Agenda - 12-13-2005-9b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Staffing for Proposed Public Route To operate the current Hillsborough to Chapel Hill route since its inception (dating back five plus years), OPT has used temporary funds in its budget to hire up to three temporary part time drivers, Two of these employees (one who has now left County employment) were among the long term (more then one year) temporary employees discussed with the Board during the earlier Board work session on temporary employment, Now, with expanded service hours, the opportunity for this route to become an on-going service, and the need the County recognizes to avoid use of long term temporary employees tc address ongoing needs, staff is recommending the addition of one permanent full time position and one permanent part time (20 -hour) driver position to service the new route, beginning in January 2006, Having these permanent positions will eliminate the use of long term temporary employment in this situation, Temporary hires will continue to be used on a limited hour basis (15 hours or less as provided in the County Personnel Ordinance) to meet OPT's obligations under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), i.e., to provide specialized transit services to disabled residents within the proposed route corridor on request. Passenger Vehicle for the New Route Additionally, TTA has offered to sell Orange County, at a significant discount, the larger 28- passengervehicle equipped with a fare box collection device so customers can use swipe cards as allowed on other TTA routes to provide seamless service (see Attachment 4). l-fA does not at present have an alternative ftael bus with fare box to make available to OPT for this route, and the cost to acquire a new vehicle so equipped is estimated at $99,950, FINANCIAL IMPACT: Should the Board approve the new TrA/OPT Express Route as outlined above, to begin January 2006, the anticipated cost of the proposed TTA/OPT Express Route totals $87,090 for the balance of Fiscal Year 2005-06, Nan-county funds totaling $68,468 along with $12,822 in County funds would cover the costs of the proposed service. The County share compares to $15,240 currently budgeted to cover the casts of the existing OPT Express Route - a savings of $2,418 in County funds. In addition, the cost of purchasing a TTA vehicle to provide the service totals $5,800. Funding for the vehicle purchase would came from revenue generated by OPT's sale of under-utilized vans to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Therefore, no County funds would be required to complete the purchase, Staff anticipates the total cost to provide the service far a full year, beginning with fiscal year 2006-2007, would be around $162,580. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board 1, Authorize Triangle Transit Authority and Orange Public Transportation to enter into a MOU to jointly fund (75 percent/25 percent, respectively) and for OPT to operate the Hillsborough to Chapel Hill public route, pending final review and approval by Orange County Management and County Attorney; 2. Approve the addition of one full time permanent (40 hour) and one part time permanent position (20 hour), subject to continued MOU funding, to operate the route; and 3. Approve the acquisition of the Triangle Transit Authority vehicle for use on the route.,