BOARD MEETING DATE: February 1, 2008
AGENDA NO. 13

PROPOSAL:

Approve Contract Modification under MSRC’s FY 2006-07 Work Program and Issue RFP under FY 2007-08 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program

SYNOPSIS:

At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC awarded additional funds to BusWest for CNG school bus incentives under the FY 2006-07 Work Program. The MSRC also approved moving forward with the Rideshare 2 School element of their FY 2007-08 Work Program. The RFP provides for a total of $245,000 for the development, implementation and administration of the Rideshare 2 School Program. At this time the MSRC requests approval to modify one contract under the FY 2006-07 Work Program as well as issue an RFP under the FY 2007-08 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program.

COMMITTEE:

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review, January 17, 2008

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Approve a funding augmentation from unallocated funds in an amount not to exceed $340,000 for existing contract #MS07002 with BusWest under the CNG Public School Bus Incentives Program, under the FY 2006-07 Phase I Work Program and authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute a modified contract to effectuate this award, as described in this letter;
2. Approve the issuance of an RFP, with a targeted funding level of $245,000, for the Rideshare 2 School Program, under the FY 2007-08 Work Program, as described in this letter; and
3. Authorize MSRC the authority to adjust contract awards up to five percent, as necessary.

Ron Roberts,
Vice-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 Board.

FY 2006-07 Work Program

The MSRC has set aside a total of $6.42 million to continue the CNG School Bus Incentives Program as part of the FY 2006-07 Work Program. Of this amount, $4 million was allocated to provide buydown incentives for private providers of student transportation and $2.42 million was allocated for public school districts. To implement the public school district portion of the program, the MSRC awarded sole-source contracts to A-Z Bus Sales and BusWest. These vendors had previously qualified under an RFQ process to implement a similar MSRC program in prior years. Initially each vendor was awarded $500,000; subsequently, A-Z Bus Sales’ contract value has been increased based on sales performance. At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC considered a request from BusWest for an additional $340,000 for two new purchase orders; further details are provided in the Proposals section.

FY 2007-08 Work Program

At its August 16, 2007 meeting, the MSRC approved funding categories for its FY 2007-08 Work Program. The MSRC and AQMD Board already approved five solicitations and two awards to implement portions of the FY 2007-08 Work Program. At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC considered an RFP to implement the Rideshare 2 School Program, another element of their FY 2007-08 Work Program. Further details are described below in the Proposals section.

Outreach

For the RFP described below, in accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, a public notice advertising the multiple solicitations and inviting bids will be published in the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Sun, and Riverside County Press Enterprise newspapers to leverage the most cost-effective method of outreach to the entire South Coast Basin.

Additionally, potential bidders may be notified utilizing AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors. Notice of the solicitations will be mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations, the State of California Contracts Register website, and placed on the Internet on both the MSRC’s website at http://www.cleantransportationfunding.org and on AQMD’s Web site (http://www.aqmd.gov, where it can be viewed by making menu selections “Inside AQMD”/“Employment and Business Opportunities”/“Business Opportunities” or by going directly to http://www.aqmd.gov/rfp/index.html). Information will also be available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724.

Bidders’ Conferences

To assist potential bidders in submitting qualified proposals, a non-mandatory Bidders’ Conference for the Rideshare 2 School RFP will be conducted at AQMD headquarters at 10:00 a.m. in Room CC6 on Wednesday, February 20, 2008.

Proposal Evaluation and Panel Composition

Proposals received in response to the RFP (further outlined under the Proposals section) will be evaluated by members of the MSRC’s Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC), a diverse group of individuals appointed by participating members as prescribed in the Health & Safety Code.

Proposals

The MSRC considered two recommendations from its MSRC-TAC and unanimously approved the following:

FY 2006-07 Work Program

As stated in the Background section, BusWest requested additional funds under the CNG School Bus Incentives Program for public school districts. Through orders both in process and fulfilled, BusWest expended $420,000 of the $500,000 in their existing contract. Subsequently, BusWest has received additional orders, from East Whittier City School District on behalf of the Pupil Transportation Cooperative, for a total of seven full-sized CNG school buses. Each of these buses would be eligible for the $60,000 incentive. At its January 17 meeting, the MSRC unanimously awarded $340,000 to BusWest from unallocated funds. Together with the $80,000 remaining in BusWest’s contract, this augmentation will enable them to provide the incentives for all seven buses.

FY 2007-08 Work Program

As stated in the Background section, previously the MSRC approved funding categories for its FY 2007-08 Work Program. At its January 17 meeting, the MSRC unanimously approved release of RFP #P2008-16 under the FY 2007-08 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program. The RFP sets aside $245,000 and seeks qualified bidders to develop, implement and administer a Rideshare 2 School demonstration program whose primary goal is to promote ridesharing and the use of alternative commute modes by school children at traffic impacted schools. The program would demonstrate alternative transportation choices as a means to reduce air pollution impacts by reducing vehicle emissions from parents driving their children to school. The demonstration may include an incentive component for qualified participants, not to exceed $1 per day for a maximum of 30 days.

The MSRC respectfully requests the Board’s approval of the above contract modification and to release the RFP under the FYs  2006-07 and 2007-08 Work Programs. Additional FY 2007-08 Work Program elements are expected to be brought forward in the next few months. The MSRC also requests authority to adjust the funds allocated to each project specified in this Board letter by up to five percent of the project's recommended funding. The Board has granted this authority to the MSRC for all past work programs. Finally, the MSRC requests the Board authorize the AQMD Chairman of the Board the authority to execute all agreements described in this letter.

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.

Attachment (Doc 565 kb)

Rideshare 2 School Program RFP #P2008-16