[MUTED]
It's raining.
Hold on.
[MUTED]
We're going to call the Transportation Committee
to order.
Will you please call the roll.
Thank you.
Councilwoman Walker.
Present.
Councilwoman [INAUDIBLE] Washngton.
Present.
Chair Ford Senior.
Present.
Thank you.
We have one item is an update from Madam.
All council districts requested by myself.
It 14.
We have attorney Holmes.
I'm going to turn it over to you, and we can go from there.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman Ford.
My name is Roderick Holmes.
I am the operational trustee for MATA.
I'm joined by trustee art Davis, who
is the financial and fiscal trustee for MATA.
Good afternoon.
We'd like to do today is provide an update regarding the progress
and also the future plans for MATA
to provide our citizens with reliable services.
Let's go to the next slide, please.
You see, in front of you are the buses that
have recently come in that were put into service next week.
These buses were ordered approximately nine months ago.
It takes some time to have those built manufactured.
Appreciative of our manufacturing partners
for putting us in line to get these buses.
And these will be going out next week.
All right.
The buses that you see are part of
our fleet revitalization plan.
That plan is simple and that's to give
a reasonable and reliable service.
One of the key components to that are reliable buses.
As it's been some time since [? MATAs ?] ordered new buses.
When we took the Helms, we thought this was our priority.
We knew it was our priority in order
to be able to provide reliable service.
We also knew that the manufacturing time would
be at least 8 to nine months.
So what we've done starting last year is to place those orders
and work with this council and Mayor Young's office
to ensure that we had appropriate and adequate funds
to complete these purchases.
Over the last nine months, with the assistance
of our incredible grants and finance team,
along with our operational team, planning and logistics,
we've secured about $48 million between federal and city
and state funds to do just that.
But we're going to do with those funds
that we've been able to secure his replace our working fleet.
It takes approximately 51 buses to run our 23 routes,
and our goal is to purchase 56 buses in total
over the next 12 months.
As you can see from the slide, we
have 12 that have already been delivered.
There are another 12 that are slated to be
delivered in the fall of 2027.
But just over the last two weeks,
through series of negotiations over the last few months,
we've been able to get an allocation
for 32 additional buses, which will be here
in either the spring or early summer of 2027.
Again, this will completely replace our working fleet
because you need about 51 buses.
But this will overall do is get us
past that threshold number of 71 buses, 75
buses for our working fleet that will allow us to expand,
add additional buses to each route and start to first time.
Consider adding additional routes to our service.
You can go to next slide, please.
In the meantime, what are we doing
to try to provide the best on time performance as we can.
I'll remind everyone that our current buses, nearly 50%
of them are past their useful life.
That means they have more than a half a million miles on them.
So what it requires is our maintenance team
to work tirelessly to have better preventive maintenance
plans, to make sure that our inspections are being done
correctly, and they've done an incredible job
of that to get those buses out.
That is their efforts.
Their work has allowed us to maintain on time performance
and to see some growth with various routes.
So I want to thank our maintenance team
for their hard work and the impact they're
having on our service, despite the challenges that face them.
Next slide.
On time performance for the month of July was 60%
the peak on time performance.
What that means is what's our best day?
What is the bandwidth of our services?
Was 71%.
That is a day where our team did an incredible job
in getting those buses from point A to point B,
giving the buses that they're working with,
giving the state of our current fleet.
You also see some other numbers there regarding the highest
on time performance by route.
The easiest one for people to recognize
is route 50, which the highest performance for that week
was 64% route 42 was 66% and route 52 was 75% 25%.
So again, what those numbers show
is the capacity and the room for growth within our organization
and how when things come together,
we see this upward trend on time performance.
Next slide.
We are engaging on an ambitious goal of refurbishing
some of our fleet.
Our goal is to refurbish approximately 15 of our buses
and to have that done by the fourth quarter.
And what we're going to do with those buses
is that we're going to place them on the routes
that you see above.
This is the plan.
What that will do is reduce the wait time for buses.
