I would like to call to order the InterLink board meeting for December and as for safety
briefing by Tim Morehead, our interim chief safety security and compliance officer.
Tim.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning, board.
Today's safety briefing is a reminder that in the event of a fire alarm activation, we're
going to collectively exit the boardroom, down the escalators, and we're going to meet
down by the customer service outside around the corner and await further instructions.
In the event of an earthquake, I'm going to ask everybody to stop what you're doing,
drop, get under the table, take cover, wait for the shaking to stop, and then we can take
an assessment if an evacuation is warranted.
In the event of a first aid medical emergency, we do have first responders in the room, as
well as an AED device located out front here by the security, LA Metro security.
If the event where we do have to evacuate, make sure you're aware of your surroundings,
looking for backpacks, purses, extension cords,
et cetera, that can add to the chaos.
And then the event of an active attacker,
let's remember the three key words, run, hide, and fight.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Tim.
Now for our Pledge of Allegiance,
I've asked Director Murphy to lead us.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
If you'd rise if you're able,
place your hand over your heart
and join me in the salute to the flag of this great nation.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for
which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Well, now, as we close out this...
Roll call.
Roll call.
Forgive me.
Find out if anybody's here.
Please.
Director Wapner.
do tray director Marquez vice chair Tafee director Nguyen director Murphy
here director do meet true second vice chair of Burks in director Spiegel
director Vargas director Tremblay director angler director Barger
director Najarian director Solis director Hughes Leslie director O'Connor
Here. Director Allen? Here. Director Preciato? Here. Chair McCallin? Here. We do have a quorum
present. Thank you very much. I guess I was too quick to try to close out 2024.
This is our last board meeting in 2024 and I would like to acknowledge two
directors who are also closing out their time on the board. First of all, Lisa
Doctor Lisa Middleton was
appointed to our board on
January 25, 2021, as an
alternate for the RCTC
representing the city of Palm
Springs.
She has been a vocal advocate
for expanding public transit
between the Coachella Valley
and the rest of Southern
California.
And she sent some parting words
to Metrolink, and I'll read
them for you.
Quote, to all of my colleagues
on the Metrolink board, it has
been an honor to serve with you
commitment to public transit and the essential role that rail plays in a 21st
century public transit system. I share your pride in the work of Metrolinx and
its vital role in connecting our communities across Southern California.
And to CEO Kettle and all of the staff of Metrolinx, thank you for your
professionalism, commitment to public service, and personal thoughtfulness.
nothing gets done without you." unquote. So I want to thank Lisa for her kind
words and for her commitment to public service. Next we have Art Brown has been
on our board a total of 17 years. He was appointed to Metrolinx in 2002 for
OCTA and served as the vice chair from 2003 to 2005 and the chair from 2005
through 2007. He took some time off and off the board and returned as an
ex-official member representing Skag in 2015 and has been with us since. He
served Buena Park for 32 years as a member of the City Council and mayor and
now that he has turned out for a second time, mentioned we may see him as a
member of the public at our board workshop in January. I hope so. Thank you Art for your
many years of dedicated service. I would also like to at this point recognize our outgoing
committee chairs for their leadership the last two years. So if you would please stand
up the Audit and Finance Committee Chair Brian Bergson and our comms chair Alan Wopner. We
We have a couple of plaques we want to give you.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
That's wonderful.
That's nice.
Very nice.
What's a whistle?
No, no, just outgoing chairs.
Was that a wishful thinking?
Anyway, let's see.
Next we have election of officers for the 2025-2026 term and the board clerk will introduce
the item and then we have a separate little script I will read.
Yes.
Thanks chair.
Next slide please.
So the board approved bylaws section 2.4 outlines the rotation of the chair and vice chair positions
between the member agency County Transportation Commission's effective
January 2025 the rotation shall consist of a representative from OCTA for chair
a representative from RCTC for vice chair and a representative from VCTC for
second vice chair so chair McCallan will open up the nominations for each
position and once all the nominations have been received you will ask for a
motion to elect the nominated chair vice chair and second vice chair so I will
turn it over to the chair. Nominations are now in order for the chair. Yes like
to nominate Vice Chair Chafee. Any other nominations? Chair I declare that the
nomination for the position of chair is closed. Nominations are now in order for
the position of vice chair. Turn on your mic. Ryan Bergson. Any other
nominations seeing none the nominations are now closed onto nominations for the
position of second vice chair I'll nominate trimly any other nominations
seeing none the nominations for the vice chair second vice chair are closed
so is there a motion to elect the nominated chair vice chair and second
I still moved.
We have a motion and a second.
