2016 annual report - granicus
TRANSCRIPT
To SouthWest Transit’s Loyal Riders and Friends: We are pleased to present the 2016 Annual Report for SouthWest Transit. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, it’s rewarding to reflect on
the many accomplishments the organization has experienced over the past 30 years and exciting to look forward to the future.
SouthWest Transit has long been a leader in the provision of transit service, and the following is a small example of SouthWest Transit’s
accomplishments over the past 30 years:
Developed one of the nation’s first transit oriented developments (SouthWest Station) centered around an “all-bus” operation.
Was the first transit operation to introduce both luxury coach and double deck vehicles into the metro area.
Was the first operator to equip all of its vehicles with Wi-Fi.
Developed the first transit app in the Twin Cities region for riders to get route schedules including real-time information from their
smart phone.
Recognized nationally for its Emergency Preparedness and Asset Management Planning.
Riders consistently rate SouthWest Transit performance high. For 10 straight years, the agency has received a positive satisfaction
rating (satisfied to very satisfied) of 99 percent or better.
SouthWest Transit consistently ranks as one of the top transit organizations in the country when it comes to operational performance
such as safety/accidents, on-time performance, maintenance, and cost-effectiveness.
Implemented one of the first all “on-demand” transit programs in the nation. This high-tech approach has allowed SouthWest Transit
to operate one of the lowest cost demand-response transit systems in the country.
Received over 30 state and national awards including twice being named the Minnesota Transit System of the Year, the National
System of the Year, and multiple awards for safety, security, innovation and financial excellence.
Looking toward the future, 2016 ended with the agency agreeing in principle with the Metropolitan Council, which will bring LRT into the
heart of SouthWest Station in Eden Prairie. This agreement took three years to finalize and insures long-term viability of SouthWest
Transit’s operations. It outlines strategies that protect our current express operations not only in the City of Eden Prairie, but in all three of
the communities we serve. It also provides new opportunities to expand our local service operations, and it allows us to replace our current
office building in a way that not only meets our operational needs, but provides new benefits to our riding customers.
In conclusion, we want to recognize all those who have a hand in our agency’s success. Our accomplishments would not have been possible
without the hard work and dedication of the many staff, Commission members, and political leaders who have all helped move the
organization forward over the past 30 years.
As we look back with pride at all we have been able to accomplish, we also look forward to serving our communities and customers with
the same convictions to leadership, innovation, customer service, safety, and accountability.
On behalf of the SouthWest Transit Commission, we are pleased to present the 2016 Annual Report.
Jay Rohe
Chair
Len Simich
CEO
SouthWest Transit was honored to receive the following
awards in 2016:
American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
2016 Certificate of Merit for Safety
APTA 2016 Certificate of Merit for Security
Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial
Reporting
Southwest Metro Chamber 2016 Mid-Size Business of
the Year
City of Carver Partnership Award
The SouthWest
Transit Commission is
pleased to present its
2016 Outstanding
Political Champion
Award to
Representative
Cindy Pugh
(33B—Chanhassen)
and its 2016
Distinguished Service
Award to Carver County
Commissioner
Tom Workman for the
contributions they have
both made to
SouthWest Transit.
Len Simich Chief Executive Officer
Dave Jacobson Chief Operating Officer
Steve LaFrance Director of Maintenance
& Facilities
The SouthWest Transit Commission is comprised of seven
members. Each of the three cities has one elected official
and one member of the public who serve on the
Commission. The seventh position is a rider
representative.
The Commission’s role is to represent the public’s
interest in policy development, long-term planning and
financing, and to carefully balance the needs of each
community with available resources. The Commission
focuses on the big picture and policy while management
and staff carry out the Commission’s directives and
manage the day-to-day operations of the transit system.
Denny Laufenburger
Brad Aho Secretary/Treasurer
Nancy Tyra-Lukens
Jay Rohe Chair
Jody Collis King Rider Representative
Jerry McDonald Vice Chair
Bob Roepke
2016 Awards
Leadership Awards
2016 SouthWest Transit
Commission Members
SouthWest Transit Directors
SouthWest Transit Commission
2016 was a record-breaking year for SouthWest Transit with a record overall ridership number, an all-time high
ridership number for State Fair, and the highest ridership ever reported for a special event for the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Highlights from the year include:
Provided a total of 1,246,090 rides during the year
Highest ridership for an opening day for State Fair: 7,738 rides
Highest weekday ridership for State Fair: Over 12,000 rides
Highest single day ridership for State Fair: Just under 14,000 rides
Highest overall ridership for all 12 days of State Fair: 100,034 rides
104,561 rides provided to and from the Ryder Cup, which set a new all-time high ridership record for a special
event service.
