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AUTHORIZATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF TWENTY-EIGHT (28) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA IN THE CUMULATIVE AMOUNT OF THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND FIFTY-ONE CENTS ($327,274.51) TO BE USED FOR PROVIDING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN THE CITY OF NORMAN AND SURROUNDING AREA AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE TWENTY-EIGHT (28) CORRESPONDING BILLS OF SALE.
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BACKGROUND: On August 28, 2018, University officials advised City staff of their desire to transfer non-campus bus services in Norman to another operator by the end of the FYE 2019 fiscal year. Staff relayed this message to City Council during a Study Session shortly thereafter about the concerns the University had regarding CART's short-term funding challenges and long-term operational challenges. City Council approved Contract K-1819-123 with CART on October 23, 2018, which secured the City's contribution for the current fiscal year. City Council met again in a Study Session on October 30, 2018, to discuss the long-term operational challenges and to develop a strategy for moving forward. City Council focused on three key premises: 1) Ensure there is no interruption or break in service during the transfer; 2) Maintain or improve the current level of service provided by CART; and 3) Although the City would officially be the recipient of federal funds, the City may contract with an independent third-party agency to operate the system.
Since November, 2018, City staff and University staff worked closely with the officials from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Regional 6 office located in Fort Worth, Texas. FTA advised that the following steps needed to take place to effectuate a system transfer of operation: 1) Notice of Intent to transfer transmitted from the current operator to the FTA; 2) FTA responds to Notice of Intent; 3) New recipient or operator asks to be designated as a direct recipient; 4) New recipie...
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