Good morning everyone and thank you all for braving the inclement weather and joining us for this meeting this morning
And I'll begin with our safety briefing by Hillary console. I
heard that
Good morning. God chairman Shafi board of directors in the event where we need to evacuate the boardroom. We'll exit the room
We'll take the escalators down to the lobby will exit the building and we'll meet will hang it right and we'll meet in front of the customer
service
entrance for Metro.
When evacuating the room, please be mindful
of tripping hazards, bags, chairs,
pushing your chairs when you're exiting the room.
In the event of a medical emergency,
we have an AED located at the security desk.
We also have emergency responders in the back of the room
that will dial 911 and render aid if necessary.
In the event of an earthquake, we will take cover
under the desks and wait for the rumbling to stop.
After that happens we will wait to see
if further evacuation is necessary.
And in the event of an active shooter event
we will deploy the Run, Hide, Fight tactic.
Thank you.
Thank you for that introduction.
Now if you all rise and join Director Engler
and our Pledge of Allegiance.
Thank you Director Engler.
Madam Clerk, do we have any public comments?
I need to do the roll call first.
All right.
Director Nguyen?
Director Go?
Here.
Vice Chair Bergson?
Here.
Director Spiegel?
Here.
Director Vargas?
Here.
Director Molina?
Second Vice Chair Tremblay?
Director Engler?
Here.
Director Barger?
Director Najarian?
Director Sandoval?
Director Solis?
Director Olsen?
Director Allen?
Director O'Connor?
Director Preciato, Director McAllen, Director Wapner,
Director Dutray, Director Marquez, Chair Chaffee.
Present.
We do have a quorum present.
Okay, so now we're ready if there are any public comments.
I have not received any requests to speak,
but we have received three written public comments
from Michael Mansurian, requesting immediate tap card
or fast tracking tap card integration in Los Angeles
that will be emailed to the board after the meeting.
All right, thank you with that.
We have our regular calendar number of action items
which we want to go through and then we'll come to a part
of the agenda where all the remaining items are received
in file and then first I'd like to treat that a little bit
like a consent calendar and ask the CEO if there are items
that he thinks we particularly should hear.
And then as we come to that, if there's anything that really tugs
at your heart and you'd like to hear,
we'll ask for a staff report on that as well.
Otherwise, we'll simply receive and follow the other items.
So we'll start with the minutes approval, which is an action item.
Have we had a chance to review them?
Any corrections, additions?
Seeing none, may I have a motion to approve?
Hangman second.
Any objection?
Motion carries.
Thank you.
I come to our next action item, which
is a merit pay for director on an audit.
And the item is represented by Roxanne Randolph, our director
of human resources.
Roxanne.
Good morning, Chair Chafee and members of the board.
I'm reporting on item 6B, request to award merit pay
to Director Audit Elizabeth Lizwardy.
Next slide, please.
The board evaluated Ms. Lizwardy's performance
for the period July 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2025.
Based on her accomplishments and outstanding performance,
Ms. Lizwardy is authorized to receive a 3.95% merit increase,
retroactive to July 1st, 2025.
And that's in addition to the COLA that was provided
to all eligible authority employees.
This merit increase is consistent
with the annual merit matrix for all authority employees.
And funding is included in the adopted FY26 operating budget.
Next slide, please.
This concludes my presentation, and I'm
happy to answer any questions you have about this item.
Directors, any questions?
Who did second? Any objection?
Motion carries. Thank you.
Now we come to amendments to the 457B plan,
also Roxanne, you're on again.
Okay. Thank you.
Next slide, please.
The authority began offering the 457B plan
to employees in 1993.
ICMA Retirement Corporation
was designated as our plan administrator,
And in 2021, they began doing business
as Mission Square Retirement Corporation.
Next slide, please.
On December 29th, 2022, the setting every community
up for Retirement Enhancement Act 2.0,
known as Secure Act 2.0, was signed into law.
It is a set of retirement reforms designed
to expand access to retirement plans,
increase retirement savings,
and offer more Americans access
to lifetime income in retirement.
Next slide, please.
