BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT : Rich Gordon

STAFF PRESENT : Michael Scanlon, Joan Cassman, David Miller, Joe Hurley, Howard Goode, George Cameron, Martha Martinez, Jennifer Buhr

Chair Church called the meeting to order at 5:06 p.m. and Pat Dixon led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

CONSENT CALENDAR

The Board unanimously approved the following items, by roll call, under the Consent Calendar:

1. Approval of Minutes of June 3, 2004
2. Adoption of Financial Statements, May 2004
3. Approval to Cancel August 5 Board Meeting

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC) REPORT

CAC Chair Larry Shaine noted the presence of fellow CAC members in the audience and reported that at the last CAC meeting:

Christine Maley-Grubl, executive director of the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief, made a report of current TSM programs and some of the plans that they have for this year.

Pat Dixon gave an update of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) 511 program in terms of trip planning, traffic congestion and other related items.

Randy Hees gave an update on public transportation in the County including SamTrans, BART and Caltrain. He also reported on the potential future of passenger screening related to water transit.

The CAC unanimously support agenda item 10(a), Application for Regional Measure 2 Funding for Dumbarton Commuter Rail.

The CAC also recommended approval of agenda item 6(a), Reappointment of Doris Maez and George Zimmerman to the CAC.

Invited all to the next CAC meeting.

CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

Chair Church reported that there are two vacancies on the CAC and staff has begun the process of advertising the vacancies. In addition, there is a recommendation to reappoint Doris Maez and George Zimmerman to the CAC.

The motion for the reappointment of Doris Maez and George Zimmerman was approved unanimously.

SAMTRANS LIAISON REPORTS

A written report from the June 9, 2004 meeting was included within the packet to the board.

JOINT POWERS BOARD REPORT

Michael Scanlon reported that at the July 1 board meeting:

• Chair McLemore thanked Director Nevin for being the Master of Ceremonies at the Baby Bullet Kick-Off event June 4. The event was extremely successful.
• Chair McLemore also reported that two weeks ago, the VTA had an opening for the Tasman East San Jose lightrail line. That line now provides Milpitas and East San Jose with a direct connection to Caltrain in Mountain View.
• Sue Lempert reported that today is the first day of increased bridge tolls. At the last MTC meeting, there were discussions regarding the distribution of funds from the increase in tolls and draft regulations were created.
• Brian Wilfley reported that at the last CAC meeting, enthusiastic remarks were made regarding the Baby Bullet. There were also two presentations, one was given by Dave Triolo regarding security on Caltrain and the other on the issue of bicyclists and the extreme success of Baby Bullet. The July CAC meeting was cancelled with the next meeting on August 18.
• Chief Financial Officer, Roger Contreras, is leaving Caltrain. He will become the Chief Financial Officer for Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
• Mark Simon, veteran journalist, was introduced. He now is working as a Special Assistant to the General Manager/CEO.
• Congratulated DBE Officer, Raymond Lee, who is the Interim Chair of the United Certification Process for DBE in the State of California.
• Key Caltrain Performance Statistics:
  1. May total ridership went from 699,484 to 681,731 riders, a 3 percent decrease.
  2. May average weekday ridership was down 1 percent, from 28,378 weekday riders to 28,112.
  3. May total revenue was off 6 percent from $1.68 million to $1.58 million.
  4. On-time Performance decreased 2 percent with 89.6 percent for May.
  5. May shuttle ridership had a decrease of 7 percent with 3,954 riders, down from 4,249.
• Chuck Harvey, Chief Operating Officer, made a presentation regarding the resumption of weekend service and the Baby Bullet.
• On June 23, there was a physical fight on-board the second baseball express train. However, Caltrain Chief of Protective Services, Bill Pedrini and his staff, Amtrak Police and South San Francisco police responded quickly and efficiently.
• On June 26 there was a major injury when two young adults grabbed onto the outside of the southbound train. Both individuals let go of the handrails as the train was coming into the Mountain View station.
• There was a fatality on June 12 in the vicinity of Redwood City. At this time, it is thought to have been a suicide.
• The ribbon cutting ceremony for Baby Bullet was on June 4. Michael Nevin was the Master of Ceremonies with John McLemore, Steve Hemminger and Senator Jackie Speier as key speakers. Many board members were present. It was a great ceremony.
• Monday, June 7 was the first day of Baby Bullet service. There was a grand send-off in San Jose. The media coverage for Baby Bullet has been outstanding.
• Commended staff and the member agencies for their hard work in putting together the Strategic Plan and FY05 Capital Budget.
• Noted the Governor signed SB1169, which is going to delay the High Speed Rail vote until 2006. Bonds may not be able to be issued until 2008.
• The Monthly Safety and Security Report was distributed.
• The Board took the Following Actions:
1. Cancelled the August board meeting.
2. Reappointed Michael Kiesling (San Francisco). Sepi Richardson (San Mateo) and Michael Blackman (Santa Clara) to the JPB Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC).
3. Adopted the FY2005 Capital Budget.
4. Adopted the Final Draft Caltrain 20-Year Strategic Plan.
5. Awarded contract to Douglas Parking, LLC for Parking Revenue Collection and Related Services.
6. Authorization of Record Destruction.
7. Director Lee requested why revenue is down six percent yet ridership is flat.
8. Mr. Scanlon responded that the fares and zones have been changed. Some of the ridership loss has been taking place in the higher fare areas.

