup spots. Um, we go once to twice a month

551
00:46:19,945 --> 00:46:23,405
to the san fernando, uh, catholic church downtown.

552
00:46:24,425 --> 00:46:28,365
and it seems like we get dropped off at a

553
00:46:28,485 --> 00:46:32,165
spot and we're used to being dropped off and we go back to the same spot to get picked up.

554
00:46:32,625 --> 00:46:36,525
but it's not the same spot that our driver will end

555
00:46:36,725 --> 00:46:40,665
up being around the corner or further up. And

556
00:46:41,185 --> 00:46:44,705
my husband and I are both visually impaired. We, uh, met at,

557
00:46:45,205 --> 00:46:49,135
actually at austin, um, at the blind school, chris

558
00:46:49,515 --> 00:46:52,575
cole. So we're very familiar with capital metro.

559
00:46:53,945 --> 00:46:57,245
and uh, and I don't want it to sound like that we're,

560
00:46:58,305 --> 00:47:02,245
uh, this, we just need it to be consistent

561
00:47:02,725 --> 00:47:06,455
because when we go back to the spot, we were dropped off. That's where we're

562
00:47:06,995 --> 00:47:10,125
expecting our ride to show up. And then they mark us.

563
00:47:11,265 --> 00:47:15,085
no show, but we're where we're supposed to do. And a lot of times there's police

564
00:47:15,285 --> 00:47:19,125
officers outside and they're remember us from getting dropped off and they'll make sure we're

565
00:47:19,405 --> 00:47:23,405
in the right spot and they have to look out and they'll tell us, oh, it's around

566
00:47:23,565 --> 00:47:27,385
the corner and they have to go get it for us. And, uh, uh,

567
00:47:27,755 --> 00:47:31,665
same thing when we go to the, the majestic theater. Um, and

568
00:47:31,885 --> 00:47:35,325
other, and I understand it, um, there might be traffic

569
00:47:36,065 --> 00:47:39,765
or other things going on where they, but it would

570
00:47:40,085 --> 00:47:44,015
really help, especially in major places like the tobin,

571
00:47:44,365 --> 00:47:48,065
they, um, majestic theater, the,

572
00:47:48,705 --> 00:47:52,275
um, catholic church that we could have one consistent spot

573
00:47:52,825 --> 00:47:56,685
to go to. And I wanna say how much I appreciate all of you,

574
00:47:56,865 --> 00:48:00,765
and especially the drivers because of y'all. I can consistently

575
00:48:01,345 --> 00:48:05,285
be at work early or on time. I have never been

576
00:48:05,725 --> 00:48:09,725
late to work. My boss really appreciates it. I

577
00:48:09,845 --> 00:48:13,765
appreciate 'cause I have a paycheck and it really comes in

578
00:48:13,965 --> 00:48:17,565
handy when bills come every month, . So I,

579
00:48:18,155 --> 00:48:21,965
because of y'all, you've given me my mobility back, my able to,

580
00:48:23,705 --> 00:48:27,555
um, be able to get a paycheck,

581
00:48:28,535 --> 00:48:32,335
um, to have my self-worth and having my

582
00:48:32,675 --> 00:48:35,955
children proud of me because, um, I'm working.

583
00:48:37,275 --> 00:48:41,055
I am, um, able to call in, make my rides and

584
00:48:41,375 --> 00:48:45,195
I'm very independent at best to my abilities. I appreciate

585
00:48:45,855 --> 00:48:49,065
all of y'all and I know how hard these bus drivers work,

586
00:48:49,975 --> 00:48:53,495
how hard these drivers, uh, make sure that I safely get

587
00:48:54,135 --> 00:48:58,075
to work safely, get to grocery store, and they make sure I get

588
00:48:58,155 --> 00:49:01,335
safely, get to the doctor's office and I, um,

589
00:49:02,445 --> 00:49:05,635
wanna know how heartfelt I feel about them. Thank you.

590
00:49:10,045 --> 00:49:12,785
thank you. Our next speaker is gregory williams.

591
00:49:15,015 --> 00:49:15,015
yay.

592
00:49:29,735 --> 00:49:33,715
uh, good afternoon. Um, board trustees, uh, ceo herrera, and everybody here.

593
00:49:33,955 --> 00:49:37,875
thank you very much for coming. My name is gregory williams. I've been here at via for three years,

594
00:49:38,165 --> 00:49:41,635
since february of 2023. It's a great place and a great opportunity

595
00:49:42,295 --> 00:49:46,075
for me to be here at via. I enjoy it so very much. But I,

596
00:49:46,355 --> 00:49:49,875
I have to put my, um, put my say in for the no fair free transit,

597
00:49:50,495 --> 00:49:53,535
uh, the nofa transit, um, proposal. Um,

598
00:49:55,145 --> 00:49:59,025
it, it will open the door for, um, many issues. I echo with, uh,

599
00:49:59,245 --> 00:50:02,945
what robert garza, our a tu union president says, uh,

600
00:50:03,265 --> 00:50:07,075
it will open up the door for us. Many, many more issues. I've already like

601
00:50:07,545 --> 00:50:11,385
the way it via is now. I do feel safe and I enjoy my, uh,

602
00:50:11,605 --> 00:50:15,365
job. I enjoy taking all the passengers everywhere, uh, across the city. I'm an extra board.

603
00:50:16,145 --> 00:50:20,115
um, but there are many times where I've been, uh, assaulted verbally. I've

604
00:50:20,405 --> 00:50:24,405
been, um, almost physically assaulted on the bus. The doors have been broken.

605
00:50:24,755 --> 00:50:28,745
I've had rocks thrown at the window. And opening this door for anybody to

606
00:50:28,965 --> 00:50:32,845
ride this bus, um, does propose, uh, a

607
00:50:33,485 --> 00:50:37,105
dangerous risk for everybody on the bus, including the operators. Uh,

608
00:50:37,705 --> 00:50:41,645
the, uh, via pd response is slow. The supervisor

609
00:50:42,485 --> 00:50:46,405
response is slow. I understand. We, we have so many and they can only be

610
00:50:46,625 --> 00:50:50,605
so many places at one time. Um, the, I there's faster

611
00:50:51,165 --> 00:50:55,125
response with sapd. Um, sometimes I'm on the bus waiting for a supervisor

612
00:50:55,705 --> 00:50:59,605
and via pd for 45 minutes. And that's a service delay. People have somewhere

613
00:50:59,925 --> 00:51:03,515
to be, they have to go grocery shopping. They have appointments, they have, uh, some

614
00:51:03,995 --> 00:51:07,925
just somewhere very important to be. And with the reliability of the bus

615
00:51:08,135 --> 00:51:12,045
going down with allowing free rides to the door, the line will be out the door just

616
00:51:12,325 --> 00:51:16,225
to get on the bus. And if someone just unhappy that they can't get on a certain bus, who

617
00:51:16,445 --> 00:51:20,285
knows what they're gonna do to that bus? It's gonna delay it. And the, so there's questionable

618
00:51:20,605 --> 00:51:24,525
people, undesirable people that linger around that are transit centers. I'm not saying

619
00:51:24,645 --> 00:51:28,485
that they're not allowed to ride. Everybody should be able to ride the bus. But the

620
00:51:28,685 --> 00:51:32,365
people that that make the bus unsafe are the people that should

621
00:51:32,745 --> 00:51:36,325
not, uh, the people riding the bus should feel protected from

622
00:51:37,185 --> 00:51:40,705
the buses can become unsanitary already as it is. And there's the,

623
00:51:41,555 --> 00:51:44,975
just the people alone around central plaza, they're just unsanitary

624
00:51:45,745 --> 00:51:49,565
and exposing paying passengers for their security is going to risk

625
00:51:49,835 --> 00:51:53,785
disease in contact with, uh, bacteria. And,

626
00:51:54,225 --> 00:51:57,755
and it, that's one thing that via strives to have is clean safe

627
00:51:58,295 --> 00:52:02,225
opera buses on time efficient. And I'm glad to be a part of that. And

628
00:52:02,485 --> 00:52:06,475
I wanted to continue. I say no to fair trans, uh, no free fair,

629
00:52:07,465 --> 00:52:11,445
or no fair transit. I oppose that. I, I believe that

630
00:52:11,645 --> 00:52:15,285
fair is security for passengers across the city. Thank you so much. That's my time.

631
00:52:20,855 --> 00:52:21,205
thank you.

632
00:52:25,505 --> 00:52:29,045
our next speaker, eloy saara. I believe you yielded

633
00:52:29,525 --> 00:52:32,165
your time, so he does need to speak.

634
00:52:34,665 --> 00:52:36,275
all right, we'll move on to chris morales.

635
00:52:54,745 --> 00:52:58,635
good evening via board. Madam chair, my name

636
00:52:58,795 --> 00:53:02,615
is chris morale. I'm the president of communication workers of america in

637
00:53:02,855 --> 00:53:06,395
san antonio. I'm here to express my opposition to the proposed

638
00:53:07,265 --> 00:53:11,235
expansion of vias telecom sales tax for san antonio residents.

639
00:53:12,115 --> 00:53:15,835
I understand vias needs to secure reliable funding to improve

640
00:53:16,155 --> 00:53:19,675
public transit. And I support the goal of better service for our community.

641
00:53:20,385 --> 00:53:24,175
however, taxing telecom services places an unfair

642
00:53:24,595 --> 00:53:28,005
burden on something that has become essential for everyday life.

643
00:53:28,975 --> 00:53:32,935
phone and internet access are critical for work, for school, healthcare,

644
00:53:33,705 --> 00:53:37,235
and staying connected. For emer emergencies, many

645
00:53:37,805 --> 00:53:41,745
residents are still facing economic pressure from the rising cost of living. And

646
00:53:41,965 --> 00:53:45,805
adding additional taxation would negatively impact on the very communities

647
00:53:47,075 --> 00:53:51,045
that public transit is meant to support. I want to reiterate

648
00:53:51,425 --> 00:53:55,245
my respect for v's. Mission and the important role public transit

649
00:53:55,735 --> 00:53:59,445
plays in the success of our city. My comments today offered

650
00:53:59,945 --> 00:54:03,745
in the spirit of partnership and what the shared goal of ensuring san

651
00:54:03,965 --> 00:54:07,765
antonio continues to move forward in a way that is fair and sustainable

652
00:54:08,465 --> 00:54:12,325
for all residents. I respect, respectfully ask the va

653
00:54:12,525 --> 00:54:16,485
board to reconsider this proposal and to continue working toward funding

654
00:54:16,955 --> 00:54:20,565
solutions that are fair and mindful of the financial realities

655
00:54:21,165 --> 00:54:25,125
of many san antonio's residents are facing. Thank you for your time

656
00:54:25,325 --> 00:54:28,205
and consideration. Thank you

657
00:54:30,835 --> 00:54:34,515
will. Bridges. Yeah.

658
00:54:46,835 --> 00:54:50,825
good evening. My name is will bridges. I'm a driver here of

659
00:54:51,445 --> 00:54:55,445
operator here at via for 12 years. Um, excuse me if I'm not following

660
00:54:55,915 --> 00:54:59,685
decorum. 'cause I thought the mayor was here, gonna be here since she wanted

661
00:55:00,085 --> 00:55:03,905
this meeting and everything. Uh, ms. Herrera and board members and

662
00:55:04,365 --> 00:55:08,325
trustees, I'm speaking today as someone behind the wheel every day. I want to be

663
00:55:08,445 --> 00:55:12,235
clear, free fair is what make buses harder to operate less safe

664
00:55:12,665 --> 00:55:16,635
and less reliable for the riders who depend on our service. When

665
00:55:17,045 --> 00:55:20,445
passengers pay even a small amount, it creates

666
00:55:21,125 --> 00:55:25,085
structure and respect. It sets expectation expectations and keeps

667
00:55:25,605 --> 00:55:29,465
boarding orderly. Without that, buses quickly become a space for

668
00:55:29,685 --> 00:55:33,325
loitering, repeated riding with no where to go,

669
00:55:34,425 --> 00:55:38,075
and a place for unruly behavior. Re removing fares also

670
00:55:38,605 --> 00:55:41,565
increases safety problems. Operators deal with more confrontations,

671
00:55:42,675 --> 00:55:46,605
more unpredictable riders, and more delays. Affairs isn't just

672
00:55:46,765 --> 00:55:50,045
revenue, it's one of the only twos we have that keep

673
00:55:50,905 --> 00:55:54,485
and maintain safe, respectful, behavioral on board.

674
00:55:55,785 --> 00:55:59,235
and from an operational standpoint, free fare slows service down,

675
00:56:00,205 --> 00:56:04,065
increases crowding and strains equipment and staff. As

676
00:56:04,285 --> 00:56:07,385
they said before, I've had people defecate and

677
00:56:08,455 --> 00:56:12,245
other things on my bus who weren't in their right mind or whatever.

678
00:56:12,865 --> 00:56:16,815
and bus change, you know, all of that, that delay

679
00:56:17,165 --> 00:56:21,045
service. Um, if the goal is helping low income

680
00:56:21,425 --> 00:56:25,045
riders, target discounts can do that without, uh, messing

681
00:56:25,585 --> 00:56:29,585
up the entire system. San antonio has one

682
00:56:29,805 --> 00:56:33,125
of the lowest rates in the country.

683
00:56:33,955 --> 00:56:37,895
I've been all over the world, all over the country via fares

684
00:56:38,245 --> 00:56:42,045
are really low. As a driver, I want a system that's

685
00:56:42,405 --> 00:56:46,045
safe, reliable, and workable for riders and operators. Free fair is undermine

686
00:56:46,585 --> 00:56:50,375
all of that. Mr. Herrera and board members. Please show the mayor, mayor

687
00:56:51,355 --> 00:56:55,255
that the employees that you are responsible for in matter and say no to free fares.

688
00:56:55,975 --> 00:56:59,785
thank you on that. And I don't know if I can say this, but for the

689
00:57:00,125 --> 00:57:04,085
mayor, you know, as an operator, I enjoy my job. I strongly disagree

690
00:57:04,325 --> 00:57:08,045
with making faires free. Free sounds nice and all, but in the end, someone

691
00:57:08,625 --> 00:57:12,045
has to pay for it. Making buses free doesn't make transportation

692
00:57:12,715 --> 00:57:16,125
free. It only shifts the entire cost onto taxpayers and local businesses.

693
00:57:17,625 --> 00:57:21,415
and if you really wanna help out people, don't

694
00:57:21,765 --> 00:57:25,115
raise the cps. Don't raise saws,

695
00:57:25,825 --> 00:57:29,515
you know, eliminate fares at the airport, you know, city

696
00:57:30,155 --> 00:57:33,325
municipal building, uh, parking lots and stuff like that

697
00:57:34,665 --> 00:57:38,485
on the bus. It's just gonna make more issues for us as drivers.

698
00:57:40,105 --> 00:57:44,105
and that's pretty much it. And thank you all and

699
00:57:44,465 --> 00:57:45,695
no to free thank

700
00:57:51,545 --> 00:57:51,545
george perez.

701
00:57:56,025 --> 00:57:59,285
george betis not here.

702
00:58:00,385 --> 00:58:02,045
all right. Jack finger.

703
00:58:34,825 --> 00:58:38,335
oh, good afternoon, ma'am. Madam chair, another members of our board.

704
00:58:39,785 --> 00:58:43,485
uh, my name is jack m. Finger and route number

705
00:58:43,865 --> 00:58:47,845
two. Well, you say you're, you're going to probably leave it as it is, but that hasn't

706
00:58:48,265 --> 00:58:51,985
ha that has not happened yet. And so I'm not celebrating just yet.

707
00:58:52,275 --> 00:58:55,705
okay. Um, you,

708
00:58:59,265 --> 00:59:02,945
my comment is that you need to fire, fire the

709
00:59:03,275 --> 00:59:06,355
jerk or jerks that are responsible for this debacle.

710
00:59:07,705 --> 00:59:10,455
yeah, . I don't, I notice that, uh,

711
00:59:12,875 --> 00:59:16,335
, I notice that none of you were at

712
00:59:17,095 --> 00:59:21,065
one of those hearings that this came up all 24. No,

713
00:59:21,285 --> 00:59:24,085
the 25 of you were there. J just of two or three staffers.

714
00:59:28,475 --> 00:59:32,085
look where and look where the notice

715
00:59:32,545 --> 00:59:36,425
is on this change. Buried, buried deep inside

716
00:59:36,845 --> 00:59:40,785
this pamphlet. Two thirds, half, two thirds deep in

717
00:59:41,005 --> 00:59:44,785
there. What is via trying to

718
00:59:45,035 --> 00:59:48,835
hide? I don't like my tax dollars.

719
00:59:49,165 --> 00:59:50,905
going to such, yes, deception.

720
00:59:58,245 --> 01:00:01,995
round number two is upon a major thoroughfare blanco road.

721
01:00:02,425 --> 01:00:05,105
it's been around for decades. I repeat decades

722
01:00:09,645 --> 01:00:12,065
yet you bury this bad proposal.

723
01:00:14,065 --> 01:00:18,035
what does it say to be replaced? Replaced

724
01:00:18,215 --> 01:00:21,625
by routes 6 49 and 5 0 6. When

725
01:00:22,235 --> 01:00:26,015
I an average writer, see that I start to

726
01:00:26,245 --> 01:00:29,105
panic. I don't read any further. 5 0 600

727
01:00:30,615 --> 01:00:34,315
and 500 routes are beyond loop four 10. I don't see

728
01:00:34,715 --> 01:00:38,135
anything indicating where it's below that. So

729
01:00:39,815 --> 01:00:43,705
and so now, maybe my panic would've been assuaged if I'd seen some maps

730
01:00:44,335 --> 01:00:48,035
in this thing. Where are the maps? And I was told,

731
01:00:48,505 --> 01:00:52,155
well, we wanted to save a little bit of money and not, not put 'em in there.

732
01:00:53,575 --> 01:00:57,265
huh? Excuse me. What

733
01:00:57,625 --> 01:01:01,515
stupidity? You've had 'em before. So you're saving money this time,

734
01:01:01,775 --> 01:01:02,735
huh? We,

735
01:01:06,175 --> 01:01:09,835
the, you would be able to, sir, you still be able to

736
01:01:10,195 --> 01:01:13,705
transfer at five points and ride downtown? Excuse me. This

737
01:01:14,285 --> 01:01:17,875
route number two is a major route. I shouldn't have to transfer anywhere.

738
01:01:20,215 --> 01:01:23,075
please don't let this go forward.

739
01:01:25,575 --> 01:01:28,975
and on another subject regarding free rides, uh,

740
01:01:29,695 --> 01:01:33,695
did, does it ever occur to you? What happens when you give away something free? People

741
01:01:34,115 --> 01:01:37,855
will start disrespecting it. They start trashing it and filthy, filthy. That's

742
01:01:38,275 --> 01:01:41,715
what happens when will happen on our buses. Thank you.

743
01:01:55,925 --> 01:01:59,755
there are no other citizens to be heard. Very good. Thank

744
01:01:59,955 --> 01:02:03,875
you very much. Appreciate everyone's comments. Uh, next we're gonna go

745
01:02:04,035 --> 01:02:08,035
ahead and go out of order and address item six first, um, which is presentation, discussion,

746
01:02:08,515 --> 01:02:11,715
and board direction on request received from the february 11th, 2026

747
01:02:13,555 --> 01:02:17,165
b session at subsequent subsequent communications from mayor jones

748
01:02:18,145 --> 01:02:22,085
related to via operations and services. Mrta, would you like to

749
01:02:22,165 --> 01:02:25,965
begin the discussion please? Thank you, madam chair. And as we pull together

750
01:02:26,625 --> 01:02:29,785
the agenda, I, I should say the presentation, um,

751
01:02:32,135 --> 01:02:35,705
we're gonna, we're gonna bring up a slide here that we're gonna, we're gonna walk us through the, um,

752
01:02:36,595 --> 01:02:37,285
through the agenda.

753
01:02:42,705 --> 01:02:46,325
so before we walk through the analysis, I wanted to briefly frame how we're

754
01:02:46,725 --> 01:02:50,685
approaching the fair, free question and why the agenda is structured in such a way.

755
01:02:51,555 --> 01:02:55,485
this is not a single policy conversation. Fair free touches every dimension

756
01:02:56,085 --> 01:02:59,965
of this organization. It touches our strategy, our customers,

757
01:03:00,425 --> 01:03:04,195
our workforce. We're hearing that tonight, our operations, financial

758
01:03:04,855 --> 01:03:07,885
legal frameworks and our long-term commitments to the community.

759
01:03:09,225 --> 01:03:12,965
that's why today discussion is organized around the core

760
01:03:13,605 --> 01:03:16,805
responsibilities of not only management, but of our board

761
01:03:17,785 --> 01:03:20,985
and the opening and the operating realities of, of via.

762
01:03:22,095 --> 01:03:26,045
we'll begin with the strategic alignment because every major policy choice should be

763
01:03:26,365 --> 01:03:30,325
measured against how the strategy of this board has, that this board has already

764
01:03:30,525 --> 01:03:34,145
adopted ie that keeps antonio moving plan, uh,

765
01:03:35,065 --> 01:03:38,945
is our guiding framework for building a system that people choose to

766
01:03:39,185 --> 01:03:43,065
use and for delivering on commitments made to voters. The

767
01:03:43,285 --> 01:03:47,035
first question is whether fair free advances or distracts from that north star,

768
01:03:47,355 --> 01:03:51,125
that strategic alignment? Next we'll ground the conversation, the ground,

769
01:03:51,525 --> 01:03:55,365
the conversation and customer priorities. We're not speculating about what

770
01:03:55,565 --> 01:03:59,405
rider want. We are bringing forward what they have told us through thousands of surveys and community

771
01:03:59,845 --> 01:04:03,605
engagements. This section also intended to anchor our discussion in rider

772
01:04:03,955 --> 01:04:07,675
reality, not assumptions. We then will address safety workforce

773
01:04:08,385 --> 01:04:12,385
and operational issues and impacts. This is about the people who

774
01:04:12,665 --> 01:04:16,615
run the system and the environment in which service is delivered every

775
01:04:17,025 --> 01:04:20,925
day. Safety for our employees and our customers. Service reliability and our

776
01:04:21,085 --> 01:04:24,405
ability to attract and, and retain operators are not secondary

777
01:04:25,325 --> 01:04:28,775
considerations. They are foundational whether this system works.

778
01:04:30,355 --> 01:04:34,125
from there, we'll move into the financial, legal and federal considerations. This section reflects

779
01:04:34,685 --> 01:04:38,525
the board's fiduciary responsibility. We walk you through the financial

780
01:04:39,035 --> 01:04:42,885
realities, our financing instruments, our revenue bonds, federal funding posture,

781
01:04:43,705 --> 01:04:47,565
and the long range financial plan. These are, these are constraints within

782
01:04:48,145 --> 01:04:51,945
any policy change must operate. We will also review

783
01:04:52,365 --> 01:04:56,185
our existing fair program because the affordability is not new to via,

784
01:04:57,235 --> 01:05:01,135
we have been delivering and supporting affordable programs for decades. And we

785
01:05:01,295 --> 01:05:05,275
will show how targeted responsible partnerships already remove barriers for

786
01:05:05,495 --> 01:05:09,455
those who need support the most without destabilizing the system.

787
01:05:10,875 --> 01:05:14,685
and finally, we will close with a summary and staff recommendation and of course, seek

788
01:05:14,985 --> 01:05:18,855
board direction, um, on that. Our intent today

789
01:05:19,825 --> 01:05:23,685
as management is to provide you a comprehensive fact-based framework so the board can

790
01:05:24,125 --> 01:05:27,995
exercise its governance role with clarity and confidence. With

791
01:05:28,285 --> 01:05:32,245
that framing, I will turn it over to the team to begin with that and we'll kick it off

792
01:05:32,365 --> 01:05:36,225
with strategic alignment. Thank you joe. Gary, uh,

793
01:05:36,745 --> 01:05:40,685
rod sanchez, senior vice president of planning development. Uh, I've been

794
01:05:40,765 --> 01:05:44,325
with via for, for two years. And, and I wanted to share with the, the group

795
01:05:45,245 --> 01:05:48,705
I came to via two years ago because of all the exciting, transformative

796
01:05:49,605 --> 01:05:52,965
things that we were doing here. It was building the green line.

797
01:05:53,905 --> 01:05:57,805
it was, you know, adding to our via link service. Uh, and it was the,

798
01:05:57,965 --> 01:06:01,805
the better best plan that attracted me to via I went the city. I was happy 30, 30

799
01:06:02,165 --> 01:06:06,125
years there. Uh, but this stuff was really the stuff that I wanted

800
01:06:06,325 --> 01:06:10,285
to do. 'cause this is the stuff that transformed the city. This is what makes a city, uh, a great

801
01:06:10,525 --> 01:06:14,485
city to live, work, and play in the city that I want my kids to grow up in. So that's why I

802
01:06:14,605 --> 01:06:18,155
came here. Uh, as john gary said, you know, our, our mission here, our north star

803
01:06:18,785 --> 01:06:22,645
is to build a system, uh, that our writers, uh, want to ride.

804
01:06:22,955 --> 01:06:26,945
that our writers choose to ride. And you don't do that, uh,

805
01:06:27,165 --> 01:06:30,965
by going to a conference room, putting up a map and drawing a bunch of lines. It doesn't work that

806
01:06:31,325 --> 01:06:34,875
way. It's not that easy. Uh, you build a system that people wanna ride

807
01:06:35,585 --> 01:06:39,525
by engaging them in meaningful conversation by having that conversation about

808
01:06:39,865 --> 01:06:43,765
our services and what they want to see in our services, where they

809
01:06:43,885 --> 01:06:47,885
want our services to go about frequency, about expanding our service. You know,

810
01:06:47,965 --> 01:06:51,965
what is it they want? That's how you, you get to the system, uh, that

811
01:06:52,205 --> 01:06:55,425
that works for everybody. You know, we've done this at via

812
01:06:56,235 --> 01:06:59,765
over a decade and, and it's funny. The same things

813
01:07:00,395 --> 01:07:04,005
come up over and over again. You know, that our customers tell us that they want from us.

