CR 92-229 Hop A Ride
. ..-.... --'''-
1 Y 0
\
V "
~
?- -'"
. November 10, 1992 o P K \ ~ Council Report 92-229
HOP-A-RIDE
Proposed Action.
Staff recommends the following motion: Move to approve
Resolution 92-105 awardinq the bid for the 1993 Hop-A-Ride
service to Yellow Taxi and authorize the Mavor and city
Manaqer to enter into a contract with Yellow Taxi to provide
the services for Hop-A-Ride.
overview.
The city of Hopkins operates the Hop-A-Ride paratransit
service. This service is a shared-ride service which is
available to all residents of the city. The service
operates Monday thru Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Riders must call at least 24 hours in advance for a ride.
The Regional Transit Board provides funding for 60% of the
total operating expenses.
Each year the city submits bids from taxi companies to
provide service for Hop-A-Ride. T & F Transportation (Town
. Taxi) provides the service for 1992.
If approve~ the proposed resolution would provide for the
following:
0 Award the 1993 Hop-A-Ride service to Yellow
Taxi.
0 Expand the service to Knollwood.
0 Raise the Hop-A-Ride fares by ten cents.
Primary Issues to Consider.
0 What were the bids?
0 Should the Hop-A-Ride service be expanded to
Knollwood?
0 Should the low bid be accepted?
0 What are the financial implications if the low
bid is not accepted?
0 Should the ticket price be increased?
0 will the riders experience a change with Yellow
Taxi?
Supporting Documents.
0 Analysis of Issues
0 Alternatives
0 Resolution 92-105
. 'L.
. ~.~ .-, ", .J \((,,\ ",M'., "(,
. ~ : ). .i' 'j i . I ~( .' '. ' : i I r;~..... ,~' ~ .,
Nancy ,So A~~ers6~
Planner
CR92-229
Page 2
e
primary Issues to Consider.
o What were the bids?
Three taxi companies submitted bids for the Hop-A-Ride
service. The following are the bids submitted for the
existing service: (all of Hopkins plus Shady Oak Beach,
Methodist Hospital, and Opportunity Work Shop)
* Suburban Taxi $3.00 per ride
* Yellow Taxi $1.69 per ride
* T & F Transportation $1.99 per ride
Also bids were submitted with the additional serV1ce to
Knollwood. The following are the bids submitted for the
existing service plus the additional service to Knollwood:
* Suburban Taxi $3.25 per ride
* Yellow Taxi $1.73 per ride
* T & F Transportation $2.49 per ride
The current price for the 1992 Hop-A-Ride service is $1.84
per ride.
. 0 Should the HOp-A-Ride service be expanded to Knollwood?
Last spring the Regional Transit Board (RTB) contacted the
city regarding the expansion of the Hop-A-Ride service to
the Knollwood area. The reason for this inquiry was the
RTB's five year transit plan identified the Knollwood Mall
and as a key transit hub for the western suburbs. city
staff discussed with the city Council the concept of
expanding the Hop-A-Ride service to Knollwood. As a result
of this discussion, the city Council indicated general
interest in having city staff continue to examine this as an
option. Since the Council's initial discussion, staff was
informed that the RTB was no longer interested in advocating
the City's Hop-A-Ride service expansion to Knollwood.
However, staff has continued to analyze the viability of
expanding the Hop-A-Ride service as a part of planning for
the service for 1993.
There has always been a great deal of interest on the part
of the Hop-A-Ride patrons of having this service expanded to
Knollwood. In fact, in a survey that was conducted in
February of 1992, 72% of the respondents indicated that they
would like to go to Knollwood if the service was expanded.
The issue of the city expanding the Hop-A-Ride service to
. Knollwood is not new. One the question which has been
debated is whether the City should provide transit services
for residents of Hopkins to shop in another city. In
CR92-229
Page 3
4It partial response to the question, the City staff discussed
this issue with the Business Council in August, However,
the Business Council did not provide any clear direction to
City staff on whether it was appropriate to expand the Hop-
a-Ride service to Knollwood.
The cost difference per ride with the additional service to
Knollwood is only .04. If ridership increases significantly
because of the Knollwood service, the City's share of the
budget will have to increase. The current budget is based
on 30,000 riders. The Regional Transit Board has frozen
their share of the budget, which is $34,800. The current
service uses all of the RTB's allocation of $34,800. If the
ridership increases significantly because of the additional
trips to Knollwood, the City share of the Hop-A-Ride budget
will have to increase.
staff is recommending that the City expand its Hop-A-Ride
service to include the Knollwood shopping area as staff
feels it will allow for the City to provide one more service
to its citizens. However, since staff has no idea how the
expanded services to Knollwood will increase ridership,
staff is recommending that this expansion is self-supporting
by the riders. This would mean that any patrons terminating
. at Knollwood or originating from Knollwood would pay at
least $1.73 for a ticket. By having the trip to Knollwood
be self-supporting, the effect on the overall budget will
only be an increase of $.04 per ride. 30,000 total rides at
$.04 per ride is an increase of $1200, of which the RTB pays
approximately 60%.
If the trip to Knollwood was not structured as being self-
supporting, an increase in ridership of 5,000 rides would
have an increase cost to the City of $8,650.
Due to the fact that the Knollwood service is costing the
City an additional $.04 per ride, staff would recommend the
City charge $2.00 per ride for the Knollwood service. This
will compensate the city for the additional $.04 per ride
which the City will experience, as will as administration
requirements to allow for this expansion.
The following is an example of the how the additional cost
for the Knollwood trip with a ticket price of $2.00 per ride
will not increase the overall budget: ($.27 is the
difference between $2.00 and $1.73)
5000 rides to Knollwood (5000 x $.27) $1350.00
30,000 rides at an additional .04 per ride $1200.00
$150.00
. Currently, a taxi ride from City Hall to the Knollwood
Shopping Center costs approximately $5.50-$6.00. In
CR92-229
Page 4
. addition, if a person attempted to ride the MTC bus from
downtown Hopkins to Knollwood, the trip would involve
getting on the bus in downtown Hopkins riding to downtown
Minneapolis, transferring buses and riding back to
Knollwood. However, the RTB is proposing a new service that
will go to Knollwood from Hopkins. This service is proposed
to start in 1993.
The following is an example of what resident riding the MTC
bus would have to go through to go to Knollwood:
0 Leave 9th an Mainstreet 9:18 a.m.
0 Arrive Hennepin and Lagoon 9:41 a.m.
0 Leave Hennepin and Lagoon 10:13 a.m.
0 Arrive at Target 10:34 a.m.
The cost each way for off peak service is $1.10.
If the Knollwood trip is self-supporting, the rider would
use a different ticket for the Knollwood trip. The
Knollwood service would include any trip either originating
or terminating at the Knollwood Center or the Target area.
The 1992 ridership is projected at about 28,000 riders.
. 0 Should the low bid be accepted?
T & F Transportation (Town Taxi) has the existing contract
for the service and has had the service since the program
started. I checked with the RTB regarding any information
they had regarding Yellow Taxi. Yellow Taxi provides some
Metro Mobility service and appears to have a good record.
Yellow Taxi has also had the contract for the paratransit
program at Columbia Heights. Columbia Heights reported that
Yellow Taxi provided a satisfactory service.
0 If the low bid is not accepted, what are the financial
implications?
If the low bid is not accepted, the City'S portion of the
budget will increase because the Regional Transit Board has
frozen the 1993 budget to 1991 levels.
The cost for services with the Yellow Taxi bid is $50,700,
for 30,000 trips. The cost for services with the second
lowest bidder would be $59,700 for 30,000 trips. This would
be an additional cost of $9,000 for the overall budget.
If the City Council awards the bid to the second lowest
bidder, I would recommend a significant increase in ticket
. price to offset the additional cost.
CR92-229
Page 5
e
o Should the ticket price be increased?
Two years age the ticket prices were increased to there
current levels of $.45 for low income patrons and $1.00 for
all others. They were increased because the bid price at
that time was $1.99 per ride. Since the bid of $1.99 per
ride, the bid price has decreased, but other expenses have
increased the budget. I would recommend raising the ticket
price of both tickets $.10. An increase of $.10 per ride
will generate an additional $3,000.00 for 30,000 rides.
The following are examples of the revenue generated with the
current ticket prices and the proposed ticket prices. This
revenue assumes the Knollwood trip is self-supporting.
Revenue with current ticket prices:
30,000 riders
regular ticket 3,900 x $1.00 = $ 3,900.00
low income ticket 26,100 x .45 = $11.745.00
Total 15,645.00
~ Revenue with proposed ticket prices:
30,000 riders
regular ticket 3,900 x $1.10 = $ 4,290.00
low income ticket 26,100 x .55 = $14.355.00
Total $18,645.00
An additional $3000.00 will be generated with a $.10 price
increase.
Patrons will be notified if there is an increase in the
ticket price and the Knollwood service with a flyer. Staff
will have this flyer available in December. All residents
purchasing tickets will be given this flyer. Notifying the
residents that are purchasing tickets has been done in the
past and has proven to be an effective way of informing the
residents of the changes In Hop-A-Ride without a lot of
expense.
o Will the riders experience a change with Yellow Taxi?
The only change for the riders will be a different taxi will
pick them up. The phone number to reserve a ride will
remain the same.
.
CR92-229
Page 6
.
Alternatives.
1. Approve the low bid from Yellow Taxi. By approving the
low bid the bid will be awarded to Yellow Taxi.
2 . Approve a bid other than the low bid. If this course
of action is indicated by the City council, the City's
portion of the Hop-A-Ride budget will increase.
3 . Reject all the bids and re-bid the service. If this is
the indicated action by the City council, bid
specifications would have to change to get other
bidders.
4. Approve the bid by Yellow Taxi, but do not expand the
service to Knollwood.
5. Continue for further information. If the City council
indicates more information is needed, the item should
be continued.
.
.
.
. CITY OF HOPKINS
Hennepin County, Minnesota
RESOLUTION NO. 92-105
A RESOLUTION AWARDING THE HOP-A-RIDE SERVICE FOR 1993
WHEREAS, the city of Hopkins, operates the Hop-A-Ride
paratransit system, and
WHEREAS, the City solicits year ly bids for the Hop-A-
Ride paratransit service;
WHEREAS, the city has received three bids for the 1993
Hop-A-Ride service; and
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the city Council
approves the following:
0 That the 1993 Hop-A-Ride service is awarded to
Yellow Taxi.
0 That the 1993 Hop-A-Ride service includes an
. expansion of service to Knollwood.
0 The service to Knollwood consists of a trip either
terminating or originating at KnollwoodjTarget.
0 That the ticket price for the existing service of
$.45 and $1.00 per ticket is increased $.10 per
ticket.
0 The the ticket price for the Knollwood service is
$2.00.
Passed and adopted by the Council of the City of
Hopkins, Minnesota at a regular meeting held the 17th of
November, 1992.
JAMES A. GENELLIE NELSON w. BERG
City Clerk Mayor
JERRE MILLER
City Attorney
e