Seniors, customers with disabilities and students are eligible for reduced fares.
As a reduced fare rider, you're automatically signed up for free balance protection.
So you won't need to worry if your card is lost or stolen.
It's free to apply at tap to go.
Items.
Thank you, Vice Chair Chafee.
We do have some, Director Tremblay is participating over Zoom.
Therefore, we will be doing roll call votes for any action items.
we do ask that you turn your microphone on
and speak into your microphone when making any comments
or any motions so that the participants on Zoom
and our viewers, because we're streaming out, can hear you.
And that concludes housekeeping, thank you.
Thank you, Madam Clerk.
Now we go into our safety briefing from Frank Castellan.
I've asked if he might particularly talk
about seismic safety.
Yes, sir, good morning.
Chairman Chaffee and committee members.
So for this morning's safety briefing,
just a usual reminders in case of a fire alarm,
we will exit the building, stage, and path source positive
to make sure everyone's accounted for.
In the event of a first aid and or situation arises,
you need to do CPR.
The event of an active attacker,
we always say we're on high fight.
And to expand a little bit further on earthquake safety,
the event, we do have an earthquake.
I'll ask you to shelter under a large object.
And as a reminder, I believe I was reading the other day
that we are 300 years overdue for a major earthquake
in our region in San Andreas Fault.
Recent events in Turkey and Syria, Turkey in particular,
is a very advanced country.
Again, the article I was reading said
their seismic building codes are up to par with ours here.
If anyone's seen the pictures from that event,
it is quite shocking to say the least.
And that lets us know to take that fact into consideration.
We do have local resources,
ShakeAlert being one of them, we can download the app.
Also, we do have ShakeAlert integrated
with our positive train control, our PTC.
So we do have that within our system
as an added safety benefit.
But also, finally, I would remind everyone,
you should have a go bag at home
if you need to leave the house very quickly,
especially if your area is more prone
to seismic activity, landslides, et cetera.
Have something, have a plan with your family,
and that concludes my safety briefings.
Thank you for the special words about seismic safety,
and that's very much in everybody's mind at the moment,
thanks to what's happening in Turkey and Syria.
So thank you.
Syria.
Well, it'll be our Pledge of Allegiance,
and it'll be my place to lead it.
Would you please join me, and please remember
the freedom for which it stands.
I pledge allegiance, Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?
Certainly.
Director Wapner, Vice Chair Chaffee, present.
Second Vice Chair Bergson, here.
Director Tremblay, here.
Director Najarian, here.
Chair McAllen, we do have a quorum present.
Thank you, Madam Clerk.
We now move to public comments.
I would ask if we have any written comments.
We do not have any written public comment.
Do we have any oral comments
or people requesting to speak?
We do not have any requests to speak.
Then I'll, if I may skip the admonition about that.
Go on to our regular calendar.
Madam Clerk, would you read the first item?
This is item 6A, the approval of meeting minutes
for the January 13th, 2023 Executive Committee.
It moved, is there a second?
Any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call for the vote.
Is there any objection? Hearing none.
I do have to do a roll call vote because we have a virtual, yes.
Sorry, my usual procedure is to ask for objection.
No worries.
All right.
Please go ahead.
Second.
Second, Vice Chair Burksen.
Yes.
Director Tremblay.
Yes.
Sorry, Mr. Chair.
Director Najarian? Yes. Director Wapner? Yes. Vice Chair Chaffee? Aye. That motion carried
unanimously. We go on to item 6b. Madam Clerk, is it a discussion item? Would you
please read it? This is a discussion concerning the length of time each
member agency holds the chair of the board presented by Don Del Rio General
Council. Mr. Del Rio, would you please proceed? Thank you, Chair. Under our
Our current bylaws each member agency holds the chair for a two-year period on a rotating
basis.
This slide is a snapshot of Metrolink's current bylaws.
It provides you with the detail related to which county, what year, and for the two-year
period in the sequence in the various order.