814
01:07:04,515 --> 01:07:07,635
it's improved frequency, it's reduced travel time,

815
01:07:08,545 --> 01:07:12,525
and, and they wanna feel safe aboard our buses. You know, they wanna know that they're

816
01:07:12,845 --> 01:07:16,805
safe at the bus stop. They wanna know that they're safe, you know, on the bus. I mean, it's funny, I

817
01:07:16,925 --> 01:07:20,725
was having a conversation today, uh, with somebody that said, you know what? My daughter attends utsa.

818
01:07:21,645 --> 01:07:25,395
I want to, I want, I wanna know that she's safe when she's on your bus. Those are the things over

819
01:07:25,685 --> 01:07:29,645
the last decade that our customers have told us. And when you look at what we're doing,

820
01:07:30,065 --> 01:07:34,045
you know, improve frequency. We have to keep san antonio moving plan. We have the better bus plan.

821
01:07:34,325 --> 01:07:37,985
we have v link. All things are designed to improve frequency, reduce

822
01:07:38,405 --> 01:07:42,005
travel time, it's all those things. Plus we're looking at improving our technology

823
01:07:43,385 --> 01:07:47,215
to, to improve that travel time and keep people safe. It's funny, today

824
01:07:47,585 --> 01:07:51,525
we just introduced our new chief, you know, and he's, you know, uh, in charge

825
01:07:51,665 --> 01:07:54,765
of a department that's growing, you know, to face those, those issues.

826
01:07:57,845 --> 01:08:01,845
and here are the plans that, that, uh, are kind of our founding blocks, if

827
01:08:02,065 --> 01:08:05,805
you will. And we start out with, with, uh, with the mpo plans, uh,

828
01:08:06,505 --> 01:08:10,465
mobility 2040, mobility 2045, and the city's sa tomorrow.

829
01:08:10,875 --> 01:08:14,865
these are all building blocks that we build our plans upon. And all these, you know,

830
01:08:15,005 --> 01:08:18,805
know plans have, you know, one thing in common, they weren't built in a conference room.

831
01:08:19,475 --> 01:08:23,245
they were built having those meaningful, engaging conversations with the community.

832
01:08:24,305 --> 01:08:27,865
and then with via, we started out with our vision 2040 plan, our via

833
01:08:28,405 --> 01:08:32,225
reimagine and then our keep san antonio moving plan. The vision and,

834
01:08:32,445 --> 01:08:36,325
and the reimagine plan. Those are, those are good visionary plans, but the keep san antonio movie

835
01:08:36,675 --> 01:08:40,235
plan, that's where the rubber meets the road. Those are our, that's a, a funded plan,

836
01:08:40,825 --> 01:08:43,755
uh, where we're starting to execute some of these things that our customers want.

837
01:08:45,425 --> 01:08:49,365
and what have we learned from all these plans? What have our customers told us they want

838
01:08:49,525 --> 01:08:53,485
faster travel time, they want shorter weights. You know, these are things

839
01:08:53,665 --> 01:08:57,325
in the better bus plan. They want late night service. They want expanded service.

840
01:08:57,795 --> 01:09:01,725
once again, those are all things that we put in the better, better bus plan when we've heard from

841
01:09:01,885 --> 01:09:05,755
them. They want new express routes and they want direct services. Once

842
01:09:06,045 --> 01:09:09,965
again, better bus plan sa tomorrow. Uh, these are all

843
01:09:10,285 --> 01:09:14,085
things in those plans, uh, 'cause that's what we've heard from our customers. So with that,

844
01:09:14,305 --> 01:09:18,285
I'm gonna turn it over to our resident expert on, uh, ks a to kinda walk you through

845
01:09:18,445 --> 01:09:20,245
a few slides. Mm-hmm .

846
01:09:25,695 --> 01:09:29,645
thank you. My name is manger koker. I'm a major

847
01:09:29,925 --> 01:09:33,905
capital program officer. I have been, uh, working on

848
01:09:34,295 --> 01:09:37,905
these plans for many years or keep san antonio moving

849
01:09:38,475 --> 01:09:42,455
plan, as ron mentioned, is culmination of lot of community input

850
01:09:42,805 --> 01:09:45,925
that we received through mid-range long range plan via vision,

851
01:09:46,945 --> 01:09:50,585
uh, 2040. And we are reimagined. It is also implementation

852
01:09:51,595 --> 01:09:55,425
plan, which is based on a td two sales tax

853
01:09:56,105 --> 01:09:59,855
and leveraging that 82 a t two sales

854
01:10:00,345 --> 01:10:04,235
tax for our federal funds. So that is the plan. Um, that

855
01:10:04,595 --> 01:10:08,225
plan has three major, um, transformative

856
01:10:09,545 --> 01:10:13,525
pro. Uh, the

857
01:10:13,745 --> 01:10:17,725
guiding, uh, four principles, uh, form the basis of

858
01:10:17,945 --> 01:10:21,825
these transformative projects. More frequency direct service,

859
01:10:22,635 --> 01:10:25,745
which results in faster trips, shorter wait times,

860
01:10:26,935 --> 01:10:30,885
more simple and convenient mobility options that result in

861
01:10:31,505 --> 01:10:35,215
improved service coverage and connections. And this overall results

862
01:10:35,765 --> 01:10:39,035
in increased frequency ridership and customer experience.

863
01:10:40,245 --> 01:10:44,245
the plan is designed to improve the existing transit system, expand

864
01:10:45,025 --> 01:10:48,145
mobility options, and invest in our capital and technology.

865
01:10:49,885 --> 01:10:53,665
uh, there are three projects which we are going to shortly go over.

866
01:10:54,165 --> 01:10:57,985
I'm going to do advanced rapid transit or via rapid rod is going to

867
01:10:58,185 --> 01:11:01,665
take over better bus plan and via link via rapid

868
01:11:02,585 --> 01:11:06,015
delivers, faster travel times, broader access, stronger community

869
01:11:06,765 --> 01:11:10,145
and economic connections that will transfer our urban mobility.

870
01:11:11,285 --> 01:11:14,875
the these lines will provide reliable, high frequency,

871
01:11:15,665 --> 01:11:19,465
faster service seven days a week with help of

872
01:11:19,835 --> 01:11:22,795
dedicated bus lanes and priority transit signals

873
01:11:24,025 --> 01:11:27,525
via green line, which on this map is north. South direction.

874
01:11:28,405 --> 01:11:32,005
connects the airport from the north through downtown

875
01:11:32,545 --> 01:11:35,865
to the brooks on the south, uh, with 10.3

876
01:11:36,605 --> 01:11:40,405
miles of infrastructure improvements. The construction on this

877
01:11:40,685 --> 01:11:44,445
project is underway and has al this project has already

878
01:11:45,325 --> 01:11:48,605
received federal funds via silver line, which connects

879
01:11:49,505 --> 01:11:52,895
san antonio's east and west communities. Also intersects

880
01:11:53,565 --> 01:11:57,055
this north side line and together it forms a basis

881
01:11:58,065 --> 01:12:01,705
of our network. Vi is also applying for,

882
01:12:02,105 --> 01:12:05,735
uh, a cig capital improvement small starts grant

883
01:12:06,225 --> 01:12:09,695
for the silver line. And I will get into financials a little later.

884
01:12:14,405 --> 01:12:18,335
alright, so I'm gonna geek out for

885
01:12:18,535 --> 01:12:22,355
you just a little bit. Uh, I'm, I'm a planner and, and, uh, you

886
01:12:22,575 --> 01:12:26,495
know, the father of planning is daniel burnham. And, and one of his famous quotes is,

887
01:12:27,285 --> 01:12:31,135
make no little plans. They have no magic to stir

888
01:12:31,545 --> 01:12:35,455
men's blood. So that's not what we do. We make big plans and, and I think

889
01:12:35,575 --> 01:12:39,215
the biggest plan that we have is a better bus plan. Uh, this is a plan

890
01:12:39,955 --> 01:12:43,555
and it's one of the most exciting plans that we do. This is, this is where it's where it's all at.

891
01:12:44,395 --> 01:12:48,355
uh, this is a plan that we built with our customers for

892
01:12:48,635 --> 01:12:52,445
our customers. And what do our customers tell us? They want more frequency. They

893
01:12:52,735 --> 01:12:56,455
want us to expand our service and they want more direct routes. They want to go where

894
01:12:56,775 --> 01:13:00,475
they need to go. And when we're all said and done, uh,

895
01:13:01,115 --> 01:13:05,005
we implement this plan. We'll have the green line, we'll have the silver line.

896
01:13:05,875 --> 01:13:09,575
uh, every single one of our routes will have a frequency better than 30 minutes.

897
01:13:10,835 --> 01:13:14,715
and we're gonna go, we're gonna direct those routes to where people want to go. Uh,

898
01:13:15,165 --> 01:13:18,995
when we presented this plan to you last year. Uh, you

899
01:13:19,215 --> 01:13:23,095
guys are really excited about it. You said, great job. We're happy with what

900
01:13:23,255 --> 01:13:27,255
you're presenting. Uh, but this was designed to be a six year implementation plan, and that's when you

901
01:13:27,375 --> 01:13:31,375
guys frowned and said, no, it's not good enough. Uh, we, we want you to put this great

902
01:13:31,615 --> 01:13:35,375
service on the ground sooner than that. Uh, so that's what we did.

903
01:13:35,795 --> 01:13:39,545
we rolled up our sleeves, uh, worked with our finance department.

904
01:13:40,635 --> 01:13:44,615
uh, we hired a ton of operators, uh, and, and we figured out how, how to

905
01:13:44,735 --> 01:13:48,655
do that. So happy to report that at the end of

906
01:13:48,815 --> 01:13:51,915
25, uh, before a year had passed, 24%

907
01:13:53,235 --> 01:13:56,695
of this better bus plan was implemented. This year, this year alone,

908
01:13:57,285 --> 01:14:01,255
were planning to improve 41%, 41% of the

909
01:14:01,415 --> 01:14:05,355
better bus plan. That includes over 45 routes. So at the end of, at

910
01:14:05,575 --> 01:14:09,285
the end of may, actually 65% of the better bus plan

911
01:14:09,885 --> 01:14:13,765
will be implemented. And on the streets, you know, it,

912
01:14:13,995 --> 01:14:17,925
it's gonna take us till 2031 to implement the whole thing. That's because

913
01:14:18,505 --> 01:14:21,955
we gotta get the silver line on board and we gotta tie into the silver line.

914
01:14:22,585 --> 01:14:25,885
but the vast majority of the plan will be, uh, implemented by that time.

915
01:14:26,625 --> 01:14:30,425
but, you know, here, here's the better plan is just a perfect example of

916
01:14:31,225 --> 01:14:35,165
we, we heard our customers, we listened to our customers, and we're delivering to our customers

917
01:14:35,475 --> 01:14:36,205
what they've asked for.

918
01:14:39,905 --> 01:14:43,885
and I wanted to share this, this slide with you. This was, uh, this was kind

919
01:14:44,085 --> 01:14:47,925
of a reimagined ski slope slide, uh, which tells, you know,

920
01:14:48,125 --> 01:14:51,925
we, we asked a simple question to potential riders. We said, at what frequency

921
01:14:52,525 --> 01:14:56,445
would it take for you to take our service? And, and that's what that,

922
01:14:56,915 --> 01:15:00,805
that slope represents, uh, is, is the interest in taking our service.

923
01:15:01,105 --> 01:15:04,485
at the bottom of the slide is, is the, the frequency in minutes.

924
01:15:05,345 --> 01:15:09,225
so you can see at 10 minutes, 84% of

925
01:15:09,445 --> 01:15:13,165
those folks we asked, they said they would be interested in taking our service if we're delivering

926
01:15:13,565 --> 01:15:17,405
a 10 minute frequency. And then it kind of falls a little bit at 20 minutes to 64%,

927
01:15:18,655 --> 01:15:22,085
about 20% at 30 minutes. And then the bottom drops out.

928
01:15:22,715 --> 01:15:26,605
when you're beyond 30 minutes, somewhere between five to 1% of the people

929
01:15:26,725 --> 01:15:30,715
said they're gonna take our service. So that's not good. And what's really not good, what

930
01:15:31,005 --> 01:15:34,685
the red represents in 25, 70% of our service

931
01:15:35,905 --> 01:15:39,845
was in that 20 to 60 or the 30 to 60 minute service. So we weren't doing

932
01:15:39,965 --> 01:15:43,965
very well. But now with the better bus plan, with 65%

933
01:15:44,925 --> 01:15:48,925
of it being on the ground, after may we flip the script, we will flip the script.

934
01:15:49,385 --> 01:15:53,305
in may, 72% of our routes will have service that's

935
01:15:53,725 --> 01:15:57,685
better than 30 minutes. So the team has done a great job doing that.

936
01:15:58,025 --> 01:16:01,955
and, and what's amazing is we're seeing the results already. When

937
01:16:02,245 --> 01:16:06,245
you look at our ridership numbers, people are responding to this service. Our ridership is growing,

938
01:16:06,485 --> 01:16:09,045
especially on those routes. Uh, where we've improved them

939
01:16:12,235 --> 01:16:16,195
also in the better bus plan is, is via link. And in via link

940
01:16:16,555 --> 01:16:20,545
this, I, I call this our coverage service. 'cause this is, the service is

941
01:16:20,765 --> 01:16:24,645
kind of in the perimeter city, uh, where you have cul-de-sacs, you have

942
01:16:24,805 --> 01:16:28,565
kind of verland streets, you have topography. Uh, it doesn't

943
01:16:28,845 --> 01:16:32,625
work to bring a 40, 60 foot bus out to these areas. Uh,

944
01:16:33,425 --> 01:16:37,115
but it makes a lot of sense to do an on dam, on demand service, like via link.

945
01:16:37,745 --> 01:16:41,495
and in the better bus plan, we call for 10 10, uh, via link zones.

946
01:16:42,185 --> 01:16:45,605
uh, we have six of them on the ground today. Those are the ones in purple,

947
01:16:46,385 --> 01:16:50,265
uh, with the southeast, uh, trustee gomez being the latest and

948
01:16:50,645 --> 01:16:54,465
greatest as a couple months old. And we are already seeing great, uh, uh,

949
01:16:54,685 --> 01:16:58,685
numbers and ridership there. Uh, since 2019, we've been

950
01:16:58,765 --> 01:17:02,725
delivering this service. Over 2 million people have used it this last year. We've

951
01:17:03,045 --> 01:17:06,595
seen a 35% growth in that, and about 500, 500,000

952
01:17:07,485 --> 01:17:11,325
people take this service, uh, on, on a yearly basis. So, once again,

953
01:17:12,475 --> 01:17:16,365
talk to our customers. They've told us what we wanted and we've delivered, and they've responded

954
01:17:16,905 --> 01:17:20,525
by, by using our service. So with that,

955
01:17:20,985 --> 01:17:24,655
uh, that concludes man juries in my presentation. We're

956
01:17:25,005 --> 01:17:28,935
available to answer questions if anybody has any questions for us. If not, we'll turn it over to leroy

957
01:17:29,925 --> 01:17:33,395
trustees. Do we have any questions at this moment? None. Okay.

958
01:17:33,975 --> 01:17:37,765
madam chair? I do. Yep. Vice chair gomez. I, I just want to,

959
01:17:38,225 --> 01:17:41,805
for clarity, the 70% flip occurred over

960
01:17:42,245 --> 01:17:46,085
a one year period, one and a half year period. What wa what was that time again?

961
01:17:46,665 --> 01:17:50,055
it was 25. At the end of 25, and it will occur

962
01:17:51,265 --> 01:17:55,085
in may of this year, in may of this year when we put 65% of the better

963
01:17:55,315 --> 01:17:58,765
buss plan in effect. So after the may service change,

964
01:17:59,475 --> 01:18:03,165
literally routes that were over 30 minutes comprised 70%

965
01:18:03,905 --> 01:18:07,765
of our routes. And now literally it'll be the complete opposite. That's

966
01:18:08,125 --> 01:18:11,965
right. Okay. Thank you that that was in response to the direction that you gave

967
01:18:12,165 --> 01:18:14,765
us when we, I, uh, when we present the plan to you. Thank you,

968
01:18:20,335 --> 01:18:23,045
madam chair, members of the board, leroy allway, chief of staff.

969
01:18:24,385 --> 01:18:28,285
as we transition into the next part of the presentation, we also wanted to take

970
01:18:28,485 --> 01:18:32,005
a moment and really reinforce for everyone

971
01:18:32,555 --> 01:18:36,395
that what we're delivering on today was also a promise that

972
01:18:36,685 --> 01:18:40,465
we made to the community. In november of 2020, when the community overwhelmingly

973
01:18:41,565 --> 01:18:45,365
supported reallocating the one eighth cent sales tax to the advanced transportation

974
01:18:46,405 --> 01:18:48,675
district for the keep san antonio moving plan.

975
01:18:50,425 --> 01:18:54,245
as you heard, rod and manger mention what we're developing and

976
01:18:54,445 --> 01:18:58,345
implementing with the keep. San antonio moving plan is the backbone of a reform

977
01:18:59,355 --> 01:19:01,445
revitalized transit system for our community.

978
01:19:03,565 --> 01:19:07,295
success for us looks like a system where people choose

979
01:19:07,695 --> 01:19:11,415
transit 'cause it gets them where they want to go, where they need to go

980
01:19:12,275 --> 01:19:14,935
on time, safely, and with dignity.

981
01:19:17,405 --> 01:19:19,905
the plan that is on the screen before you at this moment

982
01:19:21,685 --> 01:19:25,425
encapsulates that the launch of two via rapid lines, more via

983
01:19:25,715 --> 01:19:29,645
link and the better bus plan. That's how we grow

984
01:19:29,845 --> 01:19:33,825
ridership, how we improve the system, and in line with the mission, vision,

985
01:19:34,305 --> 01:19:37,845
and promise that the board has put in place as the last year,

986
01:19:38,745 --> 01:19:41,765
how we are also the driving force for our community's growth and success.

987
01:19:43,505 --> 01:19:47,205
I'm gonna be joined by terry travino to walk through what our community

988
01:19:48,105 --> 01:19:51,445
and customers continue to tell us about their priorities for our system.

989
01:19:52,465 --> 01:19:56,225
and again, just wanted to reinforce that what we're delivering today, we

990
01:19:56,565 --> 01:20:00,075
told voters we would deliver in november of 2020, even

991
01:20:00,805 --> 01:20:04,565
recognizing that that sales tax did not start coming over to via until january 1st

992
01:20:05,325 --> 01:20:08,845
of this year. So it would've been very easy to wait six years

993
01:20:09,425 --> 01:20:13,025
to start seeing that plan come to fruition. This agency

994
01:20:13,465 --> 01:20:17,365
didn't wait, and as you just heard from rod as well, we are even

995
01:20:17,565 --> 01:20:21,125
accelerating faster. The plans we've put in place to deliver for our community.

996
01:20:24,325 --> 01:20:28,085
thank you madam chair and trustees. Terry

997
01:20:28,785 --> 01:20:31,355
tino, senior vice president of marketing and communications

998
01:20:32,825 --> 01:20:36,055
marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed.

999
01:20:37,535 --> 01:20:41,455
I'm here to provide you data and feedback on

1000
01:20:41,675 --> 01:20:42,955
behalf of our customers and our community.

1001
01:20:45,755 --> 01:20:49,555
customer feedback is at the core of all things we do to deliver service

1002
01:20:50,255 --> 01:20:53,965
and provide value to our community. We have a dedicated staff

1003
01:20:54,615 --> 01:20:58,385
of subject matter experts in the field of customer feedback and surveys

1004
01:20:59,335 --> 01:21:02,715
who work on collecting, synthesizing, and delivering

1005
01:21:03,515 --> 01:21:07,455
insights on the pulse of the region, including customers, future

1006
01:21:08,315 --> 01:21:12,075
customers, and members of the larger community. Our main,

1007
01:21:12,545 --> 01:21:16,035
main surveys focus on customer satisfaction, which measures

1008
01:21:16,825 --> 01:21:19,805
what existing customers think, feel, and experience.

1009
01:21:21,255 --> 01:21:25,195
we also measure net promoter score. It is the gold standard

1010
01:21:25,615 --> 01:21:28,305
of future growth and focuses on brand loyalty,

1011
01:21:29,815 --> 01:21:33,345
gauges, customer experience, and we administer community

1012
01:21:34,005 --> 01:21:37,725
value surveys and market surveys, which identify value

1013
01:21:38,075 --> 01:21:41,035
drivers conduct gap analysis,

1014
01:21:42,565 --> 01:21:46,355
optimizing pricing and packaging and improvising,

1015
01:21:47,225 --> 01:21:50,905
improving in, uh, retention. However,

1016
01:21:51,895 --> 01:21:55,705
survey vail, validity and reliability are critical to providing

1017
01:21:56,625 --> 01:22:00,395
trustworthy research. And our survey results work within

1018
01:22:01,005 --> 01:22:04,815
nationally accepted validity scores evaluated by

1019
01:22:05,035 --> 01:22:08,595
neutral third parties. Our data is very consistent

1020
01:22:09,295 --> 01:22:13,075
across the mentioned survey channels. Fair free service

1021
01:22:13,855 --> 01:22:16,835
is not a top of mind request from our customers.

1022
01:22:17,895 --> 01:22:21,595
we ask about bears and affordability, and it simply

1023
01:22:22,145 --> 01:22:25,595
does not resonate as a primary concern or barrier.

1024
01:22:27,185 --> 01:22:30,955
what writers are asking for consistently and clearly

1025
01:22:32,015 --> 01:22:35,435
is more frequent service, better on time performance,

1026
01:22:36,825 --> 01:22:40,515
shorter travel times, and a system that they can rely on.

1027
01:22:41,525 --> 01:22:45,225
these themes show up again and again in our surveys

1028
01:22:45,775 --> 01:22:49,695
and our feedback. In fact, 89% of

1029
01:22:50,185 --> 01:22:54,035
non-customers surveyed agree that even though

1030
01:22:54,465 --> 01:22:58,245
they do not use via services, they are glad they, there

1031
01:22:58,615 --> 01:23:02,495
are plans to improve public transit because either they or

1032
01:23:02,715 --> 01:23:06,555
someone close may need it in the future. This

1033
01:23:06,845 --> 01:23:10,485
overwhelming overwhelmingly concludes that our community

1034
01:23:11,075 --> 01:23:14,285
sees the benefit in transit that is available for everyone.

1035
01:23:17,875 --> 01:23:21,705
since 2021, via has conducted semi-annual customer

1036
01:23:22,385 --> 01:23:25,985
satisfaction writer surveys, we do this to ensure that we understand

1037
01:23:26,525 --> 01:23:30,025
the perspectives, perspectives of our existing customers

1038
01:23:30,565 --> 01:23:34,545
to identify, analyze, and improve customer sentiment, to boost

1039
01:23:35,145 --> 01:23:39,065
retention. This allows us to deliver on what matters most to our

1040
01:23:39,545 --> 01:23:43,385
existing customers. Our most recent cu customer satisfaction

1041
01:23:43,785 --> 01:23:46,855
survey shows that existing customers are largely

1042
01:23:48,025 --> 01:23:51,975
satisfied with what they pay today. That's an important data

1043
01:23:52,265 --> 01:23:56,085
point. It tells us that for most writers, the

1044
01:23:56,305 --> 01:23:59,925
fair level itself is not a primary barrier in

1045
01:24:00,395 --> 01:24:03,905
using transit. The primary barrier is whether

1046
01:24:04,445 --> 01:24:07,855
the service works for their daily life. Overall,

1047
01:24:08,605 --> 01:24:12,525
our customer surveys show significant satisfaction with the via

1048
01:24:12,745 --> 01:24:15,765
system on average, and most recently, 87%

1049
01:24:17,045 --> 01:24:20,815
of our customers say that they're satisfied or very

1050
01:24:21,545 --> 01:24:24,665
satisfied with their experience on our existing system.

1051
01:24:25,885 --> 01:24:29,465
that's compared to a transit industry average of 76%.

1052
01:24:32,635 --> 01:24:35,765
and importantly, more than half of the survey respondents

1053
01:24:36,685 --> 01:24:40,455
have said their experience has improved over the last

1054
01:24:40,725 --> 01:24:44,575
year. Our net promoter score is the highest

1055
01:24:45,155 --> 01:24:49,025
in the transit industry and falls within the range of world

1056
01:24:49,585 --> 01:24:51,955
class across all beloved brands.

1057
01:24:57,395 --> 01:25:00,975
now we look at what actually drives ridership growth.

1058
01:25:01,755 --> 01:25:05,205
the data is clear frequency, reliability,

1059
01:25:06,795 --> 01:25:10,295
and usefulness of the network. When service improves,

1060
01:25:11,525 --> 01:25:15,105
ridership follows, when service is unreliable,

1061
01:25:16,645 --> 01:25:19,525
even free fares don't overcome the inconvenience.

1062
01:25:21,275 --> 01:25:24,885
as we continue examining customer feedback, we routinely

1063
01:25:25,715 --> 01:25:29,655
ask what's most important to them on time performance

1064
01:25:30,555 --> 01:25:34,555
has risen to the top of most important features of

1065
01:25:34,775 --> 01:25:38,215
our system. In each of our last three customer

1066
01:25:39,055 --> 01:25:42,475
satisfaction surveys. In the red summary box,

1067
01:25:43,235 --> 01:25:47,165
you will see the top three important factors have

1068
01:25:47,455 --> 01:25:51,325
been consistent on time, performance, service

1069
01:25:52,455 --> 01:25:55,985
coverage, and weather protection. Once again,

1070
01:25:56,915 --> 01:26:00,855
we do not see in our surveys that the cost affairs is prohibitive.

1071
01:26:02,235 --> 01:26:06,045
in fact, 98% said they are satisfied

1072
01:26:06,745 --> 01:26:10,085
or very satisfied with our current fair structure.

1073
01:26:11,705 --> 01:26:15,525
on the left hand side of the slide, we summarized what our customers

1074
01:26:15,865 --> 01:26:19,275
are most satisfied with and least satisfied with.

1075
01:26:20,705 --> 01:26:23,935
our customers say they like the ease of purchasing,

1076
01:26:24,755 --> 01:26:28,465
fare, trip planning, and access to

1077
01:26:28,775 --> 01:26:32,565
stops. They tell us that we need to work on weather protection,

1078
01:26:33,995 --> 01:26:36,975
weak weekend frequency and security at our stops.