Secure Act 2.0 builds upon the original Secure Act 1.0,
which was passed in 2019.
Both Secure Act 1.0 and 2.0 include several optional
provisions that allow employers to tailor retirement plans to better meet the needs
of their employees and enhance savings opportunities.
A committee of employees from human resources, finance, and other departments met to discuss
the optional provisions available to authority employees and are recommending that the agency
adopt the following provisions.
Just add Roth provisions to allow participants to make after-tax contributions, in-plan Roth
conversions, and access to Roth funds for loans.
Secondly, eliminate the first-of-the-month rule to permit employees' initial and changed
requests to be effective as soon as administratively possible, rather than having to wait until
the first of the month.
victims of domestic abuse to receive a distribution up to the lesser of 10,000 or 50% of their
vested account balance.
Permit participants to receive up to $1,000 for unforeseen or immediate financial needs
for personal or family emergencies.
Permit participants to self-certify that a distribution is being made for an unforeseen
emergency.
Permit qualified participants to receive a distribution of up to $22,000 per federally
declared natural disaster if the participant sustained an economic loss because of the
disaster.
participants age 60 to 63 to contribute up to 150% of the regular age 50 catch-up contribution,
which for 2025 is $11,200.
Next slide, please.
Some additional proposed amendments are to permit participants to withdraw funds at age
59 and a half while still employed.
Only employees can only withdraw funds upon separation from the agency.
Next permit participants to receive a distribution of up to $5,000 per qualifying birth or adoption.
Allow participants to roll out funds that they rolled into their 457 plan and they
can do that while still employed.
also add the CEO employer dollar match retroactive to May 24, 2024. And finally, permit participants
to continue making 457 loan payments upon separation from the authority. Next slide,
please. It is recommended that the board approve the proposed amendments to the authority's
B plan with an effective date of July 1st, 2026 for most provisions, and the CEO employer
dollar match retroactive to May 24th, 2024.
Next slide, please.
That concludes my presentation, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about
this item.
Thank you.
Director, is there any questions?
Okay, then I didn't want to cut anybody else off.
I just wanted to find out, when you're talking
about the rules to change things
and allow things to happen more quickly,
does that cost us staff time?
Is there gonna be any issues with rolling this new thing out
where people can request monies at almost any time?
Is that a problem?
So the good part about it is that our administrator,
Mission Square, will handle all of it,
So, employees apply directly with Mission Square,
and Mission Square handles everything
in terms of disbursements.
That's all I wanted to verify.
Yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
So, other than the contribution matching to Darren,
there's no additional cost to the agency, correct?
That is correct.
All fees are paid for by participants.
All right, and there is no impact to our budget,
In other words with this item no impact. All right
Is there a second you can second any further discussion?
All right the objection to the item and motion carries in as approved. Thank you. Thank you
We go on to a cooperative funding agreement
With a sandwalk one Creek bridge replacement in Orange County with OC TA and it's represented by an errand as of a dough
Good morning Board. Next slide please. In partnership with OCTA, Metrolink is in year two of three and of the San Juan Creek bridge project.
The old bridge was built in 1917 and a couple of weeks ago we put the new bridge in service.
Throughout the project Metrolink and OCTA have been coordinating with Orange County flood control district to gain access to the channel.
And the flood control district has requested changes to our sheet pile wall alignment as a condition of issuing the permit.
The changes have added some additional cost to the project.
It is recommended that the board authorize the CEO
to negotiate and execute amendment number two
to cooperative agreement number C dash zero dash 2540
with OCTA in the amount of $3,954,039,
which will increase the total value of the agreement
to $63,435,942.