Even though it runs to 2021, down below there it notes that the same order shall continue.
The Metrolink bylaws were reviewed and amended by the Metrolink Board most recently in 2019,
2014, and 2011.
The focus was primarily on the establishment and elimination of the various committee structures.
Again, this was a receiving file for information purposes only at the request of Chair McCallum.
Are there any questions?
Board members?
Any discussion?
Any discussion?
It's not broken.
Please go ahead if you have any. Your light is on.
It's not broken.
So there is no change is being advocated by anyone who is committee.
Totally it's a discretion of the committee if you'd like to advance the proposals to the full board.
I would suggest that we keep it to the read.
Are we required or can we just let it die here?
killing committee
is that what there's no second and the motion would uh...
the uh... committee member who raised the question
uh... counterparts
since uh... discussion after
that question was raised
more interested pursuing
we can just let it die here if that's possible if not then
recommended to the board as leaving it as it is.
Council, you had a comment.
The item will be placed on consent,
whether there's a proposal to advance
or as a receive and file.
So only if it's pulled from consent
would the board take issue with it.
All right, with that explanation,
if there's no second, then the motion dies
and we move on to the next item,
which is 6C, our February legislative update,
presented by Jeffrey Dunn,
the Director of Government and Committee Relations.
Please proceed.
Thank you very much.
Good morning, Mr. Vice Chair,
Second Vice Chair, members of the committee.
Next slide, please.
For this month's update,
starting with local matters,
our community relations staff have been reaching out
to local communities to raise awareness
about Metrolinx Low Income Fair Program.
In existence in September of last year
and funded by a state LC Topps grant
subsidize and offer a 50% discounted pass to low to qualified low-income
writers. In addition to contacting the cities and schools noted in the report,
Metrolink has reached out to each supervisor's office in LA County and is
presently reaching out to supervisor offices in all counties across the
network to amplify awareness of the program with their constituencies. We have
also sent notice through the Nextdoor app across the network with information
about the program and how to participate.
It's already received over 28,000 views,
and next week we will embark upon a direct outreach campaign
to low-income housing projects near our stations
in a targeted approach to make likely qualifying residents aware
of the program and how to access it.
LA County Department of Public Social Services is also sending
notice of the program to its service recipients
to encourage their participation.
this is hundreds of thousands of people.
We hope and believe the push we are making now
will translate to identifiable ridership impacts
in the coming weeks and months
and will show up in our regular ridership reporting
to the committee and the board.
Additionally, we view the effort
as one to punctuate Metrolinx' commitment
to raising equity and equitable access to our service
as a point of emphasis this year and moving forward.
Also of note in local matters
is the imminent transmission of a letter from our CEO
to the superintendents of 154 school districts within the Metrolink network service area,
inviting them to make available to students a new online safety program developed by Metrolink
that focuses on rail safety and best practices for schools and students near the railroad.
The program is both informative and entertaining, with age-appropriate video and animation,
and the format ensures the information can be shared with students in the most convenient
an opportune way, whether in class, organized assembly, study hall, or as an extra credit
assignment. We are proud of this effort as it walks the walk with respect to Metrolinx'
most foundational value of safety. We look forward to our interaction with the schools
and how the program is received by students. In state matters, your report details relevant
numbers from the proposed budget released by the Governor last month. Of these, I would
draw attention to the planned reduction from $2 billion to $1 billion of funding to the
Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, TIRCP, unless the budget outlook approves
between now and adoption of the budget by or before June 15.
It is our intent, with our partner member agencies and transportation agencies statewide
and with the California Transportation Association, to advocate for full funding of TIRCP and for
flexibility of use of a part of these funds for operational as well as capital needs.
Agencies like Metrolinx that had particularly acute funding shortages this year that have
arrived from the pandemic and recovery.
Both the need to fully fund TIRCP and the need to provide operations funding were particular
points of emphasis on the recent Mobility 21 state advocacy trip just concluded, which
our CEO participated in.
