1. Cost Subgroup Report to the Metro Mobility Task Force January 4th Meeting
Note: The screen settings are set to fit wide screen monitors.
If you need to print your slides be sure to check “scale to fit” in your print settings.
January 10, 2018

2. Topics Reviewed Capital funding alternatives Current operating costs
Alternative provider service models and costs
DHS funded rides

3. Breakdown of Metro Mobility Costs
Cost Per Trip Breakdown Based on 2016 Actuals
Cost per Trip
Contractor Costs (includes Taxi and STS)
$49,769,865
# Trips
2,233,229
Average Contractor Cost Per Trip
$22.29
Admin (HR, IT, Payroll, Budgeting, Accounting, Insurance)
11.74%
$2.62
Facility Lease or Amortization
2.98%
$0.66
Facility Maintenance
0.33%
$0.07
Utilities
0.52%
$0.12
Direct Operating Costs (Driver, Dispatch, reservationist, scheduler)
69.96%
$15.59
Drivers
87.59%
$13.65
Dispatchers
5.68%
$.89
Reservationists
5.46%
$.85
Schedulers
1.27%
$.20
Vehicle Maintenance
9.53%
$2.12

4. Breakdown of Metro Mobility Costs
Drug and Alcohol Program
0.24%
$0.05
Driver Training
0.67%
$0.15
Other
4.02%
$0.90
Fuel
$1.76
Met Council Admin (Managers, Customer Service, contract oversight, IT, Legal, Payroll, HR, Technology, Communications)
$1.97
Cost Per Passenger w/o Vehicle Capital and Equipment
$26.01
Add: Vehicles and Equipment
*$3.88
Total Cost
$29.89
Average Trip Length (Includes Agency Service)
9.37
* Based on actual fleet purchases and ridership

5. Survey of Regulatory Requirements
Regulatory Category for ADA Complementary Service
Federal/State 1
Equal response time for rides requiring accessible vehicle
Federal 2
Zero denials 3
Random Drug and Alcohol Sampling 4
Passenger Escort 5
Disability Awareness Training 6
Reasonable Suspicion Procedures 7
DVS and Criminal Records Review (initial and annual) 8
Service quality reporting (on-time pickups, appts, on-board time) 9
Shared Ride 10
Radio dispatch – immediate response time
State 11
Insurance Minimums and Council Indemnification

6. Survey of Regulatory Requirements
Survey sent to Uber, Lyft, 10/10 Taxi, Transportation Plus, Transit Team, First Transit
Questions for each category were:
Does your current service model meet standard?
If model doesn’t meet standard, does your company have an interest in meeting standard?
What is the estimated cost of meeting each standard?
Survey results incorporated into service level options developed by Industry subgroup

7. Cost Information Average provider cost per 11.2 mile trip in 2016
* Does not include the capital cost of accessible vehicles
1 Prices may vary based on demand
Public transit is shared ride service. Rides that are provided through a non-shared service model are not reportable as public transit. Loss of federal formula funds for an 11.2 mile trip is approximately $4.70/trip.
Provider
Cost
Transportation Plus
$26.30
10/10 Taxi
$24.00*
Transit Team
$28.85
First Transit South
$29.36
First Transit East
$29.31
Uber
$17.00*1
Lyft
$22.00*1

8. Vehicle Lease Information
Concept of Metro Mobility leased vehicles
Funding Implications
Over the past 5 years, approximately 50% of funding for vehicles comes from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and 50% from Regional Transit Capital (RTC)
RTC can not be used for lease expenses
Federal government prefers to own assets – must provide a compelling business reason to lease
Metro Mobility Capital cost per passenger trip for buses and technology
Capital investment in buses and bus technology = $38.3M
Average $3.88/per passenger trip
Challenges
Enterprise does not currently allow vehicle subleases – Council’s current flexibility to reassign service and vehicles is compromised
Rates are unknown
NOTE: This was not discusses at the meeting, but as a follow-up, a significant “negative” to allowing the contractors to lease the vehicles directly from the vehicle provider is that the Council risks a loss of control over the deployment and redeployment of vehicles between providers as demand changes or performance warrants.
Under the current agreements, contractors are not guaranteed levels of service and there have been cases where the Council transferred vehicles from one provider to another as part of a reassignment of service areas.

9. Summary of Cost Items
Varying service models between: Metro Mobility,TNCs and taxis that impact costs.
Only Metro Mobility is fully compliant with FTA ADA complementary service requirements. Taxis may be interested in becoming fully compliant. TNCs are not interested in becoming fully compliant.
Public transit is shared ride service. Any non-shared service provided is not reportable to the FTA with an average loss in funding of about $4.70/trip.
Insufficient information available regarding leased vehicles to make a recommendation.

10. Dept. of Human Services (DHS) Client Rides on Metro Mobility
Waivered Service Transportation - Medicaid Recipients
transportation for services in the community with the exception of transportation authorized as pat of full-day Day Training and Habilitation (DT&H).
Must be necessary to meet individuals’ needs as stated in support plan
Nonemergency Medical Transportation –Medical Assistance (MA) Recipients
Provides the safest, most appropriate and cost-effective mode of transportation to get to and from medical appointments
Current Metro Mobility Model – there is no mechanism to draw down additional Medicaid funding
Additional State and Federal Medicaid funding may be available by providing a different service model to recipients of MA and waiver services
An estimated $8.5 million in additional federal funds may be available with a different service delivery model

11. DHS Client Rides on Metro Mobility
Challenges
Creativity/resolution is restricted by inability to share data between agencies
Metro Mobility fares are limited to twice the local fixed route fare with the exception of trips to a social service agency
DHS Medicaid programs are bound to federal “usual and customer” charge requirements meaning a provider cannot charge more for a covered client than what is charged to other customers.
Medicaid program riders pay the same fare as other eligible riders
Metro Mobility’s fare of $3.50 in the off-peak and $4.50 in the peak is an inexpensive option for agencies
Currently, DT&H transportation rates represented in the framework are suppressed per MN Statute 256B True framework rates for the transportation portion of DT & H rates will not be in effect until January 2021

12. Topics for Further Discussion
Need for consistent funding source
Potential investments:
Technical development
Marketing
Customer service

13. Potential Legislative Recommendations
Data sharing between state agencies
Interagency Coordination
Better cross-utilization of funds – remove silos