.
FIRST PUBLIC HEARING ON TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 MILLAGE RATE AND ANNUAL BUDGET
Monday, September 9, 2019, 5:30 PM Florida Conference Room HART Administrative Office 1201 East 7th Avenue, Tampa FL 33605 Information not viewable is available upon request - phone: 813-384-6552 or e-mail: [email protected]
AGENDA TAB
1. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING ...... 2-1
STAFF PRESENTATION FY2020 Tentative HART Budget Cyndy Stiglich, Interim Chief Financial Officer Overview: Staff will present an overview of the Fiscal Year 2020 Tentative millage Operating and Capital budgets.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT ON PUBLIC HEARING (3 MINUTES PER SPEAKER)
4. BOARD DISCUSSION
5. CLOSE OF PUBLIC COMMENT
6. BOARD ACTIONS a. Resolution #R2019-09-39 ~ Resolution of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, Adopting the Tentative Levying of Ad Valorem Taxes; Adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate of .5000; and Providing for an Effective Date ...... 6-1
b. Resolution #R2019-09-40~ Resolution of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, Adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget of $121,452,784; and providing for an Effective Date ...... 6-5
7. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING
THE HART BOARD PACKET IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.GOHART.ORG REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Monday, September 9, 2019 Immediately after the First Budget Hearing Florida Conference Room HART Administrative Office 1201 East 7th Avenue, Tampa FL 33605 Information not viewable is available upon request - phone: 813-384-6552 or e-mail: [email protected]
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Regular Board of Directors Meeting Minutes ~ August 5, 2019 ...... 2-1
3. PUBLIC INPUT ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINUTES PER SPEAKER)
4. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT
5. CHAIR’S REPORT
6. GENERAL COUNSEL’S REPORT a. Adopting HART Board Policy No. 210.06 for Telephonic Board Participation – First Reading .... 6-1
7. PRESENTATIONS a. Overview of Challenges to Developing a Passenger Rail Service on Freight Railroad-Owned Trackage ...... 7-1 Christopher Cochran, Director of Service Development Charles Banks, President R.L. Banks and Associates
Overview: Staff will present a comprehensive overview of existing challenges associated with the acquisition of and implementation of passenger rail projects on existing CSX rail. The presentation will include an overview of acquisition processes, funding mechanisms and technology considerations. b. Tampa Bay Passenger Ferry Service Lynda Crescentini, Director of Project Management Office Overview: Staff will provide an historic timeline and overview of the passenger ferry project, will outline recommendations to the Board of Directors on potential next steps. Hillsborough Transit Authority First Public Hearing on the Tentative FY2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget and Board of Directors Meeting Agenda September 9, 2019 Page 3 TAB REGULAR MEETING continued 8. CONSENT AGENDA
Litigation and Claims Committee met on July 23, 2019 and advanced the following item to the full HART Board of Directors for their review and approval. a. Resolution #R2019-09-41 ~ Approval of Settlement Authority Recommended by HART Litigation and Claims Committee for Settlement of all Claims Related to HART Claim Number 808655 in a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $300,000 ...... 8-1 Carolyn House Stewart, Director of Risk and Legal Services
Overview: HART claim number 808655 arises out of a bus accident occurring on October 4, 2017 at Avenida Republica de Cuba in Hillsborough County b. Resolution #R2019-09-42 ~ Approval of Settlement Authority Recommended by HART Litigation and Claims Committee for Settlement of all Claims Related to HART Claim Number 812089 in a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $294,716.97 ...... 8-3 Carolyn House Stewart, Director of Risk and Legal Services
Overview: HART claim number 812089 arises out of a bus accident occurring on May 30, 2017 on 1-75 South at Gibsonton Drive Exit in Hillsborough County, Florida.
9. APPROVAL OF ACTION ITEMS The following action items have not been previously reviewed by a HART Committee. a. Resolution #R2019-09-43 ~ Authorizing the Chief Executive Officer to Submit the CY2020 Program of Projects to the All for Transportation Surtax Independent Oversight Committee for Review by September 30, 2019 ...... 9-1 Chris Cochran, Director of Service Development
This Action Item is supported by the presentation: 2020 Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) Proposed Service Planning Projects Chris Cochran, Director of Service Development Overview: Staff will present the updated program of proposed projects that are aligned with the requirements of the 2018 AFT Transit Surtax. This will include operational and capital projects and estimated costs of these new projects. Hillsborough Transit Authority First Public Hearing on the Tentative FY2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget and Board of Directors Meeting Agenda September 9, 2019 Page 4 b. Resolution #R2019-09-44 ~ Approval of the fourth One Year Extension to the Operator’s Agreement for the TECO Line Streetcar System ...... 9-4 Ruthie Reyes Burckard, Chief Operating Officer
Overview: Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS) contracts with Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) to operate the TECO Line Streetcar system. The current extension of the Operator’s Agreement expires September 30, 2019. The purpose of this item is to approve the renewal of the fourth one-year extension to the agreement, effective October 1, 2019.
10. HART BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS a. Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee Meeting ~ August 12, 2019 ...... 10-1 b. Finance and Audit Committee Meeting ~ August 19, 2019 ...... 10-7 c. TOD Committee Meeting ~ August 19, 2019 ...... 10-16
11. REPORTS FROM HART BOARD REPRESENTATIVES a. Tampa Historic Streetcar Board of Directors ...... 11-1 b. Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority Board of Directors ...... 11-2 c. Metropolitan Planning Organization Board of Directors...... 11-4
12. STATUS REPORTS a. Financial Highlights ...... 12-1 b. Ridership and Productivity ...... 12-4
13. PUBLIC INPUT REGARDING GENERAL CONCERNS (3 MINUTES PER SPEAKER) 14. OLD BUSINESS a. Overview of the Board members’ travel to 2019 APTA Transit Board Members Seminar ~ report by Commissioner Overman
15. NEW BUSINESS Hillsborough Transit Authority First Public Hearing on the Tentative FY2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget and Board of Directors Meeting Agenda September 9, 2019 Page 5 TAB REGULAR MEETING continued 16. MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORTS a. Maintenance Activities ...... 16-1 b. Operations Activities ...... 16-3 c. Project Development ...... 16-6 d. Communications and Marketing ...... 16-7 e. Procurement & Contracts Administration ...... 16-9
17. ADJOURNMENT
THE HART BOARD PACKET IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.GOHART.ORG HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
FIRST PUBLIC HEARING ON TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 MILLAGE RATE AND ANNUAL BUDGET
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 SCRIPT
FIRST PUBLIC HEARING
HART BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 5:30 PM
ADOPTION OF THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 MILLAGE RATE AND ANNUAL BUDGET
CHAIR: Welcome. I will now call this public hearing to order.
I hereby open the public hearing this evening on the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget for Hillsborough Transit Authority. Anyone who may wish to speak this evening will need to sign in and identify themselves.
On the table at the back of the room, we have made available to you documents summarizing the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget. These documents include the agenda for tonight’s public hearing, which I will now outline.
We will consider the adoption of the following resolutions: • A resolution to adopt the levying of Tentative Ad Valorem Taxes and the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate. After hearing citizen comments, the Board may make any changes it deems appropriate to the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate. • A resolution adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget. After hearing citizen comments, the Board may make any changes it deems appropriate to the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget.
Each part of the hearing will be conducted as follows: • HART Staff will present the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget Overview
2-2 • The Board will then open the floor for citizen comments regarding only the tentative millage and/or tentative budget. In order to expedite hearing from everyone who wishes to speak, speaker comments are limited to 3 minutes. • After citizen comments, the Board will then take action to move for approval of any changes. • Staff will present the resolutions to the Board for approval. • The Board will move approval of the required resolutions adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget, in that order.
CHAIR: Staff will now provide a brief presentation on the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget.
STAFF: Makes budget presentation Entertains any questions from the Board of Directors
CHAIR: Staff will now introduce the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget overview.
STAFF: • This is the first required public hearing on the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget as indicated by the TRIM notices previously mailed to all taxpayers in Hillsborough County, City of Tampa, and City of Temple Terrace. • The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate of .5000 mills is the same as the Adopted Fiscal Year 2019 Millage Rate of .5000 mills. • The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate is 6.66% more than the rolled-back rate of .4688 mills. • The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget is $121,452,784 which represents an increase of 8.9% from the Adopted Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Budget. • The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget consists, of the following components: Total Tentative Operating Budget $83,491,758 Total Tentative Capital Budget $37,961,026 Total Tentative Annual Budget $121,452,784
2-3
• The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget were subjects of Board and Committee meetings conducted June through August 2019. • The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Not-To-Exceed Millage Rate was set at the July 15, 2019 Board meeting and provided to the Property Appraiser on July 17, 2019, in conformance with State Law.
CHAIR: To the Board of Directors: Are there any questions for staff before we proceed? After questions: We will now take public comments regarding the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget. For those who wish to speak, I ask that you please limit your comments to 3 minutes. To Board Clerk: Does anyone in the audience wish to comment?
CHAIR: If there are comments: I’ll open the floor to Board discussion and if there are recommended changes to the tentative millage rate or budget, ask to move approval of any changes.
CHAIR: If there are no comments or changes have been moved: Public comment is closed. We will now take a vote on the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget. The Resolutions will now be read.
STAFF: The Resolutions read as follows:
RESOLUTION #R2019-09-39 - A RESOLUTION OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE LEVYING OF AD VALOREM TAXES; ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 MILLAGE RATE OF .5000; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE..
RESOLUTION #R2019-09-40 - A RESOLUTION OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 ANNUAL BUDGET OF $121,452,784; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
2-4 CHAIR: State Statutes require that we approve the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate before we approve the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget. Accordingly, we will vote on each Resolution separately. Do I hear a motion to:
BOARD MOTION: 1. ADOPT (OR AMEND) THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 MILLAGE RATE CHAIR: All those in favor say “Aye”, opposed “Nay” 2. ADOPT (OR AMEND) THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 ANNUAL BUDGET CHAIR: All those in favor say “Aye”, opposed “Nay”
CHAIR: In compliance with Florida Statutes, a public hearing has been held on September 9, 2019, for the purpose of considering the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate necessary to fund the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget.
This concludes the budget public hearing component of tonight’s meeting. The final Public Hearing is scheduled for Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. here at the HART Administrative Office in Ybor City.
2-5 Hillsborough Transit Authority First Public Hearing on Tentative FY2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget September 9, 2019 ______ACTION ITEM Resolution #R2019-09-39 ~ Resolution #R2019-09-39 ~ Adopting the Tentative Levying of Ad Valorem Taxes; Adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate of .5000; and Providing for an Effective Date; and Resolution #R2019-09-40~ Resolution of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, Adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget of $121,452,784; and providing for an Effective Date
OVERVIEW HART is required as an Independent Special District to adopt the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and adopt the tentative fiscal year 2020 annual budget at a duly advertised public hearing.
FINANCIAL IMPACT HART is required within 65 to 80 days of certification of final property value, to hold a public hearing on the Tentative Fiscal 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget. This hearing was publicized on the TRIM Notice mailed by the Property Appraiser. The resolutions adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and the Annual Budget are attached.
BACKGROUND HART is required to conduct two public hearings on the Millage Levy and Rate, and the Annual Budget before final adoption. The first meeting is to receive public comment and to adopt the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and to adopt the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget; and the second meeting is to receive public comment and to adopt the Final Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and to adopt the Final Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget.
The HART Board certified a .5000 Millage Levy which requires a majority vote as authorized by the Florida Statute. The HART Board certified a Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 not-to-exceed Millage Rate of .5000 on July 15, 2019, which is more than the rolled-back rate of .4688 mills by 6.66%.
Staff is presenting a resolution adopting the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate of .5000. The Florida Department of Revenue has affirmed that the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate certified to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser could be lowered but not raised. The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget reflects the statutory budgeting of 95 percent of ad valorem tax revenue.
6-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority First Public Hearing on Tentative FY2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget September 9, 2019 ______
NEXT STEPS Final Adoption of the Final Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate and Annual Budget is scheduled for September 23, 2019 at 5:30 pm.
Prepared by: Joanne Caceres, Budget & Grants Analyst Reviewed by: Cynthia Stiglich, Interim Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Benjamin Limmer, Chief Executive Officer
Attachments: I. Resolution #R2019-09-39 II. Resolution #R2019-09-40 III. Summary of Operating Revenues and Expenses FY2018-2020 IV. Summary of Capital Projects FY2020
6-2 ATTACHMENT I
RESOLUTION NO. #R2019-09-39
A RESOLUTION OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE LEVYING OF AD VALOREM TAXES; ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 MILLAGE RATE OF .5000; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, held a public hearing as required by Florida Statute 200.065; and
WHEREAS, the gross taxable value for operating purposes not exempt from taxation within Hillsborough County has been certified by the County Property Appraiser to the Hillsborough Transit Authority as $101,716,472,120; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, set forth to adopt the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate of .5000 following a public hearing as required by Florida Statute 200.065;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY THAT:
Section 1. The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate of .5000 mills, which is more than the rolled-back rate of .4688 mills by 6.66 percent, is adopted.
Section 2. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson HART Board of Directors ATTEST:
Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
6-3 RESOLUTION NO. #R2019-09-40
A RESOLUTION OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE FISCAL YEAR 2020 ANNUAL BUDGET OF $121,452,784; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, held a public hearing as required by Florida Statute 200.065; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Hillsborough Transit Authority of Hillsborough County, Florida, set forth the appropriations and revenue estimate for the Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget in the amount of $121,452,784;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY THAT:
Section 1. The Tentative Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Budget is $121,452,784.
Section 2. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson HART Board of Directors ATTEST:
Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
6-4 ATTAXG ATTACHMENT III
Summary of Operating Revenues and Expenses FY2018 to FY2020 FY2019 FY2020 FY2018 Variance Operating Revenues Adopted Tentative Actual FY20 vs. FY19 Budget Budget Fare Revenues $3,126,387 $5,743,494 $3,009,468 ($2,734,025) Pass Revenues $9,482,820 $6,621,777 $9,412,746 $2,790,969 Advertising Income $1,089,898 $936,472 $1,124,677 $188,205 Interest Income $288,658 $199,180 $200,000 $820 Other Income $791,857 $301,468 $467,225 $165,757 Ad Valorem Tax Revenue $40,801,680 $44,264,946 $48,315,324 $4,050,378 Ad Valorem Transfers ($196,990) $0 ($80,000) ($80,000) Federal Operating Grants $12,038,587 $12,382,352 $12,700,415 $318,063 State Operating Grants $6,041,652 $7,894,318 $6,919,948 ($974,370) Local Operating Grants $2,984,170 $2,976,000 $676,000 ($2,300,000) Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. $496,219 $618,578 $745,955 $127,377 Fund Balance/Reserves ($3,010,842) $0 $3,010,842 Total $76,944,939 $78,927,742 $83,491,758 $4,564,016 FY2019 FY2020 FY2018 Variance Operating Expenses Adopted Tentative Actual FY20 vs. FY19 Budget Budget Salaries and Wages $39,567,600 $38,125,205 $42,454,701 $4,329,496 Fringe Benefits* $17,058,093 $15,523,756 $15,766,571 $242,815 Fuel and Oil $4,262,223 $4,622,781 $4,279,803 ($342,978) Parts and Supplies $4,545,674 $4,401,503 $4,934,747 $533,244 Operational Contract Services $5,062,512 $5,945,309 $6,765,333 $820,024 Administrative Contract Services $1,675,255 $1,281,311 $1,188,050 ($93,261) Legal Services $400,465 $652,931 $608,430 ($44,501) Marketing and Printing $364,060 $753,442 $638,289 ($115,154) Insurance Costs $2,566,926 $3,756,386 $3,775,029 $18,643 Utilities $997,017 $1,073,150 $852,967 ($220,183) Taxes and Fees $127,586 $129,187 $126,730 ($2,457) Other Administrative Expenses $1,974,979 $2,662,781 $2,101,108 ($561,673) Total $78,602,391 $78,927,742 $83,491,758 $4,564,016
Revenues over Expenses ($1,657,451) $0 $0 $0 * net of employee contribution for healthcare premium
6-5 ATTACHMENT IV
Summary of Capital Projects FY2020 Tentative Budget Revenues Florida Department of Transportation $9,965,028 FHWA Surface Transportation Block Grant $9,646,263 FTA Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Grant $5,759,259 FTA Discretionary Grants $5,516,694 FTA State of Good Repair Formula Grant $3,196,671 FTA Urbanized Area Formula Grant $3,137,146 Local Impact/Mobility Fees & Other $523,291 HART General Fund $216,674 Total $37,961,026
Projects/Expenses HM Building Renovation/Reconstruction $8,242,925 Intelligent Transportation System Replacement Program $5,220,000 Replacement of Paratransit/Flex Vans (44) $4,425,000 Regional Revenue Collection - Flamingo $3,080,972 Tampa Arterial Corridor (BRT) Study $2,471,340 Streetcar Overhauls (4) $1,727,000 Marion Transit Center Infrastructure Improvements $1,560,000 Bus Driver Safety Barriers $1,187,182 Streetcar Vehicle Maintenance $1,176,355 Security Surveillance on Vehicles $1,015,345 Stormwater Mitigation 21st Ave. $1,000,000 Autonomous Vehicle Pilot $938,000 IT Hardware and Software Upgrades $935,597 Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Pilot Study $880,000 Bus Stops and Shelters $873,893 Comprehensive Operations Analysis/TDP $600,000 CNG Duplex Compressor $575,000 Security Surveillance System on Facilities $529,671 Replacement of Support Vehicles (16) $498,610 Streetcar ROW Infrastructure Upgrades $330,006 Engine and Transmission Replacements $241,892 Operator Breakroom - Northwest $158,922 Streetcar Substation Upgrade $120,000 Transit Asset Management Consultant $99,750 Streetcar Shop Equipment $73,566 Total $37,961,026
6-6 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
Board Members Present (11) Staff Present Mayor Jane Castor Danielle Arthur Adam Harden Sylvia Berrien Commissioner Pat Kemp Greg Brackin Marvin Knight Joan Brown C. John Melendez III Ruthie Reyes Burckard Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller Chris Cochran Commissioner Kimberly Overman Lynda Crescentini Councilman Gil Schisler Scott Drainville Kathleen Shanahan John Edmondson Commissioner Mariella Smith Crystal Hundley Melanie Williams Latisha Jones Benjamin T. Limmer Board Members Absent (2) Ivan Maldonado Richard A. McClain John R. Morais David Mechanik Colin Mulloy Dave Newell Jorge Pedre Phillip Peters Lena Petit Kristin Reyes Tyler Rowland Carolyn House Stewart Cyndy Stiglich Carla Williams
Others Present David Smith, Gray Robinson Curtis Brown Neil Cosenino Linda Cummings Frank Grebowski, European Wax Center Melanie Fowler, HDR Karen Kress Lindsey Parks, TDP Lynda Remund Lillian Stringer Sign-in sheets are attached.
CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Lesley “Les” Miller called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. Pledge of Allegiance followed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Director Harden moved and Director Schisler seconded approval of the meeting minutes from the July 15, 2019 Regular Board of Directors Meeting. Directors Castor, Harden, Kemp, Knight, Miller, Overman, Schisler, and Williams voted aye. No Board members presented voted nay. The motion carried unanimously. 2-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINUTES PER SPEAKER) Ms. Linda Cummings mentioned that she came before the Board previously on May 6, 2019 to discuss the bus service. She discussed the eliminated bus Route 30 that passed by the Social Security office and the Housing Authority. Ms. Cummings remarked that the express routes do not stop frequently and charge more making it harder for the general community to use the routes. She said that HART receives a lot of money and instead of eliminating the routes, the Agency should hire somebody to plan and review the whole system.
Mr. Benjamin T. Limmer, Chief Executive Officer, asked Ms. Cummings to coordinate with Chris Cochran, Director of Service Development, about the specific route issues she referenced.
Director Knight stated his understanding is that the issue with the route serving the Social Security office and Housing Authority has been resolved. He asked Mr. Limmer to provide an update.
Mr. Limmer stated that there were service changes that took effect in July which addressed the connectivity to the Tampa Housing Authority as well as the Social Security office.
Director Kemp stated her belief that Ms. Cummings made excellent points and spoke of her work to bring back the bus route that connected to the Social Security office and Tampa Housing Authority. She noted the broader issues of equality and the kinds of route changes that were made to fix those equality issues. Director Kemp thanked Ms. Cummings for highlighting really important issues that she will not forget.
Mr. Neil Cosenino, Public Interest Think Tank, stated that Think Tanks try to solve the problems such as community circulators. He said in the past, HART had considered circulator services, but was stalled due to lack of funds. Mr. Cosenino spoke about creation of TBARTA supported by State Representative Galvano. He noted that now the money is available for the opportunity to do circulators. Mr. Cosenino suggested doing a test model for the community and give TBARTA part of the $40 million. He stated that it could be beta program using curb rights which is allowing private companies to compete for transportation services. He asked for HART staff to explore this option with the incoming money. Mr. Cosenino commented that in the future each circulator could feed the main lines on Nebraska Avenue and Florida Avenue.
Ms. Lynda Remund, President and CEO of Downtown Partnership, thanked all the Board members for meeting with her to talk about the downtowner program. She asked for the Board’s support of the Resolution supporting the Tampa Downtown On-Demand Transportation Service through March 31, 2020. Ms. Remund stated that she looks forward to assisting and working with HART very closely on the maintenance and management of that program throughout 2020.