With respect to the latter, transit ops funding was one of the four prioritized asks of the
organization, the first time this issue has been so elevated by mobility 21 members in
its advocacy.
And it's a message we will continue to carry forward in meetings with state lawmakers during
this budget cycle.
We're starting with Assemblymember Steve Bennett of Ventura County, who is already on calendar.
He's a longtime colleague and friend of our CEO, as well as being chair of the budget
subcommittee on transportation.
Please wish us luck.
We're also represented in participating on CTA's Transit Operations Funding Subcommittee,
which is actively seeking a consensus from transit agencies on how to secure operations
support in a very tight budget year, projecting just under $30 billion in revenue declines
from last year's record-setting budget.
TIRCP flexibility in full funding is among the advocacy objectives of CTA, with other
proposals that are still under development.
We will provide you an update on these as they're finalized and advocated for this
year during budget deliberations.
In Washington, as I know you're aware, the federal debt limit was reached last month
at $31.4 trillion.
While the situation is serious, for perspective, it is important to note that the debt ceiling
has been raised 78 times since 1960 and 20 times since 2001.
is able to maintain payments for most debt obligations until some time in June, but because
spending authorization originates in the House, which is now controlled by the party opposite
to the administration, there will be strong impetus to reduce spending without imposing
significant cuts to defense or Social Security and Medicare as a precondition to raise the
debt ceiling and avoid potential default.
This makes particularly challenging any request for significant additional funding to other
areas of the budget, such as transit and transportation, which are already under the eye of budget
hawks for potential cuts.
Indeed, our advocates informed that there is already some discreet discussion on the
Hill to claw back some of the increased funding authorization provided by the bipartisan infrastructure
law in the last Congress, though there is no legislation yet proposing that.
The status of earmarks, too, in the coming appropriation cycle remains somewhat unclear,
with a general consensus that they will not be completely eliminated as in the past, but
will likely see significant curtailment.
Additionally, the Commuter Rail Coalition, on whose board our CEO sits, is organizing
an advocacy trip at the end of the month that will focus on its key platform objective
of enacting a law in law, a new program to provide higher tier insurance coverage to
public rail agencies due to coverage gaps in the marketplace that have caused price
visibility and in some cases dramatic year-over-year premium increases to
passenger rail operators. Metrolink supports this objective which is a
priority included in its 2023 legislative platform adopted by the
board last month. Metrolink will pursue advocacy in Washington this year and we
are still assessing the most strategic time and opportunity to go back for
maximum efficacy. We will again submit a RAISE application to USDOT to fund tier
for locomotives, which, if successful, will match the state funds already awarded for
that purpose, but which are contingent upon matching funds.
This will be a top priority, and we will vigorously seek the support of the delegation.
We will also advocate for other federal grant submissions for state of good repair later
in the spring.
We will provide update to the Board concerning these and other efforts as we get further
into the session of the new Congress this year, so please stay tuned.
Next slide.
This concludes my report.
I'm happy to answer any questions if there are any thank you very much. I have any questions
Please go ahead. Thank you. I'm going back to the report on the state budget
There was a comment there that um the governor did this expecting that the lost funds would be backfilled by the bipartisan
Infrastructure bill if we meet any I'm sure that wasn't the intent of the federal bill
It was supposed to be to supplement at the supplant
We've done anything to contact our federal legislators so they can express that to the governor's office
It's a good suggestion, you're correct that I don't think that was the intent of the bipartisan
infrastructure law, I think the government is just trying to be opportunistic whether
it's opportunity to achieve the same objectives, state objectives using the federal color of
money, that that is certainly something that should be looked at, we haven't specifically
addressed it with our advocates but it's a very good suggestion sir.
I would only add, Mr. Chair and Director Wapner, that the bipartisan infrastructure law, that
is federal funding, and typically federal funding can only be used for capital.
