2019_11-26_PWETCpacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Transit's sustainability and environmental leadership efforts, Mr. Williams noted their attempts to minimize waste, reduce energy consumption, and comply with state mandates including stormwater mitigation. Mr. Williams noted that preservation challenges included physical demands, vandalism, accidents and weather -related concerns. Mr. Williams displayed a map showing Roseville weekday boarding averages at bus stops currently without shelters. Mr. Lamb reviewed the criteria for designing and placing more shelters, with particular emphasis given to areas with specific concentrations of poverty and minority populations based on receipt of federal funding requiring certain situations for using that funding; and ongoing revisions of Metro Transit's capital program accordingly and considering criteria for other boarding stops. Mr. Lamb further reviewed the background used for boardings and shelters within the metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul area, with focus on areas with more density, such as shelters located for stops showing 40 or more boarders per day in urban areas, and 25+ boarders per day in less dense suburban areas. If boardings show lower than 25 per day, Mr. Lamb noted that shelters are not typically considered at those sites due to the capital costs and extensive maintenance costs. Mr. Lamb noted that annual cost estimates for shelter maintenance were between $10,000 and $11,000 per shelter. With additional funding available for up to 150 new shelters, Mr. Lamb advised that Metro Transit was reviewing where best to place them, obviously as previously noted, often tied to federal funding and those areas showing higher poverty and/or minority populations. Member Lenz asked that Mr. Williams speak to physical accessibility of Metro Transit bus stops, providing various examples of concerns in that accessibility. Mr. Williams noted that maintaining accessibility at bus stops and/or shelters was always a challenge, and Metro Transit was attempting to implement a better bus stops program," similar to the highway "Adopt -a -Highway Program," but instead an "Adopt -a- Shelter" program, seeking partners (e.g. businesses or private individuals) to monitor shelters or stops in their area to take on some of the daily maintenance (e.g. snow or trash removal, window cleaning, etc.). Mr. Williams reported one landscape firm in the south metropolitan area that had taken the charge to beautify shelters with plantings, and noted that by their taking on that shared ownership it provided significant assistance to Metro Transit in their efforts. Mr. Williams stated it was his hope to further expand that program. Mr. Williams noted that in some cases, it was beneficial to a business owner and Metro Transit if a shelter or stop may block their business or if their branding wasn't getting out to the street; and with this shared partnership, it allowed a participating business to bring their branding or identification into the shelter while using the Metro Transit's aesthetic. In exchange for letting them advertise Page 5 of 17