City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: March 21, 2023
Agenda Item: 5.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Edward F King, Director, Department of Transportation, Community Engagement & Customer Experience
Subject: Approval of First Modification to Contract #11059, Any Line Any Time Pass Program for Santa Monica College
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a first modification to Contract #11059, the “Any Line, Any Time” unlimited ride transit program agreement with Santa Monica College (SMC), to extend the term of the agreement by one year through June 30, 2024, and to receive compensation in the amount of $1,129,000 from SMC for the remaining two contract years ending June 30, 2024.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica’s Department of Transportation (DoT) and Santa Monica College (SMC) have partnered since 2008 to provide unlimited bus access to any student, staff or faculty member utilizing the Any Line, Any Time unlimited ride program.
Under the agreement between the parties, DoT charges SMC a fixed annual amount for all SMC customers with a valid, activated SMC identification card bearing a current semester sticker to ride Big Blue Bus (BBB). Staff recommends executing a first modification to Agreement #11059, which will reduce the FY22-23 compensation amount from $1,258,000 to $500,000 due to the impacts of the pandemic on ridership, and add an additional year through June 30, 2024, for which SMC will compensate DoT $629,000 in FY 2023-24.
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Discussion
In 2007, before the Any Line Any Time program, SMC was the primary singleoccupancy vehicle trip generator in Santa Monica with most of its 34,300 students and 1,700 staff commuting by automobile. Insufficient parking capacity at the campus led to the need for perimeter parking at the City’s beach lots and caused significant community safety and traffic concern. As a result, SMC and the City asked for DoT’s assistance in developing a comprehensive transportation solution. Since that time, DoT and SMC have worked together to refine the BBB service delivered to SMC and to closely coordinate the integration between the SMC shuttle, Big Blue Bus service, and LA Metro rail service, all geared toward getting people out of cars and onto public transit.
The Any Line, Any Time agreement was most recently renewed in 2020 for a two-year term ending June 30, 2022. Based upon on-campus student enrollment and BBB ridership the parties agreed that SMC pay a fixed amount of $1,258,000 for FY2021-22.
The option to extend the agreement FY2022-23 was not initially exercised because of the pandemic’s impact on the number of in-person classes offered by SMC and the resulting low utilization of BBB service by SMC students. In addition, SMC decided to participate in the new GoPass pilot program launched by LA Metro for K-12 and twoyear college programs.
Recently, DoT and SMC engaged in discussions on the importance of continuing the Any Line, Any Time program and concluded that the program should continue. Due to the permanent elimination of many onsite classes resulting in a reduced number of students, staff, and faculty physically attending SMC campuses, and with BBB staff evaluating ridership trends for the first six months of the fiscal year, the parties have agreed to a new financial structure that will benefit both organizations.
The agreement acknowledges the gradual return in SMC ridership and therefore the compensation amount for FY2022-23 and FY2023-24 is less than the terms of the original agreement. DoT will use one-time federal funds to offset the short fall in 3 of 4
revenue. The federal relief funds were allocated to Transit Agencies to address the adverse impact of the pandemic on transit operations and ridership. SMC will compensate DoT $500,000 for FY22/23 and $629,000 in FY23/24.
Staff recommends entering into a first modification to the SMC Any Line Any Time contract for a two-year term to provide for sustained financial planning for both SMC and DoT, as well as acknowledging the success of the program in providing a reliable mobility option to SMC students, staff, and faculty.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
7/14/2020
(attachment A)
Approval of Big Blue Bus Renewal of Any Line, Any Time
Program for Santa Monica College
Environmental Review
The agreement for the transit program would have no possibility of significant effect on the environment, and therefore, is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority for the first modification to the agreement for the “Any Line, Any Time” unlimited ride transit program between DoT and SMC for a two-year term ending June 30, 2024 in which SMC will reimburse the City for transit services in the amount of $500,000 for FY2022-23 and $629,000 in FY2023-24. FY2022-23 projected revenues are included in the FY2022-23 Adopted Budget and will be included in the FY2023-24 Proposed Budget.
Contract Modification Request
Agreement #
Current
Authorized
Amount of
Contract
FY 2022-23
Budget Current
Authorized Amount
FY 2022-23
Budget Modified
Request Amount
Dept/CIP
Account #
Total
Revised
Contract
Amount
11059 $3,016,000
(revenue)
$1,258,000
(revenue)
$500,000
(revenue) 60600002.409830 $2,887,000(revenue)
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Prepared By: David Feinberg, Transit Government Relations Officer Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Approval of Big Blue Bus Renewal of Any Line, Any Time Program for Santa Monica College (Web Link)
B. SMC_Agreement 2020_CCS11059_signed