Good morning like to call to order the
exactly committed meeting for the month of October
As for safety briefing by Tim Moore hit our interim chief safety security compliance officer. Go ahead Tim. Good morning, chair
Good morning
Committee members CEO today's safety message is a reminder that in the event of a fire alarm activation
We're all going to collectively exit the boardroom go downstairs and stage just out
side the front of Metrolinx customer service and wait for further instructions. In the event of an earthquake
we're going to drop, take cover, and wait for the shake and a stop and then we can make an assessment if a
building evacuation is going to be warranted.
In the event of a first aid situation,
we have first aid responder in the room as well as an AED device that is in the hallway by the security desk.
If in the event the first aid responder are not present,
I will provide first aid and ask the board secretary to alert security desk out front and dial 911 if needed.
In the event of an active attacker remember three key words run hide and fight that concludes today's safety briefing
Thank you very much, Tim
Please join me as we salute the flag that represents our Republic
Vice chair chafee
second vice chair bergsen
director Tremblay
here
director Najarian
Here chair McCallan here. We do have a quorum present. Thank you very much
I don't have any speaker slips for public comment. Do we have any for public comment? I
Don't have any requests to speak on
Republic comment. Okay. Thank you. We I just wanted to let the executive committee know we have been compiling the
additional
Customer comments for the last two weeks regarding the
Proposed schedule changes that will be emailed to the board later today. Very good
Had to see that right to see that we're getting the new schedule, too
I'm sure that we'll have lots of comments as the CEO said
Schedules of trains is very personal
So we get a lot of personal comments
Let's go under a regular calendar approval of a meeting minutes of July 12th. Is there a motion on that move the item?
second roll call please second Vice Chair Burkson director Tremblay yes
director Najarian yes chair McCallin yes that motion carried thank you very
much we're going to unless there's objection I will defer item 6b until
Vice Chair Chafee gets here. Let's go on to 6C, Contract, State Legislative
Representative Services Julie Nieto, or Manager of Management Analyst 2. Mr.
Chair, as if I could real briefly, prior to Julie's presentation, just as a, as a,
for the board, the board's awareness, one of the things that we'll be looking at
doing related to our legislative program is, as the board may be aware, we are
scheduling a workshop. Our workshop is going to be scheduled at the normal
board meeting in January. One of the items we're going to be adding to that
agenda, and this is an issue at the request or awareness of director
Trembly had raised with me over the course last week, is we've not seen or
heard from our lobbyists in person in a while.
And so we're gonna ask that the lobbying team,
both Sacramento team and DC team participate
in that workshop talking about our legislative program
as well as how we might strategize for the purposes
of funding for LA 28.
So in this introduction, just wanna make sure
you're aware that this is gonna be something
that we want to tee up for the board at our workshop.
And with that, I'll turn it over to Julie
for her presentation.
Thank you, Darren.
Good morning, Chair and members of the committee.
Next slide.
On September 25th, 2020, the board authorized the CEO
to award contract number L176-21
to Shaw, Yoder, and Tweesh-Meltzer-Ling
for state legislative representation services.
The contract was awarded for a base term of two years
with two two-year options.
The item before you is to request to exercise
the second two-year option to extend the contract
from the current expiration date of December 31st, 2024
to December 31st, 2026,
and to increase the funding authority by $240,000,
120,000 per year.
The current cost of 10,000 per month will remain the same.
We have no cost escalation
for the remainder of the contract.
SYASL lead advocate Andrew Antwi
is a recognized advocacy leader across the state
and in the transportation industry.
He offers a wealth of policy and budget knowledge,
wide ranging political contacts
in the legislature and governor's administration.
And Mark Watts, who works closely with him,
provides expertise on transportation policy and funding.
During the contract period,
the state advocates have carried forward support
and emphasis of maintaining SP 125 funding
with key legislators and staff
during the recent difficult budget years.