Mr. Kevin Plummer, Chairman of the Downtown Partnership, thanked the Board for receiving public comment on the Tampa Downtown On-Demand Transportation Service. He claimed not to know all the complex transportation matters that come before the Board nor have solutions for the most challenging projects, but wanted to share some comments. Mr. Plummer noted his support for Resolution #R2019-08-36. Mr. Plummer stated that the success of the Downtowner speaks for itself using advanced algorithms of an app to send the proper vehicles to identified locations that better serves the community with less than a 15-minute wait time. He said that the downtowner serves more than 14,000 riders per month, and almost a half a million riders to date 2-2 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
with almost half of those rides shared by two or more people. Mr. Plummer commented that over 80% of the rides have been completed in electric vehicles, which is a powerful statement of environmental sustainability in public transportation. He noted that the program has improved mobility regardless of age and has been a trusted partner for the downtown workforce, supported the service industry, and has been a welcome bridge between parking areas and work. Mr. Plummer shared that the Downtowner also supported the growth of entertainment industries. He further added that this program was established through a public private partnership and it has been an incredible demonstration of innovation and leadership as the Tampa downtown community sought to create mobility solutions and did so in a matter that was definitive. Mr. Plummer stated that the Downtowner has been a welcome successful solution to provide mobility, reliability, and convenience to the transportation ecosystem of the city. He noted that the Board has the opportunity to sustain this asset for the community. Mr. Plummer stated his belief that the future includes ride sharing, public transportation, and variety of other mobility options and the Downtowner is just one viable option to move people through the downtown area without adding to the challenges of parking, congestion, and environmental sustainability. He noted that the community wants a city where citizens can thrive, visitors can enjoy themselves, and children dream to live as adults. He commented that now is the time to come together to think different and be different. Mr. Plummer concluded that the Board has always made a difference and stated that he hopes it continues today with the support of Resolution #R2019-08-36.
Ms. Karen Kress, Director of Transportation and Planning at the Downtown Partnership, asked for the Board’s support for the downtowner service. She referenced a presentation later in the meeting that will provide more statistics and data gathered over the last three years. Ms. Kress commented that this is her project, but she is ready to hand it off to the professionals at HART. She stated her appreciation that there are many needs in the community and it can be a struggle to balance the solutions, but downtown does need circulation. Ms. Kress added that HART is the right partner to provide the first and last mile connections and determine what is the best long-term solution. Ms. Kress stressed that the gap funding is really crucial to keep the downtown workers, residents, and transit riders moving; and ending the service suddenly would be a problem for riders and all organizations. She commented that the metrics show the downtown service is a good return on investment. Ms. Kress stated that the Downtowner service has continued to update and innovate and even implemented a virtual bus stop system that is able to pull more riders together and resulted in a 15-minute average wait time. She added that all of the vehicles except for the ADA compliant vehicles are electric. Ms. Kress provided statistics on riders and their destinations. She noted that to get the service started, extensive outreach was done with downtown offices, hotels, and residential buildings to understand what their needs were. Ms. Kress remarked that the app allows for comments after use of the service and she could share the comments with anyone interested to read through them.
Ms. Lillian Stringer, Director of Public Relations for the Tampa Housing Authority, thanked the Board and staff for working consistently and feverously to restore the bus service to the Tampa Housing Authority and Social Security office previously had. She stated that the only issue left is bus shelters located on the street where no service is provided; and requested that these bus shelters be moved to where there is active service.
Mr. Limmer reported that later this morning there will be a presentation of the FY2020 Program of Projects that HART has drafted for the Board to consider to advance to the Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) which will include a bus shelter and transit amenities program. 2-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
Mr. Frank Grebowski, European Wax Center, said he attended the meeting to discuss the logic and importance of the Downtowner service from a retailer perspective. He noted that he has a very successful store that operates seven days a week up to 8 p.m. which is what the city has always asked retailers to do and so few have been able to. Mr. Grebowski explained that in five years of operation, the Downtowner has been the one major lifeline that has kept his business going and life without it would be tenuous. He commented that every parking lot that disappears drives customers away and more importantly, makes it extremely difficult to hire staff because the lots close at 5:30 p.m. and the overnight parking garages are too expensive for a retailer to use. Mr. Grebowski stated that the only solution is remote lots and without a shuttle that can guarantee safety of getting back to the lots or getting customers to their appointment on time, it is not tenable. He pleaded with the Board to hold on to the service for the downtown area.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT Mr. Limmer presented that in light of the senseless and tragic events that took place in Texas and Ohio over the weekend, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) held a national conference call with transit agencies from across the country and HART participated on the call. He stated that although there is no credible threat to transit agencies, the TSA is advising all southeastern United States transit agencies to be placed on medium alert. Mr. Limmer assured the Board that Safety and Operations staff has already been in communication and the HART security contractor has already put out an alert notification to remain extra diligent across the whole system. He added that the “See Something, Say Something” reminder message has been sent to all Bus Operators and HART has communicated with local law enforcement as well. Mr. Limmer stated that he will continue to update the Board on any developments.
Safety Symposium Mr. Limmer presented that HART and the Florida Transit Safety and Operations Network hosted the first statewide Transit Safety and Security Symposium on Monday, July 29, 2019 at the Tampa River Center. He stated that the event was designed to bring together Florida transportation leaders to develop safety and security solutions to improve operator and customer safety on public transportation. Mr. Limmer commented that roughly 120 CEOs, nationally recognized experts, and transit operations and safety leadership were on hand to discuss how public transit systems currently grapple with safety and security concerns and to discuss symposium topics that ranged from transit worker altercations to hazard and threat identification and analysis. He added that vendors including ArrowGard, HART’s safety barrier manufacturer, were in attendance displaying the latest in transit safety and security technology. Mr. Limmer concluded that the Symposium was live-streamed on the HART YouTube page for agencies that could not attend in person.
Ride with Respect Campaign Mr. Limmer stated that in honoring the commitment to HART employees, the HART Ride with Respect campaign was launched on July 1. He noted that every day more than 300 employees and 34,000 customers share space on HART buses, vans, and streetcars and being considerate of one another contributes to the well-being, safety, and security of everyone. Mr. Limmer explained that through the power of social media a service announcement was launched as well as having all HART headways updated to read “Ride with Respect”. He added that central to the “Ride with Respect” campaign is a series of emotional short vignettes following HART operators throughout their day, displaying family interactions, hobbies, and devotions to help customers and the general 2-4 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
public better connect with HART staff. Mr. Limmer introduced the first in the “Ride with Respect” video in the series was released on July 29 and featured Ms. Latisha Jones, a HARTPlus Van Operator who has driven for HART for seven years. He thanked Mr. Curtis Howard, ATU International Vice President, who trusted the HART communications and marketing team to develop a community-based campaign, featuring ATU Local 1593 Union Members/HART professional operators.
Chair Miller asked Ms. Jones to come forward to the podium and thanked her for all she does for the community.
Director Knight thanked Ms. Jones for her service for the community. He noted the tragic events that are weighing heavy on all hearts across the nation. Director Knight asked Ms. Jones to lead the meeting in a moment of silence for the victims of El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH.
Chair Miller asked for a moment of silence while Ms. Jones said a prayer for the victims of El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH and for the safety of the community.
Summer Blast Pass Mr. Limmer stated that Summer Blast Pass ridership for Hillsborough County youth, ages 5-18, reached 26,251 in July, during the second month of the promotion. He reminded the Board that HART offers free rides to youths this summer, while last time the promotion cost $30 for three summer months in 2017 and had a ridership of 15,424 rides during the course of the whole three months period. Mr. Limmer commented that the Summer Blast Pass program is designed to encourage more students to take advantage of public transportation and get them in the habit of using transit instead of driving.
Back to School Bash with Titus O’Neil Mr. Limmer presented that HART partnered with Titus O’Neal and the Bullard Family Foundation to help transport students and their families to the 2019 Back to School Bash. He explained that the event, which took place on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at the Raymond James Stadium, provided fun activities for families, free school physicals, eye exams, haircuts, backpacks and school supplies to k-12 students; and free transportation was provided by all HART modes of transportation.
HART Maintenance Facility Tour with HCC students: Mr. Limmer informed the Board that on July 24, more than 60 students and faculty from the Hillsborough Community College (HCC) visited and toured the HART maintenance facility. He explained that the students were broken up into groups by their class, Diesel Technology, Light Automotive and Bodyshop repair and briefed on the daily maintenance operations of the HART transit vehicles and in the end the students asked a lot of questions and were very appreciative on what they learned.
Announcement of New Hires Mr. Limmer introduced the new Director of Human Resources, Crystal Hundley, who has extensive and robust experience in adult learning and training, and has consulted for the Semper Fi Fund for the past two years for Caregivers of Injured and Ill Service Members.
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Mr. Limmer introduced the new Chief of Communications and Marketing Officer, Jacqueline Halldow, who is a public sector leader with two decades of experience in executive leadership, communications, public relations, customer and constituent relations; and advertising development and buying. He commented that Jacquie served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Communications for the State of New Jersey where she planned, developed, and implemented day-to-day communications strategies supporting Administration policies and initiatives.
Mission MAX Mr. Limmer stated that HART implemented service adjustments in October 2017 commonly referred to as MissionMAX to improve service efficiency and reduce operating costs. He added that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted in January of 2018 to support HART service enhancements with a $2.3 million operation subsidy and maintained the same subsidy level of $2.3 million in 2019. Mr. Limmer commented that this important subsidy has stabilized and maintained critical service for 23,000 customer trips monthly and that the service enhancements have been well received and widely utilized
Current Financial State Mr. Limmer reminded the Board that during his interview process, he discussed a review of the financial health and performance of the agency, and noted that it is clear to him that previous HART leadership could have implemented financial strategies that would have been more advantageous to the financial strength of the organization. He commented that he is a “look forward person” and therefore, HART is moving into the future and building a performance based budget for 2020 designed around service. Mr. Limmer stated that the focus of the organization will be in four keys areas: Customer Experience, Financial Performance, Employee Success, and Community Value. He stated that the biggest challenge in developing the FY2020 budget is awaiting the successful outcome of the transit surtax, but financial stability and self-reliance are very important to him as a leader.
Next steps Mr. Limmer stated his understanding that the BOCC recently passed a motion offering a $2.3 million loan to HART contingent on a business plan presented to them for which the funds will support. He stated that the senior leadership team is exploring ways to offset expenses from October 1 through December 31, 2019 to ensure current service levels while awaiting a final resolution on the tax dollars. Mr. Limmer stated that the results of the cost reduction exercise are still unknown, but once reduction strategies are identified, HART will be meeting with the County staff to discuss a collaborative approach to maintain existing service levels. He commented that until assurance is available that HART will receive the necessary funding to achieve the transformation the voters have charged us with, the budget will be very lean. Mr. Limmer concluded that HART’s mission is to take people to places that enhance their lives and the goal is to maintain current service for the 34,000 customers that HART serves on a daily basis.
Director Kemp stated that it is really important to clear up the confusion about the resources that HART has in reference to the additional money. She explained she has initiated this additional $2.3 million in operating costs funding for the last two years on the BOCC based on the fact that every transit agency in the whole state of Florida except for Pinellas County and Hillsborough County receives funding from county wide dollars to support transit. Director Kemp stressed the 2-6 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
fact that HART is the most underfunded transit agency in the nation. She noted that she asked for the additional $2.3 million to be placed in the budget for two years for operating especially after the Mission MAX cuts were made to vital services, but somehow the funding was not placed in the most current budget. Director Kemp referred the Board members to page 13-3 in the Board packet and stated that the information depicted in the Financial Status Report is all the money that HART has in the form of a checking account which includes the reserves that is drawn upon. She stated that when she joined the Board, HART started having a cash flow problem and she is terrified looking at the report that another actual cash flow paycheck problem could be happening again since the money in the account has been steadily decreasing since November of 2018. Director Kemp explained that the Agency only has $11.5 million dollars in the operating budget and if the costs continue regularly then the Agency will be down to $2.5 million by October. She stressed that she does not want to see any more services cut. Director Kemp asked for the support of this Board to allow Mr. Limmer to go forward to the County Commission and make the plea for the money. She stated that it is the Board’s duty and responsibility to know the constraints of the budget. Director Kemp commented that she is unsure if the Agency can continue operations based on this information. She noted that if the sales tax is released or becomes available, then the money can be returned to the County Commission.
Director Kemp made a motion to have the Board fully support Mr. Limmer going before the County Commission to explain the HART budget issues and request $2.3million. Director Smith seconded.
Chair Miller explained that the BOCC made a motion that if Mr. Limmer and the HART Board decided that they wanted $2.3 million, Mr. Limmer would have to come before the County Commission and explain the loan with a business plan. He noted that Mr. Limmer has talked to Mr. Mike Merrill, Hillsborough County Administrator, about a loan of $2.3 million with the details to be worked out later. Chair Miller noted that the Mr. Limmer has expressed what he would like to do with the funding and the BOCC and staff are willing to work with him on this. He expressed his professional opinion that it is the responsibility of this Board to make the decisions on how HART is funded. Chair Miller added that the Agency and the Board need to start thinking about how to find a dedicated funding source if the tax is not upheld by the Supreme Court which he hopes that it is. He stated that Mr. Limmer and his staff are working on a plan and talking to Ms. Bonnie Wise, Hillsborough County Chief Financial Administrator, on the details of the loan for $2.3 million and if approved, the loan will be voted for by the County Commission.
Director Schisler asked if the $2.3 million from the previous years was a loan. He further inquired that if it was not, then why is there a sudden change to a loan classification.
Chair Miller stated that the previous funding was not a loan. He stated that the funding this year will be in the form of a loan because the constraints on the County Commission budget and the tight restraints on the Commission. Chair Miller further noted that the County was depending on the tax as well, but with the future of it unknown, the County is moving forward.
Director Schisler stated his support for the Board to support Mr. Limmer doing whatever he can to bolster the tax receipt. He cautioned that the report provided in the packet is an annual cyclical cash flow summary and around November 1, property tax monies will start flowing back into the budget. Director Schisler stated that waiting for property taxes is not a long term solution and agreed with Chair Miller that the Board has the ability to change the property tax millage rates and 2-7 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
suggested reviewing that next year if the transportation surtax is not upheld. He commented that he does not like the idea of a loan, but understands it as long as the payback time is long enough that it does not impinge future operation capacity for the Agency and recommended moving forward with it. Director Schisler inquired about the type of cuts that are being explored, if it will be personnel, equipment, or if it is too early to say.
Mr. Limmer responded that it is honestly too early to say, but everything is on the table. He explained that taking service away and fare increases would be a last resort. Mr. Limmer stated that there are a variety of capital projects and other financial sustainability measures that can be taken to bridge the Agency from October 1 through the end of 2019 and more details will be coming.
Director Schisler suggested that some of the cuts should be items such as travel for the Board, starting at the top and working the way down as opposed to affecting front line staff such as the drivers. He noted that if the maintenance staff is affected, there will be problems.
Director Overman stated that she has thought long and hard about this particular situation and while she respects and appreciates the comment that Hillsborough County is a county and not a transit system; she has the perspective that it is the County’s goal to provide services to citizens such as transit. She reminded the Board members of the Mission MAX process that had a goal of providing the greatest amount of ridership improvement for the dollars in the budget and noted the challenge the County has is the affordable housing properties all over that are not served by HART and the need for transit resources. Director Overman reiterated that while the County and HART have tight budgets, there is also the mission to provide services to those investing in transit resources that can best serve their community. She stated the importance of serving those communities that are on the ground now that have been impacted by changes that were made in order to implement an efficient level of service. She explained her understanding of the several studies that are planned for transit oriented development, improvement of our services, finding a balance between coverage and frequency, and ridership increase on the docket for the next year, but if those studies are happening, the resources should be available to implement those services. Director Overman stated her appreciation for the previous $2.3 million funding. She stated that the County is wrestling with resources and going to be investing in affordable housing resources in order to address the 20,000 people on the waiting list to provide affordable housing. She added that the people on the waiting list for affordable housing do not have vehicles and it is important to pay attention to the opportunity to stabilize the balance sheet, gain reserves, and re-address the current millage rate. Director Overman noted that the Agency will have to be very careful about respecting the fact that another recession may occur and that is the last time to be making cuts in service that would be critical to the sustainability of our community because people will be scrambling to get to their jobs, the hospitals, and various different places. She expressed her frustration with the idea of making it a loan when the Agency may not have resources to effectively pay it back. She stated that it is important to hear Mr. Limmer’s business plan presentation to the County while keeping in mind that the County is investing resources to look at how to improve the service, so it must have the capital reserves to be a sustainable system.
Director Knight suggested reaching out to the other municipalities and private entities to invest in service that would be affecting their locations.
Chair Miller asked Director Kemp to repeat her motion. 2-8 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
Director Kemp made a motion to have the Board fully support Mr. Limmer going before the County Commission to explain the HART budget issues and request additional $2.3 million. Director Smith seconded.
Director Kemp commented that she is aware of the budget cycle but the current cash flow is lower than she has ever seen in her tenure on the Board.
Chair Miller asked if the motion was for a loan or allocation of the funding.
Director Shanahan stated that decision would be for the BOCC to make because it is not for Director Kemp to predetermine the vote of the County Commission on their budget. She stated that the motion is just to make a plea for $2.3 million of additional resources and determine if it will be a loan or a grant.
Chair Miller stated that whether the funding is a loan or an allocation it could change the vote of the Board members. He asked for clarification if the funding will be a loan or allocation.
Director Kemp stated that the motion is to ask for the funding.
Director Shanahan stated her appreciation for Director Kemp’s comments because she reviewed the financial highlights and found the same concern. She commented that the key word to her would be balance in a sense of balancing services with available funding. Director Shanahan noted that she appreciates the County Commission’s interest in terms of helping to get to a Supreme Court decision or start a millage discussion; but thinks the overall goal is to provide the best services possible for the individuals that need public transit and review the declining ridership. She added that the statistics of who is riding, what they are riding, how often are they riding provided in the monthly reports need to be owned. Director Shanahan stated that from her perspective, the $2.3 million would be a loan that would be paid back to hold those taxpayer dollars accountable. She noted that taking the money without paying it back would be collecting from the taxpayers twice from the property tax and sales tax while not providing the citizens with an efficient application between the County and HART in terms of maximizing services. Director Shanahan commented that she thinks it is the Board’s responsibility to talk about a coordinated balanced way to provide service to the County. She referred to the comment earlier about adding residential buildings and stated that when she worked for the State, the builders would include a transit component instead of relying on the responsibility of a separate institution. Director Shanahan stated her appreciation for the motivation and interest behind the discussion this morning and her thought that it is imperative to send the right signal. She commented that she will support Mr. Limmer going and asking for a $2.3 million loan.
Director Overman referenced the steady increases in ridership every month while a lot of transit agencies have seen declines and stated that it speaks to the marvelous job that the Agency is performing. She further stated that not having answers about the pending lawsuit, unfortunately, makes some of the Agency’s goals difficult. She stated her support for the motion to make these resources available to stabilize HART goals which would be very helpful.
Chair Miller called for a vote on the motion.
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All Board members present voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.
CHAIR’S REPORT Chair Miller had no report.
GENERAL COUNSEL’S REPORT Litigation Update Mr. David Smith, General Counsel, updated the Board that a notice of appeal and the cross appeals have been filed, which means all the arguments from the underlying litigation are being made to reserve Article 11 as it was passed by the voters because now it is an issue in its entirety. He stated that All for Transportation (AFT) has retained Raoul Cantero who is the former Chief of the Supreme Court of Florida and is familiar with those to whom he will be advocating the cause. Mr. Smith noted that to this date, the AFT has not asked for participation in the cost of his representation, but the firm is hoping to see what can be done to cooperate in presentations to minimize the expense for HART. He added that there are issues unique to HART which require involvement in the litigation. Mr. Smith explained that the partners in the litigation are trying to cut the briefs down and allocate that essentially to Mr. Cantero, but ensure that HART’s arguments are heard which might require a supplemental brief that will exclude the issues discussed in the primary brief. He commented that there is no need for a closed session at this meeting because the discussions of a settlement did not go very far. He stated that a closed session will be held in September if necessary.
Telephonic Participation Resolution No.#R2019-08-38 ~ A Resolution of The Board of Directors Adopting a Temporary Standing Rule for Board Participation Expiring November 1, 2019
Mr. Smith stated that this action was requested by Director Melendez who was unable to make the meeting. He presented that the resolution would allow the HART Board to have limited telephonic participation at meetings. Mr. Smith noted that a HART Ad Hoc Committee did a similar thing with Director Shanahan’s participation which the Committee voted to allow full participation telephonically. He explained that the HART policies do not allow for telephonic voting so Robert’s Rules of Order allow such participation if a local Board approves such a process. Mr. Smith added that in the previous instance, the Committee did approve that process, but did so only in the event there was a quorum in person, a telephonic participation could be permitted. He referred the Board to the draft resolution and noted that the Board may want to consider using this as a vehicle for a policy change. Mr. Smith noted that there are also other options to consider for the policy regarding frequency of telephonic participation and quorum rules, but it will have to be approved in a policy. He presented the current resolution that simply reflects a temporary standing rule for this Board to allow participation telephonically through November 1. Mr. Smith further explained that the participation can only be for this meeting if the Board wishes, but the participation, assuming there is a physical quorum, includes debate, deliberation, and voting on any action. He stated that if the Board wishes to move in this direction, there will need to be a motion to approve as prepared or as amended.
Director Smith inquired how someone would indicate that they wanted to participate telephonically and if an advanced notice will be required.
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Mr. Smith answered that the Board member would alert the CEO in advance about the telephonic arrangements to be made.
Director Kemp stated that she does not generally feel comfortable with an arrangement like that unless it is a special circumstance, because it is important to have people present and available as part of the Board service.