As a result of this amendment,
it is also recommended to amend the authority's
fiscal year 25 26 budget by three million nine hundred fifty four thousand and thirty nine dollars to reflect the additional funding
allocated by OCTA
Next slide any questions question directors
Understand the funding is being provided by OCTA. We just need to adjust our own budget to accommodate that that's correct
any
See no questions may have a motion to approve
England
Second seconded any objection motion carries. Thank you
Now we come as to item 6e which is the orange track subdivision rehab project
And we're recommending a war to transit rail
Janae Korea is our railroad civil engineer and
So thank you for presenting the item
Next slide
work under contract number
3160 dash
26 will include track rehabilitation to various elements including track replacement rail upgrades tie upgrades and
Turn out replacements throughout the orange subdivision
These improvements will enhance the safety and reliability of Metrolinx railway system and maintain our rail assets in the state of good repair
the authority issued an invitation for bids on August 19th of 2025 we received
four bids for contract C 3160-26 with the Transtaff Braille, Inc. being the
lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Next slide. It is recommended that the
board authorize the CEO to award contract numbers 3160-26 for Orange
subdivision track rehabilitation to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder
dranstaff rail
for eight million three hundred and fifty thousand two dollars and nineteen cents plus ten percent contract contingency
For a total of not to exceed amount of nine million one hundred and eighty five thousand two dollars and forty one cents next slide
Thank you. This concludes my presentation any questions
questions directors
See you none again. I have a motion to approve the item
Thank you, I move doing everything this morning
Second it any objection see no objection the motion carries as proved
now we have a fair restructure pilot evaluation presented by
Henning Aklar
Good morning. Mr. Chair members of the board this item before you is an update on our fair pilot
Which was launched in July of this year next slide, please
In this report, we provide the board with preliminary results for the period July through
September.
There is a caveat during that time, our ridership was also impacted by on-time performance issues
which may skew the results for the fare pilot.
Still we are encouraged by the positive performance of the fares.
Fairbox revenue was up 11% which reflects the transition
from our free student adventure pass
to a 50% student discount.
Ridership by non-students was up 2%
and student ridership while lower declined less
than we had forecasted, 15% instead
of the projected 20% decline.
Next slide, please.
I'd like to talk more about how the FAIR pilot
performed against the specific objectives that we had set.
Our first objective was to increase
the competitiveness and affordability
for Metrolinx post-pandemic future.
We lowered the prices of all monthly passes
to make them more attractive for choice, I'm sorry,
for commuters.
And as a result, we have seen sales of our monthly passes
increase by 25%.
Blue riders accounted for 9% of that increase.
We also made MetruLink more affordable
by offering expanded discounts.
For instance, we introduced a new discount
for military veterans, which the board had asked for repeatedly.
and ridership by both active military and veterans
more than doubled.
Next slide, please.
Our second objective was to grow the leisure and visitor
ridership markets.
So we introduced two new flat rate day passes,
which now account for more than one in four riders,
with 20% of the passes being bought by new riders.
This also included the redesign of our screens,
both on the ticket vending devices and on the mobile app.
The image that you see on this slide
here is from our ticket vending devices
and prominently feature the new so-called APAS.
Next slide, please.
The third objective was to simplify our fare structure
for a better user experience.
Before the fare pilot, Metrolink had more different fare types
than other commuter railroads.
And while having lots of different options
is a good thing, we know that the range of options
that we offered not only created customer confusion,
it also resulted in significant administrative burdens
for us in managing the complex fare structure.
With the fair restructuring, we streamlined the fairs
and improved administrative efficiency.
We reduced the number of required fair tables by 10%.
We also reduced the number of specific fairs
that we have to manage in the system by 19%.
And we also improved data quality.
We reduced records with missing destinations
from 21% to 11%,
and we eliminated missing origins altogether.
Next slide, please.
Finally, I wanna say a few words about the transition
from the free student adventure pass to the discount,
which coincided with the launch of our fair pilot.
As mentioned earlier, we saw student ridership
decline less than expected.
But an even more important measure
is the number of students who take Metrolink
has not only recovered, but has even
reached a new record in October.
The prior record was from April of this year
with 20,744 active mobile student accounts.
And by active account, we mean that the student had actually
taken a ride during that same month.
In October, we surpassed that prior record
with an all-time high of over 22,000 active student accounts.
Next slide, please.
So although the results for the three months of the pilot
have been positive, we believe that extending the pilot
for another six months will allow us time for OTP
to recover and to allow for a more robust assessment
of the new fare structure.
