Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
MAY 15, 2024
Subject
SUBJECT: REGIONAL RAIL ON-CALL SERVICES
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
AUTHORIZE the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to EXECUTE:
A. Modification No. 2 to the Regional Rail Engineering and Design On-Call Services Contract Nos. AE56750000 through AE56750004 to exercise the first one-year option term in the amount of $2 million increasing the not-to-exceed (NTE) cumulative contract amount from $11 million to $13 million and extending the period of performance from August 14, 2024, to August 13, 2025;
B. Modification No. 2 to the Regional Rail Project Management On-Call Services Contract Nos. AE5664300001, AE5664300102, AE5664300202, and AE5664300302 to exercise the first one-year option term in the amount of $2 million increasing the NTE cumulative contract amount from $10 million to $12 million and extending the period of performance from August 14, 2024, to August 13, 2025; and
C. Individual task orders for Engineering and Design On-Call services in the cumulative NTE amount of $13 million and for Project Management On-Call services in the cumulative NTE amount of $12 million.
Issue
ISSUE
Metro’s Regional Rail unit under program management is leading Engineering and Design and Project Management service contracts set to expire on August 13, 2024. Approval of the one-year option extension would allow the department to continue to issue new task orders to assist staff efforts to promote and advance Regional Rail projects under Program Management within Los Angeles County.
Background
BACKGROUND
The Regional Rail department under Program Management is responsible for providing technical support or leading the design and construction of regional rail projects that directly benefit external agencies, such as Southern California Regional Rail Authority (also known as Metrolink), Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor (LOSSAN), California High-Speed Rail Authority, Brightline West, BNSF Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad on Metro owned railroad right-of-way. The Regional Rail department serves as the building block for the commuter, intercity, freight, and future high-speed rail service expansion within Los Angeles County, using task orders to support the diverse scope of services for each on-call program.
It has been five years since the Metro board approved staff recommendations to award on-call contracts under the Regional Rail Engineering and Design services and Project Management services. Compared to bench contracts, where task orders are competitively procured, the on-call program has proven to be a more effective tool to accelerate the time to issue task orders. With a bench program, the task order request is issued to the pre-selected bench consultants’ proposals, which are evaluated and may include interviews. A selection is made, the level of effort is reviewed and negotiated as necessary, and a consultant is selected for the task order. This bench process can take up to four months to issue a task order. Under the on-call program, the task order scope of work is issued to the pre-selected consultant on a rotation basis, the consultant submits the level of effort to be reviewed and negotiated at the established contract rates, and a consultant is selected for the task order. The on-call process can be completed within six weeks to issue each task order.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Over the last five years, Metro has generated six task orders totaling $8.14 million under the Engineering and Design services and three task orders totaling $735,312 under the Project Management services. The collective task orders have provided support for the High Desert Corridor, Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation, Chatsworth Station ADA Improvements, Ramona Boulevard Grade Separation, Doran Street Grade Separation ATP, Los Angeles County/ USC Medical Center Infill Station, and the Brighton Double Track projects. To date, these two on-calls have doubled the contract value of the previous Regional Rail bench program over the same period. The increase in consultant support has resulted from the evolution of the Regional Rail program for LA Metro since its inception in 2009. The Regional Rail program is currently leading ten capital projects in various phases of work. Under the program management department, Regional Rail also provides oversight engineering support for seven capital projects led by Metrolink. In addition, the department is providing technical oversight to the Planning department for commuter rail, network integration related to, intercity, freight, and future high-speed rail service expansion projects within and through Los Angeles County. The executed Regional Rail task orders have advanced capital projects and technical issues supported by the Metro board and the CEO’s office.
Impacts from COVID-19
On the CEO’s request to suspend all non-critical work during the start of the pandemic, funding was not available for on-call task orders for two of the five years of the program’s base year contract. As soon as funding became available for task orders, the Regional Rail department started to generate task orders to support the program. When considering the total contract value generated to date for the program, if funding had been available sooner, the engineering and design on-call would have hit the program ceiling limit before the expiration date of the five-year base contract. The Regional Rail department would likely be required to take board action sooner to request additional funding or terminate the program early and restart a new solicitation for on-call services.
Engineering and Design On-Call Services
Of the five prime consultants that were awarded contracts, six task orders have been awarded. Each prime consultant team has been awarded at least one task order. Future task orders will be assigned to the remaining prime consultant teams.
Each prime consultant made at least an overall 25% SBE and 3%DVBE commitment on this contract. Based on all awarded task orders to date across all prime consultants, the overall participation is 20.53% SBE and 3.54% DVBE using expenditures to-date. Staff will continue to work with each prime consultant team to meet or exceed the overall SBE/DVBE commitments by the completion of the program.
Project Management On-Call Services
Of the four prime consultants selected for the Project Management on-call services, three task orders have been awarded. The Regional Rail unit was anticipating using this on-call to support value engineering, engineering support during construction, and construction support services for active capital projects. With limited available construction funding, the design phase work was extended due to delays addressing design standard/guideline changes from the approving agencies or value engineering design-related changes. The Regional Rail unit has addressed these design changes for all capital projects under program management and is advancing three capital projects to a shovel-ready level by FY25. Future task orders will be assigned to the remaining prime consultant teams.