1079
01:26:38,345 --> 01:26:42,285
and they tell us they see tremendous value in the cost of

1080
01:26:42,485 --> 01:26:45,885
their affair. Not that it isn't an obstacle.

1081
01:26:49,635 --> 01:26:53,535
last summer in a community value survey, which

1082
01:26:53,965 --> 01:26:57,015
measures the public's perception of the worth,

1083
01:26:58,285 --> 01:27:02,085
benefits, and price of quality ratio of a product and service,

1084
01:27:03,025 --> 01:27:06,975
we reached out to writers and non-writers. We found

1085
01:27:07,655 --> 01:27:10,765
broad support of v's. Plans to improve services,

1086
01:27:12,155 --> 01:27:15,985
quality service and price is a key

1087
01:27:16,205 --> 01:27:19,815
dimension of feedback. And those surveyed agree

1088
01:27:20,275 --> 01:27:24,085
that our planned investments will help those most in need

1089
01:27:24,745 --> 01:27:28,745
across our community. That a strong transit network is

1090
01:27:28,965 --> 01:27:32,905
foundational to economically competitive city to an

1091
01:27:33,405 --> 01:27:36,965
economically competitive city. And that public transportation

1092
01:27:38,185 --> 01:27:40,875
is an essential aspect for workforce development.

1093
01:27:42,665 --> 01:27:46,085
as a result of this feedback, we know and are committed

1094
01:27:47,065 --> 01:27:51,005
to overserving the underserved, we do this through working

1095
01:27:51,475 --> 01:27:55,465
with over 120 nonprofits who

1096
01:27:55,965 --> 01:27:59,795
purchase discounted bus passes to provide to their clientele

1097
01:28:00,895 --> 01:28:00,895
population

1098
01:28:07,155 --> 01:28:10,935
in the same community value survey. In terms of the

1099
01:28:11,495 --> 01:28:15,205
questions of how do we broaden our customer base,

1100
01:28:16,315 --> 01:28:19,215
the top responses from residents in our region

1101
01:28:20,565 --> 01:28:23,745
include safety, more transit options,

1102
01:28:25,005 --> 01:28:28,955
higher frequency service, the delivery of our advanced rapid

1103
01:28:29,415 --> 01:28:33,205
transit program, better technology. And

1104
01:28:33,425 --> 01:28:35,735
the continued expansion of via link

1105
01:28:38,165 --> 01:28:40,625
absent from this list is the cost of fares.

1106
01:28:42,805 --> 01:28:46,545
as a as survey after survey has shown us, our customers

1107
01:28:46,935 --> 01:28:50,875
feel they're getting a significant value for the fares

1108
01:28:51,225 --> 01:28:54,265
they pay, and the cost is not prohibitive.

1109
01:28:55,285 --> 01:28:57,785
in other words, it is not a barrier to ride.

1110
01:28:59,995 --> 01:29:03,965
thank you. And

1111
01:29:04,185 --> 01:29:08,075
with that, we're glad to take any questions on this segment before mr. Brown joins

1112
01:29:08,425 --> 01:29:12,395
us at the podium. Okay. Trustees, any questions

1113
01:29:13,025 --> 01:29:16,935
trustee? Thank you, terry. This is amazing information. Uh,

1114
01:29:17,155 --> 01:29:20,915
just wanna get some clarification. So this is a lot of great data

1115
01:29:21,455 --> 01:29:25,295
and I like that you presented not only customer data, but

1116
01:29:25,935 --> 01:29:29,635
uh, data from non-writers as well to try to understand what are some of those barriers.

1117
01:29:30,905 --> 01:29:34,655
so just to clarify, um, you mentioned there, there

1118
01:29:35,005 --> 01:29:38,785
wasn't any comment on cost of barriers being, um,

1119
01:29:40,595 --> 01:29:44,595
cost affairs being a barrier for non-writers? Only 2%. Okay.

1120
01:29:45,105 --> 01:29:48,945
and then was 98% said our, they were, they valued our

1121
01:29:49,165 --> 01:29:53,085
fair structure. Was this a statistically valid survey or how do we

1122
01:29:53,205 --> 01:29:56,625
make sure that we were, we got sample size from, uh,

1123
01:29:57,765 --> 01:30:01,565
majority of the population? Yes, absolutely. As, as me, uh, mentioned earlier,

1124
01:30:02,465 --> 01:30:06,245
um, survey validity and reliability is important to us. We work

1125
01:30:06,485 --> 01:30:10,185
with third party vendors, um, to administer the,

1126
01:30:10,545 --> 01:30:14,005
um, to administer the survey reports. And we always work within

1127
01:30:14,575 --> 01:30:18,545
nationally accepted validity scores. Are there any

1128
01:30:18,745 --> 01:30:22,585
ways of how, um, so thank you.

1129
01:30:22,965 --> 01:30:26,905
are there any, uh, outlets outside of a survey where we are receiving feedback

1130
01:30:27,105 --> 01:30:30,965
from non-writer and writers to understand, um, how

1131
01:30:31,565 --> 01:30:35,505
to turn them into writers or how to remove any barriers for them to become writers?

1132
01:30:36,325 --> 01:30:40,225
yes. Um, I covered some of our surveys, but when we

1133
01:30:40,385 --> 01:30:44,185
talk about voice of the customer, we get the voice of the customer through many

1134
01:30:44,455 --> 01:30:47,715
outlets, surveys, focus groups, tele-town halls,

1135
01:30:48,565 --> 01:30:52,185
um, writer intercepts, so meeting people at the actual bus stops.

1136
01:30:52,925 --> 01:30:56,745
so voice of the customer is really a matter of how we go about collecting

1137
01:30:57,385 --> 01:30:59,735
data in a ma in various manners.

1138
01:31:04,205 --> 01:31:08,165
trustees, any other questions? Uh, I as a follow up to that, and that's where I was

1139
01:31:08,245 --> 01:31:11,805
going trustee, um, uh, fernandez was, uh, who conducted,

1140
01:31:12,285 --> 01:31:16,205
do you have, um, the company that did conduct the surveys?

1141
01:31:16,785 --> 01:31:20,505
yes, we do. So for our customer satisfaction score, uh,

1142
01:31:21,325 --> 01:31:25,245
customer satisfaction survey, which is administered twice a year, that is done by

1143
01:31:25,455 --> 01:31:29,445
trans pro, who also does other, um, transit industries within,

1144
01:31:30,065 --> 01:31:33,645
uh, within the industry. In addition to that, our net promoter

1145
01:31:34,205 --> 01:31:37,875
score is also administered by trans pro. That's done once

1146
01:31:38,405 --> 01:31:42,285
a year, and that's an industry-wide standard. Um, I should say that

1147
01:31:42,445 --> 01:31:46,025
that is a, that's a standard amongst all brands to survey

1148
01:31:46,515 --> 01:31:50,225
once a year. Um, we have a community value survey

1149
01:31:50,955 --> 01:31:54,095
that is administered by a company called base bass lease.

1150
01:31:55,225 --> 01:31:58,885
and lastly, we do a market survey, which is also administered

1151
01:31:59,825 --> 01:32:03,765
by mark, um, trans pro. So we work with third party vendors

1152
01:32:04,905 --> 01:32:08,875
to, um, to develop and, um, synthesize data

1153
01:32:09,425 --> 01:32:13,005
and gather feedback. Great. Thank you very much. Mm-hmm . Uh, trustee

1154
01:32:13,845 --> 01:32:16,825
question? Sure. Um,

1155
01:32:19,135 --> 01:32:22,865
outside of, uh, oh, are these surveys only administered

1156
01:32:23,465 --> 01:32:27,325
digitally or are there any no, ma'am. We, we

1157
01:32:27,545 --> 01:32:30,985
collect, uh, we collect survey feedback in many different ways.

1158
01:32:31,565 --> 01:32:34,555
we collect it via, um, bilingual phone,

1159
01:32:35,705 --> 01:32:39,015
telephone in person, electronically, digitally.

1160
01:32:40,245 --> 01:32:43,985
um, we understand that we have to meet our customers where they're

1161
01:32:44,305 --> 01:32:48,245
at, and so thus the way that we collect data is, um,

1162
01:32:48,595 --> 01:32:51,725
reflective of how our, our, our community is, uh,

1163
01:32:53,985 --> 01:32:56,465
is structured. Mm-hmm . Absolutely.

1164
01:32:58,605 --> 01:33:01,215
good. Okay. Thank you.

1165
01:33:37,295 --> 01:33:41,265
good afternoon, madam chair and trustees, pleasure to be before you today. My name's tramell brown,

1166
01:33:41,565 --> 01:33:45,305
deputy ceo. Today I'll be talking to you about

1167
01:33:46,085 --> 01:33:49,985
the operational impact and safety impact of a fair free system and a fair free

1168
01:33:50,225 --> 01:33:54,165
service. One of the things I'd like to start off with, operator safety

1169
01:33:55,285 --> 01:33:59,105
is rider safety. A safe system begins with safe operating

1170
01:33:59,825 --> 01:34:03,745
additions for all of our frontline employees. The biggest thing

1171
01:34:04,025 --> 01:34:07,945
to remember when operating conditions become more volatile, operator stress

1172
01:34:08,585 --> 01:34:12,165
increases. When operator stress increases safety

1173
01:34:12,695 --> 01:34:16,185
risk also increases. More importantly, protecting operator safety

1174
01:34:16,865 --> 01:34:19,985
protects our rider safety. One of the things I wanted to stress today,

1175
01:34:21,095 --> 01:34:24,825
it's like you'll see their safety's not negotiable. It's not only our priority, it's

1176
01:34:25,105 --> 01:34:29,025
something we take very seriously. There's an increase affordability cost that takes

1177
01:34:29,265 --> 01:34:32,905
place. We've learned this from nationwide examples as well as our own lived experience.

1178
01:34:33,465 --> 01:34:37,365
most of what you heard from the women and men behind us that spoke, uh,

1179
01:34:37,585 --> 01:34:41,545
on their experiences happen here in san antonio. These weren't canvassed

1180
01:34:42,065 --> 01:34:46,005
from agencies from across the country. This was lived experience by people who

1181
01:34:46,505 --> 01:34:50,145
actually did this job. What's important also, is that listening to our frontline

1182
01:34:51,165 --> 01:34:55,105
is as important to us as listening to our customer. We canvas their thoughts,

1183
01:34:55,445 --> 01:34:59,245
we listen to what they have to say. Say we have safety committee meetings. One of the priorities

1184
01:34:59,685 --> 01:35:03,685
is that, is to be there to support those that support the community that they

1185
01:35:03,845 --> 01:35:06,765
move. So we have a symbiotic relationship that works well.

1186
01:35:08,045 --> 01:35:11,845
operators are also essential workers. For those that were here, and remember the era of covid,

1187
01:35:12,385 --> 01:35:16,045
we were the ones transporting those that were essential to other

1188
01:35:16,625 --> 01:35:20,545
moving parts of this, this community that we live in. So if we want more service, we

1189
01:35:20,765 --> 01:35:24,745
must be able to attract and retain operators. Without them, we don't have a transit system.

1190
01:35:25,615 --> 01:35:29,525
bless you. Next slide. So at this point,

1191
01:35:29,825 --> 01:35:32,845
I'd like to talk to you about some of the operational impacts.

1192
01:35:33,875 --> 01:35:37,765
fear free does not eliminate costs. We've already learned the herd already that it shifts them.

1193
01:35:38,715 --> 01:35:42,525
universal fair free would increase supervision demands and reduce operational predictability,

1194
01:35:43,495 --> 01:35:47,245
which is something our customers have come to enjoy. They don't only know the operators,

1195
01:35:47,525 --> 01:35:51,075
they know the bus, they know what time it's gonna get there. They are norms that would be disrupted.

1196
01:35:52,785 --> 01:35:56,405
one of the things that's important is that resources that are redirected towards

1197
01:35:57,045 --> 01:36:00,845
expanded supervision or response are resources not invested in service

1198
01:36:01,155 --> 01:36:04,975
frequency. More importantly, fleet reliability, route

1199
01:36:05,325 --> 01:36:08,895
expansion or on time performance, increased complexity, makes consistent

1200
01:36:09,565 --> 01:36:13,545
performance or harder to sustain. So I'm

1201
01:36:13,765 --> 01:36:17,585
gonna use some, some terms and phrases. So forgive me, uh, for

1202
01:36:17,865 --> 01:36:21,325
not waxing poetic, but some of these are vernacular that we use in transit.

1203
01:36:21,985 --> 01:36:25,885
and so I'll, I'll kind of do like a rock scheme across the water and give brief examples

1204
01:36:26,445 --> 01:36:30,245
and understanding what it is. But I'll yield to any questions that you have before I, I

1205
01:36:30,565 --> 01:36:33,125
complete my time here. So the first step we have for service adjustments

1206
01:36:34,825 --> 01:36:37,925
is daily efficiency and service adjustments. And that's on time performance.

1207
01:36:38,915 --> 01:36:42,805
this will be greatly impacted. Again, this was a lived experience that we saw. It's not

1208
01:36:42,925 --> 01:36:46,645
something that we estimated. This is due to additional space or buses that are needed

1209
01:36:47,385 --> 01:36:51,275
due to increased calls for service related to capacity issues. Spacers

1210
01:36:51,765 --> 01:36:55,325
are a term that we use loosely that we use to provide resources

1211
01:36:55,985 --> 01:36:59,685
to regulate and deal with bunching and stacking of buses.

1212
01:37:00,155 --> 01:37:04,125
when one bus starts to run late, it affects the bus behind it. And so we'll use

1213
01:37:04,285 --> 01:37:08,085
other buses almost like accordions and deploy them from different

1214
01:37:08,365 --> 01:37:12,125
areas throughout the city that are in the field. And the dispatchers, much like an

1215
01:37:12,565 --> 01:37:16,285
orchestrated movement, will kind of wave the baton and start to send vehicles

1216
01:37:16,805 --> 01:37:20,685
all over the city to alleviate congestion. You've seen this happen in the airline industry.

1217
01:37:21,065 --> 01:37:24,835
we do that every day. There are hundreds and hundreds of people that help us provide

1218
01:37:25,405 --> 01:37:28,925
the daily miracle that gets most of the people that need to get where they're going,

1219
01:37:29,535 --> 01:37:33,205
going without even understanding what's going on behind the behind the scenes.

1220
01:37:34,185 --> 01:37:37,175
so back to the capacity issues that will create standing loads.

1221
01:37:38,725 --> 01:37:41,925
that means every seat taken the aisle almost completely full.

1222
01:37:43,325 --> 01:37:46,935
that leads towards pass ups. We have policy, we have procedure

1223
01:37:48,045 --> 01:37:51,915
that require the operator to call and contact the dispatcher anytime we pass up.

1224
01:37:52,135 --> 01:37:55,845
anyone that at a service stop, that's our commitment to customer service

1225
01:37:56,925 --> 01:38:00,685
outreach and impact. And when that call happens, the dispatcher has a couple of options

1226
01:38:01,075 --> 01:38:04,885
that he or she needs to do. First, let's get that person

1227
01:38:05,085 --> 01:38:09,045
picked up and addressed. Also, how do I find the people who need to

1228
01:38:09,125 --> 01:38:12,485
do that? So they start to wheel their magic baton and find the solutions for this.

1229
01:38:13,305 --> 01:38:16,985
the problem we have with that is these repeat pass up,

1230
01:38:17,785 --> 01:38:21,525
become service adjustments. People get frustrated, the service reliability

1231
01:38:22,205 --> 01:38:26,205
is impacted. They're literally watching the bus they would normally get on to get to work on time.

1232
01:38:26,755 --> 01:38:30,485
pass them by because they can literally see people almost standing at the fair box.

1233
01:38:30,905 --> 01:38:33,485
we saw this, we lived this experience before.

1234
01:38:35,425 --> 01:38:39,085
um, one of the things that you also understand is for the calls for service,

1235
01:38:39,915 --> 01:38:43,875
most often those are bus stoppages. Those are

1236
01:38:44,035 --> 01:38:47,715
service disruptions. And that's something we're gonna talk about a little bit further as we go on

1237
01:38:48,245 --> 01:38:52,115
right now. We'll move into the resource management operators is

1238
01:38:52,315 --> 01:38:56,235
an important resource that we have and operator availability and the use of that is paramount

1239
01:38:56,715 --> 01:39:00,685
to just getting service out. The transit industry is unlike many where

1240
01:39:01,035 --> 01:39:05,035
there are actually platforms of work where we have employees that are on

1241
01:39:05,195 --> 01:39:08,945
the ready just in case someone calls in sick, just

1242
01:39:09,255 --> 01:39:12,515
in case someone's not able to come and pull that bus out on time.

1243
01:39:13,295 --> 01:39:17,265
we have someone already standing by that within seconds will

1244
01:39:17,555 --> 01:39:21,555
get their assignment, go out there, jump in that vehicle, and get to the start

1245
01:39:21,755 --> 01:39:25,515
point and pick up a customer. And they never knew that wasn't the one that was supposed to pick them up.

1246
01:39:26,015 --> 01:39:29,675
that's another example of the daily miracle. Whenever we have a

1247
01:39:30,075 --> 01:39:33,715
situation where we're dealing with a fair free situation like this, we have an

1248
01:39:34,115 --> 01:39:38,115
increase in those operators, what we call reserves or standbys, and they're always

1249
01:39:38,355 --> 01:39:42,335
on the ready, but they're also the ones that are used to fill spaces. So

1250
01:39:42,555 --> 01:39:46,145
if all the operators pull out for the daily pullout that morning, they

1251
01:39:46,635 --> 01:39:50,475
stay here, they grab vehicles and they go wait in the field. In some areas

1252
01:39:50,675 --> 01:39:54,515
that we call the hole, if I told you I'd have to kill you, but this is, this is,

1253
01:39:54,695 --> 01:39:58,475
uh, high transit iq stuff. But these are just areas that we deploy from

1254
01:39:59,025 --> 01:40:02,955
that are regionally located that help us get there in the most timely manner to some of

1255
01:40:03,075 --> 01:40:06,955
these places where we, we see a lot of these things happening. We'd have an increase of operators

1256
01:40:07,235 --> 01:40:11,195
each day just to stand by just to meet the additional demands. In addition

1257
01:40:11,615 --> 01:40:15,595
to the standard work that we do every day. That would be our

1258
01:40:15,755 --> 01:40:19,395
new life. If we were to get involved and to move forward into even a pilot program that began,

1259
01:40:20,445 --> 01:40:24,405
additional buses would be needed, uh, we would have to dip into our spare ratio.

1260
01:40:25,095 --> 01:40:29,075
the fta requires that we have backup buses on the ready to go out and call

1261
01:40:29,335 --> 01:40:33,195
for service. It's not acceptable by the ft a to have a transit system that

1262
01:40:33,475 --> 01:40:37,275
says we're all outta buses. Sorry, we, we we can't pick you up.

1263
01:40:37,655 --> 01:40:41,595
you're on time. Performance will be affected. So we, we have to have those vehicles always

1264
01:40:41,875 --> 01:40:45,675
on the ready. But what's worse than that? You have to have the operators to drive the vehicles.

1265
01:40:46,155 --> 01:40:50,115
and we heard before from the famous dream team before I got here,

1266
01:40:50,745 --> 01:40:54,585
that we've done well to follow up on what you've asked of us to do. And

1267
01:40:54,805 --> 01:40:58,625
that's make the priority the people. And in doing so,

1268
01:40:58,905 --> 01:41:02,845
we have to have a support group that helps that happen as well. There's also

1269
01:41:03,005 --> 01:41:06,475
additional daily buses that need to be maintained. Service cleaned,

1270
01:41:07,425 --> 01:41:10,905
the readiness for every single day, that's

1271
01:41:11,485 --> 01:41:15,285
on top of what we normally do. So to have a fair free system

1272
01:41:15,565 --> 01:41:19,525
that deals with some of these, and these are just the smallest ripples, uh, of that type

1273
01:41:19,805 --> 01:41:23,145
of service to provide, we would always have to staff up,

1274
01:41:24,485 --> 01:41:28,285
reprogram, re-strategize, and move forward. Next

1275
01:41:28,575 --> 01:41:32,445
step we'll move into the safety and security area. Code

1276
01:41:32,735 --> 01:41:36,615
of conduct compliance is one of the biggest things that would be the bucket or the

1277
01:41:36,775 --> 01:41:40,015
box that you heard most from the women and men that came up to speak

1278
01:41:40,865 --> 01:41:44,855
about what they remember. When we had a situation where we had fair free service that was going on.

1279
01:41:45,525 --> 01:41:49,055
code of conduct sets the service expectations for all of our customers.

1280
01:41:49,885 --> 01:41:53,695
it's behavior, the acts, the rules, all the safe service

1281
01:41:53,895 --> 01:41:57,895
measures that create kind of the decorum, the environment that they're used to. They can

1282
01:41:58,055 --> 01:42:02,015
tell what's normal by the adherence of that. When people are

1283
01:42:02,215 --> 01:42:05,825
outside of that, they can tell something's a little bit different today.

1284
01:42:06,405 --> 01:42:10,335
it's not a regular trip to get where I'm headed to now, operator

1285
01:42:10,495 --> 01:42:14,095
engagement of code of conduct issues have a greater opportunity

1286
01:42:14,795 --> 01:42:18,705
for conflict than enforcing the fair. I'll say

1287
01:42:18,865 --> 01:42:22,865
that one more time. Operator engagement, just them engaging

1288
01:42:23,125 --> 01:42:26,865
the people who are performing outside of the acceptable code of conduct behavior

1289
01:42:27,485 --> 01:42:30,655
has a greater opportunity for conflict than enforcing the fair. Because

1290
01:42:31,575 --> 01:42:35,385
most of them end up with not only a stopped bus, but some

1291
01:42:35,625 --> 01:42:39,555
being removed from the bus. There's another impact that

1292
01:42:39,755 --> 01:42:43,275
happens from there. The customers who routinely ride and they're trying to get to those,

1293
01:42:44,055 --> 01:42:47,855
uh, quality of life opportunities, get to their job, um, get

1294
01:42:48,075 --> 01:42:51,085
to their, their school, get to medical assistance,

1295
01:42:52,245 --> 01:42:55,995
these are delays. And what's so bad about is what we saw is they could

1296
01:42:56,275 --> 01:43:00,255
predict the delays. They could tell that if someone was at a bus stop and

1297
01:43:00,475 --> 01:43:04,275
they got in with no shoes, no shirt,

1298
01:43:05,495 --> 01:43:09,435
and some foreign substance just dripping from their body, this is

1299
01:43:09,595 --> 01:43:11,475
not dramatic, this was just tuesday.

1300
01:43:14,015 --> 01:43:17,985
they knew that they may not get to work. They would make

1301
01:43:18,345 --> 01:43:22,295
comments like, keep going, pass 'em up. They

1302
01:43:22,585 --> 01:43:26,225
just did not want risk, the opportunity to miss, to get

1303
01:43:26,725 --> 01:43:30,465
to that undisrupted trip that they've grown to be used to. And so during

1304
01:43:30,785 --> 01:43:34,785
covid, we saw a lot of this that was taking place. Now, the reason that it's an

1305
01:43:34,945 --> 01:43:38,865
issue more so than the fair is because now it requires the operator to not only

1306
01:43:38,985 --> 01:43:42,905
stop the bus, they now have to call and communicate with the dispatch, right? Because

1307
01:43:43,125 --> 01:43:47,105
now it's time to mitigate that. So we'll have a supervisor, someone that will come on board.

1308
01:43:47,685 --> 01:43:51,405
the operator will employ deescalation training as they get as part of our regular

1309
01:43:51,925 --> 01:43:55,165
dna. But now they have to engage this individual

1310
01:43:56,275 --> 01:44:00,225
when they say, why is the bus stopped? And now they've also gotta manage the

1311
01:44:00,445 --> 01:44:04,445
crowd of people who thought they were going that way. And now they're trying to figure

1312
01:44:04,605 --> 01:44:08,505
out, is the next bus right behind us, or am I gonna have to get off and just try

1313
01:44:08,725 --> 01:44:12,645
to walk or find a friend? And so people would start to get their cell phones out all

1314
01:44:12,805 --> 01:44:16,605
the time. That level of engagement doesn't happen in a fair free

1315
01:44:17,325 --> 01:44:21,125
situation. I'll tell you why. Because in fair free situations, people

1316
01:44:21,485 --> 01:44:25,325
come on board, they can state the fair if they don't have it, you know, they can go grab a seat,

1317
01:44:26,465 --> 01:44:29,865
but literally anybody who's sitting watching a vehicle drive by

1318
01:44:31,245 --> 01:44:35,225
can just jump on board. They don't even have to have a destination. They just

1319
01:44:35,425 --> 01:44:39,385
need to have a, a zest for adventure. And they would get in there and they don't know the

1320
01:44:39,545 --> 01:44:43,465
code of conduct and they caused different types of issues. And it just became a problem that

1321
01:44:43,705 --> 01:44:47,305
got exacerbated. And we saw that. Now for the pilot

1322
01:44:47,735 --> 01:44:51,455
fair free program, even in that situation, there's

1323
01:44:51,945 --> 01:44:55,925
a new level of conflict that the operators never had to deal with. If

1324
01:44:56,145 --> 01:44:59,985
we were to engage in that, anytime someone who was on one of the free

1325
01:45:00,225 --> 01:45:04,065
lines, and I'm air quoting here, one of those free lines every time

1326
01:45:04,345 --> 01:45:08,185
they transferred from that line, right? Because our system

1327
01:45:09,285 --> 01:45:13,135
is a web of connections. Once they got off of that

1328
01:45:13,295 --> 01:45:16,925
line and got into a paying line, now we got the old traditional fair

1329
01:45:17,535 --> 01:45:21,495
conflict. What do you mean I have to pay the other bust didn't charge me. What are

1330
01:45:21,655 --> 01:45:25,585
you talking about? And we're not talking about market saturation where people understand

1331
01:45:26,525 --> 01:45:30,415
they had a chance to read, they had a chance to listen. This is just every day.

