Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

number of riders, many of whom were very dependent, versus a route with a lot of riders. He likened it to having to pick between one’s children. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the work they were doing and hoped that LTD would be able to add services back. Mr. Eyster said adding services back would be their goal. Mr. Eyster stated that because federal funds were used in bus purchases, they knew that the federal expectation for life expectancy for a bus was 12 years. He said LTD maintained and ran its buses for 17 years on average. Mr. Brown asked what criteria were used for cutting routes. Mr. Eyster said he could provide a broad overview answer. He reiterated that what they knew was that they had a $6 million problem that had to be fixed over the course of two years. He underscored that the goal of LTD was to maintain the long-term viability of the system. Mr. Vobora highlighted examples of routes and ridership and how they had tried to weigh the needs of riders and bus routes in trying to impact the system the least. Ms. Ortiz asked how capacity on the bus was determined. Mr. Vobora explained that there was a white line on the bus that could not be crossed for safety reasons and once buses were full to that point, no more riders would be admitted until some debarked. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the bus the University had contracted to take young people from the downtown area to King’s Row housing late at night. Mr. Vobora affirmed that the funding of the service had just been renewed and he expressed appreciation for these kinds of partnerships. Mayor Piercy stressed the importance of speaking with a united voice in support of transit. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 17, 2010 Page 8 Work Session