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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/06/2006, C3 - FUNDING OF THE GOLD PASS PROGRAM council ` Dor 6/6/2006 j acEnba Repoin CITY OF SAN LUIS 0 B I S P 0 FROM: Jay Walter,Director of Public Works Prepared By: Austin O'Dell,Transit Manager SUBJECT: FUNDING OF THE GOLD PASS PROGRAM. CAO RECOMMENDATION Continue funding for the Gold Pass Program by appropriating $30,000 from the unreserved Parking Fund to the.2005-06 Transit Fund's Working Capital balance. DISCUSSION Background On May 1; 2001, Council created the Gold Pass Program as part of discussions regarding implementation of the Parking and Downtown Access Plan. The Gold Pass Program allows downtown employees to use the City.bus service for their work trips instead of automobiles in order to free up parking at City spaces in neighborhoods. The initial program that provided a fifty percent (50%) subsidy for employees proved unsuccessful. On April 2, 2002, the Council modified the program to allow for full subsidy for Gold Pass participants. Since that time, participation in the program has increased. The Gold Pass Program is a successful program that provides no-fare transit to downtown employees. In order to maintain the state mandated farebox return, the Parking Program reimburses the Transit Fund for the use of the pass on a per trip basis. Current Situation Figure 1: Gold Pass Ridership j I Council initially set the Gold Pass Program 6000--__-- budget at $20,000. This amount is almost 3000 -- -- - exhausted. Currently there is less than 10% of 2000 IFavailable funding for the Gold Pass Program, 0 which will carry the program through June 30, I FY FY FY FY 2006. Referring to Figure 1, the Gold Pass has 2002 2003 20114 2005 grown from 190 annual passenger trips to nearly 6,000 annual passenger trips. We believe the 1 o Gold sass orders number will grow even higher as gas prices continue to rise. Because of the success of the program, staff is asking Council to authorize an amount of $30,000 from the Parking Fund Reserve to continue the program. The program will continue on a reimbursement basis. This amount is presently expected to fund the program for C3-i Council Aalenda Report—Funding of the Gold.Pass Program Page 2 an additional four years. Program Summary Staff is not proposing any changes to the current structure of the program. The program was designed to be simple to administer. In order for a downtown employee to receive no-fare city bus service, the employee must perform the following: 1. Prove she/he is a downtown employee. The downtown is defined as the parking meter district. 2. Complete the Gold Pass application 3. Present a recent pay stub and photo identification (If business owner, valid business license will suffice). 4. When boarding the bus, the downtown employee presents his/her signed Gold Pass to the driver with the current validation sticker. To renew the Gold Pass, Gold Pass users may visit either City Hall or Public Works to receive their monthly validation sticker, upon presenting a recent pay stub and photo identification. CONCURRENCES The City's Parking Services Manager concurs with funding the Gold Pass Program from the Parking Fund. Because of the Mass Transportation Committee's support of programs that encourage ridership, staff anticipates no objection from the Mass Transportation Committee regarding this request. The Downtown Association has been advised of this appropriation and is supportive. The Gold Pass Program is consistent with the Downtown Association's current goal to of encouraging access Downtown by alternative means and is a successful program that the Association does not want to see go away. FISCAL IMPACTS Because the appropriation of$30,000 is from the unreserved Parking Fund, there will be no impact to the General Fund. The fiscal impacts to the Transit Fund and the Parking Fund are included in the Mid-Year Budget Enterprise Fund Reviews. ALTERNATIVES Alternative 1. The Council could disapprove continued funding for the Gold Pass Program. The impact of this would be to eliminate the Gold Pass Program unless another funding source is identified. 1:\_CAR Reports\2006\Transit\Transit CAR Gold Pass Funding Continuation-PRODUCTION.doc C3 -�.