Board Box
November 17, 2009
Item / Board Box Item / Staff / PagesRecap of Recent Legislative Activities for November 2009 / A. Colaiace / 2-3
New Employee Update / L. Ross / 4
Key Performance IndicatorsNov 09 / A. Torales / 5-8
Financial Report for September 2009 / K. Kuo / 9-21
Executive Summary Update for September 2009 / S. Chang/S. Frye/A. Colaiace/ A. Prem / 22-26
Operations Report for September2009 / A. Torales / 27-42
BOARD BOX ITEM #1
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
TO:BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM:ANDRE COLAIACE, DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES
RE:RECAP OF RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES
State Legislative Activities: I attended a meeting of the California Transit Association’s Legislative Committee at the CTA’s Annual Conference which was held recently in Pasadena. We voted to approve CTA’s 2010 Legislative Program and also heard updates about the Association’s attempt to place an initiative on next year’s ballot to permanently dedicate certain state revenues to public transit.
Federal Legislative Activities:The highlight of the month occurred when newly-appointed Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan came to visit Access Services. As Deputy Administrator, Therese reports to Peter Rogoff, FTA Administrator, and oversees the FTA’s 10 regional offices including the Region 9 Office in San Francisco. Therese was accompanied by Ray Tellis and Jonathan Klein from FTA’s LA Metropolitan Office. During an hour and a half long presentation led by Shelly Verrinder, Access’ management team reviewed paratransit plan and service information as well as Access’ CTSA programs and numerous coordination initiatives, some of which are in the planning stages. There was also discussion on the complexity of the paratransit plan and some compliance issues that Access and FTA had worked through in the past.
As far as enactment of successor legislation to SAFETEA-LU, the House and the Senate appear to be at odds over the timeline for passage. According to APTA, Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has been adamant about keeping pressure on Congress to pass a long-term authorization and has not indicated whether he would support any extension longer than three months.
Local Legislative Activities: We continue to meet with the offices of elected officials and other transit leaders in Los Angeles County. Last week, Shelly Verrinder and I met with Marcel Porras, a Legislative Deputy for Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti. David Gershwin, from Cerrell and Associates, also attended the meeting. We had a wide ranging discussion about Access Services and other transportation issues facing people with disabilities, particularly the future of CityRide and other transportation programs offered by the City of Los Angeles.
We also met with Rita Robinson, who is the General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and also serves on the METRO Board. Former Access Services Board Chair John Fong was also in attendance at the meeting. We discussed how Access Services serves the city of Los Angeles and the status of CityRide and other services that help people with disabilities in Los Angeles.
If you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact me at 213/270-6007.
BOARD BOX ITEM #2
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
TO:BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM:LINDA ROSS, MANAGER OF HUMAN RESOURCES
RE:NEW EMPLOYEE UPDATE
Please join me in welcoming Januelle Johnson to Access Services as our newest Customer Support Representative. Januelle most recently worked for Time Warner Cable as a Customer Service Tech, she scheduled service calls and assisted customers in trouble shooting why their cable wasn’t working. Prior to TWC, Januelle was a CSR for AT&T Wireless/Cingular, Neutrogena, and Spring PCS. Januelle attended Dominguez High School and Cerritos College.
And re-joining Access is Jessica Thompson, who has come back as a Customer Support Representative. Jessica worked for us from September 2007 through February 2009 as a CSR, and left for a short time to go to school full time.
BOARD BOX ITEM #3
NOVEMBER17, 2009
TO:BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM:ALFREDO TORALES, OPERATIONS ANALYST
RE:KEY PREFORMANCE INDICATORS
The following graphs represent key system indicators for the fiscal year as of September 2009. The goal of this communication is to keep everyone informed of the current service performance level in the field.
The operations team uses this and other performance information to monitor our service providers’ performance. Information is also used to determine the level of service that our customers are experiencing when using Access Paratransit.
BOARD BOX ITEM #4
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
TO:BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM:KANDY KUO, MANAGER OF FINANCE
RE:FINANCIAL REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER2009
Attached for your review are the financial reports for September 2009.