1332
01:45:30,755 --> 01:45:34,535
not everyone's gonna play by those rules. And especially people that aren't traditional

1333
01:45:34,975 --> 01:45:38,595
travelers. It's an adventure for them. So there's a lot of conversation that has to take place. That's

1334
01:45:39,015 --> 01:45:42,895
a whole nother reintroduction of a, of a fair conflict

1335
01:45:43,285 --> 01:45:47,075
that happens across the country. Now, most of

1336
01:45:47,295 --> 01:45:51,175
the code of conducts commonly result in service disruptions where there will

1337
01:45:51,375 --> 01:45:55,255
be a stopped bus, there will be a supervisor involved, and they'll

1338
01:45:55,535 --> 01:45:59,435
come and triage a situation, determine does transit police need to get engaged or can

1339
01:45:59,655 --> 01:46:03,655
they just remove that person from the vehicle, have a conversation with

1340
01:46:03,935 --> 01:46:07,895
them, educate and inform 'em and decide it's okay if you to jump on the next vehicle behind.

1341
01:46:08,295 --> 01:46:12,055
that way this bus can continue in service and allow people to make their connections.

1342
01:46:13,585 --> 01:46:17,355
those are all precipitated by operator call for service and

1343
01:46:17,895 --> 01:46:21,455
operator doing exactly what they're trained to do. They see something, they say something

1344
01:46:22,035 --> 01:46:25,955
and they want to get this mitigated to keep the vehicle environment safe. Uh, bus

1345
01:46:26,495 --> 01:46:30,415
exchange due to sanitary issues. That's something

1346
01:46:30,655 --> 01:46:34,615
that happened a lot. People would come and bring different types of items on the bus that,

1347
01:46:35,315 --> 01:46:39,095
uh, have leakage and seepage and things of that nature. And we can't

1348
01:46:39,335 --> 01:46:43,135
have people sitting in foreign foreign liquids. That means that seed

1349
01:46:43,395 --> 01:46:47,095
is unusable. We'd have to have people deploy in the field just to intercept

1350
01:46:47,535 --> 01:46:51,445
that bus, clean that bus so we can still keep the seating capacity as necessary.

1351
01:46:52,665 --> 01:46:55,845
others include customers that are exiting the bus due to escalating situations,

1352
01:46:57,245 --> 01:47:00,445
customers not wanting to ride because the environment and reliability of service

1353
01:47:01,345 --> 01:47:05,205
has completely changed. We literally saw people who were

1354
01:47:05,445 --> 01:47:08,805
afraid to wait at the bus because the volume of people who lawyered

1355
01:47:09,545 --> 01:47:12,425
and congregated at the bus stop, they would wait 20, 30, 50

1356
01:47:14,115 --> 01:47:18,085
feet away and then make their way to the bus after that group decided to

1357
01:47:18,285 --> 01:47:19,005
get on or off the bus.

1358
01:47:23,145 --> 01:47:26,905
the most common one that you heard about today, and one that that's memorable from any

1359
01:47:27,185 --> 01:47:30,925
agency that have lived, uh, this example, uh, is what we're calling

1360
01:47:31,225 --> 01:47:34,365
day tripping customers. These are destination list customers.

1361
01:47:36,155 --> 01:47:40,095
some occupy seating in high volume on buses and only exit after

1362
01:47:40,445 --> 01:47:44,365
engaged by the operator. We literally mean that they are riding

1363
01:47:44,875 --> 01:47:48,365
from one in the line all the way to the next with no expectation

1364
01:47:49,005 --> 01:47:52,855
of exiting and then repeating. And they'll do this until

1365
01:47:53,205 --> 01:47:57,185
someone engages them. Some remain seated at bus stops all day.

1366
01:47:58,195 --> 01:48:01,265
they congregate and signal the operators that they're waiting for the next bus,

1367
01:48:02,265 --> 01:48:05,615
rarely ever boarding to get on the bus. Right now, today,

1368
01:48:06,545 --> 01:48:10,275
in our regular service sweeps our transit police, our supervisors,

1369
01:48:11,435 --> 01:48:15,395
they'll engage people who are sitting at bus stops, that are watching buses go by. They've

1370
01:48:15,885 --> 01:48:19,465
missed opportunities to board. And that's an opportunity for us to engage and say,

1371
01:48:20,185 --> 01:48:23,885
sir, ma'am, this this region, this area you're at is for our customers that are rioting.

1372
01:48:24,205 --> 01:48:28,065
you know, you want to grab a seat, you know, you could please sit elsewhere. And

1373
01:48:28,285 --> 01:48:32,285
now we have supervisors that are getting into conflict. This is just the life that we've lived

1374
01:48:32,445 --> 01:48:36,325
before. Um, so it's reminiscent of that area and that's why you heard some of the energy that was used

1375
01:48:36,525 --> 01:48:40,485
by some of those that spoke previously. Some ride to stay in the air conditioning environment

1376
01:48:40,825 --> 01:48:44,825
or simply just escape the weather. If it's raining outside, buses are packed. Nobody

1377
01:48:45,245 --> 01:48:49,125
wants to get off. And if they get off, they'll get back in the next bus completely

1378
01:48:49,825 --> 01:48:53,725
wet and just repeat. This keeps going on and on and some ride just to have a

1379
01:48:53,845 --> 01:48:57,805
safe place to sleep. We see a lot of that. We've had a number of assault and

1380
01:48:58,165 --> 01:49:01,495
instance that took place from operators who are merely just trying to do a welfare check

1381
01:49:02,225 --> 01:49:05,985
and just ask, sir, ma'am, are you okay? And the person wakes up and,

1382
01:49:06,305 --> 01:49:09,965
and just a different place, um, that doesn't

1383
01:49:10,365 --> 01:49:13,845
fit the surroundings that they're in and have gotten into situations with other customers on board.

1384
01:49:15,385 --> 01:49:19,345
we also have this, it creates capacity issues, standing lows and calls for

1385
01:49:19,565 --> 01:49:22,965
service and bus stop loitering. These scenarios have proven problematic

1386
01:49:23,665 --> 01:49:27,445
for customers. We had call ins, we had calfs. We have the information from

1387
01:49:27,685 --> 01:49:31,605
what we lived through before. And so I just wanted to be sure that that's the one thing

1388
01:49:31,725 --> 01:49:35,725
you hear even outside of via outside of our region this day, tripping or what industry term

1389
01:49:36,145 --> 01:49:39,405
is usually round tripping. That's the first tipping of the scale.

1390
01:49:43,195 --> 01:49:46,285
then we have this additional security presence.

1391
01:49:47,905 --> 01:49:51,285
you know, an increase in system security will be needed just to handle the higher volume

1392
01:49:52,305 --> 01:49:56,245
of on bus concurrent calls for service. If we change nothing else

1393
01:49:57,025 --> 01:50:00,885
and we have more people using the vehicle, then more at a time and more buses

1394
01:50:01,185 --> 01:50:04,565
on the road. It's almost a law of averages. Your, it will increase

1395
01:50:05,545 --> 01:50:09,505
the probability that you'll have more concurrent episodes that you have to address. You

1396
01:50:09,725 --> 01:50:12,975
have to deal with an issue. Um, bus stop safety calls

1397
01:50:13,905 --> 01:50:17,725
for service will increase greatly. We saw this before. It was the fact that people were

1398
01:50:17,965 --> 01:50:21,765
afraid to even go to the bus stop because they weren't sure if the people there

1399
01:50:22,045 --> 01:50:25,685
were going to ride if they were not. We saw petty crimes

1400
01:50:26,605 --> 01:50:30,205
increase. You know, unfortunately, um, there are some that prey on those that waited

1401
01:50:30,625 --> 01:50:34,445
bus stops, uh, and it used to just be a senior citizen thing. Now it's just

1402
01:50:34,725 --> 01:50:38,725
a crime of availability. And so they know that people who are waiting for the bus generally will have

1403
01:50:39,005 --> 01:50:42,755
a fair, definitely have a cell phone and just other things that most of us keep

1404
01:50:43,215 --> 01:50:46,925
close to us just to make our way through the day. And it just became target zones. We

1405
01:50:47,325 --> 01:50:51,325
actually partnered with sapd to try to address these type of things if we saw those

1406
01:50:51,525 --> 01:50:55,525
things. And so we continue to work and maintain those relationships. But it, it

1407
01:50:55,725 --> 01:50:59,645
just takes our, our operators back to a life that they've lived before and it's

1408
01:50:59,805 --> 01:51:03,475
just not a, a pleasant experience for them. There's also

1409
01:51:03,925 --> 01:51:07,925
a see something, say something reporting response times increase for suspicious behavior.

1410
01:51:08,705 --> 01:51:12,525
uh, sleepers, people who did not wanna get off of the bus. People who

1411
01:51:12,725 --> 01:51:16,245
were performing different types of transactions on the bus. This was a group of individuals

1412
01:51:16,925 --> 01:51:20,765
that were mixing with people who remember that it used to be okay to

1413
01:51:20,965 --> 01:51:24,645
just put your head down and take a nap or check your phone, use the wifi

1414
01:51:25,105 --> 01:51:29,085
or whatever. There's just quality of life interactions that just got engaged on

1415
01:51:29,285 --> 01:51:32,325
that bus, that it just left people a a bad taste in the mouth.

1416
01:51:33,465 --> 01:51:37,365
and more importantly, the risk factors. What we have is service quality

1417
01:51:38,135 --> 01:51:41,915
definitely will be impacted. Service reliability will be impacted. Safe

1418
01:51:42,205 --> 01:51:45,805
service expectations by our customers. What is the new normal?

1419
01:51:46,225 --> 01:51:50,015
now, if we have a free fare situation and we go back to standing loads

1420
01:51:50,545 --> 01:51:54,005
and we're not even getting into the situation that would happen for people with disabilities

1421
01:51:54,565 --> 01:51:58,485
who are waiting. We've only got two wheelchair locations on

1422
01:51:58,685 --> 01:52:02,645
that bus and we have people who have used wheelchairs to get to

1423
01:52:02,805 --> 01:52:06,705
the bus stop and it's not theirs. We won't even talk about how they got it, but

1424
01:52:06,925 --> 01:52:10,925
they'll use it. And when they realize that there's no more room for the wheelchair, they just leave

1425
01:52:11,085 --> 01:52:14,895
it at the bus stop and get in and walk in, and then they'll just get off later on. We've

1426
01:52:15,485 --> 01:52:18,925
seen that again. This is another lived experience. Um, vehicle and bus stop, cleanliness.

1427
01:52:19,905 --> 01:52:23,885
it just happens anywhere. You have a larger concentration of people. Think of any major

1428
01:52:24,195 --> 01:52:28,095
city where you have a lot of people living. You're gonna find some issues where,

1429
01:52:28,445 --> 01:52:31,765
where sanitary conditions need to be addressed, which includes more touch points

1430
01:52:32,505 --> 01:52:36,445
and the customer sat satisfaction experience. Uh, definitely be impacted.

1431
01:52:36,905 --> 01:52:40,485
uh, next slide. So some of the budget investment

1432
01:52:41,225 --> 01:52:45,165
recaps that we've done for safety, uh, through the years that led up to this time that we're

1433
01:52:45,405 --> 01:52:49,345
in right now, uh, was workforce additional resources as

1434
01:52:49,565 --> 01:52:53,525
far as security supervisors, operators, things to build a stronger

1435
01:52:53,645 --> 01:52:57,405
infrastructure. Just allow us to deal with the volume of, of work that we have, right? It's

1436
01:52:57,685 --> 01:53:01,605
not about just the bus that's traveling down the road. It's the amount of people who are in

1437
01:53:01,725 --> 01:53:05,565
there, the transferring and everything that takes place. There's a lot of people that are getting where

1438
01:53:05,765 --> 01:53:09,605
they need to go. Equipment. It was this era that I spoke

1439
01:53:09,905 --> 01:53:13,885
of where we introduced the operator barrier doors. We did an

1440
01:53:14,005 --> 01:53:17,475
emergency procurement to make that happen as fast as we could because

1441
01:53:18,025 --> 01:53:21,925
the operators were getting spit on at a high rate, the highest

1442
01:53:22,235 --> 01:53:26,085
rate we'd ever seen in our organization's history. Now, I've

1443
01:53:26,325 --> 01:53:30,105
been involved with safety and a lot of things around here for a lot of years, but

1444
01:53:30,365 --> 01:53:34,285
I can tell you I cannot recall the volume of people who were just spitting

1445
01:53:34,845 --> 01:53:38,725
on operators. They were throwing drinks, they were throwing everything. We literally had

1446
01:53:38,885 --> 01:53:42,595
to start with a curtain system just

1447
01:53:42,905 --> 01:53:46,605
so there's some type of division between them. It accelerate all the way up to,

1448
01:53:47,185 --> 01:53:50,285
uh, some of the industry's best and top operator protective barriers.

1449
01:53:51,245 --> 01:53:54,805
I mean, we didn't just grab the first thing on the shelf. We even found the ones that had the greatest air circulation

1450
01:53:55,835 --> 01:53:59,725
just to deal with any feeling of of claustrophobia or

1451
01:53:59,965 --> 01:54:03,925
anything like that. The operators love it. We use a tu to get involved. They literally got to pick the ones

1452
01:54:04,165 --> 01:54:07,605
that worked. We teamed them up with our maintenance teams. We wanted to make this successful.

1453
01:54:08,185 --> 01:54:11,485
we wanted to make it work, decrease the spitting greatly.

1454
01:54:12,545 --> 01:54:16,485
but they still have people that are trying to throw punches. They still have people that are throwing things at the doors.

1455
01:54:17,195 --> 01:54:20,915
this is something that we put in place because that era spawned

1456
01:54:21,405 --> 01:54:25,405
that behavior. It's still suitable now. And so we still maintain them. And you'll

1457
01:54:25,685 --> 01:54:29,685
see the rest of the industry has, has done the same thing. Everyone's working in that, in that same vein,

1458
01:54:30,465 --> 01:54:34,195
um, as far as equipment, we have dispatcher console and police technology. There's

1459
01:54:34,685 --> 01:54:38,255
just so much more available now to find the issue,

1460
01:54:38,795 --> 01:54:42,605
find the solution, and allow them to connect in our standard mo our

1461
01:54:42,965 --> 01:54:46,525
standard practice. It's not if we have a threat or a crisis or situation

1462
01:54:47,075 --> 01:54:50,985
that we always have to send the transit police officer there because of

1463
01:54:51,205 --> 01:54:55,125
our joint law enforcement center. We'll find the first badge and the the first

1464
01:54:55,385 --> 01:54:59,325
law enforcement individual that's closest and just get them there, even if it's just to hold the

1465
01:54:59,845 --> 01:55:03,805
situation down. But we've got that vibrant relationship with the, the law enforcement community

1466
01:55:04,205 --> 01:55:08,045
here, and we, we still enjoy that. Okay? Um, for education

1467
01:55:08,665 --> 01:55:12,465
and the training and development, deescalation training is something that we champion. We've done it for

1468
01:55:12,925 --> 01:55:16,925
a long time at a high degree. So much so it's baked

1469
01:55:17,165 --> 01:55:21,085
into our dna for all brand new operators. We have biannual, uh, refresher

1470
01:55:21,685 --> 01:55:25,505
classes that are for operators and other employees as well. But deescalation is, is

1471
01:55:26,045 --> 01:55:30,005
critical. Uh, it's just necessary. We have customer service

1472
01:55:30,725 --> 01:55:34,605
training, which is very important to us. But more importantly, we're, we're proud to introduce

1473
01:55:35,085 --> 01:55:39,025
a fact, a collaborative effort between many of us within this room, uh, to

1474
01:55:39,245 --> 01:55:43,125
bring an ambassadorship, an ambassador level of customer service to make

1475
01:55:43,285 --> 01:55:46,945
sure that every employee that receives a check that spells

1476
01:55:47,565 --> 01:55:51,565
via on it has some degree of a customer centric focus

1477
01:55:51,865 --> 01:55:55,525
in how they deal and welcome and assist any customer who might need

1478
01:55:55,965 --> 01:55:59,645
anything for. It's just to be way finding or just to find a, a comforting

1479
01:56:00,125 --> 01:56:03,605
gesture of, hey, you're at the right bus stop. The, the bus should be here shortly.

1480
01:56:04,265 --> 01:56:08,045
if you didn't know, you can call this number and read that number to 'em and they'll

1481
01:56:08,285 --> 01:56:12,085
be able to tell you when that bus is gonna come. You could even text the following. And just

1482
01:56:12,325 --> 01:56:15,605
that level of service is something that's a pedigree that we want to be all about

1483
01:56:16,585 --> 01:56:20,525
our culture. We've heard that earlier. Also, uh, we're bringing back something that

1484
01:56:20,725 --> 01:56:24,165
was very successful. Uh, and, uh, just show you right here.

1485
01:56:27,115 --> 01:56:30,945
this is the, uh, a folder from the s four task force. See

1486
01:56:31,165 --> 01:56:34,925
something, say something. This was a collaborative effort between

1487
01:56:35,705 --> 01:56:38,685
across section group of administration,

1488
01:56:40,115 --> 01:56:44,085
maintenance, hourly employees, the a tu executive board

1489
01:56:45,105 --> 01:56:48,905
and a number of others that got together. We'd get together every month and

1490
01:56:49,125 --> 01:56:52,965
we would go through and identify hotspots and systematically go through

1491
01:56:53,225 --> 01:56:57,205
and clean things up. And you, you'll hear in other conversations, I'm sure

1492
01:56:57,285 --> 01:57:01,285
in the future, that it was phenomenal. It was birthed, it was spawned during

1493
01:57:01,525 --> 01:57:05,445
this last situation where we had free fare. We realized it was a service thing that

1494
01:57:05,605 --> 01:57:09,515
we had to add, um, just to make sure our customers felt

1495
01:57:09,805 --> 01:57:13,405
welcome to a clean environment. And they didn't have to fear being at bus stops. It literally had

1496
01:57:13,925 --> 01:57:16,685
operators who would call in for someone that they've passed twice.

1497
01:57:18,315 --> 01:57:22,015
and that information would go from the dispatcher to the transit police. And that would guide

1498
01:57:22,755 --> 01:57:26,615
our, our metrics as far as street sweeping and just making context saying, hey,

1499
01:57:26,775 --> 01:57:30,695
listen, you've been here for a bit. Which bus are you trying to catch with the

1500
01:57:30,815 --> 01:57:34,735
free fair system? That doesn't work anymore. They can make up a

1501
01:57:34,855 --> 01:57:38,775
bus number or move one block down and jump on the next bus. Um, the other

1502
01:57:38,895 --> 01:57:42,535
thing that's important about this is the other safety committees that we have

1503
01:57:43,195 --> 01:57:47,115
and the, the ease of hazard reporting is something that's also increased, and

1504
01:57:47,335 --> 01:57:50,975
that's just another example of how we prioritize safety. If we can go to the next slide, please.

1505
01:57:53,315 --> 01:57:57,255
hiring recruitment and retention is something that, that we're proud of. You know,

1506
01:57:57,335 --> 01:58:01,295
this board challenged us, uh, in a very positive way to let us know

1507
01:58:01,955 --> 01:58:05,655
we have to do better. We are not box checking. We, we wanna win this.

1508
01:58:06,355 --> 01:58:10,335
and so we took that to heart and a number of the folks behind me and everyone

1509
01:58:10,495 --> 01:58:14,135
else got together and figured it out. We got it done. We've done it so well.

1510
01:58:14,715 --> 01:58:18,615
we had a chance to start to accelerate the better bus plan. Some of the things that

1511
01:58:18,775 --> 01:58:22,595
we've talked about with the impact of on time performance, the increasing use

1512
01:58:22,815 --> 01:58:26,815
of reserve operators, all the women and men that are there to make sure that supplemental bus

1513
01:58:27,015 --> 01:58:30,875
service still makes us keep the same on time, desirable, uh,

1514
01:58:31,165 --> 01:58:34,975
headway that people want it, it takes a lot of people. I can tell

1515
01:58:35,175 --> 01:58:39,135
you right now in front of this full board, that if we were

1516
01:58:39,295 --> 01:58:43,245
to go for fair free, those net gains that we got from all the hiring,

1517
01:58:44,545 --> 01:58:47,875
all the buses that we have would then all be given towards

1518
01:58:49,455 --> 01:58:52,885
supporting that pilot. And if we go beyond that,

1519
01:58:53,825 --> 01:58:57,765
we won't have those same assets that we needed to continue to accelerate

1520
01:58:58,285 --> 01:59:02,175
the better bus program. That's something that, that should be

1521
01:59:02,295 --> 01:59:06,235
said. Uh, it needs to be known. We have the people, but

1522
01:59:06,455 --> 01:59:10,295
their use has been diverted. And so I'll just briefly go through some

1523
01:59:10,495 --> 01:59:13,935
of this. It's, it's important for you to understand that this is the culmination

1524
01:59:14,675 --> 01:59:18,615
of everybody being asked to be bigger and think bigger. And so

1525
01:59:18,815 --> 01:59:22,695
these solutions, they worked not just a little bit. They worked a lot.

1526
01:59:23,355 --> 01:59:26,915
and so just to catch up those, we have new trustees that are here. Um,

1527
01:59:27,755 --> 01:59:31,695
we had to increase job fair participation by moving events to evening hours. They used

1528
01:59:31,855 --> 01:59:35,485
to be just during working hours when most people are work,

1529
01:59:35,985 --> 01:59:39,885
right? We just missed a whole demographic of people. Uh, we extended same

1530
01:59:40,175 --> 01:59:44,175
day contingency offers marketing communications, team support, outreach through

1531
01:59:44,375 --> 01:59:48,335
media outreach and local news coverage. Right now. You can watch any news

1532
01:59:48,615 --> 01:59:52,375
station and you'll see there's a job faired via on this night at this time.

1533
01:59:52,915 --> 01:59:56,775
and that's refreshing to see. We implemented, uh, deferred retirement

1534
01:59:57,295 --> 02:00:01,015
compensation to retain tenured full-time bus operators. We have a hundred

1535
02:00:01,815 --> 02:00:04,845
operators enrolled in this, this strengthened long-term workforce ability.

1536
02:00:06,045 --> 02:00:10,015
it's a program that hr had got together and put their wits there and found a

1537
02:00:10,135 --> 02:00:14,095
way to say, listen, if you were gonna retire, we may have found a way

1538
02:00:14,875 --> 02:00:18,855
for you to stick around for another 18 months. And so there's some bonuses involved

1539
02:00:19,015 --> 02:00:22,955
with that, and it's an aggressive program and it worked great. Um,

1540
02:00:23,395 --> 02:00:27,095
we also have this where we have enhanced interview protocols and strengthened pre-employment requirements

1541
02:00:27,585 --> 02:00:31,455
using talent click and dlt, physical and drug screening. We just

1542
02:00:32,045 --> 02:00:35,995
cleaned up and strengthened some of those thresholds that were there and

1543
02:00:36,215 --> 02:00:40,215
just made them more efficient, made it easier to get through, but it gave us what we needed to where

1544
02:00:40,495 --> 02:00:44,495
we can get better candidates that are more customer centric rather than someone who just saw

1545
02:00:44,695 --> 02:00:47,725
the hourly pay. Um, this greatly reduced their attrition.

1546
02:00:48,715 --> 02:00:52,615
and then we had the recruiter incentive program, which has done well, but every single

1547
02:00:52,895 --> 02:00:56,815
thing that you've just heard me mention every last one of them is impacted

1548
02:00:57,075 --> 02:01:00,785
by this last bullet at this current time right now, today,

1549
02:01:02,405 --> 02:01:06,215
literally at 7 0 2, I can assure you this. I just heard two today.

1550
02:01:07,355 --> 02:01:11,355
we already have. And we're hearing concerns from the new hire candidates that just got

1551
02:01:11,575 --> 02:01:15,395
here, current trainees, existing

1552
02:01:15,795 --> 02:01:19,195
operators that are working. Some may still be in this room, some may have been here earlier

1553
02:01:20,055 --> 02:01:23,995
on, whether or not this is the right job for them. This is all anticipation or

1554
02:01:24,195 --> 02:01:27,515
increased safety concerns related to fair free service. And that conversation

1555
02:01:28,535 --> 02:01:32,355
has only been around for about three weeks. It's already reaching a saturation

1556
02:01:32,915 --> 02:01:36,555
point where people are trying to figure out, is this a place I thought I was when I got here.

1557
02:01:37,305 --> 02:01:41,005
it's obviously changing, and I think that's why you saw some of the, the energy and the effort

1558
02:01:41,515 --> 02:01:44,605
from those behind me. And I think that may be

1559
02:01:46,545 --> 02:01:49,925
the last slide. We'll pause for any questions. Uh, madam chair

1560
02:01:50,625 --> 02:01:54,365
on this section. Any questions? Trustee ?

1561
02:02:02,505 --> 02:02:05,965
is this it? I'm gonna stay for round two of the applause. ,

1562
02:02:07,055 --> 02:02:10,965
thank you for your time. Got one. You have one question, justin gillion, I have question. I I

1563
02:02:11,085 --> 02:02:14,985
think you're the one, um, for the reserve operators. So they may

1564
02:02:15,205 --> 02:02:18,915
just be here waiting all day. Do they have like a full 40 hour

1565
02:02:19,275 --> 02:02:23,245
week? Yeah. How many times are on the bus, that sort of thing? We, we do

1566
02:02:23,405 --> 02:02:27,405
that. That's a great question. There is an entire infrastructure, um, that's in

1567
02:02:27,525 --> 02:02:31,395
our working conditions. And I'll give you a brief example what it is. Um, that

1568
02:02:32,085 --> 02:02:36,005
operator, he or she may come in in the morning and be assigned and be here from 4:00 am and be

1569
02:02:36,205 --> 02:02:39,285
on what we call reserves arbitrary, let's just say till 8:00 am.

1570
02:02:40,545 --> 02:02:44,445
and if they don't catch out, in other words, if everybody shows up for work and they're a need

1571
02:02:44,565 --> 02:02:48,365
for that, some of them may be told to come back at a later time. Okay? Or some of them may

1572
02:02:48,725 --> 02:02:52,725
actually just be given a bus and be sent out to one of the holes to just hang out and

1573
02:02:53,085 --> 02:02:56,965
wait to be sent out and deployed. One of the things that we do have to augment that

1574
02:02:57,355 --> 02:03:01,245
irregular lifestyle and workday is what's known as a guaranteed 80.

1575
02:03:01,675 --> 02:03:05,465
that clause is in our working conditions. What that means is that as long as you show up,

1576
02:03:05,945 --> 02:03:09,515
as long as you show up and be prepared to work, you don't miss and you're not late.

