SMART Advisory Council

SMART Advisory Council

December 12, 2014 - Minutes

Buhl Building

SMART Board Room, 6th Floor

535 Griswold St.

Detroit, MI 48226

The meeting was called to order by Chairman James Cole. Michael Patten called the roll of voting members. A quorum was established.

Motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda. Motion passed.

Motion was made and seconded to approve the September 19, 2014 minutes. Motion passed.

Those in attendance introduced themselves.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

James Cole reminded everyone that each participant is limited to three (3) minutes per comment.

Thanks to SMART’s support, PEAC’s school-based program of travel training has made a positive impact on people with cognitive disabilities. At a recent appropriations committee meeting at the Capitol in Lansing, students were able to express how important funding is for these types of programs.

Students from Visions Unlimited at OCC expressed that the program has allowed them to continue to be independent and that they are thankful to SMART for providing transportation.

A concern was expressed that Canton needs to have SMART service restored.

There have been repeated concerns made that all-day service needs to be restored to downtown Detroit.

A few instances occurred on buses with regards to rude drivers. Everything is now recorded audibly and visually via cameras on buses. Passengers need to register formal complaints online or by calling customer service. Only by registering a formal complaint can an issue be resolved.

Per the training that SMART provides to all new drivers, a driver should never assume that a passenger with a disability needs assistance. The driver should only assist when asked.

SERVICE UPDATES – J. Fetzer

Thank you to the Teamsters rep for being here. A thank you is also extended to PEAC for attending the meeting.

The new Dearborn transit center will have a grand opening on Monday. SMART will be servicing the center when the new route changes take effect in January.

The Troy transit center is opened but SMART is not yet serving it because of a pending court case.

Bids are being sought to rebuild the 38 fixed route buses from DDOT. They need a lot of work and will take much time to rebuild.

More audio announcements on buses will be added in January.

The new small buses that are being ordered will operate on propane and have the same 3-step plus 1-step floor configuration. All steps will have yellow paint instead of white. Poles and grips will be bright yellow for better visibility. The buses will also have brighter lighting. Patten commented that the four-step configuration that the SAC asked about was deemed unsafe for passengers with disabilities due to the shallowness of the steps. He noted that your foot would hang over the edge of the step and anyone using a four prong cane would not have all four points on the step.

FY 2016 VEHICLE ACCESSIBILITY PLAN UPDATE – I. Holme

Copies of the update were distributed to SAC voting members. The update was accepted as presented.

RIDERSHIP GUIDELINES REVISIONS UPDATE – M. Patten

Due to the automatic reminder call system, the ridership guidelines are revised to reflect that to cancel a scheduled trip it can be cancelled anytime prior to the day of the trip, instead of before 4:00 p.m. on the day before the trip. With on-board cameras installed, verbal or physical abuse of passengers or drivers will result in an immediate suspension. Motion was made and seconded to accept the changes to the guidelines – passed. Patten informed the SAC that there have been two instances where small bus drivers were injured while pushing an obese passenger in a manual wheelchair while providing door to door assistance. With that in mind, the weight limit of a passenger in a wheelchair is being changed from 400 pounds to 300 pounds.

ONLINE SCHEDULING PRESENTATION - D. Whitehouse

This item is postponed until the March 20, 2015 meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

There are lawsuits pending with regards to the relocation of the bus stops at Detroit Metro Airport.

COUNCIL MEMBERS BUSINESS

Clark Charnetski provided copies of the latest issue of Michigan Rider newspaper.

Frank Cunningham has accepted a request to be a member of the new RTA advisory board.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

With the construction of the new Red Wings arena, Michael Patten will be working to be sure that the facility is ADA compliant.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the SAC is Friday, March 20, 2015 at 9:00a.m., tentatively at SMART’s downtown offices.