Title
Intergovernmental Agreement with Maricopa County - Platinum Pass Program (Ordinance S-46905)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Maricopa County (County) to provide county employees with Platinum Passes. Further request to authorize the City Treasurer to receive all funds related to this item. There is no cost to the City of Phoenix.
Report
Summary
The Platinum Pass is a post-pay fare media program that encourages public transportation use. Participants in the program are issued Platinum Passes, which they then distribute to their employees. Platinum Passes are valid fare for use on the Valley Metro regional transit system, which includes both bus and light rail transportation.
The current IGA with the County for Platinum Passes expires on Oct. 23, 2020. The new IGA will become effective on Oct. 1, 2020 to align this IGA with the calendar month billing cycle. Under the new IGA, the City will provide the County with up-to-date Platinum Passes, for which the County will pay an issuance charge (currently $1.50 per Platinum Pass) and monthly bills based on actual usage of the Platinum Passes for transit service during the previous month. Each Platinum Pass will incur charges at the fare cost per boarding for every transit service used, not to exceed the rate of an equivalent monthly pass.
Current fare cost:
- Local Bus/Light Rail Fare - $2.00 per boarding
- Local Bus/Light Rail Reduced Fare - $1.00 per boarding (for employees qualifying for reduced fare)
- Express/Rapid Bus Fare - $3.25 per boarding
Current monthly pass rates:
- Local Pass Rate - $64 per month (for local bus routes and light rail boarding)
- Reduced Fare Local Pass Rate - $32 per month (for local bus routes and light rail boarding by employees qualifying for reduced fare)
- Express Pass Rate - $104 per month (for Express/Rapid routes or a combination of local routes, light rail service, and Express/Rapid routes)
Contract Term
The term of this agreement is three years, from Oct. 1, 2020 through Sept. 30, 2023, with one three-year option to extend the agreement.
Financial Impact
There is no cost to the City of Phoenix, as the Platinum Pass Program is a revenue program.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Public Transit Department.