1577
02:03:11,105 --> 02:03:15,045
you'll get a paycheck for 80 hours, even if that day you work six and

1578
02:03:15,245 --> 02:03:19,245
a half or whatever the case may be. It's, it's just the investment, kind of the

1579
02:03:19,365 --> 02:03:23,285
cost of doing business that this industry actually does to ensure that

1580
02:03:23,485 --> 02:03:27,405
we can get that bus to that first customer on the first trip of the day. And that's,

1581
02:03:27,685 --> 02:03:31,605
that came from the old railroad, uh, commission. That's why that term is extra board

1582
02:03:31,805 --> 02:03:35,745
and reserves. They all come from, from the railroad industry that we began from. So,

1583
02:03:36,155 --> 02:03:40,005
okay. Thank you. You bet. Trustee howard, just have one

1584
02:03:40,365 --> 02:03:44,205
question. Yes, sir. You, you talked about the issue of when it was

1585
02:03:44,405 --> 02:03:48,325
first happening, when there was free riding and the loading of the buses and the unloading.

1586
02:03:49,265 --> 02:03:52,885
I'm wanna get into the area of obviously the issues that the driver

1587
02:03:53,945 --> 02:03:57,765
are experiencing could be mentally disturbing, but has there ever been one with a physical

1588
02:03:57,965 --> 02:04:01,345
assault created some, some, some of, of an injury injury

1589
02:04:01,995 --> 02:04:05,625
that was medically in that in nature? Absolutely. Um,

1590
02:04:06,145 --> 02:04:09,925
you know, that that is a yes and not in a, in any small form of the nature,

1591
02:04:10,625 --> 02:04:14,605
not just here across the entire country. There were entire mandates that came

1592
02:04:14,845 --> 02:04:18,845
from, uh, the fta, this one and it, you know, kinda getting transit

1593
02:04:19,275 --> 02:04:22,805
geek language. But sms, which is safety management systems, um, these

1594
02:04:23,485 --> 02:04:26,795
protocols that came from bipartisan, bipartisan infrastructure bill

1595
02:04:27,885 --> 02:04:30,865
required agencies to start to track those, uh,

1596
02:04:32,005 --> 02:04:36,005
identify those at different levels and report that through our national transit database reporting.

1597
02:04:36,675 --> 02:04:40,525
that way they can just synthesize all the activity across the

1598
02:04:40,685 --> 02:04:44,565
country and just take the pulse and find out do they need to make greater mandates to keep

1599
02:04:45,045 --> 02:04:48,925
everyone in this industry doing that job much safer. So by all means, there were some that,

1600
02:04:49,235 --> 02:04:53,085
that were far more than just verbal and tossing of cups and coffee. Um, there

1601
02:04:53,365 --> 02:04:57,205
were some that that actually attacked operators, um, some that even

1602
02:04:57,625 --> 02:05:01,245
off of the bus. We've got cameras and things everywhere, and usually people,

1603
02:05:02,065 --> 02:05:06,005
uh, who have, uh, warrants or a a police involvement background,

1604
02:05:06,485 --> 02:05:10,445
they'll wait till they get off of the bus. 'cause the belief is, well, nobody can see me. Well,

1605
02:05:10,685 --> 02:05:14,105
we've got cameras outside the bus too. Thank you. You bet.

1606
02:05:14,835 --> 02:05:18,805
trustee flores. Thank you madam chair. Uh, tramell the slide

1607
02:05:19,115 --> 02:05:22,645
that listed out what you guys have learned from previous,

1608
02:05:23,625 --> 02:05:26,965
um, times where you had these kinds of disruptions, had service adjustments,

1609
02:05:27,845 --> 02:05:31,845
resource management, safety, security, and all the risk factors that you outlined for

1610
02:05:32,165 --> 02:05:36,165
us. Did you have an opportunity to go back and assess what

1611
02:05:36,445 --> 02:05:39,845
the financial impact was of all of that during that time? In hindsight,

1612
02:05:40,755 --> 02:05:44,595
were you able to assess a percentage cost to all of those risk

1613
02:05:44,885 --> 02:05:48,725
factors based on that prior experience? We, we did, and I don't

1614
02:05:48,925 --> 02:05:52,605
have those numbers in front of me, but what everyone had to do was take a look back

1615
02:05:53,355 --> 02:05:57,285
once everyone kind of survived covid and just kind of like, whew, we made

1616
02:05:57,565 --> 02:06:01,315
it. And there was this look back to find out what, what was the destruction, what

1617
02:06:01,605 --> 02:06:05,605
was the impact? Um, and the ft a and ata, the american public trans association

1618
02:06:06,365 --> 02:06:10,045
encouraged people to do that. And so everyone galvanized at and and grabbed

1619
02:06:10,675 --> 02:06:14,605
that information and most of 'em got submitted to, uh, some of the national reporting, like

1620
02:06:14,845 --> 02:06:18,685
tcrp, uh, trb, these agencies that synthesize all these things.

1621
02:06:18,865 --> 02:06:22,805
and just to find what does that mean, you know, where was most of the costs and how was

1622
02:06:23,005 --> 02:06:26,965
it, how was it utilized? Remember there was all types of programs also where you

1623
02:06:27,165 --> 02:06:30,835
could, uh, get access to dollars, right? To help address some of those burdens

1624
02:06:31,325 --> 02:06:35,115
that you took. Um, but what your question is about is exactly what

1625
02:06:35,465 --> 02:06:39,465
led to the ability for everyone to create emergency procurements, to

1626
02:06:39,685 --> 02:06:43,395
get barrier doors. That was the fastest solution to providing

1627
02:06:44,005 --> 02:06:47,845
an opportunity for the operators to still want to come to work, uh, and just

1628
02:06:48,045 --> 02:06:52,005
keep the doors open and keep service moving. But I don't have them in front of me. There, there was

1629
02:06:52,165 --> 02:06:56,165
a look back to just find out, you know, what was that fiscal hit, uh, to make sure

1630
02:06:56,385 --> 02:07:00,125
we survive it and, and learned and live well from it. And many of those standards are still there

1631
02:07:00,525 --> 02:07:03,285
'cause they just became best practice for, because dealing with masses of people.

1632
02:07:04,865 --> 02:07:08,765
you bet. Trustee flores, our next section actually is going to dive into

1633
02:07:09,005 --> 02:07:12,285
some of the potential financial impacts on the agency as well. Great. Thank you.

1634
02:07:34,245 --> 02:07:38,165
good evening, madam chair, board of trustees. I'm jermaine chubb, vp of fiscal

1635
02:07:38,325 --> 02:07:42,325
management and cfo. I'm going to discuss the, uh, financial impacts of a fair

1636
02:07:42,485 --> 02:07:46,485
free, uh, policy here. As you've heard, uh, many, excuse me, as you've heard many

1637
02:07:46,725 --> 02:07:50,535
times tonight and other presentations, a fair free program is not free. There

1638
02:07:50,905 --> 02:07:54,805
are costs that associated consequences that must be considered. Um, financial

1639
02:07:55,405 --> 02:07:59,085
impacts are very real and we must have a financially, uh, stable system

1640
02:07:59,465 --> 02:08:03,125
to deliver on the transformation that our community has told us that they desire

1641
02:08:03,585 --> 02:08:07,445
by their vote and their ongoing request to this agency. If you look

1642
02:08:07,605 --> 02:08:11,605
here, our, our, our fair box revenue is integrated into our financial plans

1643
02:08:11,885 --> 02:08:15,825
that are submitted to the fta. Our fairbox revenue is needed to

1644
02:08:16,045 --> 02:08:20,045
support our financial capacity and stability, uh, demand divided fta

1645
02:08:20,585 --> 02:08:24,005
and their ongoing, uh, grants for the, uh, green line.

1646
02:08:24,985 --> 02:08:28,925
um, I note also that we're currently spending these grant dollars for our green line and

1647
02:08:29,125 --> 02:08:33,125
we're awaiting a decision on the silver line as well. And so

1648
02:08:33,465 --> 02:08:37,285
lastly here, it has taken via almost 50 years to get to the point where

1649
02:08:37,545 --> 02:08:40,685
we are today in, in a financially, uh, resilient state.

1650
02:08:41,705 --> 02:08:45,605
and via must continue to show that ability to operate and maintain the system for us to,

1651
02:08:45,785 --> 02:08:49,725
um, for, for decades to come for us to maintain financial

1652
02:08:50,285 --> 02:08:54,265
support for these capital projects. Moving on

1653
02:08:54,485 --> 02:08:58,245
to the, uh, next slide here. When management approached the board

1654
02:08:58,715 --> 02:09:02,285
with our capital and operating plan for approval in, uh, late september

1655
02:09:03,065 --> 02:09:06,885
of, uh, last year, uh, we showed a $1.1 billion capital

1656
02:09:07,285 --> 02:09:10,125
improvement plan here. Uh, this plan includes $793 million

1657
02:09:11,905 --> 02:09:15,685
in spend for ks a and includes spend of course on the, uh, green

1658
02:09:15,995 --> 02:09:19,845
line, silver line and second o and m facility, those ks a projects there.

1659
02:09:20,705 --> 02:09:24,365
uh, it also showed, uh, 126 million in spend for revenue vehicles,

1660
02:09:25,235 --> 02:09:28,605
another $58 million for passenger and operating facilities.

1661
02:09:29,665 --> 02:09:33,005
and you'll see here that we, uh, set aside $100 million as contingency

1662
02:09:33,685 --> 02:09:37,585
spend to support the delivery of ksam as required by

1663
02:09:37,805 --> 02:09:41,725
our federal partners, as we stated, and the cover for the lack of contingency that we

1664
02:09:41,845 --> 02:09:45,195
have in a multitude of projects that are within this portfolio here.

1665
02:09:48,585 --> 02:09:52,545
and so you can see by our financial projections here that that plan, and

1666
02:09:52,765 --> 02:09:56,605
of course, the um, operating spend that we needed to incur with

1667
02:09:56,885 --> 02:10:00,525
the, uh, next five years here actually yielded, uh, favorable results

1668
02:10:00,905 --> 02:10:04,605
in terms of achieving the boards are requirements for debt service

1669
02:10:05,165 --> 02:10:09,105
coverage ratio, and days cash on hand. This is how we determine if a capital plan is

1670
02:10:09,325 --> 02:10:13,325
affordable for us or not. And so we show here in that green box here, you see

1671
02:10:13,525 --> 02:10:17,385
that each and every year we achieve at least a 1.3 times or

1672
02:10:17,605 --> 02:10:21,125
better debt service coverage ratio. That's management's planning

1673
02:10:21,645 --> 02:10:25,645
threshold. The board's threshold is a slight bit lower than that and we didn't

1674
02:10:25,885 --> 02:10:29,725
wanna plan to that level, of course, and that threshold is 1.15 times. And so,

1675
02:10:30,425 --> 02:10:34,305
uh, we were doing good from that standpoint. And then when you look at dave's cash on

1676
02:10:34,525 --> 02:10:38,405
hand, we achieved 126, well, I'm sorry, 126 days or

1677
02:10:38,605 --> 02:10:42,285
better in the five year timeframe. The board's threshold is 120

1678
02:10:43,005 --> 02:10:46,525
days or better. And so we, we achieved that as well. And so the board

1679
02:10:47,125 --> 02:10:50,965
approved the capital and operating plan for the organization. Now I want to take

1680
02:10:51,325 --> 02:10:55,045
a look at what would happen if we actually had some impact to our fairbox

1681
02:10:55,485 --> 02:10:59,245
revenues. And so we'll go over to the next slide here. This slide here shows

1682
02:10:59,625 --> 02:11:03,365
the results of a full, fair free policy on the organization.

1683
02:11:04,105 --> 02:11:08,085
so it amounts to this, uh, 5% revenue loss or so. And so

1684
02:11:08,265 --> 02:11:12,195
you can see here in the, um, chart here that a fair free policy will

1685
02:11:12,485 --> 02:11:16,485
result in that full $18 million loss. If you just look at

1686
02:11:16,645 --> 02:11:20,535
our fiscal year 26 budget, we plan for 18 million in spend

1687
02:11:21,185 --> 02:11:24,925
and fair box revenues, all of that will be wiped away. We made an assumption

1688
02:11:25,315 --> 02:11:29,285
here that let's just say that we knew that this was gonna be our policy before the

1689
02:11:29,405 --> 02:11:33,115
year started, and we plan to remove all of the costs associated with fair

1690
02:11:33,425 --> 02:11:37,285
box collections. And so you see that as a savings here in the chart here

1691
02:11:37,535 --> 02:11:41,365
above. And then on the operating, um, side of the house, you heard

1692
02:11:42,005 --> 02:11:45,885
tremmel brown's conversation and presentation about all of the impacts that this

1693
02:11:46,115 --> 02:11:49,485
fair box, this free fair policy would cost for the organization.

1694
02:11:50,665 --> 02:11:53,925
and if we wanted to maintain the level of service that this organization

1695
02:11:54,795 --> 02:11:58,765
desires, there would be quite a bit of cost. And so what we did

1696
02:11:58,925 --> 02:12:02,845
is we programmed what we, what we believe is a modest 5% impact to

1697
02:12:03,005 --> 02:12:06,805
our fiscal year 26 operating budget here. And that's that $16.3 million

1698
02:12:08,555 --> 02:12:12,445
that you see here. I note here below that, that I believe these costs could

1699
02:12:12,725 --> 02:12:16,605
be within a range of five to 15%. And so at the

1700
02:12:16,765 --> 02:12:20,725
5% impact on our fiscal year 26 operating budget, we would have a

1701
02:12:20,845 --> 02:12:24,705
total financial impact of $33 million at

1702
02:12:24,925 --> 02:12:26,805
that 15% that could be as high as $67 million.

1703
02:12:30,585 --> 02:12:34,385
and so moving forward to the next slide, this particular slide here shows, uh,

1704
02:12:34,635 --> 02:12:38,445
partial fair free policy here, or 3% revenue

1705
02:12:38,955 --> 02:12:42,745
loss. And so in, in this situation, we assume that, um,

1706
02:12:43,745 --> 02:12:47,445
of course our fairbox revenues, we maintain 40% of our fairbox

1707
02:12:47,965 --> 02:12:51,945
revenues. And then in terms of the operating impact, we

1708
02:12:52,165 --> 02:12:56,025
just took a more modest number here, assuming that we'd have slight, um,

1709
02:12:56,445 --> 02:12:59,885
slightly less impact here. But looking at the numbers here, you could see that

1710
02:13:00,585 --> 02:13:04,485
you would have the fair box revenue loss of 10.8 million. We would

1711
02:13:04,605 --> 02:13:08,185
no longer have the fair collection savings because we're still collecting faires.

1712
02:13:09,065 --> 02:13:12,945
and then we would have about a $9.8 million operational impact

1713
02:13:13,385 --> 02:13:17,165
on the modest end, resulting in a total financial impact of $20.6 million.

1714
02:13:19,905 --> 02:13:23,885
the next slide actually goes over the impact of both of

1715
02:13:24,045 --> 02:13:28,025
those scenarios. And you can see here in the, uh, middle here, we

1716
02:13:28,245 --> 02:13:31,915
talk about that 4 0 4 fee, uh, policy here, that 5% revenue loss.

1717
02:13:32,945 --> 02:13:36,215
and, um, you look squarely at the debt service coverage ratio.

1718
02:13:37,465 --> 02:13:41,405
and over those five years that we talked about fiscal year 26 through 30, where we

1719
02:13:41,605 --> 02:13:45,205
were showing an achievement greater than the boards required 1.15 times,

1720
02:13:46,265 --> 02:13:49,685
we now have a minimum within that timeframe of negative one times,

1721
02:13:50,755 --> 02:13:53,645
meaning that if we had debt service in a particular year of $20 million,

1722
02:13:54,825 --> 02:13:57,865
our net revenues to pay debt service that year was negative $20 million.

1723
02:13:59,905 --> 02:14:03,825
and our minimum debt, um, I'm sorry, our minimum days cash on

1724
02:14:04,045 --> 02:14:07,765
hand in that timeframe was 78 as well. And so the board

1725
02:14:08,095 --> 02:14:11,925
would not accept that. Management would not accept that we would have to go go back to the drawing

1726
02:14:12,205 --> 02:14:16,145
board. And so we talk about some actions that we might need to pursue to, uh,

1727
02:14:16,365 --> 02:14:19,885
cure this. We would need to look at stocking all of our major capital projects,

1728
02:14:20,465 --> 02:14:24,245
the green line, the silver line, checking on m facility, better bus

1729
02:14:24,555 --> 02:14:28,485
plan, and or make significant cuts to our operation. And when we

1730
02:14:28,605 --> 02:14:32,525
talk significant, it would be a major cut to our operations

1731
02:14:33,275 --> 02:14:37,075
that we have today. Looking at the, uh, 3% revenue loss

1732
02:14:37,605 --> 02:14:41,285
scenario, similar results. We have a negative 0.2 times debt service

1733
02:14:41,845 --> 02:14:45,785
coverage ratio. We have negative 71 days cash on

1734
02:14:46,005 --> 02:14:49,445
hand and of course another, um, program that would not be acceptable

1735
02:14:50,065 --> 02:14:53,705
by management nor the board standards. And we're still looking at stopping silver

1736
02:14:54,235 --> 02:14:57,845
line second on m facility, better bus plan and again,

1737
02:14:58,265 --> 02:15:02,205
and or major cuts to the operation. And one of the reasons that these numbers

1738
02:15:02,675 --> 02:15:06,465
fall off so significantly is once we get to a point where we

1739
02:15:06,685 --> 02:15:10,605
are no longer financially, uh, resilient, the ft a is gonna look at that

1740
02:15:10,765 --> 02:15:14,625
and they're gonna pull all of the grants that they've promised us thus far

1741
02:15:14,865 --> 02:15:18,665
and what we're planning for in terms of silver lining. So you have to take those out

1742
02:15:18,885 --> 02:15:22,885
and then we have to overcome that in some manner and we're just unable to do it.

1743
02:15:25,965 --> 02:15:29,845
and I would say lastly here, and so we, we've shown how it's, it's really

1744
02:15:30,265 --> 02:15:33,765
unaffordable for the organization to consider this fair free policy, but

1745
02:15:34,325 --> 02:15:38,055
we also have legal challenges as well. We're actually prohibited from allowing a total fair

1746
02:15:38,345 --> 02:15:42,175
free, uh, policy here. And so with our fairbox revenue bond

1747
02:15:42,505 --> 02:15:46,255
issuance on december 1st, 2020, we have a special coveted

1748
02:15:46,745 --> 02:15:50,605
within that, uh, within that bond agreement that says that no

1749
02:15:50,825 --> 02:15:54,685
free service of the transit authority shall be allowed to any customer or

1750
02:15:54,905 --> 02:15:58,705
other person except for children under five years of age who ride pursuant

1751
02:15:59,265 --> 02:16:03,255
to v's. Policy. And so again, we have

1752
02:16:03,545 --> 02:16:07,505
an inability to afford the, uh, changes that we talked about. And certainly we have

1753
02:16:07,665 --> 02:16:11,565
a legal restriction as well. Do you wanna go

1754
02:16:11,785 --> 02:16:12,655
ahead and go through? Okay,

1755
02:16:17,485 --> 02:16:21,235
so now I'm going to go over three things. First,

1756
02:16:21,765 --> 02:16:25,145
the factors that fda evaluates for the overall

1757
02:16:25,875 --> 02:16:29,825
award of the, uh, capital investment grant. The second one is

1758
02:16:30,045 --> 02:16:33,535
going to be overall rating for vr, rapid lines

1759
02:16:34,185 --> 02:16:38,105
and inputs to that, uh, rating. And then the

1760
02:16:38,325 --> 02:16:42,055
last one, I I will cover impacts to the cig grant

1761
02:16:42,665 --> 02:16:46,315
due to fear free policy. This chart here

1762
02:16:47,015 --> 02:16:50,835
shows, uh, it's complex, but it shows the

1763
02:16:51,315 --> 02:16:55,175
two areas where we look at rating. Um, to be

1764
02:16:55,615 --> 02:16:59,295
eligible to receive cig construction grant, all proposed projects

1765
02:17:00,005 --> 02:17:02,975
must go through a multi-year multi-state development process

1766
02:17:04,575 --> 02:17:08,445
outlined in the law. Fda is required to evaluate and rate

1767
02:17:09,055 --> 02:17:12,965
cig projects on statutorily defined project justification

1768
02:17:14,155 --> 02:17:17,585
and local financial commitment criteria. Both are rated 50%

1769
02:17:19,195 --> 02:17:23,185
and a project must receive at least minimum or above

1770
02:17:24,085 --> 02:17:27,735
overall rating to advance through the steps in the process

1771
02:17:28,315 --> 02:17:32,195
and receive construction grant awards. So that's the framework we use.

1772
02:17:32,845 --> 02:17:36,635
then I'm going to go to the next, uh, step which dwells

1773
02:17:37,075 --> 02:17:39,015
deeper into local financial commitment.

1774
02:17:41,675 --> 02:17:45,415
um, as part of the 20 year financial plan that is

1775
02:17:45,935 --> 02:17:49,185
required to be submitted for the, uh, grant,

1776
02:17:50,355 --> 02:17:54,355
we look at three areas, the current conditions with capital and

1777
02:17:54,575 --> 02:17:58,355
operating, uh, condition. Second

1778
02:17:58,875 --> 02:18:02,495
one, which is most important in today's context is commitment

1779
02:18:03,015 --> 02:18:06,925
of funds. It includes fairbox revenue, current and projected

1780
02:18:07,625 --> 02:18:11,465
local sales tax and current and projected any other funds

1781
02:18:12,025 --> 02:18:15,545
which we might receive. And the third one is reasonable

1782
02:18:17,235 --> 02:18:20,685
of capital and operating cost estimates, planning assumptions,

1783
02:18:21,725 --> 02:18:25,565
capital and operating funding capacity, including total debt

1784
02:18:26,215 --> 02:18:30,045
capacity. All this together helps us look

1785
02:18:30,335 --> 02:18:34,015
at these where we are today with the rapid green line. We have,

1786
02:18:34,475 --> 02:18:38,255
uh, a grant agreement, full funding grant agreement with fda

1787
02:18:39,625 --> 02:18:42,815
basis of which included fairbox revenue

1788
02:18:43,955 --> 02:18:47,775
and some of the financial germane explained before. And that

1789
02:18:48,105 --> 02:18:49,075
grant is $268 million

1790
02:18:52,115 --> 02:18:55,665
silver line. We are in the process of submitting our final

1791
02:18:56,785 --> 02:19:00,515
grant application, and both projects currently are

1792
02:19:00,935 --> 02:19:04,415
rated medium high, which made us competitive

1793
02:19:05,195 --> 02:19:08,455
and eligible to receive this grant next line.

1794
02:19:09,915 --> 02:19:13,325
so a fair p policy also threatens greenline

1795
02:19:14,295 --> 02:19:18,175
construction and evaluation of silver line grants as fda requires

1796
02:19:18,845 --> 02:19:22,655
financial capacity to deliver projects and operate those projects.

1797
02:19:23,885 --> 02:19:27,805
requirement to demonstrate a sustainable financial plan to fda

1798
02:19:28,345 --> 02:19:32,285
is a key requirements of sustainable financial plan includes

1799
02:19:32,845 --> 02:19:35,965
meeting via policies related to debt service

1800
02:19:36,885 --> 02:19:40,805
coverage, cash in hand, and uh, also demonstrating

1801
02:19:41,205 --> 02:19:44,475
funding for service and capital needs without

1802
02:19:45,315 --> 02:19:48,815
impacting the service, the existing service for next 20 years.

1803
02:19:50,265 --> 02:19:53,845
so we must identify replacement funding sources

1804
02:19:54,945 --> 02:19:58,605
or cost reduction plan without impacting existing service.

1805
02:19:59,385 --> 02:20:01,905
if we proceed with fear-free policy.

1806
02:20:03,585 --> 02:20:07,325
in worst case, our inability to secure local funding sources

1807
02:20:07,995 --> 02:20:11,945
whether taxes or fair fares as promised in

1808
02:20:12,165 --> 02:20:16,065
the financial plan, can also, uh, expose us

1809
02:20:16,785 --> 02:20:20,325
to potential paths in the grant for, uh, green line

1810
02:20:20,845 --> 02:20:24,285
construction so they can stop, draw down our existing grant,

1811
02:20:25,305 --> 02:20:28,875
or in the worst case, terminate grant agreement for the green line.

1812
02:20:30,065 --> 02:20:33,995
it also, uh, may ask us if we cannot have

1813
02:20:34,285 --> 02:20:37,845
local, uh, sustainable financial plan in the two

1814
02:20:38,325 --> 02:20:41,905
scenarios that jermaine mentioned, they might ask us to

1815
02:20:42,365 --> 02:20:46,075
repay those grant uh, awards. This also

1816
02:20:46,645 --> 02:20:49,175
jeopardizes our silver line grant award.

1817
02:20:52,255 --> 02:20:55,925
madam chair. With that, we're glad to pause and take any questions about the financial implications.

1818
02:20:57,325 --> 02:21:00,825
trustees, any questions on the financials? No,

1819
02:21:02,465 --> 02:21:03,405
we are good. Thank you so much.

1820
02:21:10,095 --> 02:21:13,635
and then priscilla's going to join for the last section of this presentation.

1821
02:21:27,145 --> 02:21:30,795
good evening. My name is priscilla ingle, senior vice president of customer

1822
02:21:31,265 --> 02:21:35,115
support, customer care and support. And we're here to talk to you about the fair

1823
02:21:35,355 --> 02:21:38,955
programs that we offer to the community for those who are seeking,

1824
02:21:39,575 --> 02:21:43,075
uh, access to our service. We have for decades provided affordable

1825
02:21:43,635 --> 02:21:47,475
transportation with numerous discounts for the community. And I can tell you

1826
02:21:48,025 --> 02:21:51,635
that over the decades that I've been here, we've really been very progressive

1827
02:21:52,095 --> 02:21:55,785
in providing services so that no one, uh, doesn't

1828
02:21:56,275 --> 02:22:00,195
have the opportunity to use a service to get where they need to go. So we do have

1829
02:22:00,795 --> 02:22:04,545
existing discounts in place and we also have a very robust program

1830
02:22:05,345 --> 02:22:09,215
that we partnership that we have with area nonprofits for them to

1831
02:22:09,495 --> 02:22:12,995
be able to acc have their clients access service as well.

