Title
Resolution Awarding Service Contract to Keolis Transit Services, LLC for the Management and Operations of Transit Services Provided by the Greensboro Transit Authority
Body
Department: Transportation
Council District: Citywide
Public Hearing: N/A
Advertising Date/By: N/A
Contact 1 and Phone: Adam Fischer 373-2863
Contact 2 and Phone: Bruce Adams 412-6237
PURPOSE:
The current City contract to provide on-going management and operation of the GTA Fixed Route, Higher Education Area Transit (HEAT), and ADA Complementary Paratransit services for the Greensboro community is set to expire on December 31, 2018. A new service contract needs to be awarded in order to maintain continuity of transit services in Greensboro.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council rescinded Council Resolution 17-0630 on December 19, 2017 and directed the establishment of a completely new Evaluation and Selection Committee to: (1) review the RFPs that were previously submitted by the Proposers; (2) allow Proposers to substitute members of their Key Management Personnel; and (3) to submit new Best and Final Offers (BAFOs) to be reviewed. In order to meet the request of the City Council, the City/GTA allowed previous proposers to submit an updated Price Proposal, updated Key Management Personnel, and new Best and Final Offers (BAFOs) for review with a reconstituted Evaluation and Selection Committee (Committee). The reconstituted Committee approved by the GTA Board was composed of seven (7) members and one (1) alternate member, with representatives from the GTA Board, Transportation Department, PART, High Point Transit, the Winston-Salem Transit Authority, and the local ADA advocacy community.
Based on a new solicitation schedule, an addendum to the RFP was issued to the Proposers on April 2, 2018. The Proposers’ updated Proposed Management Team and Price Proposals were received on May 24, 2018. The City/GTA received proposals from First Group, Inc., Keolis Transit Services, LLC, and the incumbent contractor, Transdev Services, Inc. McDonald Transit Services, Inc. chose not to continue with this procurement process. The Committee convened a meeting on June 6, 2018 to evaluate and discuss the proposals and conducted oral interviews with the three Proposers on June 21, 2018. The BAFOs were received on June 29, 2018.
The Committee, pursuant to the RFP, focused on “Best Value” rather than low bid, and evaluated the proposed costs in relation to the quality and level of service provided. The qualifications of the proposers and the proposed staffing levels, the proposed operating methodology, and the proposed cost component were considered in evaluating cost effectiveness. Following the review by the Committee of the Technical and Price Proposals, Interviews, and BAFOs, the seven (7) committee members rated each proposal by the individual criteria of the RFP. Keolis Transit Services, LLC had the highest weighted score followed by First Group, Inc. and Transdev Services. LLC. After reviewing the total weighted scores of all the proposers, the Committee agreed unanimously that the scoring reflected their consensus of the most advantageous proposal for the City of Greensboro.
At the August 2, 2018 GTA Board Meeting, the Board approved recommending to City Council that the award of the contract for the Management and Operation of Transit Services provided by the Greensboro Transit Authority be made to Keolis Transit Services, LLC effective January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022, with two (2) one-year options to renew. On August 9, 2018, Transdev Services, Inc. filed a written protest of the Board’s recommendation on the grounds that (1) the GTA Board held two illegal closed sessions in connection with the process of determining the composition of the Selection Committee and (2) the composition of the Selection Committee ultimately resulted in the Selection Committee making an arbitrary, capricious, wrongful, and unreasonable recommendation because the Selection Committee was deliberately selected to exclude individuals with knowledge of the technical service considerations that make up a majority of the evaluation process. This protest was heard at the September 5, 2018 Special Call Meeting of the GTA Board. The Board unanimously denied Transdev’s protest and affirmed its recommendation to award the service contract to Keolis Transit Services, LLC.
BUDGET IMPACT:
The three and half year total contract costs are projected to be as follows:
Start Up Cost $637,067
Year 1 January 1, 2019 - June 30, 2019 $9,272,991
Year 2 July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020 $19,385,605
Year 3 July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021 $19,959,144
Year 4 July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022 $20,413,869
The FY 2018-19 Budget for Transit Operations include the funds to support Year 1 expenses. Additional funds will need to be appropriated in FY 2018-2019 to cover all Start Up Costs.
RECOMMENDATION / ACTION REQUESTED:
Staff recommends and requests City Council approve the resolution awarding the service contract to Keolis Transit Services, LLC, for the Management and Operation of Transit Services provided by the Greensboro Transit Authority beginning January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022, with two one-year options.