They're instrumental in securing meetings
with state legislators and staff during trips to Sacramento
and providing staff with timely and regular updates
on legislative bills and information
from committee and policy meetings.
The support will continue to be important
as we have an election coming up
and we have new offices that join
the elected delegation after November.
And extending this contract allows advocacy efforts
to proceed with that interruption.
Next slide, please.
So it's our recommendation today
that the committee recommend to the board
to authorize the CEO to amend contract number L176-21
with Shaw, Yoder, and Tweesh, Meltzer, and Ling
to exercise a second to your option
and to increase the contract funding authority by $240,000.
That concludes my report
and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you.
Do you have any comments or questions?
Mr. Chair?
You go ahead.
Thanks, Julie, for your presentation.
And first observation,
I want to emphasize or accentuate what Darren indicated in terms of having our state advocate
as well as our federal advocate meet with us during a board meeting in the manner in
which Darren suggested.
Two observations on this particular contract.
One is I'd like to know a little bit more about Mr. Watts because he's not on the website
for the firm, and I'd also like to know it doesn't need to be today.
But I'd also like to know how, Julian, thank you for basically detailing what Mr. Watts
does and what Mr. Antliff does and we does, but I'd like to know a little bit more how
they split up their advocacy efforts on our behalf.
So I'd like a little bit more information, and I'm hopeful that you could have that in
time for the next board meeting.
Okay.
Yes, sir.
I'm happy to provide that I guess just to provide a little bit of context Mark watts does serve as a sub consultant
He's a partner at Smith Watson Hartman
So we're happy to provide additional information on his firm his background and representation and also more details on their advocacy
Right, but this contract is not with his firm. This contract is with the first firm if I'm understanding it correctly, right?
Right. Thank you. Mr. Chair
Welcome any other comments or questions
Well, this is an action item. Is there a motion go ahead and move it Burkson
Trembly second I have a motion second. Madam clerk. Would you call for the vote?
Second base chair Burkson director Trembly. Yes, director. Najarian. Yes, chair. McCallen. Yes a motion carried
Thank you very much next item 6d our bench contract to a federal legislation representation services
And this is an action item and Julie you're up again
On September 25th 2020 of the Metrolink board authorized the CEO to award bench contract number
L175-2 1 to 3 firms with the base term of two years and two two year options
The item before you today is a request to exercise the second to your option to extend the contract from the current
expiration date of December 31st, 2024
to December 31st, 2026.
And to increase the funding authority by $720,000,
360,000 per year.
Our current cost of $10,000 per firm per month
will remain the same.
There's no cost escalation for the remainder of the contract.
Metrolinx federal advocacy firms are as follows.
Blank room, our lead advocate Don Norton
has advocated for Metrolinx for over two decades
and has extensive background in federal rail advocacy.
Blank Roam is well-known for working with railroads,
public transit operators, and trade associations.
Kate Ashen Associates, our lead advocate, Chris Keurig,
is highly knowledgeable of the internal workings
of the appropriations process
and issues unique to California.
Having previously worked for the U.S. Senate,
Chris maintains strong relationships
with the California delegation in the House and the Senate.
And Potomac partners, DC, Rick Alcaldi, and Dan Felice
both have outstanding experience
working with delegation members from both parties.
Their contributions are felt,
especially during the House appropriations process each year,
including during our earmark request cycle.
The advocates work together to maintain close relationships
within Metrolinx delegation and with key offices
on policy committees and jurisdictions
in the House and Senate.
Over the last two years,
the firms have continued to provide assistance
to the CEO, strategy, and government relations staff
to secure impactful strategy,
impactful members, staff, and administration meetings
during APTA, Ability21, and CTA federal advocacy trips.
Additionally, this year, the advocates were crucial
in securing the appearance of our CEO
before the rail subcommittee of the House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee
and at a commuter rail-focused hearing.
