OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Citizens Advisory on Transit Meeting - July 13, 2026

Boards and Commissions — Monday, July 13, 2026
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateMonday, July 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 56:34

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

Second.

0:07

And movement seconded to call the order.

0:10

Unless there are any objections, we're going to call to order.

0:14

We will move to we need to do roll call.

0:17

Okay.

0:19

Soundra, do you have the list called up and you can just read it?

0:24

Yeah.

0:38

No pressure.

0:39

No pressure.

0:52

Here.

0:56

Kenneth.

0:57

Here.

0:58

Kristen.

0:59

Here.

1:00

Jennifer.

1:01

Here.

1:02

Jesse.

1:03

Kind of.

1:06

And Mike.

1:07

Here.

1:14

Perfect.

1:16

So next order of business is approval of the past minutes.

1:22

Do we have a motion to approve the past minutes?

1:26

I have a question.

1:27

Yes, ma'am.

1:28

So the last minutes were in May and we did not have quorums.

1:30

Or are those the ones we're approving or are we approving April's?

1:34

We're approving May's.

1:36

We didn't have quorum in June.

1:38

Oh, okay.

1:39

Right.

1:42

I moved to approve minutes from May.

1:45

House time.

1:47

There's a first and second.

1:50

Previously, I'm gonna ask a question.

1:52

Jesse, you had mentioned that there were some uh include Rudy's on uh May minutes.

2:01

Did you get those uh changed before their uh before what we have here?

2:08

I can open that up.

2:12

You had mentioned uh Jesse had mentioned that it was showing him as yes, we got that corrected.

2:20

Okay, that's all taken care of.

2:23

Okay.

2:24

Other than that, approval of the minutes has been moved and seconded.

2:31

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

2:33

Aye.

2:34

All those opposed.

2:38

We'll move on to uh open comment.

2:44

I don't think anybody is here to openly comment.

2:48

Uh we'll move on to reports.

3:02

So as usual, every month we give the transit reports and you get about data two months.

3:09

So we are in July and we are going over the May report.

3:12

And I usually update this a week before the meetings so you can go through review it and bring any questions you might have.

3:19

I'll just run to a few of the highlights.

3:21

So yeah, to date our ridership is at 283,310.

3:28

That puts us at around 40 percent of what ridership we had in 2025 with monthly ridership every year, every month this year we've been above where we were in 2025, with May being our lowest ridership month, and that was weekly impacted by our service changes.

3:48

So in April we did a service change where we increased frequency on a few routes, we consolidated a few other routes and lost coverage on some of the other areas.

3:59

And that change did impact us, but as every service change, people take time to adjust to it.

4:05

So the main the June numbers are looking much better than May, and we hope that people get adjusted and the ridership keeps going up.

4:13

On our complete trips, that's basically how many of the trips we scheduled every month were we able to complete.

4:20

We schedule around 12,000 trips every month, and our goal is to be able to complete 100% of that.

4:26

So far in 2026, we haven't reached that target yet.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety████████████████████████████████████████40%
Procedural█████████████████17%
Public Engagement████████████12%
Technology and Innovation██████████10%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████7%
Personnel Matters███████7%
Economic Development███3%
Active Transportation██2%
Public Safety██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Citizens Advisory on Transit Meeting - July 13, 2026

The Citizens Advisory on Transit (CAT) met on July 13, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. in City Hall Room 104. Five members were present (Michael S Schnell, Parker M Acree, Kenneth D Baerg, Kristin E Buchholz, Jennifer C Karsner), with two absent (Jesse O'Driscoll, Derek S Aiono). The meeting covered the Transit May 2026 report, the Elton Hills Drive NW corridor project, introduction of VIA Transit as the new operations contractor, and a directive to write a letter of appreciation to transit drivers.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes from the May 14, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously (5-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • None.

Discussion Items

  • Transit May 2026 Report: Staff presented ridership data. Year-to-date ridership was 283,310, approximately 40% of 2025 levels. Monthly ridership in 2026 has been above 2025 each month, with May being lowest due to service changes in April. Trip completion rate in May was 99.228% (missing about 80 of 12,000 scheduled trips). Ridership per service hour averaged 6.5, below the target of 9.3. Mayo Clinic riders accounted for 54% of total ridership. ZIPS paratransit completed 20,487 trips, with on-time performance exceeding the 90% target. Fare revenue per ride was $1.39, despite a base fare of $2. Members discussed color consistency in charts.
  • Elton Hills Drive NW Corridor: City Traffic Engineer Sam Badzina reviewed three alternatives: a four-lane option with curb extensions (Alternative 3), a three-lane option with parking on both sides (Alternative 1, staff recommended), and a three-lane option with a two-way cycle track (Alternative 2). Concerns were raised about cyclist safety, bus operations, on-street parking adequacy, and potential dangers of the two-way left-turn lane. After debate, a motion to endorse the overall project goals (improving pavement and safety) but not recommend a specific cross-section passed unanimously.
  • Introduction of VIA Transit Twin Cities LLC: Justin from VIA presented the company's qualifications. VIA operates in 40+ countries with 750 partners, has a 35% lower accident rate than the FTA average, and has successfully improved services in Mobile, AL (20% increase in driver staffing) and Sioux Falls, SD (34% ridership increase, 18% cost reduction, expanded coverage from 40% to 100%). The transition from current operator Transdev is set for September 1, 2026. VIA plans a phased technology rollout and hopes to retain existing drivers. Microtransit is included in the contract but will be considered later. Members asked about serving low-wage areas and the partnership with Rochester Public Schools, which showed over 1,000 student rides in May.
  • Other Business: Member Jesse O'Driscoll noted a scheduling conflict and requested exploring alternative meeting times; staff will email the committee. A motion to direct city staff to compose a letter thanking RPT drivers for their service and encouraging them to continue with the new contractor, with careful wording to avoid coercion, passed unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous approval of May 14, 2026 minutes.
  • Unanimous endorsement of Elton Hills Drive project goals without selecting a specific cross-section.
  • Unanimous approval to direct staff to draft a letter of appreciation to transit drivers, subject to final committee review.
  • Staff to circulate a scheduling survey for future meeting times.

Note: The agenda and minutes list the meeting date as July 10, 2026, but the user specifies using July 13, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Second. And movement seconded to call the order. Unless there are any objections, we're going to call to order. We will move to we need to do roll call. Okay. Soundra, do you have the list called up and you can just read it? Yeah. No pressure. No pressure. Here. Kenneth. Here. Kristen. Here. Jennifer. Here. Jesse. Kind of. And Mike. Here. Perfect. So next order of business is approval of the past minutes. Do we have a motion to approve the past minutes? I have a question. Yes, ma'am. So the last minutes were in May and we did not have quorums. Or are those the ones we're approving or are we approving April's? We're approving May's. We didn't have quorum in June. Oh, okay. Right. I moved to approve minutes from May. House time. There's a first and second. Previously, I'm gonna ask a question. Jesse, you had mentioned that there were some uh include Rudy's on uh May minutes. Did you get those uh changed before their uh before what we have here? I can open that up. You had mentioned uh Jesse had mentioned that it was showing him as yes, we got that corrected. Okay, that's all taken care of. Okay. Other than that, approval of the minutes has been moved and seconded. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed. We'll move on to uh open comment. I don't think anybody is here to openly comment. Uh we'll move on to reports. So as usual, every month we give the transit reports and you get about data two months. So we are in July and we are going over the May report.

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