MEMBERS PRESENT: John McLemore (Chair), Michael Burns, Don Gage, Jim Hartnett, Arthur Lloyd, Michael Nevin, Ken Yeager

MEMBERS ABSENT: Sophie Maxwell, Audrey Rice-Oliver

MTC LIASON: Sue Lempert

STAFF PRESENT: Michael Scanlon, Joan Cassman, David Miller, Roger Contreras, Howard Goode, Chuck Harvey, Rita Haskin, George Cameron, Martha Martinez, Jennifer Buhr

Chair McLemore called the meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

Don Gage (Santa Clara) and Jim Hartnett (San Mateo) were given the oath of office.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR 2004

Director Lloyd, chair of the Nominating Committee, reported that the Committee recommends that Chairman McLemore continue to serve as chair with Director Nevin as vice chair.

The motion to accept the recommendation passed unanimously (McLemore and Nevin abstained).

REPORT OF LEGAL COUNSEL

Chair McLemore stated, per agenda item 5: Report of Legal Counsel, the meeting would go into Closed Session. However, the public meeting would reconvene after the items were discussed.

David Miller, Legal Counsel, reported that the purpose of the Closed Session was existing litigation and potential litigation, as outlined in the agenda.

Mr. Miller reported that the Board met in Closed Session, as permitted by the Brown Act, to discuss pending litigation and potential litigation that bear on 13C labor protection issues. There was no action taken.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Jerry Carlson, Atherton, reported that he is one of 15 town citizens who are members of a new Caltrain Corridor subcommittee of the Council. The committee was initiated by the mayor and the Council approximately two months ago. The purpose of the committee is to discuss all the issues relating to the town and the rail corridor that runs through the middle of it. The Town Council passed a resolution concerning the proposed changes in the schedule, which was sent to a few members of the Board. Additionally, there was a petition sent to 2,200 households asking them to sign it. The petition is expected to be submitted at the February 5 meeting. There was a request to have a public meeting held in Atherton to address various issues regarding Caltrain's plan and how it might impact Atherton. However, for various reasons the request was denied. Atherton is planning on holding a public forum on January 27 at 7:00p.m. at Town Council to discuss these issues. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. The Corridor Subcommittee views this as the first of several meetings to surface the facts of what is being proposed for the corridor and the potential impact on the town.

CONSENT CALENDAR

The minutes of December 4, 2003 and the Statement of Revenue and Expenses were pulled from the Consent Calendar for correction and comment.

Director Lloyd commented, in reference to bullet three under the Report of the Executive Director, that the minutes should read, "…the Golden Gate Railroad Museum."

The motion to approve the revised minutes from December 4, 2003 was approved unanimously.

Director Gage noted that the finance statement had a decline in revenue and he questioned what the plan is for making up the decline.

Mr. Scanlon responded that the Operating Division is looking to see if line item 35, Contract and Operating Maintenance, can be adjusted down to try to bring it into balance. A budget revision in that amount would be processed. The plan is to bring the operating expense budget down by an equal amount.

The motion to approve the Statement of Revenue & Expenses from November 2003 was unanimously approved by roll call.

The Board unanimously approved, by roll call, the following items under the Consent Calendar:

3. Authorize Award of Contract to Pacific Parking Systems, Inc. for the Purchase of Vanguard Pay-by-Space Parking Permit Vending Machines

CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT

Chair McLemore reported:

• The APTA General Managers and Transit Board Members Seminar will be held January 30 - February 3, 2004 in Santa Monica.

MTC LIAISON REPORT (SUE LEMPERT)

Sue Lempert reported:

Among the many items on the March 2 ballot, the Regional Measure 2 - The Regional Traffic Relief Plan will be included. The measure calls for a $1 increase in the bridge toll, which would go toward a variety of transportation projects. If approved, some money would go toward Caltrain improvements, Dumbarton Rail capital and operational expenses and the Transbay Terminal. Other things of interest include providing express bus services over bridges, providing money for the BART tube seismic retrofit and a ferry service from South San Francisco. Ms. Lempert reported that all the money that the previous governor set aside for transportation is gone except for the Baby Bullet. Therefore, this Measure is very important.