Any objection to the motion?
Any abstentions?
Seeing none, congratulations to all of our new incoming
officers in January.
No.
No, that's January.
We don't see.
I'm not trying to move forward.
Well, that's two.
Ellen, would you?
Now to under our public comment period, is there any public comment?
I have not received any request to speak, but I will be emailing the board three written
public comments, two related to item 7E regarding their late OC 605 train this morning and one
for item 7K regarding a request for more information on the score slides.
So those will be forwarded to the board after the meeting.
Very good. Thank you so much
Next we have approval of our meeting minutes of november 8 is there a motion on that?
move it
Second motion and a second any objection to the motion any abstentions seeing none. It's announced passed
Next we have a contract
On call a contract for on-call capital and third party construction project management
Presented by Andrew Alfour by director of capital construction Andrew
Good morning chairman and board members
Next slide, please
So the authority requires on-call project management construction management and staff assistant services to support the delivery of our capital and third party
construction projects
These services are currently authorized through task orders under our existing seat a PMCM bench
contract which is set to expire in June 2025 due to the consistent demands of the authorities
capital and third party projects we are seeking a dedicated team that specializes in project and
construction management to support the authority over the next five years so the authority received
three proposals in response to the contract request for proposals issued on August the 9th
to 2024.
Upon evaluation and scoring of the proposals
by the authority's evaluation committee,
which included one of our,
a member from our authority's member agencies,
Hill International was ranked as the highest proposal.
Next slide, please.
And so it's our recommendation that the board
authorize the chief executive officer
to authorize staff to negotiate contract rates
with Hill International until acceptable rates
been achieved and then award contract number e76025 in a not to exceed contract
authority of 20 million dollars for a not to exceed base term of three years
with a further two-year option from notice to proceed date are there any
questions at all questions comments this is an action item if I could have a
motion sir a second we have a motion and a second any objection to the motion any
abstentions. Seeing none onto our next item which is a contract for optical
reader installation and maintenance presented by Alfredo Fernandez, Fair
Collection Manager. Good morning members of the board. Today our writers, next
slide please. Today our writers experienced seamless transfers through
the L.A. Metro system. This is achieved via the optical scanners installed by
cubic transportation systems at the LA Metro turnstiles as well as the Singapore computers,
also known as SBC, supported by ESP enterprises, which validate our agency's fair media.
The authority requires continued support and maintenance of the optical scanners and SBCs
to ensure seamless system transfers for our metronic riders.
The current term for each contract expires on December 31, 2024.
Next slide, please.
To continue this service, it is recommended that the Board authorizes the Chief Executive
Officer to align our current Preparatory Technology Solution, Maintenance and Support, Service
and Performance for both contracts to be similar to LA Metro's, and to amend contract number
SP47517 with QPTS.
increase contract authority by $2,140,709 from $4,075,147 to a new total not-to-exceed
amount of $6,215,856, an extended period of performance from the current expiration date
of December 31st, 2024 to December 31st of 2028.
And last, revised purchase order number S1900596X
with ESP Enterprises Incorporation
to increase the total amount by $490,950 from $608,921
to a new total not-to-exceed amount of $1,099,879
and extend the period of performance
from the current expiration date of December 31st, 2024
to December 31st, 2028.
Next slide, please.
This concludes my presentation
and I welcome any questions or comments.
Any questions?
Go ahead, Alan.
Thank you, Mr. Truth, actually, for our CEO.
Darren, why do we get these contracts
so close to their expiration?
It almost puts us in the position we have to approve it
because we can't get anything done in the next two weeks.
Well, it shouldn't happen, I'll put it that way.
And I don't know if staff might be able to have a response.
These are, because of the nature of these contracts
and they are in alignment with what we're doing
as far as the seamless fairs, readers at LA Metro.
It should be done sooner, Alan, Director Wapner.
And, but it's one of those things
where absent having the contract,
we would be going out doing an RFP process
and we would end up with something
that didn't allow the seamless use of our customers at LA Union Station so
point taken I hear you loud and clear it shouldn't be something that happens at
the 11th hour. It's not just this contract it's all contracts you guys
know we had a time with her to come into exploration there's nothing I'm
bringing it to us you know four six months before so then we don't have to
worry about right which is what we had done on the last contract in fact we
were six months ahead on that so we should do better. Any other comments or
questions saying none this is an action item is there most we have a motion of
a second any objection to the motion any abstentions saying none it's unanimous
unto our single source contract with nor break corporation presented by Eduardo
Tovar our manager of inventory control
Morning, Chair, members of the board.
Next slide, please.