They were helpful, and they also helped secure earmark
request in the draft FY25 appropriations bill
and initial support for Metrolink Olympic needs,
pending final passage of the bill.
Next slide, please.
It is recommended that the executive committee
recommend to the board of directors to authorize the CEO
to amend contract number L175A-21 with a blank row,
contract number L175B-21 with cadence and associates,
and contract number L175C-21 with Potomac Partners, DC.
To exercise the second to your option
and to increase the contract authority by $720,000,
for continued federal legislative representation services.
And that concludes my report,
and happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Julie.
Any comments or questions?
Mr. Chair?
Go ahead, Mr. Tremblay.
Yeah, Julie, thank you for the report,
and thank you for the additional information
that wasn't in the staff report.
I'm hoping that the staff report for this item,
as it would for our next board meeting,
same for our state legislative advocates,
reflect the areas in which these advocates have expertise
and the specific examples that you provided
are very helpful.
One thing I have a question on though is,
unless it was blank Rome, the first firm,
Do we have a specific advocate with experience
with the Federal Railroad Administration
and U.S. Department of Transportation?
Okay, I must have missed that.
Was that the blank room for?
Yes, yes, that was blank room.
Okay, so I'm hoping then again too,
and to follow up on what Darren said earlier,
I'm hoping that we will be able to have
that those areas of expertise
kind of sort of explicitly laid out
at a workshop with the board,
and then ultimately, going on a go forward basis,
what, how they will be able to assist us
both at the federal and state levels on funding,
seeking funding assistance for LA-28.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much.
Any other comments or questions?
Like to recognize that our vice chair has arrived.
And thank you.
You had a little traffic today?
Yes, I was.
start you need to start riding the train yes i know we're working on it
this is an action item is there a motion
trembling move we have a motion is there a second and we have a second madam clerk would
you call for the role vice chair chafee second vice chair berkson director trembling yes director
Director Najarian.
Yes.
Chair McAllen.
Yes.
That motion carried unanimously.
Thank you very much.
I deferred the meeting calendar until you arrived.
So we'll go back to 6B and the board and committee meeting dates for calendar year 2025.
Michelle, our board clerk, please.
Thank you, Chair McAllen, and good morning to our executive committee.
Next slide please.
before you is the calendar that was included in your packet which is the
typical second Friday committee meeting and fourth Friday board meeting. However
during the board briefings chair McCallan noted that our September 12th
committee meetings falls on the same day as mobility 21. So next slide please. We
have amended the calendar to remove that committee date and just have the board
meeting on the fourth Friday which is kind of similar to our September of this
year where we only had the board meeting and no committee meetings so I am
presenting you with this calendar for you guys to decide how you want to
proceed. Thank you very much. Any comments or questions? Mr. Chair? Yes go ahead.
Forgive me I must be on a roll today. Michelle thanks for the work in putting
this together I know it's difficult to do just two things and their observations
I'm not asking to change the calendar, but number one, I'm informed that Ventura County
Transportation Commission will be meeting on three separate dates. We'll have conflicts
with our board committee meetings for January, May, and July. And the second thing I wanted to
just indicate is there is a League of Cities conference on April 20, which includes April 25.
so we may get directors including myself who are at League of Cities on that date.
But I just wanted to make those observations so that we have our eyes wide open when we approve
this. Thank you for the comments. Any others? I have a request, not on changing dates or anything,
But I would ask that the executive committee meeting be the first meeting of on committee
meeting days rather than audit and finance for personal reasons.
It would allow me to be involved in some AQMD meetings later in the day.
but I know the chair, incoming chair,
might have some issues in earlier meeting,
but I throw that out and see if what
the incoming chair wants to do.
First I need to learn how to turn on the light.
I think we're on a good quest to try to do more ridership.
that's difficult sometimes to catch up on that.
And I see a issue developing
between the new schedule we have
where we're trying to attract new ridership
at the same time as it seems a disadvantage
to some of our current riders.
