Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (Prtc)

POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION (PRTC)

OFFICIAL COMMISSION MEETING

MINUTES

DATE: May 2, 2013

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION: PRTC Transit Center 14700 Potomac Mills Road Woodbridge, VA 22192-6811 ______

1. CALL TO ORDER

Chairman May called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., with a quorum present.

2. ROLL CALL

MEMBERS PRESENT *Richard Anderson Virginia House of Delegates *Wally Covington Prince William County (arrived at 7:25 p.m.) *John Jenkins, Immediate Past Chairman Prince William County *Frank Jones, Vice Chairman City of Manassas Park *Matthew Kelly , Treasurer City of Fredericksburg *Michael May, Chairman Prince William County *Jackson Miller Virginia House of Delegates *Marty Nohe Prince William County *Benjamin Pitts Spotsylvania County *Gary Skinner Spotsylvania County

MEMBERS ABSENT Maureen Caddigan Prince William County Thelma Drake Department of Rail and Public Transportation Paul Milde Stafford County Frank Principi Prince William County Toddy Puller Virginia Senate Bob Thomas, Secretary Stafford County Jonathan Way City of Manassas

ALTERNATES PRESENT *Patrick Durany Prince William County

ALTERNATES ABSENT Hilda Barg Prince William County John Budesky City of Manassas Fred Howe City of Fredericksburg Lorraine Lasch Prince William County Suhas Naddoni City of Manassas Park Kevin Page Department of Rail and Public Transportation Hal Parrish City of Manassas Steve Pittard Department of Rail and Public Transportation David Ross Spotsylvania County Ty Schieber Stafford County Corey Stewart Prince William County Susan Stimpson Stafford County William Wren City of Manassas Park

*Voting Member

**Delineates arrival/departure following the commencement of the PRTC Board Meeting. Notation of the exact arrival time is included in the body of the minutes.

STAFF AND GENERAL PUBLIC Nick Alexandrow PRTC Transit Project Manager Doug Allen VRE Chief Executive Officer Gina Altis PRTC Executive Assistant David Awbrey DRPT Urban Transit Program Administrator Robyn Bernardy MTM Director Doris Chism PRTC Dir., Customer Service & Dispatch Rob Dickerson PRTC Legal Counsel Joyce Embrey PRTC Dir., Finance & Administration Althea Evans PRTC Dir., Marketing & Communications Penny Everline MTM Travel Trainer Shanta Garth FIRST TRANSIT AGM-Accounting/Admin. Al Harf PRTC Executive Director Todd Johnson FIRST TRANSIT General Manager Eric Lee FIRST TRANSIT AGM-Safety & Training Bob Leibbrandt PWC Budget & Analysis Office Ebony Lofton PRTC Customer Advocate Steve MacIsaac VRE Legal Counsel Mary Marshall PRTC Accounting & Budget Mgr. Betsy Massie PRTC Dir., Grant & Project Management Eric Marx PRTC Dir., Planning & Operations Paul Pitchke FIRST TRANSIT AGM-Operations Cynthia Porter-Johnson PRTC Transportation Project Manager Jerry Vincent FIRST TRANSIT Quality Assurance Mgr.

3. INVOCATION Led by Commissioner Nohe.

4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Commissioner Skinner.

5. CITIZENS’ TIME No citizens came forward.

6. PRESENTATIONS

[FT\Info] A. First Transit General Manager Todd Johnson – Employee Recognition and Operations Report.

Mr. Todd Johnson recognized the March 2013 Operator-of-the-Month Amphaphonh Phouthone. Mr. Phouthone is an OmniRide bus operator and has been with First Transit since 2009.

Mr. Johnson reported that 11 commendations (for 9 different operators) were received during the month of April. Continuing, Mr. Johnson reported that both the actual number and rate per 10,000 trips of OmniRide complaints increased in the month of April (7.03) vs. March (6.33). Compared to April 2012, the complaint rate per 10,000 trips is lower. The 2013 year-to-date complaint rate (6.56) is 18 percent lower than the same year-to-date time frame for 2012 (7.64).

On the OmniLink bus service, Mr. Johnson reported that there was an appreciable increase in both the actual number and rate per 10,000 trips of OmniLink complaints in April (6.15) vs. March (5.06). When compared to April 2012, the actual number and the rate of complaints are somewhat lower. The current year-to-date complaint rate (5.50) is 13 percent lower than the same year-to-date time frame for 2012 (6.34). First Transit and PRTC management continue to analyze the data and will implement corrective actions as warranted.

