[0:00] [MUTED]
[3:10] It's raining.
[3:13] Hold on.
[3:14] [MUTED]
[4:46] We're going to call the Transportation Committee
[4:48] to order.
[4:51] Will you please call the roll.
[4:52] Thank you.
[4:53] Councilwoman Walker.
[4:54] Present.
[4:55] Councilwoman [INAUDIBLE] Washngton.
[4:57] Present.
[4:57] Chair Ford Senior.
[4:59] Present.
[4:59] Thank you.
[5:00] We have one item is an update from Madam.
[5:05] All council districts requested by myself.
[5:08] It 14.
[5:11] We have attorney Holmes.
[5:14] I'm going to turn it over to you, and we can go from there.
[5:18] Thank you.
[5:19] Thank you, Councilman Ford.
[5:21] My name is Roderick Holmes.
[5:22] I am the operational trustee for MATA.
[5:25] I'm joined by trustee art Davis, who
[5:27] is the financial and fiscal trustee for MATA.
[5:32] Good afternoon.
[5:34] We'd like to do today is provide an update regarding the progress
[5:38] and also the future plans for MATA
[5:40] to provide our citizens with reliable services.
[5:43] Let's go to the next slide, please.
[5:47] You see, in front of you are the buses that
[5:49] have recently come in that were put into service next week.
[5:54] These buses were ordered approximately nine months ago.
[5:57] It takes some time to have those built manufactured.
[6:00] Appreciative of our manufacturing partners
[6:03] for putting us in line to get these buses.
[6:06] And these will be going out next week.
[6:13] All right.
[6:15] The buses that you see are part of
[6:17] our fleet revitalization plan.
[6:19] That plan is simple and that's to give
[6:22] a reasonable and reliable service.
[6:24] One of the key components to that are reliable buses.
[6:28] As it's been some time since [? MATAs ?] ordered new buses.
[6:32] When we took the Helms, we thought this was our priority.
[6:35] We knew it was our priority in order
[6:36] to be able to provide reliable service.
[6:39] We also knew that the manufacturing time would
[6:41] be at least 8 to nine months.
[6:43] So what we've done starting last year is to place those orders
[6:46] and work with this council and Mayor Young's office
[6:49] to ensure that we had appropriate and adequate funds
[6:52] to complete these purchases.
[6:54] Over the last nine months, with the assistance
[6:57] of our incredible grants and finance team,
[7:00] along with our operational team, planning and logistics,
[7:04] we've secured about $48 million between federal and city
[7:08] and state funds to do just that.
[7:10] But we're going to do with those funds
[7:12] that we've been able to secure his replace our working fleet.
[7:16] It takes approximately 51 buses to run our 23 routes,
[7:21] and our goal is to purchase 56 buses in total
[7:24] over the next 12 months.
[7:26] As you can see from the slide, we
[7:28] have 12 that have already been delivered.
[7:30] There are another 12 that are slated to be
[7:32] delivered in the fall of 2027.
[7:36] But just over the last two weeks,
[7:38] through series of negotiations over the last few months,
[7:41] we've been able to get an allocation
[7:43] for 32 additional buses, which will be here
[7:46] in either the spring or early summer of 2027.
[7:50] Again, this will completely replace our working fleet
[7:54] because you need about 51 buses.
[7:56] But this will overall do is get us
[7:58] past that threshold number of 71 buses, 75
[8:02] buses for our working fleet that will allow us to expand,
[8:05] add additional buses to each route and start to first time.
[8:09] Consider adding additional routes to our service.
[8:14] You can go to next slide, please.
[8:17] In the meantime, what are we doing
[8:18] to try to provide the best on time performance as we can.
[8:22] I'll remind everyone that our current buses, nearly 50%
[8:26] of them are past their useful life.
[8:28] That means they have more than a half a million miles on them.
[8:31] So what it requires is our maintenance team
[8:33] to work tirelessly to have better preventive maintenance
[8:36] plans, to make sure that our inspections are being done
[8:38] correctly, and they've done an incredible job
[8:40] of that to get those buses out.
[8:44] That is their efforts.
[8:45] Their work has allowed us to maintain on time performance
[8:49] and to see some growth with various routes.
[8:52] So I want to thank our maintenance team
[8:54] for their hard work and the impact they're
[8:56] having on our service, despite the challenges that face them.
[9:01] Next slide.
[9:03] On time performance for the month of July was 60%
[9:07] the peak on time performance.
[9:09] What that means is what's our best day?