I'm not sure what the balance is,
but I think that needs study.
So that remains an issue, how we go forward
and new ridership is critical,
but you don't wanna hurt your existing riders either, so.
So my question is to see if we can move
the executive committee meeting to nine o'clock
instead of 9.45.
That's my question, is that okay with you?
I'd be great.
Okay, any objection to that from anybody else?
No objection, Mr. Chair.
Typically I'm more heavily caffeinated prior
to audit and finance than executive,
but I think I can make an exception in this case.
Very good.
So if we could make that change
to the committee meeting schedule.
Sure, and would you like auto and finance
then to be at 945 in contracts,
operations maintenance and safety to remain at 1030?
Yeah.
Okay.
Very good.
So that's, this is an action item
if we could have a motion with the changes.
Is there a second?
I'll second it.
Madam Clerk, would you call for the roll?
Vice Chair Taffy?
Aye.
Second Vice Chair Bergson?
Director Tremblay?
Yes.
Director Najarian?
Yes.
Chair McCallin?
Yes.
That motion carried unanimously.
Thank you very much for my colleagues flexibility
on that meeting schedule, I really appreciate that.
Next, we have 6E, our update on the
Brightline West and the MetroLink presented by Rory Vaughn,
our senior manager of planning and development.
Rory?
The high speed line, it's better.
Yes.
Okay, excellent.
This is the update on the coordination
of Brightline West coming in to Rancho Acamonga,
connecting us to Las Vegas with the high speed rail line.
There's more details and numbers in the report.
A few things I wanted to highlight
in the last several months.
One is that Bright Line West has selected
and is acquiring their Consys,
the train sets that they will be using on their line.
They've gone with the American Pioneer 220,
produced by Siemens.
It's a seven-car train, electrified train,
that can carry 430 to 450 passengers.
For comparison, one of our five-car trains
can carry 625 passengers seated.
and our six car train can carry about 750 passengers seated.
So that 400 number with seven cars might seem low.
There's two big drivers of that.
One, it's a single level train,
and then two, they've got a number of extra amenities
like bar and lounge cars and luggage space
and that sort of thing,
which takes up physical space on the trains.
We anticipate being able to accommodate passengers
traveling from their corridor to ours,
because, oh, thank you, sorry.
Here's a picture of the lounge car.
Just being able to accommodate passengers
coming from their line to ours
with the capacity of our trains.
And especially if we achieve the every two,
or the twice an hour frequencies
that we have as a goal for that line.
When on the busiest times,
when they're gonna have more demand,
they're not planning to start to add a second train
per hour, like a half-hourly frequencies.
Their plan is rather to add a second train
to the existing train, double it up
to have like a 14-car train.
That would be in the range of 800 and 900 passengers
on that train, but at half-hourly frequencies,
we think we can accommodate that on our line.
There's also been a number of ongoing efforts,
particularly in relation to early activities
related to the proposed, or the plan station
at Rancho Cucamonga.
There's a rendering here as well.
And a lot of it's just kind of in the trenches, in the weeds,
trying to get stuff ready and get stuff moving forward.
Are there any questions I could answer?
Questions or comments?
I know there's a lot of, this is really preliminary,
and there's a lot of details that we need to have
as we move forward that I mentioned on the phone call,
like ticketing and things like that,
And whether we need additional train sets on the weekends
to meet the schedule of Brightline West,
I think they'll be more busier on the weekends
than during the week.
So those issues need to be addressed at some point.
I realize it's really early in the process,
but those are gonna be key,
especially if we need additional equipment
and crews on our end, so I appreciate the update.
Chunk of this body of coordination has helped
to our work on the service growth development plan,
future service plans in this corridor.
So as we come back to you guys over the next months
and hopefully very soon,
we'll be sharing those updates including questions
about consists and how many trains do we need,
serves do we need to operate.
So more to come on that soon.
Very good, and we're talking to Darren.
