City of Lawrence

Public Transit

TO:	Tom Markus, City Manager
FROM:	Robert A. Nugent, Public Transit Administrator
CC:	Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manger Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager
DATE:	March 12, 2019
RE:	Transit Amenities Update

Background

Our 2018 plan for the implementation of amenities relied heavily on a Request for Proposal (RFP #1811) for the Acquisition and Installation of amenities, which was issued in June of 2018 online and through 50+ direct emails.

The response to the RFP fell short of our expectations due to the fact that no thoroughly responsive proposals were received. Just one proposal was submitted which only addressed the procurement and delivery of products. This fell short of most of the elements in the scope of work which resulted in their proposal being deemed as unresponsive.

Staff surveyed several companies in an attempt to better understand the issues that lead to the poor response and found there to be a two primary reasons. First, was the relatively small size of the overall project, and second was the level of expertise and equipment that would be needed. Combined, these issues led the staff to believe that the project appeared too small for larger companies and too big for smaller companies.

In order to move forward with the installation of infrastructure, staff attempted to develop a new RFP. In doing so it became obvious that much of the work could be performed internally if shelter installation was deferred. Staff reevaluated and reworked sites from the RFP with a focus on benches. Without the specialization needed for shelters, staff sought to rebid the shelter cleaning contract to fully incorporate the installation of easier-to-install amenities rapidly, that don’t require special equipment (such as a crane) to install. This new contract was awarded in January 2019.

Site design and layout will be performed by Lawrence Transit in cooperation with city engineers and planners. Transit staff will work with the City Legal Department on property and easement issues. The procurement of amenities will also be performed by Lawrence Transit on an as-needed basis. The concrete and foundation work will be made available through an existing contract with the city, which eliminates the difficulties of acquiring contract work for smaller projects.

Additional benches have already been acquired in preparation for the construction season to begin.

Current Amenities

As a recipient of Federal financial assistance, the city must comply with applicable federal civil rights laws, regulations, and requirements. The planning and implementation that is undertaken by staff, therefore must incorporate Title VI evaluation to ensure that our services are distributed in an equitable manner.

Over the last several years, staff has been actively pursuing bus stop amenities at a minimum of 25% of the stops on each route. The results of these efforts are represented in the following:

The University of Kansas has also been actively installing amenities over this same period at stops on campus.

Guidelines and Policy

The guidelines and policies associated with deployment of bus stop amenities was approved by City Commission in July 2015. This document acts as the primary guidance in the evaluation of stops. Each bus stop location is evaluated with consideration of several elements which include right-of-way, access, ADA, safety, security, route operations, spacing and land use.

Once evaluated, the locations with low ridership are defined as a standard stop. These stops account for the majority of stops and provide system access over a large geographic area. The essential infrastructure necessary for a standard bus stop is a bus stop sign and route designation numbers.

At stops with passenger boardings of over 25 passengers per day, other infrastructure is justified. These can include bus shelters, benches, bike racks, map frames and trash receptacles.

Staff regularly monitor passenger activity of existing stops for increases that may warrant additional infrastructure.

Existing Stop Evaluation

Under our policy, the primary basis for determining whether amenities should be considered at a specific stop is dependent upon the number of boardings, which should exceed 25 per day. However, staff must also ensure equity in service to target routes that are currently underserved by amenities. Using these two methods, staff developed the following list of locations that will receive new amenities. Additionally, a list of locations have been included that are proposed to receive additional amenities. 

Next Steps

Site plans have been developed for the majority of the sites in order to get a better understanding of any issues with property lines and/or potential need for easements. If necessary, staff will communicate with affected property owners to bring attention and clarification to the project.

The timeline for pouring concrete has not been finalized due to the inconsistency of weather at this time of year. Once temperatures stabilize this spring we anticipate the concrete work to begin. Staff is anticipating that the majority of the amenities will be installed by the end of summer 2019.