TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Marisa Lundstedt, Community Development Director
Nhung Madrid, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
One-Year Cost-Sharing Agreement Not-to-Exceed $16,845 for Beach Cities Transit Line 109 for Fiscal Year 2016-2017 with the Cities of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and El Segundo (Community Development Director Lundstedt).
APPROVE
Line
_________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a one-year cost sharing agreement for an amount not-to-exceed $16,845 for Beach Cities Transit Line 109 for Fiscal Year 2016-2017 with the Cities of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and El Segundo. .Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Historically, the participating Cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and El Segundo have contributed towards the cost sharing agreement for the operation of Beach Cities Transit (BCT) Line 109. For FY 2016-2017, the shortfall projections for the Line are estimated at $134,455, of which Manhattan Beach’s proportionate share is $16,845. Sufficient funding for the total cost of the contract is budgeted in the FY 2016-17 Adopted Budget.
BACKGROUND:
Beach Cities Transit Line 109 provides bus service from Redondo Beach’s Riviera Village to the LAX Bus Center with stops in Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, and the Metro Green Line stations at Aviation and Douglas. Line 109 is funded through a combination of Redondo Beach’s portion of regional transit funds, fare revenues from riders, dedicated Proposition A Local Return Transportation Funds, and from the contributions from a cost sharing agreement with the cities previously mentioned.
Cost Savings/Benefits
The three participating cities have executed agreements for funding BCT Line 109 with Redondo Beach since 2006. As shown in Attachment 1, Manhattan Beach’s investment in Line 109 has significantly decreased since the first agreement in 2006. Based on the actual year-end closeout, in 2006 the City contributed $86,639, and in 2016, the City contributed $8,633 which is a decrease in contract costs by nearly 90 percent. Since inception, ridership has increased by 62 percent. In addition, it is important to note that in 2016, the total contributions from the participating cities resulted in only a $0.27 per passenger subsidy.
Beach Cities Transit services are very beneficial to our community as it provides a low-cost alternative transportation option for our residents, employees within our City, and commuting options, which in turn relieves parking and traffic congestion throughout the City, and providing this transit option is in-line with the City’s General Plan and green initiatives. Redondo Beach has also made route adjustments to accommodate the City’s requests.
DISCUSSION:
As described in detail in Attachment 2, BCT Line 109 has been modified over time to better service the needs of the four participating cities and has adapted to service changes from other transit agencies. With continued operation of the line requiring funding contributions from each of the participating Cities, in 2015, the City Councils of Hermosa Beach and El Segundo approved a two-year agreement to provide their proportionate share of the $95,417 operational funding gap for FY 2015-2016, with estimated increases for FY 2016-17.
On June 16, 2015, staff presented the City Council with the same two-year cost-sharing agreement. The City Council did not approve the two-year agreement, but approved a one-year agreement not-to-exceed $15,314 for FY 2015-16, and requested that Redondo Beach return to City Council with a Business Plan describing efforts to eliminate the need for Manhattan Beach’s future continued financial support for Line 109. Ms. Joyce Rooney, Transit Operations & Transit Facilities Operation Manager from the City of Redondo Beach will be at tonight’s meeting to provide the City Council with a presentation on the Council requested Business Plan (Attachment 3), and also information about the FY 2016-17 cost sharing agreement (Attachment 4).
Since the City’s current contract expired on June 30, 2016, Redondo Beach is requesting the City to enter into a new cost-sharing agreement (Attachment 5) for continued contributions to cover Manhattan Beach’s portion of the operational gap for Line 109 services. This ongoing financial support from the participating cities is a result of the dedicated transit funding remaining stagnant for the majority of Formula Funding, and changes to the State Transit Assistance (STA) funding, which has resulted in an overall reduction in Transit Fund allocations for all transit operators.
Although Redondo Beach is requesting the City for continued financial support for FY 2016-17, it is important to mention that for FY 2015-16, the Council approved estimated cost-sharing allocation was greater than the actual shortfall, resulting in nearly a 45% contract savings for Manhattan Beach. This means that although the City anticipated paying $15,314 for FY 2015-16’s BCT contribution, the City will only pay $8,633 resulting in a savings of $6,681.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
ALTERNATIVE #1:
Do not approve the one-year cost-sharing agreement. The City would not contribute its share based on route mileage in the City to fund the operational gap for Beach Cities Transit Line 109.
PROS:
Funds that are currently allocated in the FY 2016-17 budget for this agreement could be utilized to supplement an existing transportation program.
CONS:
The City’s cooperative and collaborative relationship with Redondo Beach could be affected, which could result in a re-route of services to exclude Manhattan Avenue, Highland Avenue, and Rosecrans Avenue, and provide no services in Manhattan Beach, reduce stops in the City and/or BCT would be less likely to make route changes to accommodate the City.
A reduction in transit services would also reduce mobility options for constituents, and impact traffic and parking within the City. Create a barrier for employees and/or residents to get to/from place of employment, home, services and recreation activities/facilities.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
Staff liaisons from all of the participating cities continue to meet quarterly to exchange transit line service data information, discuss service issues, vehicle acquisition, and marketing and public outreach efforts.
In 2015, the City of Redondo Beach implemented several enhancements for Line 109 which includes the placement of three new buses, new flag signs at all transit stops, and the acceptance of Metro TAP cards for more efficient payment options. In 2016, additional enhancements that have been implemented include service information for trip planning on Google Transit and the use of Twitter for Beach Cities Transit Services.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW
The attached contract has been reviewed by the City Attorney and has been approved to form.