Revised and Approved FY 2009/10 Budget to Actual Fiscal Year-to-Date Comparison:
Passengers: 1.2% over budget
Contract Revenue Miles: 0.5% under budget
Trips: 1.1% under budget
Completed Eligibility Interviews: 11.9% under budget
Average Trip Distance: 0.6% over budget at 9.53 miles
Total cost per Passenger (before depreciation): 2.4% under budget
Administration Function is 14.2% under budget
Eligibility Determination Function is 6.2% under budget
Paratransit Operations Function is 0.1% under budget
Attached are the following reports for your review:
- Statistical Comparison:September 2008 to September 2009
- Expenses by Functional Area
- Budget to Actual Comparison of Statistics
- YTD Budget Results
- Graph: YTD PAX CostComparison
- Detailed Financial Reports
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Expenses by Functional Area
For the YTD Period Ending September 2009
% ofCost / YTD
Actual / YTD
Budget / Variance / % Over
<Under>
Budget / % Over
<Under>
Previous Yr
Paratransit Operations / 90.0% / $ 20,281,924 / $ 20,295,797 / $ (13,873) / -0.1% / 3.8%
Eligibility Determination / 5.1% / 1,144,232 / 1,219,500 / (75,268) / -6.2% / 4.8%
CTSA/Ride Information / 0.4% / 93,629 / 98,257 / (4,628) / -4.7% / -8.9%
Administrative / 4.5% / 1,028,269 / 1,198,664 / (170,395) / -14.2% / -12.2%
Total Exp before Depreciation / $ 22,548,054 / $ 22,812,218 / (264,165) / -1.2%% / 2.9%
Statistics - - For the YTD Period Ended September2009
YTDActual / YTD
Budget / Variance / % Over
<Under>
Budget / % Over
<Under>
Previous Yr
Number of Completed Cert Interviews / 8,479 / 9,621 / (1,142) / -11.9% / 14.6%
Number of PAX / 686,757 / 678,463 / 8,294 / 1.2% / -2.3%
Number of Contract Revenue Miles / 5,005,846 / 5,031,152 / (25,306) / -0.5% / -4.8%
Number of Trips / 525,545 / 531,444 / (5,899) / -1.1% / -4.2%
Average Trip Distance / 9.53 / 9.47 / 0.06 / 0.6% / 0.6%
Purchased Transportation Cost
Cost per Trip / $ 34.29 / $ 33.98 / $ 0.31 / 0.9% / 1.8%
Cost per PAX / $ 26.24 / $ 26.62 / $ (0.38) / -1.4% / -0.2%
Cost per Contract Rev Mile / $ 3.60 / $ 3.59 / $ (0.01) / 0.3% / 2.4%
Total Cost per Pax before
depreciation / $ 32.83 / $ 33.62 / $ (0.79) / -2.4% / 5.4%
Budget Results for FY 2009/2010
YTDActual / YTD
Budget / Variance Over <Under>
Budget / % Over <Under> Budget / % Over
<Under>
Previous Yr
Total Exp before Capital @ September 2009 / $ 22,548,054 / $ 22,812,218 / $ (264,165) / -1.2% / 2.9%
Revenue
Passenger Fares / 1,255,283 / 1,161,223 / (94,060)
Other Revenue / 82,760 / 105,710 / 22,950
Total Revenue / 1,338,043 / 1,266,933 / (71,110) / -5.6% / -1.7%
Capital Expenditures
Vehicles / 1,356,672 / 1,356,970 / (298)
Other Capital Expenditures / 265,880 / 260,658 / 5,222
Total Capital Expenditures / $ 1,622,552 / $ 1,617,628 / 4,924 / 0.3%
Under Budget @ September 2009 / $ (330,351
For the YTD Period Ending September2009
YTD COST PER PASSENGER BEFORE DEPRECIATION AND CAPITAL COST
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Access Services Incorporated
Balance Sheet
September30, 2009
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash 5,118,043
Grant Receivable 601,602
Due from FTA 5,576,158
Due from MTA 2,882,625
CMAQ Grant Receivable 452,943
Accounts Receivable-Miscellaneous 62,630
Prepaid Expenses 2,669,974
Deposits 56,075
Total Current Assets 17,420,050
Long Term Assets:
Property and Equipment:
Vehicles & Vehicle Equipment23,676,097
Office Furniture and equipment 286,638
Computer & Telephone Equipment 2,307,900
Central Reservation Software 971,769
Leasehold Improvements 226,283
Total Property and Equipment 27,468,687
Accumulated Amortization & Depreciation (16,172,643)
Property and Equipment, Net11,296,044
Total Long Term Assets 11,296,044
Total Assets 28,716,094
Access Services Incorporated
Balance Sheet
September 30, 2009
LIABILITIES ANDNET ASSETS
Current Liabilitites:
Accounts Payable-Trade1,389,644
Accounts Payable-Providers5,746,487
Accrued Expenses 1,314,260
Total Current Liabilities 8,450,391
Other Liabilities:
Deferred Revenue13,675,079
Total Liabilities22,125,470
Net Assets:
Temporarily Restricted 6,590,624
TOTAL LIABILITIES ANDNET ASSETS28,716,094
Access Services Incorporated
Statement of Cashflow
For Period Ending September 30, 2009
Cash – Beginning Balance 8/31/09 3,504,883
Cash Receipts:
Proposition C revenue from LACMTA 2,848,250
FTA funding received 5,411,353
Section 16 revenue 0
Passenger fare/coupons/ID revenue 430,384
Interest income 1,263
Providers’ contract penalties 0
Miscellaneous revenues 81,207
Total Cash Received 8,772,457
Cash Payments:
Vehicles/Vehicle equipment 79,804 Capital Equipment 104,206
Leasehold Improvement 0
Prepaid expenses/deposits 120,960
Payments to contract providers 5,891,120
Eligibility Determination expenses 230,685 Salaries and related benefits 376,324 Contract Labor 0
Other expenses 356,197
Total Cash Payments 7,159,297
Increase (Decrease) in Cash Reserves 1,613,160
Cash – Ending Balance9/30/09 5,118,043
Note: The above statement of cash flow presents the more significant financial categories and their changes for internal use only. This statement is not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting reporting standards.
