Have fewer js you relieve pocket congestion. I think this is very exciting. Im encouraged do hear the supervisor from the district is open to it. Im glad you are planning it. I would urge you to go forward with it. I think this is something that is easy to test and could have a very very Significant Impact on the reliability of our service. Thank you. Okay. That closes item number 7. Would you please call item number 12 and be advised im going to take Public Comment out of order. Thank you. Execute contract modifications. Contract 201319 procurement of new light rail vehicles. Operator cap featuring engineering refinements that improve fleet performance to accelerate fleet replacement with no increase to the total cost and no increase in the term. Do we have any Public Comment on this item . Yes you have three speakers okay. Edward mason. Hold on. Would you please come forward and speak first please . Thank you. I will give you your option to speak now or wait until the staff presentation but i want to accommodate our friend who is needing to leave i appreciate that. We have a longattended item before this. Understood. Please. I want to address the seating on the. Whats your name . Robin crop. Is this echoing too much . We can hear you per electly i want to address the seating on the lrv training in the current breed of trains there are 20 transfer seats. And nine longitudinal ones for a twotoone ratio. Anyone who needs a transfer seat can generally get one including asking for one. However the plans for the next 50lrv cars are calling for four single transfer seats. And the rest being the sideways ones which is about 20 percent down to a 20 percent of the current transfer seat numbers than what we have currently. The plans for the next 101 is only for eight transfer seats which is going to be 40 percent of the car seats will be transfers. However, our riders are diverse. Some are ablebodied and some are not. So the ablebodied people can do anything. And those of us who are not cant. Im disabled. I cannot stand, i cannot sit sideways. I must have a forward seat. My concern is that these cars will fill up immediately and we wont be able to ride. Well be eliminated from being able to access any transfer seat and also well be injured on them, those of us with physical disabilities can be injured. Plus we are dealing with other languages. So we cant communicate with people in russian, et cetera. But, you know fragile seniors and other languages like its full of elderly chinese seniors we cant talk to each other. And if its going to be four transfer seats how do we know what our needs are for accessing . So without being able to have enough transfer seats we wont be able to ride so id like to ask for is that it . That is your time ill submit the rest in writing because i have suggestions. Thank you very much. I didnt get to them. Okay. If the other Public Commenters would like to speak now you are welcome to do so. If you would like to wait until after the presentation you can do so. Edward mason. Is cat carter hoo here . She left the only speaker is edward mason. Its 4 35 and director torres is uncharacteristically yankee. [laughter] cranky. Im kidding, im kidding. We have taken the last six months to get the lrv4 program back on track so to speak, and to make sure we are making steady progress to deliver the reliable trains that San Francisco deserves. It has not been an easy period. Weve had a lot of challenges. But im very optimistic that as we go into the new year that we are really going to see some significant improvements, and we are already seeing, i think some very promising results. So im here today to talk about some early steps to get the next phase of the lrv4 project going. These are long lead time items. The reason we are bringing them to you now is because without action now we will not be able to shave off time from the replacement, and we will end up having these vehicles well past 2026. Some of the recent progress we did and this is a photo. I did have the opportunity to address the entire factory along with vicechair borden and thank them for their hard work. It was exciting to hear from the engineer there which basically confirmed that San Francisco has the most complex vehicle on the team has designed between our hills and tight turns and weight restrictions, we really challenged them. And they were very excited about that. We still have two vehicles that are at siemenss. They are the First Vehicles we worked the hardest to break, and they are now getting all the upgrades they helped inform. We also have three vehicles that are and we have seven vehicles on hold because the wheels have flattened out. So part of this item is to move forward the investment in the track brakes. Our biggest breakdown issue over the last couple months has been the hydrollic power unit, which was causing the brakes to lock up. Im pleased to report we have addressed that issue. It was a fleet defect. It is covered under warranty. We needed to both replace a Circuit Board as well as do a software update. Weve addressed the problem on about 45 percent of the fleet. Weve done 29 vehicles. And im pleased to report we have no instances of this breakdown this was making up 40 to 45 percent of our breakdowns since we have on the upgraded vehicles. That being said, we are going to continue to find issues and to need to work through them. One emerging issue that we are tracking closely is some increased overhead wire wear. And we are seeing an area where it appears to be scraping. So because of the impact that it has on the Overall Health of our system, we are monitoring this very closely, and we are going to be equipping some key locations with cameras to try to understand what the challenges are there. We did for all practical purposes, meet our 90day goals. We are currently delivering on average about 40 vehicles a day with the goal of 48 by the end of january. We also are back on track to the trajectory to get us to 25,000 miles between breakdowns. For the first two weeks of november we are at about 9500, which is triple where we were this summer in terms of miles between breakdowns. So while i believe we still need several more months before we fully execute the contract, i am very positive on the trajectory that we are on. The item thats before you today is a contract modification the value of 9. 