Director Overman stated that telephonic attendance tends to have people stop showing up when that is an option, but in this case, there is a requirement that a quorum is still physically present. She noted that there are times that people have to be somewhere else, but she thinks that the number of times that someone can telephonically participate should be limited so it will not become a habit and will avoid the concern. Director Overman inquired if Board members will have to indicate physical or telephonic attendance; or will the Board members notify the Board Administrator by a certain period of time. She noted that it is incumbent on the Board if this moves forward that there is a process put into place to verify that is an exception as far as the rule or an accommodation.
Mr. Smith stated that based on the comments, the resolution should be effective for today and not any other meeting, but he should come back with a policy to be more specific in terms of how it functions, how it is limited, et cetera.
Director Shanahan stated her support for the resolution as it is currently drafted. She noted that as somebody who makes every attempt to be at a meeting, but sometimes has conflicts, it would be nice to have it as an option to be able to call in. She commented that the Board should be notified if a member is on the phone and participating in the meeting.
Director Knight stated that he would like the members to be present at the meetings. He suggested that the members on the phone can listen, but the voting should be done by members physically in attendance.
Director Smith stated that she will support the motion today so that Director Melendez can participate fully in the rest of the meeting. She asked that the policy brought back should have the idea of limiting it to maybe twice a year per Board member to address Director Overman’s concerns. Director Smith commented that she would like to have the Board members notified by email as soon as possible whenever a member is going to be participating by telephone. She noted that accidents can happen on the way to meetings causing telephonic attendance and suggested not including a certain timeframe that the Board member has to notify by. Director Smith stated that there should be an announcement at the beginning of the meeting of who is telephonically participating.
Director Castor agreed with limiting the number of telephonic participations and that every member on this Board is responsible and mature. She disagreed with Director Knight and stated that the individuals participating telephonically should be able to vote because the member is still attending the meeting. Director Castor suggested that the telephonic participation should be limited, but also left open for exigent circumstances approved by the Board.
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Chair Miller stated that the County Commission has done this in the past for special circumstances. He referenced his back surgery where he was still able to participate and vote. Chair Miller noted that the City Council has also done it before, and cautioned the Board that circumstances will arise.
Director Harden moved and Director Shanahan seconded a motion to approve Resolution No. #R2019-08-38 ~ A Resolution of the Board of Directors adopting a temporary standing rule for Board participation expiring November 1, 2019, with the modification that telephonic participation be limited to two times per year per member unless the Board approved of an exigent circumstance. All Board members present voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Smith stated that the current resolution expires November 1 making it a temporary rule. He stated that for the policy change, he will need the Board to approve a motion directing him to draft a policy.
Director Overman moved and Director Harden seconded a motion directing General Counsel to draft a policy dealing with telephonic participation addressing the variables discussed. Directors Castor, Harden, Kemp, Knight, Miller, Overman, Schisler, Shanahan, Smith, and Williams voted aye. No Board members presented voted nay. The motion carried unanimously.
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITIONS Ms. Ruthie Reyes Burckard, Chief Operating Officer, recognized Mr. Rolando Salazar as the Operator of the Month for June 2019.
Mr. Scott Drainville, Chief of Maintenance, recognized Mr. John Morais as the Maintenance Employee of the Month for June 2019; Mr. Jorge Pedre as the Storekeeper / Customer Service Employee of the Quarter from April to June 2019; Mr. Phillip Peters as the Teamster Employee of the Quarter from April to June 2019; and Ms. Kristin Reyes as the Non-Bargaining Employee of the Quarter Recognition for April to June 2019.
PRESENTATIONS a. 2020 Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) Proposed Service Planning Projects
Mr. Limmer reminded the Board that should the transportation surtax be upheld, it will require the agencies to submit a project list to the IOC by September 30. He stated that the next presentation will show the draft list prepared by HART staff with the project list at the September Board meeting for approval before sending the final list.
Mr. Cochran presented the latest program of proposed projects that are aligned with the requirements of the 2018 AFT Transit Surtax. This included operational and capital projects and estimated costs of these new projects. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Director Kemp confirmed that Route 275LX has an annual cost of $2.3 million to operate. She stated her understanding that FDOT was to be paying the entire operating cost of the route and asked if that is not the case anymore.
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Ms. Cyndy Stiglich, Interim Chief Financial Officer, stated that in fiscal year 2019, HART had aged grants originally allocated for other services that were allowed to be moved and used to cover the expenses for Route 275LX. She explained that the previous amount available was approximately $2 million, but for the next year, the funding will be approximately $240,000.
Director Kemp noted the significant loss of funding on the route, and commented that the route is regional and extends up to Wesley Chapel. She explained that in her opinion, HART has an obligation, legally in terms of the taxpayers, to support a route that would be contained in Hillsborough County, and not subsidizing routes for other areas. Director Kemp referenced the earlier comment that the Route 275LX had high ridership; she stated that the route only has about 10,000 riders per month as compared to other routes that have 102,000 rides per month. She emphasized that a review needs to be done of the Route 275LX and its value. Director Kemp stated her concern about Fowler Avenue not having a bus service and the importance of restoring it.
Mr. Cochran stated that staff is looking at how to get service on Fowler Avenue. He noted a strong ridership for the Route 275LX as compared to other express routes.
Director Kemp commented that express routes have sometimes a tenth of the ridership that regular fixed routes have for the same price when looking at efficiency of service.
Director Shanahan inquired if the Route 275LX is part of the BRT for TBARTA.
Mr. Cochran answered that it is not.
Director Harden stated that the presentation showed a good plan to submit to the IOC. He asked how the bus route transit study and a transit oriented development (TOD) study can even exist separately when they should be studied at the same time. Director Harden spoke about the newly constructed apartments in Seminole Heights that are taxable of probably $20 million which will bring ad valorem tax to the coffer of the City and the County probably in aggregate more than the combined taxable value of half the existing depreciated buildings from Hillsborough Avenue to Sligh Avenue. He further explained that the idea of how TOD is going to spur that type of growth and looking at that hand in hand seems to be something that should be reviewed. Director Harden noted the September deadline for the IOC, but inquired what staff is doing with the DOT studies and how is that information going to be caught up to this point.
Mr. Cochran stated that staff has been working very closely with the Planning Commission as well as the City of Tampa in the process of drafting and finalizing a request for proposal (RFP) that will go out for services. He mentioned that an update will be brought to the HART TOD Committee this month. Mr. Cochran noted that the TOD study is intended to be informed by the station areas that will come out of the first phase of the BRT study. He noted that the very likely station areas for the streetcar service are already known which is the first phase of the TOD study. Mr. Cochran explained that the second phase is the BRT study on Florida Avenue, and then the third phase is station areas on the Fowler Avenue corridor.
Director Harden cautioned about falling into is a trap where the transportation engineering side is making policy decisions about where transit should go to better serve the population, to best enhance the urban corridor and serve the immediately outlying area. Director Harden commented 2-13 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
that the idea that a TOD study determines from an engineering perspective the easiest place to put a transit station and therefore now that corridor is studied for TOD could be perceived as being backwards. He further commented that the studies need to be parallel in the process. Director Harden noted his excitement for the TOD study to get out on the street and hopefully it can get caught up with the BRT study process.
Mr. Limmer clarified that the streetcar work as well as BRT work on Florida Avenue will be done in parallel with the TOD study. He explained that the list presented today was the list of projects that will be submitted to the IOC. Mr. Limmer stated that the TOD study is mostly funded through a federal grant with a local match provided with existing funds, so there is no need to send that particular study to the IOC.
Director Harden inquired about the lift in the community if a BRT is ran from downtown to Temple Terrace or to Sulphur Springs noting that he is the most fiscally conservative member, since when he invests in property, it is with his own money. Director Harden explained that the Agency will not want a transportation plan solely decided which street has more existing right-of-way. He noted that that logic does win out at the end of the day, but without having the information in parallel of a place that would have a huge ad valorem tax lift and potentially fueled by transit, private development sees BRT as fixed transit. Director Harden commented that if there is a bonded commitment nailing BRT to the ground, that is still a fixed limit and it does not have to be light rail. He noted the importance of having the information from both studies for the HART Board and overarching County Commission to make more important decisions and get the community to understand what decisions are based on. b. Flamingo Fares Project Updates Ms. Ilia Bruns, Project Manager, presented the key updates and accomplishment as well as the future outlook of the Flamingo Fares project also known as the Regional Revenue Collection and Inter-Jurisdictional Mobility project. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Director Shanahan referred to the cost of the Flamingo system is $250,000 a year and inquired about the cost of the current system.
Ms. Bruns stated that she will get that information and report back to the Board.
Director Williams stated that she is curious about the change in operating cost from the current system to the Flamingo fare system. She stated her concern for the patrons who do not have bank accounts and if there will be an opportunity use cash with the Flamingo fare system.
Ms. Bruns explained that cash will continue to be accepted on the current fare boxes, but if a patron would like to utilize the Flamingo fare system, they will be able to load money via a ticket counter at any of the locations or with the third party retail network where they can pay cash at those locations as well.
Director Kemp poke about the benefits of this system. She noted that the current fare category brackets are set up now that the patron has to purchase a full day, week, month; but there are lots of people that use transit services intermittently so they would not want to purchase in any of those categories. Director Kemp commented that a reloadable system similar to the SunPass system, 2-14 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
where a patron would load money and just use as needed, would be a much more feasible tool for many people in terms of how they ride transit, and also what they can afford.
Ms. Bruns noted that a stored value is one of the options which allows patrons to load money onto the card. She explained that the system utilizes fare capping which is the thought process that value is put onto the card until the equivalent of a pass has been paid instead of funding that pass up front.
Director Williams inquired if a redundancy currently exists in case that the system goes down.
Ms. Bruns answered affirmatively.
Director Smith stated her excitement for this innovative system. She inquired why Manatee County is not participating in the project.
Ms. Bruns stated that Manatee County was originally part of the project, but they decided to pursue a different avenue utilizing flash tap technology. She added that they can rejoin the project at any time.
Director Knight asked what happens if the card is lost.
Ms. Bruns explained that the cards have balance protection if it is registered so the patron will have to call with account information and a new card will be issued. c. HART and Downtowner Service Mr. Cochran provided an update on current and future alternatives for the proposed Downtowner service in downtown Tampa, including current financial constraints and potential solutions. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
This Presentation is in support of the Action Item 10a -Resolution #R2019-08-36 ~ Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) and the Tampa Downtown Partnership to assist with operating the Tampa Downtown On-Demand Transportation Service through March 31, 2020 in an amount not to exceed $568,000
Director Shanahan moved and Director Williams seconded a motion to advance in the meeting to Action Item 10a -Resolution #R2019-08-36 ~ Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) and the Tampa Downtown Partnership to assist with operating the Tampa Downtown On-Demand Transportation Service through March 31, 2020 in an amount not to exceed $568,000. Directors Castor, Harden, Kemp, Knight, Miller, Overman, Schisler, Shanahan, Smith, and Williams voted aye. No Board members presented voted nay. The motion carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF ACTION ITEMS a. Resolution #R2019-08-36 ~ Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) and
2-15 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
the Tampa Downtown Partnership to assist with operating the Tampa Downtown On- Demand Transportation Service through March 31, 2020 in an amount not to exceed $568,000
Director Shanahan moved and Director Castor seconded a motion to approve this action item.
Director Kemp stated that she will support the service continuing through March of 2020. She noted that HART still has the lease costs of the Teslas which is on top of the cost to supplement the service. Director Kemp commented that thinking about the future, she recommends creating a more predictable hub to hub service that operates more like a circulator with a fixed route. She stressed that she does not think the Agency should be subsidizing a microtransit service in lieu of our regular bus route. Director Kemp added that the maps show exactly where a circulator should go and it could be provided for a lot less money and to many more people.
Director Harden confirmed that HART is funding up to half of $565,000 required for the service. He asked if the $565,000 total amount includes the Tesla leases.
Mr. Cochran stated that the project total $565,000 will be funded half with HART funds. He indicated that the Telsa leases are not included in the project total cost.
Director Knight asked how the grant mentioned in the presentation plays into the funding.
Mr. Cochran stated that the total amount of the grant available is $760,000, but it has the condition of a local match so the funding is broken up as $380,000 in the form of a DOT grant and the other $380,000 funded by HART. He explained that based on current operational cost of the Downtowner, the estimated cost through March would only be $568,000 total. Mr. Cochran noted that any money left over could be used towards whatever alternative is created, but the funding is tied to a circulator service in the downtown area.
Director Knight inquired if the riders of the Downtowner service use transit in other areas of the county.
Mr. Cochran answered affirmatively noting that there is a significant number of pick-ups and drop- offs at the Marion Transit Center.
Director Harden confirmed that the Tesla vehicles are returned in March and inquired how many trips are provided using those vehicles.
Mr. Cochran stated that there are six vehicles, of which four are Teslas. He noted that to his understanding, the vehicle is picked at random for the patrons.
Director Smith stated that HART’s contribution with the project is $284,000 match to the grant, and $56,000 for the rest of the Tesla lease making the total $340,000. She asked why the Board would be approving $380,000 if only $340,000 was needed.
Ms. Stiglich stated that at the previous meeting, the Board approved the grant agreement in the amount of $750,000 with $380,000 from HART and $380,000 from FDOT. She noted that the agreements with FDOT are engaged for the entire project cost. Ms. Stiglich explained that this 2-16 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
item amount was revised based on the actual operating costs for service currently being provided as opposed to last month which had an agreement that included enhanced service. She commented that the cost is $568,000 which is split with FDOT. Ms. Stiglich stated that the Agency will have the ability to reallocate the leftover money to a different service in the downtown area based on the agreement with FDOT to provide some sort of a downtown solution.
Director Smith stated that this service was previously funded by many different partners and suggested reaching out to those partners to assist with the match of the grant.
Ms. Stiglich confirmed that the money has to be a local source, but can come from partners.
Mr. Cochran stated that staff will attempt again, but previously when staff reached out the message was that the funding has run dry.
Director Smith commented that once the Board approves the expenditure, it will be hard to get sponsors.
Director Knight stated that $568,000 is a lot of money, but if this is not approved today, the service shuts down. He noted the importance of supporting the service to keep it going until the Tesla lease is over in March and then make a decision on moving forward from there. Director Knight commented that the service is needed to support the people who are currently using it.
Director Melendez thanked the Board for approving the earlier resolution allowing his participation by phone. He stated his support for the item as prepared and the motion to approve. Director Melendez commented that the data provided shows the downtowner as a viable option for commuters and other users. He further explained that the Downtown Partnership has found a vendor, who not only performs the service well, but provides detailed data so the service can be appropriately evaluated and that is an incredible asset to have. Director Melendez further added that this service is a great example of the type of service of mobility partnership that HART as transit operators should be supporting, as operations are explored. He reiterated his support for the item.
Chair Miller asked if the action item is worded incorrectly because it states that HART is provided the total project cost.
Ms. Stiglich stated that HART will be responsible for paying the bill for the service and then the Agency would be reimbursed half of that by the FDOT grant.
Chair Miller inquired why the resolution does not state that differential.
Ms. Stiglich stated that the resolution can be reworded differently, but the agreement with the Tampa Downtown Partnership would be to pay what they submitted in the amount of $568,000 over the course of eight months. She explained that normally, HART does not say what the exact obligation is in an agreement because it can be dependent on funding by various sources.
Mr. Smith stated that Director Mechanik was not able to attend the meeting and asked for his comments to read into the record. Director Mechanik encouraged the Board to support item 10a to provide funding with FDOT to operate the Downtowner service through March 31, 2020. He 2-17 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
noted that since the previous meeting, he has learned that the service is considered hub to hub which is more akin to a fixed ride service than an Uber service. Director Mechanik further commented that the Marion Transit Center is one of the top five locations which means HART is serving passengers for their first mile, last mile requirements. He added that over 14,000 passengers use the service on an average monthly basis, and he would urge the Board to vote to continue this service until March 31, 2020, which will allow the RFP process to proceed so that HART can evaluate the best means by way the service may continue.
Chair Miller called for a vote on the current motion.
Director Shanahan moved and Director Castor seconded a motion to approve this action item. Directors Kemp, Knight, Melendez, Miller, Schisler, Shanahan, Smith, and Williams voted aye. Director Harden voted nay. The motion carried eight to one.
APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA The Finance and Audit Committee met on June 17, 2019 and recommended approval of the following item to the full HART Board of Directors:
Director Shanahan moved and Director Harden seconded a motion to approve the following item:
Resolution #R2019-08-35 ~ Authorization for the Chief Executive Officer to Execute the Station Sponsorship Agreement between Publix Super Markets, Inc. (Publix), Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS), the City of Tampa (the City) and the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) to Allow Publix to Sponsor the Streetcar System by Naming a Station Stop
Directors Harden, Kemp, Knight, Melendez, Miller, Schisler, Shanahan, Smith, and Williams voted aye. No Board members presented voted nay. The motion carried unanimously. b. Resolution #R2019-08-37 ~ Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Modify a Contract for General Counsel Services to Increase the Total Not-to-Exceed Amount from $630,000 to $750,000
Ms. Sylvia Berrien, Deputy Attorney, asked the Board to authorize a resolution to modify a contract for general counsel services to increase the not-to-exceed amount from $630,000 to $750,000. She explained that this amount and the Board approval will allow the litigation services for the general counsel to continue those services as the appellate services that are needed for the appeals that have been filed in litigation.
Director Shanahan moved and Director Williams seconded a motion to approve this action item. Directors Harden, Kemp, Knight, Melendez, Miller, Schisler, Shanahan, Smith, and Williams voted aye. No Board members presented voted nay. The motion carried unanimously.
HART BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS Chair Miller referred the Board members to the materials in the packet.
2-18 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
REPORTS FROM HART BOARD REPRESENTATIVES Chair Miller referred the Board members to the materials in the packet.
STATUS REPORTS Chair Miller referred the Board members to the materials in the packet.
MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORTS Chair Miller referred the Board members to the materials in the packet.
PUBLIC INPUT REGARDING GENERAL CONCERNS Mr. Curtis Brown inquired if the on-time performance statistics were done from the OneBusAway application.
Ms. Reyes Burckard answered that the metrics for on-time performance specifically related to fixed route is measured through the Trapeze software which is tracked and the GPS software onboard the vehicles that is tracking where vehicles are and how they are moving throughout the lines in the system. She noted that the OneBusAway application is actually feeding from the same place.
Mr. Brown stated that there are posters up for “See Something, Say Something” in regards to the safety of your drivers, but there is no way for riders to contact HART if there is an urgent issue. He noted that the customer service center drops calls after 30 minutes of holding. Mr. Brown commented that there is no information in the monthly statistics for customer service such as average speed of answer or call volume. He stated his opinion that without a supervisor in the call center, the operators let the calls sit unanswered for 30 minutes and never advance the calls. Mr. Brown expressed that this is not a one-time thing and suggested managing statistics to clearly understand what is happening in customer service. He invited every one of the Board members to call in as a rider without revealing they are a Board member to see if the treatment received is acceptable. Mr. Brown expresses problems with the SeeClickFix software in regards to submitting a suggestion, following up on a request, and getting a response. He noted that not being able to communicate with HART, a patron cannot make a complaint or even give a commendation about an excellent driver.
Mr. Limmer told Mr. Brown that Ms. Reyes Burckard will connect with him to address his concerns.
OLD BUSINESS Overview of the Board members’ travel to 2019 APTA Transit Board Members Seminar Chair Miller stated that this was asked for by Director Overman who would like for it to be moved to the next meeting.
NEW BUSINESS Director Knight asked for an update on the ATU negotiations for the labor contract.
2-19 Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board of Directors Meeting August 5, 2019
Mr. Limmer stated that staff will provide an update at the September Board meeting. He commented that two meetings in July were held, but staff will provide a more comprehensive summary after their August meeting.
Mr. Smith cautioned that the Board is the appellate body and should be careful what is said.
Director Knight stated that his main interest was when the new contract will be coming before the Board for approval. He stated that he wants to ensure that the ATU receives a good contract.
ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:36 a.m.
ATTEST
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson HART Board of Directors
Councilman Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
2-20
Hillsborough Transit Authority Regular Board Meeting September 9, 2019
GENERAL COUNSEL’S REPORT
Adopting HART Board Policy No. 210.06 for Telephonic Board Participation – First Reading
OVERVIEW This new Policy was drafted in response to the direction by the HART Board members.
FINANCIAL IMPACT None.
BACKGROUND Per HART Board Policy 320.01: Procedure for Amendment of Policies, the Board may from time to time amend these Policies or other procedures. The amendment process shall be initiated by an affirmative vote of the Board of Directors. At the August 5 regular Board meeting, the Board of Directors unanimously passed the motion by Directors Overman/Harden to direct General Counsel to draft a policy for telephonic Board participation, limiting such participation to two regular Board Meetings in a calendar year, except in the event of exigent or emergency circumstances.
Clerk of the Board established a policy development and adoption schedule as follows:
September 9, 2019 – first reading, discussion by the Board and motion to proceed with the second and final reading and adoption
September 23, 2019 – second and final reading and adoption of the policy
NEXT STEPS Present the policy to the full HART Board of Directors at the September 23, 2019 regular Board meeting for final adoption.
Prepared by: David L. Smith, HART General Counsel
Attachment Proposed Resolution #R2019-09-XX
6-1 ATTACHMENT
RESOLUTION NO. #R2019-09-XX
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADOPTING POLICY NO. 210.06 FOR TELEPHONIC BOARD PARTICIPATION
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors (Board) recognizes the problems attendant to being able to be present for all regular Board of Directors meetings; and
WHEREAS, the Board wishes to accommodate individual Directors outside commitments, while maximizing participation of all Directors;
NOW THEREFORE, THE BOARD HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING POLICY NO. 210.06 FOR TELEPHONIC PARTICIPATION AT REGULAR BOARD MEETINGS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY:
Section 1. New Policy 210.06 attached hereto as Exhibit “A” is hereby adopted.
Section 2. This resolution and New Policy 210.06 shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson ATTEST: HART Board of Directors
______Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
Attachment: Exhibit A
6-2 EXHIBIT A
HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY POLICY MANUAL
200: PUBLIC ACCESS AND INFORMATION 210: MEETINGS
210.06 TELEPHONIC PARTICIPATION
(1) So long as there is a quorum physically present at the meeting site, that is, at least seven of
the thirteen Directors are present and in attendance (or such other quorum requirement as may be
applicable in the future), other Directors of the Board may participate fully via telephonic means.
(2) Full participation shall include debate, deliberation, and voting on any action the Board is
intending to take.
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, any individual Director shall be limited to only
two regular Board Meetings in a calendar year for such telephonic participation, except in the event
of exigent or emergency circumstances.
(4) The Board of Directors shall determine by a majority vote of a quorum whether a requested
additional telephonic participation request, i.e. beyond the two permitted by this policy, meets the
requirements of an exigent or emergency basis. Such determination shall be in the sole discretion
of the Board.
(5) In the event of an Emergency Meeting pursuant to Policy 210.04, the requirements of
Section 1 and Section 3 shall not apply and the existence of exigent or emergency circumstances
identified in Section 4 shall be presumed without need of any vote by the Board of Directors.
HART Clerk:
6-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019 ______
PRESENTATION Overview of Challenges to Developing a Passenger Rail Service on Freight Railroad-Owned Trackage
For decades, existing CSX right-of-way has been studied for consideration of light/commuter rail options. Since the passing of the All for Transportation surtax and the requirement for HART to set aside 35% of its funding for fixed guideway project, the prospect of implementing service on these corridors is closer than ever before. However, while the prospect for this opportunity is closer than ever, the expectations of what goes into implementing a successful project on an existing corridor is extremely complex.
Mr. Charles H. Banks, President of R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc. and Mr. Kevin Sheys, Partner at Hogan Lovells US LLP law firm will give a coordinated presentation to the HART Board addressing the challenges of establishing passenger rail service in HART’s service territory. Both will be available to respond to questions and issues raised by the Board members.
Mr. Banks has provided strategic railroad line evaluation and acquisition counsel to more than two dozen agency public sector passenger rail clients in:
• evaluating alternative rail line access arrangements; • devising rail line acquisition and negotiation strategies; • coordinating, managing or conducting rail line real property, rail asset and/or going concern valuations and title research and; • drafting/negotiating letters of intent, interim use/construction, operating rights, purchase/sale and sidetrack agreements in connection with new-start commuter and light rail projects.
Kevin Sheys is a Partner at the Hogan Lovells US LLP law firm. Mr. Sheys guides railroad and transit industry clients through regulatory and transactional challenges to help them achieve their objectives. He represents government and private sector clients on high-priority passenger and freight railroad projects.
In the passenger rail sector, Mr. Sheys has been the primary outside counsel on more than 20 commuter and light rail “New Starts” projects, including related line acquisitions, shared use agreements and regulatory issues.
Prepared by: Christopher Cochran, Director of Service Development Reviewed by: Ruthie Reyes Burckard, Chief Operating Officer Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
8-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
BOARD ACTION ITEM Resolution #R2019-09-41 ~ Approval of Settlement Authority Recommended by HART Litigation and Claims Committee for Settlement of all Claims Related to HART Claim Number 808655 in a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $300,000
OVERVIEW HART claim number 808655 arises out of a bus accident occurring on October 4, 2017 at Avenida Republica de Cuba in Hillsborough County.
FINANCIAL IMPACT Funding for this settlement authority will be paid from the Risk Department claims reserves which is established for the purposes of resolving claims against the Authority.
BACKGROUND HART’s bus operator collided into the rear end of a City of Tampa utility truck that was stopped at a traffic light. The accident caused collisions with three other vehicles that were also stopped at the traffic light. Currently, there are three pending lawsuits and several outstanding claims seeking compensation for property damages and personal injuries. The collective demands greatly exceed HART’s sovereign immunity limits.
The facts regarding this claim were presented to the HART Litigation and Claims Committee on July 23, 2019. The Committee approved the settlement authority up to $300,000 for all claims related to HART claim number 808655 and recommended that the matter be presented to the full Board for consideration and approval.
NEXT STEPS Upon the Board’s approval, authorize the Risk Department to settle all claims related to the claim number 808655 in a not-to-exceed amount of $300,000.
Prepared by: Carolyn House Stewart, Director of Risk and Legal Services Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
8-1 ATTACHMENT
RESOLUTION NO. #R2019-09-41
A RESOLUTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY RECOMMENDED BY HART LITIGATION AND CLAIMS COMMITTEE FOR SETTLEMENT OF ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO HART CLAIM NUMBER 808655 IN A NOT-TO-EXCEED AMOUNT OF $300,000
WHEREAS, multiple parties have filed claims against the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) seeking monetary damages associated with the incident that is the subject of Hillsborough Transit Authority Claim Number 808655; and
WHEREAS, HART Risk Department has determined that the damages associated with the incident that is the subject of Hillsborough Transit Authority Claim Number 808655 may reach the amount of $300,000; and
WHEREAS, on July 23, 2019, the HART Litigation and Claims Committee approved the settlement authority up to $300,000 for all claims related to HART claim number 808655 and recommended that the matter be presented to the full Board for consideration and approval;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY THAT:
Section 1. The Board of Directors authorizes the settlement authority recommended by HART Litigation and Claims Committee for settlement of all claims related to HART claim number 808655 in a not-to-exceed Amount of $300,000.
Section 2. Proper officers of HART are authorized to do all things necessary and required in order to implement the terms of the aforementioned settlement authority.
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson HART Board of Directors ATTEST:
Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
______David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
8-2 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
BOARD ACTION ITEM Resolution #R2019-09-42 ~ Approval of Settlement Authority Recommended by HART Litigation and Claims Committee for Settlement of all Claims Related to HART Claim Number 812089 in a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $294,716.97
OVERVIEW HART claim number 812089 arises out of a bus accident occurring on May 30, 2017 on 1-75 South at Gibsonton Drive Exit in Hillsborough County, Florida.
FINANCIAL IMPACT Funding for this settlement authority will be paid from the Risk Department claims reserves which is established for the purposes of resolving claims against the Authority.
BACKGROUND HART’s bus operator collided into the rear end of private vehicle stopped for traffic near the exit. There were 22 passengers on Route 24 X at the time of the accident. The accident collision with the other vehicle caused three passengers to be ejected from their seats, one to the floor and the other to strike his knee on the panel separating the seats. Currently, there is one pending lawsuit and three outstanding claims seeking compensation for personal injuries. The collective demands greatly exceed HART’s sovereign immunity limits.
The facts regarding this claim were presented to the HART Litigation and Claims Committee on July 23, 2019. The Committee approved the settlement authority up to $294,716.97 for all claims related to HART claim number 812089 and recommended that the matter be presented to the full Board for consideration and approval.
NEXT STEPS Upon the Board’s approval, authorize HART Risk Department to settle all claims related to HART claim number 812089 in a not-to-exceed amount of $294,716.97.
Prepared by: Carolyn House Stewart, Director of Risk and Legal Services Approved by: Benjamin Limmer, Chief Executive Officer
8-3 ATTACHMENT
RESOLUTION NO. #R2019-09-42
A RESOLUTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY RECOMMENDED BY HART LITIGATION AND CLAIMS COMMITTEE FOR SETTLEMENT OF ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO HART CLAIM NUMBER 808655 IN A NOT-TO-EXCEED AMOUNT OF $300,000
WHEREAS, multiple parties have filed claims against the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) seeking monetary damages associated with the incident that is the subject of Hillsborough Transit Authority Claim Number 812089; and
WHEREAS, HART Risk Department has determined that the damages associated with the incident that is the subject of Hillsborough Transit Authority Claim Number 812089 may reach the amount of $294,716.97; and
WHEREAS, on July 23, 2019, the HART Litigation and Claims Committee approved the settlement authority up to 294,716.97 for all claims related to HART claim number 812089 and recommended that the matter be presented to the full Board for consideration and approval;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY THAT:
Section 1. The Board of Directors authorizes the settlement authority recommended by HART Litigation and Claims Committee for settlement of all claims related to HART claim number 812089 in a not-to-exceed Amount of $294,716.97.
Section 2. Proper officers of HART are authorized to do all things necessary and required in order to implement the terms of the aforementioned settlement authority.
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson HART Board of Directors ATTEST:
Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
______David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
8-4 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
BOARD ACTION ITEM Resolution #R2019-09-43 ~ Authorizing the Chief Executive Officer to Submit the CY2020 Program of Projects to the All for Transportation Surtax Independent Oversight Committee for Review by September 30, 2019
OVERVIEW In November 2018, the residents of Hillsborough County voted for a 1% surtax to fund Transportation projects. An annual program of projects from each recipient of the 1% surtax funding must be submitted by September 30 each year for the Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) to review. Staff has developed a strategic set of projects that will expend the available sales tax allocations that HART has accrued for both CY 2019 and 2020.
FINANCIAL IMPACT Of the 45% designated to HART, the language of the charter amendment states that HART must spend its funding in the following “buckets” of funding types: • 45% on Enhancing Bus Services ($56m annually) o Enhancing express, neighborhood, circulator, paratransit and other service modes • 35% on Expanding Public Transit Options ($44m annually) o Spent on transit service that utilize exclusive transit right-of-way for at least 75% of the length of the service. • 30% on Remaining Funds ($25m annually) o Flexible funding that can be used on any project to improve public transportation
Staff has developed a strategic set of projects within each of the above buckets of funding that will expend the available sales tax allocations that HART has accrued for both CY 2019 and 2020. Total estimated sales tax revenues allocated to HART for CY 2019 and 2020 is $253,092,000.
• 45% $113,892,000 of funding toward expanding service • 35% $88,582,000 of funding toward fixed guideway projects o No specific projects have been identified for this category to date. There will be $82,232,000 in sales tax reserves for this category at the end of CY 2020. • 20% $50,618,000 of flexible funding toward a variety of transit related projects
BACKGROUND In November 2018, the residents of Hillsborough County voted for a 1% surtax to fund Transportation projects. Of the 1% surtax, 45% of the new surtax funded was designated for transit specific projects and that funding was designated to go directly to HART. In addition, as part of the referendum, an Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) is required to be created and an annual program of projects from each recipient of the 1% surtax funding must be submitted by September 30th each year for the IOC to review.
9-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
In our inaugural year, Staff has developed a comprehensive program of projects for review by the IOC that accounts for two full years of funding. The projects include a number of service and capital expenditures primarily aimed at preparing the agency for expansion and improved customer services. Included in the strategy moving is a goal of resetting the baseline of the system through and operational assessment and establishing a 30-year vision through a new Major Transit Development Plan update.
Action item today is to request approval by the Board to accept and forward the presented list of projects before the IOC for approval.
NEXT STEPS Upon the HART Board’s approval, submit the project list to the IOC by September 30 deadline.
Prepared by: Chris Cochran, Director of Service Development Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
Attachment: Resolution #R2019-09-43 -
9-2 ATTACHMENT
RESOLUTION NO. #R2019-09-43
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO SUBMIT THE CY 2020 PROGRAM OF PROJECTS TO THE ALL FOR TRANSPORTATION SURTAX INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE FOR REVIEW BY SEPTEMBER 30, 2019
WHEREAS, HART is required to submit a program of projects to the Independent Oversight Committee created by the All for Transportation Surtax by September 30 annually starting in 2019 for the following calendar year; and
WHEREAS, the initial program of projects includes funding accrued during calendar years 2019 and 2020; and
WHEREAS, all proposed projects fit within one of the three designated categories as required by the referendum language; and
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY THAT:
Section 1. The Chief Executive Officer is authorized to submit the CY 2020 Program of Projects to the All for Transportation Surtax Independent Oversight Committee for review by September 30, 2019.
Section 2. Proper officers of HART are authorized to do all things necessary and required in order to meet the requirements of the submission to the IOC by September 30, 2019.
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson ATTEST: HART Board of Directors
Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
______David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
9-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
BOARD ACTION ITEM Resolution #R2019-09-44 ~ Approval of the fourth One Year Extension to the Operator’s Agreement for the TECO Line Streetcar System
OVERVIEW Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS) contracts with Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) to operate the TECO Line Streetcar system. The current extension of the Operator’s Agreement expires September 30, 2019. The purpose of this item is to approve the renewal of the fourth one-year extension to the agreement, effective October 1, 2019.
BACKGROUND The current Extension of the Operator’s Agreement expires on September 30, 2019. Section 4 – Term of the Operators Agreement reads as following:
“If this Agreement is not formally renewed or terminated by either party on or before September 30, 2016, this Agreement will automatically renew for a period of one year”.
Previously, the Board members discussed that, taking into consideration certain unknown factors, it would be beneficial for both THS, Inc. and HART if the agreement renew for a period of one year.
NEXT STEPS Upon the Board’s approval, execute the agreement before September 30, 2019.
Prepared by: Ruthie Reyes Burckard, Chief Operating Officer Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer Attachments: I Resolution #R2019-09-44 II Extension of the Operator’s Agreement for the TECO Line Streetcar System
9-4 ATTACHMENT I
RESOLUTION NO#R2019-09-44
APPROVAL OF THE FOURTH ONE YEAR EXTENSION TO THE OPERATOR’S AGREEMENT FOR THE TECO LINE STREETCAR SYSTEM
WHEREAS, the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) was established by charter to operate transit service; and
WHEREAS, the Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS) is charged with overseeing the operation of the TECO Line Streetcar System; and
WHEREAS, THS contracts with HART to operate the TECO Line Streetcar System; and
WHEREAS, the Operator’s Agreement has been negotiated that defines the streetcar services to be provided by HART and to be paid for by THS; and
WHEREAS, the current extension of the agreement expires on September 30, 2019; and
WHEREAS, both THS and HART find it beneficial to extend the Agreement for one year term, for the period of October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY THAT:
Section 1. The Board of Directors approves the fourth extension of one-year of the Operator’s Agreement between the Hillsborough Transit Authority and the Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. effective October 1, 2019, with the new expiration date of September 30, 2020.
Section 2. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller, Chairperson HART Board of Directors ATTEST:
Councilmember Gil Schisler, Secretary HART Board of Directors
______David L. Smith, Esquire HART Board General Counsel
9-5 ATTACHMENT II
FOURTH EXTENSION OF THE OPERATOR'S AGREEMENT FOR THE TECO STREETCAR LINE
THIS FOURTH EXTENSION OF THE OPERATOR'S AGREEMENT FOR THE
TECO STREETCAR LINE ("Extension") is made and entered into as of the Effective Date
(hereafter defined), by and between HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY, a/k/a
HILLSBOROUGH AREA REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY, an independent special taxing
district and regional transportation authority organized and existing under the laws of the State of
Florida (hereafter "HART" or "Operator"), and TAMPA HISTORIC STREETCAR, INC., a
Florida not-for-profit corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Florida,
(hereafter "THS").
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS, HART entered into an Operator's Agreement ("Agreement") with THS to operate the TECO Line Streetcar System for a period of three-years, which Agreement expires on September 30, 2019; and
WHEREAS, both THS and HART find it beneficial to extend the Agreement for one-year term, for the period of October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the recitals set forth in this Extension, the mutual covenants, promises and representations contained herein, and for other good and valuable consideration, HART and THS agree as follows:
1. That Section 4, TERM to the Operator's Agreement is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 4. Term
The term of this fourth extension of the Agreement is one year, beginning on the Effective Date hereof and terminating on September 30, 2020. The parties shall meet in regard to the extension of this Agreement at least 270 days before September 30, 2020 to negotiate a renewal of this Agreement. If this Agreement is not formally renewed or terminated by either party on or before September 30, 2020, this Agreement will automatically renew for a period of one year. If this Agreement is not formally renewed or terminated on or before each successive September 30th, it shall automatically renew for successive one year periods until terminated by either party as set forth in Article III, Section 4g (2- Termination of Agreement) of this Agreement.
2. Effect of the Operator's Agreement for the TECO Streetcar Line. Except as modified
9-6 ATTACHMENT II hereby, the Operator's Agreement for the TECO Streetcar Line remains unchanged and in full force and effect.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized representatives on this __ day of ______2019.
HILLSBOROUGH TRANSIT AUTHORITY
Benjamin Limmer, Chief Executive Officer ATTEST:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
David L. Smith, Esquire General Counsel, HART TAMPA HISTORIC STREETCAR, INC.
Michael English, President/Chair THS Board of Directors ATTEST:
Adam Harden, Secretary-Treasurer THS Board of Directors
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
David Smolker, Esquire THS General Counsel
9-7 Hillsborough Transit Authority Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee Meeting August 12, 2019
Committee Members Present (5) Staff Present Commissioner Pat Kemp Brian Allan Kimberly Overman Kaela Bell John Melendez Chris Cochran Marvin Knight Lynda Crescentini Kathleen Shanahan Lena Petit Ruthie Reyes Burckard Committee Members Absent (1) Frank Wyszynski Rich McClain Others Present Mark Delegal, Holland & Knight Karl Koch, Holland & Knight Jeff Boothe, InfraStrategies Dr. Steven Polzin, US DOT Lucas Martinez, Hillsborough County Sign-in sheets are attached.
CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 9:03 a.m. by Committee Chair Kemp.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Pledge of Allegiance followed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Committee Chair Kemp moved and Committee Vice Chair Melendez seconded approval of the minutes from the May 13, 2019 Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee meeting. All Committee members present voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Comment There was no public comment.
PRESENTATIONS
Federal Legislative Update
Mr. Karl Koch, Holland & Knight, and Mr. Jeff Boothe, InfraStrategies, provided a federal legislative update. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Committee member Shanahan asked who was the democratic sponsor of the safety bill on the Senate side.
Mr. Koch responded that he will follow up with a response.
10-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee Meeting August 12, 2019
Mr. Benjamin Limmer, Chief Executive Officer, stated that he was working with the ATU leadership about setting up an in-person meeting with the delegation in Washington to discuss the safety bill.
2019 State Legislative Session Report Mr. Mark Delegal, Holland & Knight, presented the 2019 State Legislative Session Report. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Committee Chair Kemp noted the biggest change is happening in Polk County in terms of land use and jobs.
Mr. Delegal stated that he will reach out to those delegates as well because of their potential interest in HART.
Committee Vice Chair Melendez spoke about the regional projects being put forth by Senator Galvano
Committee member Overman stated that she sits on other external transportation committees in the county and stated that she would like to have the legislative priorities of HART to discuss those whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Committee Vice Chair Melendez noted that it is important to always keep dialogues for HART open.
Committee member Overman inquired about the reason for the veto of the HART Information Technology Solutions (ITS) upgrade legislative ask.
Mr. Delegal responded that the explanation received was that as a local project, it should be funded as such due to the existing statewide limited resources. He mentioned that there were several vetoes in the session.
Committee member Overman stated that the argument can be made that safety is extremely important and this upgrade supports safety initiatives. She stated her hope for pushing it forward in the future
Committee Chair Kemp inquired what the ITS is and what the project funds.
Mr. Limmer answered that ITS was an upgrade to the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD)/Automated Vehicle Locater (AVL) system which allows staff to locate all of the HART fleet and ensure that the fleet is running on time. He stated that the CAD/AVL system connects to the Automatic People Counters (APC) and stated importance of gathering the data for ridership purposes.
Committee Chair Kemp inquired about the project costs and questioned if this is an update or replacement system.
Ms. Lynda Crescentini, Director of Enterprise Project Management, answered that the cost of the project is approximately six to eight million and that it will be a total replacement project.
Chair Kemp noted that the major focus should be the operations and maintenance facility. She added that even though the funds were taken away from the project, it needs to be a main priority.
10-2 Hillsborough Transit Authority Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee Meeting August 12, 2019
Mr. Delegal stated that even though there were sponsors supporting the construction of the operations and maintenance facility in the House, there is a finite amount of money available for water projects and this project did not make the cut.
Committee Chair Kemp stated that she finds it disturbing that the delegation will take funds from HART and PSTA to fund TBARTA, which has no operations. She inquired how the area could take a joint approach to looking for operation funding and how that approach can be made policy by the State.
Mr. Delegal responded that the best option would be to go through other transit agencies to create a proposal to push. He stated that he will follow up with opportunities to create such a proposal.
Committee Vice Chair Melendez stated that he sits on the Transportation Disadvantaged Coordinating Board and emphasized that any technology that assists with providing customers with the best customer service should be implemented as soon as possible.
Committee member Shanahan reminded the Committee members that there is political overlay in organizational management. She noted that the Senate President was the sponsor of TBARTA and cautioned the committee members on harsh comments while not obfuscating their policy views. Committee member Shanahan stated her belief that if an organization has a good cause with significant partnership, such as the safety cause at HART, then the Agency should move forward with policy changes. She stated that on paper, TBARTA speaks to a regional advocation for the area it serves and HART should be seen as trying to work with TBARTA on a regional benefitting mission instead of only focusing on HART needs. Committee member Shanahan noted that HART should leverage the statewide footprint more within the political world through smart sophisticated conversations. She added that HART will need to point out top priorities and sell them to the local and statewide officials. Committee member Shanahan pointed out that Hillsborough County is one of the top counties in the state and that there is need to get started now.