To illustrate, there are two charts on this slide.
On the left, this is the ridership chart,
and on the right, that is our on-time performance.
The green portion on both charts reflects
the months of the fare pilot.
And you can see, while OTP declined during that quarter,
ridership increased and actually grew significantly.
And we believe that with giving time for OTP to improve,
we would see an even stronger ridership response
to the fares.
Next slide, please.
So at this time, we recommend to the board
to extend the pilot for another six months through June 2026,
At which time we would also complete
the required Title VI process.
And that completes my presentation.
Director's questions.
If we're going to extend this for six months,
is our on-time performance going to increase
since we're thinking that that's part of the reason
for the dismay of writing?
Henning, you don't have to take that question,
but I will take it, Director Spiegel.
It's an absolutely fair question, and you know we we have identified these first three months happened to coincide with the transition to our new contractor
We got out of the gate with challenges as it related to crews you'll recall that issue and then more recently
We've had mechanical challenges
We're already seeing that turn the corner a bit, so I think that our reliability will improve
And that will be the real test of the pilot and this fair structure is with improved OTP
do we see what we think we will which will be continued support from our
riders for the new structure so I do think these these last three months just
don't give us a sense of where we stand in a sort of comprehensive
perspective so that's our recommendation to the extended so moved right I see any
other questions on the old TV I know that we talk about the mechanical issue
and obviously working it through, trying to get that resolved I know on the
airline there's a mechanical issue there, but different circumstances,
especially trying to get parts and of course one of our units is out, the hybrid unit. So it's encouraging to see us so far the three months that we're
seeing uptick in passengers, that's what we want, by making spares easier. So let's
Just hope that this continues on
and it's become the model that we can help
grow those agencies as we can.
And include the OOT.
So thank you for your comments.
I think this is very encouraging, these results.
And so it's wise to extend the pilot.
Or did I hear a motion and a second?
Did?
I second.
All right.
And the objection.
Motion is approved.
Thank you for the report.
Thank you.
Now we come to that part of our agenda
where everything else is a receive and file.
And I'm going to ask our CEO,
are there items that we would particularly like you
to have presented?
Yes, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
My recommendation for presentations
for a couple of different reasons include,
so the item 6K, which is the performance audit
related to the fuel purchase policy.
And the reason that I believe a presentation is in order
is that we do have the ad hoc committee for Fuelhedge,
and as such, given the work of the ad hoc committee,
I wanna make sure their work is recognized,
and we also have the auditor here to present
if there are any questions.
The other items would be item 6P,
which is the finance and ridership forecast item.
There are a lot of questions over the course
last couple days during the briefings,
so we wanna make sure we give that its due discussion.
And then lastly, with all that's been happening in Washington,
D.C. in the last couple of days, having Jeff Dunn present the
legislative item is our recommendation.
All the remaining items are received
and filed generally quarterly updates, that kind of thing,
that we certainly are prepared to discuss,
but those are more routine in their nature.
Thanks. Mr. Chair. That's my recommendation against 6k 6p and 6q would be
Those that would be presented
Directors any other items you would like to hear the staff report on
Do you have a question on 6-0 when we get to it or 6-0 at some point?
Okay, anyone else?
All right the odds to the other items and there are reports available either online or in a binder that you may have received
I'm going to direct that those items be received and filed.
We're going to go next to the items that the CEO recommended,
and then we'll also do 6-0.
So 6-K was the first item.
May we have the report there of Elizabeth Lazardi?
Good morning, Chairman and Board members.
Next slide, please.
The fuel purchase policy audit was recently completed.
The audit is conducted annually required by policy.
Internal audit engage CRO LLP assisted by Wills Graves
and associates as the oil and gas expert to perform the audit.
Bert Neuring from CRO joins me today to answer questions.
The objective of the audit is to determine compliance
to the policy for audit period January until December 2024.