This will be a significant improvement and one
that I know that will be welcomed by our riders.
So while we have a plan for the future bringing
in buses over the next 9 and 12 months,
we recognize that there's a present goal need,
and we want to make sure that we're addressing that need.
And we're going to address that need by continuing
to refurbish our buses.
Next slide.
All right so this is the trolleys.
Everybody's excited about them.
If you have been on Instagram or TikTok or any of those things,
you've probably seen videos or clips
from our trolley service which you
see in this video is our safety test we were
doing for our braking system.
I am happy to announce that our trolley team has done
an excellent job and that we were able to pass this braking
system test, which was a huge step in getting
these trolleys back out.
We are currently doing additional testing
because we want to make sure that when these trolleys get
back out on the line, they are safe and they are reliable.
So we're doing some system integration
testing literally as we speak.
We've also submitted to 180 day notice to t-dot.
That has been submitted to them should
allow for us to return these trolleys to the track
in the fall of 2026.
There's still work to be done along this.
There's still work to be done by our trolley team,
but we wanted to report that we are certainly
moving in the right direction.
Next slide.
One of the promises we made when we started this journey nine
months ago is that we would improve shelters
and that we would improve signage.
On the shelters, what we've done is
we've created a QR code where individuals can tell us
where they want to see shelters, where they believe a need is
allowing for our community partners
and for our riders to have input.
People have responded to this, and based
on that response, those responses based
on some legal requirements, we have installed 16 shelters
to date, which is significant.
It's more shelters than problems installed in years.
We also have two that are in progress,
and our goal is to do about two to three a month.
We want to do this throughout our system.
We are exploring opportunities with our corporate partners
to offset some of these costs.
We've gotten really good feedback on that.
And we recognize again, as a community, as a company,
the shelters are important, and so we've made them a priority.
Next slide.
We don't want to simply stop with improving shelters.
We also recognize that signage.
We set out an ambitious goal some time ago
to do about 100 signs.
In March, we did 120.
And through that process, we realized
that not only did we need to replace signs,
but we needed to look at making our signs more helpful, more
useful.
So our communications team, along with our compliance
team and other partners within our company,
worked tirelessly and created the sign
that you see in front of you.
That sign is clearly an upgrade from what we did before.
It's useful.
It tells you which route will be at that stop.
It gives you a QR code.
It gives you the number.
They've done an excellent job.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say that.
We've also met with our community partners, some of whom
are here today, to help us in designing this sign
and thinking through this process.
So I want to thank them for meeting with us.
Micah, for being part of the solution.
We meet monthly now and those meetings have gone really well.
So I appreciate their efforts.
Next slide, please.
To me this is really the highlight of MATA.
And quite frankly it doesn't get enough coverage.
It doesn't get enough attention.
But MATA provides significant services
to in many cases, our aging and disabled population.
As you can see, we have a 96% on time performance rate.
Customer satisfaction is 4.7.
Individuals can literally book rides
through MATA plus online using our app.
That is very useful and user friendly.
We believe in this service.
We want to make sure that we continue
to get people to doctor's appointments and other needed
services.
So we are in the process of procuring an additional 24
vans to help provide that service,
to provide-- to help with some constraints, capacity
constraints, and to make sure that any of our citizens
who meet the qualifications for this program can use it.
So this is our team has done a great job
and I appreciate their work and efforts.
And the thought of planning for the future.
This is our version of Uber & Lyft Groove & Ready.
These are micro-transit services that we
are looking or evaluating expanding both in North Memphis
and in South Memphis.
As you can see, these services will help get people
to jobs and other locations that they need
to go to within these zones.
We are hopeful that these will be evaluated
over the next month, and then rolled out
during the fourth quarter.
The cost for ready is actually free.
It was free before free fair and it continues to be free.
And Groove is approximately $1.25.
It's a very affordable services that we
want to expand to make sure that our riders
have options when they're trying to determine the best
way to travel within our city.
Next slide, please.
