Sacramento Regional Transit Board of Directors Meeting - March 14, 2022
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Sacramento Regional Transit Board of Directors Meeting - March 14, 2022
The Sacramento Regional Transit Board of Directors held a virtual meeting on March 14, 2022, at 5:31 PM UTC. The meeting included roll call, approval of the consent calendar, public comments, the General Manager's report, and director reports. A quorum of 10 votes was present.
Consent Calendar
- Items 2.1 through 2.7 were approved unanimously with 10 votes. Director Kennedy thanked staff for flexibility on item 2.5, noting the project was important and taking longer than expected.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jeffrey Tardiya raised several concerns: called for agenda transparency regarding meeting access, noted 70–100 bus cancellations over the last three Fridays, requested better communication about commuter line cancellations, questioned modifications to the Gold Line for low-floor trains, and expressed worries about driver shortages, bus replacement, and natural gas certification timelines.
- Glenn Mandelcorn reported on his outreach to the Sacramento Reddit community about the Short-Range Transit Plan (SRTP). He stated that 27,000 people clicked on his post, with top topics being that light rail does not go where people want to go, safety and security, and more affordable options. He offered to help the board use this feedback for community outreach.
Discussion Items
- General Manager's Report (Henry) :
- Recognized Women's History Month and National Transit Driver Appreciation Day (Friday, March 18).
- Highlighted rising gas prices and promoted RT as a low-cost alternative ($7/day or less), noting a 10% ridership increase in February and March 2022.
- Addressed service cancellations (about 3% of daily trips) due to manpower shortages, mitigated by adjusting headways. Two in-person hiring events are scheduled for March 22 and March 30, 2022.
- Announced that the Short-Range Plan proposes temporarily canceling up to 3% of routes starting April, pending staffing levels.
- Shared a positive rider comment about operator Miles.
- Reported a $5.25 million Federal Transit Administration grant for bus replacements and highlighted the FY22 transportation bill with $20.5 billion for public transit.
- Noted that the Smart Ride zone now serves the Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC), which earned LEED Platinum certification.
- Announced free rides for the 56th National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference, expected to bring 2,500 people to the region.
- Directors Harris and Budge commended the service to MOSAC and requested updated information on hiring events and conference dates.
- Reports, Ideas, and Questions from Directors:
- Chair Miller discussed Assembly Bill 2015 (modifications to the enabling act for regional transit). He noted that the local government committee would not consider the bill without unanimous board support on the revised voting structure, which was not achieved. He requested that the board consider the bill language (excluding voting changes) at the March 28, 2022 meeting to move the bill forward. He also indicated that in-person meetings may resume by May 2022, pending federal mask mandate changes, with a hybrid option retained.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved unanimously.
- General Manager's report received and noted.
- Chair Miller directed that the AB 2015 bill language be placed on the March 28, 2022 agenda for board consideration.
- No formal votes were taken on public comments or the General Manager's report.
Meeting Transcript
All right, and with that, welcome to everyone to our March 14th, 2022 meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit Board of Directors. This is a virtual meeting, and all speakers, the board and staff. I'd ask that you please announce your name when you begin to speak. This meeting is being live streamed, and the slide on the screen shows the information on how to join our webinar via Zoom. You can also call into the meeting at 253 215 8782. And our webinar access code is 884 5247 1683. If you are participating by phone, please push star nine to indicate a desire to comment. If you're joining us online through Zoom, please push the raise hand button. Be sure to unmute yourself when it's your turn to speak and voluntary. We ask that you voluntarily state your name for the record. And with that, I'd ask uh Tabitha to call the roll, please. Director Budge. Here Director Harris. Here. Director Hal. Here. Director Hume. Here. Director Jennings. Director Kennedy. Director Natoly. Here. Director Shanier. Here. Director Cerna. Here. Director Valenzuela. Here. And I'm going to go back up to Director Kennedy. I see he just hopped on. Director Kennedy. Okay, now I'm here. Okay. And Chair Miller. Here. All right. With that, we have a quorum at 10 votes. And this meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit District will be cable cast on Metro Cable 14, the local government affairs channel on Comcast, Consolidated Communications, and ATT Uverse. Today's meeting will air on Saturday, March 19th at 2 p.m. and Sunday, March 20th at 9 a.m. on channel 14 and webcast at Metro14Live.sackCounty.net and is closed captioned. This meeting can also be viewed at YouTube.com forward slash Metro Cable 14. Thank you, Tabitha. And with that, uh please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance allegiance to the flag of the United States. And to the Republic. One nation under individual. Thank you. And with that, uh would you please call the first item? The first item is the consent calendar, items 2.1 to 2.7.
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