Committee member Overman stressed the importance of roles of the Board members which is to advocate for the Agency and reach out to state and federal legislators. She spoke of the tools that the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has available to make legislative arguments for the agency they serve including economic drivers of every legislator’s district. Committee member Overman noted HART’s excellence of service on a nationwide scale and the fact that the Agency is constantly working to evolve the service. She stated she is not sure if the HART advocates are aware of the tools available and the greatness of HART in terms of statistics. Committee member Overman suggested training the Board members on how to be the best advocates for HART as a whole.
Mr. Limmer replied that staff is gathering economic and operational data to determine the overall impact in the state of Florida. He said it will take some time to get all the data together because it is massive, but he assured that the analysis is in the works.
Committee member Overman stated the importance of advancing the utilization of the CSX line. She added that the longer it is delayed, the greater the cost can be to HART because of the decline in the federal matching. Committee member Overman pointed out that the CSX line would be a product of regional significance because it would show what HART can do at a regional and local level.
10-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee Meeting August 12, 2019
Committee Chair Kemp stated her belief that no one should be remain silent on when dollars are taken and not given when there is a responsibility to get people to and from work. She noted the importance of deploying dollars on local and regional levels along with pairing with other agencies around the state. Committee Chair Kemp commented that HART needs to advocate in a strong way that has not be done for Hillsborough County funding.
Vice Chair Melendez commended Director Shanahan for her comments of political nature and spoke of the obligation that the committee has to the Board to have political awareness in terms of working with allies and partners. He stressed that all projects should be financially and politically feasible to obtain federal and statewide funding.
Understanding Ridership Trends in Transit Dr. Steven Polzin, Center for Urban Transportation Research/College of Engineering, presented recent transit ridership trends and what is affecting them, as well as opportunities and challenges for increasing ridership moving forward. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Vice Chair Melendez thanked Dr. Polzin for his presentation and commented that ridership has its challenges that are outside of the control of the Agency. He noted the significant drops in ridership in a lot of metro areas and that HART is not alone in the issue. He asked if there was any further information available in relation to the causation of the Transportation Networking Companies (TNC).
Dr. Polzin commented that the TNC services caused drops in metropolitan areas, but at the present time the service has played itself out in some situations. He noted that that no further decline should be driven by TNC services, but the service is not going away and transit will have to compete against them.
Committee member Overman thanked Dr. Polzin for the presentation and stated that Tampa is being ranked 21 on the top growing cities and 38 for accessibility with transit. She referred to slide 39 and asked for clarification if the meaning of the red dots on the map were job centers.
Dr. Polzin responded it refers to the density of employees. He explained that the data was collected from two different census studies. He stated that behind Los Angeles, Tampa is the most dispersed and least concentrated employment in the country. He summarized that not only does Tampa have multiple job centers, but what is there is spread all over. He noted that the geography of the region creates some of those challenges.
Committee member Overman pointed out that based on the information provided, most patrons are at the Average Median Income (AMI) or lower. She commented that in terms of future investment until the AMI is higher, rapidly expanding the bus system to meet the needs of the community. Committee member Overman further explained that rail has a way of getting a lot of people very quickly while bus service can afford a lot more opportunity while maybe not as quickly.
Dr. Polzin noted that a lot of communities in the industry have invested a lot of money and attention on high dollar markets as opposed to core service for service and working class jobs.
10-4 Hillsborough Transit Authority Legislative and Strategic Planning Committee Meeting August 12, 2019
Committee member Shanahan spoke about all the modes offered and suggested making them all better. She stressed stated that HART needs to be a mobility agency or multi-transit organization responding to the needs of the hour in that hour, not just a bus agency.
Committee Chair Kemp stated that the previous TNC service was extremely ineffective and she has no problem expanding HART’s service, but she wants the most cost-effective routes when it comes to transportation. She noted that it is not a sustainable service.
Committee Vice Chair Melendez noted that transportation is expensive and stated that HART needs the right funding options in the community. He commented that he noticed the commute from home was a big impact with transportation and he pointed out the need to evaluate the home to job commute of citizens.
ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:03 a.m.
10-5 STAFF, VISITORS AND MEDIA
NAME ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION **Optional **Optional
10-6 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Committee Members Present (8) Staff Present Adam Harden Vice Chair Brian Allan Marvin Knight Kaela Bell Rich McClain Chair Sylvia Berrien David Mechanik Greg Brackin C John Melendez Joan Brown Commissioner Pat Kemp Ruthie Reyes Burckard Councilmember Gil Schisler Joanne Caceres Melanie Williams Chris Cochran Lynda Crescentini Scott Drainville John Edmondson Juston Lafler Ivan Maldonado Colin Mulloy Lena Petit Carolyn House Stewart Cyndy Stiglich Frank Wyszynski
Others Present David Smith, General Counsel Sign-in sheets are attached.
CALL TO ORDER Committee Chair McClain called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Pledge of Allegiance followed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Committee member Schisler moved and Committee member Kemp seconded approval of the minutes from the July 17, 2019 Finance and Audit Committee meeting. All Committee members present voted aye. The motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINUTES PER SPEAKER) No one signed up to speak.
PRESENTATIONS a. FY2020 Tentative HART Budget
Cyndy Stiglich, Interim Chief Financial Officer, presented an overview of the Fiscal Year 2020 Tentative HART Operating and Capital budget. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
10-7 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Committee Chair McClain inquired about the overtime expenses.
Cyndy Stiglich answered that HART is trending to spend at $4.7 million, but the proposed budget staff is attempting to reduce it by 30% to $3.3 million.
Committee Chair McClain inquired about the overall of the healthcare expense.
Ms. Stiglich responded that we will finish 7.3 in healthcare expense, which is 13% of the overall employee expense.
Committee member Schisler referenced the HR initiatives to help reduce the overtime in the upcoming year. He said it takes $2.6 million on base salary, and inquired how many drivers it would take to eliminate the $4 million of overtime.
Mrs. Stiglich said there is inherent overtime in the way the operators’ shifts are scheduled. She explained that the Operations team budgeted 18,000 of operator overtime, which is a part of their regular pieces of work; and we are looking at the double amount in FY2019.
Committee member Schisler asked how many job vacancies are they trying to fill.
Ms. Stiglich responded that there are about 30 vacancies
Committee Chair McClain pointed out that overtime is a huge function of the business.
Mr. Benjamin Limmer, HART CEO, stated that this is a tremendous challenge nationwide for the industry. He said the transit agencies compete with a private sector for the operators. Mr. Limmer pointed out that efforts are needed to focus on the operators’ salaries and be proactive with recruitment and retention. He said as we expand the bus service, we need to expand the number of operators.
Committee member Marvin Knight inquired about the overtime in the maintenance department and if that overtime is factored into the overall number.
Ms. Stiglich stated that operators are not the only component of the overtime. She said, currently HART has 12 mechanics vacancies.
Committee member Kemp added that a lot of private companies are taking operators away with competitive pay. She indicated that PSTA is paying a dollar more an hour to drivers which is significantly hurting HART. Committee member Kemp said it is important to understand how much of operations is dedicated to paratransit, which is a federally mandated unfunded service. She remarked that one sixth of the budget is paratransit service.
Ms. Stiglich stated that paratransit will account for 6.7 percent of the total budget. She said that FTA allows to use up to 20% of the federal formula funding for the complimentary paratransit service.
Mr. Limmer stated that paratransit is eight percent of the operating budget.
10-8 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Committee member Kemp indicated that the mobility fees were not broken down and asked for the total amount in mobility fees HART receives. She said it would be valuable to see the numbers over a decade. Committee member Kemp referred to an unexpected ride in fuel costs this year. She inquired why staff would expect reduction and what were the factors contributing to the rise.
Ms. Stiglich said it is consistent with what is trending this year in diesel prices.
Committee member Kemp said the CNG diesel compressor is included in the budget. She requested more information about this budget line.
Mr. Scott Drainville, Chief of Maintenance, explained that the compressor is meant to make recovery time more efficient for CNG fleet.
Committee member Kemp clarified that it is a part of the CNG infrastructure that speeds up the gas going to the vehicles. She asked how many we currently have.
Mr. Drainville answered there were 77 CNG buses in the fleet.
Mrs. Stiglich added that every year HART provides a report to the City and County for impact fees and it does have the total collections on the projects. She said staff will provide the reports on a later day.
Committee member Williams asked where she could see the actuals of the FY2019 budget.
Mrs. Stiglich reported that the FY2020 budget numbers are very much in line with the FY2019 Actuals.
Committee member Schisler moved and Committee member Mechanik seconded advancing the proposed budget to the full Board of Directors. All Committee members present voted aye. The motion carried unanimously. b. 2020 Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) Proposed Service Planning Projects
Chris Cochran, Director of Service Development presented the updated program of proposed projects strategy that are aligned with the requirements of the 2018 AFT Transit Surtax. This included operational and capital projects and estimated costs of these new projects. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Committee member Melendez inquired if expanding bus service will include expansion of the operating hours
Mr. Cochran responded affirmatively.
Committee member Mechanik referred to the project list. He said one if the line items is called the corridor studies and additionally a CSX study evaluation, with only allocated $100,000 to it.
10-9 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Mr. Cochran stated that the HART Board members will receive a presentation from Mr. Banks who is the subject matter expert on CSX studies. He said that HART needs to identify what is needed for the CSX corridor study, the most effective way to conduct such study.
Committee member Mechanik questioned the wording, where it stated that $2 million for all corridor studies in general and only $100,000 is allocated for CSX.
Mr. Cochran reported that at this point of time, staff is not able to tell the cost of the study, and these dollar amounts will be amended in the future.
Mr. Limmer added that there is a lot of interest in more detailed corridor studies, but HART plans on doing more community outreach during the upcoming months, which will help to identify the customers and stakeholders’ priorities. He indicated that we pulled out a separate amount for the CSX corridor study.
Committee member Mechanik stated that $100,000 does not seem enough money to deal with the complexity of the CSX issues. He pointed out that HART is to submit a list of projects to the IOC by September 30. Committee member Mechanik asked the General Counsel’s opinion if it was sufficient for HART to submit to the IOC a proposal for $2 million in corridor studies, which is a part of the fixed route bucket of 35%, to get an approval and use that $2 million for any corridor studies during the year.
David Smith, HART General Counsel, advised that the IOC when it meets is going to establish some ground rules and bylaws; so such specificity does not exist. He reported that Article 11 provides a set of parameters that are broad. Mr. Smith stated that he is concerned that HART get as much proposed in front of the IOC before September 30. He said the judge has stricken the language “approved”, but it still retains the language that the IOC “must certify”, which conforms to the requirements of Article 11. Mr. Smith recommended that HART approaches the IOC and recommend that they both certify compliance and approve expenditures. He concluded that there is not much precision at this point.
Committee member Mechanik suggested that we keep it as general as possible to preserve flexibility. He said until we begin the study, we would not know the scope of the study.
Mr. Limmer added that HART will make it clear those corridor studies are in the fixed guideway category and will meet all operational requirements in the sales tax referendum itself.
Committee member Schisler inquired how much in the package is allocated to improvement to the 21st Avenue Maintenance Facility.
Ms. Stiglich responded that there is $33 million allocated specifically for the renovation of the maintenance facility and storm water improvement component which is additional $5 million. She stated that there is $8.5 million in the funded budget; which is a total of about $45 million that we could fund should the sales tax be applied.
Committee member Schisler asked about the percentage of completion of the wish list the people at the facility have.
10-10 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Ms. Stiglich answered that the funded budget may not cover it, and most likely it will not be enough. Mrs. Stiglich said that they will look at the future years in the sales tax to further supplement it.
Committee member Schisler inquired about the evaluation of ferry services, and pointed out that this matter has not yet come to the Board for discussion. He also inquired about details on the real estate component of $9 million.
Mrs. Stiglich explained that it was a $5 million improvement to a piece of property that HART has just entered into a lease with FDOT on 50th Street, that is going to be used primarily for infrastructure to accommodate electric buses as well as overflow parking.
Committee member Schisler asked if there was any thought given to securing property in the north- west part of the county.
Mr. Limmer added that the presentation outlined the need to do an updated bus plan or the COA. He said a key component of the COA is to be identified where future bus services will travel throughout the county. Mr. Limmer said to support that, there will be a variety of facilities, such as a maintenance facility in some other location in the county as well, transit centers and other passenger facilities. He concluded that it likely will be a part of a 2021 project list.
Committee member Kemp said she is concerned about the maintenance and operations center knowing that this is one of HART’s biggest issues as HART cannot expand bus service until a facility is available that can accommodate a large number of buses. She added that she still believed that HART needs to look at Cypress as a main route from downtown to Westshore and the airport. Committee member Kemp noted that that route was also a priority talked about by Mayor Castor. She remarked that she is scheduled to meet with staff to further discuss the Fowler Avenue corridor, where the service is needed. Committee member Kemp pointed out that in the proposed plan, there are 10 electric buses and 30 CNG.
Mr. Limmer responded that as of now, staff have an allocation of an additional 40 buses to be identified later. He said that depends on the updated bus plan and types and number of buses to support the service in 2020. Mr. Limmer indicated that the bus service enhancements outlined in the presentation are less than 20 percent of the bus service extension budget. HART will be doubling the size of its bus system and it will take time to recruit operators and staff to support the system as well as buy buses. He added that it may take a few years to ramp up. Mr. Limmer said that he has heard from the community about restoring services in the urban core. He added that HART needs to do it strategically by hearing from customers and neighborhoods about which routes are important to them.
Committee member Kemp said that she has been at a few community meetings, and heard community concerns about focus on CNG. She remarked that a lot of fuel costs in the future can occur through a carbon tax, putting clean water drinking restrictions, among others. Committee member Kemp reported that she has learned that Miami just ordered 75 electric buses. She stated that all over the country many of larger systems have a goal of going all electric by 2030. Committee member Kemp indicated that going forward, she would like to see half of our buses be electric.
10-11 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Committee member Melendez refereed to the document handed out to the Committee and suggested that the items are broken down by main categories and subcategories.
Committee member Mechanik inquired about the ferry alternative analysis on the list.
Mr. Limmer responded that HART will incorporate that into the corridor studies for a conversation with the Board about the future of the ferry service. He said staff needs to look at what service options have been on the table in the past Mr. Limmer clarified that for any corridor studies to advance, staff will come back to the Board with a briefing associated with any corridor studies.
Committee member Mechanik asked if HART should be spending money at all on the ferry service, if it was legal.
David Smith responded that the vision model is for the ferry is to have a transit system that connects the South County with the ferry location where the customers disembark. He stating that there is also service to MacDill AFB, which the tram service is looking at corridors and water component to get customers there.
Committee member Mechanik question if it is an on-land component.
Chair Richard McClain indicated that the ferry issue has not been brought to the full Board for discussion. He recommended to strike the ferry service from the project list until the Board comes to a decision.
Committee member Melendez stated he would not want HART to fund a private entity study, and that it is important to proceed cautiously so that HART is not funding someone else’s route study.
Committee member Kemp added that federally, ferries are recognized as fixed guideways. She referenced ferry service in New York.
Committee Chair McClain stated he is not for or opposed to a ferry service. He said the ferry issue has not been brought up to the full Board so it would be presumptuous of us to include this in the project list without discussion.
Committee member Kemp pointed out that one of the reasons HMS came forward was that the Hillsborough County was not willing to take the cost of risk. She added that this service has been on our MPO plan for decades.
Committee member Melendez stated that having been on the Board for seven years, HART has approved a route change to support the ferry and that HART has historically been very supportive of the ferry service.
Committee Vice Chair Harden commented that the list could be reorganized to be clearer: by capital projects, operational expansions, and administrative projects. He added that the biggest projects, the improvements to the maintenance facility and interim improvements to the Operations Control Center could be in the Capital Improvement category. Committee Vice Chair Harden noted another significant component, ordering electric buses and building infrastructure at the FDOT property. He added that the planning programs, in his opinion, does not need this much 10-12 Hillsborough Transit Authority Finance and Audit Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
detail. Committee Vice Chair Harden indicated that, in his view, the IOC should approve HART spending x amount on fixed guideway planning and x amount on route planning and that will be included in the budget, with the Board making decision on these individual contracts as appropriate. He summarized that he would like to see more detail on the capital projects, more detail on the operational projects and less detail on admin and planning side.
Mr. Limmer stated that staff has been coordinating with the County and the City identifying a preferred format to present it to the IOC. He added that staff will make sure that the list is concise and clearly communicates our intent.
Committee Chair McClain suggested that the slides be re-arranged to indicate from the very beginning that the projects are for two years of funding.
Committee Vice Chair Harden made a motion to advance the 2020 Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) Proposed Service Planning Projects to the full Board for review and approval. Committee member Schisler seconded the motion. All Committee members present voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE ACTION ITEM
Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Dispose of Seven Paratransit Vans and Two Non- Revenue Vehicles through Competitive Sale, Public Auction, Insurance Requirements, or Disposal in Such a Manner to be Most Advantageous to HART
Committee Vice Chair Harden Motioned to advance Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Dispose of Seven Paratransit Vans and Two Non-Revenue Vehicles through Competitive Sale, Public Auction, Insurance Requirements, or Disposal in Such a Manner to be Most Advantageous to HART to full board for discussion Committee Councilmember Schisler seconded the motion. All Committee members present voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:25 a.m.
10-13 STAFF, VISITORS AND MEDIA
NAME ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION **Optional **Optional
10-14 NAME ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION **Optional **Optional
10-15 Hillsborough Transit Authority Transit Oriented Development Ad Hoc Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Committee Members Present (5) Staff Present Adam Harden Brian Allan Commissioner Pat Kemp Vice Chair Kaela Bell David Mechanik Chair Sylvia Berrien C John Melendez Joan Brown Commissioner Kimberly Overman Ruthie Reyes Burckard Chris Cochran Lynda Crescentini Scott Drainville John Edmondson Juston Lafler Ivan Maldonado Colin Mulloy Lena Petit Cyndy Stiglich
Others Present
David Smith, General Counsel Chris Vela Taryn Sabia, Director of the Florida Center for Community Design Jake Holland
Sign-in sheets are attached.
CALL TO ORDER Committee Chair Mechanik called the meeting to order at 10:36 a.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Pledge of Allegiance followed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Committee Chair Mechanik moved and Committee member Harden seconded approval of the minutes from the January 28, 2019 TOD Ad Hoc Committee meeting. All Committee members present voted aye. The motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINUTES PER SPEAKER) Chris Vella stated he wanted to remind the Board about a decade long history of conversations around CSX. He spoke about the potential the rail can bring not only for the economy but also the environment. He urged the Committee to consider the TOD report, and know that there are several parts that are attached to the CSX line and the streetcar.
10-16 Hillsborough Transit Authority Transit Oriented Development Ad Hoc Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
PRESENTATIONS
FTA TOD Pilot Program Update
Chris Cochran, Director of Service Development, presented an update on the progress of the FTA TOD Pilot Program grant. The update included an overview of the program, tasks to be completed, how the success of the program will be defined and an updated project schedule. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Committee member Kemp clarified that while talking about Nebraska, Florida and Fowler Avenues, TOD is on the street level.
Mr. Cochran responded affirmatively.
Committee member Overman remarked that she serves on the Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Advisory Board, which is being restructured by the BOCC, which will allow a voting member from HART and the MPO to be in the Board as it pertains as we address the needs of affordable housing and land use. She said the TOD areas can be very attractive for investment, but preclude opportunities for affordable housing, which is why it is important to develop a good strategy and a policy to allow for those communities that are already dense in housing to be gentrified and becomes a very attractive investing in those areas. Committee member Overman pointed out that she wanted to bring it to the Board’s attention to explore who would be the best representation from HART on that Board.
Committee Chair Mechanik inquired if that would be an appointment made by the full Board of Directors vote or the Board’s Chair.
David Smith answered that this particular position is currently not on the list, so it will be a policy issue decided by the Board.
Committee member Harden asked if the study areas were identified in the FDOT grant or that were stated staff opinions.
Chris Cochran responded that they were originally identified in the application for the grant.
Committee member Harden asked if the scope could be extended or the he study would require the whole $1 million.
Chris Cochran stated that it is specifically locked in to that corridor.
Committee member Harden indicated that a missing study task, which he considered to be very important, is an analysis of the effect on the ad valorem taxbase. He said we need to avoid regurgitating what is a very robust 2040 plan, while the City of Tampa is lacking ordinances in place to implement the 2040 plan. Committee member Harden stated that we need to be creative about how we will pay for the infrastructure, so it is important to make sure there is a financial analysis of the ad valorem tax for these corridors. He stated that another task is that we are looking
10-17 Hillsborough Transit Authority Transit Oriented Development Ad Hoc Committee Meeting August 19, 2019 at the zoning provisions in the City of Tampa, and be very specific about zoning regulations that could implement the desired outcome of the study as well as a comprehensive plan.
Committee member Overman pointed out that on the south side of Fowler Avenue is the City- land, and the north side of Fowler Avenue, the County.
Committee member Kemp gave an example of an FDOT-funded study, Sun Rail. She said they started the study in 2011, they had $2-billion in new investment in the corridor along the Sun Rail, which brought $200 million more in taxable assets. Committee member Kemp said this study looks like a baseline predictor for feature use.
Chris Cochran responded that there is an opportunity for this, but also to understand where our policies are these days and address them to be able to promote TOD.
Committee member Kemp spoke about cross-jurisdictional issues of stations and stops placement. She shared a situation she witnessed when a pedestrian had to step on the road to go around a bus shelter constructed on the sidewalk. Committee member Kemp noted the challenges that in terms of finding right ways on the state roads, to provide for good pedestrian access at stops.
Chris Cochran agreed with the challenge and said it should be considered by the study as well as what land use policies should be in place, to force development to be set back to create opportunities for better transit access.