After a suspension of the Aeroservice on August 1st, 2024
due to the air brake systems of the EMUs
being out of compliance, the maintenance of equipment team
and the maintenance of equipment contractor
identify the components needed
for the required maintenance.
To perform the maintenance and avoid an impact
to the Aeroservice, the authority has to purchase
enough components to complete three preventive
maintenance kits, while Stadler manufactures
the DMU's Nordbrake Corporation was identified
as the OEM for the needed components.
On October 10, 2024, Nordbrake Corporation
provided an overhaul proposal of the components
and the final quote for the new components
on November 13, 2024.
Next slide, please.
Negotiating directly with the OEM avoids markups
from third party distributors or loss of quality
and comparability.
Delivery lead time is 56 weeks.
Having a multi-year agreement in place
will allow for ordering to be done in a timely manner
and will reduce the possibility
of having multiple DMUs out of service
while awaiting the air brake maintenance to be completed.
Next slide, please.
Therefore, it is recommended
that the board authorize the CEO to proceed
with a single source procurement method
and negotiate with North Brake Corporation
for a multi-year agreement
or the purchase of new air brake components
and overhaul services with an estimated
not to exceed total amount of 1.5 million.
Next slide please.
Thank you, that's my presentation.
I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you, Edward, are there any questions, comments?
We have a motion, is there a second?
We have a motion and a second.
Any objection to the motion?
Seeing none, any abstentions?
That's approved unanimously.
Next we have our financial results
of the first four months of FY25
presented by Christine Wilson,
our Assistant Director of Finance.
Christine.
Hello.
Hello.
Good morning.
Good morning, Chairman and members of the board.
This report reports on the October 2024 financial results
for MetroLink.
Next slide, please.
Here we see the ridership,
actual versus forecast by month. The line that you see is across the chart is the forecast
whereas the columns are the actuals. The red amount is the student adventure pass whereas
the blue amount are regular riders. You'll note from this slide that the student adventure
pass riders continue to make up a larger and larger proportion of the riders.
Next slide, please.
Here we see the ridership with the continuation of the forecast through the end of the year.
The chart below shows we forecast to be at 2.4 million riders through October or a 58%
recovery, while the actual through October is 2.5 million riders, or a 61% recovery,
or 64,000 over the forecast.
Student adventure pass riders are 746,000, making up 35% of the month of October ridership
and 30% of the ridership year-to-date.
As you can see from the chart, we have little by little been increasing the amount we are
over the forecast each month.
And then you see that in November,
it goes down even further.
I think that we are gonna hold more closely
to being above the forecast.
Next slide, please.
Okay.
Here we see the farebox revenue as compared to budget.
Physical year-to-date budget is 14.1 million,
or recovery of 54%.
The actual farebox revenue is 13.8 million,
or a recovery of 53%.
October is the first month
where the revenue has exceeded budget.
And you see that, if you look at the numbers month by month,
you see that we were under, under,
but gradually being less under than the forecast.
And then in October, we actually exceeded it.
So we're on a good path.
Next slide, please.
As to the overall results, financial results through October,
before San Clemente, total expenses
are under budget by 12.8 million.
And I want to mention that we have not
included in this underage the amount
we are under on the estimated mobilization
because we know that will be spent.
Overall member support is currently in surplus
by 12.4 million.
Total operating revenue is 22 million,
over budget by .3 million.
Total expense at 95.9 million is 16.2 million under budget.
Within the categories that are involved in that underage
are primarily admin and services,
train operators, fuel, and insurance.
I want to remind you that these are based on accruals and not actuals.
Next slide.
Past due receivables are at October 31st, $85 million.
The total of $29 million for Metro is currently in MOU review, so we will be getting that
amount quite quickly.
And more than half the amount due for OCTA has already been received as of this date.
The color indicates the type of receivable with gray being the, oh excuse me, next slide.
This chart shows the type of the receivable with gray being the working capital fund,
blue being the member agency support, and green capital.
Next slide.
Metrolink's current cash position is $40.3 million, which is almost $10 million
below the established threshold.
Next slide.
Arrow service, next, yeah, thank you.
You see here the ridership forecast for each month,
the green line, and the actuals by month, the blue columns.
The chart shows that while the forecast boardings
were 46,000 through October,
actuals were 50,000 over forecast by 4,000.
The student adventure pass ridership
totals almost half of the riders.
Next slide.
Arrow fare box revenue is over budget
by almost 50%.
Excuse me.
This is the result of the amount associated
with student adventure paths
as compared to the typical average fare per rider for aero.
Next slide.
As to financial results for aero.
Operating revenue is 211,000 or 143,000 over budget.
