Storer Transportation blasts Modesto officials over dial-a-ride bus contract
The Modesto City Council meets Tuesday for the first time under its new social distancing restrictions that limit the public’s participation to watching their elected leaders on cable or through livestream and submitting questions and comments by email.
And these restrictions come as council members face a controversial decision: whether to award a contract worth as much as $27.6 million over nine years for dial-a-ride services.
City staff recommends the council award the contract to Transdev Services, the Illinois-based company that came out on top in the city’s evaluation of the four companies that competed for the contract. But one of the companies, Modesto-based Storer Transportation, says the evaluation process was flawed, staff has given the council false and incomplete information, and such an important decision should not be made under these circumstances.
“The best thing the City Council can do is reject all the bids (submitted by the four companies) and start over again,” said Donald Storer, president and CEO of Storer Transporation. It has provided dial-a-ride services for the city since 1981, giving door-to-door transportation to seniors and the disabled.
“This is all about what city staff wants to do,” Storer said. “... That’s the bottom line. This (should be) about letting the elected officials make the decision, not staff. The City Council has never been given all the numbers (information.)“
But city spokesman Thomas Reeves said Modesto officials stand by their presentation to the City Council and that they have provided council members with complete and accurate information. He said Modesto ranked Storer third among the four companies it evaluated, so there is no guarantee it would come out on top if the city were to start over.
Storer said this is not the time for the council to make such a big decision while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which has upended life. Modesto imposed the social distancing measures for its council meetings in response to the pandemic, starting with Tuesday’s meeting.
“Why is staff pushing this decision?” Storer asked. “We have bigger issues on our table.”
Storer said the social distancing restrictions mean his company and its attorneys as well as Storer drivers and their dial-a-ride passengers cannot adequately make their case to council members. The council considered this matter at its March 10 meeting but did not make a decision, asking staff to respond to the issues raised at the meeting.
Storer said about 90 drivers and about 20 passengers attended the meeting.
Circumstances could be better
Reeves acknowledged that the timing and circumstances could be better but said Modesto needs to move forward.
“We do not claim this is the best time,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it coincides with a global pandemic. But we cannot keep holding this off.”
Modesto is using a competitive process called a request for proposals in issuing the dial-a-ride contract. It issued an RFP in fall 2018 but issued another one in 2019 because of problems with the first one. The City Council was going to consider issuing the dial-a-ride contract in December under the second RFP, but that was postponed until the council’s March 10 meeting.
A city report states that issuing an RFP for a third time in such a short period is risky because it could result in few responses and the city could face financial penalties from the Federal Transit Administration. It funds public transportation, including dial-a-ride services.
But Storer said Modesto’s FTA funding is not at risk and for city staff to suggest so is irresponsible and false. He said that is not the only issues he has with city staff’s presentation. For instance, he said, staff portrays Transdev as providing the lowest cost for the service.
Were true costs provided?
Storer said that is only during the first five years of the contract, with Transdev costing about $13.2 million versus about $13.4 million for Storer, which offered the second lowest price. Storer said the city did not include about $136,000 in startup costs for Transdev, which lessens the gap between the two companies.
And he said Transdev’s cost over the nine years is $25.34 million, which is about $200,000 higher than Storer’s cost of $25.11 million. (The city’s estimate of $27.6 million includes a 10 percent increase for contingencies.)
But a city report for Tuesday’s meeting states that staff recommends Transdev based on “the strength of its very comprehensive proposal, including its management team and corporate support, operations plan and price. Transdev has proposed many services that will enhance the (dial a ride) system ... .”
Storer’s current dial-a-ride contract with Modesto ends June 28. The city would like to extend that contract to Sept. 30 to give Transdev enough time to take over the service. Storer has offered to extend its contract on a month-to-month basis while the city issues another RFP.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 9:12 PM.
