HomeMy WebLinkAbout210114 PTAC MinutesMINUTES
Public Transportation Advisory Commission
Erickson Conference Room, Galesburg City Hall, 55 West Tompkins St
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
VIA TELEPHONE:
Linda Miller, John Hanlon, Mark Lee, Stephanie Grimes, Rose Morris, Josh
Kilpatrick, 6
MEMBERS ABSENT: Kyle Kelley, 1
OTHERS PRESENT
VIA TELEPHONE:
Dedra Mannon and Ryan Berger
OTHERS PRESENT
PHYSICALLY:
Pamelyn Usher-Miller and Mary Foutch
Vice Chairman Hanlon declared a quorum present.
There were no Public Comments received.
Approve Minutes of the December 10, 2020 meeting
Member Grimes moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Member Morris.
Minutes were approved by voice vote.
PZ-21-0101 Discuss Grant Extension
Pamelyn Usher-Miller, Transit Manager, provided the Commission information on the extension
of Grant CAP-11-968-FED.
This grant was awarded to the City of Galesburg for the purchase of security cameras,
dispatching hardware/software, a service truck, and maintenance equipment. This grant expired
with funding still available. A letter was sent to Illinois Department of Transportation requesting
an extension until September 30, 2021 to utilize the funds still available.
Member Hanlon asked if any motion needed to be made by PTAC, Pamelyn explained this was
already approved by commission in 2020 and no motion was needed. This was just to update the
Commission.
No other comments were made on this item, Member Hanlon proceeded to the next item.
PZ-21-0102 Discuss Proposed Route Changes
Pamelyn explained that to make our routes more appeasing to the citizens of the City of Galesburg, Transit
Staff have been working on creating new and improved routes that will run every 45 minutes to an hour.
The Commission was given a copy of the proposed routes for review. Pamelyn explained how shorten
routes will service more of our community.
Member Morris asked when the new routes would start. Pamelyn was hoping to start with the new routes at
the end of April, around Earth Day. She explained the drivers were still working on preparing where stops
will be located and getting the information to our GIS person.
Member Miller stated she was happy to hear that the drivers were involved with the routes and thanked
Pamelyn for including them. Member Miller asked about the time frame of the routes. Pamelyn explained
the routes would run consistently at the same time every half an hour on a loop.
With no other comments Member Hanlon moved to the next item on the agenda.
PZ-21-0103 Discuss Extended Services
Pamelyn explained that the City of Galesburg Transit staff have been looking into the idea of extending
services. Staff would like to discuss possibly looking at extending our operations from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m., Monday through Saturday. Eventually adding services on Sunday as well.
The plan is to start an hour earlier in February then eventually adding the hour at the end of the day.
Pamelyn explained we must take this slowly as we need to be sure the funding is available for the increase
of hours. The plan is to get to a point we are running until 10:00 p.m. and eventually on Sundays.
Members Grimes and Miller both commented that they are happy to see progress and that the staff is trying
to move forward with different items. They felt the changes will be good for our community.
With no other comments Member Hanlon moved to the next item on the agenda.
Last on the agenda was an update from the previous meeting.
Pamelyn updated the commission members on the progress of the app and told them she would send that
out to the members for a glance of what has been done so far.
Pamelyn discussed the meeting staff had with Knox College to discuss a possible service contract like the
one the City of Galesburg has with Carl Sandburg College. She explained Knox had some concerns with
the bus stops so we have added stops to accommodate the needs of the students. A follow up meeting with
Knox Student Government is scheduled for January 19th.
Member Grimes stated she was excited and felt that the meeting was a positive meeting. Member Miller
explained what was proposed to Knox before and that it was not something they wanted to do. She thinks
within time Knox will provide more ridership than Sandburg.
Pamelyn went into a discussion about what Staff is working on for January. She told the members that
Staff is currently looking into updating our fixed route cards and introducing magnetic cards and
eventually the ability to upload funds to cards.
Member Grimes agreed that Transit needed to move forward to something that was more efficient.
Pamelyn shared with the member that our mechanics would be working on renovating our buses with new
lighting and materials on the seats.
Pamelyn also reminded the commission members that we would be pushing a ride free on Earth Day event
and hoped they all participated in this event.
Member Grimes asked who the contact would be if a business in town was interested in advertising on
Transit Vehicles. Mary Foutch explained that would be her and that all her information could be found on
the emails.
Member Hanlon asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
A motion was made by member Miller and seconded by member Grimes.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m.
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Mary Foutch, Transit Assistant