Yes, we have a quorum.

Yes, we do.

I want to welcome everyone to the September 8th meeting of the Sacramento Regional Board of Directors.

Tabitha, would you please do the roll call and read the Metro Cable replay statement?

Director Burr.

Present.

Director Budge?

Here.

Director Dickinson.

Director Hume?

Sure.

Director Kennedy.

Sure.

Director Maple.

Director Orba here.

Director Schaefer is absent.

Director Cerna.

Director Sing Allen is absent and Chair Jennings.

Here.

With that, we have a quorum of nine votes, and this meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit District is recorded with closed captioning.

The recording will be cable cast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and Direct TV Uverse Cable Systems.

The recording will also be video streamed at Metro 14 Live.gov.

Today's meeting replays Wednesday, September 10th at 2 p.m.

and Sunday, September 14th at eleven thirty AM on Metro Cable Channel 14.

Once posted, the recording of this meeting can be viewed on demand at YouTube.com forward slash Metro Cable 14.

Members of the audience wishing to address the board should fill out a speaker card located at the rear of the room and provide it to myself or Adam.

Once the item has been called, additional speaker cards will not be accepted.

The time allowed for public comment is at the chair's discretion.

The timer will chime when you have 20 seconds, and then again when your time is up.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

In a second here.

Okay, I just want to check with directors first.

Okay.

Let's take the public comment.

We have Glenn Mandelkern.

Oh, there we go.

Thank you.

Take two.

Okay.

So I'm very happy to um see that uh you're addressing the issue of uh routers on uh vehicles to um transmit information.

Uh I thought that this would be a good time to bring up this issue that maybe can be addressed while you're also installing these new routers or looking at the ones that you currently have.

Uh there was a statement there in this agenda item that said something like um that not having this information being transmitted is of concern of safety concerns for emergency.

I would like to extend that that it's also valuable information for writers because um as it currently stands, uh when a vehicle is not transmitting information, a three-letter quote appears, which is SCH, which means scheduled.

Um it's a little bit ambiguous and confusing because we don't know as writers, uh, does it mean that the vehicle is not operating and that's why it's not transmitting information or the router itself is not transmitting information, but the the vehicle is coming.

So um you at operations do know the distinction because you have your alerts page that tells when bus trips are canceled.

Uh I would like to suggest that this all be directly displayed on the bus time map, which is something you mentioned in agenda item 2.12.

So that way it's available at a glance and we can see right away.

Okay, we can stay here waiting because it's gonna come, or uh let's make alternate plans.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We got that?

Perfect, perfect.

Any other public comment?

There's no other public comment.

Okay.

Thanks, Mr.

Thanks, Mr.

Chair.

Um I really wanted to raise the the question of whether it uh makes sense to continue being um part of this JPA.

I suppose it's for all the parties to decide whether the JPA should continue, but in terms of regional transit participation in it, uh it seems like uh this is uh an appropriate time to raise that issue.

And if it hasn't been, if it hasn't been revisited in uh quite a while, then perhaps this is that also makes it a good time.

So I would ask the question, and I suspect Director Hume would ask the same question.

Since regional transit is the owner of the Carter, why would this body not want to be uh a member of the JPA?

Well, because we own the corridor.

Why have a JPA for a corridor we we own?

No.

No, but a significant portion.

Um from here to Fulson.

Let's clarify that.

For purposes of the territory that we serve, we have control, if not ownership, of the corridor, correct?

We have a easement.

The JPA owns the corridor, so we have an easement, and so long as the um JPA is in existence, um, we will just have an easement.

So either really the only um way to get out of it is for all the parties of the JPA to decide to dissolve the JPA.

There is a process for that in the RUFA.

Um, and so they'd have to come together all agree, and then at that point, then each of the member agencies would take ownership of their segment of the corridor.

In fee versus as an easement.

Does it make any sense because I ask you a question first?

Why is there any other is there any other location uh on the light rail system where RT does does not have control of yes?

There are other segments where we do not like the fulls.

And who are those owned by?

Or they're owned by cities.

And I do we have JPAs with them?

No, we have uh in the case of the city right of way.

We have encroachment permits in the case of Fulsom, we have agreements with them for use.

So why wouldn't we have the same arrangement for for this section that that we serve?

Um just as we do uh in the locations you've just described.

I mean, that's not my call.

That's something that was predates me, and that's just the arrangement that the entities came together, because that was the way they could buy the corridor is by forming a JPA, all coming together, pulling all their resources and purchasing the the corridor.

Okay.

But we're not we're not spending thirty five thousand dollars a uh a year with the city of Sacramento or the city of Folsom for for right of way are we?

Um I don't know.

I don't know the answer to that question.

Okay.

Fair enough.

I mean but we aren't here uh by virtue uh the step okay so the answer to that is a no ask that question.

The answer to that is a no the um amount of money um that is dues for the members of the JPA is agreed upon by all members of the JPA every year.

Correct.

And it's actually gotten a little bit lower because Rancho Cordova has just been accepted and this board did accept it as a member of the JPA.

Um unlike it's been since our incorporation and so the membership dues got a little bit lower.

That's great but it begs the fundamental question.

Why do we need a JPA in this circumstance when it we have similar uh uh conditions and circumstances in other places and there there's no JPA and there are no dues at all.

I'm not sure there's a separate agreement with the city of Folsom.

