SUBJECT: SERVICE SECTOR GOVERNANCE

ACTION: SERVICE SECTOR DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

 

RECOMMENDATION

Discussion and possible action related to the Service Sector’s delegation of authority.

 

ISSUE

At the April meeting, the Metro Board approved several items as recommended by the Service Sector Ad Hoc Committee. Those items included:

The establishment of Service Sectors with governance councils;

That Service Sector Councils should have up to nine (9) members (and can request a change in the number of members); and that Sectors have the option of retaining governance structures already in place, e.g. the San Fernando Valley;

That Councils may be comprised of elected officials and/or private citizens; and,

That a stipend may be paid for up to two meetings per month, the amount of the stipend to be determined for review by the Board.

The Board further directed staff to begin developing a set of recommendations for further delegation of authority and roles and responsibilities of the Councils and General Managers. These items delineate the various protocols and/or areas of responsibility that Councilmembers and General Managers will be obliged to meet.

The purpose of the Councils is to guide staff at the community level in improving bus service delivery and quality within each respective Sector.

For example, the Councils shall support Sector staff in achieving Metro’s mission of being responsible for the continuous improvement of an efficient and effective transportation system for Los Angeles County by:

Facilitating a partnership along a shared vision for responsive community based transportation services;

Organizing the functions of the Metro to best serve our customers in a manner that is efficient and effective;

Developing an organizational framework that will lead the Metro into being a world class transportation agency;

Fostering a more dynamic working environment, to reduce management layers by moving responsibility and accountability closer to the customer; and,

Achieving overall improvement in service quality.

The Sector General Managers will oversee the day-to-day management of their respective sector and direct all aspects of bus service delivery including, but not limited to, local coordination and implementation of bus operations, scheduling, service planning, and community outreach and participation.

Specifically, they will: deliver, monitor, and improve safety and performance of all bus service operated by the divisions within their respective Sector; develop efficient coach operator work assignments and service schedules that are responsive to customer needs, and be responsible for existing service resource allocations; develop and implement changes in bus service that improve service quality, ridership and operational efficiency; and, develop and implement a planning and public communication process that elicits and responds to the community and the customer.

Additionally, each General Manager will be responsible for coordinating all activities related to one of the following system wide units: Operations Central Instruction (OCI), Bus Operations Control (BOC), Contracted Services, Regional Rebuild Center (RRC) or Service Development. This will ensure that the Service Sector General Manager work cooperatively with other General Managers to maintain the integrity of the system wide network of services in order to provide seamless, high quality service to Metro customers.

At the April Board Meeting, the Metro Board adopted a motion to implement local Sector Councils. Sector Councils will have the authority to direct the General Managers to do the following:

Develop route planning studies to better route and schedule Tier 2 and 3 services operated within the Sector and those Tier 1 routes that are so designated;

Develop efficiency studies to identify ways to decrease the unit cost of services provided in the Sectors;

Call public hearings pertaining to bus route changes within the Sectors following the Metro Board Adopted Public Hearing Guidelines (Attachment A);

Make changes, add or delete bus services within the Sectors in conformance with Metro service standards, collective bargaining agreements and Metro policies;

Make efficiency changes to the operations as appropriate;

Contract with planning, businesses, consultants, other transit operators and any other contracting needs unique to the Sector; and,

Work with Metro planning staff and local transit operators to ensure coordination of services, including Tier 1 services.

 

In addition the Councils shall:

Meet with the Sector General Manager and Metro Deputy Chief Executive Officer before the budget is adopted and further establish goals in coordination with the Sector General Manager that conform with the Metro performance evaluation plan;

Prior to the budget adoption by the Metro Board, meet with the Deputy Chief Executive Officer to review the performance of the Sector General Managers in accordance with the Metro performance criteria at least once per year;

Meet and confer with the Deputy CEO to provide input into the General Manager’s evaluation;

Meet in a general forum with all other Sector Councilmembers and the Metro Board of Directors to report on the progress each Sector has made and establish lines of communication to ensure cooperation between each of the Sectors and the Metro Board at least once per year; and,

Provide input to the Metro Board on budget, capital needs, Tier 1 service plans, and other issues the councils feel the Metro Board should be informed of.

 

The alternative to implementing Service Sector Councils is to retain all areas of route planning, scheduling and service quality responsibilities with the Metro Board of Directors.

Implementing Councils for all five (5) Sectors are estimated to cost approximately $400,000 to $500,000 a year. This estimate covers costs associated with holding public meetings, stipends and travel. For example:

Mailing, printing and translation;

Attending up to two meetings per month; and,

Attending one APTA trip per member, which includes airfare, lodging, meals and registration.

The specific amounts will depend on the number of meetings, number of councilmembers, stipend amount and travel related costs.

No additional funding is required for these activities. The costs of Councils and those of maintaining Sector offices can be charged to the Board Contingency Account or can be off set by operating and administrative savings.

The Service Sector Councils are envisioned to operate as semi-independent units of the Metro. Staff have developed and will continue to develop various criteria as we continue forward with this endeavor. As the level of authority and responsibility to be delegated is further defined, there needs to be a comprehensive understanding of the methodologies that will be used in order to continue their development.

In an effort to provide structure, staff have developed a set of bylaws that are flexible enough to apply to any of the Sector Councils and tight enough to ensure accountability with regards to delegated authority and responsibilities. Attachment B describes the proposed bylaws to be considered by the Metro Board. Additionally, since the last Ad Hoc Service Sector Committee meeting, several groups have forwarded proposed structures adopted by their governing bodies for their respective areas (see Attachments C-1 through C-5).

