Okaloosa County BOCC — April 4, 2017 — Maruti 90 Day Action Plan Okaloosa County — reading text

OPERATIONAL ACTION PLAN Okaloosa County Operations Maruti Fleet & Management, LLC. SUMMARY This Action Plan is designed to outline Maruti Fleet & Management’s goals and processes for the effective provision of Okaloosa County Transit Operations. Primarily, this action plan covers the acquisition of sufficient operators, complaint resolution processes, technology improvements and training, and KPI standards to ensure effective, long-term system operations. March 23, 2017 SECTION 1 — BACKGROUND & GOALS Background Maruti was selected by the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) on June 16, 2015 to operate Transit Services on behalf of the County. As part of this award and selection, Maruti was charged with making system improvements to better serve the constituents of the County, and to provide a more efficient and cost-effective system for the future. On March 07, 2017, the Board of County Commissioners voted 3 to 2 to adopt a resolution for the County to explore options regarding issuing another RFP, or bringing transportation services under the direct operation of the County. This resolution would eventual end the County’s contract with Maruti if another provider was selected to perform services for the County. Maruti acknowledges that the County is within its right to find solutions they deem necessary to better serve their constituents, but we also believe that the County must consider these alternatives with a firm understanding of what Maruti has produced while operating the current service, as well as our plans for future improvements. Specifically, Maruti has taken the following actions since the March board meeting to address the County’s concerns: v Re-allocated operators from other locations to supplement Okaloosa Operations v Engaged local hiring agency to promote new hiring of permanent operators v Conducted training on Trapeze and FleetMatics software with pertinent staff v Retained Passenger Advocate to better resolve passenger complaints and issues v Conducted the first Transit Workshop with Okaloosa County constituents v Reduction of complaints to 72 total complaints compared to a total of 17,799 total trips conducted in the last 3-months. This is a complaint ratio of 0.41%, which is below the threshold designated in the TDSP of 0.5%. Accordingly, this report is meant to document initiatives that Maruti has undertaken since starting its contract with the County on October 1, 2015, and hopes this information will allow the County to make a more concise decision when opting to explore alternative providers. Purpose & Goals This 90 Day Action Plan is designed to provide a detailed timeline and agenda for the resolution and long-term operation of Okaloosa County’s transit system. Specifically, this Action Plan’s goal is to resolve the following issues to ensure a safe, reliable, and expedient service to both the constituency and the CRA for the duration of its contract. • The acquisition and retention of sufficient operators to cover system demands • The purchase and implementation of a Bus Tracking application for fixed-route ridership  • The creation of reporting standards to ensure effective communications between Maruti and the County. • Coordination between Maruti and the County to ensure vehicle availability to meet service demands. • Creation of a complaint resolution process that allows for transparent and expedient responses to passenger issues. • Effective training program for Maruti staff on Trapeze and FleetMatics software. • The creation and adoption of KPI standards for the system, via cooperation between Maruti and the County. Project Organization To ensure this action plan is managed and organized as planned, Maruti has committed several members of our Corporate operations staff to assist local management with these mitigating efforts. Miriam Lopez, General Manager Miriam.Lopez@marutitransit.com Ms. Lopez comes to Maruti with over 25-years of transit management experience, including time working for Google at their Mountain View campus. Ms. Lopez comes to Maruti and Okaloosa County with substantial experience in route scheduling, customer service/community relations, and paratransit operations. Ms. Lopez serves as Maruti’s General Manager for Okaloosa County operations. Eduardo Carrion, Chief Operating Officer Eduardo.Carrion@marutitransit.com Ed brings over 30 years of experience in logistics management with 13 years direct public transportation experience encompassing fixed route and paratransit operations, maintenance, personnel management and development, safety, process improvements, and fiscal management. Mr. Carrion was also an integral part of transition activities for Okaloosa County when Maruti began the project. Charles Odimgbe, Vice President of Operations Charles.Odimgbe@marutitransit.com Mr. Odimgbe serves as Maruti’s Vice President of Operations, and comes to the Company with over 20-years of experience managing transportation organizations for both the public and private sectors. Mr. Odimgbe excels at organizational restructuring, operational systems and efficiencies, asset and ITS integration, and brand management. Ayan Upadhyay, Director of Special Projects Ayan.Upadhyay@marutitransit.com Ayan Upadhyay to Maruti after 5-years working for Bain Capital as a management consultant, and has transitioned to managing Maruti’s special projects division, which includes all new project start-up activities and technology implementation. Mr. Upadhyay