Committee member Overman remarked that it is critically important to partner with City of Tampa and the County on land use. She noted that we unfortunately have corridors that that have buildings right up the road because the logic was that it would slow down the traffic.
Mr. Cochran said that the study recommendations will be handed over to the City to implement the needed changes.
Chair Mechanik said that the City is a participant, but not the County. He indicated that it needs to be clarified if the study area includes some of the areas of the unincorporated Hillsborough county, in which case the County staff needs to be included.
Mr. Jake Holland, Planning Commission, stated that the policy language in the comprehensive plan for the City of Tampa and unincorporated area of Hillsborough is the same. He said that all options are on the table, the consultant will look at the existing plans and find station areas and do an implementation of the language, what it is like to have a TOD community. Mr. Holland said we hope that this not a one-shot deal and could be applied to other corridors.
Committee member Melendez commented that he had the privilege to participate in the technical advisory panel at Jacksonville on TOD. He said he was encouraged by engagement of a private sector. Committee member Melendez added that a financial analysis is a very important piece and the private sector can give valuable feedback.
Committee member Harden mentioned another study that is done in parallel, a BRT study. He asked if this request for proposal will be brought to the full Board.
10-18 Hillsborough Transit Authority Transit Oriented Development Ad Hoc Committee Meeting August 19, 2019
Mr. Cochran said the plan was to have it released in a week or two.
Committee member Harden stressed importance of the specific actionable information as an outcome of the study for the City of Tampa to have a more robust urban mixed-use zoning category which matches urban mixed use land use category.
Tampa Bay’s TOD Future
Taryn Sabia, Director of the Florida Center for Community Design + Research and Research Associate Professor for the University of South Florida’s School of Architecture + Community Design, gave a presentation on the Tampa Bay TOD future. A full copy of the presentation is available upon request from the Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
Committee member Kemp stated that this was an incredible piece of work. She said we do need a vision of the future in our community, with development happening in coordination.
Committee member Overman thanked Ms. Sabia for bringing various concepts together. She said living in an urban corridor, helps her to understand how suburban communities can also benefit from such planning. Committee member Overman gave an example of Bloomingdale. She said when you build attractive centers similar to those shown in the presentation, people will use transit. Committee member Overman said he appreciated the conversation as it helps to cement what HART’s work does for the community and how we can best utilize the resources and implement the policies.
Committee member Kemp noted the performance-based goals of Los Angeles, California, around TOD and zoning measures. She said these goals are very different and inquired how we would incorporate them.
Ms. Sabia said that the goals are adopted by multiple agencies as parts of their plans, written as goals with metrics. She explained that different agencies report on their metrics and work as a partnership and working together on reaching the overall community goals.
ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
10-19 STAFF, VISITORS AND MEDIA
NAME ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION **Optional **Optional
10-20 NAME ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION **Optional **Optional
10-21 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
REPORT FROM HART BOARD REPRESENTATIVES Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. ~ August 2019
The Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS) Board of Directors held its regular meeting on August 21, 2019. The Board approved the minutes from the, July 17, 2019 regular Board meeting.
The following is a recap of the key items that were discussed:
Mr. Brian Allan, HART Director of Streetcar Operations, presented the Streetcar Performance Report for July 2019. He stated that the July ridership reached 76,043 versus the previous year which only was at 26,112. Mr. Allan also mentioned that the service performed 98.32% of the contracted trips with on-time performance at 98.99% and provided 25 hours and 40 minutes of extra service. He noted that all of the major work is done on the Birney car. Mr. Allan announced the streetcar department will be fully staffed after the current training class graduates.
Mr. Clay Matthews, THS General Counsel, reported that the personal injury lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice by Ms. Judy Harbor.
The Board received the following presentations: a. Streetcar Ridership Trends b. Fiscal Year 2020 HART/THS Budget Overview The Board members approved the following action items: a. Resolution #R2019-08-04 ~ Approval of Proposed FY2020 Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS) Annual Corporate Budget in the Amount of $1,196,455 b. Resolution #R2019-08-05 ~ Approval of Proposed FY2020 HART Annual Streetcar Operations Budget in the Amount of $2,541,955 c. Resolution #R2019-08-06 ~ Approval of the fourth One Year Extension to the Operator’s Agreement for the TECO Line Streetcar System
President English reported that he will not be able to attend the scheduled meeting for next month and the Vice President, Director Dohring Ahern, will possibly be unable to attend to attend as well. He stated that there is no pending business to come before the Board and suggested cancelling the scheduled September meeting The Board approved the cancellation of the September 18, 2019 meeting
Mr. Benjamin Limmer, HART CEO, introduced Carson Chambers as the new HART Director of Communication and reported about Special Assessment District and CRA contributions, City and HART Policy Committee, Streetcar Rebuilt Project, and streetcar accidents.
The Board members received the monthly compliance and performance reports.
Prepared by: Danielle Arthur, HART Support Specialist Approved by: Michael English, THS Board President
11-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
REPORT FROM HART BOARD REPRESENTATIVES Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority ~ August 2019
The attachment summarizes activities of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA) during their August 23, 2019, Board of Directors meeting.
Attachment: Summary of August 23, 2019, TBARTA Board of Directors meeting
11-2 ATTACHMENT
August 23, 2019 Board Meeting Highlights
TBARTA held a Board Meeting on Friday, August 23, 2019 at PSTA.
Election of Board Officers • Per the TBARTA Bylaws the Board is to elect new officers in August. • The Governing Board unanimously approved keeping the same officers for one more year due to ongoing changes. The officers are Jim Holton - Chair, Cliff Manuel - Vice Chair, Commissioner Janet Long – Secretary/Treasurer.
Approval of the Interlocal Agreement for Participation in Employee Benefit Plan • The Governing Board approved a new interlocal agreement that authorizes participation in PSTA’s employee benefits plan. This will expand TBARTA’s benefit options while reducing premiums. The new benefits will commence on October 1, 2019.
Second Amendment to The Amended Bylaws – Committee Member Attendance • The Governing Board approved an Amendment allowing attendance of Board and Committee members through electronic communications such as teleconferencing and videoconferencing to count towards meeting attendance, authorizing the Board Chair to appoint alternates for each Board member and sets minimum requirements for attendance.
FY 2020 Operating Budget • The Governing Board was presented a $7.5 million operating budget for FY 2020. This is supportive of TBARTA’s mission and includes resources to support the organization, the Commuter Assistance Program, and planning work being performed on the transit vision for Tampa Bay, as well studies on innovative transit technologies. The Board will vote in September for approval.
State Lobbying Services Agreement • The Governing Board awarded another one-year agreement to RSA Consulting Group for State Government Advocacy and Lobbying services. This contract is a piggyback off PSTA’s agreement. The monthly fee is $8,000 and will be funded by local contributions.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for September 27, 2019 10:00 am at Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA).
11-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
REPORTS FROM HART BOARD REPRESENTATIVES Metropolitan Planning Organization – August 6, 2019
The attachment summarizes activities of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) during their August 6, 2019 Board of Directors meeting.
Attachment: Summary of August 6, 2019 MPO Meeting
11-4 ATTACHMENT
MPO Board Meeting of Tuesday, August 6, 2019
CALL TO ORDER, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE & INVOCATION
The MPO Chairman, Commissioner Les Miller, called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m., led the pledge of allegiance and gave the invocation. The regular monthly meeting was held at the County Center Building in the 26th Floor, rooms A & B.
The following members were present:
Commissioner Les Miller, Commissioner Pat Kemp, Paul Anderson, Councilman Guido Maniscalco, Councilman Joseph Citro, Trent Green, Commissioner Kimberly Overman, Joe Lopano, Commissioner Mariella Smith, and Joe Waggoner.
The following members were absent:
Commissioner Ken Hagan, Mayor Rick Lott, Mayor Mel Jurado, David Mechanik, Councilman Luis Viera and Cindy Stuart.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – June 11, 2019
A motion was made by Councilman Maniscalco to approve the minutes of June 11, 2019. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Overman and carried unanimously.
RECOGNITION OF VISION ZERO HEROES
Ms. Torres spoke about teaching at summer camps at Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association and Dowdell Middle School in Palm River. Between the Planning Commission Staff and Teaching Urban Planning, Ms. Torres held classes on Vision Zero and bike safety and spent 24 days in June and July speaking to about 50 middle school aged children. She showed a video of the summer camp which highlighted what was learned. The Tampa police department bicycle and operation response unit generously accepted and hosted a bicycle rodeo. They fitted bicycle helmets and gave away over 25 bicycles. They also painted an intersection based on the designs created by the children at the summer camp. They hired an artist who interpreted the design and her fees were funded by two Tampa Bay Chapters which were the Women in Transportation and The Institute of Transportation Engineers. The Planning Commission paid for the paint and supplies. The following accepted the Vision Zero Hero Awards from the Tampa Police Department, Bicycle Operations & Response Unit was Officer Kevin Miller, from On Bikes, Julius Tobin, Co-Founder, Homa Fartash and Jennifer Musselman from Women from the Tampa Bay Chapter and Alex Bourne, RS&H and Craig Polifron, George F. Young, Inc. from Tampa Bay ITE and Kierra Zuokemefa from the Planning Commission.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Josephine Amato founder and director for Safe Bus for Us who advocates for Safe Bus Routes for kids to school. She was there to speak about student transportation to school and congestion. She stated if you place a child in a car-seat they are 70 percent likely to survive the crash but when you place a child on a MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 1
11-5 school bus their chance of survival is 7000 percent more. The American school bus is a life saving intervention. We lose 4000 children during school travel hours every year. The number one of cause of children’s death in America is crashes. We lose 9 passengers on the American school bus annually and nationally. She is fully supportive of HART and public transportation. However, children should not be on public transportation. Our school bus drivers are highly-trained and it is a controlled environment. There is room in the budget to fund safe paths in the two-mile radius to school.
Chris Vela from Ybor City commented on the same topic of safety for our children. He stated that CDC statistic states that the number one killer of children is car crashes. His purpose of speaking today was on the State of the System Report that is noted on the agenda. He commented that Ybor is the lowest ranked on the report. He quoted a statement in the State of the System Report that says “while reliability on the majority of the interstate is meeting the statewide standard, the portions running through the urban core are moderately – to -severely unreliable, meaning that at certain times of day, travel time increase by 50 - 100 percent through these segments. A 20 – minute travel time could turn into 30 minutes or more.” A solution to this is to expand lanes.
Thomas Mixson commented reducing traffic using cable cars, sky buckets and gondolas. Cable cars are very economical to run, reasonable to build and maintain and will reduce traffic on major roads and corridors. He believes cable cars is a great idea because it moves more people and is cost effective.
COMMITTEE REPORTS, ONLINE COMMENTS
Bill Roberts, CAC Chairman, gave a brief report on the activity of the Citizens Advisory Committee. Under the public comment of the most recent meeting Mr. Camilo Soto introduced himself and expressed a strong interest in filling for the Hispanic member at large position of the CAC. He is a local professional engineer. Under action items the committee moved to recommend the appointment of Mr. Soto and unanimously approved the Temple Terrace Low Speed Electric Vehicle Study. Under new business the CAC voted to endorse the idea of the joint board meeting to MPO, HART and TBARTA to look at advancing utilization of the CSX. Upcoming items include having their November meeting at the THEA office and tour the Traffic Management System and CAC workshop on September 24 to discuss items coming up in the next couple months.
Gena Torres, MPO Staff, gave a brief report on the consent items from other committees. The Policy committee approved the USF Fellowship Contract Renewal. All committees approved and forwarded their updates. The Temple Terrace Low Speed Electric Vehicle Study was approved by all committees. In addition to participating in the It’s Time Hillsborough Survey, the BPAC held its annual retreat in July and identified future topics of discussion. The TAC held a workshop on the Technical analysis on the 2045 needs assessment and were briefed on congestion forecast for major roads and offered comments that you will hear at your next meeting. The ITS brainstormed ideas for updates of the ITS Master Plan. The Policy committee received an overview of how managed lanes in other cities are performing and clarifying the process of the updating TIP priority list with consideration of a nighttime workshop in advance of the TIP hearing. The Transportation Disadvantage Coordinating Board approved the Transportation Disadvantage service plan. A meeting was announced for August 28 hosted by DOT with TBARTA, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco County transit agencies to discuss further partnership opportunities. The MPO chair’s coordinating committee held a public hearing and approved the annual update of priorities for the regionally significant multi use trails and the transportation regional center program projects. CCC also heard status reports on the DOT multi use corridors and regional economic significant initiative, Pasco county connective city project, and TBARTA regional development plan. They reviewed changes to the inter local agreement to distinguish their area at scope from TBARTA and reestablishing a separate entity and establish several sub committees. The changes were well received and will be referred to individual MPO’s before the next CCC meeting in December.
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 2
11-6 There were no Facebook posts. There were a few emails received one being from Ramond Chiaramonte to the BOCC encouraging support on the referendum approved by the voters. Mr. Mixson emailed us about his research and support on cable cars. Mike Lamarca was sharing his concerns that more bike, walk and vision zero attention were given to unincorporated Hillsborough county and he was encouraged to get more involved with various groups and presentations. There was an email correspondence regarding HTV and broadcasting meetings live on You Tube. We have actually been doing this since 2018.
There were no questions following the committee reports and online comments.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Committee Appointments
B. USF Fellowship Contract Renewal
Commissioner Miller requested a motion to approve the consent agenda. At that time, Mr. Waggoner asked to pull the committee appointments out of the consent agenda because he has a late committee appointment suggestion. There were no objections. Mr. Miller pulled the Committee Appointments out of the consent agenda.
Commissioner Miller requested a motion to approve the USF Fellowship Contract Renewal on the Consent Agenda. A motion was made by Commissioner Overman and was seconded by Councilman Citro and the motion was carried unanimously.
Mr. Waggoner stated THEA’s appointee resigned from the CAC back in February. Lindsey Eggsware is very interested in filling this vacant position. He nominates Ms. Eggsware to serve on the CAC as THEA’s representative. Commissioner Miller asked if there were any objections and stated they would accept Mr. Waggoner’s recommendation. There were no objections.
Commissioner Kemp made a motion to approve the Committee Appointments. The motion was seconded by Councilman Citro and carried unanimously.
Commissioner Kemp brought up an issue about the You Tube broadcast at the last MPO evening meeting on June 11 and stated the first hour of the broadcast was missed. Her office received several complaints. Beth Alden stated they sat down with HTV and there was a glitch with You Tube's streaming.
Commissioner Overman wanted to confirm it was filmed by HTV and it can be uploaded. Beth Alden stated it is in our video archive and will be posted on our website if it has not already.
ACTION ITEMS A. General Planning Consultant Contract Amendment
Jeff Trim, Sam Schwartz Engineering, informed they have a General Planning Consultant Contract under the Renaissance Planning Group. Sam Schwartz Engineering is a sub consultant to the Renaissance Planning Group which has a contract with the MPO. This request is to add two job classifications to their contract rate sheet. The first one is a Chief Engineer II classification and that rate is meant to be added to the contract so they can have Sam Schwartz, President and founder of the company, be able to work on future MPO projects as needed. The second rate is an Engineering Internship and this is a new position. He asked for approval of the new contract rates.
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 3
11-7 Commissioner Smith requested Jeff Trim to describe his relationship with Renaissance Planning Group. Jeff Trim confirmed they have worked with them before on several projects including Vision Zero Action Plan. Paul Anderson inquired if the rates are raw rates. Jeff Trim replied they are the raw rates with a 2.66 multiplier.
A motion was made by Commissioner Kemp to approve the new contract rate. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Smith. The motion was carried unanimously.
B. Temple Terrace Low Speed Electric Vehicle Study
Mr. Wade Reynolds, MPO Staff, presented the Temple Terrace Low Speed Electric Vehicle study, a golf cart crossing study. The purpose of the study was to look at seven potential intersections for golf cart crossings on East Fowler Avenue and 56th Street. There are a total of almost 600 registered golf carts during the years 2013-2019. The City is following up with a survey asking where the golf cart users travel and where they would like to go.
Temple Terrace is bisected by two main roadways, East Fowler Avenue and 56th Street. The study reviewed 7 major intersections for crossing locations. There are four on 56th street and three on Fowler Avenue.
Below is list of the various intersections for crossings:
1.) Temple Heights Road and 56th Street – there are some constraints. One is that the crosswalk goes into a private drive, but this intersection is on the low end of crashes. 2.) Mission Hills Drive and 56th Street- there are some utility conflicts but again on the low end of crashes and there is low side street traffic. 3.) Serena Drive and 56th Street- there are some challenges for example a bus stop and there are bike and pedestrian crashes. 4.) White Way Drive and 56th Street- this is the only intersection that meets the FDOT warrants. It has the most crashes and safety challenges. 5.) 62nd Street and Fowler Ave – 6 lane highway with high volume of traffic. 6.) Gillette and Fowler - 6 lane highway. It has narrow width issues and a record of rear-end crashes. 7.) Raintree and Fowler – Suggested to cross under the bridge over the Hillsborough River. There are no crashes and as an underpass avoids an at-grade crossing. This was suggested by FDOT.
A recap of additional items that were looked at with FDOT is that they will be following with any application for all signage and marking requirements. FDOT is reviewing the signal timing plans and review and approve any crossing at those intersections. The next step is the origin of destination survey. They will preparing a proposal and concept for one crossing on 56th Street and followed by a one year safety study on that crossing. Depending on which crossing is chosen there could be a need if it uses Hillsborough County roads to amend Hillsborough County golf cart ordinance in those locations. They will coordinate with FDOT on any additional requirements. Mr. Reynolds asked if there were any questions and asked for acceptance of this study.
Commissioner Overman stated after looking at this preliminary data it appears those roads are FDOT roads and the safety design on those roads would change those numbers. Also, a comparison of these roads seems like speed would be a bigger factor. Mr. Reynolds stated the speed on Fowler in particular would be a big factor on speed. FDOT has a controlling factor on these speeds. Commissioner Overman stated we would need to negotiate with FDOT on these speeds.
Commissioner Kemp stated this a great project and people having other ways to get around. In Gainesville there were scooters everywhere and now everywhere in New York. She echoes
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 4
11-8 Commissioner Overman in terms of looking at this study. She asked the Secretary of FDOT to comment on this study.
Secretary David Gwynn commented that they two studies going on right now and one is on Fowler and the other is part of BRT study from USF to downtown. They are actively looking at treatments on Fowler for speed reductions. The challenge of the speed limits is a state statue. If they change the speed limit it doesn’t automatically slow people down so they are working on changing the behavior of the people to get them slowed down. Commissioner Kemp commented that a robust transit system on Fowler will be part of this study. Trent Green questioned if the crosswalks will be used by other means of mobility other than golf carts and will this lead to a safer crossing. Mr. Reynolds replied if we are making improvements to an intersection that we should be able to have the opportunity for improvements for all users. He does not know the cost of these improvements.
Beth Alden shared a comment from Mayor Jurado. Mayor Jurado apologized for missing the MPO meeting. She wanted to thank the chair and the director for this work undertaken to support the first golf cart community in the country. She supports this project and looks forward to keeping Temple Terrace connected.
A Motion was made by Trent Green to approve the Temple Terrace Low Speed Electric Vehicle Study. It was seconded by Commissioner Overman. The motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Miller stated Mayor Jurado was not able to be with them at the meeting but wanted to keep her in prayer for the loss of her husband on June 28. Mr. Rod Jurado was very active in Hillsborough County so please keep him in prayer.
Commissioner Miller asked for a motion to move item X.-A. Potential Cross Appeal of Transportation Surtax Litigation from New Business to Action Items. A motion was made by Commissioner Kemp and seconded by Councilman Citro. The motion was carried unanimously.
Attorney Cameron Clark stated this is in regards to the Surtax Litigation. The item arose late last week and it was too late to present to the Policy Committee. It is time sensitive. The Transportation Sales Surtax approved by the voters in November 2018 as an amendment to the county charter, is being appealed by the plaintiff in the case. Other defendants in the case, including Hillsborough County, HART, Cities of Tampa and Plant City have already filed cross appeals to preserve their right in this appellate action, or have indicated their intent to do so. This item is to request the board to direct their legal counsel to file such a Cross Appeal for the MPO. This item is being added to today’s agenda because the filing deadline for the cross appeal is August 8. This cross appeal will preserve the MPO’s rights in the appeal regarding the Transportation Surtax.
Trent Green requested further information on what a cross appeal is. Rob Brazel, Chief Assistant County Attorney, stated that a cross appeal is filed after someone has already filed an appeal. The defendants in this case are preserving their rights to argue any item we want to argue in the appeal. The defendants may want to argue the judge struck through certain items and wish he had not.
Commissioner Miller requested a motion to approve the Cross Appeal for Validation of Transportation Sales Surtax Revenue Bonds. A motion was made by Commissioner Kemp and seconded by Trent Green. The motion was carried unanimously.
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 5
11-9 STATUS REPORTS
A. THEA Connected Vehicle Pilot Project Phase III
Bob Frey, THEA Planning Director, gave an update on the Connected Vehicle Pilot program. The reason THEA is involved in the Connected Vehicle program is that they are looking for safest most efficient way to provide transportation for the residents of Tampa Bay so they decided to start the pilot for the Connected Vehicle program. THEA was selected as one of the 3 pilot sites on the United States. They are using the Selmon Expressway to test data due mainly to the frequency and consistency of the data. THEA overview on what they are looking at on how connected vehicles can work with mobility, safety and also the environment. They have up to 1200 privately owned vehicles on the Selmon Expressway that are real commuters, 9 streetcars, 10 HART and 44 roadside units. The drivers use a mirror in their car for the pilot. The benefits for connectivity is the entry level for technology for smart cities and provide benefits to a full transportation system. They are looking to make a safer more efficient system. All the data is going to the US DOT. The program ends May 2020.
