CR 98-186 Hope A Ride Bids
CITY OF
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HOPKINS
e November 24, 1998 Council Report 98-186
HOP-A-RIDE BIDS
Proposed Action
Staff recommends the following motion: Move to award the Hop-A-Ride contract to Alternative
Choice Transportation Inc. for the 1999 service and increase the ticket price.
Overview
The Hop-A-Ride service is an advance-reservation, shared-ride, and door-to-door transportation
service for anyone who needs transportation within the Hopkins City limits. The Hop-A-Ride
service operates Monday through Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.ll. There are six additional
destinations outside the City limits They are:
I. Methodist Hospital;
2. Opportunity Workshop in Opus IT;
3. Shady Oak Beach;
4. Knollwood shopping area;
5. ICA food shelf;
6. Park Nicollet Medical Center.
. The City of Hopkins contracts with a private taxi operator to provide this service. Every year the
City solicits bids from taxi companies to provide service for the program in the upcoming year.
Currently Suburban Taxi provides the 1998 service. The current bid price per ride is $4.50.
The service was bid in October and two bids were received. The bids were from Suburban Taxi
and Alternative Choice Transportation Inc.
Analvsis of Issues
. How is the Hop-A-Ride service funded?
. What were the bids from Suburban Taxi and Alternative Choice?
. What is the impact on the budget with the bid price?
. Should the ticket price be increased?
. Will there be any changes in the Hop-A-Ride program for 1999?
Nanc S. Anderson
Planner
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Page 2
. Primary Issues to consider
. How is the Hop-A-Ride service funded?
The Metropolitan Council, in the past, has provided 60 percent of the funding for the service.
Now the Metropolitan Council is providing funding based on past performance. The 1999
funding from the Met Council is $42,386. The City's general fund and revenue from the ticket
sales provide the balance of the funding. The total 1999 budget is $70,790; that would require a
general fund contribution for 1999 of $8,604. For 1998, the City is budgeted to provide $11,600
from the general fund. The 1999 budget is based on 12,000 passengers.
. What was the bid from Suburban Taxi and Alternative Choice Transportation lnc?
The bid from Suburban Taxi was as follows:
. Base bid $4.75 per ride
. Trip to Knollwood $4.75 per ride
. Trip to leMA food shelf $4.75 per ride
. Trip to Park Nicollet Medical Center $7.75 per ride
The bid from Alternative Choice Transportation was as follows:
. . Base bid $4.85
. Trip to Knollwood $4.85
. Trip to leMA food shelf $4.85
. Trip to Park Nicollet Medical Center $4.85
The bids for the 1999 service are .35 more than the 1998 service.
. Should the bid be awarded to Alternative Choice?
Suburban Taxi currently has the 1998 contract During the past year there have been complaints
regarding the service. Most of these complaints were that the cab did not show for a pickup. If
the bid is not accepted, the service will end on December 31, 1998.
Alternative Choice Transportation currently provides the service in Maple Grove. I checked
with Maple Grove regarding the service they provide. Mike Gpatz of Maple Grove stated that
they have used Alternative Transportation since June of 1997 and have had good service. The
City now has an opportunity to change providers to hopefully obtain better service.
Even though Alternative Choice is .10 more that Suburban Taxi, staff feels that if the service is
better, it is well worth the extra cost
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. . What is the impact 011 the budget with the bid price?
The following is the budget for purchase of service and revenue:
purchase of service $60,000
based on 12,000 passengers
at $5.00 per ride
passenger fares $20,202.00
1.65 x 11,880 = $19,602.00
5.00 x 120 - $ 600.00
With the above expenses and revenues, the City's share is $8,600.
The following is the bid expense for purchase of service:
purchase of service $58,200
based on 12,000 passengers
at $4.85 per ride
. This is a decrease of$1800.00 of expenses with the bid from Alternative Choice Transportation.
Revenue
For every .10 increase in the low income ticket price, $1188.00 is raised. The budget had
increased ticket price of .10. If the low-income ticket price is increased a total of .10, the City's
expenses will remain approximately the same.
The regular income and Knollwood tickets are based on actual cost for the City. These tickets
would have to be raised .35 to cover the cost of the bid increase.
. Should the ticket price be increased?
The following are the existing ticket prices:
. Low income $1.55
. Regular income $ $4.50
. Knollwood $4.50
. Park Nicollet $7.50
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. Since the bid price did increase, staff is recommending that the ticket prices be increased to the
following:
. Low income $1.65
. Regular income $4.85
. Knollwood $4.85
. Park Nicollet $4.85
. Will there be any changes in the Hop-A-Ride program for 1999?
Staff is recommending no operations changes for the 1999 Hop-A-Ride program.
Alternatives
1. Award the bid to Alternative Choice Transportation Inc. as recommended by staff
2. Reject the bids and direct staff to fe-bid the service. Rejecting the bid and re-
bidding the service probably will not result in more bids. In 1995 no bids were
received after bidding the service out twice. In 1996, 1997, and 1998 only one bid
was received.
. 3. Continue for further information. If the City Council indicates that fUlther
information is needed, the item should be continued. This item can be continued
for only one COllncil meeting because the contract will expire December 31, ] 998.
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