Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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in recovery, LTD proposed to increase service by two percent and to continue to add service if permitted by economic conditions. Mr. Pangborn shared information about LTD’s transportation demand management programs and projects, which included group pass programs, Commuter Solutions, RideSource, employer outreach, Park and Ride, and the Diamond Express, which served Oakridge and Westfir. Mr. Pangborn compared LTD’s operating characteristics with those of selected transit providers with fixed route systems, noting the data indicated that LTD’s performance was better than average in terms of cost and much better than average in terms of ridership. Responding to a question from Mr. Papé, Mr. Pangborn clarified that the comparisons did not include capital expenditures. Capital expenditures for transit agencies could vary wildly from year to year, depending on the projects and programs being funded. In response to a follow-up question from Mr. Papé, Mr. Pangborn said that as a public agency, LTD did not depreciate its assets. Mr. Pangborn invited other questions. Ms. Ortiz determined from Mr. Pangborn that the Betsy grant was a credit that came through from the State of Oregon, and did not affect the transportation reimbursement the school districts received from the State school funding formula. They were separate programs. Mr. Pangborn noted that the 4J School District started a program through which it sold bus passes to high school and middle school students living near LTD bus lines and reduced its transportation service costs. Mayor Piercy asked if LTD had a way of knowing what schools took the greatest advantage of the bus pass programs. Mr. Pangborn said that LTD counted people getting on and off the bus and could compare utilization at stops near schools when school was in and out of session. He said that LTD knew there was high student use of the passes to travel to and from school, but he acknowledged that LTD lacked information about whether students used passes at other times to reach other destinations. He noted that the State Department of Energy was pleased by the statistics LTD shared with it in regard to the student programs. Mayor Piercy questioned if LTD could benefit from the experience of schools having greater success with the programs. Mr. Pangborn said that LTD began its effort with the schools with the best bus service and worked with those schools to promote the programs to students. He noted that this was the first full year of the program and he anticipated that LTD would learn from its experience and increase use. Mr. Kelly found the statistics provided by LTD to be a testament to the good work the district did. When he moved to Eugene he had been struck by the size of the bus network compared to the size of the city. He believed ridership statistics showed increased demand, and he believed there could be a quantum leap in demand if there was a higher level of service. He said that people who did not have to use the bus were discouraged from using it when routes were not nearby or did not travel at a frequency that encouraged use. He thought the cost of a fare was less of a consideration for such riders. Mr. Pangborn agreed. Mr. Kelly supported the payroll tax that currently underwrote the system but suggested that further discussion was needed about how to broaden the revenue base to increase service levels. He thought that discussion could appropriately occur at the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) as that group weighed transportation priorities around the region. Mr. Kortge noted the difficult process the LTD board went through in evaluating routes on an annual basis. Mr. Kelly acknowledged that situation, noting that before he joined the council, he lobbied the board with regard to Laurel Valley service. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 12, 2006 Page 2 Work Session