We have we have an agreement with Folsom I don't remember the scope of it but we do have a an O and M agreement with them um and then we have an of course an agreement with the city of Sacramento.

And I do know that the history of the JPA um starts at um 65th street.

It also dates to 199 197 77 87 it's 80 87 when you might have been there when uh we finally got the Carter from Southern Pacific or Union Pacific or whoever it was and we went east from Butterfield.

You were probably there because we later in 87.

No it wasn't we we extend we built the light rail all the way out to Butterfield because that was the extent of the money for the interstate transfer dollars.

That's that's correct.

And so it went as far as it could to Butterfield.

Right.

But then when the railroad finally decided to sell it to regional transit then that's when it got extended out into Folsom and I think let me ask you two a question because this is a consent item and if we're gonna spend this amount of time on it we probably should bring it back.

That's a really good idea.

So we have a binder on this about this.

And I think Folsom has a comment.

So Henry um tell me what you think about this.

Um actually uh director uh you know uh chat with me about the disease you uh a couple times and uh um uh I asked the staff to give me more information about this and we just didn't get it back you know to talk again and I didn't talk to the individual for you guys about this JPA was uh like a 50 years ago or 40 years ago or whatever years ago and uh at that time uh regional needers had uh a wonderful ambition which is to extend library to put some or whatever and uh uh I think maybe best solution at this point of time let's you know put this aside and let's talk about this you know again with my you know wants to have a walkshop to talk about this.

Mr.

Chair, I'd like to move that we continue this item to the next meeting because I can't wait to see Linda's binder.

Well, I'll second it.

Um, actually, the first um executive director of the JPA was a retired um regional transit director or or member.

Oh, all that history, we're gonna have another conversation, it sounds like, depending on the vote.

Is there further discussion?

Yes.

No further discussion.

I'd need to uh approve the remainder of the consent, all items other than item 2.9.

Second.

All right.

So on the consent calendar, all in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Abstain.

All right, and then on item 2.9 as far as moving it to an agendizing it for it to come back.

There's been a motion and a second.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Oppose, abstain.

All right, we are moving forward.

That item passes.

Okay.

That was a great discussion.

It was a good history lesson there.

Yeah.

I guess we're no question.

Okay, we have some unfinished business business item 3.1, customer service response for feedback and comments.

Lisa?

I'm over here.

There we go.

1987, I was in high school graduating.

Don't do that.

This good year.

Okay, Chair Jennings, members of the board.

I'm Lisa Hines, VP of Security, Safety, and Customer Satisfaction.

As the lead of customer service for the agency, I will be presenting customer satisfaction strategies and responses to public concerns.

Next slide.

Thank you.

SacroT Capital projects are managed by the Engineering and Construction Division with over 15 concurrently running individual projects, as well as supporting daily operation and maintenance demands.

The staff of 10 is successful in managing major capital projects by utilizing consultants, which is an industry-wide practice.

Staff is supported by the construction project management consultants on each major capital project who work as an extension of SAC RT.

The SACRT project management team comprises of staff and consultants.

They oversee the day-to-day construction activities, conduct and maintain quality control, and monitor progress.

Every construction project is a learning experience for everyone as no two construction projects are the same.

At a weekly meeting, the team continuously reviews what can be improved based upon previous lessons learned.

Presentations included in the agenda 72 hours in advance.

We will strive to get presentations completed and posted within 72 hours of future board meetings.

It can be challenging to accomplish this within a two-week turnaround, however, we will do our best.

How to ensure SACRT Flex vehicles are in a safe place for loading and unloading.

SACRT Flex has been running since December, and we are proud to say that we haven't had any incidents or issues with rear boarding on the vehicles that we use.

We provide safety training to all drivers, ensuring that a safe location is identified for all boarding and deboarding.

Priority signals for buses, not just trains.

The transit signal priority project is planned to go live by the end of 2026.

Buses will have signal priority on Arden from Del Paso to Harvard and possibly also from Oxford and at El Paso.

We are also working on a signal priority project for the Stockton Boulevard BRT as well as other locations identified in our upcoming COA.

Upgrade and expand existing service rather than investing in capital projects.

We are working diligently to improve the perception of safety and security by combining visible presence with clear and consistent communication.

Although SACRT continuously provides this information at outreach events, board updates, social media, newsletters, signage, press releases, and digital tool kits, we can always find new ways to do better.

Some other measurable actions may include improving lighting and cleaning schedules, adding more staff to the social services program to connect unhoused individuals with resources, expanding police presence at stations, transit centers, and onboard trains, and continuing to find innovative technologies to improve our customers' experience.

We just completed upgrading 200 new cameras at our light rail stations and at our buildings, with 10 of them being thermal cameras, which help us detect trespassers.

We are in the process of increasing security resources with the goal of staffing every train with a security presence.

When writers see and feel safety in action, perception should follow, especially if they share their positive experience with others.

How many trains have been tested for deployment issues?

All trains are tested every single night, ensuring all components are properly working.

The safety department conducted an audit of all gold line stations, documented any ramp deployment issue.

This report has been shared with the engineering team.

The engineering team staff are checking other stations with similar setups to make sure we don't see the same issues elsewhere.

This project is currently ongoing.

Next slide.

Our VP of Marketing has scheduled a meeting with SEAU to discuss long-term subsidy.

Community members reported issues with ongoing malfunctions at two light rail crossing locations, Mineshaft and Folsom and Bradshaw.