[9:10] What is the bandwidth of our services?
[9:13] Was 71%.
[9:15] That is a day where our team did an incredible job
[9:17] in getting those buses from point A to point B,
[9:20] giving the buses that they're working with,
[9:22] giving the state of our current fleet.
[9:25] You also see some other numbers there regarding the highest
[9:28] on time performance by route.
[9:31] The easiest one for people to recognize
[9:32] is route 50, which the highest performance for that week
[9:35] was 64% route 42 was 66% and route 52 was 75% 25%.
[9:41] So again, what those numbers show
[9:43] is the capacity and the room for growth within our organization
[9:47] and how when things come together,
[9:48] we see this upward trend on time performance.
[9:52] Next slide.
[9:56] We are engaging on an ambitious goal of refurbishing
[9:59] some of our fleet.
[10:01] Our goal is to refurbish approximately 15 of our buses
[10:05] and to have that done by the fourth quarter.
[10:08] And what we're going to do with those buses
[10:09] is that we're going to place them on the routes
[10:11] that you see above.
[10:12] This is the plan.
[10:13] What that will do is reduce the wait time for buses.
[10:17] This will be a significant improvement and one
[10:19] that I know that will be welcomed by our riders.
[10:22] So while we have a plan for the future bringing
[10:25] in buses over the next 9 and 12 months,
[10:28] we recognize that there's a present goal need,
[10:30] and we want to make sure that we're addressing that need.
[10:32] And we're going to address that need by continuing
[10:35] to refurbish our buses.
[10:38] Next slide.
[10:40] All right so this is the trolleys.
[10:42] Everybody's excited about them.
[10:47] If you have been on Instagram or TikTok or any of those things,
[10:50] you've probably seen videos or clips
[10:53] from our trolley service which you
[10:55] see in this video is our safety test we were
[10:57] doing for our braking system.
[10:58] I am happy to announce that our trolley team has done
[11:01] an excellent job and that we were able to pass this braking
[11:04] system test, which was a huge step in getting
[11:08] these trolleys back out.
[11:10] We are currently doing additional testing
[11:11] because we want to make sure that when these trolleys get
[11:14] back out on the line, they are safe and they are reliable.
[11:17] So we're doing some system integration
[11:19] testing literally as we speak.
[11:22] We've also submitted to 180 day notice to t-dot.
[11:25] That has been submitted to them should
[11:28] allow for us to return these trolleys to the track
[11:31] in the fall of 2026.
[11:33] There's still work to be done along this.
[11:35] There's still work to be done by our trolley team,
[11:37] but we wanted to report that we are certainly
[11:40] moving in the right direction.
[11:42] Next slide.
[11:45] One of the promises we made when we started this journey nine
[11:48] months ago is that we would improve shelters
[11:50] and that we would improve signage.
[11:53] On the shelters, what we've done is
[11:54] we've created a QR code where individuals can tell us
[11:57] where they want to see shelters, where they believe a need is
[12:00] allowing for our community partners
[12:02] and for our riders to have input.
[12:05] People have responded to this, and based
[12:07] on that response, those responses based
[12:10] on some legal requirements, we have installed 16 shelters
[12:14] to date, which is significant.
[12:15] It's more shelters than problems installed in years.
[12:19] We also have two that are in progress,
[12:21] and our goal is to do about two to three a month.
[12:25] We want to do this throughout our system.
[12:28] We are exploring opportunities with our corporate partners
[12:31] to offset some of these costs.
[12:34] We've gotten really good feedback on that.
[12:36] And we recognize again, as a community, as a company,
[12:39] the shelters are important, and so we've made them a priority.
[12:43] Next slide.
[12:45] We don't want to simply stop with improving shelters.
[12:47] We also recognize that signage.
[12:50] We set out an ambitious goal some time ago
[12:53] to do about 100 signs.
[12:55] In March, we did 120.
[12:57] And through that process, we realized
[12:59] that not only did we need to replace signs,
[13:01] but we needed to look at making our signs more helpful, more
[13:03] useful.
[13:04] So our communications team, along with our compliance
[13:08] team and other partners within our company,
[13:11] worked tirelessly and created the sign
[13:14] that you see in front of you.
[13:16] That sign is clearly an upgrade from what we did before.
[13:20] It's useful.
[13:21] It tells you which route will be at that stop.
[13:24] It gives you a QR code.
[13:25] It gives you the number.
[13:27] They've done an excellent job.
[13:29] I'd be remiss if I didn't say that.
[13:31] We've also met with our community partners, some of whom
[13:34] are here today, to help us in designing this sign
[13:37] and thinking through this process.
[13:39] So I want to thank them for meeting with us.
[13:43] Micah, for being part of the solution.
[13:46] We meet monthly now and those meetings have gone really well.
[13:49] So I appreciate their efforts.
[13:50] Next slide, please.
[13:53] To me this is really the highlight of MATA.
[13:56] And quite frankly it doesn't get enough coverage.
[13:59] It doesn't get enough attention.
[14:01] But MATA provides significant services
[14:04] to in many cases, our aging and disabled population.
[14:09] As you can see, we have a 96% on time performance rate.
[14:13] Customer satisfaction is 4.7.
[14:15] Individuals can literally book rides
[14:17] through MATA plus online using our app.
[14:21] That is very useful and user friendly.
[14:23] We believe in this service.
[14:25] We want to make sure that we continue
[14:26] to get people to doctor's appointments and other needed
[14:28] services.
[14:29] So we are in the process of procuring an additional 24
[14:32] vans to help provide that service,
[14:35] to provide-- to help with some constraints, capacity
[14:37] constraints, and to make sure that any of our citizens
[14:40] who meet the qualifications for this program can use it.
[14:44] So this is our team has done a great job
[14:47] and I appreciate their work and efforts.
[14:52] And the thought of planning for the future.
[14:55] This is our version of Uber & Lyft Groove & Ready.
[14:59] These are micro-transit services that we
[15:02] are looking or evaluating expanding both in North Memphis
[15:06] and in South Memphis.
[15:09] As you can see, these services will help get people
[15:11] to jobs and other locations that they need
[15:14] to go to within these zones.
[15:16] We are hopeful that these will be evaluated
[15:19] over the next month, and then rolled out
[15:21] during the fourth quarter.
[15:23] The cost for ready is actually free.
[15:26] It was free before free fair and it continues to be free.
[15:29] And Groove is approximately $1.25.
[15:32] It's a very affordable services that we
[15:34] want to expand to make sure that our riders
[15:37] have options when they're trying to determine the best
[15:39] way to travel within our city.
[15:42] Next slide, please.
[15:44] We talked a little bit about this during our last meeting.
[15:47] The need to hire additional employees,
[15:50] hire additional operators to be competitive within the Memphis
[15:54] recruiting market.
[15:55] We've done just that.
[15:56] Out of the total operators, we need to effectively run
[16:00] our services 155.
[16:02] We've hired 88% of those, which is about 134 employees.
[16:07] So we're on the right path.
[16:08] We're doing hiring blitzes every Wednesday.
[16:11] So if you're interested in working for MATA,
[16:13] looking for a job, we're hiring.
[16:16] Those hiring blitzes are held at our Levy facility.
[16:19] And you can also apply online.
[16:21] Next slide.
[16:24] One of the things that's always important, always
[16:26] at the front of our minds is making sure
[16:28] that our riders, our passengers, are safe.
[16:31] Over the last nine months, we've met with multiple community
[16:34] activists, operators, riders.
[16:37] I've done it myself.
[16:38] I often go down to Hudson and other locations.
[16:41] And one of the concerns was safety.
[16:43] And how can we help make those areas safer.
[16:45] So we've done just that.
[16:47] Our safety team, led by Chief Watson,
[16:53] has instituted 129 route checks.
[16:56] So basically random searches of buses
[16:59] to make sure that not only our operators are safe,
[17:01] but also our riders or passengers are safe.
[17:04] We also now have allocated resources
[17:07] to have safety specialists at Hudson full time
[17:11] throughout the day.
[17:12] So if individuals have concerns, they
[17:14] can raise those concerns to them.
[17:16] We're hiring again in this location.
[17:18] We're hiring for safety specialists.
[17:20] So anyone's interested, please go online and apply.
[17:23] Next slide.
[17:25] All right.
[17:26] So this part of to many people has little to do with transit.
[17:29] But to me, it everything to do with it.
[17:31] Our job is to serve.
[17:33] And I think we can serve in multiple ways.
[17:36] At Hudson, we have space.
[17:37] At other areas, we have space.
[17:39] We recognize one Thursday, myself
[17:41] and the communications lead, Ms. Hartley, that children were just
[17:46] sitting around.
[17:46] They didn't have anything to do.
[17:48] So working with our community partners
[17:49] that you see up here, urban child Institute and others,
[17:53] we've created these pinwheel playrooms.
