April 4, 2008

ADMINISTRATION:

CyRide Building Construction:

Good news!  Barring any last minute hiccups, plan on moving into the new facility the week of April 21^st.  Then we can wave good-bye to the trailers!  The second floor is 95% complete with the construction crew now finishing up the lower level.  In order for everyone to see the new facility prior to moving day, facility tours will occur April 15^th & 16^th between 4-7pm so all CyRide employees can view the progress.  Since HPC is so far behind schedule, we’ve had to regulate our employees walking through the new building so that construction interruptions are kept to a minimum.  However, changes to the building are now occurring pretty rapidly with the final touches being implemented. 

This is truly an exciting time for CyRide in gaining a facility that allows our staff room to adequately train, assist, and house our employees.  The move is long awaited and thanks you to each of you for enduring cramped and noisy quarters during the construction period.  We know the move will be a gradual adaptation just as the trailers were and items may not have a place as soon as we move.  If you have requests for items throughout the move, please address those to Rich, Barb or myself.  If there are other issues, please come see me at any time as my door will be open for all employees.  (Sheri K.)

Fare Free Grant Application - Hoping for A+ Grade:  The Office of Energy Independence (OEI) and the Iowa Power Fund were created in 2007 by Governor Culver and the Iowa State Legislature to accelerate Iowa’s leadership in energy for the 21^st Century.  As a result, the Iowa Power Fund Board can allocate up to $25 million each year for the next four years ($100 million total) for projects that help provide a clean and sustainable energy future through education, research, planning and investment.  The grant process is extremely competitive and a new opportunity for CyRide as well as the transit community in general.  The Iowa Power Fund board is looking for innovative A+ projects that can be modeled throughout the state by educating communities on energy conservation or in providing new forms of energy fuel to sustain Iowa into the future.

During this year’s budgetary process, the Ames City Council requested CyRide to research what it would take for the entire community (residents, students, non-traditional students, ISU faculty, visitors and others) to become fare free as part of their “go-green” goals.  A fare free demonstration project within the Ames community seemed to fit well within the OEI’s vision for a sustainable community from CyRide’s staff’s viewpoint. 

Therefore after two-months of discussion with CyRide’s Board, a decision was made to request Iowa Power funding for a fare-free demonstration project for the next three years for additional buses ($1,875,000 for 5 CyRide + 2 Heartland buses) and operating funding (approximately $687,000/year) to allow all residents, visitors, ISU faculty, non-traditional students, ADA Dial-A-Ride passengers, and visiting scholars to ride CyRide or free of charge.  This request would provide the funding to offer fare-free transit in Ames for the next three years.  CyRide would expect to provide 1 million more rides and reduce carbon emissions by 2,634 tons annually.

Additional staff would be required to implement 100% fare free including five fixed-route drivers, two Dial-A-Ride drivers, one mechanic, and one part-time dispatcher.  CyRide staff would be required to monitor the system to address overcapacity issues as demand increases throughout the community.  This monitoring is pretty typical for CyRide operations however there would just be more monitoring to perform.

The final step in this project would be implementing a full marketing/educational program to the residents of Ames encouraging transit use and the impact transit use can have on the environment so that fare free would be sustainable past this demonstration project into the fourth year and beyond.  It should be noted that the Government of the Student Body would not fund any portion of this local commitment and would be resolved between the City of Ames and Iowa State University funding partners.  This fare free demonstration project could be modeled throughout the state to other communities wanting to implement similar fare free programs.  We’re hoping that fare free transit in Ames obtains an A+ grade to further the Ames City Council’s go green efforts.

For more information regarding the OEI visit http://www.energy.iowa.gov/index.html. (Shari A.)

Get In The Know:  CyRide is now offering our customers an opportunity to be sent periodic e-mails regarding the latest in our service.  When service changes, detours or interruptions in service come up pertaining to our customers, we will send out an e-mail announcement. It's just one more way to involve our customers and continuously improve our service.  For more information, go to www.cyride.com. (Shari A.)