We've got potentially Brightline West coming to talk to us
in October or November,
depending on the scheduling of the many bundle contract.
So I understand we do have public comment on this item,
is that correct, Madam Clerk?
We do have a request to speak
from Donald Harlan on this item.
Donald, you have three minutes, please stay on topic.
Thank you. Hi, I'm Donald Harlan. This is concerning the Gen Item, it says number five, the Bright Line Plan, the project.
I'm really concerned about that. People are just arbitrarily trying to bribe a government official to build rails on my property illegally.
I'm really concerned about Brightline West.
Brightline companies appeared in a lot of,
I don't want to attack the people in there generally.
I mean, maybe they're not aware of what's going on.
Some of the things I noticed about the Brightline project
is there's people in there making deals
and trying to make contracts and stuff.
And it's not going to work what they have going on.
The example I saw of the Bright Line shows a dining car on a high-speed rail.
If it's a really high speed rail, there's no dining car.
You'd be lucky to be allowed to use the restroom.
It's more like an airplane flight.
And a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and Las Vegas
would only be like an hour anyways.
I don't know what you need a dining car for.
It seems like these transportation and tourism
and these kinds of agencies have really sunk their claws
into the public transportation trying to make money
for themselves and bring people to places
where they're really not supposed to be.
I noticed along the Bright Line product,
there's all these illegal real estate deals
all along the rails where they're coming in.
And people that do those kinds of things
never build straight tracks, you know, it kind of goes over here and over here we have
to go around this property and this guy wants a billion dollars across this property, you
know, there's all kinds of bribes and deals in there.
By the time they finish it's going to be a hundred billion dollars for the project.
The government's not going to pay for that.
They never will.
Metrolink's not going to pay for that.
I would question where they got the money from.
It looks to me that they built a bunch of feeders on top of my gas infrastructure.
I had a bunch of gas, natural gas infrastructure plan with tanks and everything.
They built a damn dome theater in Las Vegas on my gas infrastructure.
People like that shouldn't have business anywhere.
I would encourage at this Brightline meeting for MetroLink to get to know everybody real
good, get the auditors real tight with them, even bring law enforcement, maybe a judge
or something like that and take a good look at them.
Time's up.
Thank you very much for your comments, for your information.
Brightline West is going to be coming down the 15 right away that the state owns.
This is a receive and file and without objection,
that's what the board will do.
On the 6F quarterly compensation report
presented by Roxanne Randolph,
our director of human resources.
Roxanne, good to see you.
Good to see you too.
Good morning, Chair McCallum and members of the e-com.
I'm reporting on item 6F,
the quarterly compensation report
the first through fourth quarter of FY24, which is July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
This is a receive and file item.
Next slide, please.
In accordance with the HR policy 2.1, Wage and Salary Administration, Salary Program Administration,
The board requires Human Resources to report all salary placements for new hires, promotions,
demotions, reclassifications, and other changes in employee compensation to the board on a
quarterly basis.
Because of the staff shortages in Human Resources Department, which is due to vacancies and
in a leave of absence, the quarterly compensation report was not presented during FY24.
Therefore, this report contains the compensation transactions for all four quarters.
Next slide, please.
During the first quarter of FY24, July 1st, 2023 through September 30th, 2023,
there were 58 compensation transactions.
38 of these transactions were ATU salary increases effective July 9th,
2023 pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between SCRRA and the ATU.
Please also note that the new hires shown for first quarter as well
as the other quarters were back filling existing positions
or they were temporary employees which includes our interns,
grads on career track and special services employees.
Next slide please.
During the second quarter of FY24, October 1st,
2023 to December 31st, 2023, there were 21 compensation
transactions as shown on the slide.
Next slide please.
During the third quarter of FY24, January 1st,
2024 through March 31st, 2024, there were 41 compensation transactions, which includes
15 compensation changes due to the Classification and Compensation Study, as approved by the
Board on March 29th, 2024. Next slide please. And finally, during the fourth quarter of
FY24, April 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2024, there were 23 compensation transactions.