At the mine shaft crossing, the issues reported were the signals were not operating correctly, leading drivers to ignore the red lights and drive around the crossing arms.

Our response was we traced it back to a control box malfunction, and wayside staff repaired the control box and restored normal function.

The next steps are increasing the spot checks and of the older high risk control boxes at the crossings, strengthening strengthening the documentation, and trending to catch repeat issues.

Add targeted inspections during heavy use or after storms, and reinforce operator or field staff reporting abnormal behavior.

For the Folsom Boulevard and Bradshaw issue, it was an issue with lead light rail warning lights flashing.

Response was it was traced to a system fault requiring a reset, normal signal operations stored this restored the same day, and apply the same approach as I mentioned before.

Look at partnerships and identify how to get to the final destination first and last mile.

The planning department is partnering with our cities to implement a countywide safe routes to transit plan.

This plan identifies gaps in the sidewalk and bite network and prioritizes the ones that access transit services.

We intend this effort to be collaborative and focused on tangible ridership gains.

In addition, we have 53 light rail stations in the Sacramento region.

In partnership with the Sacramento Valley Air District and SMUD, we are in the process of transforming these stations into vibrant mobility hubs, offering things like EV charging, community car share, e-mobility, scooters and bikes, and maybe a coffee stand or two.

To keep EV charging costs low, we are using public-private partnerships and using an air district funds for the capital cost.

These mobility hubs will be a community asset that provide affordable charging, first and last mile options, and connections to frequent bus and light rail service.

We can ridership, service for fairs, festivals, games, look at location frequencies, and partnerships to ride to conferences, conventions, and maybe even less SAC.

SACRT partners with many organizations each year, both large and small, that incentivize options to encourage more people to try transit, build ridership, and partnerships, demonstrating our value as a community partner.

On screen is just a small snapshot of some of the events we have served in the region.

This requires SACRT to deliver seamless safe and efficient service for a large volume of riders on the weekends.

To achieve this, we increase weekend service when we launch SACRT forward in 2019, and are also looking at additional options to do so with the updated COA.

However, it will require cutting some early morning frequency on weekdays andor finding more funding to do so, as it requires additional operators and more buses to increase our service.

In addition to supporting regional events, we provide extensive community engagement by tabling over 80 events each year, educating the public about SACRT, our services, and the benefits of using public transportation.

Some of these include Pops in the Park, National Night Out, International Kids Festival, Earth Day, and Sacramento TMA, how to write trainings.

That concludes my presentation.

Are there any questions?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um, can you go back to the slide or whoever's controlling the slides?

Can you go back to the slide about uh writer perception?

I didn't want to interrupt the flow of your presentation.

Something we don't abide by on the board of supervisors.

Yeah, that's the one.

Thank you.

When it comes to uh transit ambassadors, just had a question are they um badged or or is there a way for riders to distinguish um transit ambassadors?

Yeah they wear a uniform a light blue shirt and dark blue pants they have a b a badge and they have a patch that says transit ambassador.

Okay.

In terms of perception, and this is stems from I think a recent uh event or series of events I think most board members are familiar with and staff probably is um what is the um what would you say the expectation is by most writers about what transit ambassadors do and what they're not supposed to do are they being perceived as um additional security or are they uh being perceived as a resource to help them navigate our our system um in the instance of some of the uh recent uh email that emails that we've seen about a particular instance uh it seems that there was a a perception that an ambassador was supposed to intervene during a uh a physical confrontation and so I thought this was a very apropos part of your presentation to kind of raise the question.

Um I'm gonna answer it comprehensively so our security plan is layered we have police officers that are armed and have a myriad of weapons and are trained at a six month police academy and then we have security guards from a local contract and they don't carry any weapons they carry a pair of handcuffs and then we have our transit ambassadors that attend a three month training program at Sacramento Regional Transit.

They're 832 PC training for the security guard level but they're much like a security level where they report and roll and they report to the police officer if there's a fight if there's an incident they're not trained to go hands on with anybody do they have radios they have radios and they um and we also have at our security operations center we have the ability to live you into any train or bus.

So if they notify uh security operations center there's an incident the security operations center can immediately pull them the incident up live and then they can dispatch police officers or whatever resources but they are not to go hands off they're they're observe and report observe and report and issue uh issue citations for um for things and fair evasion misuse of fair passes and so forth okay and then are how do I how are we kind of educating our um our writers if at all about um about how they can be that particular um kind of resource to them so that there's no misunderstanding and and then escalation uh you know uh of uh confusion stems from that which is again referenced to this recent uh incident I think there's always new ways that we can do that to help people understand the role of the transit ambassador and I mentioned earlier in my presentation there's a myriad of ways that we connect with our passengers but today I was just in a meeting with our new app uh transit connect and it's gonna be um uh married up with our c alert sacro T app so I think we're increasing our ability a lot of people use our alert sacro T app so I think we could perhaps do some communication on different platforms but um we do try to communicate frequently about all of our security programs writing articles presenting at APTA um in all the different ways I mentioned earlier but um I think we could do even more I assume um that we have something on our website that that explains this yes yes yes uh maybe just add uh one more information uh thank you uh direct uh Sarah um the transit ambassador was uh bone this program was born in about nine or eight years ago if you recall when you were the chair you know ten years ago, and you raised this uh security issue is uh our number one issue so that that's why, you know, we tried to look at the best practices to address this issue, but they were no best practices at that time.

