AGENDA #5a
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Response to Council Request for Additional Information Regarding the NextBus Automatic Vehicle Location with Passenger Information System Contract
DATE: June 26, 2006
PURPOSE
This memorandum is provided in response to the Council’s request for additional information about a citizen’s petition on June 12, 2006, regarding the contract with NextBus as the provider for the Automatic Vehicle Location with Passenger Information System.
Background
On September 12, 2005, the Town issued a Request for Proposals for an Automatic Vehicle Location with Real Time Passenger Information System. On February 27, 2006, a resolution was submitted to the Town Council to select NextBus as the vendor to provide the system. The resolution was adopted. A contract between the Town and NextBus was signed on April 24, 2006. Information about the development of the Request for Proposals and the vendor selection process was included in an agenda item at the Town Council meeting on June 12, 2006 (Attachment 1).
At the Town Council meeting on June 12, 2006, a citizen requested that the Town Council consider renegotiating or cancelling the contract with NextBus.
The funding for the NextBus contract was made available through a Federal Transit Administration grant allocated for the purchase and implementation of an Automated Vehicle Locating System and Real Time Passenger Information. The purpose of the system is to provide bus schedule adherence information for use by transportation personnel to manage the bus system operations and for use by citizens to determine actual bus arrival times.
There are two wireless communication paths used in the overall system. One is a transmitted signal from Global Positioning System satellites to the bus for position calculation; the second path is position information transmitted from the bus to the facility that analyzes and publishes the schedule adherence information (NextBus). The communication path that is the focus of discussion is this second path. Whereas the NextBus contract includes the use of cellular technology, the petition suggests using either WiFi or WiMAX wireless technologies.
DISCUSSION
A citizen who spoke at the June 12 Council meeting contended that the Town’s contract with NextBus is flawed because it does not include provisions for the Town to acquire a wireless network. He proposed the Town renegotiate the contract or cancel the contract in order to seek a system that incorporates a wireless network that could be used for a variety of purposes including citizen Internet access. He provided examples of other communities that have deployed wireless networks to support transportation operations and stated his opinion that the costs associated with the NextBus contract are not in line with projects in other communities.
The examples highlighted some of the benefits of municipal wireless networks but did not address the suitability to our situation. Wireless technologies such as WiFi, WiMAX, and mesh networking could be used if they met the needs of the Automatic Vehicle Location with Passenger Information System and were cost effective for the project.
One of the examples cited in the discussion was a project in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The city installed a wireless mesh network along a rapid transit corridor to support rider Internet access. The example noted the type and amount of equipment required. (Mesh network bridge units mounted on light poles at one-half mile intervals and mobile router units on the busses.) Using current market pricing for the equipment involved we estimate a similar system to support our bus routes would cost roughly $500,000 for the equipment alone. Installation, maintenance and Internet access costs would be in addition to this. Additionally, if a bus route was changed, it might require the addition or relocation of pole mounted devices. In this case the technology may be applicable but it is not cost effective for the project.
To ensure that each bus can transmit position information along its route and that route changes do not complicate the process, a communication system that has coverage throughout Chapel Hill is preferred. NextBus has chosen cellular data service because the service is available and the costs of operation can be calculated over the term of the contract. WiMAX is a choice that the Town also considered and included in the Requests for Proposals, with comments that the Town would give favorable consideration should a vendor propose to use WiMAX. None of the four vendors responding to the Requests for Proposals chose to use WiMAX. The responses from vendors when questioned about using WiMAX was that there was no commercial service available, that technical standards for the service were not finalized, and costs to install and operate a system were high (as compared to the cost of cellular service to track vehicle location). The Request for Proposals did not require the vendor to build a wireless service; it required the vendor to be able to track vehicle location and predict arrival times at the bus stops. Requiring the proposal to include a wireless communication service to support other uses such as Internet access would have increased the overall contract costs and may not have been acceptable under the Federal guidelines for the funding. Additionally, the terrain and foliage in Chapel Hill would hinder the wireless coverage and further increase the cost of a WiMAX type system as compared to the costs in areas with less restrictive terrains. We believe that the WiMAX technology may eventually provide a cost effective alternative to the cellular technology for projects similar to ours. When that occurs we will seek to utilize it.
CONCLUSION
The contract for the Automatic Vehicle Location with Passenger Information System with NextBus was authorized by the Council and has been executed. It constitutes a binding legal obligation that should be honored as long as the requirements of the contract are being met. We do not recommend breaching the contract or seeking amendments in an attempt to develop wireless services to be used for purposes other than those necessary to meet the needs of the Automatic Vehicle Location with Passenger Information System.
We believe there are many uses of wireless technology that will benefit citizens and will contribute to our ability to deliver services effectively. We plan to take advantage of opportunities to do this whenever possible. However, we do not believe wireless service capabilities can be addressed through this transportation system project that is already in progress.
ATTACHMENT