This concludes my report, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have about this item.
Thank you, Roxanne.
Any questions, comments from committee members?
Seeing none, this is a receive and file, and without objection, that's what the committee
will do.
Thank you, Roxanne.
customer experience update for July through September. Mary Riemer, RYMER,
Director of Customer Experience. RYMER is correct? RYMER, yes. Very good Mary, go ahead.
Good morning Chair and members of the committee. This is a receive and file
item. My name is Mary RYMER. I'm the Director of Customer Experience here at
Metrolink and today I will be presenting our customer experience update for the
period from July through September of 2024.
Over the past three months, our team
has been working diligently to enhance
the way we connect with our riders, promote our brand,
and adapt to challenges, all while keeping
customers at the forefront.
I'll walk you through some of our major initiatives
and the impact they've had, showcasing
how we've been fulfilling our strategic commitment
to place our customers at the heart of everything
that we do.
Next slide, please.
As you know, we conduct biannual surveys
to track public perception of Metrolink.
Our July 2024 survey of 1,300 members
of the general population within our service region
showed a positive increase to 97% of brand awareness.
While there is still some confusion
between our services and Metro,
our success story includes the increase
in awareness of our programs,
including awareness of our low income fair program rose
to 23%, and our student adventure pass reached 26%.
These improvements directly result from our focus outreach
and marketing strategies, which we continue to refine.
Next slide, please.
As you can see here, the awareness.
Next slide, please.
In late June, we launched the Metrolink Digital Assistant,
an AI-powered chatbot to provide 24-7 support.
It's aimed at new and infrequent riders
and offers real-time responses
in both English and Spanish to the most frequent questions
that we receive at our call center.
The digital assistant not only extends our customer support
to multiple languages and beyond our call center hours,
but it also offers us new insights
and into what our customers are looking for
and how we can assist them in their journey.
We are actively looking at ways to expand
the digital assistance functionality
and we are performing in-depth analysis
to evaluate next steps of this pilot.
Next slide, please.
We continued our successful $15 summer day pass campaign,
which led to a 62% increase in sales
compared to the previous summer.
What's notable is that 35% of our customers
using the past were first-time riders,
which shows our ability to attract new users
through targeted promotions and simplified fares.
Next slide, please.
In September, we hosted a vibrant celebration
at LA Union Station for Latino Heritage Month,
complete with live music and cultural engagement.
This event not only enriched our customers' experiences
and recognized an important part of our region's heritage,
but also garnered significant media attention,
reaching over 250,000 people.
This concludes my report at this time
and I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Mary, for the update.
Appreciate that.
Any comments or questions?
Mr. Chair?
Go ahead, Mr. Tremblay.
With my apologies, because I guess it's my day
for commenting.
Mary, thanks for your report.
What really struck me was the slide on awareness
of MetroLink programs has increased.
And it seems to me that when we only have 23%
aware of the low income fair program
and only 26% aware of the student adventure paths,
why do you think awareness is so low?
And secondly, what specific steps do you have
that you can recommend
to substantially increase the awareness?
Sure, so thank you.
Those numbers seem to me to be very low.
Yes, I think it's it.
And this actually pertains to Director Bergson
in the first meeting talked about the student adventure
pass riders on the Riverside line
and the lack of such riders.
And I think part of it is because of maybe
perhaps a lack of post-secondary campuses,
but it just seems like those numbers are very low
And 22, for example, on the student adventure pass,
22%, a 4% increase in the last 12 months
doesn't seem very substantial to me.
Yeah, so thank you for the question.
I think it's important to keep in context
that this survey is a survey of the general population.
And so this awareness, especially of our low income fairs,
that represents 4 million people being aware of the program.
So it's actually a substantial number
of potential riders for us.
We're always looking to also increase that number as well.
