Okaloosa County BOCC — March 15, 2016 — Modification of Fare and Route Modification Policy — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: March 15, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Elliot Kampert SUBJECT: Modification of Fare and Route Modification Policy DEPARTMENT: Growth Management BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Request approval of amendment to County Fare and Route Modification Policy as recommended by Transit Cooperative. BACKGROUND: Section 5307 of Title 49 of the United States Code provides for the Urban Area Formula Grants which Okaloosa County uses, among other grant sources, to provide public transportation services. Section 5307(d)(1)(I) requires that all recipients of such funds have in place a locally developed process to solicit and consider public comment before raising a fare or carrying out a major reduction of transportation. The regulation does not specify any particular method of receiving public input; this is left up to local jurisdictions. For Okaloosa County, this process is established through the County Fare and Rate Modification Policy. During its meeting of February 28, 2016, the Okaloosa County Public Transit Cooperative received a presentation from the County's contracted transit provider, Maruti Fleet and Management, that proposed substantial changes to the fixed route system. The proposed changes provide for expanded hours of operation (6:00 AM to 7:40 PM seven days a week as opposed to the current 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM on weekdays only) and eliminate a number of stops which are located too close to one another to allow an efficient system. During the discussion of the proposed changes, it was brought to the Cooperative's attention that in order to substantially modify routes or fares, the County's current Fare and Rate Modification Policy requires a 60 waiting period between approval of changes and implementation. The Cooperative members unanimously voted to recommend to the Board of County Commissioners that the waiting period be reduced to 30 days in order to allow changes to take effect more quickly. The proposed route modifications are not a part of this agenda request, and will be brought back to the Board for consideration at a later meeting. The existing Fare and Rate Modification Policy, along with a strike-through-and-underline version of the proposed changes as well as a clean copy of the amended policy are attached for the Board's consideration. In addition to the reduction from 60 to 30 days, the proposed revised policy also includes the following housekeeping changes:  references to the Planning and Inspections Department have been changed to Department of Growth Management  reference has been added to the County’s use of state funds to help operate the system  reference has been added to the deviated fixed route system  reference has been added to posting proposed changes on the County website   the amended policy recognizes that the Transit Cooperative can recommend changes OPTIONS: The Board of County Commissioners may approve, deny, or approve with modifications the proposed amendments to the Fare and Rate Modification Policy. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners approve the amended Fare and Rate Modification Policy. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator