Okaloosa County BOCC — April 4, 2017 — Maruti Progress Report — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: April 4, 2017 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Elliot Kampert SUBJECT: Maruti Progress Report DEPARTMENT: Growth Management BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Board of County Commissioners will receive a report on the progress Maruti Fleet and Management has made in addressing public transportation concerns, and will provide direction to staff regarding further actions. BACKGROUND: During its regular meeting of March 7, 2017, the Board of County Commissioners received testimony from a number of citizens expressing dissatisfaction with the public transportation service provided by Maruti Fleet and Management, LLC (Maruti). As a result of the complaints received, the Board directed Maruti to make immediate improvements to the program, and directed staff and Maruti to return in 30 days to update the Board regarding Maruti's progress in resolving the issues that are causing the complaints. As explained in the attached progress report, Maruti has taken the following actions to reduce the number of complaints received and otherwise improve service:  Re-allocated operators from other locations to supplement Okaloosa Operations  Engaged local hiring agency to promote new hiring of permanent operators  Conducted training on Trapeze and FleetMatics software with pertinent staff  Retained Passenger Advocate to better resolve passenger complaints and issues  Conducted the first Transit Workshop with Okaloosa County constituents The Transportation Disadvantaged Service Plan (TSP) approved by the Board of County Commissioners in May of 2016 establishes a service standard for complaints of 0.5% (one-half of one percent) of total trips per year. From March 7 until March 27, Maruti has performed 4,702 dial-a-ride trips, during which time the County received 11 complaints, representing 0.23% of the total. In addition, as provided in the attached Progress Report, Maruti has performed a total of 17,799 trips and has received a total of 72 complaints representing 0.41% of the trips. As shown in Figure 3 of the Action Plan, Maruti's on-time performance has been under the TDSP's goal of 90% since August of 2016 which coincides with the decline in the number of drivers. From March 7 until the time of this writing, Maruti's on time performance is 93.92%. OPTIONS: The Board of County Commissioners may opt to direct staff to continue monitoring Maruti's improvement for an additional month with a follow up presentation during the Board's meeting of May 2, 2017, or it may opt to direct staff to issue the request for proposals for public transportation service as discussed during the March 7 board meeting, or it may choose to provide staff some other direction. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners review the attached information as well as any information presented during the update, and then direct staff as to whether to continue to monitor and provide an update at the Board's meeting of May 2, or if it wishes to release a request for proposals for public transportation services. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator