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ciT1' Or DI1A.'U, FLORIDA
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Pedro G. Hernandez, P.E.
City Manager
FROM: Bill Anid
Assistant
DATE: September 29, 2008
SUBJECT: Health District Trolley
REFERENCES:
ENCLOSURES:
This memorandum presents an analysis of the options under consideration and a recommendation for .the
long term operation of the Health District Trolley.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City issue a Request for Proposal.(RFP) for municipal circulator services in
the Health District. Further, a turnkey -contract approach is considered to be the most expeditious and
cost-effective procurement option for the City as explained herein. Under a turnkey -contract, the selected
proposer will provide the fleet and drivers, fuel, store and maintain the fleet, as well as operate the
service for the initial 3-year term. This approach would reduce the City's administrative costs and
liabilities while allowing for the quickest implementation of service. The City's responsibilities would be
limited to monitoring, oversight, and marketing of the circulator service.
Next Steps
The City will enter into a Joint Participation Agreement (JPA) with the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) for the state's financial contribution to the Health District Trolley in the amount
of $374,000 annually for an initial 3-year period which represents approximately 50% of the total annual
operating cost of the circulator service. The JPA requires the City to provide an equal match of $374,000
annually for an initial 3-year period; we anticipate presenting this item to the City Commission in
November. The City's contribution will be paid from its share of the PTP.
Once the JPA is executed, the City will subsequently issue an open and competitive Request for
Proposal for turnkey circulator service. Please note that we also propose to obtain Commission approval
for the issuance of the RFP during the November meeting. Responsive bids shall be evaluated by a
technical review committee in accordance with the established evaluation criteria specified in the RFP
(consisting of technical criteria as well as cost to the City). The bidder with the highest overall score shall
be recommended by the evaluation committee to the City Manager for contract award. Further, the City
will execute an Interlocal Agreement with Miami -Dade Transit which will allow the City to provide the
municipal circulator service independent of MDT oversight.
background
For some time, the City of Miami has been coliaborating with the Miami Partnership, a coalition of the
major stakeholders and property owners in the Health District under the leadership of University of
Miami President Donna Shalala and City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. The Miami Partnership has
established a vision for the area which endeavors to improve mobility and enhance the image and quality -
of -life of the area. To this end, in 2006, the City engaged a team of qualified consultants to evaluate and
recommend improvements to the public realm by way of streetscapes, gateways, signage, and
transportation/transit improvements. Numerous workshops were held with the Miami Partnership and
governmental agencies in order to evaluate the mobility and circulation needs of the area and identify an
appropriate transit solution to reduce congestion in the area. Based on the unanimous desires of the
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September 29, 2008
Miami Partnership and outcomes of those workshops, the City is proposing a rubber -tire circulator service
among other roadway and streetscape improvements. The proposed Health District Trolley will serve 14
major facilities/institutions, 9 parking garages and parking lots, and will provide a direct connection to the
Civic Center Metrorail Station, the transit hub of the area. (See route map below).
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In 2007, the City of Miami applied for funding from the FDOT transit service development program for
the Health District Trolley project. The FDOT awarded the project $374,000 annually for the first 3 years
of circulator service. The state funds are intended to off -set 50% of the operating and maintenance costs
associated with providing the service. The state funds became available on July 1, 2008 and require an
equivalent match from the City. The City's match will originate from its portion of the half -cent transit
surtax (Peoples' Transportation Plan — PTP). As you may be aware, the Hialeah Circulator, the Coral
Gables Trolley, the Doral Trolley, and the South Beach ElectroWave, among many other municipal
circulators currently operating throughout the County, have been historical recipients of the state's start-
up money; however, more importantly, this is the first time the City of Miami is a recipient of this
exclusive and limited FDOT funding.
Following are pertinent facts about the proposed Health District Trolley:
• The Health District Trolley will be the City's first municipal -operated circulator and is intended
to reduce congestion and improve mobility in the City's and County's second largest employment
center with approximately 100,000 employees and visitors daily.
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September 29, 2008
• The City has been working with the area stakeholders (collectively known as the Miami
Partnership) and The Corradino Group since 2006 to evaluate circulator options and identify a
preferred route.
• An operating budget of approximately $750,000 for the first year is available (representing
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) funds from the Service Development Program of
$375,000 and an equivalent match from the City from its share of the Peoples' Transportation
Plan (PTP) (i.e. half -cent transit surtax proceeds).
• The service will operate on an approximately 3-mile route via a 2-way loop.
• The service will consist of a fleet of four (4) trolley vehicles with two (2) vehicles operating in
each direction; operating at 10 to 15-minute headways, twelve (12) hours per day, five (5) days a
week, excluding holidays (New Years, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).
• Pursuant to the Mayor's Green Initiative, the City and the Miami Partnership strongly desire a
green, eco-friendly fleet of trolleys, which would most likely consist of either hybrid -electric or
bio-diesel fuel vehicles. Below is an image of the type of trolley vehicle.
