LTC 443-2018 School Bus Transportation Pilot Program MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# LETTER TO COMMISSION
443-2018
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City C mmission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: August 8, 2018
SUBJECT: SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION PILOT PROGRAM
The purpose of this Letter to Commission (LTC) is to report on the discontinuation of the school
bus transportation pilot program for students who live within 2-miles of the school due to low
interest received from eligible families.
2017 School Bus Transportation Pilot Program Summary
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 (2) miles from their home school.
On March 1, 2017, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2017-29779 accepting the
recommendations of the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee approving a school bus
transportation pilot program for North Beach Elementary School and Biscayne Elementary
School, for morning drop-off service during the Fall semester only, and for a total not-to-exceed
cost of$50,000 for both schools. The pilot service for Fall semester of 2017/18 for both schools
began on Monday, August 21, 2017 and operated until January 18, 2018.
It is important to note that while the number of eligible students who expressed an interest in
using the service was 50, the actual number of students who used the pilot service last year
was only 14 in total between both schools.
2018 School Bus Transportation Pilot Program
On February 14, 2018, the City Commission discussed the school bus transportation pilot
program conducted during the Fall semester of 2017/18 and directed the Administration to
conduct a similar pilot program for the 2018/19 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, in an amount not to exceed
$25,000.
Pursuant to this direction, a survey was sent on March 14, 2018 to the parents of students
attending Miami Beach Senior High School, Nautilus Middle, Biscayne Elementary, Fienberg
Fisher K-8, North Beach Elementary, and South Pointe Elementary Schools. While the City
Commission direction was to serve only one (1) school, given that per the City's contract for
school bus transportation service, there is a minimum number of hours of service per day, it was
•
LTC-2018 School Bus Transportation Pilot Program
August 8, 2018
Page 2
determined that two (2) schools could be accommodated for the same cost of $25,000. Based
on survey responses received by April 20, 2018, the schools with the highest demand were
Miami Beach Senior High School and Nautilus Middle School, with 43 and 33 interested
students, respectively. Subsequent follow-up by City staff with those families determined that
only 17 students for Miami Beach Senior High School and 10 students for the Nautilus Middle
school are eligible for the pilot program.
Given the low number of responses received, Commissioner John Aleman's Office assisted in
reaching out a second time to the parents of students attending both schools. After the second
follow-up effort, the final number of eligible students who committed to using the service was 22
for Miami Beach Senior High School and 18 for Nautilus Middle School (total of 40 students).
Given that based on the last year's experience with this pilot program, the number of students
who used the service was as much as 70% lower than the number of students who committed
to participating in the pilot program, it was determined that an insufficient number of students
would be participating during the upcoming Fall semester to make this pilot program cost-
effective. As a result, due to the low interest received from the eligible families, and in
coordination with Commissioner Aleman's office, the pilot program is being discontinued at this
time.
On July 31, 2018, the City of Miami Beach Transportation Department notified all families who
stated their interest in participating that the pilot program is being discontinued. These families
were also contacted by staff via phone to ensure that the City's e-mail notification was received
and to give parents sufficient time to make alternate school transportation arrangements for the
upcoming Fall semester.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
JLM/KGB/JRG/MM
F:\TRAN\$ALL\LTC\LTCs Transit\LTC-School Transportation Pilot Program 2018 vl.docx