04.17.18 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes April 17,2018 constitute an urbanized area (UZA)affecting Federal funding allocations.This provided access to Federal urban transit grant funds. The City authorized CARTS to become the FTA Direct Recipient of the UZA in March 2013. CARTS created an Urban Transit District(UTD) in March 2013.This provided access to State transit grant funds. Mr. Hairell explained that the City completed a 5 year Strategic Master Plan in August 2014. He further explained operational restructure that was implemented in 2015.He provided that the system changed from "hub & spoke" to"networked" route structure.He provided that they were focused on rider destinations. He stated that 72% of the riders surveyed needed transportation to either work or shopping. This resulted in 19 transfer bus stop locations. Mr.Hairell explained the capital improvements that were implemented. These included replacing and modernizing the fleet of busses. They installed new bus stop signage, bus stop shelters and benches, the installation of real-time arrival systems and online trip planning. Mr. Hairell provided that the City has 7 fixed bus routes and that they are seeing 5,078 riders per month on average. He reported that the numbers are reflecting an increase in performance. He provided that they have a senior shopper route on Tuesday& Thursday with an average of 300 riders per month. Staff will provide the Council with the number of participants in the survey from 2014. Mr. Hairell provided that complementary para-transit service is provided with 3 paratransit vehicles available. Mr. Hairell provided the service span is running Monday- Friday,7 a.m. to 8 p.m.with 250 annual operational days.He stated the last two years,a Federal Grant funding program was used to extend normal service hours by 2 hours.These grant funds are not permanent.Discussion was held regarding a better system to gather rider numbers. Staff provided that the City receives approximately $14,000 a year from Texas State paying for student riders. Mr. Hairell reviewed our current funding and explained that Federal Transit Administration Funding is calculated by population and population density. The City of San Marcos is currently FTA 5307 which provides operating and/or Capital Improvement funds. He explained FTA 5339 and FTA 5307 STIC (Small Transit Intensive City) funding. He explained that both are competitive funding allocations. He explained that if the City hit 6 performance metrics under FTA 5307 STIC could provide a maximum of$1,146,000. Mayor Pro Tem Prewitt provided that there are more areas of funding available that we would be able to apply for as well. City of San Marcos Page 2