Charter Regulations:  Beginning April 30, 2008, new Charter Regulations will go into effect changing whether CyRide and all transit systems can operate some services.  These regulations protect private charter operators from unauthorized competition from recipients obtaining any federal financial assistance under the Federal Transit Laws.  Staff has been working to understand these regulations by this date to become 100% compliant.  Beginning April 30, 2008 – a “Charter: will be defined as: 

1) Transportation provided by a recipient at the request of a third party for the exclusive use of a bus or van for a negotiated price.  The following features may be characteristic of charter service:

Ø      A third party pays the transit provider a negotiated price for the group

Ø      Any fares charged to individual members of the group are collected by a third party

Ø      The service is not part of the transit provider’s regularly scheduled service, or is offered for a limited period of time

Ø      A third party determines the origin and destination of the trip as well as scheduling

2) Transportation provided by a recipient to the public for events or functions that occur on an irregular basis for a limited duration and:

Ø      A premium fare is charges that is granter than the usual or customer fixed route fare

Ø      The service is paid for in whole or in part by a third party.

Therefore, you may begin to see a shift of how and if events are able to be operated though CyRide.  This is mainly due to the “third party” participation in payment for services.  There are minimal exceptions where CyRide can provide charter service such as emergency response/preparedness, transporting Ames City Council for council business (80 hours/year), qualified Human Service Organizations or when no charter company on FTA’s registered charter provider website wants to perform the service.  In addition, CyRide could petition the FTA Administrator for events of regional/national significance.

So as you’re operating the VEISHEA shuttle this year, it may be the last time operated by CyRide.  Other special events like the Iowa State Fair and Odyssey of the Mind would most likely not be service we could provide under these new regulations.  Staff is still trying to figure out the “clear as mud” regulations and will update you on the full impact of our services in the next issue of Signals.  (Sheri K./Tom D./Shari A.)

OPERATIONS:

VEISHEA:  VEISHEA is Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12.  We will be providing a free shuttle service (parade shuttle) between Iowa State Center and campus on Saturday, April 11, before the parade and after the parade.  We will also be participating in the parade this year.

There will be numerous road closings for the festivities.  Typically, they close Welch Ave. and Lower Friley on Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13.  On Saturday, most of campus will be closed for the parade.  We will post information on the window between the office and garage as it becomes available.  (Jenny and Rob)

Driver Run Picks:  Summer and Fall run picks will be on the following dates:

Summer Full Time:  April 7 to April 10
Fall Full Time:  April 14 to April 17
Summer Part Time:  April 15 to April 21
Fall Part Time:  April 22 to April 30

There will be handouts for the newer drivers in April about how run pick works and what to expect.  Check the break room for the latest run pick news.

Help a Laneworker:  Now that the weather is warming, when you return to base to park your bus at the end of your shift, please close all windows and roof vents.  Also walk through your bus and pick-up any rubbish or lost items.  Doing the above will make the laneworker’s life easier when they clean and refuel your bus.  (Jenny and Rob)

Window to Window:  All Drivers and Dispatchers should be wearing only their CyRide issued uniform when they report for duty.  It is fine to wear your own coats, jackets, etc to and from work.  However, when you report to the Dispatch window and go out to your bus you should have only your CyRide uniform on.  If you would like uniform shorts or any other items and do not have them, please let Joanne know and she will order them for you.

Performance Reviews: The month of April and May brings performance reviews for all City employees.  Drivers will be scheduled to meet with Karen for their reviews so watch for a memo with your scheduled date and time.  A new Performance Review format was implemented last year and will continue this year.

