Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
CC:	Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager Robert Nugent, Public Transit Administrator
Date:	September 30, 2013
RE:	RFP #R1316 – Contracted Transportation Services for City of Lawrence and University of Kansas

Please place the following item on the agenda for October 8, 2013:

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The City is currently under contract with MV Transportation, Inc. to provide services that includes both the operation of public transit service and the maintenance of vehicles in support of the service. Likewise, the University of Kansas is also currently under contract with MV Transportation, Inc. to provide similar services. Both the City and University contracts which began January 1, 2009 and will expire on December 31, 2013.

Both of these contracts were the result of a joint procurement process in 2008 which sought to support expanded coordination between the transit services of both the City and University. With the success of the coordination efforts over the last five years the City and University, once again, utilized a joint procurement process seeking a third party contractor to provide these services for another five years beyond 2013. These future contracts would begin on January 1, 2014 and would expire on December 31, 2018.

In order to develop an RFP for future contracts staff from the City and University worked together over the last year. This was necessary in order to develop a Scope of Work that fully addressed the complexities of the services provided and the differences due to Federal and State regulatory requirements. A concise coordinated RFP (#R1316) was issued in August 2013 and companies were solicited nationwide to submit a proposal.

Three companies participated in the mandatory pre-proposal conference that was held in early August 2013. Only two contractors submitted proposals, one by MV Transportation, Inc. (current transportation service provider for the City and University) and another by First Transit, Inc.

A Procurement Negotiating Committee (PNC) representing both the City of Lawrence and University of Kansas evaluated the proposals. Price alone was not the determining factor for evaluating and awarding this procurement. In all, five key areas were considered by the PNC. These areas, listed in order of their importance, included the following:

• Quality of Proposed Personnel
• Experiences on comparable projects, demonstrated quality of performance, years of experience, and references
• Quality of Proposal – understanding of the requirements, deliverables, technical approach and explanation of what services will be provided to meet the needs of the City and University; procedures for monitoring controls; reporting methods, detail and documentation; customer service follow up and satisfaction.
• Cost – factors may vary for type of services to be provided as identified in the proposal. Cost is not the sole factor in determining the award.
• Company Resources and Support Available to Proposed Personnel

Based on the evaluation, the PNC unanimously recommends that MV Transportation, Inc. be the contracted transportation service provider to operate City and University transit services for the next five years beginning January 1, 2014 and expiring December 31, 2018.

On October 1, 2013, a letter of intent notice was sent to MV and First Transit regarding the PNC’s recommendations.

The City and University plan to submit the PNC recommendation to their respective governing bodies for approval.  Upon receiving their concurrence, the City and University PNC’s intend to begin the negotiation process with MV Transportation. If for whatever reason, the City, University and MV Transportation, Inc. are unable to reach a mutual agreement on contractual terms, the City and University reserve the right to break off negotiations with MV Transportation and initiate negotiations with First Transit, Inc.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff believes that MV Transportation, Inc. best meets the City’s public transportation needs based on the evaluation of the PNC and criteria outlined in RFP R1316. It is also important to note that even though price alone was not the determining factor; MV Transportation’s proposal showed a considerable cost savings over the life of the five-year contract.

REQUESTED ACTION:

Concur with staff recommendation regarding the selection of MV Transportation, Inc. as the vendor for contracted transportation services beginning January 1, 2014 and authorize staff to proceed with negotiations in support of this contract.