1 YORK REGION TRANSIT EXTENSION OF EXISTING DIAL-A-RIDE PILOT PROJECT AND STOCK TRANSPORTATION SCHOOL BUS CONTRACTS

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1 1 YORK REGION TRANSIT EXTENSION OF EXISTING DIAL-A-RIDE PILOT PROJECT AND STOCK TRANSPORTATION SCHOOL BUS CONTRACTS The Transit Committee recommends the adoption of the recommendations contained in the following report, November 25, 2008, from the Commissioner of Transportation Services: 1. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that: 1. Regional Council authorize an extension to the existing contract with Cares Accessible Cab (formerly Scarborough City Cab) to April 25, 2009, for the supply of dedicated, accessible, low-floor vehicles for the operation of the York Region Transit trial Dial-a-Ride service, on York Region Transit Route Bristol-London Route 44, subject to: a) The terms and conditions being amended to include a clause for fuel escalation/deescalation whereby the Region will pay to the contractor a fuel surcharge if the average 30-day gasoline fuel price per litre exceeds 5% of the established price of $1.01, which was the estimated average as of September The Region will be eligible for a credit reflecting the difference in cost if the average 30-day price decreases 5% from the base, and the contractor shall reimburse the Region for each kilometre operated, including both revenue service and in-service deadhead hours; and, b) The current Payment for Service clause being amended to include an annual rate adjustment on the anniversary date of the contract, by an amount equal to 2.5% or the cumulative Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate for the preceding year, whichever is greater. 2. Regional Council authorize an extension to the existing contract with Stock Transportation Limited to April 25, 2009, for the supply of school buses to operate designated conventional transit services during off-peak periods, subject to: a) The terms and conditions of the original contract remaining the same for the duration of the contract with a 3% increase in the hourly operating rate to $31.28, plus GST, for small school buses, $37.19, plus GST, for large school buses and an increase in the fuel escalation surcharge to $206 per month for the proposed fourmonth extension period.

2 3. The Regional Chair and Regional Clerk be authorized to execute the contracts, subject to the approval of Legal Services as to form and content. 2. PURPOSE This report seeks approval to extend the current transit operating contracts with Cares Accessible Cab (formerly Scarborough City Cab) for the Dial-a-Ride pilot program on Route 44 in the Town of Newmarket, and with Stock Transportation Limited for the provision of yellow school bus service. The extensions address the need for continued off-peak transit service on low ridership routes, without disruption, until April 25, 2009, at which time the new Dial-a-Ride contract will be implemented. Approval is also being sought to adjust the current hourly operating rate and to add a fuel escalation/de-escalation clause to the current Dial-a-Ride contract, and to adjust the hourly operating rate and fuel escalation surcharge for the Stock Transportation contract. 3. BACKGROUND School buses have been used on some transit routes in the Region during off peak hours where there is low ridership. York Region Transit (YRT) continues to utilize the school buses on Routes 27 in the Vaughan area, and Routes 40 and 41 in the Markham area. In addition, on March 28, 2006, a resolution was received from the Town of Newmarket requesting YRT to develop a business case for the implementation of a Zone Bus/Dial-a- Ride pilot project and that the area currently serviced by Route 44 Bristol-London be considered the study area. Dial-a-Ride was the subject of a successful pilot and on May 22, 2008, Regional Council approved the extension of the service to Routes 32, 24, 40, 41, 84 and 57. A Request for Proposal for the expanded Dial-a-Ride service closed on November 25, It will come into effect April 25, In the interim, there is a need to extend the expiry dates of both the current Dial-a-Ride and the Stock Transportation school bus contracts until this date. To address additional costs to the contractors for increased operator wages and the increased cost of fuel over the past 12 months, staff have negotiated adjustments to hourly operating rates and fuel escalation.