So we create this transit ambassador program actually nobody did in this industry.

There were two purposes for this program.

One, you know, we have the in person customer service rep on the train to talk to our customers.

Secondly, to customers will uh check the fares.

We did not do that to be full.

And the thirdly, um, probably you know most importantly to have a deterrence for the any potential bad behavior people to come meet a Samsung because you'll have uniform, you know, somebody there.

And uh the reason we did that is because of the cost efficiency concern, because one pre-soffice is cost, equivalent to three TAs, transit ambassadors cost.

And uh um generally speaking, TA has been very successful, and the industry wide lots of transit agencies contact us and we shared our practices with them and uh uh large transit agencies like AA transit and others eventually followed our suit and uh create their own TA program.

Uh but uh you raised a very key issue, which is how our TA can interfere with the physical alterations.

Well, it's not it's not so much my concern about them interfering, it's my uh, because I presume that we do a um a good job to explain the do's and don'ts of being an effective TA.

My my uh concern is my questioning really stems from uh whether or not we're leaving it to our riders to guess what the role of TAs are, and I don't feel comfortable if we're not doing more or enough to make sure it's clear to the riders what TAs are there to do and what they're there not to do.

Yes, and we uh you have staff behind you, I think though, yeah.

On the communication side, we've done a whole video series about the transit ambassadors, I think you recall that, and we've also featured them in our respect the ride campaigns.

So they're featured in a lot of our campaigns.

We do a lot to help you know promote frontline staff and make sure that riders know that they're safe.

I mean, safety's our priority.

So we do a lot.

Good, great.

Uh I appreciate the responses.

And um again, I think it's very timely given the fact that we were all privy to uh I think a particular uh instance or set of instances where uh the perception was that a TA was to more or less act like a sworn officer, and so therein lies the concern.

Thank you.

And also, uh uh we sent uh uh board uh email at 3 30 today to explain you.

Thank you.

Other directors.

Any public comment.

We have four public comment.

We have Dan Allison.

Dan Allison, representing Sacramento Transit Advocates and writers.

Um we're glad that this presentation is going on.

We're glad that the slides were available ahead of time.

Those are both positive things.

Um, we are glad that the uh single priority project as a pilot is moving forward.

Um we believe that it's applicable to many of our um higher frequency and higher use routes.

So we're glad that SACRT is exploring that.

Um comments about the transit ambassadors.

When I'm on light rail, I often listen to conversations passengers are having, and I have heard probably hundreds of times a passenger say, Oh, the transit ambassadors, they just check theirs.

That is the perception of the riders that that's the only reason they're there.

Star has asked a number of times for them to be proactively engaged with passengers about good behavior, about where to put your bicycle, about how to yield seats to people who need them, priority seating.

But I don't see that happening.

I see them just checking fares.

And there was one more thing.

Oh, the diagram that was showed for first mile last mile connections.

I'm sure you're aware that SACOG has a whole mobility hub program, and they use similar graphics that show bicycles and scooters.

That's not happening.

The mobility hub thing has turned into just uh we need more EV chargers for vehicles.

That's not sufficient to serve the riders.

We need all modes.

Thank you.

And next we have Robert Copeland.

I want to talk about the public safety aspect of this uh agenda item.

If riders don't feel safe on a light rail or at a light rail station, they're not going to write the light rail.

So you gotta make this uh safe for everybody, especially when it's dark.

Thank you, because I feel like I'm less secure when I'll have to ride light rail in the dark time at a light rail station.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robert.

And Helen O'Connell.

Good evening, board.

I'm trying to keep it short.

First, the rear entry vehicles were addressed by the Mac board and were discouraged from being purchased by RT because of the concern that they would be loaded in the street.

If they're loaded in the street, you have to come down off the sidewalk, go into the first lane of traffic, go up to the vehicle and get into the correct position and then get loaded on.

That to me, as a wheelchair user, as an assistive device person, is extremely concerning.

If I would have known that flex ride was a rear entry vehicle, I would have spoken up much earlier.

Um second, the um the ambassadors.

It is not clear to the general public who does what on the train.

Some of the ambassadors will assist people that are needing to get on and off the train, some do not.

Some people will check fares, some won't.

Um, there's no consistency.

Those are the two most important points that I thought I would bring up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that was the last public comment.

Okay, we have listened to our directors, we have listened to the public.

Without seeing any further comments on this item, we will move to item 5.1, the general manager's report.

Actually, we have um item four items not on the agenda.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Let's go back to item four.

Public addresses board on matters not on the agenda.

And we have Dan Allison.

Dan Allison speaking for Sacramento Transit Advocates and Writers.

Um, I'm just gonna introduce a concept, and I promise we'll come back at a future meeting with some documents for you so you can look at what I'm talking about instead of trying to imagine it.

Um star has developed a recommendation for transit that we go stepwise or incrementally when improving the system.

We don't jump from a low level of service to a high expensive level of service.

We don't believe that that's productive and it carries huge financial risks about a project not working out.

The two examples of things that are kind of on the table at the moment, light rail to the airport has been there forever, and we seem to have backed off a little bit now talking about BRT to the airport.

The fact is the existing bus to the airport is not highly successful.

We need to improve that service before we jump to the next step.

Elk Grove is interested in having light rail or BRT to Elk Grove, but they don't have great bus service at the moment.

We need to improve that bus service so that it serves people in Elk Grove effectively and at a higher frequency.

