Agenda Item Wording:
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Authorization to continue discussions with the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency regarding entering into a ‘Micro Transit Pilot’ partnership between The City of Visalia and the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA).
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Deadline for Action: None
Submitting Department: Administration - Transit Division
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Angelina DeRossett, Transit Manager, Angelina.DeRossett@Visalia.City, (559) 713-4591
Nick Mascia, Assistant City Manager, Nick.Mascia@Visalia.City, (559) 713-4323
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that City Council receive a presentation and authorize staff to continue to have open discussions with the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (Agency) regarding the scope of work for a Micro Trasit pilot project. Furthermore, staff requests that City Council will authorize staff to continue to coordinate with TCRTA with the goal of establishing a cooperative agreement to partner on 3-year region-wide micro transit pilot project that can be brought back to City Council for further consideration if the pilot program is appropriate for Visalia
Summary:
Visalia Transit has an opportunity to partner with Tulare County Regional Transit Agency, (TCRTA) at no cost to the City of Visalia, to provide micro transit (on demand) services under a 3-year pilot program. This pilot program will not replace any existing Visalia Transit services, only supplement existing. At the completion of the pilot, and after various metrics and performance measurements are collected, the City of Visalia will have the opportunity to establish its own, continue to partner with TCRTA, or cease the micro transit service. This staff report will introduce the pilot program and the associated components: reservation software system and infrastructure assets. If City Council agrees with the pilot concept, Staff will continue discussions with the goal of bringing forth a cooperative agreement with TCRTA if the final pilot program is appropriate for Visalia.
Background Discussion:
Transit ridership numbers across the nation have suffered as a result of the pandemic. Like many other agencies, Visalia’s Transit ridership numbers are still hovering around 55% of pre-pandemic ridership numbers. Prior to the pandemic, a farebox recovery ratio was the performance metric that measured the efficiency of transit. As an agency, the City was required to recover 20% of operating costs through fares. While staff and Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) are working on revamping and revising the current performance metrics, transit is typically funded based on a number of metrics that could and will likely include ridership efficiency.
In October of 2022, the City of Visalia was approached by TCRTA with an opportunity to partner in a Micro Transit option like what has been offered within the City of Porterville. Visalia Transit has been working with TCRTA to obtain specifics on operations and software use, as well as assets and logistics. What has developed is potentially a 3-year pilot in partnership with the TCRTA for most of urbanized area of Tulare County and the rural area between.
Over the last six months, TCRTA staff have evaluated and reviewed micro transit software vendors. TCRTA included Visalia Transit in this research and ultimately based on the system capabilities, experience and proven track record Via Inc. (Via) was selected. Via will provide the software service during the course of this pilot. Drivers and vehicles of this pilot will be handled by the TCRTA operations contract. In the event that there is a driver shortage or service disruption, Via is equipped to quickly take over operations of this pilot project for the region within an 8 week time frame. Via operates many services in a hybrid approach with numerous clients as well as a combination of agency or contractor drivers blended with Via to supplement service where needed.
Micro transit systems are popping up all over in an effort to create more efficient and direct connections within existing transit systems. Micro transit is a system comprised of smaller passenger vehicles, rather than large buses, that passengers can access by utilizing an application on their phone or accessible web portal and booking trips that will get them from point A to point B within a specified region. Passengers will also be offered intermodal trips for itineraries that can take advantage of the existing fixed route service and connect to neighboring communities. For this project, TCRTA is procuring minivans through a piggyback option on the CalAct contract. These vehicles have a 5 passenger per vehicle capacity. Region wide there will be roughly 50 of these Micro transit vehicles with about 15-20 designated specifically for the Visalia region. The TCRTA will procure 30 of the 5 passenger mini vans with the balance of the vehicles coming from the existing TCRTA fleet. These rides are still meant to be shared with other passengers so trips are planned in an automated software system in a more efficient way and the smaller vehicles require a lot less time, money and resources to maintain. Furthermore, this micro transit system becomes an ’On Demand’ service where the users experience a similar service that is provided by Uber or Lyft and the fare is paid through the app.
During this 3-year pilot Visalia Transit and the TCRTA will work together to analyze the data that the system collects in order to establish performance metrics that can be utilized in creating a more efficient system. The system is flexible and customizable and is designed with the ability to make real time adjustments if needed. For example, some real time adjustments may include; wait time or vehicle availability in specified areas. This will help the city to understand the successes and failures of the pilot and assist with potential plans to recreate a Visalia Transit system (including the fixed routes) following the completion of the pilot program. Finally, if the pilot is successful and something City Council wishes to continue, TCRTA and the City will formally conduct a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a multiyear contract specifically for the software system.
Data that will be collected:
The data will be monitored to determine the popularity and utilization of the service. Staff will review total miles traveled and the most popular days and times that the service is used. With the collected data we will be able to determine if the popularity of the service is from new riders or previous fixed route riders. We are anticipating that there will be some cannibalization of the current fixed route system during the pilot however it will not be encouraged and rather, passengers will be provided an option within the Via application to choose the micro transit option at a flat fee higher rate (fare yet to be determined) or the fixed route at the regular fixed route fare of $1.75 per trip. This pilot will be placed as a supplement to the existing fixed route system for comparison purposes. Staff will fine tune and make adjustments to the pilot program as it progresses. At the end of the 3-year pilot, Visalia Transit and TCRTA staff will partner in conducting an RFP with very specific parameters that were learned through the pilot to bring a permanent micro transit service to the region if City Council so chooses.
Additional Questions and Items to work through:
Visalia Transit and TCRTA staff will continue to work towards finding a clear path and some answers for additional questions. The Goal for the entire region is to offer one seamless system without separate rules or fare structures for passengers. Some additional questions that staff will work together to find answers for are as follows:
1. What is the fare structure?
Will each urban area have a flat rate and how does that integrate with the rural areas? Will fares outside the urban areas have a distance based fee?
2. What are the scheduling parameters regarding shared rides?
How much time will be added to an existing ride when a secondary passenger is added to that vehicle?
3. How often will adjustments to the overall pilot be made?
If too many adjustments are made, collected data will be inaccurate.
4. What will the hours of operation will be?
5. Any additional questions staff or City Council may want to include.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact to the City. The pilot is being supported by funds set aside by the TCRTA and our local MPO TCAG (Tulare County Association of Governments) to cover the costs of a region-wide micro transit pilot.
Prior Council Action:
N/A
Other:
N/A
Alternatives:
City Council may direct staff to not participate with the TCRTA pilot and not pursue a micro transit option. Staff would seek alternative methods to combat inefficiencies and low ridership by other means.
City Council could direct staff to seek a different vendor for our own (separate from TCRTA) software to facilitate a micro transit option.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize staff to continue discussions with TCRTA regarding a micro transit option and direct staff to return with a formal cooperative agreement for a 3-year pilot program if the final pilot program is appropriate for Visalia.
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Environmental Assessment Status:
N/A
CEQA Review:
N/A
Attachments:
Presentation
TCRTA Board Staff Report
TCRTA Board Minutes