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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 8, 2018 Page 4 tion more efficient. NewTrax has a fleet of 45 buses who transport over 600 disa- bled adults on a daily basis. Probably 90 to 95 percent of the buses are on the road every day. Partnership has been made with the State and MNDoT, through a grant to allow transportation programs with adults with disabilities and seniors. Mr. Olson would now like to enhance this community and neighboring communi- ties with the current assets in place: drivers and buses. NewTrax simply has to find extra times and extra days and extra drivers using existing buses Continuing the presentation, Mr. Olson explained his challenge is to collaborate with various government agencies. NewTrax is out to work with different com- munities and partnerships to try to enhance the lives of adults with disabilities by developing programs like this. It is very important to understand that background checks occur, and sufficient training is in place. These drivers are well-trained to deal with the passengers they are transporting. Mr. Olson explained that NewTrax focuses on meeting the needs in the White Bear Senior Center to meet transportation needs not currently being met. NewTrax held a series of forums in White Bear Lake, asking residents where they would like to go, when they would like to go, and how much time they would like to spend there. From that, a program was designed and launched as the South Loop program. It was important for NewTrax to meet with DARTS and under- stand their community circulars and best practices. DARTS has a very small in- ventory of buses, and they do not have a regular day program with other clients. Mr. Olson noted that the pilot program began on October 5, 2017. Three buses were applied to this South Loop route. Each bus completes an entire route in an hour. With Roseville, they would start with two buses who pick up and drop off every 30 minutes. If that does not adequately meet needs, a third bus would be added. Mr. Olson noted NewTrax. worked on route timing and building confidence in the service. Each bus averages 18 to 22 "unique" riders. NewTrax takes a lot of pride in tracking through radio dispatch, to ensure safety for each rider. Each rid- er is provided with a sheet of paper with a phone number, so if he or she gets lost, contact can be made with one of the drivers. Mr. Olson then presented a slide of the White Bear Lake South Loop. He noted that the buses may not leave any stop any earlier than the time is listed. Some- times the drivers get behind if they are loading and unloading wheelchairs, for ex- ample. The future for White Bear Lake will include a second loop, on the North side. NewTrax believes this is a successful loop because of the drivers and the passen- gers, and additional marketing efforts will be made to attract new riders. Eventu- ally, the goal will be to add stops at individual homes in addition to facilities.