San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project (SFTEP)

 

SUMMARY

SFTEP Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) Meeting

Thursday, July 19th, 2007

One South Van Ness, Room 3074 (3^rd Floor)

 

Following is a summary of the July 19^th meeting of the SFTEP Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) for the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP). This meeting included a review of internal CAC process, communication strategies and meeting logistics. A short project update followed.  Finally, a presentation summarizing the draft findings of Muni Operations Review was shared.  Questions and comments (C) throughout the presentation are captured below.

 

PARTICIPANTS

 

CAC Members/Alternates	Public	Project Team
Becky Evans, SFMTA Citizen Advisory Committee Bert Hill, Bicycle Advisory Committee Bob Planthold, Senior Action Network Brian J. Larkin, SFCTA Citizen Advisory Committee Bruce Oka, SFMTA Accessibility Advisory Committee Bruce Wolfe, Coalition for Transit Justice Daniel Murphy, SFMTA Citizens� Advisory Committee David Pilpel, Sierra Club David Snyder, SPUR Gary Noguera, SFMTA Citizen Advisory Committee Heather World, Parents for Public Schools Howard Strassner, Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee Jim Lazarus, SF Chamber of Commerce Leslie Clark, SFMTA Accessibility Advisory Committee Lorraine Woodruff-Long, Parents for Public Schools Norman Rolfe, SF Tomorrow Tom Radulovich, Livable City	Eric P. Scott	SFMTA Julie Kirschbaum Ken McDonald   Controller�s Office Sally Allen Liz Garcia   TEP Consultant Team Russ Chisholm Laura McVittie

 

 

I.               REVIEW CAC PROCESS AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES

 

TEP staff and interested CAC members met before the meeting to discuss protocols for , scheduling and outreach to diverse comties and opportunities to improve these practices.  Members discussed potential solutions to their concerns with the CAC as it was running to-date.  These concerns and solutions were shared with the larger CAC at the beginning of the regular CAC meeting.  No additional suggestions were made. The proposed solutions to be implemented include the following:

 

1.  Committing to standing meeting schedule.

No future scheduled meetings will be cancelled.  These dates include August 9th, September 19th, October 11, December 19^th as noted on the advisory committee schedules are posted on the project website at: (http://www.sftep.com/meetings.html).  In the past, meetings have been cancelled if a deliverable (report) has not been finalized in time for that scheduled meeting.  Should that happen in the future, the regularly scheduled meeting will take a "semi-structured" approach, meaning that the agenda will allow for members to convene and develop topics for discussion.  

 

2. Setting an alternate meeting time for all members each month.

In addition to the second Thursday of the month, an alternate, regular date will be selected each month to serve as the official "back up date" should we need an additional meeting to review deliverables.  The intent of this second date is to avoid conflicts with members' schedules, as some experienced when we have rescheduled meetings in the past.  Possible dates will be selected based on availability of members and staff.  

 

3. Sharing a written summary of outreach activities for CAC members.

The TEP project team will develop a monthly written update for CAC members based on a format used by the SFMTA CAC.  This will incorporate the Community Presentation Schedule which can be found on the project website at http://www.sftep.com/meetings.html.

4. Notifying interested members of TEP Policy Advisory Group (PAG) meetings.

All advisory committee schedules are posted on the project website: http://www.sftep.com/meetings.html.  However, any members needing additional notice should contact staff. 

 

5. Sharing service data (on CD or Web).

Depending on the format, staff will share line-by-line data from the Automatic Passenger Counters (APC) either by CD (by request) or through the website when it becomes available.

 

6. Contacting suggested groups to invite more diversity to the CAC.

Members agreed to suggest groups for TEP staff to contact regarding CAC membership, community briefings and other outreach events (such as the youth and family transit forums). 

 

7. Conducting informal polls of CAC members who have not attended meetings recently. TEP staff is interested in learning more about how the CAC can engage all CAC members and the organizations they represent.  Staff committed to following up with members who have not attended the last few CAC meetings.

 

8.  Recommitting to CAC objectives.

Members agreed they would recommit to the CAC objectives.  These guidelines request that members:

1.  Review information provided on the proposed San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project (SFTEP).

2.   Assist in guiding the development of the SFTEP by providing constructive input and feedback.

3.   Recognize that the SFTEP is a citywide effort and must be responsive to San Francisco at large. 

4.   Balance your need to represent the interests of your group, organization or constituency with citywide interests.

5.   Establish a dialogue with your group, organization or constituency during the CAC process so that their views may be incorporated into your input.

