Title
Public Hearing and Decision on Transit Technology Project Grant Applications
Action
Action:
A. Conduct a public hearing regarding authorizing the City Manager, or his designee, to apply for seven grants in the amount that totals to $4,234,574 with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for transit technology projects,
B. Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager, or his designee, to apply for seven grants in the amount that totals to $4,234,574 with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for transit technology projects, and
C. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to accept up to seven grants in the amount that totals to $4,234,574 from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for transit technology projects.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Brent Cagle, CATS
Rachel Gragg, CATS
James Winslow, CATS
Explanation
§ This resolution authorizes the city to apply to the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Urban Advanced Technology program.
§ NCDOT provides financial assistance in the form of Urban Advanced Technology grants to benefit transit systems in North Carolina utilizing a wide selection of technologies available today, enhance the passenger experience, and improve safety and efficiencies in operations.
§ NCDOT requires grant applicants to hold a public hearing and endorse the grant application by local resolution.
§ The Technology Services division of CATS seeks to improve data accuracy, enhance reporting capabilities, and integrate advanced technologies for better operational efficiency and decision-making in transit operations by submitting seven applications with NCDOT. The Urban Advanced Technologies grants will provide funding towards:
- An upgrade to the existing Automatic Passenger Counters to help better understand ridership patterns, optimize service planning, and improve efficiencies,
- Replacing light rail network switches for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and Network IP communication.
- Modernizing the fare collection system by incorporating contactless payments through Open Payments and Smart Cards that will enhance the transit experience for passengers, making it more convenient, secure, and efficient.
- Updating and enhancing the existing transit scheduling application, Hastus, to improve functionality, streamline operations, and integrate advanced modern features.
- Updating equipment and signage on transit vehicles which will provide remote capability to the manual process of updating route and passenger information.
- Developing a comprehensive Disaster Recovery plan for the OnRoute application which will assist with minimal service disruption, data integrity, and rapid recovery in the event of system failure or a disaster, and
- Updating interfaces to promote compatibility for the migration with City of Charlotte’s new financial accounting system, WorkDay.
§ Local match requirement equates to 10 percent of the funding or $470,508, which will be funded within CATS existing budget.
Fiscal Note
Funding: NCDOT Urban Advanced Technology Grant and CATS Capital Budget
Attachments
Attachment(s)
Resolution