City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council authorize staff to enter into a contract with Orbital
Transportation Management Systems to design, furnish, install and test the Culver
City SmartBus System. The contract, not to exceed $4,125,000, includes a ten
percent contingency for unforeseen expenditures.
BACKGROUND:
For several years, the Transportation Department has evaluated and analyzed
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies that will enable staff to better
manage the operations of Culver CityBus by enhancing safety, improving service,
and reducing costs through gains in efficiencies. The technology has now evolved
to the point where it is a highly reliable, effective tool. Further, since the introduction
of this technology, costs have come down dramatically to the point where it is no
longer cost prohibitive to consider implementation of such a program.
The Transportation Department desires to modernize the transit bus fleet by
implementing ITS technologies that continuously and automatically provides
operations supervisors and dispatchers with the location of each bus. The
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) subsystem determines the bus location by utilizing
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, and a Computer Aided Dispatch
(CAD) subsystem that generates an area map display of the location of buses in real
time. This system will also integrate other ITS technologies such as automatic
passenger counters, automatic bus stop voice annunciation, onboard video
surveillance, and vehicle health monitoring.
Meeting Date: 08/08/05 Item Number: A-7
AGENDA ITEM: Consideration to Authorize the Award of a Contract, not to
Exceed $4,125,000, to Orbital Transportation Management Systems to Design,
Furnish, Install and Test the Culver City SmartBus System
Contact Person/Dept.: Art Ida Phone Number: (310) 253-6545
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master Notification List 8/3/05; Orbital TMS; Siemens VDO
Automotive; Trapeze ITS Division; Clever Devices
Department Approval:
Steve Cunningham 7/28/05
CAO Approval:
Jerry Fulwood 8/3/05
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang 8/3/05
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Agencies that have incorporated ITS Technologies have found that the ability to
monitor bus location and schedule status has improved on-time performance,
reduced the number of schedule related public complaints, and reduced response
time in the case of an emergency. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the
installation and use of ITS systems results in significant improvements in transit
system operations. This technology will also assist the department in complying with
regulatory requirements related to the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as
National Transit Database reporting mandates.
On August 12, 2004 a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued for the SmartBus
System. The RFP was published on August 9, 2004 in the Passenger Transport (a
national transportation publication) and the City’s website.
DISCUSSION:
Potential proposers were given an equal opportunity to provide the Department with
a qualified bid. The City received four (4) bids from companies that provide ITS
technology:
1. Orbital Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
2. Siemens VDO Automotive
3. Trapeze ITS Division
4. Clever Devices
In order to streamline the evaluation process, minimum requirements were issued in
the RFP. Only the firms which passed the minimum requirements were asked to
participate in the best and final offer process. The minimum requirements were as
follows:
1. Proposer shall have cumulative SmartBus type (integrated communication
AVL/CAD) sales of at least $10 million over the past five years.
2. Proposer shall demonstrate the ability to finance at least $1 million as evidenced
through financial documentation of letter of credit availability.
3. Proposer shall demonstrate the ability to secure the requisite performance and
Subcontractor Payment Bonds.
The evaluation team determined that two firms, Trapeze and Clever Devices, did not
meet the minimum requirements. Orbital TMS and Siemens VDO met the minimum
requirements and were asked to submit their best and final offers. The
Transportation Department received the best and final offers from the two firms and
evaluated them based on the following criteria:
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Economic Factor (25%): Proposers were given a higher evaluation for lower total
price.
Technical Proposal (50%): Proposers were evaluated based on completing a
thorough technical proposal which included all required submittals, certificates and
other items. Proposers were also evaluated based on the experience of the Project
Manager, Senior Technical Staff Member, and other key personnel. Proposers were
asked to demonstrate the ability to meet or exceed reliability and maintainability
requirements, software integration, and deployment approach. The evaluation team
also reviewed the training plan, documentation manuals, and the testing of the
systems.
Experience and References (25%): Proposers were asked to provide successful
project implementations of similar SmartBus systems and references from previous
customers.
Based on the criteria above, the evaluation team determined that Orbital TMS was
the most responsive proposer.
Orbital has significant experience and is one of the leading suppliers of satellite-
based fleet management systems for the expanding Intelligent Transportation
Systems market. Some of Orbital’s current ITS customers include the Los Angeles
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, RTC (Las Vegas), Houston Metro, CTA
(Chicago), SEPTA (Philadelphia), MARTA (Atlanta), WMATA (Washington, DC),
RTD (Denver) and SBS (Singapore).
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The prices proposed by the firms submitting consisted of their best and final offer for
base equipment. The base equipment includes Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD),
Automated Vehicle Location Systems (AVL), Vehicle Health Monitoring (VHM),
Video Security Systems (VSS), Fixed Radio Subsystem, and Road Supervisor
Subsystems.
Orbital TMS $3,748,924
Siemens VDO $3,819,099
There are several optional equipment items that were included in the request for
proposals.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Staff has elected to defer ordering the following optional modules until after the base
equipment has been successfully implemented:
Bus Signal Prioritization (BSP)
Passenger Information Subsystems
Interface to the Universal Fare System (UFS)
Interface to Regional Integrated Intelligent Transportation Systems (RIITS) network.
Staff is recommending that a contract with Orbital TMS be authorized not to exceed
$4,125,000 which would include a 10% contingency amount to fund unforeseen
additional expenditures arising out of this project. The Transportation Department
has allocated Federal Transit Administration (Section 5307) capital grant funds in the
current budget for this contract.
There will be no impact on the City’s general fund.
ATTACHMENTS:
SmartBus Project Overview
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve a contract with Orbital TMS to Design, Furnish, Install and Test the
Culver City SmartBus System in an amount not to exceed $4,125,000;
2. Authorize the City Attorney to prepare the necessary contract documents and
allow the Chief Administrative Officer to execute the contract on behalf of the
City.
MEETING DATE 08/08/05
AGENDA ITEM Consideration to Authorize the Award of a Contract, not to
Exceed $4,125,000, to Orbital Transportation Management
Systems to Design, Furnish, Install and Test the Culver City
SmartBus System
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1 SmartBus Overview 1-12