Director Lee commented that there should be recovery with the weekend service.

Mr. Scanlon stated that staff has been observing the Ticket Vending Machines sales, which are up substantially. However, a full month’s data has not yet been collected.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Mr. Scanlon reported that since the last meeting, nine more cities have approved the Measure A extension Draft Expenditure Plan, meaning that the Plan has been approved by all twenty cities. The Plan will be before the Board of Supervisors for consideration on July 27. Mr. Scanlon thanked all that were involved with the advancement of this measure.

Lewis Lem, AAA of Northern California, commented that they are interested and are following the reauthorization effort for Measure A. He noted that in the past AAA has supported other county transportation sales tax measure efforts. Mr. Lem stated that AAA will not take an official stand on the measure until it is on the ballot.

Mr. Scanlon further reported that a follow-up letter was sent to Foster City in response to an inquiry pertaining to the school crossing-guard program.

Director Panza questioned if there was an update regarding the controversy with the downtown extension.

Mr. Scanlon responded that there was no discussion of it at the Joint Powers Board meeting this morning. However, the JPB did adopt the Strategic Plan, which includes the project, and also a Capital Budget that includes approximately $855,000 for the project. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors upheld the EIR. There has been a threatened lawsuit by the developer. The program is moving forward and there is still a possibility that a compromise can be made between both parties. However, if that does not occur, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority is planning to move forward with the project.

Ian McAvoy, Chief Development Officer, reported that the Transbay Joint Powers Authority met over a week ago and they had an inclusive presentation from the developer to express their concerns. There has been a continued communication between the Transbay Authority staff and the developer. Mr. McAvoy suspects that this controversy will continue for quite a while because there doesn’t seem to be a design issue that will work for both parties.

FINANCE

Application for Regional Measure 2 Funding for Dumbarton Commuter Rail

Howard Goode, Deputy Executive Director, stated that staff recommends the Board approve an application to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for Regional Measure 2 toll bridge funds in support of the environmental work on the Dumbarton rail corridor. The Transportation Authority share would be $962,200, which would be drawn from funds already programmed for Dumbarton Corridor. The TA has full partnership with the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority (ACTIA) and Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority (VTA) for the estimated cost for this project. The other half of the funds would be provided by Regional Measure 2 funds. MTC requires that the funding agencies for the next phase of the work take a formal action in support of the application.

Director Panza recalled that when Congress was trying to pass its budget, there was an effort to allow this money to be used for new construction. He questioned the status of the effort.

Mr. Goode responded that the issue deals with the ability to use the bridge tolls for transit operating purposes, which is currently prohibited by Federal law if Federal funds were utilized in the bridge. Therefore, MTC is seeking a change in that Federal provision to allow the bridge tolls to be used for operating not only Dumbarton but for other transit operations around the region. MTC was not successful in achieving that this year. However, they will continue to pursue that idea. For Dumbarton, this issue is not a particular concern because the operating money doesn’t come into play for another three or four years and the bridges involved do not have Federal money in them.

The motion to approve the application to MTC was approved unanimously, by roll call, and Resolution 2004-08 was adopted.