We talked a little bit about this during our last meeting.
The need to hire additional employees,
hire additional operators to be competitive within the Memphis
recruiting market.
We've done just that.
Out of the total operators, we need to effectively run
our services 155.
We've hired 88% of those, which is about 134 employees.
So we're on the right path.
We're doing hiring blitzes every Wednesday.
So if you're interested in working for MATA,
looking for a job, we're hiring.
Those hiring blitzes are held at our Levy facility.
And you can also apply online.
Next slide.
One of the things that's always important, always
at the front of our minds is making sure
that our riders, our passengers, are safe.
Over the last nine months, we've met with multiple community
activists, operators, riders.
I've done it myself.
I often go down to Hudson and other locations.
And one of the concerns was safety.
And how can we help make those areas safer.
So we've done just that.
Our safety team, led by Chief Watson,
has instituted 129 route checks.
So basically random searches of buses
to make sure that not only our operators are safe,
but also our riders or passengers are safe.
We also now have allocated resources
to have safety specialists at Hudson full time
throughout the day.
So if individuals have concerns, they
can raise those concerns to them.
We're hiring again in this location.
We're hiring for safety specialists.
So anyone's interested, please go online and apply.
Next slide.
All right.
So this part of to many people has little to do with transit.
But to me, it everything to do with it.
Our job is to serve.
And I think we can serve in multiple ways.
At Hudson, we have space.
At other areas, we have space.
We recognize one Thursday, myself
and the communications lead, Ms. Hartley, that children were just
sitting around.
They didn't have anything to do.
So working with our community partners
that you see up here, urban child Institute and others,
we've created these pinwheel playrooms.
We give out about 160 books per month.
I think that's fundamental.
I think it's a great way for us to serve outside
of just providing rides.
So I appreciate our community partners and everybody
internally at MATA who's participated
and helped us make this dream a reality of helping children
have access to reading.
Next slide.
All right.
So how are we measuring success moving forward--
developing and retaining our workforce.
Our workforce is at the core of the services that we provide.
So we're investing in them, developing them
and providing them with opportunities to excel and grow
within their job.
The second bullet point is self-explanatory.
We have to do a better job of delivering reliable services.
Our mission isn't done.
Our job isn't finished.
We recognize there is room to grow.
That's why we're ordering more buses.
That's why we're training more people.
We recognize the need to improve,
and we are taking steps every single day
to resolve that issue.
The next one is customer service.
We've invested in our customer service team.
We recognize that there's more investment that needs to happen.
We've expanded that team.
We're also working with some AI tools
to help enhance the information they have
and the information that's available to our consumers.
Next slide, please.
I want to thank this council for your continued investment
in transit, for the calls, for the effort that you all
have put into this system.
I'd like to thank our mayor, and I'd
like to thank all of our community
advocates and our operators.
Please continue to tell us where we can be better.
Continue to use the QR code and our customer complaint lines.
We review that information.
We use it as surveys so we know what we're doing well
and where we need to improve.
And finally, but certainly not least,
I'd like to thank the team who's working tirelessly
to make this service better.
I see you, the community sees you,
and we appreciate your effort.
Thank you.
Thank you, Attorney Holmes.
Let the record show that Councilman Warren, Councilwoman
Cooper Sutton, Councilman Kennelly, Councilman Spinosa
has joined us.
We have one--
Councilwoman Cooper Sutton you want to speak.
Thank you, Chairman.
First of all, I would like to say thank you,
Attorney Holmes Frederick, for being very consistent.
First of all, being compassionate.
You walked into a chaotic, mess for over decades,
and I know that it's going to take some time.
And so those of them that is wanting a miracle,
I believe in miracles happening.
But this has been going on for decades.
I heard you say something, and it raised my eyebrows
a little bit, that you are in constant contact with Micah.
You all are meeting on a monthly basis, is that correct?
Are you all talking?
We have.
So for the last few months, we've met pretty regularly.
When I first started, we met pretty regularly.
