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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 02131996 - SD2 i' SD.2 Contra Costa TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - County FROM: TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE DATE: February 5, 1996 SUBJECT: Report on Activities of Central Contra Costa Transit Authority SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS 1 . Accept report on the activities of the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority (County Connection). 2. Adopt a position in opposition to Assembly Bill 2084. FISCAL IMPACT None. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS Former Supervisor Robert Schroder, who represents the Board of Supervisors on the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, has submitted a report on the current activities of the Transit Authority (see Exhibit A). In addition, County Connection staff has expressed serious concerns about Assembly Bill 2084 and has requested the County CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES I SIGNATURE _ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE _ APPROVE _ OTHER of/, SIGNATURE(S): Jef ith� Tom Torlakson ACTION OF BOARD ON February 13,1996 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER _ VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A g UNANIMOUS (ABSENT #4 TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Orig Dept: Community Development ATTESTED February 13, 1996 Contact: Ernest Vovakis, 335-1243 PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF cc: Claude Van Marter THE BOARD Q UPERVISORS Smith and Kempton A C UNTY IST ATOR B , DEPUTY :X. Report on CCCTA February 5, 1996 Page 2 to oppose the bill. Assembly Bill 2084, by Assemblymen Richter and Margett, authorizes county boards of supervisors to use Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds for general fund purposes. The Transportation Development Act, which the Legislature passed in 1971 , is the principle source of funding for transit agencies, and it provided over $9 million to the County Connection in 1993-94. TDA raised the sales tax by one quarter cent, at the option of counties, for public transportation purposes. Funds are collected by the state and are returned to counties to support transit systems, paratransit, and bikeways. AB 2084 would allow county boards of supervisors to modify their contract with the State Board of Equalization by resolution so that an unspecified percentage of TDA funds would be deposited into the county general fund instead of the local transportation fund. Such a diversion would have severe consequences on transit agencies which rely on those funds and which have already been hit by a reduction in federal operating subsidies. In passing the Transportation Development Act, the Legislature established a dedicated source of funding for local transit systems in California. The Committee believes that this funding source should be protected and its use limited to the purposes for which it was originally intended. f .. SCHRODER p INSURANCE AGENCY R ECEIVEa SINCE 1933 F EXH�rr A DEC - 71996 CLERK BOARD OF SUPeRvictRS CONTRA COS Co. December 6, 1995 Honorable Board of Supervisors 651 Pine Street Martinez, CA 94553 RE: Central Contra Costa Transit Authority (County Connection) It is a pleasure and honor to represent the Board of Supervisors on the County Connection Board of Directors. The following is a brief record of happenings during this year. Our ridership is now over four million riders and our farebox revenues have increased 3% in 1995. We have dramatically reduced operational expenses by administrative layoffs and budget tightening. Actual 1995 ex- penses were only 0.45% higher than in 1994. The staff developed a methodology for determining the true cost of service run and route. This was the underpinning of develop- ing a route elimination and restructuring proposal which was very -cost effective and least detrimental to our passengers. We ultimately eliminated seven unproductive routes and restruc- tured several other routes with a goal of savings $1.4 million dollars annually. • We are on target and with an increase in ridership and revenue. We have finalized plans for service to the North Concord BART Station so that our service will begin the day BART starts reve- nue service to the new station. We have developed a five year plan for attaining financial solvency. The plan includes revenue and cost projections and cost reduction and revenue enhancements. Federal operating assistance, which was a large part of our operating income, is being reduced and will be eliminated in -1997. Route 103 was introduced in November which provides free service throughout Downtown Walnut Creek, Monday through Saturday with 7 minute headways. This service is subsidized by the City of Walnut Creek. �/ - 1410 North Main • P.O.Box 4097• Walnut Creek, CA 94596• (510)934-6789 •FAX(510)934-0189 Honorable Board of Supervisors Page 2 12/6/95 I personally have been working with BART to construct a transpor- tation center at the Walnut Creek Station. This center will serve both the County Connection and BART. The center will be operated .by the County Connection and will replace our center in the building across the street. We have introduced a new resident program whereby new residents are informed of our services and are given two free ride tickets. We have begun a program of external bus advertising with a con- tract guarantee of $150,000. This figure could triple in 1996. In 1996, persons desiring transit information may call a new regional transit telephone number (817-1717) and can receive transit information throughout the Bay Areas nine counties. There will be no charge and the caller will be connected to the transit agency of their choice. The Count Connection was a major contributor in the first "Cure for Congestion" sponsored by the Caltrans information office. This program will be repeated in 1996. We have increased our paratransit level of service in terms of hours by 50% since 1990. Our hours of service are 7:OOam to 7:OOpm. We have on file over 2400 ADA eligible users. We have completed a successful conversion of our computer operat- ing system which will allow us to use the latest in software technology which will increase the productivity of our adminis- trative staff. With reductions in Federal and State funding, it was necessary to eliminate some personnel and this obviously has effected employee moral. We are doing everything in our power to mitigate these concerns and work with the union leadership. We have a program in place to assist any employee layed off, new employment. I am continuing to pursue a relationship with Tri-Delta Transit as it seems unconscionable for a person in the public trust not to have a third party evaluation of the operations to determine if the public can be better served. 1 Honorable Board of Supervisors Page 3 12/6/95 J These are just a few of the accomplishments we have achieved during this past year. I stand ready to serve you in any capacity that I might be of help. y, BobS Since er