Fremont City Council Meeting: 05/20/25 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Human Services Department Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5448) DOC ID: 5448 A
Updated: 5/15/2025 2:02 PM by Dina Lewis A Page 1
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR OLDER ADULTS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (RIDE-ON TRI-CITY!) – Authorization to Execute Agreements for Ride-On Tri-City’s Ride-Hailing Services with Lyft, Inc. and GoGo Technologies, Inc. and Making Finding of CEQA Exemption
Contact Persons:
Name: Shawn Fong Arquimides Caldera
Title: Paratransit Program Manager Human Services Director Div/Dept: Human Services Department Human Services Department Phone: 510-574-2033 510-574-2056
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: Through its Ride-On Tri-City! (ROTC) program, the City provides a wide array of transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities living in the Tri-City area. As the needs of our community have changed, the City has developed innovative ways to address transportation service gaps and to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities have access to reliable and affordable modes of transportation to get to doctor appointments, grocery shop, run errands and engage in social and recreational activities that are essential to a high quality of life.
ROTC currently provides subsidized rides via its Wheelchair Accessible Van service, its Ride-Hailing Phone App service and Call Center service. These services will also be the foundation of the City’s transportation service for FY 2025/26, and staff recommends the City Council authorize the City Manager, or designee, to:
1. Execute an agreement with Lyft, Inc. for ride-hailing phone app services, not-to-exceed $510,000 annually, from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028,
2. Execute an agreement with GoGo Technologies, Inc for ride-hailing call center services, not-to-exceed $120,000 annually, from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028, and
3. Make a finding of CEQA exemption.
BACKGROUND: The Alameda County Transportation Commission administers Measure BB, the Alameda County transportation sales tax that provides direct local distribution payments to cities to implement special transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities.
The City, with community input from older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, community groups, health care professionals and social service providers, is implementing a reliable and cost-effective suite of same-day transportation services for FY 2025/26. These services are outlined below:
Wheelchair Accessible Van (WAV) Service: Beginning in July 2025, Tri-City residents who use wheelchairs when they travel will be able to book up to 30 same-day, accessible rides within the Tri-City area, seven days a week, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. WAV program participants pay $4 per ride and are transported in ADA compliant wheelchair accessible minivans. The City is currently contracted with Nomad Transit, Inc. to pilot the same-day Wheelchair Accessible Van Service through June 30, 2027.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5448) Meeting of May 20, 2025 Updated: 5/15/2025 2:02 PM by Dina Lewis A Page 2
Ride-Hailing Phone App and Call Center programs: In the Fall of 2019, the City launched its Ride-Hailing Service to provide subsidized rides with Transportation Network Companies (e.g., Lyft) for elderly and disabled Tri-City residents. Cognizant of the fact that older adults and people with disabilities have different comfort levels with technology or functional and/or economic limitations in being able to acquire and/or use smartphones, the City crafted two ride-hailing services to address the needs of Tri-City residents.
Participants in the Ride-Hailing Phone App program can access same-day rides through a mobile app. The City has a current agreement with Lyft to provide discounts on rides for ROTC participants who reserve trips directly on Lyft’s ride-hailing app on their smartphones.
This agreement will expire on June 30, 2025.
To accommodate ROTC participants who do not have smartphones or are not able to use them, the City has an agreement with GoGo Technologies, Inc. (GoGo) to operate a call center to take ride reservations by phone, enter those reservations into Lyft’s web-based ride-hailing platform and monitor each ride to ensure its completion. This agreement is also set to expire on June 30, 2025.
For FY 2025/26, ROTC participants in either of the City’s Ride-Hailing programs will be able to access up to thirty subsidized rides within the Tri-City area, at a cost of $4 per ride.
Subsidized same-day rides are available seven days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Additionally, each participant will have access to four rides outside of the Tri-City area for medical appointments and other needs. For these longer distance trips, riders will pay the first $8 of the ride and the ROTC will subsidize a maximum of $42 per trip. Riders are responsible for any additional costs above the subsidy.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: Demand for transportation services has increased significantly over the past two years. In FY 2022/23, the Ride-Hailing program provided 15,600 subsidized Lyft rides to 450 individuals. In FY 2024/25, the program is projected to provide 35,000 subsidized Lyft rides to over 900 individuals. In FY 2022/23, GoGo facilitated 3,900 subsidized rides through its call center. In FY 2024/25, GoGo is projected to facilitate 7,200 subsidized Lyft rides through its call center.
To meet projected demand for future years in a reliable and administratively efficient manner, staff recommends the City enter into new agreements with its current Ride-Hailing transportation service providers. The City maintains the right to reevaluate and terminate service agreements prior to the end of the agreement term.
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement with Lyft, Inc. for three fiscal years, FY 2025/26 through 2027/28, with a not-to-exceed yearly amount of $510,000.
Lyft Agreement
Fiscal Year
Not-to-Exceed
Amount
2025/26 510,000
Council Staff Report (ID # 5448) Meeting of May 20, 2025 Updated: 5/15/2025 2:02 PM by Dina Lewis A Page 3
2026/27 510,000
2027/28 510,000
Total: $1,530,000
Staff also recommends the City Council authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement with GoGo Technologies, Inc. for three fiscal years, FY 2025/26 through 2027/28, with a not-to-exceed yearly amount of $120,000.
GoGo Technologies Agreement
Fiscal Year
Not-to-Exceed
Amount
2025/26 120,000
2026/27 120,000
2027/28 120,000
Total: $360,000
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact on the City’s General Fund. Program costs and project staffing for Ride-On Tri-City!’s Ride-Hailing Services through Lyft and GoGo are funded entirely through Measure BB direct local distribution funding. The City receives reimbursement for transportation services provided to Newark and Union City residents as specified in the yearly Task Orders to the Joint Powers Agreements that the City of Fremont has executed with each city.
All funding for the Ride-On Tri-City! Program, including the Ride-Hailing Services, has been included in the City’s FY 2025/26 Proposed Operating Budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to, without limitation, CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2), (4) and/or (5), and/or 15061(b)(3) as an administrative or fiscal activity that has no potential to cause a significant effect on the environment, directly or indirectly, each of the foregoing providing a separate and independent basis for CEQA exemption.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to:
1. Execute an agreement with Lyft, Inc. for ride-hailing phone app services, not-to-exceed $510,000 annually, for July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028;
2. Execute an agreement with GoGo Technologies, Inc. for ride-hailing call center services, not to exceed $120,000 annually, for July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028; and
3. Find that this action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2), (4) and/or (5), and/or 15061(b)(3), each of the foregoing providing a separate and independent basis for CEQA exemption.