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91_HB2129
LRB9104037MWgc
1 AN ACT concerning public transportation.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Public Transportation Consumer Protection Act.
6 Section 5. Legislative findings. The legislature finds
7 and declares that:
8 (a) Public transportation services are provided to
9 assist in the transit of the dependent and the economically
10 disadvantaged, to relieve congestion, and to minimize the
11 automobile pollution;
12 (b) Protection of consumers, the public transit riders,
13 and taxpayers, requires that public transportation service be
14 provided at the lowest possible cost consistent with service
15 and safety standards;
16 (c) Private transportation providers have been used
17 under competitive contracts to provide public transportation
18 services at lower costs and with lower annual cost increases;
19 (d) Decisions on whether a public transportation service
20 should be operated by a public agency or a private company
21 should be made on economic considerations rather than on
22 institutional considerations;
23 (e) Obtaining cost effective public transportation
24 services requires a competitive environment and a mechanism
25 for competitive contracting of those services; and
26 (f) Facilities and vehicles purchased for public
27 transportation service are public assets that are held in the
28 public trust for service to public transit riders and the
29 taxpayers.
30 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless
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1 the context otherwise requires:
2 "Attributable fully allocated cost" means the operating
3 and capital cost of a public transportation service including
4 the direct costs of driver labor and benefits based upon
5 actual driver work assignments for the service and a
6 reasonable allocation of costs for replacement and spare
7 drivers and all other costs of providing and administering
8 transportation and maintenance for the service, minus the
9 cost of any function not to be competitively contracted.
10 "Public transit operator" means any public agency,
11 district, or authority that provides or sponsors public
12 transportation service and receives a public subsidy.
13 Section 15. Competitive proposals.
14 (a) On an annual basis, each public transit operator
15 shall seek competitive proposals on at least 10% of its
16 paratransit and fixed route bus service, unless otherwise
17 prohibited by law. The annual competitive proposal
18 requirement shall be met only by the requests for proposals
19 or bids for services not currently operated under competitive
20 proposals. Any paratransit and fixed route services operated
21 through competitive contracts on the effective date of this
22 Act will not count toward any annual requirement. In
23 addition to the annual requirement, all new paratransit and
24 fixed route services shall be competitively bid. The annual
25 competitive proposal requirements shall be based upon the
26 annual service hours for the last fiscal year for which
27 information is available.
28 (b) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a),
29 the competitive contracting required under this Act shall be
30 accomplished through attrition of the public transit
31 operator's full time drivers and mechanics in the employ of
32 the public transit operator on the effective date of this
33 Act. A public transit operator may hire new permanent
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1 drivers and mechanics only to the extent necessary to operate
2 services that the public transit operator has been awarded
3 through competitive proposals.
4 (c) Any services operated under competitive proposals on
5 or after the effective date of this Act shall be subject to a
6 new competitive proposal at least every 5 years. In no case
7 shall a service operated under competitive proposal be
8 returned to operation not subject to competitive proposal.
9 Renewal options that extend a contract beyond 5 years shall
10 be prohibited.
11 (d) The public transit operator shall determine the
12 routes, schedules, and fares that are to be included in any
13 request for proposals or bids.
14 (e) Savings obtained through competitive service
15 provisions shall be used only for consumer benefit, including
16 increased service levels, establishing new services, reduced
17 passenger fares, new capital facilities, and the reduction of
18 public transportation subsidies.
19 (f) Each public transit operator shall make buses
20 purchased after the effective date of this Act available for
21 operations under competitive proposals by private
22 transportation providers under nominal leases.
23 (g) Each public transit operator shall maintain a list
24 of interested proposers that shall include all organizations
25 that have requested inclusion on the list. The public
26 transit operator shall advertise for additions to the
27 interested proposers list at least annually in accordance
28 with its general procurement policy.
29 (h) A public transit operator may replace service with
30 alternative service provision methods through competitive
31 proposals if the public transit operator finds the
32 alternative service methods to be in the public interest.
33 (i) A public transit operator may execute negotiated
34 contracts with one or more private transportation providers
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1 to operate any service on an interim basis in the event that
2 the public transit operator determines the operation to be
3 required by the public welfare. Any service operated under a
4 negotiated contract shall be subject to competitive proposal
5 within 12 months of negotiated contract service commencement.
6 (j) A public transit authority operating with an
7 exclusive charter may not prevent any private operator
8 qualified to provide service under Section 20 of this Act
9 from operating fixed route or paratransit service if a
10 subsidy is not required to operate the service. The private
11 operator has the right to establish fares for the
12 unsudsidized service.
13 Section 20. Standards.
14 (a) Within 6 months after the effective date of this
15 Act, each public transit operator shall promulgate reasonable
16 standards with respect to experience, safety records, and
17 financial responsibility by which private transportation
18 providers can be qualified to provide public transit services
19 under this Act. The standards shall not be designed to
20 restrict the number of eligible participants in the
21 competitive proposal process.