REPORT OF CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)

Bruce Balshone reported:

• At the last CAC meeting he was elected as the chairman with Brian Wilfey as vice chair.
• Key issues being looked at for 2004 include the Baby Bullet service, the building of the maintenance facility, the funding shortfall effects and the Strategic Plan.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Michael J. Scanlon reported:

• Key Caltrain Performance Statistics:
1. November ridership went from 644,282 to 610,549 riders, a five percent decrease.
2. November average weekday ridership was down five percent, from 26,947 weekday riders to 25,637.
3. November total revenue was off 12 percent from $1.64 million to $1.45 million.
4. On-Time Performance remained the same at 94.5 percent for November.
5. November shuttle ridership had a decrease of 20 percent with 3,601 riders, down from 4,518.

• Physical checks and counts at the stations will be conducted in January. The actual counts will help to track changes and where people are riding, particularly in the aftermath of the Proof-of-Payment system, which was instituted in the fall.
• Three extra northbound trains ran on New Year's Eve for the fireworks and Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl game in San Francisco. Service was free after 11 p.m. There were approximately 1,900 passengers.
• This week Mac World is being held at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
• On January 19, the Freedom Train will operate from San Jose to San Francisco.
• The Monthly Safety and Security Report was distributed.

SETTING OF PUBLIC HEARING: LEVEL OF SERVICE FOR CALTRAIN

Chuck Harvey, Chief Operating Officer, reported that staff recommends setting the public hearing for the February 5 meeting at 10 a.m. for the purpose of reviewing a proposed modification to the Caltrain schedule, which includes a number of changes in service as a result of the public process over the past three months. The changes include adding potential Baby Bullet service on weekdays and also a number of weekend service options that staff has developed in response to the public. As background, the proposals have been taken out to the public. There were six public meetings throughout the service area. 1200 pieces of correspondence and input have been reviewed from the public. The primary issues that were raised include the weekend skipped stations service and the Baby Bullet stops in the reverse peak direction at 22nd Street. Staff found a lot of technical merit with the public input and met with the public offline, at the direction of the board. The result included revised proposed timetables, which will be released to the public if the recommended public hearing date is approved. The timetables do include a proposal to stop reverse peak Baby Bullet trains at 22nd Street and also includes an additional service element on the weekend that would allow service to all stations on an hourly basis but would require turning the trains at San Jose Diridon. Mr. Harvey stated that as part of the recommendation, staff is going to strongly suggest that whatever schedule is adopted, that the service pattern be adopted with a six-month evaluation required by staff to come back to the Board with ridership numbers and how the public has reacted to the new schedule.

Director Gage questioned whether staff could provide a ridership report for the entire schedule, including the weekends, for all the stations.

Mr. Harvey responded that staff has that information and will make it available.

Ed De Lanoy, San Carlos, made reference to an article from last Sunday's New York Times. The photograph illustrated a Sierra Club San Francisco tour of the right of way of the Union Pacific with people walking on the tracks. In regard to the proposed schedule, Mr. De Lanoy commented that the skipped stops, etc. destroy the predictability standards of BART and its predecessors, which have been established in the area for a hundred years. Mr. De Lanoy observed that we are becoming an urban area and are not a series of villages anymore. Mr. De Lanoy thinks that the Caltrain policy needs to adopt the BART and VTA policy of predictable scheduling and timed transfers.

Jeff Carter, Burlingame, thanked the JPB for setting a public hearing for the proposed schedule. The SamTrans CAC took up the issue of schedules at its meeting last night. There was concern about the lack of stops at stations in San Mateo County. The SamTrans CAC passed a resolution endorsing service levels of no less than every 30 minutes at stations in San Mateo County. There was also the same kind of issue as far as skipping stops on the weekend. By motion, the board unanimously approved setting a public hearing for February 5, 2004 regarding setting the Caltrain service level.

Mr. Scanlon congratulated staff on its hard work to respond to the many comments that were received. Mr. Scanlon noted that the overarching issue is the budget and said that for the next year out there may need to be some reduction in service levels and possibly fare increases. There is also a great need for robust ridership, which can be linked to the economy. Mr. Scanlon encouraged people to look at the service that is being proposed, rather than concentrating on changes or reductions at individual stations.

CORRESPONDENCE

Previously distributed.

DATE/TIME OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday, February 5, 2004, 10 a.m. at the SamTrans Administrative Building, 1250 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos, CA 94070.

ADJOURNED

Meeting adjourned at 11:04 a.m.