2018-30202 ResolutionRESOLUTION NO.
2018 -30202
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING A PILOT
BUS TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM FOR THE 2018/2019
FALL SEMESTER FOR ONE (1) PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH THE
HIGHEST DEMAND, TO BE DETERMINED BY A CITY
OUTREACH EFFORT, FOR STUDENTS WHO LIVE WITHIN
TWO (2) MILES FROM THE SCHOOL, AND ONLY DURING
THE MORNING DROP -OFF HOURS FOR ARRIVAL TO
SCHOOL FOR THE START OF THE SCHOOL DAY, IN AN
AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $25,000, AND SUBJECT TO CITY
BUDGET APPROVAL; AND, FURTHER, AUTHORIZING THE
CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ANY DOCUMENTS AND
AGREEMENTS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT THE PILOT
PROGRAM.
WHEREAS, at the February 24, 2016 City Commission Workshop on Traffic
Management, one of the mobility improvement initiatives discussed was to provide public school
bus transportation for children who live within two miles from their home school; and
WHEREAS, at the April 13, 2016 City Commission meeting, a referral was made to the
Neighborhood /Community Affairs Committee (NCAC) to assess the viability and interest in a
City of Miami Beach public school bus service within a two -mile boundary of a public school in
Miami Beach not serviced by Miami -Dade County Public Schools buses; and
WHEREAS, the NCAC requested the item be further discussed at the July 15, 2016
NCAC meeting; and
WHEREAS, a similar item was referred at the City Commission meeting on May 13,
2016 to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC); and
WHEREAS, at the July 15, 2016 NCAC meeting, a recommendation to conduct a
transportation survey was made with information used to vet ideas for alleviating traffic in Miami
Beach associated with pick -up and drop -off of students attending public schools in Miami
Beach; and
WHEREAS, at their July 22, 2016 meeting, the FCWPC supported conducting a survey
in September 2016; and
WHEREAS, on September 14, 2016, the City Commission accepted the
recommendations of the NCAC and FCWPC to conduct a survey to identify transportation
needs of public school children within the two -mile limit of the home school; and
WHEREAS, the City developed an in -house online bus survey to be distributed via email
to all parents /guardians of children attending the following public schools in Miami Beach:
South Pointe Elementary, Fienberg Fisher K -8 Center, North Beach Elementary, Biscayne
Elementary, Nautilus Middle School, and Miami Beach Senior High School; and
WHEREAS, with the assistance of the Miami -Dade County Public School (M -DCPS)
system, emails were sent and letters distributed to all families in Miami Beach with children in
public school; and
WHEREAS, of the 702 responses received, 315 students met the screening criteria; and
WHEREAS, on January 9, 2017, the City's Transportation, Parking and Bicycle -
Pedestrian Facilities Committee (TPBPFC) discussed this item and unanimously passed the
following motion: "The TPBPFC suggests, based on interest from survey respondents, a pilot
program at North Beach Elementary to start as soon as possible and allow for a full semester
trial. ; and
WHEREAS, at its January 20, 2017 meeting, the FCWPC discussed bus survey results,
identifying transportation needs of public school children who live within two miles from their
home School, and passed a motion approving a school transportation pilot program for North
Beach Elementary School for students who live within two (2) miles from the School for one (1)
semester only, only during the morning drop -off hours, and using the City's existing contract for
Bus Transportation Services; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to FCPWC direction at its October 28, 2016 meeting, City staff
followed -up with respondents who initially showed interest in utilizing school bus transportation
service, which yielded 162 out of the initial 202 respondents re- confirming their interest in
utilizing this service; and
WHEREAS, the final number of eligible students for school bus transportation was 224 as
compared to 315 children in the initial survey; and
WHEREAS, it was determined that the school with the highest interest was North Beach
Elementary School (70 students); and
WHEREAS, on March 1, 2017, the City Commission accepted the recommendations of
the FCWPC approving a school transportation pilot program for North Beach Elementary School
for students who live within two (2) miles of the School, for one (1) semester only, and only
during the morning drop -off hours, and, additionally, approved the same pilot program for
Biscayne Elementary School; and
WHEREAS, the pilot service for the Fall semester of 2017/2018 for both North Beach
Elementary and Biscayne Elementary Schools began on Monday, August 21, 2017 and
operated until January 18, 2018; and
WHEREAS, on February 14, 2018, the City Commission discussed the school
transportation pilot program conducted during the Fall semester of 2017/2018 for North Beach
Elementary and Biscayne Elementary Schools and directed the Administration to conduct a
similar school transportation pilot program for the 2018/2019 Fall semester for one (1) public
school with the highest demand, to be determined by a City outreach effort, for students who
live within two (2) miles from the school, and only during the morning drop -off hours for arrival to
school at the start of the school day, in an amount not to exceed $25,000.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the Mayor and City Commission hereby
approve a public school pilot bus transportation program for the 2018/2019 Fall semester for
one (1) school with the highest demand, to be determined by a City outreach effort, for students
who live within two (2) miles from the school, and only during the morning drop -off hours for
arrival to school for start of the school day, in an amount not to exceed $25,000, and subject to
City budget approval; and, further, authorizing the City Manager to execute any documents and
agreements required to implement the pilot program.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this /y day of February, 2018.
