Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes (Oct. 2, 2002)

Attendees

Advisory Board:

• Keven Anderson, Minnesota Department of Transportation
• Julia Bommelman, Metro Area Transit - Fargo
• Lewis Clopton, Federal Transit Administration
• Rich Douglas, Wyoming Department of Transportation
• Bruce Fuchs, North Dakota Department of Transportation
• Gene Griffin, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
• Lyn Hellegaard, Montana Transit Association
• Bruce Lindholm, South Dakota Department of Transportation
• Dale Marsico, Community Transportation Association of America
• Peggy Morris, Dakota Transit Association
• Rick Thoms, Souris Basin Transportation
• Lori Van Beek, City of Moorhead, Transit

Absent members:

• Jeri Bottenfield, Wyoming Public Transit Association
• Tony Kouneski, American Public Transportation Association
• Janis Winston, Montana Department of Transportation

SURTC Staff:

• Gary Hegland, Associate Research Fellow
• Jill Hough, Director
• Jim Miller, Faculty Affiliate

Meeting Theme

The purpose of this advisory board meeting was to bring the committee members together and introduce everyone to SURTC, to each other, and to the other research programs of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI). The other purpose of the meeting was to discuss relevant public transportation issues that each state is facing. The issues discussed will help guide the research SURTC will conduct and the outreach the Center will provide in the future.

UGPTI Role

Mr. Gene Griffin, UGPTI Director, provided an overview of the UGPTI organization, resources, and recent activities (Attachment 2). Program directors also made presentations about their particular programs at UGPTI including: Dr. Ayman Smadi provided a description and demonstration of the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center (ATAC), which provides technical support, training, and assistance in conducting analyses of existing traffic control systems and the deployment of advanced systems for MPOs, state DOTs, FHWA and their field offices, and consultants. Mr. Dennis Jacobson provided a description of the Department of Transportation Support Center (DOTSC), which provides engineering/technical/management analysis and support to transportation managers. Mr. Douglas Benson provided a description and demonstration of the TEL8 system, an interactive telecommunications system, linking the state DOT's and the MPC universities in Region 8. Mr. Dave Sprynczynatyk, Director of the Department of Transportation provided a welcome from Bismarck over the TEL8 system.

National Perspective

Dr. Lewis Clopton, Federal Transit Administration - Provided an overview on five key issues: USDOT Surface Transportation University Program, FTA Core Program Goals, Professional Capacity Building, FTA University Activities, Small Urban and Rural Transportation Challenges and Opportunities (Attachment 3).

Mr. Dale Marsico, Community Transportation Association of America - Provided an overview on three key issues: transportation reauthorization, certifications, and improving communications with state insurance commissioners.

Tony Kouneski, American Public Transportation Association was unable to attend the meeting.

Overview of SURTC

Jill Hough, Director of SURTC, provided an overview of the SURTC program including the vision, mission, goals, and the three aspects of the program: Training, Education, and Research. The presentation is included as Attachment 4.

Needs Assessment

Attached is a copy of the needs assessment presentation made which documents the results of the survey recently mailed to transit providers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and western Minnesota (Attachment 5). The survey was designed to identify areas of training, outreach, and research that are of the highest priority to the transit systems. In addition, the likelihood that someone from the agency would participate was addressed.

Potential Projects

A number of potential research and training projects were identified at the meeting through discussion of issues facing each state. The potential projects include:

1. The group concurred that training is an important element to SURTC. The needs assessment captured many of the training needs in the region. The top six training needs identified are: defensive driving, safety & security, passenger assistance, customer service, ADA requirements, and drug and alcohol testing. The need for training on "drug and alcohol testing" was questioned by the group because so much training has already been done on this subject. The group also discussed mechanisms for providing additional training including: the TEL8 system, on-line, or CD-Rom.
2. Best practices' guidebook would be useful to transit managers and provide documentation of best practice techniques that have worked well for other systems. For example, how many vehicles should a transit agency own given certain factors, such as service area, population, etc. as a backup? Suggestions were made to distribute this type of information in pamphlets rather than a large document.
3. The need for transit profiling was discussed. This information would provide knowledge of the number of systems in each state SURTC will focus on, as well as relevant information about each system. Presently, some states publish this information. However, not all of the states that SURTC will focus on have this information in a publishable format.
4. Documentation of transit operating costs was a potential research topic identified. The operational costs are increasing for many systems, yet states are not increasing the funding to the systems proportionally. It was identified that a good costing study could be beneficial. The study would identify costs of transit operations and develop benchmarks so that systems with similar characteristics could compare their costs. In addition, costs would be tracked over time to document changes.
5. Greater utilization of the World Wide Web was discussed. Three general areas of utilization were brought up: A) Educational purposes to inform the public of transit services, schedules, and availabilities; B) Training for drivers C) Collection and dissemination of privileged information for transit systems operators & managers only; this would be password protected. It was further pointed out that some small systems may not have access to the World Wide Web. Some research would be required to determine which of the above activities could be most beneficial to the transit system operators.
6. It was identified that SURTC could help with the Dakota Transit Association meeting by organizing an educational track for the conference. In addition, SURTC could help to host a round table discussion with an "ask the expert" session.

Discussion on Training Manual

Dr. Jim Miller, SURTC Faculty Affiliate, concluded the program with a presentation and discussion of the Community Transportation Association of America's (CTAA) Certified Community Transit Manager (CCTM) Manual (Attachment 6). SURTC is working with CTAA to revise the manual and make it available on CD Rom in time for the CTAA Annual Meeting in 2003.

Closing

The advisory board meeting concluded with dinner at the Holiday Inn and adjourned at 7:30 p.m. The next SURTC advisory board meeting will be held next year. The date and location of the next meeting is yet to be determined.