3 4. ANALYSIS AND OPTIONS 4.1 DIAL-A-RIDE PILOT PROGRAM On November 20, 2006, the Region s Supplies and Services Branch released Request for Proposal (RFP) P for the provision of a Dial-A- Ride pilot project within the Town of Newmarket The scope of work required the contractor to supply a dedicated, accessible, low-floor vehicle and administrative services to operate the Dial-a-Ride service for a trial period of one year. The Region invited qualified transportation providers to operate the trial Dial-a-Ride service for a period of one year to ascertain whether this type of service could satisfactorily address customer needs within an area of low transit customer demand. If the trial proved successful during the first nine months of operation, the Region would invite the successful proponent to submit a proposal for the operation of the service for a further two years. Award of the RFP to Scarborough City Cab was authorized by Council on June 21, The pilot program started September 2007 and was to expire September On May 15, 2008, staff submitted a report updating Regional Council on the results of the Dial-a-Ride pilot program with a recommendation to continue the program on YRT s Bristol-London Route 44 and to expand the program to Routes 32, 24, 40, 41, 84 and 57, effective September YRT staff, in consultation with the Region s Supplies and Services Department, determined that the pilot contract did not provide for a major expansion of the program This resulted in staff having to prepare a Request for Tender for the expanded service STOCK TRANSPORTATION LIMITED Stock Transportation Limited (Stock) is contracted by the Region to operate off-peak transit services utilizing school buses Stock supplies, operates and maintains small school buses for transit service during late evening periods on Route 40 and 41 in the Town of Markham and Route 27 in the City of Vaughan. These routes are operated during the day by regular conventional transit buses when passenger volumes warrant the use of larger buses. The current contract was initially executed by the Town of Markham and assumed by the Region in 2001 as part of the amalgamation of transit services. The contract was

4 subsequently extended on several occasions. Most recently, Council approved the extension of this contract to September 2, 2008, with the option to extend the term of the contract on a month-by-month basis until December 31, It is intended that the new Dial-a-Ride service will replace the use of the school buses on Routes 40 and 41. Route 27 will be replaced with conventional bus services. 4.3 NEW DIAL-A-RIDE REQUEST FOR TENDER Staff prepared a performance-based tender for the provision of services and accessible low floor vehicles and sedans for York Region Transit Diala-Ride services Following Regional Council s approval on May 15, 2008 to expand the service, staff undertook the task of preparing a new Request for Tender (RFT) document, T-08-40, for the expanded Dial-a-Ride service. Unlike the pilot program, the new contract is performance-based. Differences in the operating requirements between the conventional bus, Mobility Plus and Dial-a-Ride services, such as fewer service hours and operating procedures, required staff to reconsider the types of performance measures used, sampling sizes and the methodology for performing random inspections. The RFT was released October 9, 2008, and closed on December 2, It is intended that the new contract will be effective April 26, PROPOSED EXTENSION OF DIAL-A-RIDE PILOT PROGRAM RFP AND STOCK TRANSPORTATION LIMITED CONTRACT Meetings have been held among YRT staff, Cares Accessible Cab, and Stock Transportation regarding extensions of the current operating contracts to April 25, 2009, and agreements have been reached with both parties. Both contractors have provided reliable service throughout their contract terms. The drivers and support staff are fully trained and provide quality customer service. The extension of the existing contracts allows staff and the successful contractor of the new Dial-a-Ride tender to adequately prepare for implementation of the new program which will feature: Development of a unique brand for the Dial-a-Ride service. Vehicle purchase or lease arrangements. Inspection of vehicles. Hiring of drivers. Driver training.

