Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, September 07, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVING A SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH LONG BEACH TRANSIT TO PROVIDE FIXED-ROUTE BUS SERVICE (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
In response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Disaster Council suspended the City's local fixed-route bus service, the Carson Circuit, effective March 28, 2020. As COVID-19 cases continued to climb, the City ended its fixed-route bus service agreement with MV Transportation, Inc. effective November 8, 2020.
The City's Dial-A-Ride program remained in operation, but was expanded to include all Carson residents, regardless of the program's standard requirements for eligibility. Additionally, the City entered into an agreement with Lyft, Inc. to provide residents with on-demand subsidized Lyft rides.
Prior to the declared pandemic, with the aim of improving regional travel to and from the city, staff had engaged Long Beach Transit (LBT) in discussions to provide fixed-route bus service in Carson. LBT is a California public benefit nonprofit corporation, founded and solely owned by the City of Long Beach.
LBT's service model is to have its buses run down major surface streets in both directions, providing much faster service with direct connections to major destinations and neighboring bus lines. This shift in bus travel would provide longer distance regional service, connecting several communities along the line.
Through a series of meetings and planning efforts, LBT presented a service proposal at the July 20, 2021 City Council meeting, during which staff was authorized to return with an agreement. In this effort, the City Attorney's Office and the City Manager have negotiated the proposed service agreement with LBT.
Tonight, the City Council is asked to authorize a service agreement with LBT at a total not-to-exceed contract sum of $5,310,000 total over an initial three-year contract sum ($1,770,000 per year), with two subsequent ...
Click here for full text