[17:55] We give out about 160 books per month.
[17:59] I think that's fundamental.
[18:00] I think it's a great way for us to serve outside
[18:03] of just providing rides.
[18:04] So I appreciate our community partners and everybody
[18:06] internally at MATA who's participated
[18:09] and helped us make this dream a reality of helping children
[18:11] have access to reading.
[18:14] Next slide.
[18:16] All right.
[18:17] So how are we measuring success moving forward--
[18:20] developing and retaining our workforce.
[18:23] Our workforce is at the core of the services that we provide.
[18:26] So we're investing in them, developing them
[18:29] and providing them with opportunities to excel and grow
[18:32] within their job.
[18:34] The second bullet point is self-explanatory.
[18:36] We have to do a better job of delivering reliable services.
[18:40] Our mission isn't done.
[18:41] Our job isn't finished.
[18:42] We recognize there is room to grow.
[18:46] That's why we're ordering more buses.
[18:48] That's why we're training more people.
[18:50] We recognize the need to improve,
[18:53] and we are taking steps every single day
[18:56] to resolve that issue.
[18:59] The next one is customer service.
[19:01] We've invested in our customer service team.
[19:03] We recognize that there's more investment that needs to happen.
[19:07] We've expanded that team.
[19:08] We're also working with some AI tools
[19:10] to help enhance the information they have
[19:12] and the information that's available to our consumers.
[19:17] Next slide, please.
[19:19] I want to thank this council for your continued investment
[19:22] in transit, for the calls, for the effort that you all
[19:26] have put into this system.
[19:28] I'd like to thank our mayor, and I'd
[19:30] like to thank all of our community
[19:31] advocates and our operators.
[19:33] Please continue to tell us where we can be better.
[19:36] Continue to use the QR code and our customer complaint lines.
[19:41] We review that information.
[19:43] We use it as surveys so we know what we're doing well
[19:46] and where we need to improve.
[19:47] And finally, but certainly not least,
[19:49] I'd like to thank the team who's working tirelessly
[19:52] to make this service better.
[19:54] I see you, the community sees you,
[19:56] and we appreciate your effort.
[19:57] Thank you.
[20:01] Thank you, Attorney Holmes.
[20:03] Let the record show that Councilman Warren, Councilwoman
[20:07] Cooper Sutton, Councilman Kennelly, Councilman Spinosa
[20:11] has joined us.
[20:14] We have one--
[20:16] Councilwoman Cooper Sutton you want to speak.
[20:19] Thank you, Chairman.
[20:20] First of all, I would like to say thank you,
[20:23] Attorney Holmes Frederick, for being very consistent.
[20:27] First of all, being compassionate.
[20:28] You walked into a chaotic, mess for over decades,
[20:36] and I know that it's going to take some time.
[20:39] And so those of them that is wanting a miracle,
[20:44] I believe in miracles happening.
[20:46] But this has been going on for decades.
[20:49] I heard you say something, and it raised my eyebrows
[20:52] a little bit, that you are in constant contact with Micah.
[20:55] You all are meeting on a monthly basis, is that correct?
[20:58] Are you all talking?
[20:59] We have.
[21:00] So for the last few months, we've met pretty regularly.
[21:02] When I first started, we met pretty regularly.
[21:04] There was a little gap in there, but we do have monthly meetings.
[21:07] We started those back and they've
[21:09] been good community partners.
[21:10] OK, because they sent us a few questions.
[21:13] And I think that you've covered those questions
[21:15] in your presentation.
[21:17] I didn't hear much about the financial part,
[21:19] and I don't think that's probably where we probably
[21:22] need to talk about it.
[21:23] I think we need to leave that to your financial
[21:25] what do you call it?
[21:26] So Mr. Davis is our fiscal your physical trustee.
[21:29] It's just appointed a couple of weeks ago.
[21:31] So we want to give him some time.
[21:32] Give him some time.
[21:34] That is my next suggestion.
[21:37] I want to give you some time to get in there
[21:39] and to see where we are and everything,
[21:42] but I just wanted to say thank you.
[21:44] Your partnership to hear that your partnership is with Mica
[21:48] is good, and I'm glad that it's open and you all are talking.
[21:51] I'm trying to get a solution done
[21:54] and trying to get something resolved.
[21:56] But this is not-- when I hear and when I see,
[22:01] you have done a tremendous job because at first we
[22:04] were in the blind, and we didn't know anything.
