The Citizens Advisory on Transit (CAT) committee met on May 19, 2026 (note: the meeting agenda, minutes, and transcript provided list the date as May 14, 2026, though the instructed date for this summary is May 19, 2026). The meeting was called to order with a quorum of four members present. Staff member Rachel Fautsch led presentations and discussions. The committee elected a new Chair, changed its regular meeting schedule, and received extensive updates on Rochester Public Transit (RPT) operations, financial outlook, and upcoming service changes.
Transit March 2026 Report Rachael Fautsch presented the report, highlighting a consistent uptick in fixed-route ridership. The first quarter of 2026 has already matched the total ridership increase from the entirety of 2025 (roughly 10,000 to 20,000 rides). Ridership demographics remain steady, with approximately 50% of riders being Mayo Clinic employees or staff. The recent transition from loop to bi-directional service has created confusion among riders, particularly non-Mayo riders who did not receive employer-based notifications, leading to a slight ridership drop on affected routes. An education campaign is underway. Significant construction delays are causing buses to run 15-20 minutes behind schedule; a "reblocking" (rerouting of driver assignments) is scheduled for June. A notable ridership loss of approximately 200,000 passenger trips from 2022 to 2023 is believed to be correlated with the closure of the IBM park-and-ride lot. ZIPS paratransit ridership has slightly decreased due to dispatch software and training issues, which are being addressed with new training and daily on-site support from the transit team.
Election of Chair & Meeting Packet Discussion The floor was opened for nominations for a new Committee Chair. Parker Acree nominated Michael Schnell. Before the vote, a discussion occurred on the lack of detailed material in the meeting packet. Rachel Fautsch explained that the city is proactively working to meet a new federal website accessibility requirement, which has temporarily reduced the detail of packets (replacing attachments with links and text descriptions). An intern, Laura, is working on making reports and bus maps fully accessible. Michael Schnell was elected as Chair unanimously.
New Meeting Dates and Times The committee discussed poor attendance at the current meeting time (5:00 p.m. on the second Thursday). It was noted that the committee only met 2-4 times in all of 2025. A new time was proposed to improve accessibility and ensure quorum. The committee voted unanimously to change future meetings to the second Friday of each month from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Free parking codes will be provided to members.
RPT Overview, 2026 Priorities, and Spring Service Changes Update Rachael Fautsch provided a comprehensive overview of the transit system's present and future.
All right. Since we have a quorum, I call this meaning to order. Do I have a does anybody want to approve the minutes? We have to approve the minutes from February. Correct. Approve the minutes from February 12th. To approve the minutes from February 12th. Second. There's a motion and a second to approve the minutes from February 12th. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. Okay. We'll move on to the uh appropriate. We didn't do roll call. Oh. We need to do roll call. Well, I've checked everybody off, but to be formal and official. Yes. Fair enough. I was wondering that, but since you since you've called everybody up. Oh we will call the rule. Parker. Derek. Kenneth. Kristen. Here. Jennifer. Jesse. Myself. I am here. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have an approval of the agenda? We have a motion. Motion to approve the order agenda for today. There's a motion and a second to approve the order of the agenda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Okay. We will call the open comment period. Since there is nobody here. We will move on to reports. Great. So I've gone ahead and uh we have the transit operations report from March. So generally these take we get these about the end of the month, the following month. So this is still our most accurate report, but we have noticed a pretty consistent trend in upticks in our fixed route ridership. I will say this, and I um and I guess it's some additional feedback that we're getting with the spring service changes.