Agenda - 09-05-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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28 1 Commissioner McKee said Craig Benedict mentioned outreach meetings in Mebane and 2 Efland, but this is not mentioned in abstract. He feels that Eno is a key component, due to the 3 high number of people working at Duke who would use this service. 4 Craig Benedict said staff is recommending meeting in Efland Cheeks, Mebane and 5 Hillsborough and this is embedded in attachment 7. 6 Commissioner Pelissier said, having just received staff questions and responses from 7 Triangle Transit tonight, it is difficult for board members to digest all of the information. She 8 would like to request, for the future, that comments be provided ahead of time in order to read 9 and digest. With regard to the process for deciding routes, she would like to see a proposal 10 that has been worked out between both Orange County staff and Triangle Transit staff. 11 Chair Jacobs noted that attachment 7 is on page 45, and this flushes out the updated 12 scheduling. 13 Commissioner Price said she is concerned about the outreach. She has attended a 14 couple of the open houses in Hillsborough and there were more staff than residents. She feels 15 these should be held a more accessible area in the community to increase resident attendance. 16 She suggested a location in the areas or communities where bus stops are proposed. 17 Commissioner Rich she agreed with Commissioner Pelissier. She said she is more 18 familiar with the portion of the plan in Chapel Hill; yet she felt she was bouncing around while 19 reading the agenda. She would like to have the information more fleshed out and organized. 20 Craig Benedict said he agreed that the information is confusing. He said that there will 21 be efforts made over the summer to organize the comments. 22 Commissioner Price asked where things stand with the bus between Mebane and 23 Durham. She asked if this will be an express route or a local bus. 24 Craig Benedict said the intent of the outreach sessions is to ask these questions. 25 Commissioner Price said that citizens have already expressed a desire for more stops 26 along the way. 27 John Talmadge from Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) said there has not been a joint 28 meeting with Orange County staff since May 21 St. He said TTA looks forward to meeting with 29 staff to proceed with this process. He said TTA is ready to work through the issues in order to 30 get proposals to the Board of Commissioners in a timely manner. 31 Commissioner Gordon questioned what needs to be done tonight. She noted that there 32 are Board of County Commissioners and staff comments and TTA has provided responses to 33 some of these, which addresses items 1 & 2 of the stated purpose. She asked about the 34 coordination between county staff and TTA regarding service options and public outreach. She 35 asked, regarding 3 & 4, how this will move forward in the summer. She said that her 36 understanding is that the goal for purpose 5 is to begin service in January 2014. 37 Commissioner Gordon said if the Board moves forward with the proposal on page 8 in 38 attachment 2 (program management team) she feels that Chapel Hill Transit should be listed in 39 addition to Triangle Transit, OPT and the others already listed. 40 She also questioned the hourly costs and the differing OPT costs listed. 41 Craig Benedict answered her last question first and said that the Orange County Bus 42 and Rail Investment plan estimated money to cover service at $58 per hour. He said that if the 43 number is drilled down to specific service OPT can do it for roughly $43 per hour. He said there 44 has been a lot of work done with finance to make sure proper overhead is available. If service 45 can be provided at the lower rate, then it may open the door for more service. 46 Commissioner Gordon said $58 per hour is less expensive than the amount charged by 47 other transit providers. She said that if all of the overhead is counted, she does not see how it 48 can be done for less. 49 Craig Benedict said, regarding items 1 and 2, the responses and questions need to be 50 nailed together to everyone's satisfaction.