Amendment to Contract C-60638 with Rajappan & Meyer for Professional Engineering Services for Route 101 Auxiliary Lanes, 3rd Avenue to Millbrae Avenue

Mr. Goode reported that the amendment amount being sought is $3,250,995, which would bring the total amount of design to $7,891,116. The original contract was based on a presumption that the project would be substantially less complicated and a lower cost project. As the environmental work and Caltrans work has gone forward, the project has become increasingly complex. The revised total project cost has been estimated at $88 million. The full design package, as well as the design support during construction, is about nine percent of the total, which is very much in line with expectations with a job of that size and complexity.

Director Panza questioned if the project is still going to be buildable considering that the design has become much more complicated.

Mr. Goode responded that based on all of the complications, it is an $88 million project, which is at 95 percent of design now so there is a good handle on the costs.

Director Panza questioned if the $88 million was covered.

Mr. Goode responded that the funding is in place by a combination of Authority funds and State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds.

Chair Church questioned what the general issues were with the design that caused the additional amount.

Mr. Goode responded that there are a number of things including requirements by Caltrans, sound walls and the Peninsula Avenue overpass.

The motion to approve the amendment to Contract C-60638 was approved unanimously, by roll call, and Resolution 2004-09 was adopted.

Allocations to the JPB for Station Improvements at Atherton, Hillsdale, Broadway and San Bruno.

Mr. Goode reported that this is a recommendation for a specific allocation for funding from the Caltrain category for station improvements. Three of the stations (Atherton, Hillsdale and Broadway) involve changes in the platforms. The other station (San Bruno) deals with the San Bruno relocation, a consequence of the BART project. The three stations needing platform work involve changes to the stations that would allow elimination of the hold-out rule, which is disruptive to the operation of the systems and raises safety issues. However, within the last week, there has been a change in the concept with Hillsdale. Therefore, Mr. Goode withdrew the Hillsdale portion of the recommendation so that staff may come back to the board at a later time. The San Bruno action involves allocating funds for facilities at San Bruno, which were not in the original station and therefore BART refused to provide them in replacing the station.

Mr. Goode reiterated that the revised staff recommendation is to support approval of station improvements to Atherton and Broadway and approval of station amenities to San Bruno.

Director Lee commented that it is his understanding that the Hillsdale changes would be necessary because if the station is moved under Bay Meadows Phase II redevelopment, the timing would be off considerably.

Mr. McAvoy responded that when staff was looking at the hold-out stations, initially there was an issue with Hillsdale because of the Bay Meadows project. Staff looked very closely at minimizing the funds being put in by the Authority knowing that in the near future additional work would need to be done. At the same time, with the success of the Baby Bullet service, it is very clear that there needs to be additional access to the station. In the initial project, there was going to be a staggered platform. However, staff is now looking at bringing the platforms back together, which allows for the opportunity to serve the customers and community better while working with Bay Meadows to allow additional parking on the east side of the tracks.

Mr. Scanlon commented that when looking at the original design of staggered platforms, the focus wasn’t on the customers and there was a lost opportunity for parking on the East side. Therefore, although it will cost more money, the station will now provide better service.

Mr. Goode stated that based on the elimination of Hillsdale from this action, the recommended allocation has been revised to $1,999,000.

Director Panza questioned what the hold-out rule is.

Mr. Scanlon responded that the hold-out rule is typically on a center platform where there aren’t outbound platforms. With a center platform, a fence cannot be put up. Without a fence, two trains cannot be brought in at the same time so one train has to be held out of the station, which complicates the reliability factor of the schedules. If the station is elevated and grade separated, both sides can board tracks on the outside.

The motion to approve the revised resolution of allocations to the JPB for station improvements passed unanimously, by roll call, and Resolution 2004-10 was adopted.

PROGRAM

Adoption of Record Retention Policy and Guidelines

George Cameron, Chief Administration Officer, reported that staff proposes authorization to the Executive Director or his designee and Legal Counsel to jointly approve destruction of Authority records in accordance with applicable law. Approval of this action would support the efficient administration of records.

The motion to approve authorization of record destruction passed unanimously, by roll call, and Resolution 2004-11 was adopted.

REPORT FROM LEGAL COUNSEL

None.

REQUESTS FROM THE AUTHORITY

None.

DATE/TIME OF NEXT MEETING:

September 2, 2004 at 5:00 p.m. at the San Mateo County Transit District Administrative Building, 1250 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos, CA 94070

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TO AUTHORITY

The communication packets were distributed to the Board members.

ADJOURNED: 5:57 p.m.