6.   Commit to participating actively at meetings and during the CAC process.

7.   Actively listen to fellow CAC members and work hard to understand their interests and viewpoints so that you can contribute recommendations that reflect this understanding.

8.   Maximize the value of your contribution to the CAC effort while recognizing that the ultimate decisions will rest with the MTA Board of Directors and possibly the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, depending on the scope of proposed changes.

 

II.              TEP PROJECT UPDATE

 

TEP staff provided a brief update on the status of key tasks.  The next round of citywide public workshops is being planned for this fall.  Online survey responses, approximately 3,000, are in the process of being �cleaned� (that is, duplicates are being removed) to prepare for the analysis and subsequent dissemination.   SFMTA employee in-reach continues with TEP staff eliciting feedback from the operators and dispatch staff in conversation, through surveys and during ride-alongs.  Community outreach continues, therefore CAC members should continue to schedule community briefings with TEP staff members.  Also, a �portable presentation� is being developed to allow CAC members, themselves to provide updates to their member organizations and other groups they would like to target.

 

III.            TEP OPERATIONS REVIEW PRESENTATION

 

Russ Chisholm presented draft preliminary findings from a review of Muni operations, covering three broad areas:

• Service Planning and Scheduling
• Division Management
• Field Service Management

 

The presentation emphasized system reliability as the number one issue.  Preliminary recommendations for achieving reliability include a multi-pronged effort focused on increased staffing in critical functions, and procurement and deployment of new technologies (e.g., radio system, train control system).  This report will continue to be refined as findings are shared with stakeholders and the SFMTA Board.

 

Muni Operations Review Discussion

 

Ken McDonald, SFMTA Chief Operating Officer, joined the TEP project team for this portion of the meeting to discuss the draft findings of the operations review.

CAC members had the following comments. 

 

On Ridership and Usage

• Both the reliability trends and their causes should be looked at. 
• SFMTA should consider industry standards and different fleet models to address the overcrowded bus routes.
• Note that if you lose ridership on community lines, you lose ridership on trunk lines.
• Perhaps the new changes and the addition of the T-line play into the responses from the TEP surveys.
• Muni needs to address obstacles like traffic in the street to improve speed and reliability.
• Please specify or define �long-term� when making recommendations addressing capacity.
• Bicycle sharing will start in the City, which can increase ridership along main transit lines. Muni should consider options that involve other modes of transportation besides buses and light rail.

 

On Division Management

• It would be helpful to add to the presentation the number of employees that the category of �supervisor� includes.
• Quality control and the improvements being considered should be at the grass roots and from the top down.
• The presentation should clearly note why hiring has been limited at times (e.g., lack of funds or applicants).
• As the Muni jobs change, the qualifications and job titles need to adjust to reflect the new expectations and required skills.
• We should not wait for completion of the TEP to start hiring or to begin filling needed positions.
• Quality management techniques that involve employees across departments should be considered.
• The hiring and staffing problems cannot be solved at the same level of functioning and processes and procedures. Changes can only happen with testing and a plan. The paradigm shift has to move toward testing.
• We should all remember that employees are retiring all of the time.

 

 

 

 

On Field Service Management

• It would be helpful to add to the presentation the turnover rate of rail and electric cars.
• In terms of field supervision, at the Forest Hill station, there was once a supervisor who stood on the street. It makes a big difference when someone is out there on the streets.
• Communications improvements should begin today.
• Active stress management training for operators and managers should be provided to reduce stress-related absenteeism and poor customer service.  In Japan there are stress management activities before work.
• SFMTA should beef-up their Human Resources Department.
• There is some hope that if you improve the average speed that you won�t need as many drivers, though there is the possibility that when you improve the speed you attract more riders.

 

IV.           NEXT STEPS

 

Copies of the presentation will be made available by e-mail or hard copy by request.  A shorter summary version of the Muni Operations Review is being prepared for the SFMTA Board meeting on August 21st.  The shorter presentation will be easier to share more broadly with other organizations and folded into our general outreach. 

 

The next regularly scheduled TEP CAC meeting is August 9, 2007.

 

V.             PUBLIC COMMENT

None.