Total expense is 4.8 million or 626,000 under budget.
Thus, the support required is $769,000 in surplus.
Next slide, please.
Student Adventure Pass update.
Next slide.
This shows a student ridership comparing the period July
through October of 23, which contains less than a month
of the Student Adventure Pass.
You will recall that the pilot started
on October 9th of 23.
compared to student ridership from July through October of 24,
during which the entire period contained the pilot.
Student ridership increased by 105% over the entire system,
with the highest increase on the Antelope Valley line,
the lowest on the Orange County line.
Next slide, please.
FY26, budget development update.
You will see here, as of now, we have collected the budget.
The CFO and the CEO have seen the first draft,
and we are now in the process of pencil sharpening.
Next slide.
That concludes my report.
May I answer any questions?
Any questions?
Excuse me.
Mr. Chair, if I could ask Samantha Surda,
can you take us back to the slide,
the green bars that showed the ridership forecast
and the October number.
about, it's close to the front of the slide deck. I just want to remind the
board where we were with the forecast and what we see in October and what we
did in October. Of that month it was when we started Metrolink Reimagined. We've
seen immediate response to Metrolink Reimagined. We have other issues we're
wrestling on and we're gonna get those right, but we were experiencing what we
thought we would right out of the gate with the growth and ridership beyond
where we were before.
So just want to call that,
call attention to that,
because I think it's important that we see this
and we want to watch this trend continue.
So thank you for indulging them, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
This is a receiving file.
I wanted to say we also included in there
some performance metrics,
and I really appreciate those performance metrics,
which you didn't talk about,
but they're in our agenda package.
and I think that's very interesting and good information.
I just want to say the student pass successful.
And I don't think it's a challenge
that we have so many extra riders.
I get people saying, it's about time
that we're filling our trains.
And I think that I don't care what bodies are there.
It's not a problem until we've got too many people
on the train.
Then we have to pull back and see what's going on.
Until then this is this is great news. I'm even if it's you know only half-paying
We still have bodies and butts in the seats. I
Remember the days where they were standing room only on our trains
Okay on to our performance audit for a fuel purchase policy presented by Elizabeth
Is Marty our director of audit?
Good morning
Next slide, please.
As required by the Fuel Purchase Policy, FIN 11.1,
an annual audit shall be performed
on the Fuel Purchase Program.
internal audit engaged CRO LLP to perform the audit.
Bert Neuring, the partner from CRO,
is joining me today to answer questions.
The audit objective is to evaluate compliance
with the policy, and CRO determined
that the SCRA complied in all significant aspects
with the audit objectives.
The audit result was presented to the Ad Hoc Committee,
which consisted of Director Frumley
and Director Mark Hess on November 4th, 2024.
This concludes my item.
Happy to answer if you have any questions.
Any questions on the audit?
Seeing none, thank you, Elizabeth.
This is a receiving file,
and we will go on to our quarterly fuel purchase program
update presented by Alex Barber,
our Assistant Director of General Accounting, Alex.
Thank you, Chair. This is a receiving file report for the first quarter of FI25 fuel
purchase program. The purpose of the fuel hedge is to minimize the budget risk,
resulting from the purchase of fuel on a spot basis and to seek an overall low
fuel cost in the long term while managing budget risk. Next slide, please.
As of September 30th, 2024, the authorities hedging account had a value
of 12.8 million, a decrease of 1.1 million from June 30th, 2024.
Because the purpose of the fuel hedge is not to make money or lose money,
but to make costs predictable, it is expected that the sale of positions
or contracts will result in a gain or loss,
depending on the movement of fuel prices.
In today's report, we've seen a loss on the sale of contracts over the last quarter.
During this same time period, we have a decrease in the price
that we paid per gallon of diesel to fuel our trains.
These two movements will offset each other.
During this last quarter, the price of a gallon
of renewable diesel decreased by 43 cents.
Next slide, please.
This concludes my presentation, and I'll be happy
to answer any questions you may have.
Any questions?
Seeing none, thank you very much.
this is a receive and file onto our quarterly report
of contracts awarded and third-party agreements
executed under the Chief Executive Officer's Authority
presented by Angelos Castriciana Keys.
Was that close?
That was actually exact to the point.
Oh, very good, thank you.
Good morning, Chair, members of the board.
This is a quarterly report of contracts
and third party agreements awarded
in the first quarter of fiscal year 25, next slide please.
The board has previously authorized the CEO
to execute third party agreements
with other public agencies and contracts with third parties
up to $500,000 at the same time.
The board requested that the CEO provide
a quarterly report for awards between 250,000 and 500,000.