• The City and the Miami Partnership would like the vehicles to incorporate a "wrap" or skin that is
attractive and promotes the Health District branding effort. It is important to note that Commuter
Services of South Florida (CSSF) has offered to provide branding and marketing services, up to a
$100,000 value, at no cost to the City. CSSF's services will include, but not be limited to, mass
production of route maps, street sign panels, street banners, creation of a website, and preparation
of miscellaneous trolley -service literature for outreach and distribution.
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September 29, 2008
• The City is requiring a provision for on -board fare -box equipment should the City decide to
charge a nominal fare. At this time, it has not been determined whether the service will be
provided free of charge.
• The City anticipates providing vehicle storage and bio-fueling capabilities at either no cost or a
reduced cost to the operator through its General Services Administration (GSA) facility on NW
20th Street in the Health District area.
Operating Options
The following options are available to the City for operating the Health District Trolley service:
• Option l: City owns, operates, fuels, stores, and maintains the trolleys;
• Option 2: Circulator service owned, operated and maintained by Miami -Dade Transit (MDT);
• Option 3: Turnkey -contract operation where the City contracts with a private vendor who
provides the trolleys and drivers, and fuels, operates, stores, maintains the trolleys; and,
• Option 4: City leases or purchases trolleys and contracts with a service provider for operations,
fuel, storage, and maintenance.
Table 1 below presents a synopsis of the costs of the options referenced above.
Table 1
Analysis of Options
Vehicles
Total
Hrs2
Cost/Hr3
Annual
Cost
Lease/
Month4
Annual
Lease
Total
Annual Cost
Option 1: City -Owned Operation
4
12,288
$80
$983,040
$983,040
Option 2: Miami -Dade Transit
(MDT) Owned -Operation
4
12,288
$100
$1,228,800
$1,228,800
Option 3: Turnkey Operation
4
12,288
$60
$737,280
$0
$0
$737,280
Option 4: City Leases
Vehicles/Contracts Operation
4
12,288
$50
$614,400
$5,600
$268,800
$883,200
2Hours are based on weekday service, 12 hours a day, excluding holidays (New Years, Labor Day, Thanksgiving,
and Christmas).
3Cost for MDT Operation was provided by MDT. Cost for Turnkey and Contract Operation are estimates based
on other municipal programs in operation. Cost for City Operation is an estimate based on an average between
Turnkey and MDT operation. All costs are estimates based on current industry information obtained without
going through a formal bidding process.
`Lease cost is based on a 31-foot, 26-passenger diesel trolley with a 6.7 Cummins engine capable of operating B5
biodiesel.
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September 29, 2008
Procurement Options
There are two typical methods for contracting municipal circulator services:
■ Through "piggybacking" on an existing competitively bid contract held by another government
entity for same services; and,
■ Through an open and competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) procurement process.
With regards to the former option, the Purchasing Department was provided with a copy of an ongoing
general services contract held by Miami -Dade Transit (MDT) for transportation services within Miami -
Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties (MDT's Request for Qualifications for Route Work and Group
Travel Services (RFQ No. 83 dated May 2005)). The County's solicitation created a pool of pre -qualified
transportation service providers. While the Purchasing Department determined it had no formal
objections to the City "piggybacking" on MDT's pool of pre -qualified vendors, it strongly supported
issuing a new solicitation specific to the Health District Trolley service as a more prudent course of
action. Further, based on informal discussions with the service providers in the MDT contract pool, none
seemed to have the required number of green/eco-friendly trolley -type vehicles immediately available for
service in the Health District. Therefore, piggybacking on the MDT contract and limiting the solicitation
to just those vendors in the MDT pool was not determined to be in the City's best interest.
The City also engaged in recent discussions with MDT with regards to MDT operating the circulators
(Table 1, Option 2 above). Under this scenario, the Health District Trolley service would be incorporated
by MDT into their existing Metrobus service. Based on the outcome of those discussions as well as on a
cost analysis of the various options as outlined in Table 1 above, it became apparent that this option
would not be cost-effective, it would not provide efficient circulator service to the Health District, and
would fail to further the vision and transportation objectives of the Miami Partnership. Further, if the
service (and funding) were to be transferred to MDT, the City would not effectively retain any
management and oversight responsibilities, and, therefore, would not be able to readily effectuate any
service changes promptly and effectively to meet the needs of the Health District.
Therefore, Option 3 (turnkey operation) procured through the issuance of an open and competitive
solicitation via a Request for Proposal was deemed to be the most prudent and cost-effective course of
action for the City. Further, conservative estimates reveal that the annual cost of turnkey operations will
be less than the City's annual operating budget of approximately $750,000 for the circulator service.
If responsive bids are not received initially, as a subsequent consideration, the City may choose Option 4
which consists of leasing the vehicles from a vendor through a competitive advertisement and
concurrently re -issuing an RFP for only the operation (including fuel, storage, and maintenance) of the
service. The City of Doral, for example, has successfully implemented this option. Option 4, however, is
expected to exceed our current annual operating budget by approximately $130,000 annually.