We also know that awareness of these programs
is directly correlated with riding.
So of those who take Metrolink at least once a month,
which isn't very often,
70% of those people are aware of the student adventure pass
and 61, sorry, 70% are aware of the mobility for all program
and 61 are aware of the Student Adventure Pass.
I'd also like to note that we're seeing
a lot of increased student ridership.
So in the month of September,
we saw a 40% increase in the number of students,
not over the previous month of August, but over May.
So when school was in session in May versus September,
we've seen a 40% increase in students.
So we're continuing to refine
our programs and continue marketing.
we're partnering with schools to make sure
that they have everything they need to do on-campus events
and other marketing and awareness campaigns.
But I think in terms of this survey,
this is really focused on the general population.
So that's why the numbers may seem a little different.
Well, I appreciate that.
Respectively, when we only have one in four
of every Metrolink writer even aware of the programs,
to me, that just seems extremely low.
I'm not being critical of you, I just think it's very low.
I'm glad to hear, in terms of the quote unquote
marketing strategies, I'm very curious,
particularly on the student adventure pass,
what specific programs we're doing on college
and high school campuses to raise awareness.
So what I would request, Mr. Chair,
is that we have some very specific,
that we set an agenda item to discuss specifically
what the marketing strategies are in detail
for the student adventure paths,
because that seems to be a high rate of growth.
But I also would like to see, to have some discussion
on how do we educate more than one in four
Metrolink writers of these programs.
So just a quick point of question.
So that would be my request.
And thank you, Mary.
I'm not being critical.
I'm just hoping for more exposure.
Well, I think we can do that.
We've had other questions concerning the student
as to what kind of riders are they,
are they college or they high school or whatever.
I think we need an item on the agenda
that talks about the student program.
Well, and let me give you a real life example.
I was speaking last weekend
with a Moore Park College student,
or I'm sorry, a Cal State University,
Northridge student and his family from Ventura County.
He was not even aware, he takes Metrolink.
He was not even aware of the student adventure paths.
So I think there's some kind of a,
there's not enough of a connection going on.
So that's why I would appreciate the chance, Mr. Chair,
to discuss these, perhaps in a workshop setting,
might be the best way to do it rather than a board meeting.
But at some point, talk about the marketing strategies
so the board could provide its thoughts
and perspectives on this.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mary, for her report.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mary.
Any other comments or questions?
Just to ditto Director Trembly's comments, I as well would like to see how we are reaching
out to the student population to get them the knowledge that they need.
I don't know what signage we have at our stations and in the trains right now, but are we advertising
this to our riders so they can see it as they're riding, they would know what kind of programs
there are.
It wouldn't take much to stick a sign up in every car that talks about programs or has
a little app type thing you scan and it will bring up all those.
are ways that we can increase that, plus we could also, you know, in collaboration
with all the universities and private schools, potentially reach out to them
with, as you mentioned, maybe there are teams of Metrolink staff that can do
events, set up a table at a university or something to promote some banners, you
You know, that these programs exist and show how easy it is to get it set up and go.
As we've talked about multiple times, these are the next generation of writers.
They're getting a free shot at it now.
So they see the value and they learn the value and they will repeat that value and then they
will tell two friends and so on and so on.
We need, you know, this to me is the biggest ridership increase method.
had in my tenure here and I think we're just scratching the surface before the
funding's all gone let's get more people involved and on our trains so I agree
that if we can get a specific workshop or setting where we can discuss where
things are today and and we can come up potentially with some other concepts
that may increase this outreach to the 13-15 million people in this area that potentially
could ride. We want to reach them all. So that's my comment. Thank you.
Thank you. And Mary, thank you. We're not being critical. We're just needing more information,
I guess, at some point.
Got it. Thank you.
This is a receive and file, and without objection, that's what the committee will do. Next, we'll
On to our October legislative update presented by Anna Denneke, our senior manager of government relations.
