Minutes

 

Wednesday December 21, 2011  -  7 PM

SWRPA Offices – Government Center – Stamford CT

 

 

Members in Attendance: Chairman Jim Cameron, Sue Prosi, Bob Jelley, Tim Beeble, Laura Cordes, Jeffrey Maron, Rodney Chabot, Luke Schnirring, John Hartwell, Mitch Fuchs. 

Guests: State Representative Gail Lavielle, Eugene Colonese of DOT, Commissioner Jim Redecker of DOT, Sue Doering of MNR, John Austin Sr. – Consumer Advocate, Martin Cassidy – The Stamford Advocate.

 

  Minutes: Approval of the minutes of the October meeting: Motion by John Hartwell, Second by Jeff Maron, unanimously approved.

 

1. Election of New Secretary:  Upon Chairman Cameron’s call for a Council Secretary, there were no volunteers.  Tim Beeble agreed to take minutes for the December meeting.

 

2. Update on M8s: Gene Colonese reported that 56 M-8s have been delivered.  21% of the Mainline electric trains are M-8s.  Three are 8-car sets, four are 6-car sets, and none are 10-car sets.  CDOT received 6 cars in the last 7 days, and two paired sets have been shipped.  CDOT should have 72 cars by the end of 2011.  48 cars are active and 8 are in testing or part of the spare margin.  Jeff Maron suggested reducing the spare margin to a 2-car set. Jeff also noted that the ride is harsher, to which Gene responded that the ride may improve after the break-in period.  Chairman Cameron noted that the M-8s performance should be superior in Winter.

 

3. Update on 1/1/2012 Fare Increase: Sue Doering reported that passengers do not seem to be buying 10-trip and single trip tickets in advance of the fare increase.  The Council discussed the unfairness of the MNR refund policy and the short expiration of 10-trip and single trip tickets.

 

4. Legislation: Representative Gail Lavielle briefed the Council on a bill that she is introducing to assure that the Transportation Budget increases by the amount of the fare increase.  The fare increases must be dedicated to the purposes promised to the commuters.  The original fare increase was part of the Plan B budget option necessary to balance the budget in the event that the unions did not agree to concessions.  Chairman Cameron asked what there is to stop the Governor or the legislature from reducing the CDOT budget by an amount equal to the fare increase. John Hartwell suggested that the state subsidy to MNR should be a fixed percentage based upon a fare box return proportionality.  Jim Redecker explained that the train subsidies go into a trust fund.  Sue Prosi recommended that the state should maintain the prior year’s subsidy level at a minimum.

 

MOTION: Motion by Jeff Maron, seconded by Rodney Chabot that the Commuter Council supports the bill proposed by Representative Gail Lavielle to require a continued level of financial support of MNR service.  Motion approved with Bob Jelley opposed.

                                  

5. Customer Satisfaction Survey: Data is not available at this time.  A presentation may be possible next month.

 

6. New Haven Quiet Car test: Starts January 9^th on the New Haven line including the Waterbury and New Haven branches, 18 trains will have quiet cars.  The last car on in-bound trains and first car on out-bound trains will be quiet cars.  There was good response for the quiet cars test on the Harlem Line trains:  82% supported expansion of the program.  There have been no operational issues with regard to compliance.  Chairman Cameron reminded everyone that the Council began advocating for quiet cars ten years ago.  Gene Colonese and Sue Doering confirmed that the test period will be three months.

 

 

7. Shoreline East Issues: Bob Jelley reported that a tree had fallen on the catenary in Guilford/Madison and services were shut down. It would have been helpful to have an announcement include whether SLE expected any impact on evening return service.  The train was on the platform with the doors closed, crew on board and no information for customers on the platform.  Gene Colonese responded that there was a switch failure between 5:30 and 8:15 AM in Guilford due to water penetration.  Mr. Colonese agreed that conductors should have been on the platform informing customers of the problem.  Electronic information boards need to be updated regularly.

 

8. Mainline Issues: Congress has reduced the monthly pre-tax maximum for transit from $230 to $125, but has left the maximum parking unchanged at $240. 

 

Motion: Motion by Chairman Cameron and seconded by Sue Prosi; the Commuter Council objects to the reduction in transit pre-tax maximums enacted by Congress for 2012.  Motion approved unanimously.

 

Rodney Chabot reported that the off-peak and weekend trains are crowded.  Gene Colonese responded that MNR sizes trains based upon historical data but recognizes recent crowding.  Trains have been added for the holiday period.  Sue Doering added that MNR is planning to add trains for next year for holiday shopping.  Ridership is up 20%, and it is the highest since 2006.

 

Sue Prosi and Rodney Chabot reported that the Amtrak trains are not appearing on the Train Information Displays (TIDs) at Stamford station and that Amtrak train track announcements are not always made.  There needs to be better coordination between Amtrak and MNR station personnel.

 

TGER 3 Grant: DOT and the City of Stamford submitted a grant for TGER3 based upon the StanTech study. $10,500,000 was awarded.  The state and city must decide what improvements can be afforded within the amount of the grant.  Also, the state and city must determine which entity will carry out each element of the work.  Under TGER 2, Bridgeport and New Haven received allocations.  A RFQ will be issued for a consultant to advise on the location of new parking and whether to replace the garage in-place or nearby.  Chairman Cameron asked how the public will be involved in the decision on parking, but Jim Redecker indicated that this has not yet been determined.  Jeff Maron suggested that parking needs to be adjacent to the train station even if it is within a mixed-use development.  Jeff also suggested that the improvements under the grant include extending the length and width of canopies so that passengers do not get rained upon while boarding.  Also, TIDs and Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) are needed on the platforms.  Signage is needed to direct customers to bus/taxi transportation, ticket windows, parking and platforms.  Sue Prosi reminded the Council that the sliding glass doors are a choke point for pedestrians in the tunnel.

 

Fairfield Metro Station: 500 parking permits were sold by the opening of the station on December 5th.  Bathrooms facilities are not part of the station design. 

 

9. Branch Lines: Danbury; the signalization improvements are proceeding. New Canaan; there is a need for canopies and wind screens at Talmadge Hill.  Waterbury; no report.

 

10. Month Operations Report: M-8s distance between breakdowns, 208,000 miles.  Note that diesels are at 9,800 miles between breakdowns for 2011.

 

11. Annual Report:  Chairman Cameron asked for help in preparing the Council’s Annual Report.  He intends to submit the report on time.  The Council discussed strategies for making the Annual Report concise and a quick read.

 

12.  Passenger Pledge:  The Council’s proposed Passenger Bill of Rights has been merged with the MNR Customer Pledge.  Jim Redecker reported that earlier in the day he had spoken with Howard Permut of MNR and reviewed the Customer Pledge.  # 1 was revised to eliminate mention of safety equipment and “passengers deserve a seat, not just a ride.”  In # 5 MNR wants to delete the sentence regarding stranded passengers.  In # 6, MNR wants to add an encouragement for passengers to stay on board a disabled train. MNR objects to # 9 regarding refunds for the cancelation of service for more than one day.  MNR cannot provide alternate bus service on the New Haven line.  In the event that MNR cancels all train service for more than one day and does not provide alternate bus service, MNR cannot, and will not, administer credits or refunds to customers who pre-pay for monthly or weekly train service.  Chairman Cameron suggested that passengers who pay for their train tickets with a charge card can challenge payment to MNR when it fails to provide the service for which the customer paid.  He reflected that if MNR does not want to guarantee customers a seat, nor guarantee that they will not be stranded, nor guarantee that if weekly or monthly prepaid service is not provided, MNR should refund a portion of the ticket cost.  From the passengers’ perspective, they want reliable train service 100% of the time.  From MNR perspective, they want the most money from the passengers.  Jim Redecker indicated that MNR would waive the $10 refund fee for single trip ticket holders who are impacted by MNR train cancelation. He reiterated that MNR cannot administer a credit for extended cancelation of train service.  John Hartwell made the motion, seconded by Jeff Maron, to approve the Passenger Pledge as revised with the provision that the Commuter Council will continue to pursue a refund policy that addresses the issues contained in # 9.

 

13. Adjourned at 9:00 PM

 

Respectfully submitted by:

Tim Beeble, Secretary pro tem

 

NEXT MEETING:   Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 7 pm at SWRPA / Stamford Govt Ctr