This report is for agreements awarded
in the first quarter of fiscal year 25
in the period between July 1st and September 30, 2024.
Next slide, please.
In the reference period,
the CEO awarded the following two agreements,
one TPA, a third-party agreement, with BNSF,
with the San Gabriel Subdivision,
and one again with BNSF for the Orange Olive Subdivision.
And that concludes my report.
Next slide, please.
And I'm happy to take any questions you might have.
Thank you very much.
Questions?
Comments?
Seeing none, thank you for receiving file
and that'll be the order.
Next we have our December legislative update
date presented by Julie Nieto, our management analyst too.
Starting with local updates,
our community relations staff and coordination
with our safety team recently developed
a mobile classroom effort to share safety education
with students and the local community.
We're always looking for ways to engage
and new innovative ways to engage students
about safety along the right of way.
So we're coordinating with schools,
engaging interests on coordinating field trips
along with the safety class for this effort.
Next slide, please.
On the state front, in November, we held two tours,
one with Assembly District 50
and their Young Legislators Program.
It included a ride on an aero train
and a tour of the University of Redlands
along with the panel to engage their young legislators group,
which is a group of high school students.
Additionally, we held a tour and coordination with SBCTA
and with state assembly transportation committee staff
that also included a ride-on arrow
and shared information on MetroLink operations
and maintenance, shared how state grants are helping
to fund our student adventure paths
and plans to grow ridership in the years ahead.
As we look towards a new legislative session
in the state, there's 23 new assembly members
and 12 new state senators, and we're looking forward
to working with new and returning members in the next year.
Next slide please.
As we look forward to the 119th Congress,
the Republicans will lead in the White House,
the House, and the Senate.
And for California, former Congressman Adam Schiff
won his Senate race and was sworn in this week.
We also have new members in the Metrolinx service area,
and we look forward to engaging new
and returning members there as well.
Lastly, there's one more week for the deadline
for the continuing resolution in Congress
that was passed in September.
An extension of the current CR is likely,
but we will continue to monitor.
It expires December 20th.
As we look forward to providing more updates
on our 2025 advocacy efforts and legislative program
in January with our state and federal advocates
joining us in person for that meeting.
That concludes my presentation,
and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Julie.
Any questions?
Seeing none, that's your receiving file.
Thank you very much, Julie.
Thank you.
Next, we have our system safety, security, and compliance
department activities update presented by Tim Morehead,
our interim chief safety, security, and compliance officer.
You're back, Tim.
Good morning again, Chair, members of the board.
Next slide, please.
So our system-wide strikes,
we did see a decrease in quarter one versus FY24
of minus 13 or 46%.
These strikes being broken down into three categories,
trespasser, vehicle, and pedestrian.
So in total 46% decrease in strikes in quarter one.
Next slide please.
As our security update for quarter one
on artificial intelligence,
last time we updated the board for the FY24 quarter four
report we had installed two AI cameras and mentioned the intention to install more.
Since then, in quarter one FY25, an additional four artificial intelligence cameras that
track trespassing activities have been deployed.
These cameras will give Metrolink ability to set up geofencing and establish parameters
to alert of trespassing.
These cameras send alerts to the SOC and to contact the law enforcement for response.
We plan on providing the numbers of law enforcement services, calls, and arrests in our quarter
to report to the board. Strategic deployment. With strikes decreasing on the territory,
we contribute this to data driven enforcement approach where we review trespass reports,
homeless encampments reports, near hit reports, and redirect law enforcement resources to
locations and times that the data supports. With data redirection of law enforcement,
we identified at the beginning and the end of the month seemed to be when the highest
number of strikes occurred, therefore directing resources to assist with right away during
these times. Next is coffee with the captain here on September 18th we held coffee with
the captain, the LA County Sheriff's Metrolink Bureau, which gave Metrolink customers the
opportunity to grab some coffee and ask questions, express any concerns, and meet the men and
women who work daily to ensure their safety. This was a well-received event and was plotted
by the community. Next slide please. All right so our enforcement activities,
train rides, we've seen a slight decrease of approximately 57 from quarter one FY
24 which can be contributed to the redirection to assist and right-of-way
deputies during the first and last of the month. Our platform fair enforcement
you see a D actually an increase of 185 from quarter one of 24 with intention to
detour those without proper fare because we know that one of the leading
indicators of unruly passengers is fare evasion or improper fare. Our grade
crossing details we did see a slight decrease from quarter 1 FY 24 this
enforcement is to combat bad driving habits such as going around the gates or
dashing while the lights are flashing this enforcement is essential to try to
drive down the vehicle strikes and our right-of-way details we've seen an
increase of 47 from quarter one of 24 to support the removal of homeless
encampments right away trespassing enforcement this is to try to prevent
trespassing strikes near misses and prevent vandalism this is the slide that
shows all the counties and the activities of the enforcement
activities just mentioned our NTD reporting incidents the good news is in
this quarter we had no major incidents. We did have 6 in July, 4 in August, 5 in September
of the non-major and non-major physical. Non-major being verbal threats or intimidation did not
include any physical contact. Next slide please. The rule violations, we did see an increase
of 2 this quarter. These were determined from our root cause analysis on the rule violations
that majority of these were all from poor job briefings.