has long-term familiarity with this project, after serving as the startup manager for the Okaloosa County division, and plans to be an integral part of resolving systemic issues in this future. SECTION 2 — PAST INITIATIVES Branding Maruti has assisted the County in their transit rebranding efforts by providing designs for new system logos, as well as vehicle wrap designs to delineate paratransit and fixed-route vehicles. More specifically, Maruti has assisted Okaloosa County in the rebranding of their system by providing the following assistance and/or services. • Creation of New Logos for the newly minted “Emerald Coast Rider” • Promotion of this new brand to the Transit Cooperative, which resulted in approval of Maruti’s designs • Creation of new wrap designs to promote the new system, which provide a new “face” to the system. • Incorporation of the County’s preferred “wave” design into brand to maintain consistency in all County-wide branding endeavors • Consulting on website design to revise the old “Okaloosa transit” website to the new “EC Rider” website. • Radio, TV, and print interviews and communications to promote new wrap and route developments/progress. Figure 1: County Commission and Maruti promoting new wrap design Advertisement Maruti has assisted the county in conjuring new revenue streams via vehicle advertising by providing the following services: • Writing, editing, and promotion of contracts for both Maruti and prospective advertisers to the County. • Creation of pricing terms for each different wrap advertisement • Representation at County Transit Cooperative meetings to promote and obtain approvals on all new contracts for advertising purposes. • Solicitation and negotiation of advertising terms with Silver Sands Outlets to fully wrap 3-vehicles. • Communication and induction to the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce to provide a means for solicitation of other advertisers for the other vehicles in the system. New Route Development Maruti has made extensive strides in creating, promoting, and ensuring approval of new routes to both the County Commission, as well as the Transit Cooperative. • Extensive redevelopment of existing routes to improve efficiencies to the system in a budget- neutral manner. • Provision of new route options for weekend and summer service to the County to provide greater accessibility to both commuters and tourists alike. • Consultation with Tindale-Oliver, the County’s contractor for its latest Transit Development Plan (TDP) update, to ensure new routes align with their vision for a future system, and to defer any conflicts of interest during the process. • Attendance and coordination of local “town-hall” meetings to solicit constituent input on the proposed new routes. • Creation of new routes to service the Crestview area by working directly with Crestview’s Mayor and Administrator to ensure it meets their needs. • Consulting with FDOT and the County to provide options for a more effective use of funding to ensure limited costs to the County Technology Maruti has provide the following services and actions to promote a more efficient system: • Pricing for various in-vehicle ITS-systems • Facilitation of additional services and support by Trapeze to ensure more effective use of software, and the implementation of ITS systems to ensure greater accuracy of reporting. • Installation of FleetMatics GPS tracking systems in all revenue vehicles to aid in dispatch and operational efficiency—at no cost to the county SECTION 3 — RECENT MITIGATING ACTIONS Summary of Mitigating Efforts During the implementation of this proposed 90-day plan, Maruti has taken several efforts to mitigate service disruptions in the short-term to ensure service quality. This includes the following items: • Re-allocation of temporary drivers from other Maruti locations to ensure proper driver coverage for system demands; increasing driver wages; and diversifying hiring sources • Use of supplemental taxi service to augment current service delivery. These trips will be funded by Maruti at no-cost to the County. • Re-allocation of senior management staff to Okaloosa County to assist in the creation and implementation of process improvements. • Reduction of complaints to only 0.41% of total trips conducted. This represents 72 complaints against 17,799 total trips serviced within the last 3-months. Increase Driver Wages Maruti believes that one of the biggest contributors to our inability to acquire and retain sufficient operators to service the County’s transportation demands is rate of pay. To ameliorate this issue, and ensure service quality is maintained in the long-term, Maruti has increased its driver wages to $13.00/hour for those that have been in service for over 1-year, while new drivers and those that have been in service for less than a year will move to $12.00/hour. This raise will take effect on April 1st, 2017. Related Jobs & Wage Comparison Maruti New Operator Wage: $13.00 County Light Equipment Operator: $11.88 (-8.6%) Okaloosa Average Transportation Job: $12.75 (-1.9%) Diversify Hiring Sources In addition to increasing operator wages, Maruti has also engaged multiple hiring agencies to aid in the acquisition of new drivers. Maruti chose to utilize local hiring agencies, PMI & AeroTek, to ensure new candidates are suitable to providing service within the local context of Okaloosa County and its residents. The result of these actions has been the hiring of ten (10) additional operators in the last 2-weeks alone. New Hire Sources & Status