SouthWest Transit continued to be a strong partner in our communities in 2016. Most notably, SW Transit worked
together with Paisley Park and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
SouthWest Transit staff worked with Paisley Park’s management to assist them with securing parking for tours. In
addition to offering parking options, staff also assisted with securing shuttle transportation from two private
operators.
SouthWest Transit provided transportation service from Chanhassen Transit Station to the Minnesota Landscape
Arboretum for their special events, capped off by the Bruce Munro Winter Light exhibit.
Ridership
Community Partnerships
All SouthWest Transit staff completed a series of safety and
security training sessions. These sessions covered:
Recognizing potential security situations
The escalation of strategies to mitigate risk
Steps to control and contain a security event
How to respond with other security partners
How to resume normal operations after a safety or
security event
Our training reviewed both internal and external violence
with a focus on how to identify precursors to events. This
training will help all of our employees to take the actions to
minimize risk to our passengers and fellow employees
whenever possible.
SW Prime has quickly become an important part of SouthWest Transit’s
efforts to help make it that last mile between our stations and their final
destinations. In 2016, we began to gain recognition for SW Prime’s success.
Several transit agencies across the U.S. and as far away as New Zealand have
been looking at SW Prime as a blueprint for their own systems.
A few of the reasons SW Prime has continued to gain recognition include:
SW Prime is an on-demand service, which means we don’t take any
advanced bookings. This has kept our number of no-show riders and
denials low.
Many of our reservations and the dispatching is done through an
automated dispatch software system, which saves on labor costs.
Riders traveling between zones (Carver, Chanhassen, and Chaska and
Eden Prairie) transfer buses. This allows for buses to continue in service
with minimal down periods.
Our overall cost to operate the service is one of the lowest
amongst the demand-response systems in the country.
Ridership has continued to grow during every month SW
Prime has been in operation. We currently serve between
225 and 250 passengers each day.
We are excited about Prime’s
continued success, and we have plans
to expand Prime in the near future.
SouthWest Transit worked throughout 2016 with
the Met Council and the LRT Project Office to
come to an agreement on the purchase price for
SouthWest Station. In these negotiations, it was
extremely important for the agreement to be fair
to both sides and to not place unnecessary
financial burden on either agency.
At the end of December, SouthWest Transit and
the Met Council reached an agreement on a
purchase price, a date for SouthWest Transit to
vacate the current SW Station, and a design plan.
Emergency Preparedness Training
SW Prime SWLRT
In 2016, SouthWest Transit implemented a Rider
Rewards program through the Minnesota-based app
company, FanMaker. This program gave riders points for
riding the bus and for interacting with SouthWest
Transit on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram). Riders were then able to trade their points
in for prizes that SW Transit acquired through trade.
While the program grew to over 1,200 users in 2016, we
didn’t feel it was accomplishing our goal of bringing new
riders to our system. Because of this, the decision was
made to end the program in December.
In 2017, a new program, SW Perks, will be put into
place. The new program will continue to reward our
regular riders for riding with us and for interacting on
social media, but extra emphasis will be put on
encouraging riders to refer friends, coworkers and
family members to ride with
SouthWest Transit.
The new SW Perks program will also
allow us to connect with riders to
identify ways to improve our
services and to market to
new riders.
SouthWest Transit’s contract
with Plymouth Metrolink
continued in 2016 with SWT
playing a major role in several
major projects, including:
Developed the city’s RFP for Driver Services
Implemented new service changes adopted by the
City, including new service to the U of MN, expanded
midday service, and enhanced reverse commute
service.
Completed Plymouth Metrolink’s Transit Asset
Management Plan
Developed and administered Plymouth Metrolink’s
annual customer survey
Created Plymouth Metrolink’s first Emergency
Preparedness Plan (EPP)
SouthWest Transit’s contract with Plymouth Metrolink
ended at the end of the year. Services have been
transitioned back to the City of Plymouth.