And since then, we have done a compliance area focus
to get out and be a part of these audits
for these job briefings to drive down
some of these rule violations.
Next slide, please.
Our FRA reportables, we've seen an increase of three,
mostly being the sprains and strains.
Since then, we have implemented a stretch and flex program
on one of our major contractors that was responsible
for a majority of these three, which so far,
it's turned out very well for us.
And quarter one, staff coordinated 27 first responder
and law enforcement safety equipment
familiarization training classes,
where 353 first responders and law enforcement participated.
And also during quarter one, the safety classes,
staff held 77 of them, being that of the SSPP,
our active shooter, our passenger-trained emergency preparedness plan, our IRP, which is our incident
response plan, human trafficking and suicide prevention, where 705 participants were trained
in quarter one alone. Next slide, please. That concludes this presentation.
Thank you very much, Tim. Any comments or questions? Go ahead, Ara.
with regard to that last item did the city of Glendale fire department or
police participate in those classes or instructional seminars yeah I believe
they did but I have to confirm yeah I've been I've encouraged them because you
know we had that we had that collision back in 2005 and it's a it's a pretty
well-trafficked corridor that probably is a likely site for an incident, so I
want them to make sure they know how to get in, get out, extract all the things
that you do, or maybe if they can have a special discussion or a special, you know,
review that would also be good. I'll be happy to help that.
Director Spiegel do you have a comment no okay turn your mic on very good
thank you very much this is a receiving file next we have our capital program
status report by Raja this one off this one a farm director of a program
management
between funding, between awarded and the reprogram,
our current funding stands at $661 million,
of which we have been able to spend about 324.
Our next slide, please.
And our serial good repair budget
currently stands at $647 million across 188 projects.
And next slide, please.
Our new capital budget of $1.2 billion
is spread across 81 active projects.
Next slide, please.
On this core program, we are continuing
with utility relocation,
and right away acquisition across the Antlo Valley
and Ventura County lines.
And we are continuing with the substantial completion
of design across multiple lines over here.
We're also evaluating proposals
for score construction request qualifications package
as we come along.
This is our current expected schedule for construction
and score.
We continue to rebuild vehicles and deliver them through LA
and our overhaul of HVACs across Rotem and Bombardier vehicles
are also continuing to be delivered.
Next slide.
We're continuing with the signal construction CTOs
and substantial design across Ventura and San Bernardino
lines as well.
And next slide.
The first dry season work has also
been completed in the San Juan Creek Bridge Replacement
Project as well.
Next slide.
Again, the signal construction and design
has been continuing across the Riverside County
and the Orange County and Paris Line as well.
Next slide and that concludes
our presentation at the moment.
I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Roger.
Questions, go ahead, speaker.
What was the public comment?
I know you said you could email them,
but this is fresh, I'd rather.
Sure, I can read it if you like.
I think we should do diligence
if there's a question that we could ask now.
Go ahead.
It says, in reviewing the materials
in the capital program status report,
I was hoping for more granular information
on the status of the current set of score improvements.
Many of the posted materials
for the first round of score improvements
have completion dates in the past,
2023, 2024, or near future 2025.
Most of the documents posted to the score page
on the Metrolink site do not reflect
the actual work completed on these improvements.
A detailed update to the board is an opportunity
to create new graphics and summary materials
for the ongoing projects with updated timelines
that illustrate the progress so far,
changes that have been made to the plans,
as well as the new expected completion dates.
It is difficult to give relevant comments
as a member of the writing public
when the public materials do not reflect
the current state of work.
From Martin, Hecker Martinez.
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
Any other comments, questions?
Seeing none, this is a receiving file
and that's what we will do.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Roger.
