December 6, 2022
Library and Community Services
DATE: December 6, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
LaShonda White, Interim Director of Community Services
Denée Evans, Transportation Services Project Manager
SUBJECT:
Resolution to Accept and Appropriate Federal
Transportation Authority Grant Funds
FINANCIAL IMPACT: If the Resolution is not approved, the Transportation Department will not be eligible to purchase the Via software needed and expand shuttle services using FTA grant
funding in the amount of $250,000 and Environmental and Community Investment Agreement (ECIA) grant match
funds in the amount of $62,500 (11731013-400201-2A1JL).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
July 6, 2021, October 1, 2021, and April 17, 2022
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City received a $250,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to improve overall mobility in Richmond by integrating microtransit and paratransit services into a single unified administrative platform, providing operational efficiencies and improving the rider experience. The grant funds, in combination with ECIA transportation funds, will cover the cost of an amended contract with Via to use their software to operate the Richmond Moves and R-Transit
programs within one platform.
RECOMMENDED ACTION ADOPT a resolution authorizing the city to enter a cooperative agreement with the Federal Transit
Administration and fulfill all other grant requirements; ACCEPT and APPROPRIATE $250,000 in grant funds
awarded by the Federal Transit Administration Enhancing Mobility Innovation grant; AUTHORIZE a grant match in the amount of $62,500 from the approved ECIA transportation AGENDA
REPORT
December 6, 2022
budget; and APPROVE a second contract amendment with
Via to provide software and ride sharing service for a term ending July 7, 2024, and to increase the contract limit by $312,500, for a new total contract limit not to exceed
$1,650,731 – Library and Community Services Department
(LaShonda White/ Denée Evans 510-621-1718).
DISCUSSION:
On August 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) together awarded $49.2 million in innovative technology grants to improve mobility and multimodal connections for millions of Americans who travel on our nation’s highway and transit systems. The FTA awarded $4 million in Enhancing Mobility Innovation (EMI) grants to nine transit agencies and organizations in six states and the District of Columbia to improve access and mobility for transit riders. The City of Richmond will receive $250,000 in EMI funds to initiate a pilot program that will allow the city to collaboratively coordinate microtransit and paratransit riders into shared journeys using a single fleet.
The City of Richmond applied for funding from the FTA’s EMI grant to add innovative software that will commingle the Richmond Moves microtransit and paratransit services through the same technology platform. By unifying multiple services into one system, the city can commingle riders using one shared fleet, thus fully optimizing available resources. This level of integration across both modes is highly innovative, as it will create a user-friendly and highly reliable experience for all stakeholders — riders, drivers, dispatchers, and administrators — while delivering the industry’s highest level of vehicle utilization (rides/vehicle/hour). To implement this project, Richmond will continue its partnership with Via Transportation, Inc., the only technology provider in the world that brings both experience and demonstrated success delivering integrated microtransit and paratransit systems for public transit agencies.
The City of Richmond currently operates microtransit and paratransit services on separate platforms. This project would optimize resources and ensure high-quality on- demand services for all riders by using Via’s commingling software to integrate microtransit and paratransit modes into a unified administrative platform. This will be accomplished through three (3) possible types of innovative commingling: (1) commingled trips, where paratransit and microtransit riders are served by the same vehicle at the same time; (2) commingled fleets, where a service leverages one fleet of vehicles for different service types, dynamically adjusting vehicle assignment based on demand; and (3) commingled shifts, where paratransit and microtransit riders are served by the same vehicles on the same driver shifts. In each configuration, the technology analyzes ride requests across all service types and determines the optimal vehicle assignment—considering efficiency, quality of service, and relevant rider eligibility rules.
December 6, 2022
By commingling riders across various services, Richmond will have the capacity to improve the overall efficiency of the service for riders and administrators, expand the service area to include critical destinations beyond the existing microtransit service area, and leverage private sector innovation to accelerate new technologies that have positive impacts on real-world challenges. This project should also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposed project aims to provide microtransit and paratransit customers with lower wait times, on-time pickups, and quick, convenient trips while reducing the average cost per trip to the City of Richmond. Grant funds will be used to cover the cost of eligible expenses including the cost of software and additional contracted vehicle hours (which are allocated to cover driver pay and fuel) to accommodate additional trips, and will permit the Transportation Division to commingle microtransit and paratransit riders into shared journeys using a single fleet. The project will consistently provide microtransit and paratransit customers with lower wait times, on-time pickups, and quick, convenient trips, all while reducing the average cost per trip within the City of Richmond.
The estimated duration of the project from project execution to completion is 14 months (November 2022 – January 2024). The draft schedule is below.
Item Month Year
Draft Detailed Work-Plan, November 2022
Procurement – Contract Execution January 2023
Detailed Work-Plan, Budget, Timeline February 2023
Software Development Start March 2023
Development System Operations
Start May 2023
Open Testing Start August 2023
Most Communication & knowledge
transfer in place, or completed September 2023
Reporting and Evaluation completed,
Grant End January 2024
Ongoing Operations TBD TBD
The City of Richmond will conduct the project in accordance with the FTA Master Agreement: FTA Master Agreement (version 29, February 7, 2022) | FTA (dot.gov) and Circular 6100.1E (https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta- circulars/research-technical-assistance-and-training-program).
Since the City of Richmond has elected to be a direct recipient of FTA funds – specifically for the EMI allocation that was announced by FTA on August 10, 2022 – the
December 6, 2022
City’s Transportation Division must provide the FTA with documentation to allow the FTA to set up the City of Richmond as a direct recipient of FTA funds.
Once FTA is satisfied that the City has met all requirements for becoming a certified FTA direct funds recipient, FTA’s Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation will be the FTA office for which the City will formally submit an application for a cooperative agreement for the City of Richmond’s EMI research project.
A second contract amendment with Via is required to add FTA EMI grant funds ($250,000) and ECIA transportation funds ($62,500) in the total amount of $312,500 to increase the existing contract total to a not to exceed a total of $1,650,731, and to expand the scope of services provided to include software and ride sharing service to clients.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Draft Resolution
Attachment 2 – FTA Master Agreement (version 29, February 7, 2022) | FTA (dot.gov) Attachment 3 – Via Executed Contract and Amendment 1
Attachment 4 -- Via Contract Amendment 2