BOARD MEETING DATE: February 1, 2008
AGENDA NO. 28

REPORT:

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee

SYNOPSIS:

Below is a summary of key issues addressed at the MSRC’s regular January 17, 2008 meeting. The MSRC’s next meeting is Thursday, February 15, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. in Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Michael D. Antonovich
AQMD Representative on MSRC

Additional CNG School Bus Incentives for Public School Districts and Awards for Private Pupil Transportation Providers

The MSRC set aside a total of $6.42 million for CNG school bus incentives under the FY 2006-07 Work Program. Of this amount, $2.42 million was allocated for public school districts and $4 million was allocated to provide buydown incentives for private pupil transportation providers.

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 was awarded additional monies based on sales performance. At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC unanimously approved a request from BusWest for an additional $340,000 to fulfill two new purchase orders from public school districts. The funding was taken from unallocated revenue since the original program allocation under the FY 2006-07 Phase I Work Program had already been expended.

Of the $4 million under the FY 2006-07 Work Program for CNG school bus incentives for private pupil transportation providers, $600,000 was previously awarded to Student Transportation of America for ten full-sized buses and $265,000 was re-allocated toward public school district incentives. At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC unanimously awarded Student Transportation of America $180,000 for three full-size buses. Additionally, the MSRC considered two urgency requests under this program and unanimously approved an award to First Student for three full-size buses in the amount of $180,000 and an award to Yucaipa Bus Services for two full-size buses in the amount of $120,000.

The AQMD Board will consider the above contract augmentation and awards at its February 1, 2008 meeting.

Release of Rideshare 2 School Program RFP

The MSRC and AQMD Board have already approved five solicitations and two awards to implement portions of the MSRC’s FY 2007-08 Work Program. Another element of their FY 2007-08 Work Program is a Rideshare 2 School Program. At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC unanimously approved the release of RFP #P2008-16, which 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 AQMD Board will consider issuance of this RFP at its February 1, 2008 meeting.

Approval for Conference Participation

The MSRC previously identified the need for participation at local conferences intended to reduce motor vehicle emissions and developed tabletop displays for such participation. In fact, the MSRC’s FY 2007-98 Administrative Budget set aside $5,000 for conference participation. At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC approved $3,000 to purchase an exhibit booth at the February 25-27, 2008 Faster Freight-Cleaner Air Conference in Los Angeles and to procure a new panel display tailored to the goods movement theme of the conference. The funds will come from the FY 2007-08 Administrative Budget.

Received and Approved Final Reports

The MSRC unanimously received and approved three final reports at its January 17, 2008 meeting, as follows:

1. City of Santa Monica Contract #MS05048, which provided $250,000 towards a CNG station upgrade;
2. City of Desert Hot Springs Contract #MS03070, which provided $2,965 towards the purchase of a CNG pickup; and
3. SunLine Transit Agency Contract #MS05038, which provided $135,000 towards the purchase of 15 CNG transit buses.

All final reports are filed in the AQMD's library and a two-page summary of each closed project can be viewed in the electronic library on the MSRC's website. The MSRC plans to eventually include complete final reports in the electronic library of its website at http://www.cleantransportationfunding.org. In the interim summary reports can be accessed on the website.

Contract Modification Requests

At its January 17, 2008 meeting, the MSRC considered six contract modification requests and took unanimous action, as follows:

1. For Riverside County Transportation Commission Contract #MS04055, which provides $225,000 towards implementation of Regional Rideshare Database Enhancements, approval of a six-month contractual term extension;
2. For Orange County Transportation Authority Contract #MS04006, which provides $405,000 towards the purchase of 2 gas-electric hybrids and 20 CNG Transit buses, approval of a six-month contractual term extension;
3. For Orange County Transportation Authority Contract #MS03041, which provides $1,360,00 towards the purchase of 68 LNG buses, approval to substitute CNG buses instead of LNG buses and a five-month contractual term extension;
4. For City of Pomona Contract #ML06024, which provides $286,450 to install a CNG station, approval of an eight-month contractual term extension;
5. For City of Pasadena Contract #ML06028, which provides $245,000 to install a CNG station and modify their maintenance facility, approval of an eight-month contractual term extension;
6. For City of Inglewood Contract #ML05026, which provides $60,000 towards the purchase of three heavy-duty CNG vehicles, approval of a seven-month contractual term extension.

The MSRC also received and filed a report on website statistics for the quarter.

Contracts Administrator’s Report

The MSRC's AB 2766 Contracts Administrator provides a written status report on all open contracts from FY 1999-00 through the present. The Contracts Administrator’s Report for the month of January is attached for your information.

Attachment (PDF 218 kb)

Contract Administrator’s Report