BOARD MEETING DATE: March 6, 2009
AGENDA NO. 11

PROPOSAL:

Approve Replacement Contract and Contract Modifications under MSRC’s FYs 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2008-09 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Programs

SYNOPSIS:

The MSRC approved a replacement contract and multiple contract modifications under the FYs 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2008-09 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Programs. These include a contract awarding funds for enhancement of the region’s rideshare database system, a contract to link two major public agencies’ electronic traffic systems, and contracts awarding funds for the purchase of heavy-duty natural gas vehicles by local governments. The MSRC seeks AQMD Board approval of this replacement contract and these contract modifications under the FYs 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2008-09 Work Programs.

COMMITTEE:

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review, February 19, 2009

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

1. Authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute new and modified contracts under FYs 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2008-09 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Programs from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Fund 23, as follows:
   1. Approve modified award, as part of FY 2003-04 Work Program, with Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), authorizing the term of the pending contract through August 2010 to enhance the region’s rideshare database systems through the creation of a direct communications link between RCTC’s RidePro system and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA’s) TripMaster, as described in this letter;
   2. Approve new/replacement contract, as part of FY 2004-05 Work Program, with County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works in the amount of $349,000 to develop data links between the City of Los Angeles’ Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control Center and the County’s Information Exchange Network, as described in this letter;
   3. Approve augmentations of two awards, totaling $425,000, under the Local Government Match Program as part of the FY 2008-09 Work Program, as described in this letter and as follows:
      1. Augmentation of award to City of Claremont, in an amount not to exceed $25,000, for the purchase of one heavy-duty natural gas vehicle, which together with $72,500 previously awarded for expansion of their existing natural gas refueling facility will result in a combined award of $97,500;
      2. Augmentation of award to City of Riverside, in an amount not to exceed $400,000, for the purchase of 16 natural gas vehicles, which together with $105,500 previously awarded for expansion of their existing natural gas refueling facility and modifications to their maintenance facility will result in a combined award of $505,500;
2. Authorize MSRC the authority to adjust contract awards up to five percent, as necessary.
    

Ron Roberts
Chair, MSRC

Background

In September 1990 Assembly Bill 2766 was signed into law (Health & Safety Code Sections 44220-44247) authorizing the imposition of an annual $4 motor vehicle registration fee to fund the implementation of programs exclusively to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles. AB 2766 provides that 30 percent of the annual $4 vehicle registration fee subvened to the AQMD be placed into an account to be allocated pursuant to a work program developed and adopted by the MSRC and approved by the Board.

FY 2003-04 Work Program
As part of the FY 2003-04 Work Program, RCTC was awarded a contract for $225,000 to enhance the region’s rideshare database systems through the creation of a direct communications link between RCTC’s RidePro system and MTA’s TripMaster. The direct communications link will allow transit itineraries to be requested and published on RideGuides created by the regional ride matching database system, as well as facilitating the access of transit itineraries through the CommuteSmart.info website. In January 2008 the MSRC approved RCTC’s request for a contract term extension, but RCTC was unable to return the signed contract modification before the contract expired. In May 2008, the AQMD Board approved a new/replacement contract through February 2009 for RCTC. This contract is not yet executed. RCTC cannot move forward with elements of their project until MTA has completed certain tasks; for which MTA requested and the MSRC approved an extension of MTA’s contract until December 31, 2009. Therefore RCTC requested that the term of the replacement contract be extended an additional 18 months in order to complete their portion of the project. The MSRC considered RCTC’s request for a modified contract term at its February 19, 2009 meeting. Further details are described below in the Proposals section.

FY 2004-05 Work Program
As part of the FY 2004-05 Work Program, the County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works was awarded a contract under the MSRC’s Local Government Match Program for $349,000 to develop data links between the City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation (LADOT) Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control Center and the County’s Information Exchange Network. The data links would enable the County and LADOT to have a two-way exchange of congestion and incident information for multi-jurisdictional arterial coordination and management. In November 2008, the MSRC approved a one-year term extension, but the County did not return the signed contract modification before the original contract terminated. On February 19, 2009, the MSRC considered a new/replacement contract for the County as part of the FY 2004-05 Work Program. Further details are described below in the Proposals section.

