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D R A F T <br />54 <br />Peter Murphy shared that the assessment study prepared by KFH group, the consultants hired by NCDOT to 55 <br />review Orange County public transportation, is working on the study’s final version and there are a few changes 56 <br />still coming. He gave an overview of it to the Board. 57 <br />58 <br />Heidi Perry asked Peter what Light Transit Vehicle meant. 59 <br />60 <br />Peter Murphy responded that Light Transit Vehicle (LTV) is the mid-size bus. The seating can range from 14 to 61 <br />24 passengers. 62 <br />63 <br />Erle Smith asked about driver population. 64 <br />65 <br />Peter Murphy replied that they recently added 7 drivers and now are up to 15 and will be hiring more which will 66 <br />coincide with future additional service. 67 <br />68 <br />Alex Castro asked about coverage for the dispatch function if the only employee in that position is out. 69 <br />70 <br />Peter Murphy responded that they are a small operation and right now he and Malcolm are in the office along 71 <br />with two other people and everyone does crossover functions. They may be looking at adding additional 72 <br />personnel in the new budget year. 73 <br />74 <br />Erle Smith asked what the utilization rate is for drivers and vehicles across the 12 hour time frame. 75 <br />76 <br />Peter Murphy noted that using the software they can predict that and noted things will be tweaked to merge them 77 <br />together. The drivers don’t do just one thing all day. The bulk of the work right now is demand response. Taking 78 <br />people to doctor appointments and this varies. 79 <br />80 <br />Heidi Perry asked about the life expectancy for a bus. 81 <br />82 <br />Peter Murphy responded that it is probably 4 to 5 years. 83 <br />84 <br />Alex Castro asked if the replacement cycle is 4 years. 85 <br />86 <br />Peter Murphy noted it is predicted based on mileage. 87 <br />88 <br />Ted Triebel asked if it is cost effective. 89 <br />90 <br />Peter Murphy noted that information will be part of the next quarterly meeting. 91 <br />92 <br />Heidi Perry asked how they are getting the word out. 93 <br />94 <br />Peter Murphy noted that so far it is done internally through the media department. 95 <br />96 <br />Heidi Perry commented about whether advertising could be put in place with the hospital and court systems, 97 <br />etc., giving people information about the availability of transportation between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. 98 <br />99 <br />Alex Castro commented that the Dept. of Aging is working on this too. 100 <br />101 <br />Ted Triebel asked what the drivers are paid. 102 <br />103 <br />Peter Murphy responded that most drivers earn between $13 to $17 an hour. The starting rate is better than 104 <br />most in the area. The drivers of the larger buses like they have in Chapel Hill do get paid more. 105 <br />106 <br />4