2016 Annual Report

To SouthWest Transit’s Loyal Riders and Friends: We are pleased to present the 2016 Annual Report for SouthWest Transit. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, it’s rewarding to reflect on

the many accomplishments the organization has experienced over the past 30 years and exciting to look forward to the future.

SouthWest Transit has long been a leader in the provision of transit service, and the following is a small example of SouthWest Transit’s

accomplishments over the past 30 years:

Developed one of the nation’s first transit oriented developments (SouthWest Station) centered around an “all-bus” operation.

Was the first transit operation to introduce both luxury coach and double deck vehicles into the metro area.

Was the first operator to equip all of its vehicles with Wi-Fi.

Developed the first transit app in the Twin Cities region for riders to get route schedules including real-time information from their

smart phone.

Recognized nationally for its Emergency Preparedness and Asset Management Planning.

Riders consistently rate SouthWest Transit performance high. For 10 straight years, the agency has received a positive satisfaction

rating (satisfied to very satisfied) of 99 percent or better.

SouthWest Transit consistently ranks as one of the top transit organizations in the country when it comes to operational performance

such as safety/accidents, on-time performance, maintenance, and cost-effectiveness.

Implemented one of the first all “on-demand” transit programs in the nation. This high-tech approach has allowed SouthWest Transit

to operate one of the lowest cost demand-response transit systems in the country.

Received over 30 state and national awards including twice being named the Minnesota Transit System of the Year, the National

System of the Year, and multiple awards for safety, security, innovation and financial excellence.

Looking toward the future, 2016 ended with the agency agreeing in principle with the Metropolitan Council, which will bring LRT into the

heart of SouthWest Station in Eden Prairie. This agreement took three years to finalize and insures long-term viability of SouthWest

Transit’s operations. It outlines strategies that protect our current express operations not only in the City of Eden Prairie, but in all three of

the communities we serve. It also provides new opportunities to expand our local service operations, and it allows us to replace our current

office building in a way that not only meets our operational needs, but provides new benefits to our riding customers.

In conclusion, we want to recognize all those who have a hand in our agency’s success. Our accomplishments would not have been possible

without the hard work and dedication of the many staff, Commission members, and political leaders who have all helped move the

organization forward over the past 30 years.

As we look back with pride at all we have been able to accomplish, we also look forward to serving our communities and customers with

the same convictions to leadership, innovation, customer service, safety, and accountability.

On behalf of the SouthWest Transit Commission, we are pleased to present the 2016 Annual Report.

Jay Rohe

Chair

Len Simich

CEO

SouthWest Transit was honored to receive the following

awards in 2016:

American Public Transportation Association (APTA)

2016 Certificate of Merit for Safety

APTA 2016 Certificate of Merit for Security

Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial

Reporting

Southwest Metro Chamber 2016 Mid-Size Business of

the Year

City of Carver Partnership Award

The SouthWest

Transit Commission is

pleased to present its

2016 Outstanding

Political Champion

Award to

Representative

Cindy Pugh

(33B—Chanhassen)

and its 2016

Distinguished Service

Award to Carver County

Commissioner

Tom Workman for the

contributions they have

both made to

SouthWest Transit.

Len Simich Chief Executive Officer

Dave Jacobson Chief Operating Officer

Steve LaFrance Director of Maintenance

& Facilities

The SouthWest Transit Commission is comprised of seven

members. Each of the three cities has one elected official

and one member of the public who serve on the

Commission. The seventh position is a rider

representative.

The Commission’s role is to represent the public’s

interest in policy development, long-term planning and

financing, and to carefully balance the needs of each

community with available resources. The Commission

focuses on the big picture and policy while management

and staff carry out the Commission’s directives and

manage the day-to-day operations of the transit system.

Denny Laufenburger

Brad Aho Secretary/Treasurer

Nancy Tyra-Lukens

Jay Rohe Chair

Jody Collis King Rider Representative

Jerry McDonald Vice Chair

Bob Roepke

2016 Awards

Leadership Awards

2016 SouthWest Transit

Commission Members

SouthWest Transit Directors

SouthWest Transit Commission

2016 was a record-breaking year for SouthWest Transit with a record overall ridership number, an all-time high

ridership number for State Fair, and the highest ridership ever reported for a special event for the 2016 Ryder Cup.