After presenting the Service Sector plan to the Executive Management and Audit Committee at its February meeting, the Committee directed staff to circulate the plan to all interested parties for their review and comment. The plan was mailed to over 400 interested parties with a comment due date of Friday, March 29, 2002. The packet included the PowerPoint presentation of the Bus Service Sector concept and a colored map identifying the five proposed Service Sector Boundaries. In addition, a formal presentation was given to any group who requested one. Since then, several groups have forwarded further defined structures adopted by their governing bodies for their respective areas. Attachments C-1 through C-5 are copies of letters submitted by said groups. To date, the Metro has not received any correspondence from the Westside/Central Sector relative to a proposed Council structure.

In preparing the recommended bylaws for the Sector Councils, staff endeavored to make the Councils representative of the communities they are serving. As much as possible, the Councils shall be inclusive and reflect the diverse interests, population and geographic areas of the Sector.

The proposals received by various groups (Attachment C-1 through C-5) differ in area of composition. For example, Metro staff propose that at least one private citizen serve on the Sector Council, while some of the proposed governance structures received don’t necessarily reflect that.

The purpose of the Service Sector Councils concept is to: improve bus service; increase agency accessibility and responsiveness; promote greater coordination; maintain an employee supportive work environment and create a more efficient and customer focused structure for the delivery of bus service. Key principles are to: localize control; maintain a single point of contact for route level service issues; balance responsibility with authority; streamline the decision making process; and support agency policies, plans and safety initiatives.

The Service Sectors would have full responsibility for the Tier 2 (intercommunity) and Tier 3 (community based) bus routes that operate out of their respective Sectors, as well as those Tier 1 (core regional) routes that are so designated. The General Managers will be responsible for all Tier 1 routes operated out of their respective Sector.

The General Managers, in concert with the Councils, will support Sector efforts to deliver, monitor, and improve safety and performance of all bus service operated by the divisions within their respective Sector; develop efficient coach operator work assignments and service schedules that are responsive to customer needs and monitor existing service resource allocations; develop and implement changes in bus service that improve service quality, ridership and operational efficiency; and, develop and implement a planning and public communication process that elicits and responds to the community and the customer.

The Service Sector General Manager’s planning and scheduling responsibilities would include: developing and implementing service changes to bus lines assigned to the Sector; revising and updating route schedules and operator work assignments; managing the cost of the service; monitoring and managing service quality such as on-time performance, productivity, passenger loading, and subsidy per passenger; responding to community requests from service and customer complaints; calling and conducting public hearings and community meetings; implementing special programs to improve ridership, service quality and operating efficiency; complying with all Metro collective bargaining agreements; and coordinating planning efforts and operations with the other Metro Sectors and local transit operators.

The Metro would retain responsibility for: Metro Rail, future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, Rapid Bus Expansion, planning Tier 1 bus routes that serve multiple Sectors, and personnel. Capital procurements, fleet and facility plans, major construction projects, changes to Sector boundaries, and fare and service policies/standards would require approval of the Metro Board of Directors.

In coordination with the Sector Councils, the General Managers would develop and implement changes in bus service that improve service quality, ridership and operational efficiency. Attachment D identifies Metro’s Transit Operations Performance Goals.

The development of operating and capital budgets, and short and long range financial plans, will necessitate careful coordination between the Metro Board, Metro Finance, the Office of the CEO, the General Managers and the Sector Councils.

The Metro Board will adopt the annual operating and capital budgets, as well as short and long-range transit plans covering all Sectors based on proposals of the Metro CEO. Based on criteria to be developed, the Metro Board may award funds to a Sector and/or allow a Sector to retain savings to improve customer satisfaction, including adding new Tier 2 and Tier 3 services. The CEO will be responsible for coordinating inter-Sector services and prioritizing Sector capital requests for consideration by the Metro Board.

Sector Councils will provide input on key operating parameters such as service hours, miles and schedules by tier of service and priorities for capital investments in Sector facilities and rolling stock.

Sector General Managers will be responsible for obtaining input from their Councils prior to submitting the Sector’s budget request for CEO consideration. In preparation for this, the General Managers will review the Sector’s financial performance with their Councils on a regular basis, at least quarterly. They may request and receive customized financial reports prepared by Metro Finance for their use in managing this process, to manage operations and make presentations to their Councils.

Metro Finance is the sole source of financial and budgetary data and keeps the official books and records. Except for incidental items, i.e., petty cash, minor corrections of employee pay, etc., Metro Finance will make all disbursements for Sector goods, services, salaries, wages and employee benefits in accordance with Metro’s established system of internal controls. Lastly, Metro Finance will be responsible for administering all banking, investing and debt issuance.

The San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley General Managers and their staff will be in place by July 1, 2002 although the Sector Councils won’t be implemented until a later date. It is projected that the remaining Sectors will roll out in October 2002.

Staff will continue to provide monthly updates through the Deputy Chief Executive Officer’s report at the Operations Committee Meeting. Projected timelines will be provided through this report that will recommend further policies for adoption.

Metro Board Adopted Public Hearing Guidelines

Proposed By-laws

Proposed Governance Structures

Transit Operations Performance Goals

Sector Councils Philosophy and Responsibility

Metro Bus Lines by Tier and Sector

Glossary of Terms

 

 

 

Prepared by: Yvette Z. Robles, Government Relations Officer

Ed Clifford, Director Regional Transportation Planning & Development

Terry Matsumoto, Executive Officer Finance and Treasurer

Maria A. Guerra

Chief of Staff

Roger Snoble

Chief Executive Officer