There are no significant deficiencies
the audit results along with them the management letter were presented to the
ad hoc committee on November 4th this includes my items happy to answer if you
have any questions questions directors so you notice receive and file item
thank you with the report and it is received and filed so now we'll go on to
Director Bergson's question about item 6-0
I don't know if we need a report on it. I just I can ask my question. Maybe that'll be it. So
What I wanted to ask is on the uber
payment of
$490,000 is that
Is that for what period of time is it a year a quarter a month? I mean
It's actually for future needs
It's a new award, so our colleagues at customer experience
can use Uber and award new rights in future events.
Pre-paying for Uber services ahead of time, is that what?
You are authorizing the amount.
Or just having money and set aside for it.
Exactly.
So do we have any idea what the actual cost,
I don't know, per month is on Uber vouchers?
What are we spending?
It's a big chunk of money half a million dollars to you know not that there's a better alternative
So I just want to understand what we are actually spending I
Don't have the number right in front of me
But I can tell you due to the challenges we've had with our on-time performance our
Inability to secure buses when we need them there has been an increase in the spending
for our quality service pledge which makes a commitment to riders to reimburse them up to
$50 if they choose to secure an uber
To get where they need to go. I can say we're about 50% overspent at this time
But this is contract authority, correct?
the amount that is listed here is only for the future if
Customer experience needs to use the uber that they will have this amount available
Provided of course that is in our budget. I
Would only add that again. We we have the uber program if we need it
It is somewhat last resort because our first attempt is always to try to work with our transit providers in the region to access buses
To provide that same service and it it covers the myriad of issues
It could be our own challenges as it relates to a mechanical issue that breaks down or we experience something
experience something on Wednesday of this week where we had a fire on the
Ventura County line that was fire under the bridge that that shut us down my
train was delayed two hours and 20 minutes so we afforded people to use the
uber for the QSP for that so it runs the gamut and as you said Director
Bergson it's you know there may not be a better option but it is kind of the
last resort how we have it and I think we've just sort of had a rough few
months because it also coincided with some of these OTP issues that we had in annulments,
not just OTP but annulments that we needed to provide the QSP for. We got to be better.
And I think the information isn't here today, but at some point when we have our next financial
update, I just want to get a clarity on what we spent like a month-to-month things just
so we as a board understand if we should be looking
in any kind of alternative direction
or if this is, you know, if it's working,
which I know it does work, but we just need to understand.
We can have that shared with the board
after the meeting across the board,
so you have that data, thank you.
That's all I wanted to ask.
All right, and item 6-0 will be received and filed.
We come to item 6-P, and we have Christine Wilson,
Our assistant director finance and of course we have to see the latest fashion
Being serious today, you know, it's raining
Good morning chairman safety and members of the board
Here next slide, please
Here we see
The system-wide ridership results for each month through September the columns are actual while the black line is the forecast
As you can see each month is below budget. We are currently having KPMG spirit capital
Refresh our forecast to improve its accuracy
through September the total forecast was for 2.2 million riders a
73% recovery while the actual is 1.7 million or a 57% recovery and under budget by
473 riders
3,000 riders next slide, please
This is the system-wide pro forma revenue results for each month again. You can see we were we are under budget
Let me remind you that we have made a change that pro forma farebox revenue includes
Not only what is paid by passengers, but in addition all subsidies
Through September we budgeted revenue of thirteen point three million or recovery of sixty four percent
Actual pro forma farebox revenue is 10.8 million or a 52% recovery under budget by 2.5 million dollars
next slide
This graph shows system-wide ridership for each month this year with a comparison to last year
That includes and both of them include a breakout of subsidy and passenger remitted revenues
The fairs are the columns are equal Brown last year blue is this year
While the black line is our forecast
We have been working on the breakout for the current year and we'll be able to include it in our next report
next slide please
Here is the year-to-date ridership by line. It shows last year. Once again Brown this year blue
with the forecasting green once again, we'd be
Expect to be able to break out, in fact, we already have,
break out the subsidy portion for this year with our next report.
So you'll be able to see the comparison
of subsidy-based revenue compared to this year, compared to last year.
Next slide, please.
Here are the system-wide pro forma revenue results
for each month through September.
Next slide.