22 (b) Within 6 months after the effective date of this
23 Act, each public transit operator shall prepare a standard
24 form or contract to provide public transit services. The
25 contract shall include:
26 (1) Reasonable passenger comfort, safety, and
27 vehicle maintenance standards.
28 (2) Reasonable standards for access to public
29 transit services for persons with disabilities that shall
30 be as specified in the public transit operator's plan for
31 those services.
32 (3) Reasonable standards for training and safety
33 records to be required of any driver.
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1 (4) Requirements for reasonable insurance
2 protecting the public transit operator from liability for
3 the acts, negligence, or omissions of private
4 transportation providers, their agents, and their
5 employees.
6 (5) Reasonable standards for reliability and
7 on-time performance.
8 (6) Reasonable penalties for inadequate
9 performance, including the public transit operator's
10 right to cancel contracts.
11 (7) Reasonable bonuses and incentives for
12 performance well above established standards.
13 (8) Provisions and standards for the use of the
14 public transit operator's logo, transfers, transit ways,
15 bus stops, vehicles, and any other elements that are
16 owned by the public transit operator and that are
17 appropriate for use by the private transportation
18 providers under contract to the public transit operator.
19 (c) A public transit operator may not establish any
20 requirement relating to the wages, benefits, work rules, work
21 conditions, or union organization of contractor employees.
22 All contractors shall comply with and give adequate
23 certification of compliance with all applicable federal and
24 State labor laws.
25 (d) No change in the contract payment amount to a
26 private transportation provider shall be made except as
27 specified in the contract. Payment changes in a contract
28 shall be limited to indices, escalators, deflators, changes
29 in service level, and other expressly stated or calculable
30 amounts consistent with the request for proposal and the
31 proposal of the private transportation provider awarded the
32 contract.
33 (e) Contract expiration dates shall be rotated to the
34 maximum extent feasible to minimize the number of contract
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1 awards under consideration at any particular time.
2 (f) Public transit operators shall have in place within
3 6 months after the effective date of this Act a method for
4 receiving and considering proposals from private
5 transportation providers.
6 Section 25. Requests for proposals.
7 (a) Each request for proposals or bids shall specify the
8 route, service frequency, and fares as determined by the
9 public transit operator.
10 (b) The public transit operator shall seek the widest
11 reasonable distribution of each request for proposal or bids
12 and at a minimum shall send each request for proposals or
13 bids to each organization on the interested proposers list
14 and to each additional organization that requests the
15 specific request for proposals or bids.
16 (c) The public transit operator shall advertise each
17 request for proposals or bids within 10 days after issuance
18 and in accordance with its general procurement policy.
19 (d) Submittal of proposals or bids shall be required not
20 less than 45 days after the advertisement date.
21 (e) Services shall commence under any request for
22 proposal or bids within 120 days after the deadline for
23 proposals or bids but not less than 8 weeks after the date
24 the contract is awarded.
25 (f) No single request for proposals or bids shall
26 include more than a 50 bus peak requirement.
27 (g) Any qualified private transportation provider may
28 respond to any request for proposals or bids. Each public
29 transit operator shall ensure that disadvantaged business
30 enterprises, as defined in part 23 of title 49 of the Code of
31 Federal Regulations, have the greatest possible opportunity
32 to respond.
33 (h) With respect to each request for proposals or bids
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1 the public transit operator shall award the contract to the
2 private transportation provider or public transit operator
3 whose responsible and responsive proposal or bid offers the
4 lowest cost.
5 (i) No company, subsidiary of a company, parent of a
6 company, or company related to a company holding a contract
7 to manage the public transit operator shall be qualified to
8 submit a proposal or bid or be awarded any contract to
9 operate public transportation services for the public transit
10 operator.
11 Section 30. Proposals from public transit operators.
12 (a) A public transit operator, including a public
13 transit operator issuing the competitive procurement, may
14 submit a proposal or bid and be awarded any service subject
15 to the following conditions:
16 (1) It submits a sealed proposal or bid before the
17 advertised deadline for the proposals or bids, the
18 proposal or bid is not altered after that deadline, and
19 the proposal or bid is publicly opened at the deadline.
20 (2) Any labor provision assumed in the proposal or
21 bid shall be either specified in currently effective
22 labor contracts or executed before the proposal or bid
23 deadline in a written and binding agreement between the
24 public transportation operator and the appropriate
25 organization.
26 (3) It takes reasonable steps to ensure an
27 objective and fair evaluation process including
28 prohibition of proposal or bid evaluation participation
29 by personnel or departments that were involved in
30 preparing the public transportation operator's proposal
31 or bid.