ATTEST:
tiftpk ty
Rafael E. City Clerk
Dan Gelb r, Mayor
F
APP
0
AGE
CUIION
orney
IINCCBP ORATED
•
T.AGENDA12018102 February\TransportationlReso School Bus Transportation Service.doc
Date
MIAMI BEACH
New Business and Commission Requests R9 L
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: February 14, 2018
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION REGARDING THE SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION PILOT
PROGRAM FOR NORTH BEACH ELEMENTARY AND BISCAYNE ELEMENTARY,
RECOMMENDATION
This item is being presented to City Commission for discussion and further direction given the current
school bus transportation pilot program for North Beach Elementary and Biscayne Elementary
schools is scheduled to terminate on January 18, 2018.
BACKGROUND
At the February 24, 2016 Commission Workshop on Traffic Management, one of the mobility
improvement initiatives discussed was to provide school bus transportation for children who live
within two miles from their home school.
At the April 13, 2016 City Commission meeting, a referral was made to the Neighborhood/Community
Affairs Committee (NCAC) to assess the viability and interest in a City of Miami Beach school bus
service within the two-mile boundary of public schools in Miami Beach not serviced by Miami-Dade
County Public Schools (M-DCPS).
This item was further discussed at the July 15, 2016 NCAC meeting. A similar item was referred to
the July 22, 2016 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) meeting. Both the NCAC
and FCWPC recommended that the Administration conduct a survey to gauge parents' interest
related to pick-up and drop-off of students attending public schools in Miami Beach.
On September 14, 2016, the City Commission accepted the recommendations of the NCAC and
FCWPC to conduct a survey to identify transportation needs of public school children within the two-
mile limit of the home school. Pursuant to Commission direction, the City's Office of Organizational
Development Performance Initiatives (ODPI) developed an in-house online bus survey to be
distributed via email to all parents/guardians of children attending the following public schools in
Miami Beach: South Pointe Elementary, Fienberg Fisher K-8 Center, North Beach Elementary,
Biscayne Elementary, Nautilus Middle School, and Miami Beach Senior High School. With the
assistance of M-DCPS and ODPI, emails were sent through ConnectEd and letters distributed to all
families in Miami Beach with children in public school. Out of the 702 responses initially received,
315 students met the screening criteria.
Pursuant to FCWPC recommendation at its October 28, 2016 meeting, City staff followed-up with
survey respondents who initially showed interest in utilizing school bus transportation service. This
additional outreach yielded 162 respondents re-confirming their interest in utilizing the service. The
final number of eligible students for school bus transportation was 224 as compared to 315 students
in the initial survey. Based on survey responses, it was determined that the school with the highest
interest was North Beach Elementary School with a total of 70 students confirming interest in the pilot
service. Biscayne Elementary School had a total of 22 students confirming interest in the pilot
service.
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At its January 20, 2017 meeting, the FCWPC discussed the latest bus survey results and passed a
motion approving a school bus transportation pilot program for only North Beach Elementary School
students who live within two (2) miles from the school for one (1) semester only, during the morning
drop-off hours, and using the City's existing contract for Bus Transportation Service.
On March 1, 2017, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2017-29779 accepting the
recommendations of the FCWPC approving a school bus transportation pilot program for North
Beach Elementary School and, additionally, approved a school bus transportation pilot program for
Biscayne Elementary School, for the Fall semester only and for a total not-to-exceed amount of
$50,000 for both schools.
Given the low number of Biscayne Elementary School students who confirmed their interest prior to
the March 1, 2017 City Commission meeting, the City staff conducted additional outreach to parents
of students attending this school to seek greater interest in the program. The final outreach effort
prior to commencement of the pilot program was conducted by City staff in mid-June and included
parents of both schools who stated interest in and were deemed eligible for the pilot program. Based
on these subsequent responses received by mid-July, the final number of students who confirmed
participation in the pilot program was 20 for North Beach Elementary School and 30 for Biscayne
Elementary School (initially 70 and 22, respectively, prior to end of 2016).
