Meeting_Body
SYSTEM SAFETY, SECURITY AND OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
JANUARY 18, 2018
Subject
SUBJECT: RAIL AND BUS VEHICLE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION
EFFORTS
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
CONSIDER:
A. ADOPTING an expanded donation policy, as defined in Attachment B, for the purpose of enabling the historical preservation by others of some portion of the original rail vehicle and bus fleet; and
B. RECEIVING AND FILING the attached P865 retirement schedule that is consistent with the revised donation policy for the transfer of rail vehicle 100 to the City of Long Beach.
Issue
ISSUE
In September 2017, Motion #49 by Directors Garcia, Garcetti, Hahn, Solis, and Dupont-Walker was approved by the Metro Board and directed the CEO to develop an expanded donation/retirement policy for the historical preservation of the rail and bus vehicle fleet and to research transit museums. This report is provided in response to this Motion.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Metro operates and maintains a fleet of over 2,200 buses, 239 light rail, and 104 heavy rail cars. The light rail fleet consists of Nippon Sharyo P865 and P2020, Siemens P2000, Ansaldo-Breda P2550, and Kinkisharyo P3010 light rail vehicles. Metro’s Rail Fleet Services department maintains a schedule for the retirement of the fleet that is consistent with the fleet management plan which focuses on age and condition investment needs, requirements, and new rail projects. P865 fleet retirement criteria includes assessment of vehicle and required maintenance activities based on age, useful-life, and State of Good Repair criteria consistent with regulatory requirements; identification of vehicles with the highest mileage. Challenges related to the historical preservation of vehicle fleets by Metro include lack of yard space to devote to long term storage; parts and materials obsolescence; know-how/training to address long-term P865 fleet repair activities; and regulatory challenges of keeping vehicles on Metro property for special operations. The existing donation policy does not allow for rail cars and/or buses to be donated unless the donation is for continued transit operation.
Protection and preservation of transit vehicles is important to our agency and our industry, and therefore staff revised the bus and rail vehicle donation policy outlined in Attachment B. Because this motion specifically requested that rail vehicle 100 be made available to the City of Long Beach, staff reviewed the P865 rail car retirement schedule and will retain car 100 in accordance with the guidelines set by the proposed donation policy. Metro staff will also continue to proactively review existing bus retirement schedules in anticipation of donation requests for historical preservation purposes, or other well-intentioned civic uses that benefit the citizens of L.A. County. To address all future bus and rail vehicle preservation efforts, Metro staff will pursue the pathway listed below until a volunteer group is established and functional.
Expanded Donation Policy
The expanded donation policy recommended for adoption will allow public agencies, municipalities, school districts and non-profit organizations operating in Los Angeles County to receive donated rail cars, buses, and selected materials for re-purposed use. This expanded policy creates a procedure for expanding the useful life of Metro rolling stock for well-intentioned civic uses in Los Angeles County, inclusive of safety and education related hands-on training.
Transit Museum Research/Survey
Metro staff conducted research with regard to the historical preservation of our fleet by surveying transit museums in Los Angeles, throughout the U.S., and internationally dedicated to transit in an urban travel context. A total of 52 museums were surveyed as a part of this effort. There is one museum located in Los Angeles County, Travel Town, which is designated as a children’s museum and focuses on railroad history. In terms of the modes that were surveyed, 48% are rail museums, 50% are multi-modal, and 4% focus on bus. Although some information was unavailable during our research, we know that about 27% rely on the assistance of volunteers and about 29% operate at a deficit. In addition, 90% of the 33 U.S. museums surveyed are registered as non-profit organizations. Most have missions related to education, preservation, operation, advocacy, restoration, recreation, and interpretation of local transportation history. Please see the complete list of transit museums surveyed in Attachment D.
Pathway Forward to Creating a Museum
• Continue research on transit museums in California, U.S. and internationally
• Explore, in detail, a select few museum models
• Survey/inventory like-minded potential partners, both public and private
• Establish a volunteer committee or group to pursue the pathway forward on this effort
• Explore organizational structure; governance matters; fundraising; locations and space criteria; acquisition & preservation of content; and like topics
Funding Sources
Staff researched potential funding sources for creating a transportation museum and found the following:
• Establishment of transportation museums are no longer eligible activities under the Federal MAP-21 Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), formerly known as Transportation Enhancement Activities (TEA) grants under previous federal transportation funding bills.
• Additional support and approval is required to potentially utilize any available Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and City of Los Angeles redevelopment funding for a transportation museum/community facility.
• Review of National Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant opportunities would be required in order to establish a transportation museum, should Metro decide to pursue becoming an accredited museum with a permanent location, professional staffing, a segregated budget, and maintains ongoing exhibits open to the general public.
• Review of local return funds regulations would be required to potentially utilize any available Proposition A, C and Measure R funding for a transportation museum. Although these funds are administered by Metro, they are earmarked for the Local Return Programs to be used by cities and the County of Los Angeles in developing and/or improving local public transit, paratransit and related transportation infrastructure in order to establish a transportation museum.
• As mentioned in the previous section, Metro staff will evaluate foundations, private sector support, and fundraising in an effort to fully analyze finance development options for the maintenance and operation of a transportation museum in Los Angeles County at a suitable location.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Expanding Metro’s existing retired assets donation policy and developing a retirement schedule for P865 rail cars consistent with the revised donation policy will not have an impact on the safety of our customers and/or employees.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
A complete financial impact from the adoption of this expanded donation policy cannot be determined at this time. As Metro’s Vendor/Contract Management department receives and approves donation requests, they will then complete a Cost/Benefit Analysis that identifies the net value of the available Surplus Asset to Metro requested by the eligible donee. At this time, Metro will be able to accurately measure the net value of the Surplus Asset against the value of the services or re-purposed uses of the Surplus Assets.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board could consider not adopting this expanded donation policy and keeping the existing policy; however, this approach would not be complementary to the theme of this motion which is to ensure that future generations in Los Angeles are able to understand and engage with Metro’s history through the historical preservation by others of some portion of the original fleet.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Metro will continue to retire its fleet based on approved retirement schedules and will review donation requests to ensure that they meet our policy standards. Upon Board approval of the expanded donation policy, staff will develop a form that public agencies, including the City of Long Beach, can complete to request donation of a rail or bus vehicle. Until a volunteer group is established to carry Metro’s pathway forward on this effort, Metro staff will continue work on research, outreach and analysis with other like-minded agencies, potential funding sources, and development of a proposal for a transportation and planning museum in Los Angeles County at Union Station or at other suitable locations, inclusive of a short-term and long-term implementation plan.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Motion #49 by Directors Garcia, Garcetti, Hahn, Solis, and Dupont-
Walker
Attachment B - Revised Acquisition Policy and Procedure Manual (Chapter 12 Surplus
and Sales Contracts, Section 12.28 Donations)
Attachment C - P865 Retirement Schedule
Attachment D - Metro Survey of Transit Museums Matrix
Prepared by: Nancy Saravia, Sr. Transportation Planning Manager (213) 922-1217
Matt Barrett, Director, Library Services and Records Management (213) 922-7444
Victor Ramirez, DEO, Procurement, (213) 922-1059
Reviewed by: James T. Gallagher, Chief Operations Officer, (213) 418-3108
Debra Avila, Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer,
(213) 418-3051