There was a little gap in there, but we do have monthly meetings.
We started those back and they've
been good community partners.
OK, because they sent us a few questions.
And I think that you've covered those questions
in your presentation.
I didn't hear much about the financial part,
and I don't think that's probably where we probably
need to talk about it.
I think we need to leave that to your financial
what do you call it?
So Mr. Davis is our fiscal your physical trustee.
It's just appointed a couple of weeks ago.
So we want to give him some time.
Give him some time.
That is my next suggestion.
I want to give you some time to get in there
and to see where we are and everything,
but I just wanted to say thank you.
Your partnership to hear that your partnership is with Mica
is good, and I'm glad that it's open and you all are talking.
I'm trying to get a solution done
and trying to get something resolved.
But this is not-- when I hear and when I see,
you have done a tremendous job because at first we
were in the blind, and we didn't know anything.
So we thank you for all the hard work that you're doing
and for being transparent with us,
because I don't think that would have even known
half of the stuff that was going on
that you've revealed in all the work that is now coming there.
There are some questions on here about some buses,
and I think that you've already responded to that.
You've already answered that they wanted
to how many buses were coming.
And we're working on that.
You got buses in and some more buses to come.
So I just wanted to say thank you.
Thank Micah and your partnership for collaborating
because they're the community voice.
And hopefully one day, whether I'm here or not,
that we will have an amazing transit system
and it will not be just labeled as a poor man's transportation,
that everyone in this city where I come from and where I've been
and where I've lived in many other places,
that transit was everyone in the city's means of transportation.
So that's my prayer and my hope to see one day here in Memphis.
So thank you again and your team.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair.
You're welcome.
Anyone else want to speak?
If I may take just a moment, I know
that the schedule is tight, but just
a quick update on what we've done from a financial standpoint
already.
We have implemented controls for review processes
as well as sign offs.
We have had meetings in person to discuss not only the cash
flow, but the budgeting process as well.
So although everyone knows it's been two weeks,
we hit the ground running.
I take this responsibility as a great opportunity
to help improve MATA and the transportation system,
and I'm very excited about being able to do that.
And like I said, we hit the ground running
and would not expect there to be any slowdown.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Go right ahead.
Yes, sir.
I just wanted to how long will the fares be free.
And is it indefinitely?
Yeah, it's a great question.
I think that the fares are free today.
We continue to evaluate it, and I am hopeful over the next 45
days to reach that decision.
I will tell you that the early numbers for our fares
have been great.
Ridership is up anywhere from 26% to 30%.
We recognize that there's some things that we
need to look at improve.
We're looking at some social workers
to bring on board to help with some of those issues related
to unhoused individuals and other things,
but overall, it's been an incredible impact.
We've put over $1.8 million back into the community
by providing this service.
So I think it's been a positive for our community
overwhelmingly.
Are you able to do that because of a grant?
How are you able to do?
Well, what happens is the individuals who otherwise
would pay to ride the bus.
They're able to use that money and keep that money
to pay for groceries, to pay for food,
to pay for other living expenses that they have.
If you look at the data, it shows you
that individuals who ride our buses, that money
circulates within their communities.
So from that perspective, it's been certainly
a positive all around.
Again, it's not a perfect system, but it's been very good.
And a lot of people thank us for that opportunity
to be able to save $30, $40 a month
versus having to pay it out.
Thank you.
I just want to thank the attorney for all the hard work
that you've done.
Continue we move forward.
We've done quite a few different things,
and we're not through right now.
mayor, before you go out, I just got to recognize.
Hey, we have our mayor here with us.
Is there anything you want to say.
[INAUDIBLE]
Appreciate you.
Thank you sir.
Can I make just a brief comment?
I mean, [INAUDIBLE]
Yeah.
Come on.
[MUTED]
Thank you very much.
OK.
Let the record show that Councilwoman white
has joined us.
And that's about it.
No other questions.
Anyone?
All right.
Thank everybody for coming today.
And this committee is adjourned.
Thank you.