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Council Meeting May 26,1998 Santa MOnica, California
MAY 2 6 1998
TO Mayor and City CounCil
From. City Staff
Subject Recommendation that the City CounCIl Waive the Competitive Bidding
ReqUirement and Authonze the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute An
Agreement with GFI Genfare for the Purchase and Delivery of a New Fare
Collection System
Introduction
This report recommends that the City CounCil waive the competitive bidding requirement
and authonze the City Manager to negobate and execute an agreement With GFI Genfare
( GFI ) for the purchase of a new fare collection system for the Transportation Department,
In an amount not to exceed $2,729,875 Including tax, delivery and Installation
Background
The current fare collection system consists of fareboxes, receiver vaults and a computer
data system The farebox system IS lIsed on all Big Blue Buses for collecting transit fares
Atnlgflt, when the buses are fueled and cleaned, data IS collected from the farebox and
stored../fl the computer data system, and coins and currency are released Into the receiver
vault This system was purchased In June 1986 The rising inCidence of repairs to the
12-year old system causes disruptions of bus service, Inconvenience to our riders and
higher costs to the City
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MAY 2 6 1998
Transportation staff planned and programmed for the replacement of the eXisting fare
colleclton system In FY 1996/97 WIth a modern, updated system In FY1996-97 the City's
Transportation Department was asked by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) and several mUniCipal transit operators to participate In the
Metrocard Fare Debit program Culver CrtyBus, Montebello Bus Lines, Foothill Transit and
Norwalk Transit have been actively involved In the MetroC8rd Fare Debit System for
several years Metrocard is designed to provide a seamless Inter-agency fare medium,
allOWing customers greater flexibility In uSing public transIt. A transit nder can pay the fare
to any participating agency To participate In a regional program that benefits local transit
users, SMMBl must employ the Metrocard as used by Foothill Transit, Culver CltyBus,
Montebello Bus lines and Norwalk Transit
A customer purchases a Metrocard for $5.00 or more at any sales outlets with encoding
machines The selling agency and central computer system establish a record/history for
the card The customer can then use the Metrocard on any participating agency bus
Each agency's fare(s) IS deducted from the customer's card Sales and revenues can be
tracked at the central level, agency level and customer level
In 1997, Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus submitted a Project Funding Application to MTA to
participate In the Metrocard program and to cover the additional costs for the eqUIpment
needed The application was approved
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In order to maXimize competition and ensure the City received the best product,
Transportation staff developed specifications for a new fare collection system which
Incorporated the requirement to Interface with the eXisting Metrocard systems. The
speCifications were sent to eleven (11) prospective suppliers for their review and Invitation
to show a working model of a farebox system which met the specifications Three
companies communicated with the Transportation Department One company (GFI
Genfare) responded to the City's specific request One company said they did not have
a product, another company expressed Interest but wanted the City to guarantee that the
Metrocard encoding specIfications would be available to them upon award The City
cannot offer thiS guarantee because It does not own or control the Metrocard system or the
encoding specifications. GFI Genfare demonstrated Its system to the Transportation
Department on February 26, 1998 The farebox demonstrated by GFI Genfare fully met
the specifications and provides new and Improved features, data registration, security and
ease of operations while utlllzmg proven technology Through this competitive process.
staff has confirmed that GFI Genfare holds the sole rights to the Metrocard encoding
specifications used by these transit operators
Under Chapter 2 24 of the Santa Monica MUnicipal Code, formal biddIng IS normally
required for all purchases over $25,000 However, under Santa MOnica MUnicipal Code
2 24 080, the formal bidding procedure IS not applicable when the Item to be purchased
IS a proprietary Item of onglnal equipment manufacturers and/or their authorized exclusive
distributors When proceeding under 2 24 080 rather then the formal blddmg procedures
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of 2.24 100, the City Council can authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a
contract for the purchase of the proprietary Item Due to the space constramts on the
buses, the need for an Integrated system for the fare collection and the need to Incorporate
the Metrocard, a proprietary Item of GFI Genfare, the new fare collection system
represents a unIque Item unavailable from any other manufacturer and an item
appropriately purchased under Santa Monica MUniCipal Code 2 24080
BudaetlFinanciallmDact
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$1,364,937 IS available in Transportation Capital Improvement Projects account number
41-750-658-20097-8900-99099, Farebox Systems The remaining funds, In the amount
of $1,364,938 are available In a Proposition C - Call for Projects grant from the Los
Angeles County Transportation AuthOrity awarded to Santa MOnica MUniCipal Bus Lines
for FY 1997-98 The $1,364,938 requires City Council appropriation into account number
41-750-658-20098-8900-99099.
RecommendatIon
It IS recommended that the City CounCIl waive the competitive bid procedure and authOrize
the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement With GFI Genfare for the
purchase, delivery and installation of a Fare Collection System, a propnetary Item of an
onglnal equipment manufacturer, under Santa Monica MUniCipal Code 2 24 080, In an
amount not to exceed $2,729,875, Including applicable sales tax and appropnate the
budget changes mentioned above
Prepared by John B Catoe, Director of Transportation
Patrick H. Butters, TranSit Maintenance Manager
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