8 million. It is to address three types of changes. The first is to do some highpriority retrofits of the phase 1 expansion vehicles. The highest ticket item being the track brakes, putting additional track brakes on the front and back of the vehicle will prevent the vehicle the brakes from flattening when we have emergency brakes. And it will significantly improve the vehicle availability. This is also something that has very strong support from our operators and our union very much would like to see the additional track brakes installed. We have installed ten successfully. And we are seeing very promising results. The second item is to start the long lead time engineering items. We are making very significant changes to the seating design of the vehicles. And in order to keep to the expedited schedule, we really need that engineering to start. And then the third thing is that in order for siemens to increase production, they are creating a separate facility to build our car shells. And so giving them the resources now about 20 percent of the resources, 5 million on a overall cost of 25 million to Start Building those car shells is critical again to keep the expedited schedule. We will be bringing a seventh contract modification on the order of about 50 million for the final execution of the phase ii vehicles this spring but only after weve had another several months of continuous progress. Just to refresh you on the seating design, we have a lot of discussion about this last winter and spring. In general, we have very Strong Customer satisfaction on this vehicle. We did an intercept survey, and people who were satisfied or very satisfied outmatched people who were not satisfied 4 to 1. But we have heard several themes of concern. One is the height of the seats. The second is that the seats are slippery theres no butt indents. Afraid i didnt think i would ever say. Is that a professional transit term . [laughter] you learn something every day. The third is there were no forwardfacing seats that it was all bench seating. In order to accommodate the concerns as well as not have to completely reengineer the vehicle, we are recommending a compromise. So the first 50 seats would be a single row of forwardfacing on half the vehicle. The reason for that is that they are not a significantly difference in weight. So it does not require a complete redesign of the car shell. While those are being built, it will give time to design the second double row of transverse seats. If i can ask a question on those there seems to be a concave what do you call that thing . [laughter] he just wants you to say butt again. We are also recommending the lowering. Foiled by my nemesis to the european left. [laughter] we will be dropping three quarters of the seats, adding hand grabs of different lengths like theyve done at bart. We have several Community Requests for kind of a sky view of the seats. Before my silliness. Well ask sftv to return to the powerpoint. So for the single row seats we will on each vehicle have 12 forwardfacing seats six on each end of the car, four of them are on the front of the car and then two of them are behind the second door. We do we have also gotten advice from Community Members that they would like to see more blue seats reserved for people with disabilities. So we will be working with matt west and our Accessibility Department to help determine that. And then this next photo shows the double seats. So it does increase the number of seats. We will be also retrofitting the existing vehicles to the single seat configuration. Again, it is relatively big ticket item. And it will take vehicles out of service. But we heard a strong request to modify, not just the new seats that are coming, which is relatively Cost Effective but also to retrofit the existing. The project schedule is shown here. The schedule in the contract is fairly spread out based on the procurement of them. They were bought slowly because we did not have the funds to buy them faster. We have received per fission from the fta to retire some of these vehicles early. I think it is the best thing we can do in terms of the fleet performance. We are having tremendous challenges keeping these vehicles in a state of good repair in fact because they did not have a full midlife, which will be important to do with our new railcars and in part because of parts being obsolete and things like that. So the new proposal would have all the vehicles delivered by the end of 2025. And this chart shows it would also reduce the amount of time that we are maintaining two fleets. And in particular it would mean that we dont have to design the new train control system for the old trains which adds considerable amount of cost and complexity to that project. We do have some ongoing work. There is still a poll at the front door that does need to be redesigned. And weve gotten feedback that it makes it more challenging for people who are using wheelchairs to get on and off the vehicle. We are working with the operators who this is the first vehicle that they are using a camera monitor instead of mirrors. While weve made some enhancements we are looking at a new system that has a much larger monitor and working closely with operators on that feedback. The customer information, while it is better than anything weve ever had on our trains, we could could be sexier. So we are looking at some of our options to have enhanced customer information on our trains. And then as i said, looking at more blue seats. Who knew this would be the raciest item on our agenda . [laughter] i didnt try to get in on that one. Sheryl would have really had i should have known better. We have no higher priority than to continue all the good work that janet and her team are doing to improve the reliability and availability of these vehicles. And as i said weve made tremendous progress, and we are going to continue to make good progress. But overoar seeing the initial retrofit work and getting ready for the replacements are also important actions, which is why