BOARD MEETING DATE: April 5, 2002
AGENDA NO. 16

Approve Contracts under the Rideshare to Rails Program as Part of the FY 2001-02 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program; Grant MSRC Authority to Adjust Project Costs Up to 5%; and Authorize Board Chairman to Execute Agreements

SYNOPSIS: 

As part of the FY 2001-02 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program, the Board approved release of a Request for Proposals for a $300,000 Rideshare to Rails Program. When the RFP closed, only one proposal from Riverside County was funded for $96,982. Consequently, the MSRC re-released the RFP to allow the other three counties additional time to submit proposals. On November 9, 2001, the Board approved the re-released RFP in the amount of $225,000. When the RFP closed, two additional San Bernardino County proposals had been received. At this time the MSRC requests approval to fund these two proposals totaling $48,000. The MSRC also requests authority to adjust contracts up five percent and authority for the Board Chairman to execute agreements.

COMMITTEE: 

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee,
February 28, 2002, Unanimously Approved

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Approve award for two projects totaling $48,000 under the revised Rideshare to Rails RFP #P2002-06 as part of the FY 2001-02 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program as described in this letter;
   
    
2. Authorize MSRC the authority to adjust contracts up to 5%, as necessary; and
   
    
3. Authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute contracts with the Cities of Rialto and San Bernardino in the amount of $24,000 each.

William G. Kleindienst
Chair, MSRC

Background

In September 1990 Assembly Bill 2766 was signed into law (Health & Safety Code Sections 44220-44247) authorizing the imposition of an annual $4 motor vehicle registration fee to fund the implementation of programs exclusively to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles. AB 2766 provides that 30 percent of the annual $4 vehicle registration fee subvened to the AQMD be placed into an account to be allocated pursuant to a work program developed and adopted by the MSRC and approved by the AQMD Governing Board. Available monies for the FY 2001-02 Work Program are currently estimated at approximately $16 million, including revenues, interest, turn-back funds, and monies from CARB for peaker plant emissions.

On July 20, 2001, the Board approved the conceptual FY 2001-02 Work Program targeting $13,765,000 for five Clean Fuels Vehicle programs, one Light-Duty Vehicle program, and five TCM programs. The Work Program included 10 solicitations totaling $12,265,000, one contract with the California Energy Commission (CEC) for $1.5 million for participation in its CNG/Gasoline Hybrid Incentives Program, a $2 million Local Government Match Program Announcement & Application, and a $1 million Diesel Particulate Trap Retrofit Program Announcement & Application.

On November 9, 2001, the Board approved most of the elements of the FY 2001-02 Work Program, including the re-release of a revised TCM RFP, #P2002-06. The "Rideshare to Rails" Commuter Rail Station Rideshare Incentive Program is intended to encourage, through the availability of financial incentives, commuter rail station owners and/or operators to develop rideshare programs that increase carpooling, vanpooling, or other forms of ridesharing to and from parking-impacted rail stations. The original RFP included a $75,000 geographic minimum for each county. Unfortunately, the initial response to the RFP was minimal, primarily because of time constraints according to prospective proposers. Consequently, as part of its actions in October 2001, the MSRC funded one project from RCTC totaling $96,982 then augmented the RFP to ensure geographic minimums would be available for the remaining three counties and released the revised Rideshare to Rails RFP. It closed at 5:00 p.m. on January 15, 2002.

Outreach

In accordance with the AQMD's consulting and contracting policies, a public notice advertising the revised Rideshare to Rails RFP was published on two different days in 26 newspapers and publications, including several targeting minorities.

The revised Rideshare to Rails RFP #P2002-06 was placed on the MSRC's Web site at "http://www.msrc-cleanair.org" as well as the AQMD's Web site at "http://www.aqmd.gov" under the "Business and Job Opportunities" icon, and information was included about the RFP on the AQMD's 24-hour telephone message line for bidders at (909) 396-2724.

Proposals Received and Evaluation Process

Two additional proposals were received in response to the revised RFP, for a total of five proposals altogether. Attachment 1 details the proposals received.

The MSRC's Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC) formed an evaluation subcommittee to review the proposals to determine eligibility, using the criteria within the RFP (Attachment 2). At its February 28, 2002 meeting, the MSRC considered recommendations from its MSRC-TAC.

Proposals

The MSRC requests Board approval to award two contracts, each in the amount of $24,000, for projects submitted under the revised Rideshare to Rails RFP #P2002-06.

The City of Rialto project addresses parking congestion at its Metrolink Station. Incentives include a $165 pass discount for new or existing Metrolink Riders who are new to carpooling or who decide to walk, bicycle or ride a bus to the station, a $50 pass discount recruitment bonus for existing carpoolers to enlist new participants (applicable after three months of carpooling), and preferential parking for qualified carpools. In addition, after three months of ridesharing, participants would be eligible for prize drawings and membership in the San Bernardino County's "Team Ride" program. Like Rialto's project, the City of San Bernardino project will operate in a similar manner for its Metrolink Station. Both projects will be co-funded through the San Bernardino Associated Governments’ ITS Program and Southern California Regional Rideshare Association, with the MSRC's contribution consisting of less than half of the projects' costs. As an element of each project, contractors will develop an emissions evaluation methodology, the results of which will be included in the respective final reports upon completion of the projects.

In some cases the full amount requested by a proposal is not recommended for funding or the proposed scope of work has been modified. This is consistent with the MSRC's administrative policies, which allow the MSRC to approve a portion of a proposer’s scope of work and/or funding request. In those cases where the proposed funding level or scope of work has been modified by the MSRC, and the proposer cannot perform the project as approved, the MSRC may rescind the funding commitment and retain the funds in the Discretionary Fund for future work programs.

The MSRC requests authority to adjust the funds allocated to each project specified in this Board letter by up to 5% of the project's recommended funding. The Board has granted this authority to the MSRC for all past work programs.

Finally, the MSRC requests that the Board authorize the AQMD Board Chairman the authority to execute the two agreements outlined in this Board letter as part of the FY 2001-02 Work Program.

Resource Impacts

The AQMD acts as fiscal administrator for the AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Program (Health & Safety Code Section 44243). Money received for this program is recorded in a special revenue fund (Fund 23) and the contracts will be drawn from this fund. These contracts will have no fiscal impact on the AQMD’s operational budget.

Attachments

1 - Spreadsheet Listing Proposals Received
2 - Re-Released Rideshare to Rails RFP #P2002-06

/ / /