Each prime consultant made at least an overall 23% SBE and 3% DVBE commitment on this contract. Based on awarded task orders to date across all prime consultants, the overall participation is 17.27% SBE and 0.00% DVBE using expenditures to-date. Staff will continue to work with each prime consultant team to meet or exceed the SBE/DVBE commitments by the completion of the program.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
This board action will have no impact on safety standards for Metro or external stakeholders the Regional Rail department is supporting.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The extension of the Regional Rail on-call contracts will have no impact on the existing FY24 budget. Funding for FY24 task orders is within the currently approved Regional Rail unit under program management’s budget for cost center 2415. Each new task order in FY25 and FY26 will have an approved funding source before each task order is initiated. Funding for FY25 is assumed in the Proposed Budget. The Chief Program Management Officer will be responsible for budgeting costs in FY26.
Impact to Budget
The funding for each task order will vary based on the specific scope of work or the existing Regional Rail capital project the work will support. The current task order for the Regional Rail on-call uses California High-Speed Rail propositional 1A, California State Transit Intercity Rail program, Senate Bill 1 Active Transportation program, State Transportation Improvement Program, Section 190 program, Measure M, Measure R 20%, Measure R 3%, and other funds. These funds are not eligible to be used for Metro operations or capital expenses.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
Metro Regional Rail is responsible for planning, designing, collaborating, reviewing, and/or constructing projects to promote, modify, or enhance the Regional Rail network for Los Angeles County along the Metro-owned right-of-way for the benefit of the external operators and the public. The on-call contracts are providing connections, double tracking, and grade separations for residents, workers, students, and families with improved regional public transportation solutions to access jobs, health care, education, and other economic opportunities across the Greater Los Angeles region.
The improvements supported by these on-call contracts help reduce environmental and health disparities within Los Angeles County by removing tens of thousands of metric tons of CO2 greenhouse gases annually by removing vehicular trips off freeways. Furthermore, the current on-call service contracts are supporting small and disabled veteran businesses. The Engineering and Design on-call services contracts have an SBE/DVBE commitment of 25% and 3%. Based on contract commitments the Engineering and Design on-call services are expected to exceed the initial SBE and DVBE goals established. In the Project Management on-call service contracts have an SBE/DVBE commitment of 23% and 3%. As these contracts just started, the contract commitments for the Project Management on-call services contracts are also expected to exceed the initial SBE and DVBE goals established.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
The recommendations support Metro Regional Rail’s partnership with external rail operators to improve service reliability and mobility, provide better network integration and transit connectivity through and within Los Angeles County. The on-call contracts serve to implement the following strategic plan goals:
• Goal 1.1: Expand the transportation network and increase mobility for all uses;
• Goal 1.2: Improve LA County’s overall transit network and assets;
• Goal 3.3: Genuine public and community engagement to achieve better mobility outcomes for the people of LA County;
• Goal 4.1: Work with partners to build trust and make decisions that support the goals of the Strategic Plan; and
• Goal 5.1: Leverage funding and staff resources to accelerate the achievement of goals and initiatives prioritized in the Strategic Plan.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board could choose not to approve the recommendations. This is not recommended as the existing on-service contracts are set to expire by August 2024 and would not allow enough time for staff to issue new on-call solicitations and awards to support the Regional Rail department. Without approval, the Regional Rail department will not be able to issue on-call task orders for six months. The Regional Rail department under program management does not have enough technical staff to complete these additional services in-house during that period. The re-organization of the Regional Rail program resulted in a reduction of project development staff due to reassignments and reporting structures. The use of professional consulting complements the new Regional Rail program and allows for expedited project development. The additional task orders will assist active Regional Rail projects such as Doran Street Grade Separation, Rosecrans/ Marquardt Grade Separation, High Desert Multimodal Corridor, Chatsworth Station ADA Improvements, and the Brighton to Roxford Double Track project through design and construction.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon Board approval, staff will execute Modification No. 2 to the Regional Rail Engineering and Design On-Call Services Contract Nos. AE56750000 through AE56750004 and Regional Rail Project Management On-Call Services Contract Nos. AE5664300001, AE5664300102, AE5664300202, and AE5664300302 to exercise the first one-year option extending the period of performance through August 13, 2025. Staff will continue working with the consultants for in-progress work and upcoming task orders to be assigned on a rotating basis. Staff will also work with DEOD to uphold the SBE and DVBE goal requirements of each program. Staff will then report back in twelve months to either request the last one-year extension or begin the procurement to award new contracts for Regional Rail on-call services.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A-1 - Procurement Summary
Attachment A-2 - Procurement Summary
Attachment B-1 - Contract Modification/Change Order Log
Attachment B-2 - Contract Modification/Change Order Log
Attachment C-1 - DEOD Summary
Attachment C-2 - DEOD Summary
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Brian Balderrama, Deputy Executive Officer, Project Management, Regional Rail (213) 418-3177
Sameh Ghaly, Deputy Chief Program Management Officer, (213) 418-3369
Carolina Coppolo, Deputy Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer (Interim), (213) 922-4471
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Timothy Lindholm, Chief Program Management Officer (Interim), (213) 922-7297
Nalini Ahuja, Chief Financial Officer, (213) 922-3088