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BOARD BOX ITEM #5
NOVEMBER17, 2009
TO:BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM:ACCESS SERVICES MANAGEMENT STAFF
RE:EXECUTIVE SUMMARY UPDATE FOR SEPTEMBER 2009
STEVE CHANG – DIRECTOR OF CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
Operations update:
Continuation of the local mountain fires, repeater related communication issues, computer server problems, and driver/dispatcher schedule changes were all the operation challenges presented to our service providers during the month of September. Typically the month of September is a high demand month for Access. This year, however, we actually experienced a 9.3% drop in ridership in September when compared to the same month in 2008. Despite the drop in ridership, the external and internal challenges caused a 3.12% drop in system on-time performance (OTP) when compared to 2008, where we ended the month at 88.27% on-time and excessive late trips (Late4s) doubled at 0.20%. As we recovered and started to re-gain control over the operation towards the end of September, service providers were gearing up to deal with the expected increase in ridership for October.
September saw the continuation of the Weekly Joint Safety meetings. The Weekly Joint Safety Committee meetings are coordinated by the Project Administrators and are conducted to:
- Review any accidents/incidents from the previous week to look for patterns or possible corrective actions
- Review safety programs and content of safety meetings to ensure that current issues are being addressed
- Conduct panel hearings to determine the corrective action(s) for drivers removed from service for preventable accidents involving serious injury or property damage
In addition to conducting panel hearings when necessary for more serious accidents, we have also met with drivers involved in less serious and/or non-preventable accidents to determine if there are any factors present at the time of the accident that provide a pattern when compared to other similar accidents. Such factors as time of day, weather, traffic, the driver’s shift start and end time, and other factors are gathered.
David Foster – Project Administrator, West Central and Eastern Regions-For the second consecutive year, San Gabriel Transit (Eastern Region) and California Transit, Inc. (West Central Region) were able to meet and exceed all the key performance indicators during the month of September! This is a significant trend since neither region was able to meet the on-time performance standard in the month of September since June 2003. When compared to 2008, service demand in the Eastern Region went up 3.13% and service demand dropped by 9.78% in the West Central Region.
Evie Palicz – Project Administrator, Southern Region and Eligibility -The “Station Fire” continued to be a challenge for Global Paratranist, but the communication backup plan that Global implemented before the fires enabled drivers to keep in touch with the Global base operations.
Luis Garcia – Project Administrator, Northern, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley Regions - Santa Clarita Transit
Santa Clarita region closed the month of September with an on-time performance of 96.78%. Santa Clarita continues to demonstrate a positive service quality trend. During the later part of September, customers experienced a brief technical disruption with the phone system; the issue was rectified shortly after it was reported. Proactive measures are currently under development to ensure the frequency of phone line disruptions are reduced to a minimum.
Southland Transit
As a result of diligent efforts from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the “Station Fire” was contained in a manner that allowed the reinstatement of the transfer trips between the Antelope Valley and the Los Angeles Basin, as early as September 3rd. The transfer trips were suspended for several days during the peak fire condition period, which caused an inconvenience for some customers; Access‘s goal was to ensure our customers are safe when traveling in the affected fire areas. During the month of September, Southland Transit conducted several operational modifications to their dispatch center. These modifications are necessary to accommodate a steady increase in ridership demand in the Antelope Valley service region. Southland Transit closed the month of September with an on-time performance of 87%. Southland Transit management has drafted a firm corrective action plan to address some of the operational issues. Their focus is to improve performance to the expected performance level in the upcoming months.
MV Transportation
The primary communication tower for the San Fernando Valley service region is located on Mount Lukens. As a result of the “Station Fire” the Lukens communication tower was disabled, which had an adverse effect on MV Transportation’s operation. The secondary communication tower is located on Saddle Peak Mountain, which provides less radio coverage for MV. This leaves MV Transportation no choice but to revert to their contingency plan. Trips were performed, however, with limited data and voice communication, the ability to transmit and document accurate GPS data for on-time performance calculation is compromised. MV Transportation closed the month of September with an on-time performance of 86.76%. A joint effort between MV Transportation and Access staff was launched to review alternative communication network solutions to be incorporated into the contingency plan.
SEAN FRYE, DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SUPPORT SERVICES
Customer Service, Customer Care and Operations Monitoring Update:
Customer Service - handled exactly 16,328 calls in September 2009, representing an increase of 7.5% from the previous month of August. The Average Initial Hold Time (AIHT) for customers was 3.3 minutes in September, as compared to 3.2 minutes in August of 2009. Fewer than one half of one percent of the total calls handled in Customer Service for the month of September concerned individuals who claimed their pickup times were being rescheduled without their knowledge or permission. Again, customers were very understanding when the representatives took the time to explain possible causes for this problem. This “educational approach” resulted in fewer actual complaints on the matter. In September we found that the merge of the two work groups (Operations Monitoring and Customer Service) continued to be successful in managing Average Initial Hold Time, with only a few minor internal issues requiring attention. Customer Service also continues training its agents in Customer Care (Complaints handling). However, this training has been at a slightly slower pace than is desirable, due to the fact that Customer Care has its own caseloads to attend to and manage. Nevertheless, this training continues to be a priority for the department, as it will provide the Customer Service Representative with a comprehensive knowledge of how Customer concerns are investigated. With the Access Safety and Risk Management protocols nearing completion, Customer Service supervisors met with each of the Representatives to review the Customer Service steps within this process. Customer Service personnel were also afforded the opportunity to “Question & Answer” the entire process with management in order to clarify their understanding of these newly-revised safety protocols.
Customer Care (Complaints) - experienced a notable surge in complaints during the month of September by comparison to previous months. Total complaints numbered 1,279 in September 2009, which represents a 27.4% increase from August 2009 and an 11.7% increase over September of the previous year. Complaint calendar year-to-date (YTD) totals numbered 10,159 in September 2009. At this time last year, calendar YTD complaint totals numbered 9,376, which demonstrates a 7.7% increase in current YTD complaint totals. As usual, September 2009’s top three complaint types accounted for nearly half (48%) of all complaints and consisted of the following categories: Service, Late 4, and Discourtesy, in that order. Each Customer Care Specialist maintains a journal of complaint trends that are compiled anecdotally from conversations with customers. This month Customer Care’s “manual trend reporting” identified the following items as primary reasons for service disruption in September: 1) late dispatching of vehicles and 2) drivers both waiting at the wrong location and waiting less than the five-minute dwell time. Customer Care continues to scrupulously identify all safety-related concerns as appropriate in order to keep both the Safety Awareness and Risk Management groups apprised of possible hazards and so on.
Operations Monitoring -saw a slight increase in call volume with the total calls for September 2009 numbering 6,614. This represents an 11% increase from the previous month of August. This increase can most likely be attributed to school being back in session. Also affecting the increase were several fires burning in the foothills that surround the Los Angeles basin area. This not only impacted the usually seamless flow of transfer trips, but it caused damage to radio tower equipment maintained by the Providers. The total number of backup vehicles dispatched in September was 459. This represents a 22% increase over August, where only 374 backup vehicles were dispatched. Operations Monitoring lost one employee to an internal promotion during the month of September. At the time of this report the position has yet to be filled. Every month each OMC agent is required to target one customer for a “service improvement.” This requires the employee to come up with “solutions” that address an individual customer’s service issue (for instance, by implementing ride monitoring or by scheduling a location evaluation, etc.). During the month of September nine out of 10 OMC agents completed a service improvement for individual customers.
ANDRE COLAIACE, DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES
Mobility Management at Work:
Stephen Wrenn – Mobility Counselor, Ride Info–Ride Info is a constant work in progress to locate other transportation options that Access Riders and others can utilize as an alternative to Access paratransit. The Access Services website has been revised to further explain the types of resources a person has in Los Angeles County. (See “Other Transit Resources” on the Access website at The links in the Local Transit Service Directory and the Regional Transit service Directory are monitored to insure that they are functional. (This information was previously found in the Access “Grey Book.”) In addition to the website, people can still call the RideInfo number to receive help on locating transportation options from a customer service representative or a member of the Mobility Management staff.