Good morning Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for having me. Next slide.
So, first of all, on the local side of things, the outreach effort to identify and build community support for future tier 4 grant applications was launched on August 26th.
and it concluded on October 2nd, Clean Air Day.
To gather support, we posted on Nextdoor,
we hosted pop-up events,
and we communicated with our existing customers via email
and through message boards at stations.
In total, 442 online forms were submitted
with over two-thirds in support of tier four investments.
We also secured 120 support cards from our pop-up events.
All of this will help us demonstrate extensive community support when we reapply for federal
grants for Tier 4s, which can really help us in the grant process in Washington.
We also continue to inform station communities about impending October schedule change and
emphasize to them our continued commitment to working with local neighborhoods.
Next slide.
On the state side, Senate Bill 1098, the Southern California Rail Revitalization Act was passed
by the legislature and enacted by the governor last month.
The legislation seeks to revitalize the Losan corridor
by requiring the California Secretary of Transportation
to issue a report that identifies priorities,
strategies to improve service,
methods to support resiliency planning,
and other provisions.
To develop the report, a working group will be convened,
made up of Losan corridor track owners,
county transportation commissions, and others.
SB 1098 also calls for a biennial report
that includes metrics on low sand corridor performance.
And then second on the state side,
the Transit Transformation Task Force
held its fifth meeting last month,
this time it was in LA.
Members started their day with a tour
of the Burbank Metrolink Station
and a ride along the Ventura County line to Union Station.
As a reminder, the task force was convened under SB 125
and is charged with developing recommendations
to grow transit ridership and improve the experience.
Next slide.
And then on the federal side,
Metrolinx staff provided a tour
of our central maintenance facility
to a group of 14 House and Senate offices last month.
We discussed with congressional staff
the vital importance and needs related
to our Olympics planning,
as well as the need for federal support
to procure tier four and zero-emission vehicles.
And then finally, I participated
in the California Transit Association's
Washington, D.C. trip last month.
We met with congressional offices
to emphasize the importance of increasing
and maintaining federal funding
for capital and rolling stock needs,
including tier four locomotives,
and we also talked LA Olympics preparedness.
Thank you for having me,
and I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you, Anna, any questions, comments?
Again, thank you, this is a receiving file
and without objection, that's what the committee will order.
Next, our Chief Executive Officer's report.
Yeah.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair, and in the interest of time,
since we do have another committee meeting,
it's supposed to start eminently.
Just some quick follow-ups based on my report.
At the last committee, we've had some good ridership numbers
this last week, exceeding 20,000 boardings each day
for the last four days.
Director Bergson just whispered in my ear,
how did we do for Clean Air Day?
We were just a little bit under our record setting number
last year, a little over 25,000 this year.
So again, good news story in that regard,
but we did not break the record that we always try to break.
As we've talked about, as we discussed
in Ms. Reimer's report,
the optimized schedule is commencing October 21st,
As I shared in the last committee,
we have received a significant amount of feedback
from our riders.
The nature of our schedules are very personal
to those who use our trains.
So we've gotten some personal feedback
and our team is doing a great job responding back
in a very personal fashion in their own right.
But we are looking forward to the Metrolink Reimagined
in that schedule here around the corner.
Lastly, on-time performance.
I will not go into as much detail as I did
in the last committee.
We know it is abysmal right now.
We have a lot of work to do.
We're working with the two freight railroads
that play a critical role in dispatching our trains
on those corridors.
And both our operations team and myself
have taken it very personal as we work with
the two railroads and their senior leadership
to try to get them to come around
and do what they need to do
and meet their contractual obligations
to prioritize our trains on those corridors.
Mr. Chair, that concludes my remarks.
Thank you very much. Any questions of the CEO?
Seeing none, committee members, any comments?
Seeing none, we'll go on Chair's comments.
I have no additional comments.
So we'll stand adjourned. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Have a good weekend.