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OCR for page 115
115
The Contractor Perspective operates a fleet of 204 buses. Its ADA paratransit service, Metro
Plus, provides nearly 300,000 annual trips to 1,774 clients.
MV Transportation's General Manager reported that wage
Metro also operates Group Access Service (GAS) for Madison,
scales have had a positive impact on vehicle operator retention,
Middleton, and Monona adults who live in their own homes
but he said that because of the competitiveness of the procure-
and apartments, are over 60 years old, and have a physical or
ment process, the company is unable to increase hourly wages.
sensory disability. GAS is a scheduled, routed, group service to
However, operator retention is encouraged through increasing
meal sites, farmers' markets, pharmacies, libraries, and grocery
wage scales at 6 month and yearly increments. In addition, the
stores.
company offers incentive programs for retention, such as a
financial retention bonus, paid at multiple stages up to an
operator's first 6 months of work. He also reported that the Use of Contractors for ADA Paratransit
company's employee referral program has been extremely
Beginning in 2009, nearly a quarter of Metro Transit's
successful. If an operator refers a new applicant, and if the
paratransit operations are in-house, with the remainder of
new hire works for at least 90 days, both receive bonuses.
the work contracted to Transit Solutions, Badger Cab Com-
The general manager said that this program also "encourages
pany, and Badger Bus. All customers call Metro Transit, and
the experienced operators to be mentors for the new hire
transit agency staff either serves the customer themselves or
referrals." Despite retention programs, there is about a 45%
delegates the work to one of the three contractors. Transit
turnover rate.
Solutions operates about 20% of the ADA service on week-
As far as the evaluation criteria, the general manager sug-
days only, with no weekends or holidays; Badger Bus handles
gested that "it is a good concept, although the current con-
about 30% of the requests on weekdays, nights, and week-
tract was renegotiated due to the current budget crisis."
ends; and Badger Cab provides ambulatory services and takes
over leftover ADA paratransit runs, about 23%.
Reported Results
ASI's Executive Director noted that ASI purposely did not Procurement/Contractual Provisions
quote a minimum wage rate in their RFP because in Califor-
nia, that would constitute ASI being an "implied" employer. There is a municipal and county-wide living wage ordi-
However, in the past, ASI has encouraged contractors to set a nance that is articulated in Madison Metro's RFPs. It states:
vehicle operator wage above the minimum ($8.50), but in
LIVING WAGE (Applicable to contracts exceeding $5,000).
many cases, the wages came in at the figure. She said that ASI CONTRACTOR agrees to pay all employees employed by
is exploring how to actually set the wage without becoming CONTRACTOR in the performance of this contract, whether on
the implied employer of the operators. a full-time or part-time basis, a base wage of not less than CITY
The Executive Director also was quick to point out though minimum hourly wage as required by Section 4.20, Madison
that operator wage rates alone do not tell the entire story, General Ordinances.
reporting that the contractor with highest operator wage rates
in the system was one of the poorest performers, and the con- One of the contractors, Transit Solutions, adds to this liv-
tractor with the lowest wage rates was one of their best per- able wage by providing benefits and an incentive plan that
formers. In the survey, ASI noted that many contractors are pays operators for safety and attendance.
still focused on submitting the "lowest bid" since operator Madison Metro has also established standards in its con-
wages make up the majority of the overall cost. She also men- tracts with penalties on a per-trip basis. Since 2006, this sys-
tioned that some of her contractors include a benefits pack- tem of collecting performance data from contractors and
age that provides English-as-a-second-language benefits, an then generating a percentage of compliance has been used to
operator recognition program, and "stepping stone" career calculate this per-trip penalty fee:
programs and internships that pave the way for operators to
advance to senior/management positions. It is the responsibility of CONTRACTOR to make every effort
to comply with all service standards established by CITY. CITY
has established a service standard of passenger pick up no later
Madison Metro Transit, Madison, WI than twenty (20) minutes after the scheduled time. For each
instance in which a passenger is picked up outside of this service
Madison Metro Transit is the municipal transit provider for standard, the following reimbursement will be applied:
the city of Madison, WI, covering an area of 60 square miles.
On-Time Performance Reimbursement
With more than 450 full-time employees, Madison Metro 94% On-Time 100% of the reimbursement rate
Transit serves an average of over 54,000 daily passenger trips 9093% On-Time 98% of the reimbursement rate
during the school year. The service has 56 fixed-routes and Less than 90% On-Time 90% the reimbursement rate
