SOCIAL SERVICES TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COUNCIL

                        MINUTES                 November 4, 2020

Present              Voting Attendees:

Mike Hack                               Consumer

Dr. Kathleen Lang                    California Health & Wellness (CH&W)

Mitzi Perez                               ARC-IV

Rosalina Blankenship               Area Agency on Aging (AAA)

Michelle Soto                           California Children’s Services (CCS)

David Aguirre                         CTSA–ICTC

Maricela Galarza                      CTSA–ICTC

Gustavo Gomez                        CTSA–ICTC

                        Non-Voting Attendees:            

Cesar Sanchez                          IVT/IVTAccess/IVTRide/IVTMedtrans

Helio Sanchez                          IVT

                        Jose Guillen                             IVT MedTrans

                        Karla Pacheco                          IVT Access

                        Karla Aguilar                           IVT Ride

                        Kathy Chambers                       Moore & Associates

                        Jim Moore                                Moore & Associates

1.       Dr. Lang called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.  A quorum was present. Introductions were made.

-          Hybrid meeting.

2.       Minutes were adopted for October 7, 2020. (Hack, Perez), Motion Carried.

3.       CTSA Reports:

Mr. Gomez had the following updates:

-          ICTC offices continue to be closed to public walk-in, although ICTC staff continues to be available remotely to anyone under ICTC offices the same operational hours. A dropoff box is also available outside of ICTC for any potential passenger who wants to apply for the services in person.

-          ICTC staff continues to assign temporary ID for incoming ADA applications. Some of the temporary ID’s assigned since March are being extended for another six months with hopes that the ADA process can be complete for further determination.

Mr. Aguirre had the following updates:

-          Services are beginning to see a slight increase in passengers, it is unclear if the purpose of this increase is related to the free fare program or the continuance of places opening up to the public or both.

-          ICTC is currently finalizing a few ongoing projects. One of those projects being the Fare Analysis Project, whose status is reviewing the final draft with recommendations. What is pending in the final phase of outreach. This information will be presented to SSTAC members in the future once finalized.

-          ICTC has initiated an update to the Coordinated Plan, this project has begun.

-          The AVL project is near completion, last week the consulting team installed tech equipment on the vehicles. Once this is ready to go, training for drivers and passengers will follow. We are looking for it to be open soon to the public.

·         Dr. Lang asked about the functionality of the AVL system.

Ø  Mr. Aguirre stated that it will function through a mobile application, where each bus stop and our rider guide will have a code number for each stop. The code will be entered in the mobile application and then would be able to view the location of the bus. Soon marketing efforts will be conducted to spread the word on this new integration to transit services. The expectation is that the project will be running by summer to reduce the number of times passengers spend waiting for the buses to arrive.

4.       Review of Agencies Missions and Clientele:

Ms. Blankenship discussed the following;

-          The Area on Agency on Aging represents the older adults in the community of Imperial Valley.

-          Extended gratitude to ICTC for addressing various transportation needs (e.g. Heber transportation, Clark rd. bus stop, Westshore transportation).

-          Congregate sites were temporarily discontinued due to the social distancing order, also the population served by AAA falls at high risk to contract COVID 19 virus. Ms. Blankenship extended gratitude to ICTC for allowing the IVT Ride and IVT Access to assist with delivering hot meals to seniors. Seniors served to receive these services have increased to about 1,000. AAA has now assigned restaurants that are now providing the deliveries which cut back on IVT services assistance, however, it opened up funding to provide free fares for seniors. Partnered with IVT Ride and IVT Access to provide this transportation.

-          AAA is attempting to address transportation gaps in the pending rural areas of Bombay Beach, and the Desert area, as is described in the AAA Master Plan. AAA is hoping to receive funding in the future to be able to provide that transportation.

-          More information on Area Agency on Aging is provided in a presentation provided by Ms. Blankenship (attached).

Dr. Lang conducted a presentation on California Health & Wellness Program (attached).

5.       Transit Operator FY 2020-21 Quarter 1 Reports:

IV Transit; Mr. H. Sanchez had the following updates;

-          The service is running on a modified schedule due to the pandemic.

-          IVT ridership is significantly low.

-          In August the free fare program was implemented, ridership is gradually increasing.

-          To board and ride service masks are still required for everyone. There has only been a couple of incidents where the passenger does not want to wear a mask.

·         Dr. Lang asked what are the procedures if someone does not have a mask or does not want to wear a mask?

Ø  Mr. H.Sanchez stated that drivers are provided on how to handle escalating situations. Also, in most cases, a road supervisor is called to the location, and the staff is trained to attempt in preventing conflict and tension between passengers. If the passenger does not want to wear a mask, will not be allowed to board the bus and on some occasions, the road supervisor will transport them to their destination.

-          The overall service is running well.

-          The total passenger count for the quarter is 49,798 which is slower than usual.

-          Discussed report statistics (attached).

·         Dr. Lang asked how it may affect the budget or funding of the services?

Ø  Mr. Aguirre stated that funding is ok for all services. ICTC is ready to expand services to normal, thus staff is continuing to monitor statistics to figure out when it's time to do so. Funding has been set aside so when the time comes to expand services to normal.  There is no monetary issue.

-          Seating continues to be limited, which causes overflow but a stand by bus continues to pick up the overflow to continue the route. This especially occurs on routes from Calexico to El Centro.

-          The IVT Blue Line is gradually increasing in passenger count. The service is running smoothly.

-          The IVT Gold Line is busier than other circulator services. This service has maintained its ridership count.

IVT Access; Ms. Pacheco had the following updates;

-          The service continues to run on a Saturday schedule.

-          There has not been a lot of demand.

-          The passenger count has picked up a little.

-          Noticeably the time performance for the service is doing great due to the low demand.

-          The service accommodates passengers even if there are limited services.

-          There have been no issues with wearing masks.

-          The service accommodates wheelchairs up to 2 per vehicle, per trip, and they are separated to abide by the social distancing rule.

-          The service is just going with the flow.

-          Discussed statistics (attached).

IVT Ride; Ms. Aguilar had the following updates;

-          The service has implemented free rides, which are covered by AAA.

-          From August through September, the passenger count has slowly increased.

-          IVT Ride Westshore's continues to provide transportation towards the Coachella area.

-          Discussed statistics (attached).

IVT MedTrans; Mr. Guillen had the following updates;

-          The ridership has been down since the pandemic began.

-          There is a gradual increase in passengers (trips).

-          Since more medical facilities are opening in San Diego, hopefully, this leads to a further increase in the service.

-          There are situations where one of the buses does not travel to San Diego due to low demand, staff attempts to accommodate passengers as much as possible.

-          Discussed statistics (attached).

6.       General Discussion

-          Dr. Lang asked Mr. Hack for updates on the People’s First meetings.

·         Mr. Hack mentioned that he was not sure when was the next meeting but he will get an update on the next meeting. The pandemic has caused Mr. Hack to miss meetings but will begin to get involved again.

Ø  Dr. Land asked if he can share the information with Ms. Galarza so the information can be distributed to SSTAC members.

-          Dr. Lang shared that Ms. Blankenship is scheduled to retire this November, therefore the Vice-Chair position for SSTAC will need to be further discussed.

-          Dr. Lang informed SSTAC members if there are agencies that wish to share information on their representing agency they can coordinate with themselves or Ms. Galarza to set up for a future meeting. 

7.       Adjournment

-          The meeting adjourned at 10:59 a.m. (Hack, Perez), Motion Carried.

-          The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, at the Imperial County Transportation Commission Office, 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA 92243.