And where we obviously see our shortfalls are the revenues that could come from, now
TIRCP is also capital, but where we see our greatest needs are going to be on the operating
side, and that doesn't make up for it.
but director wapney your suggestion is a good one we need we need to engage
uh... our congressional delegation to set the record straight with the
governor's office that was not the intent of i i g
thank you any other comments
i do have a question of our uh... council
i began the meeting that realize we had a
remote participant
does that change at the voting uh... requiring a roll call for example for
receiving file
It does not it's not okay only on action items. All right. Thank you
All right. This is a receiving file item and thank you for the report if there's no objection
From the committee members this shall be a receive and file
Accordingly our next item is our customer experience quarterly update
Another receiving file item and it says presented by Sabrina Davis, but you don't look like Sabrina
I'm a far shot from Sabrina Scott Johnson interim chief of customer experience
I have the opportunity to share with you our efforts during the second quarter
October 24th
We launched the arrow service that previous Friday. We held a ribbon-cutting event
Chafee, who will have a special connection to the effort as a University of Rutland alum,
as passenger rail resumed connection to not only the university, but the city.
We were excited not only that next Monday, when service began record ridership initially,
that was the only complimented transit equity day with more than a thousand boardings on
Aeroservice.
The following Saturday we also held a community event that was more focused on the residents
of the Inland Empire and certainly Redlands, that top left image is the mascot of San Bernardino
Community College.
A Wolverine by the name of Blue is a part of an ongoing series of promotions that we
have with different universities throughout our service area that you may have seen on
Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, and the Cal State Ventura County as well.
So we were excited to have that great turnout with our partners with Esri, that actually
owned the historic depot at the University of Maryland, so that was outstanding.
I think I had the microphone height set for Sabrina.
Also in October, that same week, we celebrated our 30-year anniversary, which was exciting
primarily with the launch of our new logo,
which was a rebranding effort.
Part of that effort was also a community
and some station efforts to get that information out,
along with some collateral that we shared with our writers.
As a part of that initiative,
highlighting the 30-year anniversary of our agency,
for three consecutive months,
we offered a 30% discount on our monthly passes.
As you see, we did have a significant increase
in October, November, and December
from the September monthly purchases of the monthly passes.
We will be coming back to the committee
and the board next month with a recap
and an appraisal of that initiative
and how it's moving forward during this calendar year.
As a part of our holiday campaign for destinations,
we were able to partner once again
with the Rose Parade Committee
and offer the early morning trains of our service
on that Monday, January 2,
with the commencement of the Rose Parade.
We did see a significant media coverage.
You can see the connections, the mentions,
and the impressions along with the ad value.
We did have the additional ridership
on those early morning trains
that we likely would not have seen on a holiday Monday.
In addition to the campaigns for respective services
and campaigns, we have been working diligently
on improving our mobile platforms, including our website,
with the various items listed here.
And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions
on customer experience initiatives and campaigns
that took place between October and December.
Thank you for the report.
Any comments or questions from our committee members?
Well, I don't see any.
So thank you for the great report.
Well, that's a receive and file.
And if no objection, it shall be received and file.
Now we go on to Mr. Kettle, your chief executive officer
report, please.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yes, so as Mr. Dunn indicated, last week I was in Sacramento
with Mobility21, along with all of the chief executives
or executive directors of our member agencies,
along with the private sector.
I know you're all familiar with Mobility21.
I'd say it was a very productive conversation.
We all realized it was the first time
we'd done a Sacramento advocacy trip since March of 2020,
or February 2020, it was the last time
that the group was all together.
So three years later, we were back in Sacramento.
We, as Mr. Dunn indicated, Mobility 21
has started helping carry the torch on transit operations
funds.
It was a high priority, and we did have a very warm reception
from legislators about the importance
of transit operating dollars to sort of get us
through these next few years as we move past the COVID relief
money that has helped bail us out for a couple of years.