This next slide shows pro forma farebox revenue slides
for each month compared to the forecast that the last slides compared it to the forecast this one shows total
total
Ridership by each line for each month compared to the forecast next slide, please
These next slides are all individual slides
Representing each of the lines that show this year and last year and the black line compares to the forecast
Next slide, please. Next slide
The operating results for the quarter ended September 20 25
The errors are showing green as a favorable result red as an unfavorable result
total operating revenue is 15.3 million under budget by 2.6 million or
15%
Total expenses are seventy eight point four million under budget by nine point five million or eleven percent
Overall member agency support is in surplus by six point eight million
Various expense categories that are under budget are shown on the slide
next slide please
These next slide show the operating statement for Metrolinx showing the details of revenue expense and expense
Next slide if this is once again the operating statement next slide next slide
This these are past-due receivables as of September of 2025
They're forty five point nine eight million and the vast majority is related to
Subsidy payments that are past due next slide, please
This shows the available cash through September and as you see in September, we are under
the board
Approved 50 50 million dollar
Threshold I
Believe that next month. We'll see us above this threshold again next slide
arrow service
This slide shows arrow service ridership by month
The brown column is last year while the blue is this year and the black line is the forecast
next slide, please
This slide shows pro forma farebox revenue by month through September
As you can see the ending of the student adventure pass has had a considerable effect on arrow
next slide, please
for arrow the financial results
through September 2025 is
Is that the operating revenue is one hundred twenty one thousand under budget by thirty two thousand or twenty one percent?
total expenses are three point seven million under budget by
eight hundred and thirty four thousand or eighteen percent
Support is three point six million under budget by eight hundred and two thousand or eighteen percent next life
That concludes my report may answer any questions
Questions directors director speaker
And the when the agency on the I can't remember which slide number was six point eight million
under budget is
That for the year or is that through the September the quarter?
It's through September. Okay, so we're that's only that period and not for the year. Yes. Okay. That's right. Thank you
the other question
See none. So thank you for the report
Now we have our legislative update and so let's see what's happening. Hopefully the government is open again
Thank thank goodness for small miracles
Good morning, chair Taffy members of the board next slide, please
First in local matters as shown on the slide Metrolink joins state senator a bob
Archuleta and local transportation and city leaders from Pico Rivera to ride our train from the Norwalk Santa Fe
Spring Station to the Anaheim Station. The tour included site visits to OC Vibe,
the Platinum Triangle, Arctic, and the OC Riverwalk. The purpose of this trip was
twofold. First, to show successful examples of how transit oriented
development when properly integrated with rail infrastructure can create
exciting and appealing places of economic opportunity and community growth.
Second, to highlight the work Pico Rivera is exploring to establish a Pico Rivera
regional rail station that might be funded by state bond funding to provide
transformative service to the San Gabriel Valley. While still in the early
stages of exploration, Metrolink will keep the board apprised of any
significant developments should the city's aspirational project continue to
move forward. Next slide please. In state matters there are no further updates to
those addressed in your report. The legislature stands in recess until next
year and the final disposition of bills as reported in the written report and
attached appendix are unchanged. Next slide please. In federal matters of
course the big news is the federal government has reopened after its
longest shutdown in history. On Monday November 10 the Senate passed a
continuing resolution to extend current funding levels through January 30th by
6040 vote and recessed immediately thereafter. Additionally the resolution
and retroactively restores pay to federal employees
furlough during the shutdown and rescinds
any layoffs that were made.
The House followed the Senate's action
by approving a measure on Wednesday, November 12,
by a 222 to 209 vote.
And the president signed it on the same day,
ending the 43-day shutdown.
There are a few things now that will likely
dominate the attention of the Congress through the holidays
and prior to the expiration of the CR.
How and if these issues are resolved will determine whether or not we'll be facing
another shutdown on January 30th, which is distinctly possible.
One such issue is the vote on the Affordable Care Act extension promised by leadership
as a condition of reopening the government.
While no date has been set, this is expected to occur by mid-November.
The outcome is not guaranteed, and if the ACA is not extended, tax credits established
under the ACA will lapse in 2025,
resulting in significantly increased
marketplace insurance premiums for many Americans.