[22:05] So we thank you for all the hard work that you're doing
[22:09] and for being transparent with us,
[22:13] because I don't think that would have even known
[22:17] half of the stuff that was going on
[22:18] that you've revealed in all the work that is now coming there.
[22:21] There are some questions on here about some buses,
[22:24] and I think that you've already responded to that.
[22:27] You've already answered that they wanted
[22:29] to how many buses were coming.
[22:31] And we're working on that.
[22:32] You got buses in and some more buses to come.
[22:35] So I just wanted to say thank you.
[22:37] Thank Micah and your partnership for collaborating
[22:40] because they're the community voice.
[22:42] And hopefully one day, whether I'm here or not,
[22:47] that we will have an amazing transit system
[22:50] and it will not be just labeled as a poor man's transportation,
[22:56] that everyone in this city where I come from and where I've been
[23:00] and where I've lived in many other places,
[23:02] that transit was everyone in the city's means of transportation.
[23:06] So that's my prayer and my hope to see one day here in Memphis.
[23:11] So thank you again and your team.
[23:13] Thank you.
[23:17] Thank you, Chair.
[23:19] You're welcome.
[23:20] Anyone else want to speak?
[23:23] If I may take just a moment, I know
[23:26] that the schedule is tight, but just
[23:29] a quick update on what we've done from a financial standpoint
[23:32] already.
[23:33] We have implemented controls for review processes
[23:36] as well as sign offs.
[23:39] We have had meetings in person to discuss not only the cash
[23:44] flow, but the budgeting process as well.
[23:47] So although everyone knows it's been two weeks,
[23:50] we hit the ground running.
[23:52] I take this responsibility as a great opportunity
[23:58] to help improve MATA and the transportation system,
[24:02] and I'm very excited about being able to do that.
[24:06] And like I said, we hit the ground running
[24:08] and would not expect there to be any slowdown.
[24:12] Thank you.
[24:16] Yeah.
[24:17] Go right ahead.
[24:18] Yes, sir.
[24:18] I just wanted to how long will the fares be free.
[24:22] And is it indefinitely?
[24:25] Yeah, it's a great question.
[24:26] I think that the fares are free today.
[24:29] We continue to evaluate it, and I am hopeful over the next 45
[24:32] days to reach that decision.
[24:34] I will tell you that the early numbers for our fares
[24:36] have been great.
[24:37] Ridership is up anywhere from 26% to 30%.
[24:40] We recognize that there's some things that we
[24:42] need to look at improve.
[24:44] We're looking at some social workers
[24:46] to bring on board to help with some of those issues related
[24:49] to unhoused individuals and other things,
[24:52] but overall, it's been an incredible impact.
[24:55] We've put over $1.8 million back into the community
[24:59] by providing this service.
[25:01] So I think it's been a positive for our community
[25:04] overwhelmingly.
[25:05] Are you able to do that because of a grant?
[25:07] How are you able to do?
[25:08] Well, what happens is the individuals who otherwise
[25:10] would pay to ride the bus.
[25:11] They're able to use that money and keep that money
[25:13] to pay for groceries, to pay for food,
[25:15] to pay for other living expenses that they have.
[25:18] If you look at the data, it shows you
[25:20] that individuals who ride our buses, that money
[25:23] circulates within their communities.
[25:25] So from that perspective, it's been certainly
[25:27] a positive all around.
[25:29] Again, it's not a perfect system, but it's been very good.
[25:33] And a lot of people thank us for that opportunity
[25:35] to be able to save $30, $40 a month
[25:38] versus having to pay it out.
[25:41] Thank you.
[25:43] I just want to thank the attorney for all the hard work
[25:45] that you've done.
[25:47] Continue we move forward.
[25:51] We've done quite a few different things,
[25:52] and we're not through right now.
[25:56] mayor, before you go out, I just got to recognize.
[26:00] Hey, we have our mayor here with us.
[26:02] Is there anything you want to say.
[26:04] [INAUDIBLE]
[26:07] Appreciate you.
[26:08] Thank you sir.
[26:08] Can I make just a brief comment?
[26:14] I mean, [INAUDIBLE]
[26:15] Yeah.
[26:17] Come on.
[26:17] [MUTED]
[27:41] Thank you very much.
[27:43] OK.
[27:46] Let the record show that Councilwoman white
[27:48] has joined us.
[27:50] And that's about it.
[27:51] No other questions.
[27:53] Anyone?
[27:54] All right.
[27:55] Thank everybody for coming today.
[27:58] And this committee is adjourned.
[28:00] Thank you.