Continuing, Mr. Johnson reported that six collisions occurred in April (3 preventable and 3 non- preventable). The Accident Frequency Rate (AFR) year-to-date rate is 0.681, which is lagging relative to First Transit’s goal of 0.448.

Mr. Johnson also reported that the “Fleet Maintenance Audit” is complete. For this audit, the average number of per-bus defects is 2.2 defects per bus, the lowest since 2005. Mr. Johnson commended First Transit Maintenance Manager Jerry Vincent and staff for their continuing high level of proficiency/performance.

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Johnson noted that the First Transit Maintenance Department won the First Transit “Engineering Safety Award” for North America.

[PRTC\Info] B. Travel Training Presentation.

At this time, Robin Bernardy of Medical Transportation Management, Inc. (MTM) gave a briefing on the “On-the-Go Travel Training Program.” A question/answer session followed.

Commissioner Skinner: Is the “one-on-one” route specific training limited to senior citizens and how were they selected? Also, other than the On-the-Go Brochure and conference presentations/booths, how do senior citizens realize the On-the-Go Training is available? Is there something more that PRTC can do? Commissioner Skinner also observed that senior citizens and people who do not like to be in traffic need the one-on-one training the most.

Ms. Bernardy: A lot of referrals came from the “train-the-trainer” and “group” training courses, which teach people about PRTC’s public transportation services and how to use them. The one-on- one training is more intense with staff working up to 30 hours with an individual. Training information is advertised on the website and getting the word to senior centers, the library, and all the places that these folks visit helps to get the word out. The training is not limited to seniors.

7. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

RES 13-05-01 Minutes of April 4, 2013. [PRTC]

Commissioner Kelly moved, with a second by Vice Chairman Jones, to approve the Minutes, as presented. There was no discussion on the motion. (KELLY\JONES; WITH MAJORITY VOTE, PITTS\SKINNER ABSTAINED)

8. AGENDA APPROVAL

RES 13-05-02 Agenda of May 2, 2013. [PRTC]

Commissioner Kelly moved, with a second by Commissioner Jenkins, to approve the Agenda, as amended. There was no discussion on the motion. (KELLY\JENKINS, UNANIMOUS)

9. CONSENT AGENDA APPROVAL

RES 13-05-03 Consent Agenda of May 2, 2013. [PRTC]

Vice Chairman Jones moved, with a second by Commissioner Kelly, to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. (JONES\KELLY, UNANIMOUS)

RES 13-05-04 A. Acceptance of the Jurisdictional Financial Report. [PRTC]

Accepted the Jurisdictional Financial Report for the period ended February 28, 2013, as presented.

RES 13-05-05 B. Conduct Roof Renovation Procurement. [PRTC]

Authorized the Executive Director to conduct a roof renovation procurement and return to the Commission for a contract award unless the recommended vendor’s bid is less than the “contract award spending” threshold delegated to the Executive Director (i.e., $50,000), as presented.

10. VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS (VRE)

[VRE\Info] A. VRE Operations Board Meeting Agenda and Minutes of April 19, 2013 and Resolutions as Adopted by the VRE Operations Board. There were no comments.

[VRE\Info] B. Chief Executive Officer’s Report (04/13).

For the month of April, Mr. Allen reported that system wide on-time performance is 97% (98% and 97% on the Manassas Line and Fredericksburg Line, respectively). A total of 18 delays occurred in April with half of the delays occurring in a two day period. On April 10th with the temperature at 90 degrees, heat restrictions were imposed on the speed of the trains and on April 19th when the storm blew through, trees were down toward the end of the line at Fredericksburg. 4

Mr. Allen reported that this past month he and VRE’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer Rich Dalton met with VDRPT Director Thelma Drake and VDRPT Chief Operating Officer Kevin Page resulting in a good dialogue on a number of different VRE issues. It was a worthwhile meeting, and meetings of this sort will continue in the future.

As reported last month, Mr. Allen noted that VRE’s annual “Meet the Management” continues where he and senior staff go to VRE stations to meet and dialogue with VRE passengers. Continuing, Mr. Allen reported that VRE’s management team visited the L’Enfant Plaza VRE station and the Crystal City VRE station on April 17th and May 1st, respectively. Elaborating further, Mr. Allen noted that the meet the management events are presently being confined to VRE key destination stations only. With regard to passenger feedback, Mr. Allen reported that passengers had good things to say about the “conductors,” who are widely perceived to be approachable and eager to assist passengers as necessary. Passengers also expressed interest in the VRE service extension to Gainesville-Haymarket and the retirement of the older railcars (i.e., the Legacy fleet). The next “Meet the Management” events will be at the Alexandria VRE station and the Franconia-Springfield VRE station on May 15th and June 5th, respectively. He closed this segment of his remarks by extending an invitation to the PRTC Commissioners to join the VRE management team at these events, noting that they run from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

With regard to VRE’s development projects, Mr. Allen reported that the Spotsylvania VRE station “agreement” was signed last month. VRE has an advertisement for bids out for the station work -- bids are due on May 13th. Mr. Allen expressed appreciation to VDRPT Director Drake and staff, VRE’s Legal Counsel Steve MacIsaac, PRTC Director of Grants and Project Management Betsy Massie, and VRE’s Chief Financial Officer Donna Boxer for working through a lot of tough issues to get to this point.

On the Spotsylvania third track project, Mr. Allen noted that he’s in possession of the partially signed “agreement” for the grant to commence the track work, which NVTC’s Executive Director will sign this evening. This will allow VRE to proceed to advertise the construction project. Mr. Allen also noted that the utility relocation is anticipated to begin in May. VRE staff will return to the VRE Operations Board at its June meeting for contract award authorization. Also, if the environmental work and everything else is in good shape, VRE will issue a “notice to proceed” to begin construction on the project in July.

In the keeping with this evening’s “On-the-Go Travel Training Program” presentation about riding the bus, Mr. Allen noted that Fairfax County (Fairfax Connector) and PRTC operate express buses to Tysons with PRTC’s Tysons express bus departing from the Woodbridge VRE station. Continuing, Mr. Allen noted that VRE staff is working with the “Tyson’s Transportation Management Association” to jointly market the bus service for people who could ride the VRE Fredericksburg Line and access Tyson’s via a bus transfer.

Moving to another subject, Mr. Allen reported that he and Mr. Harf have been consulting with representatives from Caroline County, who have expressed an interest in exploring the idea of joining PRTC and VRE. It is a long-range proposition in which he and Mr. Harf will continue discussions and provide periodic updates as warranted.

Referencing his previous remarks about passengers’ expressed interest in the replacement of the older railcars (the Legacy fleet) Mr. Allen noted that VRE has submitted a grant request to VDRPT Director Drake to replace the last seven railcars of that fleet. He reminded the Board that the railcar contract VRE awarded following a competitive procurement allows VRE to purchase up to 42

railcars, and also provides a volume discount such that VRE would be able to purchase seven railcars for the price of six, realizing a savings of about $2.2 million. In addition, VRE would save by averting the higher costs of maintenance and upkeep of the Legacy railcars if the seven cars could be purchased, adding to the return on investment. He concluded this segment of his remarks by noting that VDRPT is currently considering the VRE grant request, and expressing the hope that VDRPT will reply affirmatively.

Mr. Allen then referenced ongoing discussions by the NVTA about the FY 2014 regional funds it will be investing thanks to the HB 2313 legislation. In that regard, he referred to VRE’s list of candidate projects, which the Commission is being asked to endorse elsewhere on this meeting’s agenda. Mr. Allen went on to say that VRE is also exploring how the three jurisdictions that are VRE members but not NVTA members can contribute towards the cost of prospective investments which would serve both NVTA and non-NVTA constituents (e.g., railcars, one of the candidate projects).

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Allen reported that tomorrow VRE is kicking off its “system planning” effort in keeping with the VRE Operations Board’s strategic initiatives, the aim of which is to formulate a plan for the next 20 years of VRE should look like (in seven year increments).

Chairman May asked if the candidate list of VRE projects for NVTA FY 2014 funding are entirely construction projects. Mr. Allen explained that VRE’s request to NVTA is for design and construction funding and, in some cases, for planning acquisition funding. The rolling stock purchase is for nine additional railcars, the VRE Gainesville-Haymarket extension is for planning and engineering dollars to match a grant that VRE has pending with the state. The VRE Alexandria station tunnel/platform improvements, the VRE Crystal City platform, the VRE Lorton station second platform, and the VRE Rippon station second platform are all design and construction projects.

