Association for Public Transportation, Inc.

Pre-Meeting Discussion:

Richard Arena: We have limited manpower at APT, so we have to choose a limited spectrum of advocacy projects, rather than scattershot actions.

Report by Romin Koebel:

Reconnaissance Studies: The Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) will do studies.

My priority is electrification of commuter rail, Lynn to Boston.

A bus rapid transit study of Greenbush, with the possibility of several branch services.

Resurrecting the Salem roadway connector from Route 128.

The next order of buses should be equipped with rearward windows.

Romin visited a final review of transit projects at MIT. It called for an extension of the Green Line to Medford Hillside and a branch proposed by students connecting Ball Square and Porter Square.

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:18 p.m.

2. The motion was made and passed to approve the minutes of the January through April Board meetings. The Board meeting of May was also approved.

3. Officers’ Reports:

A. Fred Moore, President:

Fred attended the Freight Committee meeting today. The Executive Office of Transportation and Construction (EOTC) has to spend money to keep these rail lines open.

The Wonderland Connector is dead, due to a steep grade and tight turning radius, making this option operationally impractical. We at APT are happy to bury this option, because it was another ‘burning bridges’ proposal that would make further extension northward unlikely.

The Peabody people want commuter rail.

B. Barry Andelman, MBTA Liaison:

He attended a preliminary meeting with T Chief Operating Officer Anne Herzenberg about bunching of buses. They hope to attack this problem from the standpoint of vehicle location on the Silver Line. There is a global positioning-equipped bus they are testing.

C. Barry Steinberg, Clerk:

Reported on the availability of meeting minutes, both APT and Move Massachusetts. These are all available on the APT web site.

4. DEBRIEFING ON THE APT ANNUAL MEETING:

• Fred: The venue at the Harvard Club was fine, but I would like to move the meeting to earlier in the year.
• Barry Andelman: The speaker should be one who brings people to our meeting. Barry will assure that notice about the meeting appears in the Boston Globe. We need more people at the Annual Meeting.
• There was a deficiency in promotion of the meeting.
• We should keep the meeting on agenda. When all business is completed, then we should adjourn and people can discuss their pet topics. The hammer is coming down. Barry Andelman was the stage manager, and the meeting was very effective.
• "Props" have to be requested before the meeting.
• A list of assignments has to be made. We need this checklist well in advance. Each item on the list should be assigned to specific people.
• "We have started planning the 2005 Meeting today."—Fred.

5. Framework for Advocacy.

We need to make a framework document on the web. This is going to be a work in progress between Barry Andelman and John Hostage. When Fred gets the list, he will compose it for the Directors’ review.

6. E-Mail Problem.

There has been a considerable delay between posting and appearance of e-mails. Rick Arena has reviewed this and analyzed the situation. Our ISP "TheWorld" gets stuck in a traffic jam in Poland. Items get delayed.

Barry Andelman: Do things merely get delayed, or do they disappear? In many cases, a delay is not a crisis. On the other hand, the advantage of the system is that it is free. We cannot however send large attachments.

7. Housekeeping: Fred has reviewed our annual reports for the Attorney General's Division of Public Charities..

8. The meeting adjourned 7:46 p.m.