Commissioner Smith asked if these are only opted- in participants. Bob Frey confirmed they are only voluntary participants. Joe Waggoner reiterated that the onboard unit is the mirror. Commissioner Kemp wanted to know how the road-side unit works. She also questioned if it picks up pedestrians. Bob Frey stated the pedestrians have to be in a crosswalk in order to be detected and the data is transmitted to the mirror.
Commissioner Overman stated that there is a challenge in funding for ITS and is there a competition for the funding. Bob Frey said there are complementary projects. This program is just beginning and if there is value they will pursue this project further. She wants to know where they are installing these units that are providing the measurements. Bob Frey said they are on lights, lanes, poles that exist in the locations needed. They are using fiber wherever possible. Joe Waggoner stated you want to use an open architecture and maintain flexibility. The total project funding is 2.2 million.
B. 2045 Plan Needs Assessment for Investment Programs
Johnny Wong, MPO Staff, presented the 5 program areas for performance measurement. They allow MPO to prioritize each project based on how each is expected to improve performance in these categories. State of Good Repair & Resiliency maintains pavement, bridge, transit assets and resiliency to major storms. Vision Zero program focuses on roadway safety. Smart Cities focuses on reducing congestion using operational treatments. The Real Choices when not driving category focuses on enhancing multimodal transportation options. There is a fifth program called Major Projects which focuses on adding capacity to facilitate economic growth. This presentation only covers the first 4 programs because the 5th category is using a separate process and it will be brought forward to you at a later time. To assess how we are doing we considered a variety of metrics and they allow us to figure out how these projects will perform in the future. We begin by taking this information and assess our performance today and compare our performance could be in 2045 given the current level of funding. We take that number and compare to what the performance could be by 2045 with current funding levels plus a portion of the sales tax revenue. For the State of Good Repair & Resilience we measure repair and replacement schedules for pavement, bridges, transit assets as well as the recovery time from a category 3 storm and the economic losses. For Vision Zero we measured total crashes, fatal crashes, injury crashes and bike crashes. Smart Cities, we measured reliability of travel time and hours of delay. For Real Choices when not driving we measured people and jobs served by the bus system and the walk bike facilities, as well as frequency of bus service. Beginning with the State of Good Repair & Resiliency program we are looking at what we could get with current funding trend holds through 2045 comparing that to what would happen if we had a current funding trend plus the sales tax. For pavement, the trend investment scenario falls short of meeting our standards of resurfacing our roads once every 17 years. With the amount of funding only 60 percent of our roads would be resurfaced on schedule which equates to resurfacing every 28 years. Alternatively, through the MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 6
11-10 "trend plus" scenario, all roads in the county would be resurfaced every 17 years on average thus meeting the guideline standards. Another element in this program is maintaining bridges and under the trend plus scenario we would get 3 major and 11 minor replacement projects completed. The third element is transit asset maintenance; these scenarios were based on HART's current passenger fleet and utilized their ten year transit development program. Trend scenario results in a funding short fall that would prevent HART from replacing their buses every 12 years The trend plus scenario would allow HART to expand its fleet and the average bus age would be 7 years. The last element is resiliency to major storms and assessment was done for a tricounty area. Our current funding is 46 million dollars per year; plus an additional 22 million we could improve resilience on highly vulnerable and critical roads. With an additional 44 million we could invest in highly vulnerable, moderately vulnerable and critical roads. The treatments include: raise road profile, enhance sub-base, retention/detention ponds, depress medians and planting vegetation. Our next program is Vision Zero which focuses on safety. Under the trend scenario we could reduce all crashes by 15% on major roads, and under the trend plus scenario we could reduce crashes by 35%. Under the Trend plus scenario we could fund 500 miles of streetlights, 1400 miles of missing sidewalks and complete streets treatments on 350 miles of high crash roads. The next program is Smart Cities and this investment program is to reduce congestion. If no improvement by 2045 the hours of delay would increase more than 2.8x. The trend scenario, $48 million, funds more than 130 miles of major road improved and 40% reduction in total delay. The trend plus scenario improves 220 miles of major roads and 80% reduction in total delay. This scenario with the sales tax would enhance incident management, speed harmonization, ramp metering, smart messaging and advanced traffic management. The Real Choices when not driving trend scenario funding is $2 million a year, serving more than 600,000 people, with 50 new miles of trails and side paths, and 22 transit routes with increased service. The trend plus scenario, with sales tax, serves more than 1,000,000 people and includes 150 new miles of trails/sidepaths and 38 transit routes with increased service: 7 new BRT routes, 5 new local routes, 3 new express routes, new service in South County and Plant City, 3 new transit centers and new rail service. This is a status update so no action required.
Commissioner Overman inquired about the trails and sidepaths alternatives and how that relates to the improvements to help the children that need to walk 2 miles to school. Sarah McKinley noted that program did not look at specifically areas around schools. They utilized the Trail Prioritization Map for future trails and sidepaths. Commissioner Overman pointed out that safety and alternative mobility is part of what we are looking at for additional funding but there is a mandate for making sure children are actually walking to school. Sarah McKinley stated the Vision Zero program covers sidewalk improvement funds and the school improvements can be covered under that also.
Joe Lopano inquired about the new bus service and the pricing for the new routes. Johnny Wong stated they did not do the pricing for the buses. They relied on HART's Transit Development Plan.
Commissioner Kemp raised a few points on induced demand and wanted to know if it was included in any calculations. Sarah McKinley stated that relates to the Major Projects category which we'll be discussing further along. Commissioner Kemp inquired about ferry service and CSX in terms of emergencies and resiliency. Sarah McKinley responded we are looking at that through the transit analysis.
C. Bylaws Amendment for ITS Committee
Johnny Wong, MPO Staff, brought a status update requesting a change to the MPO Bylaws. At the July meeting of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee, the committee voted unanimously to add a seat for USF Center for Urban Transportation Research. The committee believes this seat adds valuable and academic perspectives to the committee’s work. Adding a seat to any committee requires an amendment to the bylaws and in the agenda packet we attached a strike-through version of the bylaws. There is no action required today. A change in the bylaws requires 2 readings with this being the first. We will bring this to you next month for action.
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 7
11-11 Commissioner Overman stated that we do a lot of work with CUTR, and wants to know if there is a conflict of interest. Cameron Clark responded they are just an advisory committee and do not take any final action. He does not believe there is an issue.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Ms. Alden followed up on the June 11 public hearing motions. The 6-hour video of the last meeting is on YouTube. There were a couple of motions at the end of meeting that we can provide status. First, there was a request for a Joint Board Workshop with HART and TBARTA. TBARTA is working through their regional transit development plan and their PD&E so they need more time. There is a tentative date for a Joint Board Workshop with HART on October 9 at 9:30AM. The topic is How to Advance Transit Jointly as discussed in our June meeting. Another action was a request to look at noise walls and how they can have the most positive impact on public health. We have asked consultants to do research and come back with ideas to consider. There were a number of board motions over the past years about the downtown interchange. District 7 has been working through these motions and analysis. We are getting to the end and next month you will see a draft letter of comment regarding these findings. There will be a public workshop on August 19 at the Saunders Library. Also, the first meeting for the oversight committee was postponed due to the delayed ruling of Judge Barbas. Despite the appeal the county attorney has stated, until there is another decision from the supreme court, Judge Barbas' ruling is the law of the land. The implementing agencies for the sales tax will develop project plans for use of the sales tax dollars in the coming calendar year and will provide those to the oversight committee by the end of September. We are planning a meeting of the oversight committee to review those project plans after October 1. Before that meeting, we are planning to hold an organizational meeting for the oversight committee so they can approve bylaws, elect officers and review their charge. Commissioner Smith inquired as to when they plan to meet. Beth Alden responded we are polling the members now for the best possible date. Commissioner Smith believes there should be more than one meeting possibly in August.
Commissioner Smith made a motion to have the board direct MPO staff to set an initial meeting in August for the IOC. Commissioner Kemp seconded the motion.
Cameron Clark responded the MPO staff is only the administrative support and transition development and assistance to the IOC. The MPO will not be submitting project plans to the IOC. He feels the board does not need to vote to have the IOC meet. IOC is required to meet according to the charter amendment. The deadline for this is September 30th. There is not a restriction to how or when they should meet. The postponement was due to the 30 day window for an appeal on Judge Barbas' ruling, so the first meeting should be after this 30-day window to make sure all rulings are set. Commissioner Smith said our charter is the law of the land and the MPO will assist the IOC. Commissioner Overman believes there is a big learning curve on any of these committees and since these members are not transportation professionals more meetings will help them serve more effectively. Commissioner Kemp is very supportive.
Commissioner Miller stated a motion was made by Commissioner Smith and seconded by Commissioner Kemp. The motion was carried unanimously.
Beth Alden wanted to update on the Civil Service Board dissolution. Plan Hillsborough has hired a Civil Service employee to help with the transition, and new SOPs will be discussed at the next Planning Commission meeting.
The next MPO meeting is September 4th on the 26th Floor and the next TMA Leadership meeting is on September the 6th on the 18th Floor in the Planning Commission Board Room.
Commissioner Overman requested to call in for the next meeting. Cameron Clark advised this is possible as long as there is a quorum physically present in the room.
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 8
11-12 OLD & NEW BUSINESS
There was no old or new business.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 10:55 a.m.
MPO Meeting of August 6, 2019 – Page 9
11-13 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
STATUS REPORT ~ FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Period Ending July 31, 2019
Key Information Points: We are 83% through the Fiscal Year with our target to trend as closely to that as possible with expenditures; Year to date operating expenses are at 87% of the annual budget; HART began receiving the Transportation Improvement Surtax (TIS) distributions in April and were recorded to current revenues in June. The funds are being held in a separate account that is restricted for use until authorization to utilize the funds is made available. The amounts received are reflected in the Cash on Hand table in this report.
Key Takeaways: Total revenue is above target which is primarily due to the receipt of $28M of transportation surtax revenue customary; Other revenue favorability has been produced by higher interest on invested funds; unbudgeted donations for the Uptowner service; and timing of Ad Valorem receipts; Fare & Pass revenues, when combined, are at target of 83%; Total expenses are slightly above target:
o Salaries and Wages are at 93% which has been primarily driven by overtime; o Parts and Supplies are at 95% due to increased repair activity on an aging fleet o Taxes and Fees are at 91% from running ahead due to timing of escrow replenishment for future vehicle registrations but represents a relatively small dollar impact,
12-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
All Mode Major Revenues
Fiscal Year 2019 Fiscal Year 2018 % of Budget % of Budget Annual YTD Budget to collected Annual YTD collected Budget Actual Actual to date Budget Actual to date Operating Revenues: Total Fare (Cash) Revenues $5,743,493 $2,468,350 ($3,275,143) 43% $3,462,602 $2,588,388 75% Total Pass Revenues 6,621,777 $7,750,161 1,128,384 117% 10,418,155 $7,803,267 75% Advertising Income 936,472 927,090 (9,382) 99% 828,367 672,198 81% Interest Income 199,180 409,465 210,285 206% 80,000 248,386 310% Other Income 301,468 415,124 113,656 138% 774,330 690,942 89% Ad Valorem 44,264,946 42,458,540 (1,806,406) 96% 40,112,746 40,695,455 101% Federal Operating Grants 12,382,352 10,438,216 (1,944,136) 84% 11,411,608 665,387 6% State Operating Grants 7,894,318 8,144,949 250,631 103% 5,379,360 4,586,535 85% Local Operating Contributions 2,976,000 2,897,503 (78,497) 97% 650,000 2,909,170 448% Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. 618,578 393,896 (224,682) 64% 633,728 532,808 84% Transportation Surtax Revenues 0 28,082,431 28,082,431 0% 0 0 0% Fund Balance - Operating (3,010,842) 0 3,010,842 0% (3,183,506) 0 0% Total Operating Revenues $78,927,742 $104,385,727 $25,457,985 132% $70,567,390 $61,392,536 87%
All Mode Major Expenses
Fiscal Year 2019 Fiscal Year 2018 % of Budget % of Budget Annual YTD Budget to expended Annual YTD expended Budget Actual Actual to date Budget Actual to date Operating Expenses: Salaries and Wages $38,125,205 $35,460,759 ($2,664,446) 93% $36,399,248 $32,777,949 90% Fringe Benefits 15,523,756 12,970,177 (2,553,580) 84% 13,059,708 11,376,984 87% Fuel and Oil 4,622,782 3,595,304 (1,027,478) 78% 3,324,951 3,303,262 99% Parts and Supplies 4,401,503 4,191,562 (209,941) 95% 3,504,584 3,490,015 100% Operational Contract Services 5,945,308 4,874,841 (1,070,467) 82% 4,925,243 4,243,258 86% Administrative Contract Services 1,281,311 983,383 (297,928) 77% 1,612,533 1,173,588 73% Legal Services 652,930 448,802 (204,128) 69% 690,905 246,993 36% Marketing and Printing 753,441 490,679 (262,762) 65% 533,935 264,262 49% Insurance Costs 3,756,387 2,848,679 (907,708) 76% 3,447,475 2,461,193 71% Utilities 1,073,149 709,269 (363,880) 66% 1,061,145 765,670 72% Taxes and Fees 129,187 117,869 (11,318) 91% 145,351 92,015 63% Other Expenses 2,662,783 1,888,034 (774,749) 71% 1,862,312 1,566,171 84% Total Operating Expenses $78,927,742 $68,579,358 ($10,348,384) 87% $70,567,390 $61,761,360 88%
12-2 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
Cash in the Bank Overview
HART’s cash is managed in two accounts; for the primary account, HART utilizes the State of Florida’s local government investment pool, Florida PRIME, as its primary source of cash holdings. Considered low-risk and conservative in its investment strategy, Florida PRIME allows HART to attain a higher yield compared to that of a typical bank cash-flow concentration account. The second account is a concentration account at Bank of America for receiving deposits and managing Payroll and Accounts Payable disbursements. The graphic below depicts the cash on hand as of the day listed, as it is fluid and changes day to day.
CASH ON HAND (as of 7/31/19)
Operating Accounts: Total
Synovus Bank $ 2,905,009.30 SBOA (w/o Transp Surtax) $ 3,979,852.94 Total without Transp Surtax $ 6,884,862.24
SBOA - Transp Surtax $ 28,082,431.47
Total in Bank/SBOA $ 34,967,293.71
Prepared by: Joan Brown, Director of Financial Operations Reviewed by: Cyndy Stiglich, Interim Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
12-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
STATUS REPORT Ridership and Productivity ~ July 2019 July 2019 Ridership All mode ridership continues to show increases both in monthly and YTD comparisons. This is unsurprising given the popularity of the streetcar since going fare free. However, Fixed Route ridership (including express routes) has increased both month-by-month and YTD by 7.1% and 4.4%, respectively. Total Total Year Year Percentage July July % Mode FY 20181 FY 2019 Change FY 2018 FY 2019 Change Total 9,515,697 9,932,314 4.4% 897,704 961,247 7.1% Ridership Express Ridership 375,018 427,523 14.0% 36,396 44,123 21.2% Streetcar 265,694 717,602 170.1% 26,112 76,043 191.2% Paratransit2 140,309 162,527 15.8% 12,795 15,355 20.0% Taxi Voucher4 64,436 69,791 8.3% 7,684 7,143 -7.0% Flex5 74,327 67,704 -8.9% 7,102 6,454 -9.1% Total All 10,060,463 10,949,938 8.8% 951,397 1,066,242 12.1% Modes
Highlights • FY19 monthly ridership for all modes has consistently exceeded FY18.
1 Fiscal Year runs October 1 through September 30. 2 HART Operations Department Trapeze reports. 4 Taxi invoice 5 HART Operations Trapeze reports 12-4 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
• FY19 monthly ridership for Fixed Route has exceeded FY18 in all months with the exception of December where it was below FY18 by approximately 8,000 riders, or 0.8%.
• Six routes are responsible for 50% of YTD fixed route ridership as seen in the chart below.