There's only one thing that you could even sort of call moderate frequency.

The rest of the routes are less than that.

We need to improve the bus service in Elk Grove before we jump to very expensive BRT or very very expensive light rail.

And that's our view of how we improve transit.

And as I said, we'll come back to you with more details in the future.

Thank you.

Next is Robert Copeland.

I don't understand.

People were a lot of people were standing up, and if the light rail train has to suddenly stop, people can be flying backwards.

Also, what now you light rail station?

Why are the southbound?

You can't go up to the southbound, you got all the way to the northbound, then cross back over, cross the street and get to the bus stop.

I know there's construction going on there, but when will that be finished?

Thank you.

Granted, Elk Grove is a growing part of our region.

But if we're going to do train service, we don't even know where the things are going to be built yet.

And if they are planning to build something somewhere, they might fall through, and then we'll have train tracks where they aren't going to be used.

Um bus rapid transit is more um flexible, and as Dan made the point, if we can get the job done without making a whole new thing, why don't we just add to the service that we already have so that people can get to where they have to go to.

I was at a meeting at the um Elk Grove, and we had people that take the bus into work in sack to uh downtown.

If he missed one bus and went to another bus, that bus didn't get him to work on time, and it was really difficult for him to be um on time.

So that's a major issue for people that work downtown and live in Elk Grove.

Um, so if we have more frequency for those routes, it would be a really good idea.

Thank you.

And Glenn Mandelcairn.

Yes, so here I am for um today's subject is Monday, Monday, Monday.

Um not all Mondays are created equal.

It was kind of an earlier topic on the agenda made me remember this from last Monday.

Um people later Labor Day, by the way.

And so the reason I'm bringing that up is that um it seems that the bus time software can't make the distinction when it's a regular Monday like today or a holiday Monday, which psycho T treats as a Sunday holiday schedule.

Therefore I would like to request that your sub your software be upgraded so it can tell the difference between a um a holiday that doesn't fall on a Sunday, um, because what happened last Monday was um we would see the vehicles that are on the road nicely, so that was helpful.

However, we we then see scheduled trips, and it was a little confusing.

My guess at this is that it's intermixing regular Monday with holiday Monday.

And I imagine that might happen on Thanksgiving too.

So if you could figure it fix it by Thanksgiving, I'd be grateful.

All right, please look into this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Glenn.

We'll make sure to look into that, make sure that it does not fall on a regular day, but looks like a holiday or looks like a holiday falls on a regular day.

We'll take care of that.

Thank you.

Okay, now we'll move to item 5.1.

Our general manager's report.

Good evening, uh, Mr.

Chair, uh, board and the public.

Thank uh firsthand really want to thank uh our uh public's comments today and uh uh just to be very you know 100% transparent.

The TA's, you know, um, you know, performance and uh accountability uh is uh uh is uh concern for us and uh Nisa and I actually you know had like at least four long conversations in last two weeks and looking for the uh uh corrective or improvement, you know, uh you know uh action plans uh quickly and we actually uh talked to Jason, our CFO to see if we can get another one million dollars investment in our safety and security issue, and uh um uh try to do more with less uh save in some other areas and move this money to this you know uh safety and security issue.

And uh um we want to continue to hear from you and uh you know we can uh you know further you know uh improve on this area and uh you know uh Robert you know mentioned a very interesting situation, you know.

We had a very busy train or car with only one car, a real car, and uh actually yesterday when I talked to a customer uh which I know for a long time, he said uh Henry, you know, why which was last week one day in the peak time, there uh uh uh may there was a trend with two cars, but still low-standing norm.

Which actually is a good problem, low standing on.

And uh uh we we will make sure we have two cars and we have more, you know, uh regular service, you know.

Sometimes uh maybe for whatever reason uh maybe we missed one, you know, uh schedule.

That's why you know uh people you know uh wait.

And so many people there.

But it looks like in the peak time, we have some very good ridership.

Uh it it we we will try to address this, you know, challenges.

Um, so first I would like to share uh in the last couple months uh our uh federal uh partner uh has been conducting a triennual review or audit.

Uh that is the most extensive or intensive, you know, review from the federal government.

Um, which you know did every three years, uh, they virtually evaluates uh agencies overall performance, compliance with regulations, financial management among the other, you know, other things, other areas.

Uh they provide this triennual review or audit, provides independent oversight, ensures effective use of federal resources, uh, promotes transparency to stakeholders and the public.

We're going to make sure, you know, we can uh uh discuss the final report with the board and with the public, so you guys can say what actually the federal review reports will say, and uh also ensures adherence to current FTA requirements and policies.

Uh the rigorous review exams compliance in 23 specific areas is very comprehensive.

Um, especially in the new administration, they re-emphasize this effort.

Uh the final report won't be sent until September 22nd.

The draft report won't be sent until September 22nd.

And uh, but right now we know uh we received a very clean audit uh with only one potential minor item for improvement out of the 23 main review areas, and uh the auditors or reviewers uh stated that this is a very successful audit.

The FTA officials and auditors were, you know, what they said very thoroughly impressed and stating the second head uh almost you know uh perfect audit, and which is nearly impossible.

Uh they also uh just wanted to thank our staff, you know, uh Shirley and Laura and the whole EMT team and the staff, they prepared this for three more than three months.

It's a very you know comprehensive and tedious uh effort.

And we uh did a very good uh coi, our uh auditor.

