City to contract with new transit managing service

Apr. 13—The City of Lodi will soon have a new company managing the GrapeLine that staff says will provide higher quality service and an improved customer experience.

The Lodi City Council last week unanimously approved on its consent calendar a resolution that authorizes the city manager to execute a professional services contract with Transdev Services, Inc. to operate the GrapeLine.

The agreement will last five years at a total cost of more than $13.4 million.

"This is a significant change for council," city manager Steve Schwabauer said Wednesday night. "We have operated with MV Transportation for many, many years. We went out to bid, and MV didn't bid. So public works put together a rigorous process to review proposals and Transdev came out on top."

For years, MV Transportation has taken on the duties — as a third-party contractor — of operating city-owned buses, dispatching duties and daily general management of the GrapeLine service.

The city's contract with MV Transportation ends on June 30, according to staff, and a request for proposals for transit operations services was issued in December. The RFP aimed to set the bar higher in terms of service expectations to provide higher quality service, modern technology solutions, and improved customer service, staff said.

One of the improvements from the previous contract with MV Transportation was a higher minimum wage for GrapeLine drivers.

The RFP stipulated a minimum wage of $19 per hour for drivers to not only ensure that they would be compensated competitively within the industry, but also establish a baseline salary that ensured no single provider could significantly underbid another provider that paid competitive wages by default, staff said.

In addition, staff said there is a high rate of turnover for drivers, and insisting on a living wage would ensure that high quality drivers are hired and retained.

This, in turn, would help reduce turnover and provide consistently safe, reliable, and "exemplary" customer service, staff said.

The December RFP was described as a "performance RFP" that focused less on "how" a company will manage the GrapeLine — such has listing how many drivers and supervisors it will employ — and more on "what" it needs to provide excellent customer service, such as sufficient staffing, staff said.

When the contractor fails to meet established performance criteria listed in the RFP, the city can apply financial penalties for specified amounts, staff said.

The RFP also called for the prospective company to bring its own technology approaches to the GrapeLine to improve data collection, as well as accurate reporting methods for federal and state audit purposes, staff said. Five proposals were received by Feb. 16, from First Transit; MTM Transit; RATP DEV USA; Storer Transit Systems; and Transdev Services, Inc.

The proposals were evaluated based on a company's experience, proposed plan thoroughness, pricing and value, and employee protection. Staff said while Transdev's cost proposal was mid-range compared to other cost proposals, it still received the highest overall average score based on the totality and value of the RFP's technical evaluation criteria.

Cost proposals from all five applicants were not available. However, staff said Transdev's proposal demonstrated a "clear understanding" of the city's needs and priorities when it came to quality service, driver incentives and retention, customer service, and technology to improve the system's performance and rider experience.

Transdev will eliminate the minimum wage training rate, increase full-time shifts, and offer professional development for all staff, which is needed to attract and retain a transit team the city expects, according to staff.

Additionally, Transdev will provide its own technical and management staff to help the city rollout the electrification of the GrapeLine before a 2024 deadline.

"That's a large number," Councilman Doug Kuehne said of the contract. "We typically don't see that big of a number, but that is a five-year contract with this new management company. I looked at their timeline. It's pretty aggressive and it brings our transportation agency up to speed and into the 21st century. Not that it's not up to speed, but it's going to be even better."

Based in Lombard, Ill., Transdev is the largest private-sector, multi-modal transportation provider in the United States, with more than 20,000 employees and 12,000 vehicles in more than 200 locations across the country. The company currently manages Butte Regional Transit in Chico; Sonoma County Transit in Santa Rosa; Napa Valley Transit; Redding Area Bus Authority; Yolo County Transportation District; and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Funds for the contract will be made available through the Federal Transportation Agency, the State Transportation Development Act, Measure K, fare revenue and other miscellaneous revenue, according to staff. There will be no impact to the city's general fund.