NORTHERN INDIANA COMMUTER TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT ...

NICTD Board MeetingJanuary 30, 2009Page 3NICTD’s Accounting Department has reviewed the financial statements and interviewedthe appropriate personnel at Aldridge Electric to ensure they have the financial means tocomplete Phase 2 of the catenary construction.All companies not bidding were contacted as to why they did not bid.Mr. Welch said the staff recommends that Aldridge Electric, 5755 North Point Pky,Suite 47, Alpharetta, GA, be awarded the contract for the new catenary Phase 2 construction inthe amount of $19,097,219.20. Contract will be amended to the lower cost at time copper isprocured. The staff is requesting that the Board grant the General Manager the authority to issuea Notice to Proceed for the new catenary Phase 2 construction at his discretion.Mr. Evans made the motion as presented by the staff, to award the contract for the newcatenary Phase 2 construction to Aldridge Electric in the amount of $19,097,219.20, amendingto the lower cost at time copper is procured, and to grant the General Manager the authority toissue a Notice to Proceed at his discretion. Ms. DuPey made a second to the motion. Themotion was approved.b. Digger Derrick ProposalMr. Welch said the Line/Signal Department has requested competitive proposals for onedigger derrick 4x4 truck to be used in maintaining the maintenance of way. This equipment willreplace existing equipment that has become unreliable in the day-to-day operations (1989 modelto be traded).A total of 8 packets were mailed for the digger derrick truck prior to the proposalopening. The request resulted in the receipt of 3 proposals for the truck:Altec Industries $242,654.00 (negotiated to $239,654.00)TransChicago Truck Group $230,530.00 (not compliant with Buy America criteria)Structural Metal Fab. $255,409.00Great Lakes International Trucks – Sub-ContractorHill Truck Sales, Inc. – No proposalNorthwest Ford and Sterling – No longer supplying SterlingUtility Fleet Sales, Ltd. – Internet sales – No responseUtility-Peterbilt of Indianapolis – Sub-ContractorThe proposals were evaluated for responsiveness to determine if the Proposal could beaccepted for further review. All forms have been correctly submitted and were found to bewithin the guidelines set forth by the FTA. Mr. Lukmann, Esq., said to include in the minutesthat the low bid was not taken because TransChicago Truck Group was not compliant with theBuy America criteria. The proposals were also evaluated for responsiveness to the TechnicalSpecifications. Altec was responsive and took no exceptions to the Technical Specifications.The DBE amount was 0.0%, but made good faith effort.NICTD’s Engineering Department has reviewed the proposal and technicalspecifications and has deemed Altec as a competent supplier. Altec can meet NICTD’s deliveryschedule.

NICTD Board MeetingJanuary 30, 2009Page 7Mr. Black outlined some SSPP Goals NICTD is working on:• Provide a safe environment for all passengers and employees.• Develop, refine and disseminate a consistent safety message throughout the company.• Foster and maintain a safety culture in everyday work life.All other goals flow from these. Safety is EVERYONE’S job, said Mr. Black.Mr. Black also talked about the new cab control simulator NICTD is developing. Itprovides a realistic operating environment for acclimating new engineers and improving theskills of veteran train personnel.Mr. Lampe, President, Chicago, SouthShore and South Bend Railroad said the CSS ismirroring NICTD’s safety plan. CSS emphasizes testing crews where they have to think ratherthan go through regular everyday activities. Mr. Hanas referred to the Los Angeles reviewcommittee where engineer attentiveness was a key factor. Together, Messrs. Lampe and Hanasunveiled an original painting by Mitch Markovitz commemorating the effort to prioritize safetyon both of our railroads. The painting depicts a meet where one train has to stop and allow theother train to pass. Mr. Markovitz briefly described the painting emphasizing several red safetysignals. Posters will be made from this painting. Mr. Lampe said that each operating person inCSS will receive a poster. Mr. Yagelski expressed his appreciation to Mr. Lampe.Mr. Kovach made the motion to accept Resolution 09-01 – Resolution Endorsing theNorthern Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s Commitment to System Safety.Ms. Huston made a second to the motion. Motion was approved.5. RESOLUTION 09-02 JACOBS, EDWARDS & KELCEY CONSTRUCTIONMr. Hanas called attention to the additional cost for the purposes of constructionmanagement for the catenary and signal projects. Upon completion of NICTD’s procurementreview, the contract needs to be increased by $330,030.00 for a new total contract authorizationof $2,915,964.00.Mr. Yagelski made the motion to accept Resolution 09-02 – Resolution Authorizing aContract Amendment with Edwards & Kelcey (E&K) for the Purposes of ConstructionManagement for the Catenary and Signal Projects for an additional $330,030.00 increasing thecontract authorization to $2,915,964.00. Ms. Huston made a second to the motion. Motion wasapproved.6. CONSTRUCTION AND FINANCE UPDATEa. 300 Series Car OrderMr. Hanas said 10 new 300 series cars have been delivered to Michigan City for testing.The final 4 cars should be shipped Monday, February 2, 2009. He said he hopes that in Marchthe waiver will come through and all the acceptance tests will be completed. During testing aproblem with the auxiliary power supply (APS) was uncovered and the APS manufacturer andNippon Sharyo are working to correct it.

