TTA Board Meeting

BY KATIE QUINONEZ

The Tristate Transit Authority conducted Wednesday its monthly meeting of the board.

Paul Davis, CEO and general manager of the TTA, said ridership for the month of December was down by 582 customers and fare box revenue was down by $1,000.76.

Davis also said Dial-A-Ride ridership was down by 442 customers.

"Considering the weather conditions we have had tis winter, that is not too bad," Davis said.

According to the performance report, bus ridership is up by 10, 163 trips, or .02 percent, and Dial-A-Ride is down by 980 trips, or .1 percent.

The iT bus to Charleston carried an average of 22 people per day during the month of January with a total of 470 passengers.

Board members breathed a sigh of relief when Senate Bill 493 died Wednesday morning. The bill would have allowed the Department of Health and Human Resource to create a request for proposal in order to establish a brokerage system for Non-Emergency Medicaid Transportation, said Jennifer Woodall, assistant manager of the TTA.

Operating revenues were about $4,000 more than expected during the month and the 7.4 percent favorable variance was a result of the continued growth of the NEMT revenues, according to the February 2011 chief financials officer's report. Woodall predicts the agency will receive $15,000 or more in NEMT revenue this year.

The 18 transit authorities that make up the West Virginia Public Transit Association were opposed to this bill because it did not allow the participation of WVPTA in the design of the RFP for brokerage services, Woodall said.

TTA received two new Dial-A-Ride vans, both of which exceed the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for lift capacity. The vans can carry three wheelchairs at a time.

TTA board members and transit agencies across the state will attend Transit Day March 7.

Davis and another board member attended the Annual American Public Transportation Association's CEO and General Manager's Seminar in San Diego, Calif. in June 2010. Davis said the seminar provided many networking opportunities. The trip caused TTA corporate expenses for Jan. 26 to Feb. 22, 2011 to be $1,616.93.