A bus service plan for both North Beach Elementary and Biscayne Elementary with pick-up and drop-
off times and locations was developed by the City's Transportation Department staff (Attachment).
Unlike the service provided by M-DCPS which requires students to walk a few blocks to pre-
established pick-up locations at bus stops, the City's service established convenient pick-up points at
or very close to the students' homes, essentially providing door-to-door service between home and
school.
The pilot service for the Fall semester for both North Beach Elementary and Biscayne Elementary
Schools began on Monday, August 21, 2017 and is scheduled to operate until January 18, 2018.
The service is provided by a City vendor approved by M-DCPS with buses equipped with seat belts.
ANALYSIS
While the final number of students who confirmed participation in the pilot program was 20 for North
Beach Elementary and 30 for, Biscayne Elementary (initially 70 and 22, respectively), the actual
number of students who used the pilot service between August 21, 2017 and November 17, 2017 is 5
for North Beach Elementary and 9 for Biscayne Elementary (i.e., a total of 14 students).
The Transportation Department is monitoring the on-time performance of the service through
Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) devices installed on each of the buses. From an operational
perspective, the City's school bus operator has shown a high level of compliance to the established
pick-up and drop-off times and no service interruptions have been experienced to date. Given the
one-way route length of 6.5 miles for North Beach Elementary and 8 miles for Biscayne Elementary,
the time that buses take from their first pick-up location to the drop-off at school is 38 minutes for
North Beach Elementary and 55 minutes for Biscayne Elementary. Buses arrive at both schools at
7:45AM in-time for school breakfast. Upon arrival at school, the children disembark at the existing
bus drop-off area and are escorted by school staff to the school cafeteria where breakfast is
available, if so desired. From the cafeteria, students are escorted by their teachers to the classroom.
From a marketing perspective, Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman's Office helped develop and
promote the pilot-program via a Public Service Announcement which was broadcasted during Open
House in October 2017 at both North Beach Elementary and Biscayne Elementary and is being
displayed on-board all City trolley vehicles in addition to being disseminated on the City's social
media platforms, MBTV, You Tube, and the City's bi-weekly newsletter. A press release was also
issued. During the pilot program, while additional demand was encouraged using established stops
or new stops along the established route, route modifications were not implemented in order to
minimize an adverse impact on the initially-established schedule provided to parents of participating
students of both schools.
In order to obtain a better understanding of the reasons for the current low participation levels in the
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pilot program, Commissioner Aleman's office assisted Transportation Department staff in reaching out
to a total of 113 families in period between September and November of this year The families were
grouped as follows:
Group #1: Eligible families who signed-up for the pilot program in July 2017 and were using the
service at the time of the survey;
Group #2: Eligible families who signed-up for the pilot program in July 2017 and were not using the
service at the time of the survey; and
Group #3: Eligible families who stated interest in participating in the pilot program prior to March 1,
2017 and chose not to sign-up for the service in July 2017.
The results of the survey by group are presented below:
Group #1: Twelve (12) out of 15 families who were surveyed had positive feedback regarding the
service. These respondents stated that they would consider using the service if provided in the
future. The remaining three (3) families did not respond.
Group #2: 18 families were surveyed and only 11 responded. Eight (8) families stated that they chose
not to use the service either because the pickup time was too early or because they live close to
school. Most of these parents either drive their children to school or the children walk to school.
Based on the responses provided by parents in this group, it is not likely any families would sign-up
to use the service, if provided in the future.
Group #3: 83 families were surveyed and only 45 responded. Out of 45 families who responded, 15
stated that they chose not to use the program as they prefer to drive their children to school, eight (8)
families were generally not interested in using the service, seven (7) families were interested, and
nine (9) families had moved away from the school and were no longer eligible for the service.
Additionally, four (4) families stated that the pick-up time was too early and two (2) families preferred
afternoon drop-off service instead of morning pick-up service. While there is some interest in the
program from a few families in this group, it is uncertain if any of these families would eventually sign-
up for the program, if provided in the future.
KEY INTENDED OUTCOMES SUPPORTED
Ensure Comprehensive Mobility Addressing All Modes Throughout The City
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Funding in the amount of $50,000 was approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2016/17 budget for a
school bus transportation pilot program for North Beach Elementary and Biscayne Elementary
Schools for the Fall semester only. Funding for the continuation of this program is not part of the
Fiscal Year 2017/18 adopted budget. Should the City Commission wish to continue the school bus
transportation pilot program beyond the Fall 2017 semester, funding in the approximate amount of
$25,000 per school per semester (for morning drop-off only) would need to be identified and
approved by the City Commission as part of a future budget amendment.
Legislative Tracking
Transportation
Sponsor
Vice-Mayor John Elizabeth Aleman
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
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