FY 2008-09 Work Program
As a part of the FY 2007-08 Work Program, the MSRC released a $3 million Local Government Match Program Announcement #PA2008-02. One of the eligible categories provided for a dollar-for-dollar match, up to $25,000 per vehicle for heavy-duty alternative fuel vehicles. Funding for all eligible categories was to be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis with a geographic minimum per county of $375,000. The MSRC ultimately approved funding totaling $4,239,435 for 29 applications. It was subsequently determined that portions of two cities’ applications were inadvertently not included in the original funding consideration. At its February 19, 2009 meeting, the MSRC considered the City of Claremont’s request for funding towards the purchase of one heavy-duty CNG vehicle, and the City of Riverside’s request for funding towards the purchase of 16 heavy-duty CNG vehicles, under this Program; details are provided in the Proposals section.
 

Outreach

In accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, public notices advertising the FY 2007-08 Local Government Match Program solicitation and inviting bids were published in the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Sun, and Riverside County Press Enterprise newspapers to leverage the most cost-effective method of outreach to the entire South Coast Basin.

Additionally, potential bidders may have been notified utilizing AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors. Notice of the solicitation was mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations, the State of California Contracts Register website, and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site (http://www.aqmd.gov where it could be viewed by making menu selections “Inside AQMD”/“Employment and Business Opportunities”/“Business Opportunities” or by going directly to http://www.aqmd.gov/rfp/index.html). Information was also available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724. Further, the solicitation was posted on the MSRC’s website at http://www.cleantransportationfunding.org and electronic notifications were sent to those subscribing to this website’s notification service.
 

Proposal Evaluation and Panel Composition

Applications received in response to the Program Announcement were evaluated by members of the MSRC’s Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC), comprised of individuals appointed by participating member agencies as prescribed in the Health & Safety Code.
 

Proposals

The MSRC considered recommendations from its MSRC-TAC and unanimously approved the following:

FY 2003-04 Work Program
As stated in the Background section, RCTC was awarded a contract for $225,000 to create a direct communications link between RCTC’s RidePro system and MTA’s TripMaster. The contract expired before all work could be completed. On April 17, 2008, the MSRC approved a new/replacement contract through February 2009 for RCTC in the amount of $225,000 for this work and the AQMD Board subsequently approved this contract. Due to delays in certain MTA tasks which must be completed first, RCTC requested an additional 18 months to complete their project. On February 19, 2009, the MSRC unanimously approved authorizing the term of the pending contract through August 2010.

FY 2004-05 Work Program
As stated in the Background section, the County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works was awarded a contract for $349,000 to develop data links between LADOT’s traffic center and the County’s Information Exchange Network. In November 2008, the MSRC approved a one-year term extension, but the County did not return the signed contract modification before the original contract terminated. On February 19, 2009, the MSRC unanimously approved a new/replacement nine-month contract for the County in the amount of $349,000 for this work.

FY 2008-09 Work Program
As stated in the Background section, as an element of their FY 2007-08 Work Program, the MSRC released a Local Government Match Program Announcement #PA2008-02. The MSRC ultimately approved funding totaling $4,239,435 for 29 applications. Subsequently, staff discovered that the City of Claremont had also requested funding for the purchase of one heavy-duty vehicle, and the City of Riverside had also requested funding for the purchase of sixteen heavy-duty vehicles. These requests had been overlooked by staff in the initial screening and thus not included in the MSRC’s earlier consideration of funding in this category. The Cities had already been awarded funding for other projects in their applications, but this was only a portion of what the Cities requested. Staff has taken steps to ensure no recurrence. On February 19, 2009, the MSRC considered these requests. As part of their FY 2008-09 Work Program, using funds returned other projects which were cancelled or under budget, the MSRC unanimously approved augmenting the Cities’ awards as follows:

1. Augmentation of award to City of Claremont, in an amount not to exceed $25,000, for the purchase of one heavy-duty natural gas vehicle, which together with $72,500 previously awarded for expansion of their existing natural gas refueling facility will result in a combined award of $97,500;
2. Augmentation of award to City of Riverside, in an amount not to exceed $400,000, for the purchase of 16 natural gas vehicles, which together with $105,500 previously awarded for expansion of their existing natural gas refueling facility and modifications to their maintenance facility will result in a combined award of $505,500.

The MSRC respectfully requests the Board’s approval of the above contract modifications and award under the FYs 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2008-09 Work Programs. The MSRC also requests authority to adjust the funds allocated to each project specified in this Board letter by up to five percent of the project's recommended funding. The Board has granted this authority to the MSRC for all past work programs. Finally, the MSRC requests the Board authorize the AQMD Chairman of the Board the authority to execute all agreements described in this letter.
 

Resource Impacts

The AQMD acts as fiscal administrator for the AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Program (Health & Safety Code Section 44243). Money received for this program is recorded in a special revenue fund (Fund 23) and the contracts will be drawn from this fund. These contracts will have no fiscal impact on the AQMD’s operational budget.