5 Driver Vulnerable Sector Checks. Installation and training of Automatic Vehicle Locating system. Installation and commissioning of closed circuit camera television units Dial-a-Ride RFP (Cares Accessible Cab) A Consumer Price Index and Fuel Escalation/De-escalation Clause is to be added to the Dial-a-Ride pilot program contract Not included in the current Dial-a-Ride pilot program contract was a clause for an annual increase to the hourly unit price and fuel escalation/de-escalation. It was intended that if the pilot was successful, the service would continue to operate, and staff would negotiate a contract extension and other provisions identified during the course of the pilot. These two clauses were identified primarily due to the high cost of fuel and staff wage increases during the pilot period. Both clauses are common in YRT s conventional and Mobility Plus operating contracts. Adjustments to the hourly revenue service operating hours and fuel escalation/de-escalation will be retroactive to the one year anniversary of the pilot, September 4, 2008, and remain in effect until April 25, 2009 The increase to the hourly unit price for operating the revenue service hours set out in the contract will be an amount equal to 2.5% or the cumulative Consumer Price Index, Toronto rate for the immediately preceding extension period, whichever is greater. In addition, the Region will pay the contractor a fuel surcharge if the average 30-day gasoline fuel price per litre exceeds 5% of the established base price of $1.01, which was the estimated average as of September The Region would be eligible for a reduced rate if the price falls below 5% of the established base price of $ Stock Transportation Limited Dial-a-Ride, as an alternative to school buses, helps to reduce the overall number of YRT service contracts During weekdays and Saturday evenings, Route 27 in Vaughan, and Route 40 and Route 41 in Markham are operated by school buses. The hourly rate for the school bus service is comparable to the hourly rate for the pilot Dial-a-Ride service. Due to the success of the Dial-a-Ride pilot, it was recommended by staff that the program be expanded to include the two Markham routes currently operated by school buses. (Route 27 in Vaughan will now be operated by conventional transit buses due to increased ridership.) This would provide a consistent service type for low ridership routes across the Region and reduce the overall number of YRT service contracts.

6 As with the Dial-a-Ride contract, the school bus contract with Stock is to be extended to April 25, The terms and conditions of the original Stock contract will remain the same for the duration of the contract, with an adjustment to the hourly operating rate for both the small and large school buses, and the fuel surcharge. 5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The value of the proposed contract extensions to April 25, 2009, is estimated at $40,000 for the Dial-a-Ride contract, and at $65,000 for the Stock Transportation school bus contract The current Dial-a-Ride hourly operating rate for an accessible, low floor minivan is $31.00, plus GST. No fuel escalation surcharge is currently paid. The proposed changes will increase the hourly rate by $0.78 to $31.78, plus GST. The introduction of a fuel escalation/de-escalation clause will require the Region to pay to the contractor a fuel surcharge if the average 30-day gasoline fuel price per litre exceeds 5% of the established base price of $1.01, which was the estimated average as of September Using $0.04 per litre as the average revenue kilometre rate adjustment, with 3,908 kilometres driven per month by the contractor to service Route 44, the cost to the Region for the Dial-a-Ride fuel surcharge is approximately $150 per month. The current contract with Stock provides for an hourly operating rate of $30.37, plus GST, for small buses and $36.11, plus GST, for large buses. In addition, a fuel surcharge in the amount of $2,400 per year ($200 per month) is paid to the contractor in equal monthly instalments to offset higher fuel prices. For the extension period from January 1, 2009 to April 25, 2009, staff negotiated a 3% increase in the hourly operating and escalating fuel rate which is to compensate the contractor for increased operator wages and higher fuel costs incurred by them since the last cost adjustment in April The proposed change will increase the hourly rate by $0.91 to $31.28 to operate the small school buses and $1.08 to $37.19 to operate the large school buses. In addition, the fuel escalation surcharge will increase by $6.00 to $206 per month. Sufficient funding is included in the 2008 Business Plan and Budget for this purpose. Funds have also been included in the draft 2009 Business Plan and Budget. 6. LOCAL MUNICIPAL IMPACT The extension of both the Cares Accessible Cab Dial-a-Ride and Stock Transportation contracts will provide uninterrupted transit service during weekday evening and weekend

7 periods on designated local routes in the Vaughan, Markham and Newmarket areas, until such time as the new Dial-a-Ride contract is operational. 7. CONCLUSION It is recommended that the terms for the Cares Accessible Cab and Stock Transportation Limited contracts be extended to April 25, At that time, the new Dial-a-Ride contract will go into effect. All terms and conditions will remain the same with the exception of a modest increase to the hourly operating rates and the introduction of fuel surcharges for both contracts. For more information on this report, please contact Ann-Marie Carroll at Ext The Senior Management Group has reviewed this report.