On the appropriations front, in the Senate,
there is an effort to create many-bus legislation
from the FY26 Defense Appropriations Bill
that would include labor, health and human services,
commerce and justice, and transportation,
housing, and urban development,
from which Metrolink and our member agencies
receive annual federal formula funding from.
Our advocates advise that staff are working
to prepare this legislation for consideration by the Senate
when it returns next week on November 18.
The mini bus would, of course, be only the Senate versions
of these bills and thus would have
to be conferenced with the House counterpart
bills agreed by all before going to the president for signature.
The overall funding divide between the current versions
of these Senate bills and their House counterparts
is, in total, $46 billion, which is significant,
with the Senate versions being more generous.
We will monitor closely and keep the board
a prize of congressional action during the holiday period,
and especially as the expiration
of the continuing resolution looms closer
should the appropriations package struggle to pass.
Finally, in authorization matters,
House TNI Committee Chair Sam Graves
has indicated his intent to move forward
with the surface transportation reauthorization,
with markup possibly sometime early in 2026.
This will be the successor to the IIJA
bipartisan infrastructure law set to expire
on September 30th of next year.
Our priorities will be those you have directed
in our legislative program, including, especially,
protection of the historically increased
funding authorization levels provided by the IIJA,
indexed for inflation, recognizing that in transportation,
as in all sectors of the economy,
costs have risen substantially
since the passage of IJA in 2021.
Thank you. This concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Any questions, directors? I see none. So thank you for the report. Look forward to your next one.
Alright, thanks. Alright, Mr. CEO, you have a chance to report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Next slide, please.
So earlier today, you took action on an amendment related to the San Juan Bridge.
We had big news at the end of October.
You can see the photos here of the new bridge that was constructed and then the bridge
to the right is the one that we moved trains over on the weekend of October 24th and 25th.
You can see the team that was involved on the Metrolink side there on the picture on
the right.
A little bit about the details on this is, so we realigned over a quarter mile of track
on each side of the new bridge, installed two turnouts,
surfaced and de-stressed, I could do some de-stressing,
surfaced and de-stressed over 3,100 feet of track,
transferred all signal systems to the newly installed system
on the new bridge, and completed all PTC testing.
Over 100 staff and contractors worked during the weekend,
which included 5,500 labor hours that were worked.
And then next summer our contractor will demo the old bridge
this was
The fact that this all happened over one weekend. We had that we did shut down the corridor to any train service
But we were able to start revenue service the Monday morning
So it was a good news story all the way around and again
We've done this in partnership with OCTA and we're up to a tune of about 64 million dollars in the replacement of the bridge
Aaron remind me the date of when that bridge the old bridge was put in service
1917 there we go so
So yeah, thank that so it was
We did all we could with duct tape and bubblegum to keep that thing together for a while
So thank you again Aaron to you and your team great work great work. Oh
and the team is here, so
Alright, so please if we could have the team from the Boulder Metrolink and our staff that were involved in it and our contractor
Aaron, if you guys could all come up and they're listed, thank you very much.
So Aaron Acevedo, Silvia Molina, Juliana Corona, and Dave Varnberger.
So gentlemen, I don't see Juliana here, so Juliana's not here.
Yeah, she was out sick, she just informed me this morning.
Oh my goodness.
All right.
Well gentlemen, great work.
Thank you for your efforts.
All right, next slide.
