Addition of Bus Operator and Dispatch PositionsMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Addition of 6 PTE Bus Operators and 1 PTE Dispatch Positions
DATE: July 11, 2012
Dubuque
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All-America City
1
2007
In October 2011, the City of Dubuque was informed that the Metropolitan Planning
Organization had been awarded an Iowa Clean Air Attainment Program (ICAAP) grant
for $1.6 million. The Metropolitan Planning Organization applied for the grant on behalf
of The Jule as part of the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) project, which is a project within
the Smarter, Sustainable Dubuque collaboration between the City of Dubuque and IBM.
A portion of the ICAAP grant award will be used for the start -up of two new routes, the
Nightrider and the MidTown Loop /Feeder.
The Nightrider route will operate on Friday and Saturday nights between the hours of
6:00 pm and 2:30 am (excluding the summer months when the colleges are not in
session) and will provide service between the downtown, the three colleges /universities
and the west side of Dubuque. The MidTown Loop /Feeder will operate Monday through
Saturday during the regular service hours between downtown, Delhi and JFK Circle to
reduce the amount of travel time between the downtown and west side areas.
Several of The Jule's current Bus Operators have expressed a desire to reduce their
weekly hours to one -two days per week.
Director of Transit Operations Barbara Morck recommends City Council approval to hire
six additional PTE Bus Operator positions and one PTE Dispatch position to
accommodate the two new bus routes and the reduction in hours from several current
staff voluntarily reducing their hours.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
Randy Peck, Personnel Manager
David Heiar, Economic Development Director
Jennifer Larson, Budget Director
Kelley Deutmeyer, Executive Director of ECIA
Barbara Morck, Director of Transit Operations
2
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO:
FROM:
CC:
SUBJECT:
DATE:
Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
Barbara Morck, Director of Transit Operations
David Heiar, Economic Development Director
Kelley Deutmeyer, Executive Director of ECIA
Jenny Larson, Budget
Addition of 6 PTE Bus Operators and 1 PTE Dispatch positions
June 27, 2012
Dubuque
2007
BACKGROUND
In October 2011 the City of Dubuque was informed that the MPO had been awarded an
Iowa Clean Air Attainment Program (ICAAP) grant for $1.6 million. The Metropolitan
Planning Organization (MPO) applied for the grant on behalf of The Jule as part of the
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT project, which is a project within the Smarter, Sustainable
Dubuque collaboration between the City of Dubuque and IBM. A portion of the ICAAP
grant award will be used for the start -up of two (2) new routes. These two new routes,
the Nightrider and the MidTown Loop /Feeder, will provide new and additional ridership
and service data for use in the VMT project. The VMT project will provide guidance for
The Jule in the re- design of its transit service the route re- structuring and schedule
improvements.
The Nightrider route will operate on Friday and Saturday nights between the hours of
6pm and 2:30am and will provide service between the downtown, the three
colleges /universities and the west side of Dubuque. The MidTown Loop /Feeder, which
is one of the routes identified in the 2009 LSC as being necessary in helping to reduce
the amount of travel time between the downtown and west side areas, will operate
Monday- Saturday during the regular service hours between downtown, Delhi and the
JFK Circle.
DISCUSSION
Several of The Jule's current Bus Operators have expressed a desire to reduce their
weekly hours to oneftWo day:--5 Gi tiv ;c_ s, I he e stein ft duct_ioris will creatE_ opening ; on
the daily :1C:1 -3dul`' that named IC! he filled in order to continue regular :-ie r vice, With the
start-up of the two new ICMP- funded routes beginning operating in raid- August, the
gaps in the daily schedule will only increase, which increases the chances of running
into problems with the annual hours cap as set by the contracts between the City and
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the Teamsters union (Bus Operators = 1714 hours per fiscal year; General contract
which includes Dispatchers = 1664 hours per fiscal year).
The Nightrider route will add 1440 revenue hours per year, operating 2 buses at
approximately 18 hours per day with approximately 80 service days (Friday and
Saturday) per year. (This route does not operate during the summer months when the
college /universities are not in session). The MidTown Loop /Feeder will add 6593
revenue hours per year, operating 2 buses at approximately 20 hours per day with
approximately 270 service days (Monday through Saturday) per year. These 2 routes
will add a total of 8,033 revenue hours to The Jule's annual service hours. Because it
will operate outside of the regular hours of operations the Nightrider route also requires
an additional 1440 hours in the dispatch position. The night dispatcher will be
responsible for answering calls, responding to potential problems and /or emergency
situations, etc.
To cover the anticipated increase in service hours with the new routes and cover the
open hours that will occur when current PTE Bus Operators decrease the number of
hours they will be available to work each week, I anticipate needing to add six (6)
additional PTE Bus Operator positions and 1 additional PTE Dispatch to The Jule's
roster. With the new route(s) starting in mid - August I would like to have filled and trained
the new staff for the Dispatch position by mid -July and the Bus Operator positions by
mid - August.
BUDGET IMPACT
The additional cost of the 2 PTE Bus Operators needed to cover anticipated gaps in the
daily schedule will depend on the actual number of hours worked. Keeping in mind that
these two PTE positions will be service already contained in the existing schedule, I do
not anticipate seeing a dramatic increase in the cost of operations with the addition of
these two positions.
Total Annual Cost:
2 PTE Bus Operators at 1,020 hours each per year = $38,108
An Iowa Clean Air Attainment Program (ICAAP) grant with 80% / 20% funding to be
used fund the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) project in FY 2013 (we will re -apply for FY
2014 funding). The VMT project, as part of the on -going collaboration between The
Jule, the City of Dubuque and IBM, is intended to help reduce the number of miles
traveled in usually single- personal vehicles within the city limits, thereby reducing the
amount of carbon particulates and monoxide released into the atmosphere and
improving the overall air quality in Dubuque. During FY 2013 the ICAAP grant will
provide the -loading needal for the "tern -up or t1No new routes: [he Nightrider and
MidTown I oop /rondo,
The annual cost of operation of the Nightrider is projected to be $169,000; th is cost
includes the 4 PTE Bus Operator positions (plus fuel and maintenance of the buses)
and 1 PTE Dispatch position that are needed to operate the service. The annual cost of
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operation of the MidTown Loop /Feeder route is projected to be $527,250; this cost
includes 2 PTE Bus Operator positions (plus fuel and maintenance of the buses) that
are needed to operate the service. The 20% local match needed for the Nightrider route
will be provided by the colleges and universities. The 20% local match needed for the
MidTown Loop /Feeder will be provided for by the City (Transit Fund) and contains cost
of the 2 PTE Bus Operators position that is estimated to be $21,177 per year and as
such was programmed into The Jule's FY 2013 budget through Improvement package #
1 (ICAAP grant for the VMT project).
Total Annual Cost:
Nightrider route -
4 PTE Bus Operators at 1,440 hours each per year = $107,600
1 PTE Dispatch at 1,440 hours each per year = $29,648
MidTown Loop /Feeder -
2 PTE Bus Operators at 3,300 hours each per year = $123,294
Total = $260,542
Amount of City Local Match (20% of MidTown route) = $24,659
We will be pursuing the second year of ICAAP funding for FY 2014. If we are
unsuccessful in the grant application, the 4 positions added for the ICAAP grant will be
absorbed into the currently existing schedule and eventually eliminated through attrition.
RECOMMENDATION /ACTION STEP
I recommend that transit be allowed to add six (6) additional PTE Bus Operators
positions and one (1) PTE Dispatch position. Please advise.
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