In early 2016, SouthWest Transit entered into a contract with Avallo to create a new website for the company. And,
in August, the new and improved website launched. Highlights of the new website include:
Cleaner design
Easy for customers to navigate
Ability to view buses in real-time
Ability to sign up for alerts on specific routes
Easier route planning
The new website design has also
made it easier for staff to update and
make changes to the site when needed. Overall,
both staff and customers have been very
pleased with the new site.
SW Rider Rewards Plymouth Metrolink
New Website
Beginning in 2016, President Obama signed into law a
transportation infrastructure bill, titled Fixing America’s
Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). This measure will
invest $61 billion into our nation’s public transportation
systems and authorizes more than $300 billion in the
nation’s surface transportation infrastructure.
Prior the passing of the legislation, SouthWest Transit
CEO Len Simich and COO
Dave Jacobson met with
the American Public
Transportation CEO,
Michael Melaniphy,
to discuss provisions
in the legislation
important to transit
agencies such as
SouthWest Transit.
In January, SouthWest Transit joined forces with Minnesota
Valley Transit, Plymouth Metrolink, and Maple Grove Transit
to create a new Suburb-to-Suburb service, S2S. The plan
contained 10 northbound and 10 southbound trips with stops
in Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Plymouth, and Maple
Grove. The service was suspended in March due to low
ridership. However, much was learned from the short-term
demonstration
On December 5th, SouthWest Transit rolled out a new suburb
-to-suburb service, Route 638. This new route runs between
Eden Prairie and Shakopee, giving riders more opportunities
for connections to employment sites and with MVTA buses.
Since its launch, this route has seen a steady ridership
growth.
SouthWest Transit celebrated its 30th anniversary in
December.
In 1986, the southwest Minneapolis suburbs of Chaska,
Chanhassen and Eden Prairie chose to opt out of the
Metropolitan Transit Commission transit system in
accordance with Minnesota State Statutes. Under a joint
powers agreement between the three cities, they
created their own transit system, SouthWest Metro
Transit.
The agency started off contracting for service with
Morley Bus Company and what was then known as the
MTC and had an annual ridership of under 200,000.
Thirty years later, we have grown our fleet to 80 first-
class luxury coach buses and transport over 1 million
passengers annually. We’re proud to say we have also
grown to be a national leader in system reliability with an
on-time performance of 99 percent and a nearly 100-
percent customer satisfaction rating on our yearly
surveys.
“At Southwest Transit, we believe transportation is about
more than just moving people from place to place,” said
SouthWest Transit Chief Executive Officer Len Simich.
“It’s an opportunity to make life better and to transform
perspectives. With us, you can ‘Expect the Best’ because
we put people first, we continually reinvent what public
transportation means, and we make people’s days, day
after day. We are more than just a transit agency; we are
part of the community, and we help it thrive.”
FAST Act
Suburb-to Suburb Service
30 Year Anniversary
From Then:
One of the converted school buses
that made up the original fleet in
1986.
To Now:
One of the beautiful MCI
coaches that make up our
current fleet.
Budget and Revenue Notes and Highlights
Administration expenses include all support
functions, administration, marketing activities,
salaries, professional services, supplies, technology,
insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses.
Other revenues include marketing investment
revenue and contract management activities
Inter-governmental revenue includes funding
through the Minnesota State Vehicle Sales Tax.
Fare revenue is funding generated through
passenger fares. Fares are established/set by the
Metropolitan Council. In 2016, the fare recovery of
operating costs (vehicle maintenance and
operations) was 39%. Fare recovery of the entire
system cost was 29%; both exceed regional
performance targets.
In 2016, the number of full-time equivalent
employees was 33.
In 2016, Capital assets remained at roughly
$62,000,000. These assets include facilities, land,
and equipment. SouthWest Transit operates 108
buses not included in the asset total as they are
part of the regional fleet controlled by the
Metropolitan Council.
Facility maintenance expenses include all facility
and property upkeep, lawn maintenance and snow
removal, and repairs at our five stations/ramps,
garage facility, and three surface parking lots.
Vehicle operation expenses include all contract
costs related to driver services (drivers are provided
by a private contractor), uniforms, and fuel.
Vehicle maintenance includes all costs associated
with maintaining the fleet.
MISSION STATEMENT
SouthWest Transit is committed to providing a quality riding experience that fulfills the needs and exceeds the
expectations of our customers.
SouthWest Transit
13500 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
952-949-2BUS (2287) www.swtransit.org [email protected]