Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Open Board of Directors
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Pete Aguilar, Dimitrios Alexiou, Don Averill, Deborah Barmack, Carole Beswick, Tom Brickley, Rachelle Bussell, Ken Coate, Pat Davis, Bill Easley, Peter Hayashida, Bill Lemann, Neil Macready, John Mirau, Charlie Ng, Bev Powell, John Prentice, Bruce Satzger, Kristine Scott, Larry Sharp, Paul Shimoff, Christina Bivona-Tellez and Phil Waller
Guests: Robbie Broedow, Casey Dailey, Larry McCallon, Jim Morris, Pat Morris, Kip Sturgeon and Stephen Wall.
Announcements: 1) Members of the Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee continue to monitor the changes and visualizations released by the Redistricting Commission. The information is relatively unchanged and the Commission is scheduled to release their approved final draft maps by July 31, 2011. Upon release there will be a public review period until the Commission votes on adopting the maps scheduled for August 15th. For more information please go to www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov
M/S/P: Minutes of the July 19, 2011 meeting
Dimitrios Alexiou introduced John Fenton, CEO, Metrolink.
John Fenton has a long history in transportation and train systems prior to joining Metrolink 16 months ago. The Metrolink system which is the second largest in the country and ranks 5th in ridership (43,000 passengers per day) runs 300 trains daily. Their mission is to offer world class transportation that is safe, on time, connected, convenient, clean, environmentally friendly, customer-centric and provides the best value.
Mr. Fenton wants the Metrolink to be the commute of choice and has set a focus on the passenger. He explained that the basics such as safety, ease of use and timeliness are expected from the public. Building ridership and loyalty requires a quality that directly affects the passenger from cleaner bathrooms to Metrolink Customer Service liaisons joining the commuters to get customer input and answer questions. Additionally he has worked on the very successful beach trains (averaging 350 daily boardings) and event trains partnering with Anaheim for stadium events and Del Mar for races.
Mr. Fenton expressed that our region faces many complex problems in transportation. The Inland Empire has the fastest growing rate of population in the state and these problems need answers today. The Metrolink can provide an improved quality of life by saving our commuters their most valuable asset-time. The pilot express train from San Bernardino to Los Angles clearly demonstrated the need and desire with an increased ridership of 575 daily passengers. Average ridership in July from the Inland Empire to Orange County has increased by 15%. Future routes are being examined and more express trains are being studied.
The Metrolink’s guiding principles of safety, people, quality, growth and efficiency drive their decisions. Safety is foundational at Metrolink and includes Positive Train Control, inward and outward facing cameras in locomotive cabs and state of the art “Guardian Fleet” (which have energy absorbing zones that make these cars safer in the event of a collision).
Their annual budget of $178 million comes from Passenger fares (approximately 54%) and member agencies such as SANBAG (approximately 46%). They are improving and streamlining procurement processes and capitol planning to save money. The Metrolink has increased their fuel efficiency with a shut down policy that has saved over 840,000 gallons of fuel. They have absorbed over $10 million in costs and increased revenue by $6 million without any additional subsidy to member agencies that finance the system.
The Metrolink’s greatest challenge is an infrastructure that is not prepared to provide enough parking and connectivity from trains to destinations via bus systems or taxis. Our Metrolink system is ready to serve and grow to help keep Californians moving and saving them valuable time.
A Q & A period followed.
Members of the Executive Committee were asked to convene for a short meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.