Title
North/South Transit Facilities Fixed Route Services
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the fixed route (bus) transit services operated from the City-owned North and South transit facilities for a contract period beginning July 1, 2020.
Report
Summary
Since July 1, 2015, Transdev Services, Inc. has provided the City with fixed route transit services operated from the North and South facilities under a fixed cost contract model. The contract, which is set to expire on June 30, 2020, comprises about 70 percent of Phoenix’s bus service, and has a current estimated value of $440 million. Public Transit Department staff is currently developing an RFP for a future contractor to be determined as the result of the competitive procurement process.
The North Transit Facility is located at 2010 W. Desert Cove Drive and houses transit fleet vehicles, as well as facilities for the contractor to utilize for administration and operations including: vehicle maintenance, facility maintenance, bus fueling, a bus wash and multiple vehicle maintenance bays. The recently refurbished South Transit Facility is located at 2225 W. Lower Buckeye Road and serves as the contractor’s administrative offices, in addition to operations, and also includes safety and training rooms, facilities for vehicle maintenance, and bus and road supervisor dispatching.
There are currently 134 transit vehicles assigned to the North Transit Facility, and 211 transit vehicles assigned to the South Transit Facility. The joint fleet provides service on 36 routes throughout the region, comprising approximately 15.2 million revenue (service) miles per year. The routes operated from both facilities consist of 30 local and circulator routes and six RAPID routes. Currently, this contract provides service to an average of two million passengers per month.
Routes operated under the current contract include some of the region’s busiest, including Route 19 (19th Avenue), Route 35 (35th Avenue), Route 50 (Camelback Road), and Route 70 (24th Street/Glendale Avenue). The current contractor employs approximately 980 local staff to operate, maintain and administer this contract on behalf of the City.
Procurement Information
The contract will be fixed price (cost per revenue mile) for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2020, with two additional one-year options to extend at the City’s discretion. The total seven-year contract term provides known costs as Phoenix continues implementing the T2050 plan, and allows the contractor to spread fixed and capital costs over a longer period, which results in lower cost proposals to the City. The two-year extension option will be exercised only if it is in the City’s best interest to do so and the contractor has performed satisfactorily during the five-year base period.
The RFP will include performance standards and monetary assessments based on performance data from the past three calendar years. These contract provisions will be implemented in accordance with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) guidelines.
The RFP will contain evaluation criteria and processes, as well as a transparency in lobbying clause. The RFP criteria will focus on the following areas, with a maximum of 1,000 possible points, mirroring the recent process utilized for procuring similar services operated from the City’s West Transit Facility:
- Qualifications, expertise and experience (250 points)
- Proposed management and personnel (150 points)
- Understanding of work scope and transition plan (200 points)
- Cost (400 points)
A tentative procurement schedule is shown below:
- July 2019: RFP released
- August 2019: Proposals due
- September 2019: Panel evaluations
- October 2019: Best and final offers due
- October 2019: Award recommendation
- July 1, 2020: Contract start date
Financial Impact
The resultant contract will be funded with T2050 and federal funds.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
• On Feb. 28, 2019, the Citizens Transportation Commission recommended approval of this item by a vote of 11-0.
• This item was recommended for approval at the Aviation and Transportation Subcommittee meeting on March 26, 2019, by a vote of 3-0.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Public Transit Department.