CC Minutes - 02/17/10 Work Session

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Ms. Taylor ascertained that Ride Source was a more expensive service. Mr. Vobora said it was hard to calculate whether Ride Source costs would increase, but if they observed a substantial increase in a certain area they would likely reinstate a bus route there. Mr. Eyster stated that for some routes that were cut, LTD was adding service. He asked Mr. Vobora to speak about this. Mr. Vobora said one thing that had received a lot of comment had been the Breeze service, which was slated to be eliminated. He explained that its elimination would provide five percent savings in the budget and it was believed that there was enough capacity using the EmX and adding a little bit of service to other routes. Ms. Taylor commented that bus service was an important way for some people to get to work. She expressed concern that people would not be able to get to work. Mr. Pryor thanked the LTD representatives for coming before the council. He remarked that many people did not realize how spoiled the community was by the great transit system Eugene had. He said LTD was reducing service to what a lot of cities would consider good service. He noted that he was serving on the, committee that was studying EmX corridors for west Eugene. He related that a part of their discussion had been on the cost of delivering passengers via EmX versus the cost per local route. He asked Mr. Vobora if the cost reductions associated with the EmX, once the infrastructure was in, would help with the dilemma. Mr. Vobora confirmed that it would. He said buses in traffic were slowed down and to maintain service levels meant adding buses, which added cost. He commented that the "back of the napkin" estimate seemed to indicate that a passenger on the EmX, cost approximately half as much as a passenger on a regular route. Mr. Pryor asked when LTD would be rolling out its service cuts. Mr. Eyster replied that the first round, to be voted upon later that day, was scheduled to be rolled out in June, and the other cuts, which the Board had yet to act on, were tentatively scheduled for the fall and January, 2011. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the outreach in which LTD had engaged. She was pleased to see that the Bethel and downtown areas would not incur large cuts to their service. Regarding Ride Source, she asked if there was a reimbursement component for it. Mr. Vobora confirmed that there was some reimbursement from the state through the cigarette tax, but the bulk of the cost came from LTD's General Fund. He said most of the Medicare- covered trips utilized taxis. Ms. Ortiz observed that if there was only capacity for two wheelchairs, this could create problems for routes that were near care facilities or places that were foster homes. She asked what would be the answer for those passengers. Mr. Vobora responded that as with any passenger, if the bus was full a person could . get passed by. He explained that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) said the service had to make reasonable accommodations and if a person in a wheelchair was passed a second time, LTD would dispatch a vehicle to pick them up. He noted that they had not had to do that very often. He said the other thing to look to was to increase the capacity of the buses. Mr. Eyster stated that from a board perspective, this was one of the hardest decisions. He related that he had heard testimony from a woman who had used the bus to go to the hospital when she was having a heart attack. He said they regularly encountered people who accessed their medicine, their employment, and their medical care with transit. He explained that they sometimes had to decide between routes with a smaller 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. MINUTES Eugene City Council February 17, 2010 Page 7 Work Session