1832
02:22:13,735 --> 02:22:17,115
the partnerships are welcomed. We're glad that we are able to work with partners

1833
02:22:18,055 --> 02:22:21,855
and with, but to be able to do that, we need to have funding in place, and

1834
02:22:22,075 --> 02:22:25,865
that's where the fair comes in and we reinvest it so that we can put

1835
02:22:26,085 --> 02:22:30,075
other programs in place to help those in need. Next

1836
02:22:30,365 --> 02:22:34,245
slide. So this, uh, gives you a snapshot of what our faires look

1837
02:22:34,445 --> 02:22:38,255
like today. And while they may look reasonable to all of us, there

1838
02:22:38,625 --> 02:22:42,595
are unfortunately some communities that can't afford fair, but we do have

1839
02:22:43,085 --> 02:22:47,005
programs where we can help them get where they need to go and be able

1840
02:22:47,205 --> 02:22:51,125
to use a service. But as you can see on this screen, we've got

1841
02:22:51,245 --> 02:22:55,115
four year children. Four years are younger, ride for free children, five

1842
02:22:55,425 --> 02:22:59,305
to 13 can ride at half fair. The via trans rider can always use

1843
02:22:59,545 --> 02:23:03,245
our fixed route service free, and they can also take a

1844
02:23:03,565 --> 02:23:07,265
personal care attendant with them free as well if they ride the bus. And we

1845
02:23:07,595 --> 02:23:11,255
last adjusted our fares in 2015. So it's been a while since we've,

1846
02:23:11,625 --> 02:23:15,565
uh, been able to increase our fares, but that kind of has been intentional. We've put

1847
02:23:15,685 --> 02:23:19,645
other things in place to help us, uh, work with our customers to get them where they need

1848
02:23:19,805 --> 02:23:23,485
to go with and without them having to feel the, the pain of having

1849
02:23:23,985 --> 02:23:27,795
to spend more money than they have. Next slide. So this

1850
02:23:28,085 --> 02:23:31,865
gives you a snapshot of the, uh, discounts that we have. And, uh,

1851
02:23:32,135 --> 02:23:35,605
we're, uh, our team spends a lot of time, uh, growing

1852
02:23:36,225 --> 02:23:40,225
the programs that we have in place. We have our, um,

1853
02:23:40,925 --> 02:23:44,335
semester pass that we offer to college students. Originally

1854
02:23:45,185 --> 02:23:49,085
it was just targeted to students attending college, but then,

1855
02:23:49,545 --> 02:23:53,525
uh, as we worked with the various institutions and colleges, they said,

1856
02:23:53,725 --> 02:23:57,485
hey, can we extend that to our faculty and staff? And we were able to do that.

1857
02:23:58,145 --> 02:24:01,885
so the tuition, the, the colleges pay $2 and 50 cents

1858
02:24:02,985 --> 02:24:06,965
per student faculty or staff member per semester, and they have

1859
02:24:07,225 --> 02:24:11,165
access to via service throughout the, that school semester. In

1860
02:24:11,365 --> 02:24:15,245
fact, we've even extended it. So, uh, the, when the school

1861
02:24:15,465 --> 02:24:19,315
starts, uh, in the fall, and really the passes are really available

1862
02:24:19,985 --> 02:24:23,805
to them come august the first, and they run through the end of december.

1863
02:24:24,465 --> 02:24:28,405
and I will tell you that we'll start getting calls from the students saying, hey, is my

1864
02:24:28,565 --> 02:24:31,765
school already enrolled in the program? 'cause they wanna have access to this service.

1865
02:24:32,905 --> 02:24:36,735
um, the colleges that are engaged right now with us, alamo

1866
02:24:37,085 --> 02:24:40,495
community district colleges, ut san antonio, texas

1867
02:24:41,125 --> 02:24:44,485
a and m, and we were, uh, just able at the start of january

1868
02:24:45,465 --> 02:24:49,085
to also onboard the ut uh, medical school. So they're now,

1869
02:24:49,585 --> 02:24:53,105
uh, members where, and all of these campuses allow the faires

1870
02:24:53,685 --> 02:24:57,665
to be available not only to the students, but also to their faculty and

1871
02:24:57,895 --> 02:25:01,865
staff and the same host through with the medical school. Everybody who's working there or

1872
02:25:02,085 --> 02:25:06,065
attending classes is using, um, the service as well. And,

1873
02:25:06,345 --> 02:25:10,135
uh, we, we really consider what we're doing as partners. Every,

1874
02:25:10,625 --> 02:25:14,565
uh, we are engaged with the campuses, but we're also engaged with the businesses that we work

1875
02:25:14,805 --> 02:25:18,725
with. So for our area employers, any business that wants

1876
02:25:19,065 --> 02:25:22,365
to provide, um, passes or service to their

1877
02:25:23,205 --> 02:25:27,125
employees, they have to have at least 25 employees. And if

1878
02:25:27,285 --> 02:25:30,805
they do and they purchase passes for all of their employees, they pay $82

1879
02:25:32,085 --> 02:25:35,565
annually to have their employee have access to service.

1880
02:25:36,425 --> 02:25:40,325
um, if they're a government agency in both bexar county and, uh, the city of san

1881
02:25:40,485 --> 02:25:43,925
antonio, our part of the program, they pay $60 per annual,

1882
02:25:44,545 --> 02:25:48,445
uh, per year per employee. What we also do with the

1883
02:25:48,805 --> 02:25:52,745
businesses, because they are making that investment into their employee, if an employee leaves

1884
02:25:53,745 --> 02:25:57,685
the company, we will work with them. And when they, uh, when they backfill

1885
02:25:58,245 --> 02:26:02,125
that position, then that, that pass will then be transitioned over

1886
02:26:02,385 --> 02:26:05,845
to the new employee. So they don't really ever lose out on any funding.

1887
02:26:06,745 --> 02:26:10,525
and, um, our staff is very dedicated to working with these companies. Once they're

1888
02:26:10,845 --> 02:26:14,625
a partner with us, we want them to stay. And so we make certain that we, um,

1889
02:26:15,075 --> 02:26:18,645
work with them any way we can to make it convenient for them with the investment they're

1890
02:26:19,085 --> 02:26:22,835
making. So we're pleased to report that on the upas side,

1891
02:26:23,185 --> 02:26:26,535
we have just over a hundred thousand student faculty and staff

1892
02:26:27,195 --> 02:26:31,165
that can access the program. And that changes depending on, uh, what the

1893
02:26:31,285 --> 02:26:35,025
attendance is looking like and the employment looks like at the start of the semester. But,

1894
02:26:35,425 --> 02:26:39,165
uh, we've got over a hundred thousand people that have access to the program.

1895
02:26:39,985 --> 02:26:42,445
and then on our, on our employer site, we have 156

1896
02:26:44,245 --> 02:26:48,125
employers who are working with us on the vo works program. And we

1897
02:26:48,325 --> 02:26:51,845
do have a team that is out every day working with companies,

1898
02:26:52,505 --> 02:26:56,435
uh, to get them engaged with us in some way. And we will also,

1899
02:26:57,265 --> 02:27:01,265
we don't just sign 'em up and walk away, we're there for the long haul. So if they need flyers,

1900
02:27:01,685 --> 02:27:05,405
if they need passes, if they're having an event on their,

1901
02:27:05,865 --> 02:27:09,865
at their, uh, facility and they want us there, we will be there. And sometimes we

1902
02:27:10,115 --> 02:27:13,885
also, uh, make the effort to come up with things that we can do

1903
02:27:14,165 --> 02:27:17,605
to be there with them and be a good partner. Next slide.

1904
02:27:18,865 --> 02:27:22,635
so we also have reduced, uh, reduced and discounted fare

1905
02:27:22,925 --> 02:27:26,445
for our seniors. Uh, that has been in place for quite some time,

1906
02:27:27,185 --> 02:27:31,185
but we in the last, uh, few years have made it even better for

1907
02:27:31,545 --> 02:27:35,405
the senior because we used to, they, you would have a half fair pass that they

1908
02:27:35,565 --> 02:27:38,945
could use to ride. But what we did in recent years is

1909
02:27:39,575 --> 02:27:43,385
we've opted to allow them to ride free on the weekends, and

1910
02:27:43,605 --> 02:27:47,565
they pay 25 cents from, uh, 9:00 am to, to 3:00 pm

1911
02:27:48,865 --> 02:27:52,365
so it's very affordable for them to be able to use the service.

1912
02:27:53,385 --> 02:27:57,255
and, uh, we too, we visit a lot of senior facilities.

1913
02:27:57,985 --> 02:28:01,345
we go to a lot of senior fairs with the intent of,

1914
02:28:02,025 --> 02:28:05,765
uh, promoting the service so they can take advantage of that. And then for underprivileged

1915
02:28:06,445 --> 02:28:10,245
community, we started a few years back what we call a fair assistance program.

1916
02:28:11,385 --> 02:28:15,325
any 5 0 1 c3 nonprofit social service organization or governmental

1917
02:28:15,985 --> 02:28:19,715
agency that's working with people who are underserved or have

1918
02:28:20,075 --> 02:28:23,805
live in low income can purchase, uh, passes from us

1919
02:28:24,105 --> 02:28:27,795
at a discount of 25%. And they can determine what

1920
02:28:28,115 --> 02:28:32,085
type of fares they wanna be, if they wanna wanna sell, if they want have available

1921
02:28:32,505 --> 02:28:36,275
to their seniors, if they want it to be a day pass, um, monthly pass,

1922
02:28:37,105 --> 02:28:40,925
we will, uh, sell them to them in bulk. And then they provide them to their,

1923
02:28:41,345 --> 02:28:44,405
um, their, they provide them to the people that they serve.

1924
02:28:45,425 --> 02:28:48,725
and we've got 126 agencies who have purchased,

1925
02:28:49,665 --> 02:28:53,605
uh, these who have participated in the program. And we're pleased to report that when we

1926
02:28:53,845 --> 02:28:57,745
launched this program in 2019, we've sold over $3 million in

1927
02:28:58,125 --> 02:29:01,745
fair to date, just with that program alone. And there again, we,

1928
02:29:02,305 --> 02:29:06,295
we, uh, make sure that we are engaged with these organizations. We're

1929
02:29:06,645 --> 02:29:10,445
there for them. If they need us, they need flyers, we'll give that to them. If they're having

1930
02:29:10,665 --> 02:29:14,525
an event, they need us there, uh, with them, we will do that. Uh, but

1931
02:29:14,725 --> 02:29:18,165
we spend a lot of time making certain that all of these

1932
02:29:19,285 --> 02:29:23,225
agencies that we serve are being served by us in the best way possible so

1933
02:29:23,445 --> 02:29:27,365
that they can have their, uh, clients and customers and employees

1934
02:29:28,105 --> 02:29:31,835
get where they need to go. And so this list

1935
02:29:32,275 --> 02:29:35,925
here, um, and I know it's a little kind of distorted,

1936
02:29:36,625 --> 02:29:40,065
but, uh, this is a list of the 126, uh,

1937
02:29:40,965 --> 02:29:44,685
agencies that we work with. And we do call them strong partnerships.

1938
02:29:45,865 --> 02:29:49,365
uh, we wanna help them as much as we can. Uh, but this is the a hundred twenty, a hundred twenty six

1939
02:29:50,645 --> 02:29:54,545
that we have to today. We get calls every week from an agency

1940
02:29:54,965 --> 02:29:58,805
saying, can you help us? We need passes. Uh, we started this program.

1941
02:29:59,825 --> 02:30:03,555
we started it, we started it with the brook hill baptist church. They,

1942
02:30:04,025 --> 02:30:07,965
uh, came to us. They needed just a small number of passes 'cause they were

1943
02:30:08,045 --> 02:30:11,905
trying to get the homeless off the street into their churches to get fed. And,

1944
02:30:12,465 --> 02:30:16,445
uh, from that one person that came to us, and she was very persistent about

1945
02:30:16,685 --> 02:30:20,645
getting us to work with her, it's grown into what we have today. But every week

1946
02:30:20,845 --> 02:30:24,625
we're getting calls from nonprofits. We make it very quick and easy for them to,

1947
02:30:25,345 --> 02:30:29,325
um, participate in our programs. They just have to give us their 5 0 1 c3,

1948
02:30:29,635 --> 02:30:33,525
fill out a quick form, and then, uh, we consider them our partner

1949
02:30:33,865 --> 02:30:37,845
and we start working with them, um, in whatever capacity we can to make it

1950
02:30:38,005 --> 02:30:41,595
a success for them as well. And

1951
02:30:42,045 --> 02:30:45,875
what we can also tell you is that 40% of our rider are,

1952
02:30:46,115 --> 02:30:49,835
are, are riding on reduced fare. And that's, uh,

1953
02:30:50,145 --> 02:30:54,125
quite a number. When you look at, um, how many people that we're serving, that

1954
02:30:54,415 --> 02:30:58,335
40% of them are riding on a reduced fare. And that number could grow because,

1955
02:30:58,835 --> 02:31:02,815
you know, we've got a community that we know needs assistance, but we're here to help them.

1956
02:31:02,975 --> 02:31:06,455
we've always been, uh, if somebody comes to us with a concept

1957
02:31:07,035 --> 02:31:10,495
for a new idea on how to, uh, process fair or distribute fair,

1958
02:31:11,275 --> 02:31:15,205
uh, we listen and we talk to people. Um, I will give

1959
02:31:15,495 --> 02:31:19,445
you a quick story. Toyota had a fair grant to, they had

1960
02:31:19,605 --> 02:31:23,575
a grant to purchase fares from us, from us, which they did. After

1961
02:31:23,925 --> 02:31:27,665
they went through the program with us, they found that the end of, of the term of

1962
02:31:28,005 --> 02:31:31,845
u of using that grant, that they had $15,000 left, that

1963
02:31:32,125 --> 02:31:36,105
they weren't going to be putting towards fair. So they asked our

1964
02:31:36,325 --> 02:31:40,165
team, do you think you would want that money and use it?

1965
02:31:40,785 --> 02:31:44,525
and so he said, yeah, we'll take the $15,000 and we use that money

1966
02:31:45,225 --> 02:31:49,205
for random people that call us or a small agency in need, and we will give

1967
02:31:49,445 --> 02:31:53,305
them the passes they need through that $15,000 that's made available to

1968
02:31:53,525 --> 02:31:57,285
us. In fact, when the new, um, when we, uh, launched

1969
02:31:57,635 --> 02:32:01,605
with, uh, councilman gto in the city of san antonio, the semester pass

1970
02:32:01,885 --> 02:32:05,365
program, we had a parent call us. They have, they had three students,

1971
02:32:05,985 --> 02:32:09,875
but they were outside of the age range. The ages

1972
02:32:10,165 --> 02:32:14,005
are 12 to 18 for the semester pass. These children were like

1973
02:32:14,275 --> 02:32:18,245
nine, 10, and 11, and they didn't have fair, and they were asked, called

1974
02:32:18,565 --> 02:32:22,205
us and asked us can we somehow get passes for our three

1975
02:32:22,645 --> 02:32:26,565
children. And so we just dipped into that fund. We said, we will give you the semester

1976
02:32:26,765 --> 02:32:30,665
passes through a grant that we have available to us. And the parent came up,

1977
02:32:31,025 --> 02:32:34,845
got their passes, and their kids are now going to school, and they didn't

1978
02:32:35,125 --> 02:32:38,765
have to, um, do anything else to try to get that fair available

1979
02:32:39,265 --> 02:32:43,165
to them. So, uh, we're always looking for opportunities. We always make

1980
02:32:43,365 --> 02:32:47,325
ourselves available to talk to anybody who may need services from us to see how

1981
02:32:47,485 --> 02:32:51,325
we can work together. And I think that's my

1982
02:32:52,355 --> 02:32:56,265
madam chair. We're glad to pause on for any questions on this section. Trustees, trustee,

1983
02:32:56,745 --> 02:33:00,725
dealer. One question. Yes, thank you. One question, please. How old does a child have to be to

1984
02:33:00,945 --> 02:33:04,895
be able to ride by themselves? Uh, they have to be, uh, over,

1985
02:33:05,335 --> 02:33:08,865
they have to be, uh, 10 or 12, 12 and above.

1986
02:33:09,455 --> 02:33:13,405
yeah. They have to be with a parent if they're any younger or

1987
02:33:13,765 --> 02:33:17,765
our guardian or an adult has to be with them. Mm-hmm . Trustee

1988
02:33:18,255 --> 02:33:22,215
cooper. Thanks, priscilla. That was great. Um, I

1989
02:33:22,335 --> 02:33:25,795
think one of the other big things we've done, um, is

1990
02:33:27,155 --> 02:33:30,535
we got rid of transfer fees.

1991
02:33:31,515 --> 02:33:35,335
yes. And that that's another I yes. You know, of all the things we do that. Right. That

1992
02:33:35,615 --> 02:33:39,415
was a big one I felt mm-hmm . You know, in addition to not raising the fares

1993
02:33:39,695 --> 02:33:43,635
since. Right. Could you just give the room just a little bit of

1994
02:33:43,855 --> 02:33:47,835
what impact that had? Well, because the customers were having to

1995
02:33:48,075 --> 02:33:52,055
pay for any transfer that they got, they'd have to pay fair, I think it was 15 cents at the

1996
02:33:52,175 --> 02:33:56,165
time. And so that was a burden on some people to be able to have to pay that fair

1997
02:33:56,605 --> 02:34:00,435
when they, um, boarded the bus when they were just making a transfer. So

1998
02:34:00,655 --> 02:34:04,575
we eliminated that and they no longer have to do that. One thing I, I will

1999
02:34:04,735 --> 02:34:08,565
bring up, it's, it's premature, but I think it al also falls into

2000
02:34:08,855 --> 02:34:12,775
the category affairs and, um, it's, we'll bring it

2001
02:34:12,935 --> 02:34:16,495
back to the board later, but we will be introducing a concept called

2002
02:34:17,035 --> 02:34:20,945
fair capping that will happen, uh, down the road as we

2003
02:34:21,185 --> 02:34:24,765
get, uh, finalize what we're doing with our, uh, fair, our fair boxes.

2004
02:34:25,785 --> 02:34:29,685
and what that'll do is it'll cap a customer's fair. So if somebody

2005
02:34:29,825 --> 02:34:33,485
boards the bus and they pay a dollar 30 and they're making an, uh, they're

2006
02:34:33,885 --> 02:34:37,765
transitioning to another bus, they're paying another another dollar 30,

2007
02:34:38,145 --> 02:34:41,845
and they make another trip that day, they're already ma they already

2008
02:34:42,355 --> 02:34:46,095
have hit the co the price of a day pass. So then their,

2009
02:34:46,735 --> 02:34:50,695
their, um, their fare will turn into a day pass and they can continue riding the fares

2010
02:34:51,065 --> 02:34:54,965
cap for that day. And it'll do the same thing if somebody rides multiple

2011
02:34:55,165 --> 02:34:59,125
times on a monthly or a weekly pass. Uh, we're still,

2012
02:34:59,465 --> 02:35:03,365
uh, getting all of that together, but we'll bring that back in the future to let you know how

2013
02:35:03,525 --> 02:35:07,445
that works. But that's going to be another incentive to get people to ride and not

2014
02:35:07,645 --> 02:35:09,245
to feel the stress of having to pay per trip.

2015
02:35:12,575 --> 02:35:16,425
vice chair gomez. Thank you, madam chair.

2016
02:35:16,665 --> 02:35:19,045
just for a matter of emphasis, actually, um,

2017
02:35:20,835 --> 02:35:24,725
we've not had fair increases in over 10 years. Yes,

2018
02:35:25,095 --> 02:35:28,585
that is true. Right. Uh, and secondly, we have over 126

2019
02:35:30,095 --> 02:35:34,025
nonprofit partners mm-hmm . For discount programs and in some

2020
02:35:34,185 --> 02:35:38,155
cases fair fee programs. Right. For targeted populations. Right. Because those

2021
02:35:38,575 --> 02:35:42,185
fair, the while the agency buys the fair, the the person they're

2022
02:35:42,585 --> 02:35:46,465
helping is getting the fair for free. Right. They're giving it to them. So via is getting

2023
02:35:46,695 --> 02:35:50,345
compensated for the service yes. But the nonprofit is facilitating

2024
02:35:51,125 --> 02:35:54,145
the free service for their client. Exactly. Okay. Thank you.

2025
02:35:58,755 --> 02:36:01,505
trust. Uh, one last question. Of the 120

2026
02:36:03,095 --> 02:36:07,015
plus partners, can we get a list of your, your top five, type

2027
02:36:07,365 --> 02:36:11,185
10? Yes, we can do that. Agencies just curious to see where they are. Is it the housing,

2028
02:36:12,085 --> 02:36:15,905
is it the, uh, supportive services and categorize that against, um, critical

2029
02:36:16,285 --> 02:36:19,515
issues, um, that the city faces? Exactly. We can do that for you. Definitely.

2030
02:36:20,295 --> 02:36:24,265
very good, thank you. Okay. Madam chair, one thing we did also wanna

2031
02:36:24,425 --> 02:36:27,865
point out on this slide, uh, down at the bottom of the screen for the board,

2032
02:36:28,595 --> 02:36:32,185
while priscilla did mentioned that 40% of our customers are paying that already reduced

2033
02:36:32,615 --> 02:36:36,605
fair price, that equates to 61 cents to

2034
02:36:36,825 --> 02:36:40,615
ride the bus off of our normal dollar 30 fare.

2035
02:36:41,285 --> 02:36:42,865
so just wanted to put that in perspective as well.

2036
02:36:45,485 --> 02:36:49,035
thank you leroy. Uh, any other questions?

2037
02:36:50,905 --> 02:36:52,195
okay, thank you.

2038
02:37:00,525 --> 02:37:04,495
okay. Um, so now we're gonna bring this back around as we are indicating

2039
02:37:04,935 --> 02:37:08,895
from the very beginning that, you know, this type of policy consideration

2040
02:37:09,675 --> 02:37:13,455
had a great deal of complexities and impacts throughout

2041
02:37:14,035 --> 02:37:17,885
our organization. And to that, we have a summary here that we'd like

2042
02:37:18,045 --> 02:37:20,725
to show the board that brings us all back together.

2043
02:37:22,425 --> 02:37:26,095
so any organization you can break into three major categories,

2044
02:37:27,025 --> 02:37:30,685
um, you, you're always gonna be, you're always gonna have the culture, you're always gonna have

2045
02:37:31,165 --> 02:37:33,885
strategy, and you're always gonna have the financial health of in any organization.

2046
02:37:35,465 --> 02:37:39,385
so what we are seeing is a high risk on our culture. We've heard that today. We

2047
02:37:39,605 --> 02:37:43,045
keep hearing that, uh, over and over again for our employees,

2048
02:37:43,865 --> 02:37:47,555
um, and our safety foundations that we have. We're assigning that as a high risk,

2049
02:37:48,185 --> 02:37:52,005
uh, to our culture. We have worked very hard over the last 12

2050
02:37:52,285 --> 02:37:56,205
months to establish a culture that believes in the building of what

2051
02:37:56,445 --> 02:38:00,325
we're doing and the transformative efforts of what we're doing here, uh, for our

2052
02:38:00,505 --> 02:38:04,285
agency and for our community that matters. And we don't

2053
02:38:04,605 --> 02:38:07,985
take it lightly as management. I want to personally thank the

2054
02:38:08,645 --> 02:38:12,255
operators that are still here and the operators that are in this room for showing up today

2055
02:38:13,065 --> 02:38:16,525
and letting us know their thoughts on this matter. Secondly,

2056
02:38:18,125 --> 02:38:22,105
strategy. Strategy is indeed something that's driving any organization and

2057
02:38:22,805 --> 02:38:26,605
identifying those priorities and the system priorities we have. We have set that

2058
02:38:26,945 --> 02:38:30,825
as to deliver fast, safer, more reliable system. We

2059
02:38:31,045 --> 02:38:34,555
see this policy as a high risk a against that, against

2060
02:38:35,105 --> 02:38:38,595
our strategy. And then of course, we saw a financial

2061
02:38:39,205 --> 02:38:43,005
health moment, uh, check in, uh, our short term and long term

2062
02:38:43,405 --> 02:38:47,405
stability. We also are assigning that as a high risk, uh, for this

2063
02:38:47,645 --> 02:38:51,645
policy. We'll go to the next slide here and we'll, we'll emphasize

2064
02:38:52,675 --> 02:38:55,555
that those three areas, those three foundations do not operate

2065
02:38:56,945 --> 02:39:00,465
by themselves. It is indeed an interdepartmental system.

2066
02:39:01,465 --> 02:39:04,645
and weakening any of those would weaken the other two.

2067
02:39:05,665 --> 02:39:09,505
and in this case, we feel that all three would be weakened and

2068
02:39:09,725 --> 02:39:13,645
the acceleration of that decline for organization, uh, would be real.

2069
02:39:14,425 --> 02:39:18,345
and that's what we've heard here today. So as a result, our

2070
02:39:18,595 --> 02:39:22,155
last slide that we have on this is we're asking the board to protect

2071
02:39:22,665 --> 02:39:26,485
the foundations that we're building. We're asking the board to consider to protect

2072
02:39:26,805 --> 02:39:30,485
the culture, continue to execute our strategy, and secure

2073
02:39:30,885 --> 02:39:34,805
our long-term stability. After reviewing fair free concept to our

2074
02:39:34,925 --> 02:39:38,885
legal, financial, regulatory, safety and operational and customer lenses staff does

2075
02:39:39,085 --> 02:39:43,045
not recommend pursuing a fair free pilot or system-wide fair free program.

2076
02:39:44,135 --> 02:39:48,125
staff recommends maintaining focus on vias adoptive strategy to build

2077
02:39:48,805 --> 02:39:52,045
a transit system people choose to use by continuing to invest frequency,

2078
02:39:53,115 --> 02:39:55,965
reliability, safety, and long-term stability.

