Citizens Advisory Committee of the Regional Transit Authority of SE MI

Monday, March 23, 2015

SEMCOG 1001 Woodward Suite 1400 Detroit, MI

Meeting Minutes

Welcome / Quorum5 minutes

Called to order with quorum at 4:08pm

Public Comment 10 minutes

Jim Casha – quoted poetry, noted State Fairgrounds redevelopment is NOT final, expressed concern that it is “a sham” and that WCCCD and the RTA would have to buy property, and quoted Patrick Henry

Larry Krieg, Washtenaw County – AAATA has begun negotiations with new CEO; also introduced Wake Up Washtenaw, advocacy org working to 1) build support for E-W A2D Rail, 2) make sure A2 gets best new station location, 3) support NS WALLY rail

RTA / Guest Introductions (notify chair ahead of time)10 minutes

Ben Stupka is new RTA Manager of Finance and Planning

Travis Gonyou – RTA Communications and Outreach Manager

Elnora Austell – contractor for outreach and engagement

Approval of February 23, 2015 Minutes5 minutes

Minutes approved

RTA Update from Michael Ford10 minutes

Handed out printed update on RMTAP and three corridor Action Plans

“Clear your calendar for May-August – we’ll be busy!”

Would like liaisons for each of those projects from the CAC

Would like someone with finance skills for an upcoming Financial Task Force

Also asking CAC to be involved with Coordinated Services Plan with DDOT, will be here next month

Exploring now:

Draft ordinance enabling SMART to drop off and pick up in Detroit, getting feedback from Mr. Poisson of Oakland County and others

Moving forward on airport service for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne Counties, will get RFP out soon, appreciate help from Adrianna J and David W; don’t yet have necessary funds but exploring federal support

Fare coordination study – a seamless integration between systems

(added late) RTACAC.org will be moved over soon to RTAMichigan.org

Questions/comments from

Patty F with big thank you and request for advance notice of input opportunities

John W wanting to ensure ADA inclusion, received strong commitment from Mr. Ford

CAC Chair Update/Executive Committee Summary20 minutes

  • Roberts Rules
  • Susan Pullay summarized process for effective meetings, as provided in “Our Rules of Order (Roberts Rules Adapted)”
  • RTA Committee Assignments, Communication, Tools
  • RTA staff requested liaisons for
  • Question re time commitment, esp during biz hours; MF will give a sense within the next week
  • ACTION – if you’re potentially interested, email the chair
  • ACTION – Megan will work with RTA staff to send out list of new liaison roles
  • New Members to Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC)
  • Liz Gerber updated – opportunity to add 3 new people to CAC – newly rejoined by Clive D’Souza (Washtenaw); still looking for new Wayne (non-Detroit) and Macomb representatives
  • ACTION – send suggestions to Liz Gerber, but please DO NOT invite them yourselves due to need to balance other representation requirements

Action Items (requiring vote or other actions)10 minutes

  • Proposed By-Law Changes
  • Realized that we’re not ready to make change because complete version is not available for everyone
  • Chair suggests returning question to Exec for revision
  • Comment – requesting copies of current adopted bylaws and proposed changes
  • Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Strategies Recommendation, Rec # 15 -1
  • Introduced by Patty Fedewa and explained by Adrianna Jordan who noted that policy committee has discussed and revised twice and is ready for full CAC adoption
  • Question re necessity now, before planning process – addressed with explanation that all across the country goal of cost saving leads to watering down of best practice with “BRT Creep”, and that Woodward BRT is already being watered down with proposal of shared lanes off of Woodward in the midtown area
  • Question re Gold Standard – want to provide best practices without sticking to one definition
  • FYI – Michigan Suburbs Alliance / Metro Matters will be putting out in-depth study of Woodward BRT vs “Gold Standard”
  • Comment reminded that BRT is good if it done well, but can be very bad if corners are cut and the service doesn’t meet the “hype”, potentially undermining credibility of the RTA
  • Caution / comment – we can set the Gold Standard, but will the region pay for it?
  • Chair explained that as is a proposal officially recommended by the Policy Committee thus does not need a second
  • Vote – approved

Discussion Items (seeking input or providing information)20 minutes

  • Sub-Committee Goals for 2015
  • Tina A-M introduced document summarizing CAC Vision/Mission/Sub-Committee Goals, with suggestion of updating and revisiting regularly
  • Suggestion of deadlines

Announcements

Next month DDOT will be here re Coordinated Human Services Plan

Note that Outreach Subcommittee will get much more active

Our May meeting is scheduled for Memorial Day – Exec will suggest alternative date soon

Suggestion of developing calendar for entire year

Sub-committees will meet immediately following adjournment

Adjournment – adjourned to subcommittees at 5:10

In Attendance:

Kathleen Alessandro

LaurenBaker

FrankCunningham

Arthur Divers

Stephanie Donaldson

Patty Fedewa

Prashanth Gururaja

John Harris

GeraldHasspacher

Adrianna Jordan

AndrewJustus

Hannah Kelley

Larry Krieg

Tina Abbate-Marzolf

Richard Murphy

Lisa Nuszkowski

LouiseOtt

MeganOwens

Marie Pacini

MelaniePiana

SusanPollay

BrianSadek

ToddScott

Michael Seunagal

Micki Solonika

John Waterman

DavidWeinreich

Next Meeting:

Monday, April 27, 2015

SEMCOG 1001 Woodward Suite 1400 Detroit, MI