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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
Andres Colman |
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PRESENTER(S): |
Andres Colman |
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TITLE:
title
Approval for International Travel to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Benchmarking Group of North American Light Rail Systems (GOAL) Annual Meeting
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Discussion
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve International Travel for participation t the Benchmarking Group of North America Light Rail Systems (GOAL) Annual Meeting in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Attendees are Andres Colman, Light Rail General Manager, and Ali Oliver, Business and Quality Analyst for Light Rail Services.
BACKGROUND:
UTA is a charter member of the Benchmarking Group of North America for Light Rail Systems. This meeting is the first in-person annual meeting of the organization since 2018.
Similar to the American Bus Benchmarking Group (ABBG), the Benchmarking Group of North America is a consortium of public transit agencies (for example, Toronto, Seattle, Dallas) that meet to consider best practices and KPIs.
DISCUSSION:
UTA’s Light Rail Services is poised to make considerable strides with respect to participation in - and learning from - the best practices used by other Light Rail public transit agencies. Light Rail Services has a relatively new General Manager and a new Business and Quality Analyst who are the two individuals proposed for attendance at the annual meeting. Light Rail’s Operations Planner will also be able to benefit from the information and contacts obtained at the meeting.
Similar to the Maintenance Department’s Users’ Groups meeting, attendance at the Benchmarking Group of North American’s annual GOAL meeting will be an opportunity to learn from other agencies and contribute to the knowledge base regarding light rail transit.
Prior to 2019 Light Rail Services participated in these conferences - with attendance by the General Manager, the Business and Quality Analyst, and the Light Rail Manager of Planning, Projects and Performance (which is a now defunct position).
ALTERNATIVES:
This is the only scheduled meeting of the group.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Costs are estimated at approximately $3,300.00 per person, or a total cost of $6,600.00 and are accounted for in the 2022 Operating Budget.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.