Highlights from the year include:

Provided a total of 1,246,090 rides during the year

Highest ridership for an opening day for State Fair: 7,738 rides

Highest weekday ridership for State Fair: Over 12,000 rides

Highest single day ridership for State Fair: Just under 14,000 rides

Highest overall ridership for all 12 days of State Fair: 100,034 rides

104,561 rides provided to and from the Ryder Cup, which set a new all-time high ridership record for a special

event service.

SouthWest Transit continued to be a strong partner in our communities in 2016. Most notably, SW Transit worked

together with Paisley Park and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

SouthWest Transit staff worked with Paisley Park’s management to assist them with securing parking for tours. In

addition to offering parking options, staff also assisted with securing shuttle transportation from two private

operators.

SouthWest Transit provided transportation service from Chanhassen Transit Station to the Minnesota Landscape

Arboretum for their special events, capped off by the Bruce Munro Winter Light exhibit.

Ridership

Community Partnerships

All SouthWest Transit staff completed a series of safety and

security training sessions. These sessions covered:

Recognizing potential security situations

The escalation of strategies to mitigate risk

Steps to control and contain a security event

How to respond with other security partners

How to resume normal operations after a safety or

security event

Our training reviewed both internal and external violence

with a focus on how to identify precursors to events. This

training will help all of our employees to take the actions to

minimize risk to our passengers and fellow employees

whenever possible.

SW Prime has quickly become an important part of SouthWest Transit’s

efforts to help make it that last mile between our stations and their final

destinations. In 2016, we began to gain recognition for SW Prime’s success.

Several transit agencies across the U.S. and as far away as New Zealand have

been looking at SW Prime as a blueprint for their own systems.

A few of the reasons SW Prime has continued to gain recognition include:

SW Prime is an on-demand service, which means we don’t take any

advanced bookings. This has kept our number of no-show riders and

denials low.

Many of our reservations and the dispatching is done through an

automated dispatch software system, which saves on labor costs.

Riders traveling between zones (Carver, Chanhassen, and Chaska and

Eden Prairie) transfer buses. This allows for buses to continue in service

with minimal down periods.

Our overall cost to operate the service is one of the lowest

amongst the demand-response systems in the country.

Ridership has continued to grow during every month SW

Prime has been in operation. We currently serve between

225 and 250 passengers each day.

We are excited about Prime’s

continued success, and we have plans

to expand Prime in the near future.

SouthWest Transit worked throughout 2016 with

the Met Council and the LRT Project Office to

come to an agreement on the purchase price for

SouthWest Station. In these negotiations, it was

extremely important for the agreement to be fair

to both sides and to not place unnecessary

financial burden on either agency.

At the end of December, SouthWest Transit and

the Met Council reached an agreement on a

purchase price, a date for SouthWest Transit to

vacate the current SW Station, and a design plan.

Emergency Preparedness Training

SW Prime SWLRT

In 2016, SouthWest Transit implemented a Rider

Rewards program through the Minnesota-based app

company, FanMaker. This program gave riders points for

riding the bus and for interacting with SouthWest

Transit on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and

Instagram). Riders were then able to trade their points

in for prizes that SW Transit acquired through trade.

While the program grew to over 1,200 users in 2016, we

didn’t feel it was accomplishing our goal of bringing new

riders to our system. Because of this, the decision was

made to end the program in December.

In 2017, a new program, SW Perks, will be put into

place. The new program will continue to reward our

regular riders for riding with us and for interacting on

social media, but extra emphasis will be put on

encouraging riders to refer friends, coworkers and

family members to ride with

SouthWest Transit.

The new SW Perks program will also

allow us to connect with riders to

identify ways to improve our

services and to market to

new riders.

SouthWest Transit’s contract

with Plymouth Metrolink

continued in 2016 with SWT

playing a major role in several

major projects, including:

Developed the city’s RFP for Driver Services

Implemented new service changes adopted by the

City, including new service to the U of MN, expanded

midday service, and enhanced reverse commute

service.

Completed Plymouth Metrolink’s Transit Asset

Management Plan

Developed and administered Plymouth Metrolink’s

annual customer survey

Created Plymouth Metrolink’s first Emergency

Preparedness Plan (EPP)

SouthWest Transit’s contract with Plymouth Metrolink

ended at the end of the year. Services have been

transitioned back to the City of Plymouth.