A performance review score is used to determine eligibility for a Dispatcher position, Instructor Training and moving into a full time position.  The score that was used in the past was from an old performance review system (3.50) and has now been adapted to the new system (2.45).  This scoring process will be explained in the individual performance reviews. (Karen) 

HIRING AND TRAINING:

New Instructors:  With the students on break and a majority of the buses in the garage, four drivers took the opportunity to enroll in the Instructor Training Program offered over spring break.  The group participated in classroom sessions and on-the-road training.  We want to welcome and congratulate Nathan Hovick, Robert Jennings, Brian Price, and Issac Roorda.  (Tom B and George)

Thunderstorms and Tornadoes:  Late spring in Iowa heralds the arrival of severe weather.  During severe weather, the dispatcher will monitor weather radio, internet, and television broadcasts and will notify drivers of dangerous conditions.  Drivers should notify the dispatcher if they must stop due to poor visibility caused by heavy rain or hail.  Drivers should also call the dispatcher for instructions if a detour is required due to street flooding, downed tree limbs, etc.  (Tom B and George)

In the event of a tornado warning, drivers should stop the bus in a safe location.  Drivers should then direct their passengers to the nearest building for shelter.  If no building is available, drivers should instruct their passengers to stay on the bus and remain below window level.  Once the sirens have stopped, drivers should contact the dispatcher for further instructions.  (Dorothy and Toto; aka Tom and George)

New Hires:  There are many new faces here at CyRide.  Thanks to everyone for extending a warm welcome to all who have been hired in the last few weeks.  There will be many more new faces before the fall schedule begins.  We are looking for qualified applicants.  If you know people who may be interested in working here at CyRide, encourage them to apply.  It could be worth $50.  (Tom B and George)

Can you train a lot?  Instructors, if you are willing to train more than three shifts per week, please let us know so we can plan accordingly before we get lots of new trainees in the door over the next 3 months.

FLEET AND FACILITIES

What is LEED & How Does LEED Change CyRide?

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  CyRide’s new administrative building will be a LEED building that will not only improve the impact on the environment but also reduce the operating costs to help transit be part of creating a sustainable community in Ames.  Below are just a few of the green initiatives that have been implemented into CyRide’s administrative building to hopefully achieve a Silver LEED certification: 

Ø      Indoor air quality – Air should always be pushing out of the building to minimize indoor air pollutants. We will need to keep bath/copier rooms closed for this purpose.  The building has little “new” smell due to the use of low VOC paints, stains, and finishes.

Ø      Lights that turn on based on occupancy and natural light coming in through windows – For instance, lights may only turn on in offices on a cloudy day when the natural light isn’t as strong or at night-time.  The exception is dispatch for these sensors and lights will be on at all times in this area as more light will be needed. 

Ø      Toilets - Flush up .8 gal used; Flush down 1.5 gal used

Ø      LEED cleaning - As part of the Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) certification process, the building will be cleaned using green or environmentally sensitive cleaning products and practices. Green cleaning can be described as using cleaning practices and products that protect human health and the environment without sacrificing cleaning effectiveness.

Other Building Items of Interest

Ø      Building Security - Due to 9/11 requested initiatives through the Federal Transit Administration – key fob will regulate when CyRide employee can enter the building based upon a designation level.  This will allow more secure measures when an alert comes out nationally for more security. Note – It will be awhile before building access controls are fully functional.

Ø      New Technology bringing CyRide to 21^st Century (Digital dispatch boards, training/board room technology updates)

Ø      Training Room (2 room capability)

Ø      Board Room (2 room capability)

Ø      2 New Refrigerators (One with ice/water dispenser, Other fridge only – no freezer)

Ø      2 New Large Microwaves

Ø      Vending Machines– The existing vending machines will be returning to the building when the new breakroom opens and construction on the lower level is near completion.  Moving of the machines will occur as not to affect the employees in large numbers however, there may be a period when the machines will be inaccessible. 

Ø      Cleaning service has been hired that will clean 5 days/week

Ø      Some items will be delivered and installed within the first month of moving in.  Please be patient in waiting for the following items: blinds in offices, building access, training on lighting and temperature controls, etc.  (Rich L)