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1 T:\Advisory Boards\Orange Unified Transportation Board\Minutes\2006\OUTBoard Minutes 10-18-06.doc 1 Orange Unified Transportation Board Meeting Summary October 18, 2006 John M. Link, Jr. Government Services Center, Hillsborough, NC Members Present: Nancy Cole Baker; Jan Grossman; Elisabeth Lake; Sam Lasris; Randy Marshall; Pascale Mittendorf; Robert Peterson; Sandy Quinn; James Ray; Bryn Smith; Al Terry; Eric Tillman Staff Present: Craig Benedict; Planning Director; Karen Lincoln, Transportation Planner; Sherri Ingersoll, Administrative Assistant Visitors: Pat Strong, Triangle J Council of Governments; Stephen Spade, Chapel Hill Transit; John Tallmadge, Triangle Transit Authority; Bill Nichols, Citizen I. Call to Order and Roll Call Chair Robert Peterson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes of September 20, 2006 Motion by Randy Marshall to approve the minutes. Seconded by James Ray. Vote: Unanimous. III. Presentation by Stephen Spade, Chapel Hill Transit Spade explained that the Chapel Hill Transit (CHT) serves UNC, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, which encompasses approximately 85,000 people. There are six park- and-ride lots. All services, with the exception of the Shared Ride program (which provides service to areas of town that do not receive regular evening or Sunday bus service), are free of cost to the riders. Chapel Hill Transit has approximately 200 employees, 86 buses in the fleet, and has an annual operating budget of $14 million. The free fare system has been in place since 2002, and originally served approximately 2.8 million passengers. In 2005, the number of passengers doubled to 5.6 million. They are challenged by the growing pains of the increased ridership. Future initiatives include (1) Fleet modernization – increasing the existing fleet to approx. 100-110 units within five years; (2) larger buses, with possibly lower floors for better accessibility and faster loading capability; (3) longer buses, 45-60’ with articulated design. There are three transportation boards that report to Chapel Hill Transit: UNC, Chapel Hill and Carrboro. They hold regular public forums for outreach. Currently the fleet has diesel vehicles, and there is interest in switching part of the fleet to ethanol, bio-diesel or ultra low sulphur diesel. They are also in the process of acquiring three new buses that would be hybrid electric-diesel vehicles.