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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
William Greene, Chief Financial Officer |
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PRESENTER(S): |
Kensey Kunkel, Mgr. Business Dev. and Sales |
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TITLE:
title
Fare Agreement: Education Pass (University of Utah)
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Service or Fare Approval
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the Executive Director to enter into an Education Pass Agreement with the University of Utah.
BACKGROUND:
In 2021, the Board of the Authority requested a review of all higher education transit pass agreements. The Fares team performed an in-depth review of all higher education pass contracts including the review of terms and conditions, ridership, and pass utilization as well as revenue received compared to actual use (“pay per trip value”). The Fares team used the review findings to formulate a plan and set goals to align all future Education Pass Contracts, including the University of Utah (U of U).
Background
The U of U and UTA are longstanding partners dedicated to providing alternative transit solutions to the institution’s students, faculty, and staff. In the spirit of this partnership, the parties entered into a ten-year ed pass agreement in 2012. The contract was based on a set price per authorized user which would gradually increase to reflect student population growth, ridership increases, and changes to the UTA base fare. The contract rate started at eighty-three dollars ($83) per user in 2012 and gradually increased to one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) per authorized user by 2022.
The U of U and UTA monitor all aspects of pass contracts closely to ensure equity and transparency among all UTA Ed Pass Contracts. In 2018 the U of U and UTA mutually agreed to hold the price per authorized user for the remaining years of the contract (2019 - 2022) steady at the rate of one hundred and ten dollars ($110). This was approved by the UTA Board of Trustees through Amendment 3 to the University of Utah Education Pass Agreement (contract UT-12-075JL-3).
COVID-19 Impact
With the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the U of U transitioned classes to be fully online through January 2021. Some classes (50%) continued to be offered online through August 2021, when the U of U transitioned to offering the majority of classes in person (70%). Despite the decrease in travel to U of U campuses throughout the Pandemic, the U of U continued to provide all their students, faculty, and staff a transit pass at the contracted rate described above and did not request any type of revenue provision.
Looking Ahead
On July 31, UTA’s Education Pass Agreement with the U of U will expire. Both the U of U and UTA wish to renew a contract to provide transit passes to the college’s students, faculty, and staff.
DISCUSSION:
In the spirit of partnership, staff proposes that the U of U and UTA sign a three (3) year Ed Pass Agreement. This agreement will give all students, faculty, and staff (59,000 authorized users) access to premium transit through their UID card. The value of this contract is $9,450,000 and is based on historical usage data and conservative estimates of future ridership. Changes in ridership patterns due to Covid 19 were also taken into consideration.
CONTRACT SUMMARY:
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Contractor Name: |
University of Utah |
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Contract Number: |
22-F0288 |
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Base Contract Effective Dates: |
August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2025 |
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Extended Contract Dates: |
NA |
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Existing Contract Value: |
NA |
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Amendment Amount: |
NA |
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New/Total Contract Value: |
$9,450,000 |
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Procurement Method: |
NA |
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Budget Authority: |
NA |
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ALTERNATIVES:
Do not enter into an agreement with the University of Utah and forego revenue and ridership.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Total revenue of $9,450,000 over three (3) years.
This represents a decrease of ($8,596,795) in revenue as compared to revenue received from this contract for the past three years. This reduction is primarily due to lower projected ridership than the estimates that formed the basis for the 2019-2022 contract.
ATTACHMENTS:
Contract