City Council Committee - Regular Meeting

Transportation Committee please call the roll

Thank you. Councilwoman Green. Present. Councilwoman Walker. Present. Councilwoman Swearingen-Washington. Present. Councilwoman Cooper-Sudden. Present. Councilwoman Logan. Present. Councilman Connelly. Here. Councilman Smiley. I'm here. And Chair Ford Sr.

Present. We have two items. The first item is a resolution to transfer $6,325,000. from General Obligation Bonds Appropriations and CIP Project GA03028, Innovation Corridor BRT Contract Construction to Other Costs and Vehicles Cap, District 6, Super District 8, sponsored by the administration. Can I get a motion?

Move it.

Second. Second, okay. Got a motion, second motion by Chair Lady. Okay. I got our trustees down here. I'm going to turn it over to you, Mr. Holmes. Thank you, Councilman Ford. Dr. Easter Thomas has joined us. Everybody else is here. Councilman Warren, I got you. All right, you're here. Okay.

Thank you, Councilman Ford, Council. The transfer that we're asking for goes directly to the bus purchases that we mentioned. Goes directly to the bus purchases that we mentioned during our last meeting with council. As the council knows, we've taken on an ambitious project of replacing our working fleet within the next 12 months. The funds that you see being transferred are going to be allocated for that purpose. We have already received 12 of the buses, so we'll be paying for those. And then we have the other... that are set to be delivered over the next 12 months. And these funds will cover our portion of the cost for those buses. Largely, it's being paid for by federal grant dollars, and then this would be the city's contribution that we're asking for.

Real quick, thank you, Chair. Mr. Holmes, I know you've gone over this before. What's the average cost of a diesel bus today?

Approximately $815,000 to $20,000. We'll get you the bus, get you the technology for the bus to start.

Got it.

Thank you.

With that, how long does it take to make these buses with these special amenities that needs to be added?

Typically, it takes anywhere from eight to 12 months for the buses to be delivered from the point of order. We've been fortunate where the 12 buses that we ordered from Gillick two months ago are now slated for a March delivery. I wish that we were able to jump in line, but overall, it's about eight to 12 months.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

So moved.

Thank you, Councilman. So this similarly goes to services. The $165,000 goes directly to our rails. As you all know, we're working diligently to try to get our trolleys back up. So the funds will go to supporting that effort and make sure that our rails are in good repair. The second one goes to what I think is probably our best performing program, which is MATA Plus, which we've talked about is used to help individuals who are disabled or may need assistance. So by allocating this $600,000, we project we'll be able to purchase 45 new paratransit vehicles. What that will allow us to do is to carry anywhere from 35% to 45% more passengers and more rides within a calendar year. So great service. The service is already going really well. A 4.7 out of 5 approval rating from our passengers. So this is something that we think is worth an investment and expanding.

Okay. Any questions, council? Did the record also show that Councilwoman White has joined us? Okay. No questions?

Okay.

Calling for a vote. Everybody in favor? Aye. Everybody against? Okay. The ayes have it. Okay. Art, did you have anything that you want to say? You're just here with us this time? Okay.

What was that number again?

Look, I want to thank you for coming back. We've come a little closer. We still got a lot of work to do. We're trying to make sure that our matter of service continues and gets better and better by the day. We have improved. We've gone through changes. It's a new day. We don't want to go through changes. We want to move forward and do things better. And I appreciate y'all very much. Okay? Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. All right. And that was the same nine minutes also now. Okay. Good enough. Without objection. Okay. And if there's no further business, this committee is adjourned. And we're going to do planning and zoning in two minutes.