In early 2016, SouthWest Transit entered into a contract with Avallo to create a new website for the company. And,

in August, the new and improved website launched. Highlights of the new website include:

Cleaner design

Easy for customers to navigate

Ability to view buses in real-time

Ability to sign up for alerts on specific routes

Easier route planning

The new website design has also

made it easier for staff to update and

make changes to the site when needed. Overall,

both staff and customers have been very

pleased with the new site.

SW Rider Rewards Plymouth Metrolink

New Website

Beginning in 2016, President Obama signed into law a

transportation infrastructure bill, titled Fixing America’s

Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). This measure will

invest $61 billion into our nation’s public transportation

systems and authorizes more than $300 billion in the

nation’s surface transportation infrastructure.

Prior the passing of the legislation, SouthWest Transit

CEO Len Simich and COO

Dave Jacobson met with

the American Public

Transportation CEO,

Michael Melaniphy,

to discuss provisions

in the legislation

important to transit

agencies such as

SouthWest Transit.

In January, SouthWest Transit joined forces with Minnesota

Valley Transit, Plymouth Metrolink, and Maple Grove Transit

to create a new Suburb-to-Suburb service, S2S. The plan

contained 10 northbound and 10 southbound trips with stops

in Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Plymouth, and Maple

Grove. The service was suspended in March due to low

ridership. However, much was learned from the short-term

demonstration

On December 5th, SouthWest Transit rolled out a new suburb

-to-suburb service, Route 638. This new route runs between

Eden Prairie and Shakopee, giving riders more opportunities

for connections to employment sites and with MVTA buses.

Since its launch, this route has seen a steady ridership

growth.

SouthWest Transit celebrated its 30th anniversary in

December.

In 1986, the southwest Minneapolis suburbs of Chaska,

Chanhassen and Eden Prairie chose to opt out of the

Metropolitan Transit Commission transit system in

accordance with Minnesota State Statutes. Under a joint

powers agreement between the three cities, they

created their own transit system, SouthWest Metro

Transit.

The agency started off contracting for service with

Morley Bus Company and what was then known as the

MTC and had an annual ridership of under 200,000.

Thirty years later, we have grown our fleet to 80 first-

class luxury coach buses and transport over 1 million

passengers annually. We’re proud to say we have also

grown to be a national leader in system reliability with an

on-time performance of 99 percent and a nearly 100-

percent customer satisfaction rating on our yearly

surveys.

“At Southwest Transit, we believe transportation is about

more than just moving people from place to place,” said

SouthWest Transit Chief Executive Officer Len Simich.

“It’s an opportunity to make life better and to transform

perspectives. With us, you can ‘Expect the Best’ because

we put people first, we continually reinvent what public

transportation means, and we make people’s days, day

after day. We are more than just a transit agency; we are

part of the community, and we help it thrive.”

FAST Act

Suburb-to Suburb Service

30 Year Anniversary

From Then:

One of the converted school buses

that made up the original fleet in

1986.

To Now:

One of the beautiful MCI

coaches that make up our

current fleet.

Budget and Revenue Notes and Highlights

Administration expenses include all support

functions, administration, marketing activities,

salaries, professional services, supplies, technology,

insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses.

Other revenues include marketing investment

revenue and contract management activities

Inter-governmental revenue includes funding

through the Minnesota State Vehicle Sales Tax.

Fare revenue is funding generated through

passenger fares. Fares are established/set by the

Metropolitan Council. In 2016, the fare recovery of

operating costs (vehicle maintenance and

operations) was 39%. Fare recovery of the entire

system cost was 29%; both exceed regional

performance targets.

In 2016, the number of full-time equivalent

employees was 33.

In 2016, Capital assets remained at roughly

$62,000,000. These assets include facilities, land,

and equipment. SouthWest Transit operates 108

buses not included in the asset total as they are

part of the regional fleet controlled by the

Metropolitan Council.

Facility maintenance expenses include all facility

and property upkeep, lawn maintenance and snow

removal, and repairs at our five stations/ramps,

garage facility, and three surface parking lots.

Vehicle operation expenses include all contract

costs related to driver services (drivers are provided

by a private contractor), uniforms, and fuel.

Vehicle maintenance includes all costs associated

with maintaining the fleet.

MISSION STATEMENT

SouthWest Transit is committed to providing a quality riding experience that fulfills the needs and exceeds the

expectations of our customers.

SouthWest Transit

13500 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344

952-949-2BUS (2287) www.swtransit.org customerservice@swtransit.org