Elaborating further, Mr. Allen noted that VRE recently completed a study in Alexandria for a tunnel to go between the Amtrak VRE station and the Alexandria King Street VRE station to have a much better connection with the Metro system. This would increase VRE capacity, because the middle platform would be able to be served by either track lessening delays and dwell times. VRE is asking for $1.3 million of construction money, which also serves as match since the project in its entirety has an estimated cost of about $10 million. The Crystal City platform is at capacity, and the funding being sought is to design an extension. The Lorton VRE station second platform also expands capacity, by virtue of the fact that trains will be able to load and unload from either platform, enhancing operational flexibility. The “Rippon VRE station” funding is for both design and construction of a second platform. Collectively, these platform extensions and second platform projects coupled with the CSXT’s tunnel project will enable a large section of the line to be served by either track in both directions, enabling VRE to add trains and provide more flexibility in operating the service.

Referring to Mr. Allen’s description of the VRE Gainesville-Haymarket extension project as a study, Chairman May asked “is a study like this an eligible expense”? Mr. Allen replied “yes,” as is design work.

Commissioner Covington arrived at 7:25 p.m. during VRE Chief Executive Officer’s report and was absent for the vote on Items 7, 8, 9 (9A, and 9B).

RES 13-05-06 C. Operating and Maintenance Services Contract (4th year) [VRE] with Keolis Rail Services Virginia.

With the VRE Operations Board’s recommendation to the Commission, Mr. Allen explained that the slight increase in the budget is the result of VRE adding some additional service, an allowance for inflation that is an integral part of the contract, and an increase in equipment costs due to the expiring locomotive warranties. Mr. Allen added that before VRE enters into the fifth and final year of the contract with Keolis, VRE management will be undertaking a full-fledged evaluation of Keolis’s performance so that when the fifth year option is ripe for consideration by the VRE Operations Board about a year from now, a decision can be made on what VRE should solicit in the following five years.

Commissioner Skinner moved, with a second by Commissioner Kelly, to the VRE Chief Executive Officer to modify the contract with Keolis Rail Services Virginia, LLC for operating and maintenance services by approving up to $18,974,041, for a total contract value not to exceed $75,481,507, for the fourth year of operations through June 30, 2014. There was no discussion on the motion. (SKINNER\KELLY, UNANIMOUS)

RES 13-05-07 D. Submission of VRE Project List to the NVTA for FY 2014 [VRE] Funding Consideration.

Commissioner Kelly moved, with a second by Commissioner Skinner, to approve the submission of the VRE’s capacity-expansion list of projects to the NVTA for consideration for funding in FY 2014.

Commissioner Kelly noted that the “railcar” project appearing on VRE’s proposed project list presumes that the NVTA funding will cover only the NVTA member governments’ share of the total cost, with the rest of that cost being borne by the VRE member jurisdictions that are not NVTA members. He went on to say that the City of Fredericksburg is not in the position to locally fund such an expense, and opined that the same thing can be said about Stafford County based on a discussion he had earlier with Commissioner Milde (who was not present). Commissioner Kelly concluded by observing that he has no quarrel with the principle of all the VRE member jurisdictions participating in a “rolling stock” investment inasmuch as the cars are deployed system-wide, but it will be necessary to find a third party source of funding for Fredericksburg’s share because purely local resources are in short supply. Commissioner Kelly ended by suggesting that the new, statewide money expected as a result of HB 2313 might be that source.

There was no further discussion the motion. (KELLY\SKINNER; WITH MAJORITY VOTE, NOHE ABSTAINED)

11. CHAIRMAN'S TIME

Chairman May had nothing to report at this time.

12. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S TIME

[PRTC] A. Executive Director’s Report.

Mr. Harf began by noting that the Obama Administration has unveiled its federal FY 2014 budget, calling for transportation programs to be fully funded in accordance with MAP-21. The Administration’s budget proposal also calls for a supplemental, $50 billion “Fix It First” infrastructure program, funded as part of what the Administration refers to as the “peace dividend” resulting from the wind-down of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Harf went on to say the “Fix It First” proposal seems likely to suffer the same fate as the previous “infrastructure”

proposals made by the Administration, because the Congress does not view the “peace dividend” as a legitimate funding source.

Continuing, Mr. Harf noted that the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has commenced work on a transportation reauthorization proposal of its own in anticipation of Congress’s transportation reauthorization deliberations next year. Mr. Harf noted that he is a member of the APTA Authorization Task Force, which in addition to seeking a general increase in the overall size of the program will have recommendations with regard to the program structure. Mr. Harf noted that he is paying particularly close attention to two programs which are important to PRTC in the context of ongoing “program structure” discussions, namely: the bus and bus facilities program and the high intensity motorbus State-of-Good-Repair (SOGR) program. The former is a program that MAP-21 converted from a discretionary program to a formula program half the previous program’s size. The latter is the MAP-21 successor to the SAFETEA-LU 5309 fixed guide way modernization program, and transit systems like PRTC were adversely affected by what was changed. More specifically, MAP-21 changed the definition of fixed guide way by stripping out HOV lanes, and created two SOGR programs – one for systems operating fixed guide way services as the term is now defined and a second for systems operating buses on HOVs (coined “high intensity motorbus”). Because the program for high intensity motorbus is funded at a rather low level (i.e., less than $60 million per year), systems that are consigned to that program end up with much less federal assistance than they did under the previous fixed guideway modernization program. Mr. Harf noted that his aim in helping to fashion the APTA proposal is to restore the program funding levels of these two programs to their historic share of the total transit program funding.

Referring back to Mr. Allen’s comments about NVTA regional funding resulting from HB 2313, Mr. Harf noted that PRTC is also a prospective recipient of regional funds, noting that an action item elsewhere on the meeting agenda seeks the Commission’s endorsement of a funding request. Mr. Harf also noted that while studies are a permissible use of the NVTA regional funds as Mr. Allen indicated, the NVTA may choose to confine FY 2014 funding to projects that are closer to implementation.

Mr. Harf then shifted his remarks to the statewide pot of money that is available thanks to HB 2313, noting that the allocation of new transit money awaits the outcome of ongoing deliberations by VDRPT and the Transit Service Delivery Advisory Committee (TSDAC) created by HB 2313. Mr. Harf reminded the Commission that he is serving as a TSDAC member as one of the two Virginia Transit Association (VTA) appointees, and that the TSDAC is meeting once every two weeks in an effort to conclude what needs to be done before the end of the calendar year so that “new money” grants for FY 2014 can plausibly be awarded by mid-year (both capital and operating). Referring to Commissioner Kelly’s earlier remarks about VRE’s prospective railcar purchase, Mr. Harf opined that this new money might indeed be the desired third party source. An issue that VDRPT and TSDAC will need to address is whether the new money in FY requires an additional match, since HB 2313 was enacted after the FY 2014 budgets had been fashioned meaning the FY 2014 budgets did not anticipate HB 2313 and its new money.

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Harf noted that PRTC’s spring schedule change will take effect on Monday, May 6th.

[PRTC] B. Action Items:

RES 13-05-08 1. FY 2014 Goals and Objectives. [PRTC]

Commissioner Kelly moved, with a second by Commissioner Skinner, to adopt the objectives for the organization at-large, the Executive Director, and methodology for annual adjustments as warranted. There was no discussion on the motion. (KELLY\SKINNER, UNANIMOUS)

RES 13-05-09 2. Legal Services Payment. [PRTC]

Commissioner Jenkins moved, with a second by Vice Chairman Jones, to authorize payment of $39,000 to Prince William County for legal services rendered during FY 2013 and the continuation of legal representation by Prince William County in FY 2014. There was no discussion on the motion. (JENKINS\JONES, UNANIMOUS)

RES 13-05-10 3. PRTC Request for NVTA FY 2014 Regional Funding [PRTC] associated with HB 2313.

Commissioner Covington moved, with a second by Commissioner Kelly, to endorse PRTC’s request for Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) FY 2014 regional funding, amounting to $580,000 for the purchase of one bus required for PRTC’s planned westerly OmniRide route restructuring plan. There was no discussion on the motion. (COVINGTON\KELLY; WITH MAJORITY VOTE, NOHE ABSTAINED)

RES 13-05-11 4. Bus and Bus Facilities Advocacy. [PRTC]

Commissioner Jenkins moved, with a second by Commissioner Jones, to authorize the Executive Director to become a signatory to a letter prepared by the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Mid-Sized Bus Operators Committee to the heads of the Senate and House Transportation Authorizing Committees to appeal for restoration of prior funding levels for the Bus and Bus Facilities Program when the next authorization bill is drafted. There was no discussion the motion. (JENKINS\JONES; WITH MAJORITY VOTE, MILLER NAY)

C. Information Items:

1. PRTC Service Performance Reports. There were no comments.

2. Communications: a. Related to Funding. There were no comments. b. Related to Jurisdiction. There were no comments. c. General Interest. There were no comments.

13. OTHER BUSINESS/COMMISSIONERS’ TIME

There was no other business to come before the Commission.

14. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before, the Commission, Chairman May adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m.

NEXT MEETING: Thursday, June 6, 2013, 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION: PRTC Transit Center 14700 Potomac Mills Road, 2nd Floor Woodbridge, VA 22192-6811 Main # (703) 583-7782 Fax #: (703) 583-1377 www.PRTCtransit.org