So the legislature certainly seemed to be more interested in trying to continue that
than what we certainly heard out of the governor's office in the first place, but we feel pretty
good about it.
We have some opportunities there.
Of course, a big part of it was timing.
All of you should have received my communication on, I think it was the Wednesday or Thursday
Of the announcement of the California State Transportation Agency in the governor's office on the additional funding for Southern, California
Our agencies did quite well
Metrolink received 107 million dollars to fully fund three projects that are part of our school program
Those three projects support four different rail lines in our system
So that was very positive news
As did several of our member agencies, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority received funding for one of its projects,
LA Metro received a significant chunk of funding for several projects,
and of course, OCTA received additional funding for their OC Streetcar Project, so that was a very positive,
obviously a very positive announcement and we're pleased to have received that additional funding for our program.
I want to mention the fact that last week also,
Chair Najarian, in his role as the chair of LA Metro,
along with Chair McCallan, we had a press conference
on Tuesday, February 2nd, in advance of Transit Equity Day.
That was February 4, where we had not quite a new record
for us post-pandemic, but nearly 19,000 riders took advantage
of our ride for free on our system.
We had standing room only on our San Bernardino County line and on our Orange County line.
So it was a very positive response to the recognition of Transit Equity Day and in recognition
of Rosa Parks' birthday.
And lastly, next week is Valentine's Day, and while it's also, as much as it's Valentine's
Day, it is also customer appreciation day for us at Metrolink.
And I want to thank there, we have a number of board members who will be at various places
throughout the system greeting our riders and passing out a little bit of Metrolink
swag so my thanks to our board members who are going to be able to join us.
Chair McCallan will be coming into LA Union Station and I will be here as well
to just greeting our, greeting our riders as they come through and thanking
them for their, for their loyalty to Metrolink and so yeah that was, that's
what I have. I would take questions. Thank you for your report. I'd like to
wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day coming up I'm sorry so the set on the
transit equity day the free fares we were standing room only on the San
Bernardino line and the Orange County line several of the trains were standing
so on the San Bernardino line those riders presumably were coming into
Union Station into LA and was it same with Orange County or were people going
Going down to the beaches.
Going down to the beaches.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, that's very interesting.
There was a nice, I don't know who it was, someone on social media described a trip from
San Bernardino to Union Station, taking the LA Metro red line, I think, and had lunch
and bought some records, that amoeba records, and then came back.
And it was a very nice write-up.
I don't know if we saw that.
it was on our Metrolink. Scott's saying, yeah, maybe that's where I read it from Scott had
given that. So that's very encouraging. I mean, that sort of ridership and that sort
of excitement and good vibes, I think, are a step in the right direction for the agency.
Just quickly. David Allen is a columnist with the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Southern
California News Group. David is a frequent rider of Metrolink, a strong proponent. So
He posted his initial experience the day of the free rides and then followed up as part
of his column later in the week.
Yes, it was a part of the news clips that we had shared.
It was very encouraging, maybe hope for the future with some excitement.
On a weekend, of course these are weekend travelers which we do have to pay attention
to as well.
Well, and to your point, Director Najarian, this is what the new Metrolink has to be.
We can't just continue to be about that commuter.
We have to be pursuing these discretionary trips
that are people that are taking the train
for something other than that work trip.
So it was, you know, on a Saturday
to have that kind of ridership, to have that buzz,
that is, you know, those are opportunities,
those are touch points where we're getting people
that might not otherwise try the train.
And so we just have to keep pushing that message.
We have to be patient, but if we keep pushing that message,
we're gonna see ridership recover.
Apologize for passing you by there. Sorry
so
Appreciate all the efforts that I'm hearing about and making that Valentine's Day special for writers
For me, it's kind of fun our County clerk. That's his busiest day with all the wedding ceremonies
So I've been invited to spend a couple hours in the Zanaheim office doing wedding ceremonies
So I'll be having some extra fun
And if there are no more comments
The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chair. Oh, I'm sorry to go ahead