Transit Agency Delays Awarding Contract For Door-To-Door Service

By RICH SHOPES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Mar 6, 2007

TAMPA - Hillsborough's transit agency will wait at least 30 days before awarding a contract for new door-to-door bus service in seven suburban neighborhoods.

The union representing bus drivers and other workers at Hillsborough Area Regional Transit asked for the delay Monday after the HART board considered an offer from California-based MV Contract Administration.  MV is offering to run the new service for 30 months at $3.7 million.

The new program, to start in May, would be offered in seven, 4-square-mile zones in Temple Terrace, Town 'N Country, Seffner, Carrollwood and Brandon.

HART's board was about to vote on MV's contract when Mike McCoy, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1593, asked for the extension to allow the union time to study the proposal.  "I think that service to the public is what we're all striving for and that's what we're all in business for," McCoy said. "We already have the tools in place that a private company will have to develop."

Board members agreed to the request, but gave the union only until the next HART board meeting, April 2, to make a proposal.  "We're not going to sit here and have this back-and-forth," board member and County Commissioner Rose Ferlita said.

Initial estimates pegged the program's overall in-house costs at $58 per hour. McCoy said savings could be found within HART and the union to charge a rate comparable to MG's projected $49 per hour.

Among possible concessions, union drivers would be paid $12.50 an hour, or the same as MG drivers, McCoy said. Under a contract negotiated last fall, union drivers can earn up to $17.43 an hour now.

"This would have to be new drivers," McCoy said.

HART wants to keep costs as low as possible but will consider service benefits when it decides whether to award the contract to MV or to the union, HART Chairman Ricardo Roig said.  "It's not just dollars to dollars," he said. The door-to-door service is a way for HART to reach suburban customers who normally do not ride public transportation. A similar program operates in Jacksonville. Orlando is considering door-to-door service this summer.

Customers in the seven HART zones would be able to call a dispatcher to arrange pickup two hours ahead of time. They could travel to work, church, grocery stores, medical appointments, HART bus stops or anywhere in the zones.  Fares would match those on local routes: $1.50 one way and 75 cents for seniors or disabled people.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com