Cost per Passenger Cost per passenger is presented as non-audited numbers and subject to restatement. Cost per passenger can vary when presented as a single month because expenses encumbered will vary depending on items acquired and billing cycles. Year-to-date is more pertinent and the numbers will ‘smooth out’ as the year progresses and present a truer picture of actual cost. Bus + Flex Bus + Flex FY Paratransit Paratransit FY
Month* YTD* Month* YTD* FY 2018 $5.46 $5.72 $16.49 $26.54 FY 2019 $5.96 $6.03 $23.14 $26.78 % Change 9.2% 5.4% 40.3% 0.9% *Not adjusted to revenue 12-5 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
Paratransit Reports
Paratransit Riders – July
July Clients Attendants Other Total FY2018 11,229 1,423 143 12,795 FY2019 13,563 1,571 221 15,355 %Change 21% 10% 55% 20%
Trip Cancellations – July
July Tot. Req. No Show % No Show Cancellations % Cancellations FY2018 14,015 200 1.43% 2,575 18.37% FY2019 16,852 485 2.88% 2,818 16.72% %Change 20% 143% 101.68% 9% -8.99%
Trip Purpose – July
Medical/Hospital/ July Employment Education Recreation Shopping Other Adult Day Care FY2018 1,941 506 5,789 1,571 521 902 FY2019 2,546 865 6,498 1,893 708 1,013 %Change 31% 71% 12% 20% 36% 12%
HARTPlus Certifications – July
July Certified Total Certified FY2018 106 3,567 FY2019 87 3,766 %Change -18% 6%
On-Time Performance – July*
Scheduled Appointment Year-to- Year-to- July Month Month Date Date FY2018 89.5% 86.0% 99.0% 97.9% FY2019 87.8% 81.9% 98.0% 94.7% %Change -1.9% -4.7% -1.0% -3.2%
Prepared by: Christina Buchanan, Service Planner/Scheduler Reviewed by: Ruthie Reyes Burckard, Chief Operating Officer Approved by: Benjamin Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
12-6 ATTACHMENT
Ridership, FY 2018 vs FY 2019 Monthly Ridership Comparison Year-to-Date July July FY 2018 FY 2019 HART Service FY 2018 FY 2019 % Change Ridership Ridership % Change Fixed Route Bus 9,515,697 9,932,314 4.4% 897,704 961,247 7.1% TECO Streetcar 265,694 717,602 170.1% 26,112 76,043 191.2% ADA Paratransit 140,309 162,527 15.8% 12,795 15,355 20.0% Taxi Voucher 64,436 69,791 8.3% 7,684 7,143 -7.0% HART Flex 74,327 67,704 -8.9% 7,102 6,454 -9.1% All Mode Total 10,060,463 10,949,938 8.8% 951,397 1,066,242 12.1% Wheelchairs on Fixed Route 38,335 37,682 -1.7% 3,611 4,277 18.4% Bikes on Buses 171,066 171,171 0.1% 16,795 17,441 3.8% U-Pass Program 240,737 242,303 0.7% 21,369 20,916 -2.1%
FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Monthly Ridership Comparison Complete Fiscal Year July July Fixed Route Detail FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2018 FY 2019 Number of Weekdays 210 212 21 22 Number of Saturdays 45 43 44 Number of Sundays 49 49 65 No Service or Emergency Closure Days 0 0 00 Total Service Days 304 304 31 31 % Change % Change Weekday Local Ridership 7,512,748 7,767,942 3.4% 693,324 750,695 8.3% Saturday Local Ridership 920,981 940,283 2.1% 77,022 83,234 8.1% Sunday Local Ridership 706,950 796,566 12.7% 90,962 83,195 -8.5% Express Ridership 375,018 427,523 14.0% 36,396 44,123 21.2% % Change % Change Weekday Average Ridership 35,775 36,641 2.4% 33,015 34,123 3.4% Weekday Average Express Ridership 1,786 2,017 12.9% 1,733 2,006 15.7%
Combined Weekday Average Ridership 37,561 38,658 2.9% 34,749 36,128 4.0% Saturday Average Ridership 20,466 21,867 6.8% 19,256 20,809 8.1% Sunday Average Ridership 14,428 16,256 12.7% 15,160 16,639 9.8%
Calculations are subject to monthly adjustment/restatement Source: HART Ridership Reports and Trapeze Scheduled Service Revenue Hour Report
12-7 Hours and Miles by Mode
FY 2018 FY 2019 % Change July FY 18 July FY 19 % Change Bus Vehicle Hours 526,372 559,170 6.23% 55,961 57,814 3.31% Bus Revenue Hours 504,711 535,829 6.17% 53,678 55,390 3.19% Bus Vehicle Miles 6,678,789 7,275,966 8.94% 717,735 755,268 5.23% Bus Revenue Miles 6,151,073 6,606,318 7.40% 670,033 688,811 2.80%
Flex Vehicle Hours 18,047 17,758 -1.60% 1,783 1,833 2.80% Flex Revenue Hours 15,741 15,519 -1.41% 1,555 1,598 2.77% Flex Vehicle Miles 277,116 273,354 -1.36% 27,537 28,272 2.67% Flex Revenue Miles 209,841 208,349 -0.71% 21,134 22,186 4.98%
Paratransit Vehicle Hours 101,351 114,727 13.20% 9,697 11,550 19.11% Paratransit Revenue Hours 85,554 100,084 16.98% 8,140 10,046 23.42% Paratransit Vehicle Miles 1,422,489 1,697,794 19.35% 132,219 163,152 23.40% Paratransit Revenue Miles 1,231,368 1,491,968 21.16% 113,865 142,673 25.30%
Taxi Revenue Miles* 307,527 293,936 -4.42% 32,657 30,142 -7.70%
Streetcar Vehicle Hours 9,458 17,981 90.10% 1,085 2,032 87.28% Streetcar Revenue Hours 9,405 16,773 78.35% 1,078 2,023 87.66% Streetcar Vehicle Miles 51,041 96,113 88.31% 5,854 10,929 86.69% Streetcar Revenue Miles 49,415 93,820 89.86% 5,668 10,681 88.44%
HART System Vehicle Hours 655,228 709,636 8.30% 68,526 73,229 6.86% HART System Revenue Hours 615,411 668,206 8.58% 64,451 69,057 7.15% HART System Vehicle Miles 8,736,962 9,637,162 10.30% 916,002 987,763 7.83% HART System Revenue Miles 7,949,224 8,694,391 9.37% 843,357 894,493 6.06% *Vehicle and Revenue hours/miles for Taxi Voucher are equal Calculations are subject to monthly adjustment/restatement
Source: HART Ridership Reports and Trapeze Scheduled Service Revenue Hour Report
12-8 Ridership, FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Ridership, FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Route productivity, Passengers per Revenue Hour & Mile (YTD) Monthly Year-to-Date FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2018 FY 2019 July Passengers per Passengers per Passengers per Passengers per Local Routes FY 2018 FY 2019 % Change FY 2018 FY 2019 % Change Revenue Hour Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Revenue Mile 400 - Nebraska-Fletcher MetroRapid 90,649 92,432 2.0% 906,110 939,880 3.7% 24.09 27.75 2.050 2.536 42 - University Area Connector* 34,557 29,883 -13.5% 317,316 319,430 0.7% 27.63 27.50 2.846 2.833 1 - Florida Avenue 74,633 85,066 14.0% 816,850 861,849 5.5% 25.06 26.54 2.275 2.425 12 - 22nd Street 61,289 67,845 10.7% 706,921 707,448 0.1% 25.14 25.14 2.300 2.310 6 - 56th Street 92,829 98,624 6.2% 1,004,091 1,035,575 3.1% 26.20 25.12 2.209 2.085 37 - West Brandon / Netp@rk 22,178 27,527 24.1% 280,460 297,072 5.9% 21.45 22.75 1.422 1.517 38 - Mango - Netpark* 12,656 12,048 -4.8% 113,069 111,794 -1.1% 22.70 22.09 1.517 1.469 39 - Busch Boulevard 46,704 50,509 8.1% 524,825 526,350 0.3% 21.72 21.78 1.553 1.557 34 - Hillsborough Avenue 75,252 78,636 4.5% 758,522 838,276 10.5% 22.09 21.39 1.755 1.751 16 - Waters Avenue 27,718 30,609 10.4% 278,854 294,667 5.7% 18.98 20.92 1.690 1.758 5 - 40th Street 32,245 33,365 3.5% 348,574 353,454 1.4% 19.31 19.57 1.622 1.659 15 - Columbus Drive 26,287 27,412 4.3% 278,906 282,080 1.1% 17.44 17.70 1.529 1.549 30 - Kennedy Boulevard / TIA 30,230 27,071 -10.4% 317,502 300,275 -5.4% 17.92 17.30 1.660 1.631 19 - Downtown - TGH - South Tampa 21,143 25,005 18.3% 228,615 236,429 3.4% 16.41 17.20 1.573 1.589 9 - 15th Street 27,963 29,102 4.1% 292,457 299,654 2.5% 16.54 17.02 1.499 1.556 17 - Manhattan Avenue* 7,437 7,436 0.0% 77,971 81,183 4.1% 16.08 16.30 1.488 1.534 14 - Armenia / Howard Avenue 22,744 23,843 4.8% 217,876 244,068 12.0% 14.34 15.89 1.158 1.265 32 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard 23,246 25,320 8.9% 256,781 261,377 1.8% 15.42 15.74 1.236 1.252 36 - Dale Mabry Hwy. / Himes Avenue 27,647 28,966 4.8% 307,608 300,030 -2.5% 14.54 14.29 1.353 1.343 8 - Progress Village / Brandon 31,604 31,416 -0.6% 343,366 325,155 -5.3% 15.06 14.15 1.095 1.044 7 - West Tampa / HCC 10,942 15,058 37.6% 140,178 152,824 9.0% 12.39 13.96 1.225 1.343 35 - NWTC - TIA* 11,179 12,305 10.1% 71,554 138,720 93.9% 12.43 12.62 0.890 0.914 45 - Yukon / Westshore 15,725 18,706 19.0% 192,814 177,529 -7.9% 13.33 12.42 1.098 0.986 33 - Fletcher Avenue 16,618 13,442 -19.1% 168,636 170,877 1.3% 10.79 10.86 1.025 1.048 48 - Temple Terrace* 5,680 11,174 N/A 5,680 104,179 N/A 5.52 10.33 0.458 0.853 46 - Brandon Boulevard 7,459 8,506 14.0% 78,631 85,794 9.1% 11.19 10.15 0.767 0.719 31 - South Hillsborough County 4,694 5,818 23.9% 53,615 54,946 2.5% 8.64 8.67 0.412 0.422
System Total 861,308 917,124 6.5% 9,087,782 9,500,915 4.5% 19.55 19.66 1.629 1.641
75% of Local System Blue = Routes performing 75% or higher above the local system average Average 14.74
60% of Local System Red = Routes performing 60% or lower than the local system average Average 11.79 * - Route begun October 8, 2017 Calculations are subject to monthly adjustment/restatement
12-9
Source: HART Ridership Reports and Trapeze Scheduled Service Revenue Hour Report Ridership, FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Ridership, FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Route productivity, Passengers per Revenue Hour & Mile (YTD) Monthly Year-to-Date FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2018 FY 2019 July Passengers per Passengers per Passengers per Passengers per FLEX Routes FY 2018 FY 2019 % Change FY 2018 FY 2019 % Change Revenue Hour Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Revenue Mile Northdale FLEX 2,789 2,487 -10.8% 30,296 26,838 -11.4% 8.04 7.21 0.690 0.620 South Tampa FLEX 1,570 1,385 -11.8% 16,460 14,872 -9.6% 6.13 5.65 0.460 0.423 Brandon FLEX 1,462 1,407 -3.8% 14,649 14,636 -0.1% 4.29 4.26 0.363 0.355 Town N' Country FLEX 708 623 -12.0% 6,131 5,891 -3.9% 2.17 2.10 0.154 0.148 South County FLEX 573 552 -3.7% 6,791 5,467 -19.5% 2.23 1.87 0.136 0.112
System Total 7,102 6,454 -9.1% 74,327 67,704 -8.9% 4.72 4.36 0.354 0.325 75% of Local System Blue = Routes performing 75% or higher above the FLEX system average Average 3.27
60% of Local System Red = Routes performing 60% or lower than the FLEX system average Average 2.62
Calculations are subject to monthly adjustment/restatement
Source: HART Ridership Reports and Trapeze Scheduled Service Revenue Hour Report
12-10 Ridership, FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Ridership, FY 2018 vs. FY 2019 Route productivity, Passengers per Revenue Hour & Mile (YTD) Monthly Year-to-Date FY2018 FY2019 FY2018 FY2019 July Passengers per Passengers per Passengers per Passengers per Express Routes FY2018 FY2019 % Change FY2018 FY2019 % Change Revenue Hour Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Revenue Mile 24LX - FishHawk/Riverview/MacDill AFB Express 3,765 4,706 25.0% 43,966 47,658 8.4% 20.78 18.97 0.741 0.665 25LX - South Brandon/MacDill AFB Limited Express 2,767 3,471 25.4% 32,133 30,272 -5.8% 19.15 17.14 0.824 0.795 360LX - Brandon-Tampa-MacDill AFB* 15,342 16,200 5.6% 152,457 161,784 6.1% 12.18 12.54 0.804 0.749 20X - Lutz Express 1,281 1,313 2.5% 15,724 10,759 -31.6% 16.15 8.97 0.806 0.452 275LX - Wesley Chapel - TIA** 5,973 12,431 N/A 5973 115,515 N/A 2.94 5.79 0.198 0.544 60LX - Brandon-Tampa-TIA* 7,005 5,738 -18.1% 112,234 58,709 -47.7% 11.05 4.87 0.598 0.284 75LX - S. County Shopper Tues. & Thurs.* 263 264 0.4% 3,198 2,826 -11.6% 4.06 1.42 0.166 0.057
System Total 36,396 44,123 21.2% 365,685 427,523 16.9% 12.08 8.16 0.672 0.523
75% of Local System 75% of Local System Blue = Routes performing 75% or higher above the express system average Average 6.12 Average 0.39
30% of Local System 30% of Local System Red = Routes performing 30% or lower than the express system average Average 2.45 Average 0.16
Calculations are subject to monthly adjustment/restatement * - Route begun October 8, 2017 ** - Route begun July 1, 2018
Source: HART Ridership Reports and Trapeze Scheduled Service Revenue Hour Report
12-11 Passengers per Revenue Hour per Route FY 2019 (10/1/2018 ‐ 7/31/2019) 30.00 Local Flex Express
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00 Passengers per Revenue Hour
5.00
0.00 Brandon FLEX 9 ‐ 15th Street 6 ‐ 56th Street 5 ‐ 40th Street Northdale FLEX 12 ‐ 22nd Street 35 ‐ NWTC ‐ TIA* 20X ‐ Lutz Express 1 ‐ Florida Avenue South Tampa FLEX South County FLEX 16 ‐ Waters Avenue 15 ‐ Columbus Drive 33 ‐ Fletcher Avenue 39 ‐ Busch Boulevard 48 ‐ Temple Terrace* 7 ‐ West Tampa / HCC Town N' Country FLEX 38 ‐ Mango ‐ Netpark* 45 ‐ Yukon / Westshore 46 ‐ Brandon Boulevard 17 ‐ Manhattan Avenue* 34 ‐ Hillsborough Avenue 60LX ‐ Brandon‐Tampa‐TIA* 30 ‐ Kennedy Boulevard / TIA 8 ‐ Progress Village / Brandon 37 ‐ West Brandon / Netp@rk 275LX ‐ Wesley Chapel ‐ TIA** 14 ‐ Armenia / Howard Avenue 31 ‐ South Hillsborough County 42 ‐ University Area Connector* 400 ‐ Nebraska‐Fletcher MetroRapid 19 ‐ Downtown ‐ TGH ‐ South Tampa 360LX ‐ Brandon‐Tampa‐MacDill AFB* 36 ‐ Dale Mabry Hwy. / Himes Avenue 32 ‐ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard 24LX ‐ FishHawk/Riverview/MacDill AFB… 75LX ‐ S. County Shopper Tues. & Thurs.* 25LX ‐ South Brandon/MacDill AFB Limited…
12-12 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORT Maintenance Activities ~ July 2019
Fleet Maintenance Fixed Route Preventative Maintenance Total Miles Demand Work Orders Completed Completed 748,397 154 729
Paratransit Preventative Maintenance Total Miles Demand Work Orders Completed Completed 189,051 40 185
Flex Service Preventative Maintenance Total Miles Demand Work Orders Completed Completed 31,157 4 28
Streetcar Maintenance Streetcar Preventative Maintenance Total Miles/Trips Demand Work Orders Completed Completed Miles – 11,305 24 44 Trips – 4187
Facility Maintenance • Preventative Maintenance Tasks Completed – 48 • Demand Work Orders Completed – 125
Scheduled Projects • The Annual inspection for the back-flow preventers located at all facilities. • The Annual operability testing for the above ground storage tanks.
Completed Projects • Alvarez Plumbing completed the installation of the domestic water line and the backflow device for the Preventive Maintenance Building. 16-1 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
• Universal Fire completed the required Annual Fire Sprinkler inspection for the HART Administration Office and Streetcar Facility.
Passenger Amenities • Preventative Maintenance Tasks Completed – 70 • Demand Work Orders Completed – 13
Scheduled Projects Removal of two Key West Shelters located at the Westshore Mall.
Completed Projects • Bus shelter solar light program: No light issues to report. • Bus stop maintenance: Installed two new stops, Route 39 located at Sligh Avenue & 56th Street and one located at Florida Avenue & Brorein Street. Relocated one shelter from Tyler and Ashley to Hillsborough & Armenia. Adjusted one stop at for Route 34 and 25LX. Repaired three bus stops for various routes due to downed or damaged stops. Repaired two stops due to damaged or missing ID tags or hardware. • Preventative maintenance shelter washing: Pressure washed and cleaned HART shelters and 15 MetroRapid shelters. • Benches and trash receptacles: Installed no new benches. Removed one bench at shelter 8915 for Route 400 due to vandalism. Installed one new trash receptacle for the Route 1 per customer request and repaired two trash receptacles due to corrosion control. • Shelter maintenance: Repaired four perforated panels due to vandalism on Route 400. • Shelter Removals: Removed shelter 7749 located at MLK & Coconut Palm for disposal and shelter 9538 located at Orient Road & Fairgrounds. • Shelter Installations: Installed shelter 9815 located at MLK & Coconut Palm. • HART/TECO Bus Stop Lighting Partnership: Submitted 28 light repairs for the area around the Marion Transit Center and the Marion Transitway. TECO has converted six lights reported to LED. • Completed the July Mark-up. Moved Route 39 at Northwest Transit Center to Western shelter in preparation of the new Breakroom construction.
Prepared by: Kristin Reyes, Maintenance Administrative Assistant Reviewed by: Scott Drainville, Chief of Maintenance and Facilities Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
16-2 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORT Operations Activities ~ July 2019
Transportation Highlights
• Director of Transportation along with members of the Hillsborough County Emergency Management team rode an evacuation route to assess infrastructure, such as signage, along flood evacuation routes. Staff also attended the Evacuation Planning Strategies and Solutions Training, held at the University of South Florida Center for Urban Transportation and Research, CUTR. • Operations Controllers, Transit Supervisor and Operation Managers attended the first series of formal Leadership Training designed to equip supervisory staff with the professional leadership skills necessary to effectively guide, coach and mentor front line personnel. This session was facilitated by Stephen Berry, Deputy Director of Transit Safety and Workforce Development at the Center for Urban Transportation and Research (CUTR). It focused on Manager/Supervisor Leadership and Team Building skills, covering the following topics: Teamwork among managerial/supervisory personnel, effective communication with internal and external customers, and to guide, mentor and motivate subordinates. • Operators, Transit Supervisors and Controllers attended the first in a series of formal conflict de-escalation and situational awareness training sessions provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff Department. Sessions will continue through the month of September to ensure that all Operations bargaining members and Managers have attended. • Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) invited HART to serve as a member of the Statewide Safe Mobility for Life Coalition. The Coalition is an initiative of the Traffic Engineering and Operations department of FDOT. One of their goals is to educate senior citizens regarding the use of mass transit and, in doing so, improve road safety, access, and mobility for Florida’s growing population. This Coalition is comprised of 28 member representatives from transportation, law enforcement, health and human services agencies and educational institutions. HART is the only transit agency represented. In partnership with HART the Coalition will coordinate senior outreach events intended to promote the use of transit. Operations Support Highlights • ATU Labor Negotiations continued throughout the month of July. Next scheduled meeting dates are August 13 and August 14. • Staff participated in the Mayor’s Boom by the Bay celebration hosted at the Julian B. Lang Park. HART provided shuttle service to 3 separate locations to alleviate parking concerns for the sites where the firework activities were planned. Staff were invited to a private event hosted by Mayor Castor and were able to meet and converse with some of the Mayor’s new staff and current City of Tampa officials. Over 19,680 trips were provided by bus and streetcar service during the event.
16-3 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
Customer Service and Paratransit Highlights HARTPlus Report Activity New Recerts Total Applications Received 162 57 219 Applications Pending Total 62 22 84 Current Month Pending 56 21 77 Previous Months Pending 6 1 7 Applications Processed 100 35 135 Conditional 29 13 42 Unconditional 23 20 43 Temporary 2 0 2 Denied 5 0 5 Withdrawn 13 0 13 Incomplete (UTP) 28 2 30 Appeals Received 0 Visitor Status 5 Suspensions 1 Monthly Certified 87 YTD Certified 3766
Group Travel Training Experiences, Meeting and Outreaches The Spring of Tampa Bay Goodwill Industries Suncoast Inc. COMTO Conference Volunteer Women's Resource Center Tampa YMCA at Hillsborough Community DACCO Behavioral Health College Shannon Liberator’s Kids Group MacDonald Training Center Volunteered for July 4th at the Florida Aquarium Hillsborough County Conservation Park Nearest Route and Distance to Bus Stop Project County and Municipal Land Use Activities None available for this report. Prepared by: Ivan Maldonado, Director of Transportation Gregory Brackin, Director of Operations Support – ADA Officer Christopher Cochran, Director of Service Development Reviewed by: Ruthie Reyes Burckard, Chief Operating Officer Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
16-4 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORT Office of Project Development
Technology and Innovation
• The Technology and Innovation Department successfully completed the IT Security audit required by the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. This audit is required for any agency that has a direct online communication, which allows for live data reports.
• The Technology and Innovation Department completed a Wireless Antenna expansion at our 21st Ave location for the Safety Vision mobility camera system. This supports the Safety and Security department to allow the ability to download video from our vehicles remotely. This expansion included adding seven more wireless antennas.
• The Technology and Innovation Department processed 366 Service Desk tickets in the month of July 2019. 279 in total were closed fast track with 64 closed in less than 24 hours. As of July 31, 2019, there were 12 Service Desk tickets pending.
Prepared by: Kaela Bell, Executive Administrative Assistant Reviewed by: Lena Petit, Chief of Policy and Performance Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
16-6 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORT
Communications and Marketing
Marketing
Marketing successfully launched the multi-media Ride with Respect Campaign (logo,website/internal monitor/Twitter graphic), our new rider awareness campaign, Ride with Respect, promotes positive on-board experiences for both operators and customers.
The campaign targets customers, operators and the community. It consists of education of the safety and security rules, riding etiquette, operator customer service training and a social media campaign aimed to elevate the transit operator position to the level of first responders - police, fire rescue, etc.
HART initiatives included the strategic development of the following collateral:
• HART Safety Symposium (event program, live streaming event graphic, digital podium welcome sign, PowerPoint presentation and directional signage), • Ride HART Free Back to School Bash (fleet customer notice, internal operator free fare key notice, website/internal monitor/Twitter graphic), • July 14 Service Changes (website graphic, internal monitor graphic, newsprint ads-Tampa Bay Times, Florida Sentinel, LaGaceta), COMTO 2019 Conference (free rides with conference badge operator key notice), • Travel Training Rack Card • Board Meeting Finance PowerPoint Graphics • July Bus Operators Streetcar Motorpersons Graduating Class (invitation and event program), • Hillsborough Community College 2019 Fall Semester Flash Passes, • HARTPlus 10-Pack Coupon Books.
Community Engagement
Community Engagement activities reached a total of 1,550 people through various communication channels, of which 1,248 engaged directly with staff. Highlights include COMTO National Meeting & Training Conference and Summer Youth Presentations.
16-7 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019
Advertising Sales July is the second month of the new contract year (three years with two one-year options) for Vector Media, formerly Direct Media USA (Transit Advertising). Revenue is split 63% HART and 37% Vector Media with a guaranteed monthly amount of $56,784.
Total Sales HART 63% Guarantee Current month sales $ 114,759.27 72,298.34 59,055.42 Year to date sales $231,978.21 $146,146.27 $118,110.83
HART received revenue of $2,436 for April from InSite Media – formerly Signal Outdoor (Shelter Advertising). There are 385 shelters in inventory with a total of 788 panels. Of those 788 panels, 764 of them (97%) are sold. In addition, HART has 20 active benches with a minimum monthly guarantee of $250. Month 20-May 30-June 31-July # of Shelter Panels 788 788 792 Panels Sold 744 670 705 % Panels Sold 94% 84.81% 89.02% Shelter Bench $250 $250 $250 Guarantee Monthly Revenue $2,461 $2,461 $2,486 Revenue to Date $ (1,460.05) The year-to-date Commuter Advertising (premier provider of GPS based short form audio and text scroll advertising on transit vehicles).for this contract period is $19,566.88 (excluding guaranteed payment shortfall payment). Prepared by: Jacqueline Halldow, Chief Communication and Marketing Officer Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer 16-8 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019 ______
MONTHLY INFORMATION REPORT
Procurement & Contracts Administration Activity Report ~ July 2019
A. Purchase Requisitions Processed B. The purchase requisition is the beginning of the process by which departments enter requests to purchase goods or services. Processing purchase requisitions involves several departments responsible for verifying need, ensuring adequate funding, and sourcing appropriate vendors. The table below represents the number of purchase requests generated during the reporting period.
Please note that not all purchase requisitions result in a purchase order or vendor contract.
C. Purchase Orders Processed
The purchase order is the document used to acquire goods or services from vendors. Once the purchase requisition has been approved and a vendor sourced, a purchase order is generated and provided to the vendor to begin the delivery process.
The table below represents the number of purchase orders processed during the reporting period.
No. PO's Amount ADMINISTRATION 22 $ 193,023 CAPITAL 15 $ 1,682,316 INVENTORY 146 $ 353,596 MAINTENANCE 188 $ 113,911 OPERATIONS 21 $ 124,836 Grand Total 392 $ 2,467,682
Please note that purchase orders processed during the reporting period may have resulted from related activities that occurred in previous reporting periods.
D. Open Contracts
HART currently holds 110 open contracts, including Task Orders, with a current obligated contract value in excess of $20 million.
16-9 Hillsborough Transit Authority Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2019 ______
E. Sole Source Procurements
There were no sole source awards during the reporting period.
F. Unauthorized Procurements
There were no unauthorized procurements during the reporting period.
Prepared by: John Edmondson, Director of Procurement & Contracts Administration Reviewed by: Cyndy Stiglich, Interim Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Benjamin T. Limmer, AICP, Chief Executive Officer
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