May 5, 2012 – Meeting Minutes - City of Santa Clarita Transit

that the changes being made were for the cost of the monthly passes. For two reasons:one to bring the cost more in line with what other agencies in the region are charging andtwo keeping more in line with what the actual cost of the service. The subsidizedprogram will still be in place based on income requirements for seniors. The followingare some examples of the proposed changes: local monthly pass going from $30 to $32,there will be a new monthly pass for the North Hollywood route which will be $100 andthe reduced fare will be $50. The changes being made are for the commuter routes atapproximately $5 more per month and the reduced fare will be 50% less then the actualfull fare. Another change is the cost of the subsidized fare for DAR from $.50 per trip to$.60 per trip. These subsidized tickets used to be called “punch tickets” and we havestopped selling the paper tickets 4 -5 months ago, therefore no longer valid as of May 1,2012. Now it is a subsidized fare purchased on TAP cards. The public hearing scheduledfor the proposed changes is May 24, 2012 as part of the regular council meeting. Ifadopted the new rates would be effective August 5, 2012.Someone asked for the rationale of charging personal care assistants (PCA) whentraveling with a disabled person.Adrian Aguilar stated that the City was not part of the ASI Free Fare Program. The Cityof Santa Clarita is a stand alone program and not reimbursed by Access. When theprogram originally started it was designed to allow seniors to ride local service for freeand provide seniors additional independence and increased mobility throughout the City.Adrian stated that they received feedback that people with disabilities should be includedin this program, therefore, Santa Clarita City Council stated that persons with disabilitieswould be included in the program but PCA’s would have to pay the fare.Someone stated that charging the PCA defeated the purpose of having increased mobilityfor seniors or the disabled if they did not have the money to pay for their PCA to comealong with them.A discussion was made about Access and Metrolink issues. Adrian Aguilar addressedthis issue by saying that it had nothing to do with the local service. The issue had to dowith citizens getting off Metrolink and wanting to continue on the City’s commuterservice for free.Someone suggested a system of using a DAR and/or Para transit vehicle deviated from itsfix route in highly utilized areas for patrons to use by calling in a day in advance.Adrian Aguilar stated this was a good introduction for Jim Moore’s presentation of theTransit Development Plan. In which they will be looking at the Para transit and fixedroute service, its current and future demands, how we can meet that demand, andrecommendations of how it can be financed.Jim Moore of Moore and Associates introduced himself and his business partner Eric, amarket research survey and outreach specialist. Moore and Associates is creating a fiveyear business plan for the continuing development of public transit services in Santa