2079
02:39:57,165 --> 02:40:01,155
a moment of comment here also is it's not so much about what we're saying no to. Instead,

2080
02:40:01,645 --> 02:40:05,025
it's about what we're saying yes to by saying yes,

2081
02:40:06,065 --> 02:40:10,045
to invest in service, quality, safety, and financial stability. We are creating

2082
02:40:10,765 --> 02:40:14,765
a reinforcing cycle in the opposite direction where we will

2083
02:40:14,965 --> 02:40:18,925
have and continue to build a strong culture, we will have a strong

2084
02:40:19,685 --> 02:40:23,385
strategy delivery, which we are already experiencing, and

2085
02:40:23,705 --> 02:40:27,685
we are gonna maintain our strong financial health. This is how we build

2086
02:40:27,925 --> 02:40:30,245
a system that people choose. Thank you.

2087
02:40:38,815 --> 02:40:41,925
thank you john. Gary and staff appreciate that. Um, thorough presentation,

2088
02:40:43,145 --> 02:40:47,125
uh, led with a lot of, uh, data for us to consider. Uh, I'm gonna turn this

2089
02:40:47,245 --> 02:40:51,035
over to trustee cooper who was asked for the floor. Okay.

2090
02:40:51,325 --> 02:40:55,325
thank you madam chair. I also want to thank the management team

2091
02:40:55,585 --> 02:40:59,125
for the thorough fact-based analysis that they brought forward

2092
02:40:59,615 --> 02:41:03,565
today. Um, I also wanna acknowledge the thoughtful discussion among my fellow

2093
02:41:04,045 --> 02:41:07,915
trustees as well. We all share the same goal, improving

2094
02:41:08,665 --> 02:41:12,585
our transit system by making our service faster, more reliable and

2095
02:41:12,805 --> 02:41:16,325
safer. That said, the board has a fiduciary

2096
02:41:16,845 --> 02:41:20,685
responsibility to govern this agency in a way that protects the

2097
02:41:20,885 --> 02:41:23,965
long-term health of the transit system, not just for today,

2098
02:41:24,905 --> 02:41:28,725
but for the next generation of writers. After careful

2099
02:41:29,605 --> 02:41:33,405
consideration, I believe it's clear that pursuing a fair

2100
02:41:33,685 --> 02:41:37,405
free model under v's current legal financials, regulatory

2101
02:41:37,985 --> 02:41:41,865
and safety framework would introduce risk that we should not

2102
02:41:42,305 --> 02:41:46,125
assume we have heard about the legal constraints tied to our revenue

2103
02:41:46,725 --> 02:41:50,645
structure. We have heard about the financial risk and the pressure this would place

2104
02:41:51,105 --> 02:41:54,765
on our operating and capital plans. We have heard about the

2105
02:41:55,125 --> 02:41:58,605
regulatory and federal funding implications at a moment when our community

2106
02:41:59,345 --> 02:42:02,805
is counting on us to deliver transformative projects.

2107
02:42:04,305 --> 02:42:07,445
and we have heard from our frontline employees, particularly, particularly

2108
02:42:08,545 --> 02:42:12,515
our operators, about the safety concerns that, uh, fair free

2109
02:42:12,805 --> 02:42:16,485
environments can create for them and for our riders

2110
02:42:18,415 --> 02:42:22,145
taken together, these risk outweigh the potential benefits of

2111
02:42:22,765 --> 02:42:26,045
a fair free under our current conditions. For those reasons,

2112
02:42:27,045 --> 02:42:30,245
I believe this board should provide clear direction to our staff.

2113
02:42:31,625 --> 02:42:35,555
we should direct via management to not further pursue or analyze

2114
02:42:36,365 --> 02:42:39,765
a free fair proposal. I'm sorry, fair free proposal at this time.

2115
02:42:41,145 --> 02:42:45,045
um, instead we should remain focused on what our community has asked

2116
02:42:45,285 --> 02:42:49,125
us to deliver a transit system that is faster, more reliable,

2117
02:42:49,695 --> 02:42:53,125
safer and more useful in connecting people to opportunity.

2118
02:42:54,265 --> 02:42:57,645
that's how we honor the trust of our rider. The commitments

2119
02:42:58,395 --> 02:43:02,185
made to our votes, made to our voters and the responsibility we

2120
02:43:02,405 --> 02:43:04,525
have given as stewards of this public system.

2121
02:43:06,585 --> 02:43:10,285
we can and should continue to support targeted affordability programs

2122
02:43:11,025 --> 02:43:14,925
and partnerships that help the most in need, but should

2123
02:43:15,165 --> 02:43:19,045
not compromise the long-term stability of the system that their entire

2124
02:43:19,365 --> 02:43:23,345
community depends on. Therefore, I move that via

2125
02:43:23,565 --> 02:43:27,285
metropolitan transit board of trustees, having reviewed the analyst

2126
02:43:27,685 --> 02:43:30,995
presented by management and having considered the legal financial,

2127
02:43:32,005 --> 02:43:35,805
regulatory, safety and operational implications of fair free

2128
02:43:36,085 --> 02:43:39,845
transit model, hereby determines that pursuing a fair free

2129
02:43:40,135 --> 02:43:44,085
pilot or system-wide fair free program is not in the best

2130
02:43:44,525 --> 02:43:48,525
interest of via metropolitan transit. Further, I move the board

2131
02:43:48,725 --> 02:43:52,245
direct via staff to discontinue any further analysis,

2132
02:43:52,835 --> 02:43:56,525
development, or pursuit of fair free proposals under

2133
02:43:56,995 --> 02:44:00,985
vias operating authority. And instead to continue focus on

2134
02:44:01,205 --> 02:44:04,775
organizational resources on delivering the voter approved and board

2135
02:44:05,515 --> 02:44:09,275
adopted system improvements including enhanced frequency, reliability,

2136
02:44:10,505 --> 02:44:14,075
safety, and implementation of transformative capital

2137
02:44:14,915 --> 02:44:17,045
investments that benefit the entire community.

2138
02:44:23,665 --> 02:44:27,465
do we have a second? I will second this as

2139
02:44:27,965 --> 02:44:31,725
a writer of via I ride

2140
02:44:32,195 --> 02:44:35,855
via I do not believe in fear free. So I second this motion

2141
02:44:36,975 --> 02:44:40,495
a, uh, vice chair gomez.

2142
02:44:41,985 --> 02:44:45,895
thank you madam chair. I, um, as I reflect on all

2143
02:44:46,055 --> 02:44:49,895
the information that's been presented here for us today, I can't help but think of a phrase

2144
02:44:50,095 --> 02:44:54,075
that we all probably are somewhat familiar with or have heard before. And

2145
02:44:54,295 --> 02:44:57,815
that is the phrase, a solution looking for a problem.

2146
02:44:58,635 --> 02:45:02,615
and that is what has been proposed by our mayor and a couple

2147
02:45:02,735 --> 02:45:06,525
of our council members. And I say with all due respect to them that

2148
02:45:06,815 --> 02:45:10,775
that's what their proposal is. It's a solution looking for a problem,

2149
02:45:11,615 --> 02:45:15,125
a problem that we do not have. Madam chair and trustees affordability

2150
02:45:16,155 --> 02:45:19,945
is not an issue regarding our fares at

2151
02:45:20,225 --> 02:45:23,765
via. Terry made it abundantly clear with her data

2152
02:45:24,345 --> 02:45:28,165
as to what our writers think, and that is nowhere near the top

2153
02:45:28,365 --> 02:45:32,225
of their consider their concerns for our organization, uh, on

2154
02:45:32,475 --> 02:45:36,105
that alone. What our writers want, uh, is all

2155
02:45:36,485 --> 02:45:40,365
I need to know to support the motion that is on the table. And I look

2156
02:45:40,525 --> 02:45:44,325
forward to doing so. Thank you, trustee. Trustee, uh, fernandez.

2157
02:45:47,255 --> 02:45:50,925
thank you, madam chair. Um, I agree.

2158
02:45:51,345 --> 02:45:54,745
um, I think thank you staff for bringing a lot of great information and for,

2159
02:45:55,545 --> 02:45:59,385
uh, continue on with the momentum that via has been, uh,

2160
02:45:59,605 --> 02:46:03,305
executing in the last year or years and keeping, uh,

2161
02:46:04,005 --> 02:46:07,845
reaching and exceeding, uh, the goals set. Um, it's definitely

2162
02:46:08,225 --> 02:46:11,925
an exciting time for via, for san antonio residents.

2163
02:46:12,825 --> 02:46:16,745
um, I do, I think having this conversation is

2164
02:46:16,965 --> 02:46:20,685
a great conversation to look at. What are some of the barriers that san antonio

2165
02:46:21,285 --> 02:46:24,725
residents and via writers face on a day to day basis? Um, understanding

2166
02:46:25,545 --> 02:46:28,815
the quality of life and reaching a quality of life is increasing

2167
02:46:29,625 --> 02:46:33,255
access to opportunities to, um, connection

2168
02:46:34,225 --> 02:46:37,885
to jobs, health, and to thrive. Um, understanding

2169
02:46:38,715 --> 02:46:42,505
that for some, a fair might be a, uh, a barrier, but

2170
02:46:42,765 --> 02:46:46,705
I think after hearing our conversation today, it is clear to

2171
02:46:46,925 --> 02:46:50,905
me that the priority for via now is to continue that momentum of

2172
02:46:51,125 --> 02:46:55,085
providing a better service, of providing, uh, access to a

2173
02:46:55,205 --> 02:46:58,805
transit system that is closer and better to our san antonio

2174
02:46:59,445 --> 02:47:02,865
residents so that we can invite more non riders. Um,

2175
02:47:03,605 --> 02:47:07,075
I, I look forward to continue learning how we can get more,

2176
02:47:07,745 --> 02:47:11,545
um, san antonio residents to, to ride via and

2177
02:47:11,765 --> 02:47:15,525
to better offer an opportunity for them. Um, but I do think that,

2178
02:47:15,985 --> 02:47:19,965
uh, in addition to all of the information and data that staff presented, the goal

2179
02:47:20,125 --> 02:47:24,005
is clear. That is to provide a better service to, to writers and to

2180
02:47:24,165 --> 02:47:28,165
invite more san antonio residents, uh, to use it because it is a better

2181
02:47:28,365 --> 02:47:32,185
service, because it feels free and because they have more access, uh,

2182
02:47:32,625 --> 02:47:36,365
to increase their connectivity. Thank you trustee.

2183
02:47:36,915 --> 02:47:40,895
trustee grina. Thank you. Uh, madam

2184
02:47:41,245 --> 02:47:45,125
chair. Um, thank you staff, uh, all of the hard work you put in

2185
02:47:45,325 --> 02:47:49,205
to help, uh, not just us, but the public understand, uh, kind

2186
02:47:49,445 --> 02:47:53,045
of the behind the scenes part of, of the impact of a decision like this.

2187
02:47:53,945 --> 02:47:57,945
and, uh, I will say, I think it is a worthy conversation to discuss how we

2188
02:47:58,225 --> 02:48:02,125
can more equitably, uh, provide transportation and remove

2189
02:48:02,485 --> 02:48:06,485
those barriers to increase access to transportation. I think everybody in this room would support

2190
02:48:07,325 --> 02:48:11,205
measures to remove barriers to transportation. Um, however, I don't know

2191
02:48:11,345 --> 02:48:15,185
if a consumer facing tax is, is the answer to provide it. And,

2192
02:48:15,865 --> 02:48:19,805
um, the other thing I will say is that I firmly believe that everyone in

2193
02:48:19,965 --> 02:48:23,785
this room has come with good faith. Uh, but I do want us to be careful how

2194
02:48:24,065 --> 02:48:27,245
we talk about our neighbors, specifically our most vulnerable

2195
02:48:28,165 --> 02:48:32,005
neighbors. Um, everyone deserves dignity. And so, um, I do think everybody

2196
02:48:32,365 --> 02:48:36,235
comes with that. But as I hear this conversation, and to your point, uh, vice

2197
02:48:36,725 --> 02:48:40,565
chair, it seems like our city isn't necessarily dealing

2198
02:48:40,995 --> 02:48:44,595
with an issue of access to transportation. It is dealing with

2199
02:48:45,465 --> 02:48:49,465
an investment, a robust enough investment in mental health supports and

2200
02:48:49,685 --> 02:48:53,645
access to housing in access and support for our houseless population. And so

2201
02:48:53,765 --> 02:48:57,405
I'm looking forward to the conversation of the city council and of the mayor

2202
02:48:57,865 --> 02:49:01,835
and how they are going to direct more of their budget to supporting those things, because that

2203
02:49:02,125 --> 02:49:05,925
is what seems to be causing the safety issues for our drivers, for our,

2204
02:49:06,425 --> 02:49:10,365
for our system. And I will say, um, as somebody who frequently goes to

2205
02:49:10,525 --> 02:49:13,645
school boards and says, our working conditions, our students' learning conditions,

2206
02:49:14,605 --> 02:49:18,545
I firmly agree that the working conditions of our operators are the

2207
02:49:18,765 --> 02:49:22,765
conditions of our other riders. And so, again, I look forward to a more robust

2208
02:49:23,085 --> 02:49:26,685
investment in some of those other things like mental health, those foundational pieces

2209
02:49:27,395 --> 02:49:31,005
that will then make a free fair system, uh, I think more palatable,

2210
02:49:31,865 --> 02:49:35,725
uh, and, and sustainable to, to folks that operate, but also folks

2211
02:49:35,925 --> 02:49:39,925
that ride. Um, I would also be interested in looking at ways that we can

2212
02:49:40,105 --> 02:49:44,105
expand some of these partnerships. Uh, again, working in a school district, uh,

2213
02:49:44,345 --> 02:49:48,125
and my partner, she is a social worker for our school district. She is frequently asking

2214
02:49:48,865 --> 02:49:52,845
for those passes for students. And so making sure every mckinney-vento person,

2215
02:49:53,265 --> 02:49:56,835
uh, student in our school system has access to this, making sure that,

2216
02:49:57,345 --> 02:50:01,285
uh, ready to work, right. If you apply for ready to work and you are now enrolled and ready

2217
02:50:01,485 --> 02:50:05,325
to work, why do you not have access to this? I think it's also easy if we wanted

2218
02:50:05,525 --> 02:50:09,045
to pilot free fare to just look at medicaid, look at who's

2219
02:50:09,595 --> 02:50:13,245
receiving snap benefits, we can target this support in a much more meaningful

2220
02:50:13,705 --> 02:50:17,685
way to, to address the issue that I think the city and the mayor is looking to

2221
02:50:17,805 --> 02:50:21,765
address. But it seems like, again, from operators, from management, from the folks

2222
02:50:21,945 --> 02:50:25,925
who are experts in this field, that this is not the, the, the best

2223
02:50:26,405 --> 02:50:30,305
approach. And it seems somewhat rushed in that sense, but again, I, I'm more interested in,

2224
02:50:30,525 --> 02:50:34,365
in looking forward to the robust conversation from the city about how to invest in our houseless

2225
02:50:34,725 --> 02:50:37,685
population and our mental health supports for our community. Thank you.

2226
02:50:39,335 --> 02:50:43,095
thank you. Trustee reina. Trustee howard? Yes, trustee. Thank,

2227
02:50:43,445 --> 02:50:47,045
thank you, madam chair. You did hit on something that I, that I think is absolute absolutely correct

2228
02:50:47,905 --> 02:50:51,605
and want to be sensitive to those, to the issues of the individuals in our community

2229
02:50:51,925 --> 02:50:55,925
that have challenges is that to some degree, maybe not, they're not have, they don't have as much control

2230
02:50:56,245 --> 02:51:00,225
over it. But one of the things that, from my perspective as a board member is

2231
02:51:00,445 --> 02:51:04,445
one of the most important roles that we have is for the employees that work for

2232
02:51:04,665 --> 02:51:08,605
via, we want them to arrive and to return to their families the same

2233
02:51:08,725 --> 02:51:12,585
way that they got here with no dispar, no disparaging of, of

2234
02:51:12,805 --> 02:51:16,645
anyone else. Uh, but with that, I think, you know, getting back to your, your three

2235
02:51:17,005 --> 02:51:20,735
circular points, john, that is a high key to me and I, but I also agree

2236
02:51:21,085 --> 02:51:24,905
with you that there is plenty of other opportunities to try to find ways to

2237
02:51:25,365 --> 02:51:29,245
specifically get down to other areas of need and access

2238
02:51:29,665 --> 02:51:33,165
to via, at a reduced rate that actually

2239
02:51:34,085 --> 02:51:35,925
benefits both via and the right client.

2240
02:51:38,815 --> 02:51:42,745
thank you. Thank you. Thank you, trustee howard? Uh,

2241
02:51:42,965 --> 02:51:46,605
trustee . Yeah. This is my first meeting, but boy did

2242
02:51:47,045 --> 02:51:50,885
I learn a lot. . You're welcome. It was a good one. First of all, I need

2243
02:51:51,125 --> 02:51:55,045
to applaud the audience and all of those who stayed late. And what

2244
02:51:55,285 --> 02:51:59,035
it reflects to me is it's a team effort from your

2245
02:51:59,395 --> 02:52:03,315
transit employees that are here, uh, the team that presented

2246
02:52:04,185 --> 02:52:07,925
so eloquently and so completely, I learned a lot.

2247
02:52:08,585 --> 02:52:12,205
so I need tolo, uh, applaud all of you because it's truly

2248
02:52:12,685 --> 02:52:16,685
a team effort. And I think going forward, it's nothing. We're going

2249
02:52:16,905 --> 02:52:20,785
up and we learned a lot of what we can do and what we can't do, but

2250
02:52:21,005 --> 02:52:24,525
we're in unison in doing that, and it's a team effort. Thank you.

2251
02:52:30,785 --> 02:52:34,685
no other comments, trustees? Okay. Uh, this has been

2252
02:52:34,845 --> 02:52:38,465
a, a great conversation. And again, I wanna thank staff and management for,

2253
02:52:39,465 --> 02:52:43,295
uh, you know, over the course of the last couple of weeks, prioritize,

2254
02:52:44,015 --> 02:52:48,005
quite frankly, the response that, um, has been asked of us.

2255
02:52:48,705 --> 02:52:52,485
uh, and it's, it's something that doesn't go, um, without saying

2256
02:52:53,115 --> 02:52:56,685
that this is the partnerships that we have, the key stakeholders,

2257
02:52:57,545 --> 02:53:01,485
um, in this region are important to us. Without those key stakeholders,

2258
02:53:02,265 --> 02:53:06,145
we cannot move forward, right? And so, uh, I appreciate, uh,

2259
02:53:06,435 --> 02:53:09,945
your robust, um, and swiftly, uh, swift action

2260
02:53:10,785 --> 02:53:14,405
in bringing this to the board and scrubbing some of the other, uh, priorities

2261
02:53:14,885 --> 02:53:18,845
that we were gonna consider today. Uh, because this is an important subject, right, that we

2262
02:53:19,245 --> 02:53:22,885
wanna take and consider. And so for that moment, I, I just kind of re wanna reframe

2263
02:53:23,395 --> 02:53:27,225
this moment again, right? This is, this is something that, that I share with, um,

2264
02:53:27,625 --> 02:53:31,245
our city council and the mayor and the city a couple of weeks ago at b session.

2265
02:53:32,065 --> 02:53:36,045
um, and it's not just in response to the policy request, uh, that

2266
02:53:36,205 --> 02:53:40,025
is before us, but it's in response to a once in a generation moment for

2267
02:53:40,245 --> 02:53:43,885
public transit in our region. What we have built over the last several years

2268
02:53:44,305 --> 02:53:48,165
and what we are continuing to build is not an upgrade, it's a transformation.

2269
02:53:49,465 --> 02:53:53,325
and this board's responsibility is to protect it. And the last year alone,

2270
02:53:54,225 --> 02:53:58,005
via has delivered more than 31.6 million passenger trips.

2271
02:53:58,985 --> 02:54:02,745
that's the equivalent of moving the entire population of texas. We

2272
02:54:03,125 --> 02:54:06,905
launched the largest set, single set of service improvements in agency history on

2273
02:54:07,165 --> 02:54:11,085
a single day, right? Sandeep, we hired 107 new bus

2274
02:54:11,565 --> 02:54:15,485
operators, right? Tramell, we achieved the top customer

2275
02:54:15,965 --> 02:54:19,965
satisfaction rating among us transit agencies via trans grew

2276
02:54:20,245 --> 02:54:24,165
ridership by 28% via link grew 35% park, and

2277
02:54:24,325 --> 02:54:28,005
right. Grew more than 50%. The better bus plan, a full network

2278
02:54:28,505 --> 02:54:32,245
design is running two to three years ahead of schedule. The green line is under construction.

2279
02:54:32,985 --> 02:54:36,905
and these are not promises. It is proof we are delivering and

2280
02:54:37,125 --> 02:54:40,845
we are not slowing down. Later on this year, via will launch an integrated

2281
02:54:41,465 --> 02:54:45,415
app, a single platform for every via service, every route,

2282
02:54:46,215 --> 02:54:49,965
every trip. Equally, putting together the customer experience

2283
02:54:50,425 --> 02:54:53,795
as a top priority. That is what a modern competitive

2284
02:54:54,485 --> 02:54:58,365
transit system looks like. That is what our riders ask for a better customer experience

2285
02:54:59,255 --> 02:55:03,085
built on a reliable, safe, and effective service. And that is what we are delivering

2286
02:55:04,305 --> 02:55:08,285
all this progress is possible because we have been disciplined and that discipline

2287
02:55:09,225 --> 02:55:12,845
is exactly what is now being tested. Every dollar of the voter

2288
02:55:13,325 --> 02:55:17,315
approved one 8 cent sales taxes committed to the san antonio keep san antonio moving plan.

2289
02:55:18,225 --> 02:55:22,225
our fair revenue is leveraged against bonds and federal partnerships and

2290
02:55:22,445 --> 02:55:26,365
make the green and silver lines possible. These are not line items,

2291
02:55:26,775 --> 02:55:30,405
these are promises to the people of our service area, to san antonio

2292
02:55:31,265 --> 02:55:35,045
and to bear county. There is no surplus capacity for new unfunded

2293
02:55:35,605 --> 02:55:39,605
programs without impacting the delivery of services are rider depend on today,

2294
02:55:40,425 --> 02:55:43,905
the board's duty is to protect the long-term financial health, safety,

2295
02:55:44,625 --> 02:55:48,525
and performance of this agency. We share the mayor's goal for equity

2296
02:55:48,885 --> 02:55:52,775
and access. I agree. And we are open to partnership models where the city funds

2297
02:55:53,425 --> 02:55:57,245
and distributes fair programs for those who meet, uh, who need it the most.

2298
02:55:58,145 --> 02:56:01,965
it already does this with city employees. That is a path we can walk together

2299
02:56:02,715 --> 02:56:06,475
without putting the system at risk. We've gone through over the last year

2300
02:56:07,045 --> 02:56:10,925
a culture change. Thanks in part to all of y'all in this room today. Thanks.

2301
02:56:11,305 --> 02:56:15,245
in part to our operators, again, it was said earlier today

2302
02:56:15,865 --> 02:56:19,755
by our etu transit union. This is a one time that

2303
02:56:20,045 --> 02:56:23,995
they're in agreement with management, right? When was the last time that's actually been

2304
02:56:24,285 --> 02:56:27,845
brought up? Uh, and so I appreciate that that has taken

2305
02:56:28,765 --> 02:56:32,705
a long time to, uh, bridge some of the gaps that we had in the past. And

2306
02:56:32,925 --> 02:56:36,645
I, again, itest this to the leadership, uh, both, uh, the union

2307
02:56:37,345 --> 02:56:41,125
and of management. So with that being said, um, thank you for

2308
02:56:41,355 --> 02:56:44,705
your deliberate, um, expertise in bringing this, um,

2309
02:56:45,665 --> 02:56:49,585
uh, presentation to us today. Thank you for the research and calling us

2310
02:56:49,825 --> 02:56:53,705
as trustees, asking us questions, um, ensuring that all

2311
02:56:53,925 --> 02:56:57,905
our questions are, are answered in a timely manner. And thank you for always, uh,

2312
02:56:58,445 --> 02:57:02,085
considering what our ridership needs, uh, with the eye towards the future.

2313
02:57:02,705 --> 02:57:06,205
um, so with that being said, I'm gonna call the question,

2314
02:57:08,305 --> 02:57:11,985
all right. Um, all in favor, please say aye.

2315
02:57:12,645 --> 02:57:16,035
a aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries.

2316
02:57:16,975 --> 02:57:17,595
thank you. Amen.

2317
02:57:23,705 --> 02:57:27,405
all right. We still have, uh, agenda items to that are remaining

2318
02:57:27,965 --> 02:57:31,785
. Uh, let's go ahead and move back to consent. Agenda item number

2319
02:57:32,315 --> 02:57:36,165
five, uh, which is an action item. Trustees, are there any questions regarding

2320
02:57:36,665 --> 02:57:40,585
any of these items? And do we need a presentation for this? No presentation, no

2321
02:57:40,835 --> 02:57:44,645
move. We have a motion sign unless y'all want second. And we have a second. All in favor, please

2322
02:57:44,925 --> 02:57:48,625
say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Consent agenda is

2323
02:57:49,085 --> 02:57:53,045
approved financial update. I know, uh, jermaine, we, we went through a, a robust

2324
02:57:53,405 --> 02:57:57,405
presentation there, but, uh, I'm gonna give you the floor again to provide

2325
02:57:57,685 --> 02:58:00,245
us a little bit more in depth on where we are here to date.

2326
02:58:04,635 --> 02:58:07,985
even leroy leaves me now. All righty. So

2327
02:58:09,555 --> 02:58:13,315
yeah, just use the, uh, keyboard. Okay.

2328
02:58:14,955 --> 02:58:14,955
yeah.

2329
02:58:19,755 --> 02:58:23,005
wonderful. I'll be presenting the, uh, monthly financial highlights here.

2330
02:58:24,265 --> 02:58:27,965
excuse me. Moving forward to our, uh, balance sheet here.

2331
02:58:28,945 --> 02:58:31,285
uh, we ended the, uh, month of january with 1.226

2332
02:58:33,225 --> 02:58:36,965
and, um, total assets and deferred, um, outflow of resources

2333
02:58:37,355 --> 02:58:41,125
here. I note here that we do have charts in the back of the, uh, deck

2334
02:58:41,365 --> 02:58:44,925
here. I won't flip to them this particular time, but I'll give some explanation of the variances

2335
02:58:45,405 --> 02:58:49,045
here. And so, um, we're down 86.1 million versus

2336
02:58:49,525 --> 02:58:53,485
a year ago. Current assets, they're actually down by 14.4 million. This

2337
02:58:53,765 --> 02:58:57,345
is, um, associated with an, actually an increase in cash of

2338
02:58:57,805 --> 02:59:00,365
14.5 and other receivables of 15.2.