we are bringing you this item today. Wonderful. This is very exciting. Always welcome another chance to see another photo of director borden the most photographed sfmta board member. [laughter] this is really exciting. So before we have any comments or questions, mr. Mason, and well finish Public Comment. If there is anyone else who wanted to speak on this item, please follow mr. Mason. Yep, please after mr. Mason. Thank you. Edward mason. This is a billion dollar project over 30 years. And there should be a fiduciary responsibility in the procurement specification by having workshops to expand and clarify the requirement. Operator maintenance and enhancements after the fact reflect a lack of collaboration initially. And now its costing us additional money. The original cars were four people were square yard whereas now for three additional inches we are now putting six people per square meter. Now theres statements such as the passenger emergency stop, i dont know what reading the documentation but on the intercom i think we would want to put signage with instructions as there are on other vehicles, to say you are on car number xyz because if you are going to be in a train communicating with the operator you better know which car you are on. The seating section, everything we are going to lower the seat, right . We are going to put a bench seat in. Are we going to lower the bench seat because theres no electronic box there thats going to keep the higher seat. Less than half the fleet is going to have double transfer seats 101 of the 2019 seats. In the articulation section, passengers sit on the articulation ribs. So i assume thats not going to be a problem because we are not talking about that. But i have observed people sitting on there. Open space. Why do the procurement specification require space for bicycles . On there we could have seats and also i think that the folding seats bottom line is on the blue seats for the priority they should be closer to the doors. And that really needs to be a priority. Because you only have the priority seats at the front. And ive seen peoplepeople board the vehicle with extended wheelchairs with their feet out at an angle creating problems. Thank you. Do you want to speak . Its a long day and ill be brief. Please may i have your undivided attention . Thank you. One question i want to put forward are the contours of the seats going to change . Because they are extremely uncomfortable. And also if theres a sudden stop, you can really people can really be jerked forward. So i just want to make sure that those seats, which are extremely uncomfortable on the coach are changed. And frankly, the one i ride the more i ride the siemens, the more i miss the freighter. Any more questions . The one comment i have is thank you for everything that you did in response to all my comments. And i really appreciate it. Im looking forward to riding the newlyconfigured train and appreciate the responsiveness. One of the reasons to have single seating at least on one side is to have the ability to have three people stand across the train fuselage instead of two. Correct. In addition to the feedback on the seats which you have received and dealt with, thank you again, the inability for the person in the middle of those three people to hold onto something has been an expressed concern. In this redesign, is there some sort of idea of a overhead bar or pulldown system so the person in the middle of the three has something to hold onto . Yes okay. And this is like im leading the witness. Can you tell us what that is. Objection. [laughter] sorry. Its been so long that weve been working on this item that i momentarily forgot what we included. But we did include an arch. It will require, i think, some very at all people over 6 5 will have to duck, but it is a lower height than the signage on the vehicle. So there will be a place for folks to hold onto to better utilize that middle space. Excellent. Okay. Just wanted to make sure we were clear on the record that that change is coming too. So with that, i have no further comments. I just want to compliment you guys for accommodating so many different concerns. Because i know as a wheelchair user i want open space. And other people want more seating to accommodate their disability. And disability or no we all have such different needs and wants i think you have stuck a really responsible and appropriate balance with all the competing interests, keeping us on track for delivery of the vehicles and keeping it within a reasonable price tag. So thank you so much for your work. Im going to interpreter that in a motion of support. Yes. A second. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed . Thank you. Onto item 13. Appointing tumlin as the new director effective december 16 2019 and approving the execution of employment agreement including a term ending december 31, 2024 with an annual compensation of 324,000. Benefits equivalent to specified benefits to members of the executive management bargaining unit under the 2019 2022 memorandum of understanding between the sfmta and the Municipal Executive Association and a oneyear severance pay. Move to approve. Well hold on. [laughter] ive got legal requirements here. Oh, okay. So no more objections. [laughter] do we have Public Comment on this item . You have one this agenda item is to discuss and take possible action to approve a employment agreement. The employment agreement has been available for public inspection and is included in the board materials. The code requires the board to orally report a summary of the composition in the form of Fringe Benefits before taking final action. The board provides the following summary through me. The proposed agreement sets a salary of 324,383. Tumlin will receive Fringe Benefits equivalent to benefits to employees represented by the missal executive association as a memorandum of understanding between the sfmta the fullest of benefits is set forth. The key benefits include five days of paid management leave recognized legal holidays, vacations as specified in the code, 13 days of sickleave per year as provided in the charter management of flexible spending Health Account and for h