THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT/TRANSIT DIVISION AND THE PURCHASING DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTIONS.
This items supports the Board's Vision of an "Efficient and Accessible Regional Intermodal Transportation Network" and Goal No. 2 to "Enhance our efficient, safe, clean, attractive, and interconnected multi-modal transportation systems."
The four major transit agencies Broward County Transit (BCT), Palm Beach County (PalmTran), Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) and South Florida Regional Transit Authority's (SFRTA) TriRail which serve the Southeast Florida region all have different and separate transit fare media (passes). MDT and TriRail utilize the EASY Card system (a reloadable, stored value smart card); however, BCT and PalmTran's onboard equipment does not currently accept the EASY Card.
The first phase of the project will consist of a joint pilot program involving approximately 55 BCT and ten PalmTran buses that cross county lines and ensuring that their onboard equipment has the ability to accept the EASY Card in use by MDT and SFRTA, and also test new fare collection technologies. The Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) applied and was approved for an Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Grant (Project ID Number: FL-95-X064) for the first phase of the project. The Broward MPO, as the FTA grant recipient, must confirm that any expenses incurred have complied with federal guidelines and will administer the grant for 5% ($25,000) of the total grant amount of $500,000. BCT will manage this fare interoperability project and staff is seeking approval of the subrecipient agreement (Exhibit 1), which allows the MPO to pass through $475,000 in grant funds to BCT for the pilot program. PalmTran is also receiving funds for the pilot project from the Palm Beach County MPO.
This Fare Interoperability project will include the joint procurement of readers/validators for a portion of BCT’s and PalmTran’s bus fleets. After the successful testing of the readers/validators, a later phase of the project will develop and test mobile ticketing and other fare collection technologies (i.e. third party smart cards, credit/debit cards, and general purpose prepaid cards.). BCT and PalmTran will also procure a vendor to identify and test a regional solution that interfaces with EASY Card, provide the needed hardware & software, define back office requirements to ensure that each transit agency receives fare box revenue as appropriate, market the project, and acquire customer feedback on the fare collection methods. The Agreement between Broward County and Palm Beach County for Joint Purchase Transit Fare Interoperability (Exhibit 3) outlines the requirements for a single solicitation and contract with a vendor for the equipment.
Staff is also requesting approval of the Request for Proposals (RFP) No. R1231115P1 for the Transit Fare Interoperability System (Exhibit 4) joint procurement. The Office of Economic and Small Business Development has determined that this project is 100% funded by the FTA and because federal dollars are applicable, the project is subject to the requirements of Title 49 CFR Part 266. The County has established an overall DBE goal of 26.7% for federally funded transportation projects (Exhibit 5).
The Agreement among Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County and the SFRTA for the Transit Fare Operability (Exhibit 6) includes the responsibilities of each of the four transit agencies for integration of the pilot program with the intent to support convenient interagency transfers for regional customers. BCT and PalmTran will jointly purchase the fare devices, design and test the systems and submit invoices to Miami-Dade on a monthly basis for reimbursement of trips on their vehicles by customers using the EASY Card. MDT and SFRTA will be responsible for the sales and customer service related to the EASY Card fare media. MDT will be responsible for the "backoffice" which is the centrally administered system including software, payment information and processing of payment transactions, customer service, reporting and reconciliation of financial data between the parties.
Upon successful completion of the pilot project, and funding availability, a later phase of the project will provide for the full integration on the remaining buses in BCT and PalmTran fleets for the acceptance of EASY Card.
The County Attorney's Office reviewed and prepared these Agreements in cooperation with the other parties. |