MIDLAND DIAL-A-RIDE ADVISORY COMMISSION
Unapproved Minutes for Quarterly Meeting
July 20, 2009
Municipal Service Center
Members Present - Williams, Swain, Carlson, LaForet
Staff Present - Murphy,
Yuergens
Meeting
called to order 6:55 pm.
Approval of Minutes – Unanimous approval was made to accept the December
2008 meeting minutes.
Budget Update –
·
Murphy advised
group that all departments in the City of Midland receiving general fund
support were faced with budget cuts.
Dial-A-Ride implemented reductions with the following goals:
o
Do
not increase fares
o
Retain
core service hours Monday –Friday to enable passengers to go to work, school,
doctor appointments and evening recreation.
o
Impact
the least number of passengers with any service reductions
Other
factors that were taken into consideration:
o
Sunday service
had significant (25%) no show and cancellation rate.
·
The following
changes were effective July 1, 2009:
o
Sunday service
was eliminated.
o
DART will be
closed on all City observed holidays which previously required drivers to be
paid overtime wages.
o
Phone service
hours are Monday –Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm and Saturday 8:30 am – 1:00 pm.
ADA Vehicle Accessibility Plan -
·
The 2010 ADA
Vehicle Accessibility Plan was reviewed by the committee.
·
Changes noted in the
plan were the elimination of Sunday Service and the change in phone service
hours as detailed above.
·
All members
approved the plan as written.
·
MDOT requires the
chair of the DART Commission, Charlotte Williams, to sign these minutes as
evidence of the plan’s approval.
MDOT Title IV Plan
·
MDOT required
that each transit agency put together a plan on training and implementation of
the Title IV Civic Rights Act of 1964.
The City’s Human Resource Department and City Attorney reviewed the
plan. Training and implementation of
DART staff was done in July.
Other Topics
·
Donna Swain
renewed her DART Commission membership until 2012.
·
Charlotte
Williams asked why the fare boxes had been removed from the busses. Yuergens explained that putting the tickets
and money in the drivers hand provided for more reliable record keeping and
accounting of passenger fares.
·
Yuergens provided
follow up report on why the City doesn’t undercoat the busses:
o
Current busses
have an aluminum structure, sealed wood floor, and fiberglass reinforced
plastic side panels. None of which will
benefit from undercoating.
o
Undercoating adds
a sticky substance to the entire undercarriage that increases maintenance and
repair time significantly.
o
Undercoating
providers will not provide a warranty for commercial/government vehicles.
o
Our experience
with nine of our 2001 vehicles with an average of 270,000 miles showed no frame
or sheet metal rust issues.
·
Dial-A-Ride
received a federal grant for three bus replacements. It was decided to replace the two larger
medium duty busses(1 lift equipped/1 not lift
equipped) with the smaller cut-a-way
busses. This change will also allow
Dial-A-Ride to use the funds to have its entire fleet lift equipped.
Next Meeting Date – To be determined
Meeting
adjourned at 7:30 pm.
Respectfully,
Jan Yuergens
Jan
Yuergens
Administrative
Assistant for Public Services
MDOT
Required Signature
Charlotte
Williams
Chair,
DART Commission