Next our CEO report. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This should be the
Briefest CEO report ever given the condition of my voice
Let's go ahead for
Tim Moore had mentioned that we did coffee with captain in Fullerton
earlier this last month
Captain Vinca Healy from LA County Sheriff's did coffee with the captain in Ranch Cucamonga
So we are we're spreading our our law enforcement resources around to meet with our customers at various locations
trying to do one of these
every month or two
so again most recently in
in Rancho Cucamonga
next slide
so we've talked quite a bit about the situation with on-time performance in our system and
Under the board policy related to quality service pledge
If we drop below a certain OTP rate, we provide a monthly pass discount of 25%.
The condition on that though is that we caused the problem, not a freight railroad.
But what we've experienced in these last two months has been directly related to BNSF,
to a lesser degree union Pacific.
I have the ability as CEO under my authority to do promotional affairs.
I've talked with the member agencies throughout the system
and everybody agrees the right thing to do by our customers
is to grant that 25% monthly discount
for two months, January and February of the new year.
To try to gain back loyal customers, get some goodwill.
And so that will be happening starting in the new year.
And so just wanted the board to be aware that we're,
one is because our QSP program calls for it
on the San Bernardino line.
And then the other,
because it's the right thing to do system-wide
because of the OTP on the lines that involve freight.
And next slide.
A reminder to the board about our meeting schedules
in as we come forward in 2025,
that Executive Committee at 9 a.m. audit finance 945
and columns at 1030.
Be reminded, we do have the board workshop
on January 23rd, 24th at Knott's Prairie Farm Hotel.
One of the items that will be on that agenda,
it will be a jam-packed agenda.
But one of the items on the agenda
is something that now soon to be Vice Chair Burks
and has been asking for related to a safety clinic
and getting information about what we're doing
and how we can better communicate with our board
or passengers on how we are presenting safety on our system.
All right, so we had to do this again.
A few months ago, we recognized Sharon Castaneda
from our staff, as well as board of director,
alternate Lauren Hughes Leslie on finishing law school.
Well, the two of them just passed the bar as well.
So any chance we get an opportunity
to do embarrass them will do it.
So congratulations, Sharon.
Next slide.
All right, so now some fun stuff.
This is your, Mr. Chair,
this is your last meeting as our chair.
And as has become a bit of a tradition,
we like to sort of do a look back in time.
So since January of 23,
you have chaired 16 regular board meetings,
15 executive committee meetings,
and participated in 15 AFCOM meetings,
a total of 46 MetroLink meetings in the last two years.
Next slide.
Some of our accomplishments with your leadership,
168 action items, 171 receiving file items,
38 contracts awarded in total 1.6 plus billion dollars
in contracts in these last two years.
Next slide.
The biggies, we had this small little contract
that was on our board agenda last month
with Alstom Transportation, 1.1 billion over eight years.
And then the other two, Mansfield-Doyle and Balfour-Bating.
You're not bashful about when it comes to events,
press conferences and the like.
Transit Equity Day, right as you started, February 23rd.
Next slide.
Customer Appreciation Day.
And there it is, Director O'Connor.
I just overheard her mentioning passing out candy.
We do that on Valentines.
It's customer appreciation day.
Mr. Chair, you have made it a point to be there.
And it's a long haul from Highland
to come and hang out for a few hours at L.A. Union Station.
And if that wasn't a far enough trip,
you went all the way to Las Vegas
for the Bright Line West groundbreaking
representing Metrolink.
Zemu Media event, where we got to recognize the fact
that Metrolink will be operating
the very first zero-mission locomotive
in the United States that we're looking forward to in 2025.
So this is a thank you slide,
but we talk about two years of accomplishments.
And I think we all agree that Chairman McAllen
has done a wonderful job in leading us
and being a great steward of this board.
There's one accomplishment though that is personal
that is not recognized here.
Maybe the most important accomplishment in my book.
The man took cancer on and beat it, and that's huge.
I've known Larry for at least 20, 22 years
in various capacities.
He's a boss, but he's a friend,
and I've appreciated both of those aspects
and my time working with him.
He's only not gonna be chair.
He's still gonna be sticking around
to make sure that we're doing all the things we need to do
at Metrolink on the staff side
to make sure we're doing it correct.
So Mr. Chair, Larry, thank you for your two years as chair.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
You can certainly tell from the progression of pictures
that cancer did take a toll on my body
and aged me a little more than I would have normally.
But you know, the Lord's good, and cancer is gone.
And praise Him for that.
I do want to thank all of my colleagues here
for your support for putting up with me for two years.
This two years has been a lot better than the nine months
I had as first trip around as chair of this organization.
Some of you will remember the difficulties
we had at that time.
But this has been a true pleasure.
I enjoyed working with all of you as chair,
and with Darren, you and your staff,
it's been great support,
and I appreciate all of the recognition
that you've given me.
