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City of City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: February 14, 2012
Agenda Item: .3-C
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Edward F. King, Director of Transit Services
Subject: Transit Pass Program with Access Services Paratransit of Los Angeles
County
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a new agreement with Access. Services, a Los Angeles County public agency,
to accept Access issued identification cards as fare payment on the Big Blue Bus and to
reimburse the Big Blue Bus using the prevailing Council approved fares for seniors and
persons with disabilities.
Executive Summary
Access Services is the complementary paratransit service for all eligible Los Angeles
County Residents. Currently, Access users can ride the Big Blue Bus by showing the
driver their valid Access ID card without paying a fare. Access Services reimburses Big
Blue Bus a flat annual fee of $2,260 based on a survey -based estimate of 4,500 Access
rider boardings per year at the Senior /Disabled /Medicare fare of $0.50 for local service
and $1 for express service, the rates approved by the City Council on May 25 2010.
Access has now replaced their paper ID cards with new cards featuring a magnetic
stripe that can be read and recorded by fareboxes on the bus. The new agreement
would enable the Big Blue Bus to invoice Access Services for the actual number of trips
taken each year as recorded by the fareboxes. The term of the agreement is five years.
Background
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires all public transit service
agencies to provide complementary paratransit services to persons with disabilities who
are unable to use fixed -route transit services. Since 1992, Access Services has
provided the complementary paratransit service to all residents of Los Angeles County
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with eligible disabilities on behalf of all fixed -route transit operators. Eligible Santa
Monica residents regularly use Access to get to points that are beyond the reach of
Santa Monica Dial -a -Ride.
Since 2006, Access Services has promoted a "free ride" campaign to eligible ADA
riders. Big Blue Bus has accepted the Access identification card as a form of fare
payment on fixed -route lines. Because the cards were not equipped with a magnetic
stripe, surveys were conducted to estimate the total number of rides taken by Access
Services cardholders. Big Blue Bus was reimbursed a total of $2,260 annually for the
estimated total number of trips taken at the prevailing Senior /Disabled /Medicare rate. In
late 2011, Access began to issue new photo identification cards to eligible riders that
can be used as a "tap" card or a swipe card on systems in the County. These cards are
now being used on Big Blue Buses. Therefore, it is now time to update the
reimbursement process for use of the card.
Discussion
Under the proposed agreement, Access Services enrollees will swipe their magnetic
stripe- equipped Access photo identification card through the Big Blue Bus farebox each
time they board a Big Blue Bus instead of paying a cash fare and Access will reimburse
the Big Blue Bus monthly, for total recorded boardings at the prevailing
Senior /Disabled /Medicare local and express fares. Access began issuing the new
identification cards in late 2011 and enrollees with the new cards began swiping them
on Big Blue Buses in December 2011. Based on December 2011 farebox data a
revenue increase of $50,000 for FY 2011/12 may result from the improved boarding
information.
The agreement recognizes that the Big Blue Bus may change its fare structure during
the term of the agreement and the new rates will apply without the need to renegotiate
the agreement.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The proposed reimbursement process change for Big Blue Bus Access Services
enrollees will increase annual revenues by $50,000 at Account No. 41642.402000.
Revenues have been included in the FY 2011 -13 adopted budget. No budget action is
required.
Prepared by: Paul Casey, Senior Transit Programs Analyst
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
Edward F. King Rod Gould
Director of Transit Servic s City Manager
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Reference Contract No.
9546 (CCS).