32 (4) Its proposal or bid price is not less than its
33 attributable fully allocated cost for the service, its
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1 proposal or bid price is not based on part time labor
2 provisions or other less costly labor provisions to a
3 greater percentage than those provisions are employed in
4 the public transportation operator's fixed route bus
5 services that have not been subjected to competitive
6 proposals, and its proposal or bid price is consistent
7 with currently adopted budgets and financial plans.
8 (5) It shall make or be bound by no contract,
9 agreement, or assurance that creates or extends any form
10 of obligation for continued employment or employee
11 compensation, except for pension, beyond the contract
12 expiration date under the provisions of the request for
13 proposal or bid for employees assigned to the service.
14 (6) It shall be bound by the same terms, conditions
15 and performance, and other standards as would have
16 applied to a private transportation provider awarded the
17 contract under the request for proposal or bid.
18 (7) Its costs per service hour, exclusive of
19 capital costs, for services that have not been subjected
20 to competitive proposals shall not at any point during
21 the contract rise by a percentage greater than the cost
22 per service hour, exclusive of capital costs, for the
23 competitive service in the private transit operator's
24 proposal or bid for the corresponding period.
25 (A) Each adopted budget or budget revision and
26 each United States Department of Transportation
27 Urban Mass Transportation Administration Section 15
28 annual report shall be reviewed by the public
29 transit operator to determine compliance with this
30 provision.
31 (B) If the public transit operator's cost
32 performance is not in compliance with these
33 provisions, the public transit operator shall
34 relinquish the contract and a new request for
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1 proposal or bid for the service shall be issued
2 within 90 days.
3 Section 35. Audits; funds of the Department of
4 Transportation.
5 (a) Each public transit operator shall contract with an
6 independent certified accounting firm, other than the public
7 transit operator's regular auditor, for a neutral and
8 unbiased performance audit to be completed and reported to
9 the legislature within 2 years after the effective date of
10 this Act. The performance shall analyze in a fair and
11 equitable fashion the implementation of this Act including,
12 but no limited to, compliance with the competitive proposal
13 requirement, equitable administration of the competitive
14 proposal process, compliance with fully allocated costing
15 requirements, the level of the contract compliance by private
16 transportation providers, the cost of the compliance, whether
17 the costs will be recurring or may be reduced, application of
18 savings to consumer benefit, and taxes paid by private
19 transportation providers.
20 (b) The Illinois Department of Transportation shall not
21 dispense funds to public transit operators found not in
22 compliance with this Act at any time after 2 years from the
23 effective date of this Act. Disbursement of funds will
24 resume when the public transit operator complies with this
25 Act.
26 Section 40. Facilities.
27 (a) The planning of all maintenance facilities,
28 operations facilities, and garages shall include a thorough
29 review of competitive alternatives available for efficient
30 development, management, operations, or any combination of
31 development, management, or operation for those facilities.
32 The planning process shall include private transportation
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1 providers and any application for funding assistance shall
2 include a full description of the alternatives reviewed.
3 (b) No public transit vehicle or maintenance or
4 operations facility purchased or leased after the effective
5 date of this Act shall be encumbered by any contract,
6 agreement, or assurance that limits its use by private
7 transportation service under contracts, subject to the policy
8 control of the public transit operator.
9 Section 45. Contracts affecting compliance with Act. No
10 public transit operator shall make or be bound by any
11 contract, agreement, or assurance that restricts its ability
12 to comply with this Act in any respect, unless otherwise
13 prohibited by law.
14 Section 800. The Downstate Public Transportation Act is
15 amended by adding Section 2-13.01 as follows:
16 (30 ILCS 740/2-13.01 new)
17 Sec. 2-13.01. Public Transportation Consumer Protection
18 Act. Funds disbursed under this Act are subject to the
19 requirements of Section 35 of the Public Transportation
20 Consumer Protection Act.
21 Section 805. The Metropolitan Transit Authority Act is
22 amended by adding Section 7b as follows:
23 (70 ILCS 3605/7b new)
24 Sec. 7b. Public Transportation Consumer Protection Act.
25 Contracts entered into under this Act are subject to the
26 requirements of the Public Transportation Consumer Protection
27 Act.
28 Section 810. The Local Mass Transit District Act is
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1 amended by adding Section 5.4 as follows:
2 (70 ILCS 3610/5.4 new)
3 Sec. 5.4. Public Transportation Consumer Protection Act.
4 Contracts entered into under this Act are subject to the
5 requirements of the Public Transportation Consumer Protection
6 Act.
7 Section 815. The Regional Transportation Authority Act
8 is amended by adding Section 2.25 as follows:
9 (70 ILCS 3615/2.25 new)
10 Sec. 2.25. Public Transportation Consumer Protection Act.
11 Contracts entered into under this Act are subject to the
12 requirements of the Public Transportation Consumer Protection
13 Act.