You know, he did a great job.

And uh, so the uh the FTA uh very you know um appreciate uh uh our time and responsiveness and team spirit.

And uh they told me, well, looks like your staff really enjoying working for SAC ID.

Uh, which actually uh you know um echoed by our previous service, 93% of our staff said overall they're happy to work with us, 93%.

And uh public agency, you know, anything good, 70% would be very good.

The FTA deputy administrator Amy Chen Chen, Ms.

uh Chen Ching had something to say for the SACAT team during the access meeting, and she said uh I would expect lessons from Sakarti as a world-class agency that has that has won numerous top awards in recent years.

I want to thank the entire SACAT team for their tremendous work in preparing for this intensive review, and uh this is very kind, you know, for her to say that, but I told her, you know, we have a very you know very um strong oversight from the public.

Our public uh uh especially some of you guys who always watch us, you know, try to push us to do better.

Uh well, really appreciate that.

Uh that being said, you know, let's change the next topic.

Um we are working with the city of Sacramento to ensure uh better reliability uh on our library system in the downtown core.

Just recently, the city removed parking along seventh street just the south of J Strait.

You can see the net parking.

Um this section of the parking was really you know uh troubling uh because costs would often park too close to the tracks due to the high curve.

Blocking our trends.

With this improvement, we believe it will help increase our on-time performance and also you know saves save us some money.

And uh just uh a previous you know uh council member of the city of Sacramento parked over there, and our train you know struck the car, and uh eventually we have to pay a month of the the uh uh the payment because not a car was uh you know high class new car.

Mr.

Mr.

General Manager, I'm glad you're bringing this up uh through the chair.

Um, I've actually witnessed uh a train set that had extended into the uh J Street intersection, too, because you had a car that was uh parked too far into the train track travel lane, and the um only thing that the operator can do is lay on the horn and hope someone will come out to the vehicle.

So it's an extremely sensitive part of our system that can interrupt one of the busiest busiest parts of our downtown grid, that being J Street.

So I'm glad that we're doing something about this.

Thank you.

And uh we're gonna look at other areas, and if we have an issue, we can ask our three, you know, wonderful board members uh representing City of SAC to help us to move that around.

Uh, and then next slide, please.

Um uh so uh last week we have you know um uh hosted a lot of one of our transit idea exchange workshops in the city of El Grove.

Um I really just want to thank Vice Chair St.

Allen and the director Road Ruhr uh for hosting us and for encouraging uh great time out.

And uh, you know, uh that's why you know Mr.

Dan Alison, you mentioned about you know our future, how this type of you know uh extension, whatever should, you know, uh be more careful, you know, and make sure be physically responsible.

And uh State Senator Ashby's office also attended and she shared on social medium the next day and uh just read a little bit.

Thank you, Sakarti for inviting Tim Ashby to participate in the L Grove Transit Idea Exchange, the fifth, the fifth workshop in a series of efforts to engage community members in discussions that will help shape the Sacramento Regions, transit future, and uh and yeah.

So uh so now we have conclude five in-person events across the region, and in order to better accommodate the communities, community members' schedules, and we're gonna host two virtual workshops coming up.

And uh one or two board members asked us to you know host additional ones.

So we plan to host two, you know, additional uh you know virtual workshops.

The first will be on Tuesday, September 30th at 10 a.m.

And that is in the morning time, and the second one on October 1st at 6 30 p.m.

That is in the evening time.

We we are shared with uh some of you're offices staff to ask them to split the walls.

Uh okay, the next next one.

Speak of public import, SACAT and the City of L Grove has have been exploring new ways to enhance mobility and connectivity for residents.

This is part of the you know uh state grants to examine the feasibility uh of the uh you know either uh Blue Nine extension or a BRT to uh to City of L Grove.

The project was it's hand is being handled by the city of L Grove, it's not actually handled by us, and we're just a partner to help them.

Uh so last week we partnered with uh you know L Grove on in-person community open house.

Uh this Thursday we will be hosting a virtual community meeting uh by Zoom at 6 p.m.

If for you know any of you know, you know, our public and our board members are able to participate.

We at least hope you will take the online survey, which is posted on our website.

We want to hear from you the next okay uh SACAT is making it easy and ever to pay your fare with the launch of a brand new mobile field payment app this month and the new uh app called transit connector uh connect is part of SACAD's long-term commitment to use uh leading edge technology to improve the rider experience the new payment platform will be rolled out in multiple phase to provide a smooth transition for customers and to use the new app riders show uh their activated uh ticket to the bus operator or fair inspector uh similar to the current Zip Pass app which is expected to be phased out in later this year technologies change so quickly uh in phase two which will launch spring of next year will include tap to write integration which will include you know uh the contact desk you know tapping and real-time data trip planning alert and messaging uh and cash loading options at vending machines so that will probably uh provide much more convenient service okay uh yes please yes um in the past when we um still had season tickets to the Kings and we took the train down to the G1C um I just bought um the fairs on the phone and then if the if the transit ambassador whoever came around you know they could check that yeah is this the same kind of thing as a new you know technology new app but uh the older one we still own that the older you know we will purchase those tickets whatever we still own on that and uh uh I think we we we we did you know a couple times in the past many years we we we uh we can reaffirm those tickets but the point is you there'll be a mechanism to buy to integrate ticket on your phone yes yes I see home heads here that's the yeah okay well yeah that actually is uh for granted yeah yeah we will um so um as I shared in previous board meetings we have been writing our system with our local enforcement and community leaders to spotlight their support of SACATIS commitment to safety address the perception issue and to help keep riders community and employees safe every day uh a month earlier we we we wrote around with uh uh sheriff jimmy cooper um later we wrote with uh uh DA Tianhao on the gold line and recently we wrote with Sacramento police chief master on the blue line and we wrote with Chief to the Franklin station where we did a site visit of the cities proposed safe parking site in Franklin um they were great rights and I just want to thank DA and the chief for the tremendous partnership in you know ensuring our system to be more safe and secure.