NICTD Board MeetingJanuary 30, 2009Page 8b. Economic Stimulus ProjectsMr. Hanas said Congress was developing a massive spending bill to stimulate theeconomy. A portion of that bill includes an appropriation for transit infrastructure that lookslike it will be distributed to transit systems through the FTA formula program. NICTD isexpecting to receive roughly $13 million. It would be 100% money not requiring a local match.NICTD has identified a number of projects that would qualify for these funds. We are awaitingSenate action on the bill.Mr. Hanas said NICTD has identified 8 projects totaling $26.3 million that could befunded by the federal economic stimulus package:Phase 3 Signal (Michigan City to South Bend) $13,360,000.00Dune Park High Platform 5,000,000.00South Bend Relocation (acquisition/site prep) 2,000,000.00Michigan City Storage Yard, Parking Expansion 1,500,000.00Hegewisch Parking Expansion 875,000.00Burns Waterway Repairs 290,000.00Dune Park and Carroll Avenue Repaving 350,000.00115# Rail Replacement Birchim and Olive Sidings 3,000,000.00Total $26,375,000.007. RESOLUTION 09-01 SYSTEM SAFETY PROGRAM PLAN [moved up in meeting]8. NATIONAL RAILWAY SAFETY ACT OF 2008 – POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROLMr. Hanas explained that Positive Train Control [PTC] is a computer based train controlsystem that safely stops a train if an engineer fails to apply the brake. The Railway SafetyImprovement Act of 2008 mandates that all railroads must submit a plan to implement PTC byApril 2010. Then it must fully implement PTC by December 2015. [This was prompted by theMetroLink accident in September 2008.]Mr. Hanas shared the objectives of PTC:• Prevent train-to-train collisions• Enforce all forms of speed limits (permanent, temporary speed restrictions, and switchspeeds)• Protect roadway workers working within their authorized limitsNumerous technologies are being tested, but no common off-the-shelf technology exists.Mr. Hanas explained that whatever NICTD adopts must be compatible with other locomotivesoperating on our railroad and compatible with Metra Electric District.Mr. Hanas gave an overview of how the PTC will work. Before the train leaves itsoriginating terminal all relevant information is downloaded from the back-office systems. Asatellite based GPS works in conjunction with the on-board geographic track data base to

NICTD Board MeetingJanuary 30, 2009Page 9determine the train’s location. As the train moves the on-board computer constantly calculates awarning and braking curve based on all current operational data. As the train moves the onboardcomputer pings wayside devices checking for broken rails, proper switch alignment, andsignal aspects.9. PLANNING PROJECTSa. West Lake Corridor Studies UpdateMr. Gismondi, Midwest Planning Manager for STV Inc., of Chicago, spoke about theNew Starts process in relation to the West Lake Corridor Studies. New Starts program is ahighly competitive process for awarding federal funds to major new capital investments. TheFederal Transit Administration [FTA] requires an Alternative Analysis – a rigorous planningprocess to assess the relative merits of the selected project.Mr. Gismondi said a key component is cost/effectiveness, i.e., annualized operating andcapital cost of the project divided by annual travel time savings. Travel time savings is afunction of ridership. Ridership is derived through the travel demand modeling process whichuses population and economic forecasts as inputs. The cost divided by effectiveness must bebelow $23 for funding and to enter the preliminary engineering phase. A comparison shows theValparaiso alignment at $22-$23 and the Lowell alignment at $16-$18.Due to the difference in cost, Mr. Gismondi suggests NICTD move West Lake forwardin phases. He recommends Lowell be Phase 1 and a new Valparaiso alignment be Phase 2. Ifthis is agreed upon, the next steps would be for a regional consensus including NIRPC’sapproval of the population projections and plan; get State and local funding commitment;complete the Lowell Alternative Analysis study, including updated cost/effectiveness ratio,submitting an application to enter Preliminary Engineering; and finally, continue studying thealignment to Valparaiso.b. Joint Statement of Goals Associated with RDA Summit ProcessMr. Parsons requested that the Board consider adopting a Statement of Shared Goalsbetween the Regional Bus Authority and NICTD. The statement outlines a direction for thefuture of public transportation in the region that enhances public bus and commuter rail services.Mr. Parsons explained that it incorporates a set of goals that were mutually identified through aplanning process directed by the Regional Development Authority. This planning group alsoincluded the Northwest Indiana Forum and NIRPC. While the statement does not explicitlysupport the current effort to secure local funding for public transportation, Mr. Hanas didmention that local funding will remain an issue.Ms. DuPey said NICTD is not in a position to enter this Statement even if it is only apolicy matter. Mr. Yagelski made a motion to not accept/sign this Statement of Shared Goalsbetween the Regional Bus Authority and NICTD. Ms. Graham made a second to the motion.Motion was approved.

NICTD Board MeetingJanuary 30, 2009Page 1010. RIDERSHIP REPORTMr. Parsons said when comparing 2007 to 2008 NICTD saw a decline in ridership of1.5%. Passengers into and out of the South Bend Airport represent a 6.4% increase over 2007.For the year average weekday travel fell by 3.0%, with peak period travel declining by 4.8% andoff-peak travel increasing by 0.8%. He suggests the economic recession was a major factor indeclining weekday passenger traffic. Illinois is reporting that the unemployment rate for theChicago area reached 7.2% in November, compared to a rate of 5.5% in 2007.Weekend/Holiday ridership is up 5.1%.Mr. Parsons stated Metra Electric ridership is down 4.3% during the same period. Thenext big event that NICTD is getting ready for is the Auto Show. Select weekday trains will bestopping at McCormick Place during the auto show.11. OTHER BUSINESSNone.12. ADJOURNMr. Yagelski called for a motion to adjourn. It was so moved. The next NICTD BoardMeeting is scheduled for Friday, March 27, 2009.rbpRespectfully submitted,Barbara Huston, Board Secretary