we gave you a little bit of a teaser before the board meeting about the the
energy that we had on November 3rd in celebrating the Dodgers back-to-back
World Series champions last year when the parade was announced and we had two
days worth of notice and to be honest we got caught a little flat-footed so we at
risk of jinxing ourselves this year we we started planning ahead a bit more by
a couple of weeks with the plan through our operations team and our customer
experience team and all other players that just in case we were to so happen
to win this and I want to point out Sabrina Davis who from our our customer
experience team who is Canadian was insisting that we have daily calls
planning for the parade celebration because I was convinced she was trying
to jinx us. But I don't know as a Dodger fan what an amazing world series but
what was also amazing for Metrolink is that we broke another record on
ridership post-pandemic nearly 44,000 boardings and for the first time in a
very very long time we ran an eight-car train set on the San Bernardino line to
recognizing the support and so just did did just about everything right so it
was just what a and the level of energy I had I had such FOMO because I was in
DC and not able to be a part of this and everybody else on my team were all
excited and cheering and doing those things. The parade did go right past our
main offices at 7th and Figueroa. So we have a bunch of parade photos and of
course we have special thanks because director Dutre decided that hey I'm
gonna go help people at the Montclair station and was out there helping direct
folks and just sort of seeing the enthusiasm firsthand so John thanks for
stepping up and being out there for that. There we go and the hard part now
is that my team is talking about the fact, well, next year when we do this, so
there's there's optimism out there. But great work by everybody making that
happen and having it be such a great success. Yeah, we had a couple of
trains that on the San Bernardino line we didn't anticipate people getting
there wanting to be there as early as we thought. So we had to leave some folks
on platforms waiting for the next train. Ultimately they got picked up but it was
just a matter of some timing issues about how much enthusiasm there was to
get there early. Not bad challenges. I'll take those challenges.
It's a good challenge.
Good challenges.
Not to them, but.
No.
And everybody, just the level again.
Everybody was positive about it.
There was no griping.
But we learned another lesson just in case next year
we have to do this again.
It also really helped us as we start
looking at these other major events that
are right around the corner.
There will be a World Cup before the next back to back
to back World Series Dodgers parade.
So this was a great learning experience for us
about some of the things we could do with major events.
So, good news there.
Next slide.
Just briefly, we have this, is it behind us?
It's right here, okay.
So a few months ago we shared that we did
a Metrolink Make-A-Wish event
for a San Bernardino County family
based in the Victorville area.
And the Make-A-Wish Foundation gave us a thank you for us providing a train service
that got the family here to Los Angeles from, I thought it was from Rancho Colmugas Station,
but it may have been San Bernardino.
And then, and then they went on to San Diego.
So there was just a director, Wapner, put us in touch with Make-A-Wish.
And we were able to, using our customer experience team, give a family an opportunity,
the individual, King Caro was his name,
he's his name, it was his wish to take that train.
So just again, thanks to the team
for making all that happen.
And thank you Director Wapner for putting us in touch.
It is a cool thing that we get a chance to do
when we get to grant a wish.
Next slide.
All right, so just real quickly, a couple of other items.
If you haven't heard, our Holiday Express train service
is blowing the doors off on ticket sales.
I mean, it is the Orange County line trains,
based out of Irvine, I believe, are sold out.
And most others are.
We have Seamy Valley.
We're very close to selling out.
So this has become the hot ticket.
So I do know we got advanced warning out to board members.
And I know we do have board members that
they're already signed up and have tickets.
So we will look forward to seeing you
at the Holiday Express train service.
Just a real quick, this is something that I know
Director Spiegel referenced because
at the last board meeting, because we had a board meeting
and before Veterans Day,
just wanna acknowledge our veterans.
We have, I know I see Rod Bailey,
one of our veterans in the house.
I don't know if there are other Metrolinx staffers here that are veterans, but again,
I want to thank you for your service.
Thank you, Rod, for that.
And then finally, Mr. Chair, a belated happy birthday.
And yes, so we have a little Sprinkles cupcake forum to recognize that.
So happy birthday, sir.
Mr. Chair, that concludes my report.
I always ask for a small slice and so thank you. It's about the right size
Directors your opportunity to comment directors people. Yes. I was very surprised to see director Bergson here today
It is state of the city last night and did very well and after
being involved with
With Herba Valley for as many years as I have before you incorporated. I've been to every single state of the city
I learned more last night about a city that I've been representing for a while. It was very well done. I
was impressed
Strike while it's hot then
All right, I don't see any more lights on or comments and so I
simply again
Reiterate the opportunity for the Christmas Express coming up. My wife did get tickets for Irvine before it sold out
And also, I hope that we can see everybody at our board workshop in January.
With that, stay dry if you can.
And we are adjourned.
Thank you all for coming in.