2339
02:59:01,985 --> 02:59:05,525
but these are offset by, uh, decreases in sales tax receivables of 1.7 million,

2340
02:59:06,515 --> 02:59:10,325
federal grants receivable of 7.7, restricted cash and debt

2341
02:59:10,525 --> 02:59:14,485
service of 4.8 and inventory of 1.1. Uh, we have a large,

2342
02:59:15,185 --> 02:59:17,605
uh, decline in non-current assets at down 77.3 million.

2343
02:59:19,545 --> 02:59:23,485
and this is associated with a debt that was paid off in august of fiscal year 25,

2344
02:59:24,785 --> 02:59:28,065
uh, and in, um, january of fiscal year 26 as well. 6.4 million.

2345
02:59:29,705 --> 02:59:33,605
and then use of text grant funds of 10.4, decrease in,

2346
02:59:33,965 --> 02:59:36,765
uh, restricted cash for construction of, uh, 63.3 million,

2347
02:59:38,905 --> 02:59:42,805
and, um, decrease in our bond reserve of 2.9 million. And these were

2348
02:59:43,005 --> 02:59:45,425
all partially offset by increased, um,

2349
02:59:47,105 --> 02:59:51,045
um, I'm sorry, interest earned on contributions from bexar county,

2350
02:59:51,525 --> 02:59:55,485
a td of, uh, 5.7 million. Capital assets are up 9.3,

2351
02:59:56,505 --> 03:00:00,405
uh, million. This is due to assets, place and service and, um, construction

2352
03:00:00,725 --> 03:00:03,725
and progress of, um, increase here of 76 million.

2353
03:00:04,865 --> 03:00:08,645
and these were partially offset by normal depreciation and amortization of 66.7 million.

2354
03:00:10,505 --> 03:00:13,645
and then our deferred outflows, they're actually down 32.5 million.

2355
03:00:15,065 --> 03:00:18,675
and this is just normal amortization of, uh, pension and oa. Looking

2356
03:00:19,185 --> 03:00:22,805
at our total liabilities and deferred inflow of, uh, resources

2357
03:00:23,205 --> 03:00:25,645
here. We ended the month with, uh, 530 million.

2358
03:00:27,295 --> 03:00:31,125
these are down 33.3 million. The, uh, decline here

2359
03:00:31,405 --> 03:00:35,385
is, uh, largely associated with, uh, decline in non-current assets

2360
03:00:35,865 --> 03:00:39,385
of 77.3 million due to debt paid in august,

2361
03:00:40,225 --> 03:00:44,165
uh, fiscal year 25. I'm sorry, I'm actually gonna flip here because I

2362
03:00:44,285 --> 03:00:46,645
think I have an issue with my notes for transparency here.

2363
03:00:49,585 --> 03:00:53,435
and so this, uh, decline here that we are speaking to here. It's, uh, long-term

2364
03:00:54,445 --> 03:00:58,205
liabilities are actually down 57.1 million due to decreases

2365
03:00:58,485 --> 03:01:02,045
in bonds payable and bonds premium 16 million, uh, pension

2366
03:01:02,505 --> 03:01:06,495
and ope liabilities are down 44.7 million. Lease

2367
03:01:07,165 --> 03:01:10,945
liabilities in vehicles down 19.6. These are partially offset by

2368
03:01:11,225 --> 03:01:14,045
the addition of compensated absences, uh, liability,

2369
03:01:15,465 --> 03:01:19,365
uh, which was, uh, implemented, which was related to the implementation

2370
03:01:20,085 --> 03:01:23,625
of ga sb 1 0 1, which required us to, um, to

2371
03:01:24,165 --> 03:01:27,985
actually record the liability associated with absences that we expect

2372
03:01:28,825 --> 03:01:32,045
our team members to take. And, uh, that resulted in another 22.2 million

2373
03:01:33,185 --> 03:01:36,345
in liability. And then we have a arbitrage liability of $1 million

2374
03:01:38,205 --> 03:01:41,765
deferred inflows actually up 15.8 million due to monthly amortization

2375
03:01:42,445 --> 03:01:45,245
of inflows and pension of, uh, 14.2

2376
03:01:46,485 --> 03:01:49,615
opep 1.5, and then leases 0.1 million there.

2377
03:01:51,905 --> 03:01:55,485
so, flipping back here, moving over to our treasury

2378
03:01:56,045 --> 03:01:58,225
overview here, you can see that we ended the month with 631.2 million

2379
03:02:00,065 --> 03:02:03,765
in total cash reserves. These were down 13 million month over month.

2380
03:02:04,665 --> 03:02:08,405
if we look at the actual days, cash on hand, we're still strong. We're down 12 days,

2381
03:02:08,785 --> 03:02:12,685
but actual days cash on hand, 496 days, well above the

2382
03:02:13,045 --> 03:02:17,005
120 requirement, uh, that the board requires. We can see

2383
03:02:17,165 --> 03:02:21,105
here this number looks very strong, but we see what happens once we start spinning down on

2384
03:02:21,325 --> 03:02:25,265
our capital program. And certainly, uh, that number won't be, um,

2385
03:02:25,775 --> 03:02:29,555
won't help us in the event that we have, uh, issues with our fair

2386
03:02:29,845 --> 03:02:33,805
box revenues. We don't have to recap that, but people look at that number

2387
03:02:34,215 --> 03:02:38,165
today. But that number is gonna be spent down as we spend on our green line civil line,

2388
03:02:38,505 --> 03:02:42,365
um, capital programs. When you look at the, uh, interest earned in the bottom right

2389
03:02:42,645 --> 03:02:46,415
corner here, we, um, ended january year to date, we had 8.5 million

2390
03:02:47,625 --> 03:02:51,445
in interest earned. And so 3.3 million higher than the

2391
03:02:51,645 --> 03:02:55,285
budget year to date of 5.2 million. We expect to end the year with $23.8 million.

2392
03:02:57,585 --> 03:03:01,085
and this is, uh, the year to date performance is due to higher cash reserves

2393
03:03:01,605 --> 03:03:05,565
than we budgeted for. And then higher interest earnings on those reserves as well.

2394
03:03:06,995 --> 03:03:10,765
looking here at our income statement here, you could see that we ended january

2395
03:03:11,475 --> 03:03:15,445
with 123.6 million in revenues. Uh, this is

2396
03:03:15,905 --> 03:03:19,885
fairly aligned with our budget. It's a 1 million variance. I won't, I won't explain that

2397
03:03:20,125 --> 03:03:23,445
variance since it's aligned with the budget. And also from an expenses perspective,

2398
03:03:24,745 --> 03:03:27,525
we could see that, uh, we ended the month with 114.6 million.

2399
03:03:29,825 --> 03:03:33,565
that's, uh, just 0.1 difference from the, uh, budget there. I will mention

2400
03:03:33,915 --> 03:03:37,645
here, um, madam chair, that you questioned the variance

2401
03:03:38,225 --> 03:03:41,365
on fairbox revenues last month. I think we had a 0.8 million

2402
03:03:42,325 --> 03:03:45,725
variance to the budget. You see it's about $1 million now there.

2403
03:03:46,345 --> 03:03:50,235
and then we noticed that we had an unfavorable sales mix, meaning that we sold more

2404
03:03:50,885 --> 03:03:54,645
discounted fares than we had intended to, uh, within our budget. And so it

2405
03:03:54,965 --> 03:03:56,165
resulted in less, uh, fair box revenues.

2406
03:04:03,195 --> 03:04:07,145
this particular slide looks at our, um, sales tax trend on

2407
03:04:07,405 --> 03:04:11,295
a rolling 12 month basis. When you look at that trend on a 12 month basis, we're

2408
03:04:11,765 --> 03:04:15,685
actually up 3.3, I'm sorry, 3.2% year over year.

2409
03:04:16,385 --> 03:04:19,885
if we look at the state of texas here, uh, just looking at the month of january,

2410
03:04:21,025 --> 03:04:24,745
uh, state of texas saw a 7.1% increase january 26

2411
03:04:25,435 --> 03:04:29,365
over 25. Um, all sectors seem to be performing, uh, pretty

2412
03:04:29,715 --> 03:04:33,565
well there and their reporting as well. And then if we look at the three

2413
03:04:33,725 --> 03:04:37,725
months ending january, 2026, uh, the state of

2414
03:04:37,845 --> 03:04:41,845
texas was up 6.1 million compared to the same period for the, um,

2415
03:04:42,005 --> 03:04:45,965
prior year. And going to the, uh, performance

2416
03:04:46,405 --> 03:04:50,405
dashboard here, performance for bus here are weekday ridership complaints, mechanical

2417
03:04:50,955 --> 03:04:54,855
reliability and customer satisfaction. They're all better than target collisions.

2418
03:04:55,525 --> 03:04:59,325
they're better than target through, uh, january, 2026. We had two non-preventable

2419
03:05:00,345 --> 03:05:03,795
and two preventable bus collisions reported through january. However,

2420
03:05:04,535 --> 03:05:07,925
those occurred prior to december because for the last two months there were no collisions.

2421
03:05:09,345 --> 03:05:13,185
the, um, on time performance and cost effectiveness that within the

2422
03:05:13,405 --> 03:05:16,505
target range through, uh, january, 2026 for bus.

2423
03:05:17,905 --> 03:05:21,445
if we move on to, uh, via trends here, our weekday ridership collisions, mechanical

2424
03:05:21,915 --> 03:05:25,725
reliability, customer satisfaction, and cost effectiveness, there are better than, uh,

2425
03:05:25,925 --> 03:05:29,745
target. Our on time performance is within the target range. Um,

2426
03:05:29,965 --> 03:05:33,605
however, we've seen some improvement over the, uh, prior period

2427
03:05:34,065 --> 03:05:37,965
of, uh, 0.8%. And so, which is a positive, uh, complaints are worse

2428
03:05:38,205 --> 03:05:40,645
than target, but showing continued improvement with a 12.4%

2429
03:05:42,525 --> 03:05:46,365
decrease from the prior period. And finally, moving on to, uh,

2430
03:05:46,625 --> 03:05:49,845
via link here, our average monthly, uh, ridership and on time performance

2431
03:05:50,665 --> 03:05:54,485
rather than target cost effectiveness is within target range through january.

2432
03:05:55,465 --> 03:05:59,165
and customer satisfaction rating for ve services through january is 4.84.

2433
03:06:01,145 --> 03:06:05,085
and so madam chair, I'll turn it back over to you and the board of trustees for any questions

2434
03:06:05,265 --> 03:06:08,845
or comments. Thank you very much for presentation trustees. Any questions?

2435
03:06:10,425 --> 03:06:14,405
uh, trustee flotis, uh, any economic headwinds or any issues

2436
03:06:14,765 --> 03:06:18,025
that you're tracking or concerned about with respect to sales tax or

2437
03:06:19,085 --> 03:06:22,765
anything else? Yeah, yeah. And so of course, uh, we would say tariffs,

2438
03:06:23,245 --> 03:06:27,105
right? Of course, when you look at the capital program is major 1.1 billion in

2439
03:06:27,325 --> 03:06:31,205
spend. And so this is where we would have the largest concern. And so we talked a little bit

2440
03:06:31,365 --> 03:06:35,165
earlier about the fact that we have this, uh, contingency fund that we set aside

2441
03:06:35,485 --> 03:06:39,285
of $100 million. We do recognize that that can go away rather quickly,

2442
03:06:39,525 --> 03:06:43,485
right? And so that's something that we're definitely concerned about. We talk about it all the time,

2443
03:06:43,625 --> 03:06:47,605
taking a look at our, um, project management practices and our ability

2444
03:06:48,025 --> 03:06:51,525
to, um, ensure that we have the sufficient level of contingency

2445
03:06:52,165 --> 03:06:55,765
within our, um, budgets for each and every project. And so that's a major concern

2446
03:06:56,265 --> 03:07:00,235
for us. I would say right now we see that our fuel costs are, uh, rather high.

2447
03:07:01,025 --> 03:07:04,665
uh, we, we need to reach back out to cps energy and see why these, um,

2448
03:07:05,345 --> 03:07:09,285
surtax, I would say that we're being charged. They can't explain it very well to us why it's,

2449
03:07:09,565 --> 03:07:13,305
why it's, um, been so volatile. And so that's something that we wanna, um,

2450
03:07:13,585 --> 03:07:17,485
pay attention to in the future as our cng costs, of course, with increasing our operation

2451
03:07:17,965 --> 03:07:21,645
as well. And so I think there, there are quite a few concerns there. I will reiterate

2452
03:07:22,045 --> 03:07:25,805
here as it relates to sales taxes, we, we continue to talk about sales

2453
03:07:26,085 --> 03:07:30,085
taxes every single month because obviously that's a huge revenue source force. And so this

2454
03:07:30,515 --> 03:07:34,365
year we actually budgeted for a 0% increase if you exclude the a

2455
03:07:34,525 --> 03:07:38,405
ed two, uh, revenues that began in january. And so to see the

2456
03:07:38,805 --> 03:07:42,705
positive numbers that we're seeing here now is a really good thing for us. And so it's gonna help us in terms of

2457
03:07:42,925 --> 03:07:46,655
just the plan for 26. Great.

2458
03:07:47,005 --> 03:07:50,845
thank you. I I did have a question. Um, 'cause I chuckled when you asked that, 'cause that's similar

2459
03:07:51,165 --> 03:07:55,165
to where I was gonna go. Just going into the sales tax and looking, um, month over month

2460
03:07:55,445 --> 03:07:59,385
and the trend that you have there, um, we see a decrease from last month. And

2461
03:07:59,665 --> 03:08:03,375
I'm just, um, are we tracking, uh, the forecast, uh, ahead

2462
03:08:03,725 --> 03:08:07,425
of what you just said? Um, based on the economic, uh, impact of

2463
03:08:07,795 --> 03:08:11,455
tariffs, uh, of fuel increase, um, we're

2464
03:08:11,805 --> 03:08:15,605
the number one, we're in the top, uh, providers or, uh, customers

2465
03:08:15,885 --> 03:08:19,885
for cps mm-hmm . Right? And so largest, largest gas user for cps,

2466
03:08:20,245 --> 03:08:24,105
largest gas user for cps. So just, you know, those considerations also, um,

2467
03:08:24,545 --> 03:08:28,455
go into, uh, how much it costs to provide the service, right?

2468
03:08:29,145 --> 03:08:32,805
um, as opposed to how much we receive, um, from a revenue perspective.

2469
03:08:33,425 --> 03:08:37,385
so that's always gonna be a concern of mine. Um, and so I'm just, you know, curious, uh,

2470
03:08:37,635 --> 03:08:41,405
your thoughts, I think you already answered trustee flores, but I'm, I'm, uh,

2471
03:08:41,865 --> 03:08:45,605
I'm, I'm assuming that you're still monitoring that for the next couple of quarters as we close

2472
03:08:45,885 --> 03:08:49,825
out our fiscal year? Yeah, certainly. Yeah. And like I said, sales tax, every single, we

2473
03:08:50,045 --> 03:08:53,445
started to show this every single month, right? And so it's something that we want to continue to monitor.

2474
03:08:54,185 --> 03:08:58,165
but yeah, every single cost element, you talk about the cost of our, uh, fuel, that's a

2475
03:08:58,395 --> 03:09:01,885
huge cost for us. And then we have those ser uh, surtax that I mentioned of

2476
03:09:02,425 --> 03:09:06,365
as well that are, um, that are, we're paying. So it's something that we're gonna continue to

2477
03:09:06,525 --> 03:09:10,525
monitor and look for ways to decrease that cost. We talked about fuel hedging and things

2478
03:09:10,725 --> 03:09:14,565
like that. And so we need to explore it fully to see if it's a possibility. But we also wanna

2479
03:09:14,765 --> 03:09:18,485
have some discussion with cps energy to see if there are other ways that we can minimize our costs.

2480
03:09:19,015 --> 03:09:22,285
great. Thank you. Uh, dra, just for clarity,

2481
03:09:23,145 --> 03:09:26,365
um, we haven't seen the news one eighth

2482
03:09:27,215 --> 03:09:30,965
flush through yet on a report, right? Not yet. Yet. So what we saw in january still doesn't include

2483
03:09:31,545 --> 03:09:35,325
the cash is gonna come in in march. Okay. It'll be march. Okay. Thanks for the clarification.

2484
03:09:35,905 --> 03:09:39,885
yes. Very good. All right. Thank you for the presentation. Mm-hmm .

2485
03:09:39,925 --> 03:09:43,895
thank you. All right. We're gonna move on to agenda.

2486
03:09:44,435 --> 03:09:47,715
uh, item number eight. This is a proposed may, 2026

2487
03:09:48,575 --> 03:09:52,255
service changes as announced yesterday via, has postponed to vote

2488
03:09:52,595 --> 03:09:56,005
on proposed may service change improvements. The delay follows

2489
03:09:56,725 --> 03:09:59,725
customer feedback regarding, um, via reconsideration

2490
03:10:01,025 --> 03:10:04,805
to plan to retire. Route two, community input is an essential

2491
03:10:05,165 --> 03:10:08,935
part of our service planning process, and we appreciate the customers who share

2492
03:10:09,285 --> 03:10:13,185
their concerns earlier and throughout the weekend. Uh, this item is

2493
03:10:13,405 --> 03:10:17,175
now scheduled to be considered at the march meeting. Um, so now we'll

2494
03:10:17,525 --> 03:10:21,325
move, uh, into the via recruitment update, which is agenda item

2495
03:10:21,565 --> 03:10:21,995
number nine,

2496
03:10:44,975 --> 03:10:48,485
madam chair, members of the board. Satori samita, vice president of human

2497
03:10:49,005 --> 03:10:52,565
resources. And I'm with angelica martin, director of human resources.

2498
03:10:53,625 --> 03:10:57,605
and together we'll provide the february update, uh, for our bus operator, our recruitment and

2499
03:10:57,965 --> 03:11:01,765
strategy. So reliable frequent service attracts riders,

2500
03:11:02,345 --> 03:11:06,085
it builds trust with community, it positions via to implement service

2501
03:11:06,405 --> 03:11:10,365
changes, increase frequency, and respond to growth. And none of that

2502
03:11:10,585 --> 03:11:13,835
is possible without a robust full-time bus operator pool.

2503
03:11:14,865 --> 03:11:18,605
so with that context, I'll turn it over to angelica, who's gonna give you an update

2504
03:11:19,105 --> 03:11:21,685
on where we are. Good evening.

2505
03:11:23,185 --> 03:11:26,445
so as of january 31st, we've reached a total of 953

2506
03:11:27,845 --> 03:11:31,005
full-time operators, a net increase of 47

2507
03:11:31,955 --> 03:11:35,365
over the prior month. Um, the last time that via employed 953

2508
03:11:36,715 --> 03:11:38,965
full-time operators was in june of 2020.

2509
03:11:41,585 --> 03:11:41,805
in january, 2020,

2510
03:11:47,785 --> 03:11:51,495
um, in january of 2025, we ended

2511
03:11:51,865 --> 03:11:55,565
the month with 815 operators. This represents a year

2512
03:11:55,875 --> 03:11:59,765
over year growth of 138 operators. Operator

2513
03:12:00,205 --> 03:12:03,755
retention has also increased by 3% over the last year.

2514
03:12:05,145 --> 03:12:08,505
we have 71 operators remaining to achieve our goal of 1024

2515
03:12:10,045 --> 03:12:13,765
operators by december of 2026. Overall, we're 93%

2516
03:12:14,915 --> 03:12:18,805
towards the goal of 1024 operators. At our most recent

2517
03:12:19,305 --> 03:12:23,115
job fair, 88 out of 178 attendees interviewed

2518
03:12:23,805 --> 03:12:27,035
for a bus operator position. Of those 88 attendees,

2519
03:12:28,135 --> 03:12:32,035
43 were extended job offers on site. Fast track fridays

2520
03:12:32,525 --> 03:12:36,465
have also officially launched and are gaining more traction. Um, in

2521
03:12:36,685 --> 03:12:40,365
our office. We, we are heavily trafficked every friday.

2522
03:12:40,965 --> 03:12:40,965
,

2523
03:12:45,185 --> 03:12:48,985
are there any questions? Any questions? Uh,

2524
03:12:49,205 --> 03:12:52,935
trustee reno, not so much, much a question, but the, there

2525
03:12:53,285 --> 03:12:56,815
has been an increase in the conversion rate from folks that enter

2526
03:12:57,445 --> 03:13:00,845
training that then complete training and become full-time

2527
03:13:01,605 --> 03:13:05,405
operators. 'cause I know there's a difference between folks that come in versus folks that end up behind a wheel.

2528
03:13:05,625 --> 03:13:09,165
but that number has increased as well, correct? That is, yes. Thank you.

2529
03:13:10,305 --> 03:13:14,045
and, and retainage of those, once they start is also increasing.

2530
03:13:14,665 --> 03:13:18,305
so we have, we have a bit of a perfect storm here. Um,

2531
03:13:19,285 --> 03:13:23,275
jermaine was nice to us 'cause he did not really show that

2532
03:13:23,585 --> 03:13:27,405
our expenses are a little ahead of where we were expecting them. And it's

2533
03:13:27,685 --> 03:13:30,845
because of these two ladies here, uh, because they've accelerated

2534
03:13:31,905 --> 03:13:35,865
the rate of our hiring further beyond than what we were anticipating at

2535
03:13:36,085 --> 03:13:39,985
this stage in our budget. It's a good problem to have and we like that, but

2536
03:13:40,205 --> 03:13:43,925
that's also where it's flushing out into our budget as well. So we're gonna come give you all a midyear

2537
03:13:44,245 --> 03:13:47,445
look at that. Uh, but the great work that we have here,

2538
03:13:48,265 --> 03:13:52,025
uh, with, uh, with the recruiting, just to connect us

2539
03:13:52,505 --> 03:13:56,005
one more idea, 'cause it, um, or moment on recruiting.

2540
03:13:57,265 --> 03:14:00,615
how should we put the message out that the board just took about,

2541
03:14:01,625 --> 03:14:04,395
uh, free fares in front of those potential,

2542
03:14:05,825 --> 03:14:09,485
uh, recruitings or recruit tense? So something to talk, something

2543
03:14:09,845 --> 03:14:13,615
to think about. But let's, that's a really good question. Let's be very intentional about that, since we've already heard

2544
03:14:13,965 --> 03:14:17,805
messaging, um, from them already that they were worried,

2545
03:14:18,425 --> 03:14:22,265
um, about this idea. All

2546
03:14:22,485 --> 03:14:25,975
right. Thank you. All right. Ell, we're good to go right

2547
03:14:26,545 --> 03:14:30,525
on, on the number. Okay. I, I just keep on looking at him because

2548
03:14:30,825 --> 03:14:33,825
he was the one that increased and upped the any to one 50. Yes.

2549
03:14:35,565 --> 03:14:39,345
. Very good. All right. Thank you very much for the briefing. Um,

2550
03:14:39,915 --> 03:14:43,785
item 10. Did we have a legal briefing? No, ma'am. We do not. All

2551
03:14:44,005 --> 03:14:47,415
right. You tonight? No legal briefing. Shucks. Right.

2552
03:14:48,075 --> 03:14:51,965
okay. President's report. No. President's report

2553
03:14:53,205 --> 03:14:57,085
. But we are trying to figure if, if this

2554
03:14:57,285 --> 03:15:01,285
is, uh, the longest board meeting, uh, in recent memory.

2555
03:15:01,785 --> 03:15:05,705
so, chris, welcome. Yes. We didn't have word for sure. That's

2556
03:15:06,125 --> 03:15:10,005
right. And, and, uh, that's right. Uh, maybe the scoby item was maybe on

2557
03:15:11,605 --> 03:15:15,035
s that's right. All right. Well,

2558
03:15:15,905 --> 03:15:19,885
I'm gonna not drag my feet to go to item number 12,

2559
03:15:20,615 --> 03:15:24,465
which is your favorite. Um, may I have a motion to adjourn please? Motion to

2560
03:15:24,685 --> 03:15:28,425
adjourn. Motion is heard. Second. Second. Second. All in favor, please say aye. Aye.

2561
03:15:28,785 --> 03:15:32,725
any opposed? You see a one opposed? Is that what you did, trustee howard? No. Okay.

2562
03:15:33,085 --> 03:15:36,245
a motion carries. Thank you very much for being here today.

2563
03:15:37,285 --> 03:15:40,955
a td a td. That's right. We got a-t-d-a-t-d. Yeah.

2564
03:15:41,415 --> 03:15:44,845
thank you very much. We're gonna have to five minutes, five more minutes. We're moving on to a td, meaning

2565
03:15:45,725 --> 03:15:49,065
a td. We probably should have done that first. Yeah. Um,

2566
03:15:50,105 --> 03:15:54,085
not quite yet. It is now 8:17 pm and I'd like

2567
03:15:54,165 --> 03:15:58,045
to call it, or the february 24th. A td board meeting. Uh, we've already

2568
03:15:58,315 --> 03:16:02,305
done our momentary of reflection and pledge of allegiance. Uh, any

2569
03:16:02,765 --> 03:16:06,195
citizens to be heard. No citizens to be heard. No citizens to be heard. Okay.

2570
03:16:06,905 --> 03:16:10,745
and we do have a consent agenda item that is for action. Uh,

2571
03:16:11,125 --> 03:16:14,745
trustees. So moves. We have a motion. Second. Second. All in favor, please say aye.

2572
03:16:15,745 --> 03:16:19,485
aye. Any opposed? Please say nay. Nay. Consent agenda is approved.

2573
03:16:20,065 --> 03:16:23,765
ms. Elder, any briefing? No, ma'am. All right.

2574
03:16:24,385 --> 03:16:28,305
no legal briefing. And then our action item. Next one to adjourn. So

2575
03:16:28,525 --> 03:16:32,025
moved. And motion second. All right. All favor, please say aye.

2576
03:16:32,705 --> 03:16:36,245
aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much. Everyone stayed here.

2577
03:16:37,035 --> 03:16:38,585
that was, that may be the fastest agency.