You've thankfully left out any of the failures
that we've had, so I appreciate that.
That's on us.
That's on us.
So I look forward to the new year,
And I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year and happy Hanukkah.
And we'll go forward from here.
I'm sure Vice Chair, soon to be Chair Chafee,
will do an outstanding job along with our new Vice Chairs
and look forward to a successful year,
actually two years under their leadership.
So thank you.
Very good. So board member comments?
Go ahead, Dara.
First off, congratulations on a great two years.
You were a great wingman when I was chair,
and you didn't need the experience.
You had it, and thank you for all your hard work making this agency go forward.
I would like to go off the comments of the 25% discount.
Let's pay close attention to how that affects ridership
and net income or gross revenues.
I know we're always playing with that sweet spot.
You know, if you lower prices, well,
that many more people come onto the system
and it might be a good mini experiment.
And we do that from time to time.
And I'm sure you're going to get those results anyway,
but let's pay close attention to that.
I had a very wonderful trip on MetroLink.
I usually don't get on the long haul trains.
Usually when I do it, it's from Glendale to Union Station.
But the day after Thanksgiving, my son and I
rode from Union Station on the Orange County line
to Oceanside.
And I've got to tell you, it was on time.
The cars were clean.
The quiet cars were quiet.
The staff, the conductor, and the ticket takers
were very professional.
It was a very smooth and enjoyable trip.
And half the price of Amtrak.
Half the price of the coast, what do we call that?
The Coast Starliner or the Surfliner.
So it was very, very, very enjoyable.
Now the next thing I'd like to raise, perhaps for a future discussion, is a conversation
I had with the Vice Mayor of Lancaster and he's very concerned.
He feels that there's a lot of homeless being an end of the line city.
He's concerned and I'm sure Lauren would chime in as well as Supervisor Barger.
They think there's something funny going on.
They're seeing a lot of homeless with tickets that are perhaps not purchased by the homeless
themselves but by some other agencies with the intent to just move them out of Los Angeles.
If we can keep an eye on that, I think that would be good.
Last, as we go into the holiday season, I'm not going to wish you happy holidays because
that goes without saying.
But with all your extra time, there was a very interesting movie that I saw.
Maybe you've seen it.
It's called The Commuter with Liam Neeson.
And it's a real thriller.
It revolves around, I think it's a Long Island railway, but very much analogous to our system.
And it's an hour and a half of interesting drama surrounding a commuter rail line, much
like ours, the interactions between passengers who are familiar with each other and the way
they care for each other and all that. So that's, I think it's on Netflix if I'm not
mistaken. So give that a shot. And thank you. Those are my extensive comments for today.
Thank you very much. Director Marquez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, this past weekend
I got to ride the Riverside Holiday Express train.
Michelle, thank you for providing me some information.
And then Scott and his team, you guys did a wonderful job.
I saw my granddaughter yesterday,
and she's still excited about riding on the train.
So we'll be back next year.
We did a wonderful job, thank you.
Maybe she'll become a long-term rider, right?
Director Spiegel?
Well, I'm gonna up you, Ray.
I'm taking the express train.
It's not an express train, it's just a regular holiday train.
Rancho Cucamonga, no it goes from Redlands.
My son works in Redlands and it goes to Rancho Cucamonga
where my daughter works, and then back.
But I have 30 tickets.
So we took the whole top half of a car.
So I'm looking forward I think.
Ask, yes Darren I was calling.
Well how do I do?
I need to get those tickets.
I need to get the tickets,
because I wanted to get them together.
Then they get down there and no one else had bought them.
And then, is there seven cars or six cars?
I have no idea what I have.
Sometimes, look, there's a car behind us,
and I sat there and made sure that we were the end car,
but I don't think we ended up being, but that's okay.
We're all together, and it's really exciting,
because two of my grandkids first time on a train,
so I'm really excited about it.
Very good.
Any other comments?
Yes, go ahead.
Listen add again and thanks to chair McCallum. I was lucky enough to have served at the skag regional council when
Chair McCallum was the president of skag and over there. He had to wrangle something like 80 regional council members
So hopefully this has been easier, but I've been honored to serve on two boards with him and
His leadership has been excellent on both. So, thank you chair
Thank you Pam for the kind comments appreciate it. Anybody else?
Okay, I don't have any other comments that I've already made so
Go into a closed session. Mr. Attorney, would you read us in the cross session? Yes
They board will now go into closed session under item agenda item number 11 as described in today's agenda. Thank you, chair
Thank you very much
read your in an open session and
ask for the attorney to
Is there any?
reportable action
Very good, then we're adjourned