Tampa, Florida - April 30 - May 1, 2007

Summary of the TFLEx Conference
April 30 - May 2, 2007

TFLEx Spring Conference held in Tampa, Florida was a great success beginning. The members were welcomed by Steve Roberts, Acting Executive Director, welcomed the group to Tampa.

Our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to Debbie Ward, Controller and to HARTLINE for their gracious warm welcome. In spite of personal tragedy, and business tragedy, the loss of the Director of HARTLINE, Debbie Ward remained steadfast and single-handedly prepared for the conference. She was the consummate hostess upon our arrival. THANK YOU!

The objectives after completion of the conference were to be able to:

• Make better informed decisions on setting transit fares as well as projecting the impact of such decisions on ridership
• Understand the process for determining where to provide transit service and make improved decisions to maximize service provided
• Understand the background behind T-FLEx's benchmarking initiative, the implications to your organization, and the potential usefulness of the tool for organizational process improvements
• Identify recent legislative issues impacting the transit industry
• Identify and share best practices through "Needs and Leads"

Dr. Ian Savage, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University was invited back to TFLEx. He presented a very interesting perspective on new findings regarding mass transit demands, some changes in elasticity, and the reason for these changes. His presentation generated interesting discussion. A key conclusion was that since demand for transit is inelastic, a fare increase will always increase revenue. Another important finding was that fares varying by peak/off-peak hours and by weekday/weekend could maximize ridership.

Following Dr. Savage's presentation, representatives from two agencies, Steve Feigenbaum, Planning, Land Use & Performance Monitor Manager and Jill Cappadoro, Director of Marketing, nd Public Relations from HARTLINE, and Robert Smith AVP Service Planning from DART discussed the practical use of elasticity and lessons learned in their approach to service planning, methods for analyzing service effectiveness, and for adjusting service levels.

WMATA's successful Benchmarking Project led by Felicia Hyatt provided members a perfect jumpstart to the fledgling benchmarking undertaking TFLEx had attempted in the past. It was decided that members would begin by concentrating on two categories for data collection, revenue and expenses.

Felicia Hyatt and Ray Garton will coordinate efforts to develop a matrix for data collection and to send out the notices to members to place data on the website. BE SURE TO PARTICIPATE. We hope to have some data collection and a status/follow-up presentation at the next conference.

Transit 101 will be updated to comply with and provide CPE credits. A team of TFLEx members will work with a consultant to provide content expertise. If you are interested in participating, contact Irene DeMers at idemers@dart.org A statement of work will be developed and advertised for the hiring of a curriculum writer/coordinator.

The SIGs leaders for Budget and Grants, Gary Kirkman and Steve Schindel from RTA, Chicago, will set a schedule of time and day, to plan at least two conference calls for each area between now and the next conference. As soon as the times are set, notices will be sent to the members so you can mark your calendars and plan to participate.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Fall Conference will take place in Los Angeles, California hosted by METRO. Dates for the conference are October 29-31, 2007. Thank you Terry Matsumoto, member host!

Service and Revenue Decisions
(Field of Study: Finance)

Service and revenue decisions are two critical components confronting transit agencies worldwide. Where and when to provide service? How often? What type of service should be provided and at what cost? Answers to these questions are not easy. They are dependent on a myriad of factors including internal practices, legislative mandates and public opinion.

After attending this conference, participants will be able to:

• Make better informed decisions on setting transit fares as well as projecting the impact of such decisions on ridership
• Understand the process for determining where to provide transit service and make improved decisions to maximize service provided
• Understand the background behind T-FLEx's benchmarking initiative, the implications to your organization, and the potential usefulness of the tool for organizational process improvements
• Identify recent legislative issues impacting the transit industry
• Identify and share best practices through "Needs and Leads"

Group-Live Delivery Method
Program Level: Advanced
No Prerequisites*
Pre-Conference Reading Material Provided
Earn 13 CPE credits

* This program is at an advanced level of continuing education. Although no prerequisite course or work experience is needed to participate in this program, working knowledge of finance and transportation practices and policies is required, as well as knowledge of the program topic.

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Policy Statement (Group-Live)

Attendance Monitoring Process

To ensure compliance with NASBA standards for the reporting and record retention of CPE credits, the Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) adheres to the following attendance monitoring guidelines:

1. Sign in/sign out sheets are required for all programs where CPE credit is offered.
1. Participants must sign in upon arrival and indicate their time of arrival.
2. Participants must sign out and indicate the time of their departure:
1. When they expect not to return even though the program has not formally concluded
2. When they will be absent from the program for a significant period of time
3. Upon conclusion of each break-out session, if applicable
4. Upon conclusion of the program
3. Sign in/sign out procedures do not need to be followed during scheduled breaks or meal periods.
2. Every program will be monitored by at least one (1) T-FLEx member who will greet each participant as they arrive and ensure that sign in/sign out procedures are adhered to. In addition to sign in/sign out procedures, attendance monitoring may also include a number count throughout the day by the T-FLEx official or program facilitator, where appropriate.
3. Certificates of completion will only be issued upon verification of attendance using sign in/sign out sheets and personal observation, if necessary.

Record Retention

The Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) adheres to the record retention guidelines set forth by NASBA for approved CPE sponsors. Specifically, T-FLEx retains the following documentation for five years:

1. Records of participation
2. Dates and locations of presentations
3. Instructors, discussion leaders or program authors names and credentials
4. Number of CPE credits earned by participants
5. Results of program evaluations
6. Program materials
7. Evidence that the program materials were developed and reviewed by qualified parties
8. A record of how CPE credits were determined

Records are retained by designated T-FLEx members in a secured location or on secure computer applications. Only individuals who have a legitimate business reason are provided access. T-FLEx acts in accordance with applicable laws in the purging and destruction of personal and confidential information.

Questions or comments regarding T-FLEx's record retention policy should be addressed to:

Refunds, Cancellations, Substitutions and Complaint Resolution

• Cancellations will be accepted at any time. Registrants have the option of receiving a full refund or having the amount applied to a future workshop. All cancellation requests should be directed to:
  
• Substitutions from within the same institution are permitted at no additional cost.
• In the event T-FLEx cancels a program, participants will be notified and refunds will be provided. Information will also be posted on the Web site, www.tflex.org.
• If there are complaints about a T-FLEx event, contact:
  

Questions regarding this cancellation policy can be addressed to: