Title
Operations Control Center and Data Collection Services
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Phoenix's bus Operations Control Center and data collection services for a contract period beginning July 1, 2020.
Report
Summary
Since July 1, 2015, Transdev Services, Inc. has provided the City with OCC and data collection services under a fixed cost contract model. The primary function of the OCC is to manage Phoenix's fixed route (bus) transit fleet using the regional computer aided dispatch/automatic vehicle locator (CAD/AVL) system. In addition, the OCC provides several regional transit administrative and operational functions, including: transit data collection, transit system monitoring and reporting, creating public service and bus stop announcements, farebox collection reporting, providing CAD/AVL system training to regional agencies, and developing operational reports specific to regional transit providers’ agreements with their respective transit service providers. The current contract is valued at approximately $8 million and expires June 30, 2020.
The OCC’s data collection function serves to collect operational data for route planning and National Transit Database (NTD) Program reporting. Ridership data gathered as a result of the OCC’s data collection function is provided to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) NTD program for use in appropriating FTA funds. Other functions performed by the OCC include: providing notification of real-time incidents to transit stakeholders (City staff, service-provider staffs, in-field road supervisors); serving as the primary contact for requests from public safety departments; investigating incidents for City staff, local police departments, Valley Metro (VM) customer service and transit operations contractor personnel; and coordinating bus bridging for the light rail system during service outages.
The OCC manages Phoenix bus operations including 48 routes and over 22 million revenue service miles per year. On a monthly basis, the OCC responds to over 3,000 phone calls from bus operations and maintenance staffs, the Phoenix Police and Fire Departments, and VM customer service personnel; and over 65,000 radio calls and text messages directly from bus operators. There are currently 21 OCC employees.
Procurement Information
The contract will have a fixed price 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, resulting in lower cost proposals to the City. The two-year extension options 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.
PTD staff is currently developing an RFP for a future contractor to be determined as the result of the competitive procurement process. The RFP will include performance standards and monetary assessments based on performance data from the past three calendar years.
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:
- 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 contract will be funded with T2050 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.