Okay.

So um you know speaking of night real SACAT has joined force with the Operation LifeSaver Inc to help prevent tragedies around railroad tracks on the trains during real safety week week.

From September 15th through the 21st that week.

We did this couple years, you know, in the last several years, and we'll continue to work with them and um uh they are splint, you know, uh spreading the wards around.

And uh so we just want our riders and the community members to stay safe around library or tracks doing real safe safety month this September on every day of the year.

And the message is a very simple say tracks bank train.

So uh we should always do that any time.

Uh that concludes my report to Mr.

Cheer, back to you.

Thank you very much.

That was a great report, and I'd like to um open it up for public comments on your report.

We have a Robert Copeland.

I just have one quick question.

Uh, these uh uh virtual workshops, how will we register for them?

If we want to get them on uh listen to them, and also how would it also uh be advertised for the public?

Uh can I ask around to yes, please?

Because this is a important, you know, to net how to know.

Yeah, so we just scheduled it.

I apologize.

If you go to the website, it'll information will be updated on that as well for SACRT.com.

We're gonna host it via Zoom, so there'll be a live link that you can um click from the website.

You can also download the information.

In addition, uh, we will be advertising in multiple places, even paid advertising because we really really want a lot of uh turnout for these virtual events.

We've scheduled them for both the morning and evening to make sure that we can include all community members who want to participate.

Some more information, you'll see it in Next Op News online, um the uh email blast that you get.

We'll also do paid advertising and social booths.

Okay, next Helen O'Connell.

Hello, I'm glad to hear that the FTA is pleased with the way we are running our RT um services, and I'm I'm very pleased that all the input that the public has been giving over the last eight months or so has been really moved forward so that everything seems to be addressed in a in a lot more timely manner.

Um there are a few um things that I was concerned about.

Um when the RT meeting calendar says we have meetings, first and third, first and third.

Um people count on that.

They make arrangements a long time ahead of time, they do research, they get friends talking about subjects that they would like to bring up.

Um, even if you don't have very many issues on the calendar, that doesn't mean that there aren't people that might have something to say that had to go way out of their way to get things lined up so that they could communicate with everybody on the board.

When you don't have those meetings, it makes it difficult for those that have made prior um arrangements to get here.

Every 20 minutes, even if it's only 20 minutes, it should have a meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's all the public comment.

Okay.

Any comments from my colleagues?

Yes, sir.

I just have a I just have a question, man.

And Mr.

Chair, thanks.

Um, on the transit exchange workshops.

Was that we were gonna do one of those uh north of the the river in the city of Sacramento.

Where we're not I mean that was a transit exchange workshop that we were talking about.

Yes, uh we're uh Chris actually walked with your office multiple times to see how we can make that happen.

Chris, you want to have a response?

Yeah, we'd love to get one scheduled and I'll I've been emailing Brian, but I have not gotten a response on it, so I'll CC on it so we can make sure the escalate this.

I think you had targeted the South Natoma's community center, which is something he wouldn't know, I'll hand the availability of, but we can okay.

I just want to make sure it hadn't gone off the radar.

No, okay.

Thank you.

So I want to I want to thank uh Zacramento RT for holding the transit exchange at District 56 a couple of weeks ago.

Um by going in, I saw a number of of people who attend our board meetings at the workshop.

I saw Helen O'Connell there, I believe I saw Mr.

Ellison there as well.

Um so it's it's definitely important because the public comment is definitely being um taken in and being absorbed, and then the circle groups that were taking place, um the comments that that were being shared and the perspectives were very helpful.

I think it helped carry over to the workshop that took place last week with the city help.

And so all these conversations that are taking place are very helpful, especially as Elk Grove is looking for ways to have connected transit uh throughout the city, but also making sure that as the city grows that we're doing it in a smart way and working together with Sacramento RT to make that happen.

Um also have a question regarding um the safety week that's coming up for the actual safety campaign.

Um if you um see tracks thing train, is there going to be a um a smaller uh social media campaign or some sort of other campaign that will tie in so the public is aware of what uh and be conscious um for when they see tracks they need to be cognizant, slow down or at least stop.

I would definitely do we'll have a small, you know, uh campaign on that.

And I actually saw Article from the SACMOW, um without organization talk about a whole bunch of you know uh uh campaigns or a whole bunch of the events well, yeah, it's nice.

So, you know, uh outside the SACATI we have other partner agencies or organizations are doing that too.

No, I greatly appreciate that because um obviously safety comes with top of mind for Sacramento RT and for a lot of us on the board um as we look out for the for the community, and so anything we could do to help keep that word going is definitely um appreciated and great for the order.

Director Dickinson.

Uh Capital Capital Corridor, uh California State Transportation Agency, Union Pacific and other partners held a press event uh last Wednesday in uh Davis at the at the Amtrak station and had quite a uh robust uh turnout um and uh I I don't know that whether or not they're they're carrying out some additional campaign, but but they were emphasizing, of course, all rail, but heavy rail in that case, uh of C tracks um think training.

So there's a there's a very expansive you may reference there's a very expansive effort uh in uh with a lot of the providers and funders to to try to get the message out about rail safety.

Director Maple.

Thank you, Chair.

Um I just have a quick question, kind of along the same lines as Director Budge.

Um I recently got back from uh a climate and smart mobility trip in Amsterdam, um, which I'll talk a little bit more in my updates, but um one of the things that they do there is is is tap to ride.

So basically every single train, every bus, everything that I got on, which was I wrote public transportation everywhere.

Um I would just be able to go into my wallet and my phone or literally take out my card out of my wallet and just tap it in and out.

Um and so when I hear about the app, will customers for RT have to then download the app and then purchase through the app in order to use that that feature, or are they going to be able to use just like their wallet?

I can make sure I understand.

I can go ahead and answer it.

So the phase one will be just like zipPass, which is just like it is you have to download the fair.

Phase two will include the tap to uh tap dry component that you're mentioning.

So summer 2026.

Yes, you'll be able to just you know go into my wallet.

Oh, wonderful.

And we'll and we'll have improved tap devices at all the stations.

So the connect hard tap devices will completely change.

Okay, so in that so after summer of 2026, when the project is complete, you will not need to necessarily have the app in order to go in.

You can just use the wall.

Yeah, you can use Apple, your Apple Watch, be able to use.

Oh wonderful.

Okay, that's great.

Thank you.

Thank you for questioning.

Yes, sir.

Director Hume.

Thank you, Chair.

I just wanted to say that I'm looking forward to representing RT at the um app to transform a conference next week.

And uh in addition to the the opening plenary session and the keynote, uh there's a couple of very interesting um sessions that I'm attending uh intending to attend.

Uh one having to do with safety on public transportation, which is something we were just talking about earlier today, and the other one that I think is just fascinating to me purposely and and uh will probably be taking a higher profile in the very near future is um the effect of AI and disruptive technology on transit planning, and so uh looking forward to doing that.

Other questions from direct from my directors?

Questions, comments.

Well, that concludes the business of this board.

Actually, we have item six.

Wait a minute.

What am I missing all of this?

Well, okay.

I think we kind of extended on the manager's report with the comments, but so the mobility advisory council.

Yes, okay.

So we have 6.1, the mobility advisory council meeting summary of August 21st, 2025.

And there's no public comment on that item.

Is there a report for that?

It's included in the packet.

Yeah, kind of have a shout out to the uh stand Mac, you know, uh board.

The uh absolutely the best of the best, you know, they handle the pieces so well, and uh uh I don't know if you you you noticed you manage transitive board meetings, which are you know uh contribution issues come from that, but I'll uh MacBoard did an absolute one to send a handle, you know, usually spend himself on that they just I just want to thank Nick.

Fantastic.

Give them a round of applause, yeah.

All right, Chair.

I just have a quick um, as I alluded to, uh kind of a one, two, three, four report and just a general update.

So the trip that I recently went on was um climate and smart mobility to Amsterdam and was able to give a presentation at the House of Provinces in Brussels.

Um, and so I just really want to thank um Henry Lee and and the entire team for providing information to me in terms um and I actually received so many slides from different organ air quality districts, say cog, RT, city staff, and beyond that I couldn't use all of them, so I was able to put them all together into a more sizable presentation, but it went very well and just want to appreciate um doing that on short notice.

Um I think that they there's a lot that we're doing here, including on the hydrogen space that they're very interested in learning about there on the AI um front, they're they're using data like crazy to do planning, everything from safety planning using what's called a digital twin and and for big events um and also planning routes, and so you know, to the extent that we can start to do that as well.

I think it's gonna make a huge difference, making sure that we have transit that goes where people need it to go when they need it, um, where the population centers are.

And I would say my biggest takeaway from the entire trip, I learned a lot um about drones, about smart um mobility is that the biggest investment that we can do as a region is investing in public transit if we want to meet our climate goals.

Um that there's really it's it's it was stark to me.

Um, and and they're doing an amazing job there.

Uh Sakmano and surrounding areas is never gonna be Amsterdam uh we're not we're not the same.

Um, but there but there are some takeaways that we can learn from in particular.

And so um, I I just really grateful for the opportunity to go on the trip um and and take back some of the learnings to you all.

So thank you.

Great, great.

Sounds like a wonderful trip any other business for the night any other direct comments from uh directors questions okay so in closing um i just want to thank the public for taking time to come to this meeting and participate and give us feedback about things that we're doing right and things that we could do better I want to thank you for that also wanna thank the staff the regional transit staff for being the experts at the table who always are there to give us the answers that we need and to be able to tell us what it is we asked for and you then give us that answer right I want to thank the directors for being here and being the directors of this great organization and I want to thank Henry Lee for being the general manager and leading it all I just want to let you know that in in my time as an elected this is one of the better run organizations that I can I I've ever participated in.

And I say that truthfully I don't say it for any gain or any purpose other than it's true and I enjoy it so much.

And so I thank you all of you for being a part of this great organization that we will get to see how great it is as time goes on.

So thank you so much this meeting is here by adjourn.

Thank you for your leadership shared thank you.

Yeah I'm supposed to have fun with you I know thank you.