The City Manager recommends that the Mayor and City Commission approve the award of a contract to the Franmar Corporation, the sole responsive, responsible bidder responding to ITB 2021-094-AY for bus transportation services.

The City’s current bus transportation services contract is utilized by the Parks and Recreation Department to transport program resident and program participants to and from after school programs, athletic events, summer camp programs, senior programs and other activities as needed. The Parks and Recreation Department does have some vehicles and staff that can transport participants. However, the services of a vendor are needed when demand exceeds the department’s capacity, especially during peak periods such as summer camp. 

The City's current contract for bus transportation services was extended on a month to month basis prior to its expiration on May 24, 2021. The purpose of this Invitation to Bid (ITB) is to establish a replacement contract, by means of sealed bids, for the required services. For safety and liability reasons, bids can only be accepted from firms certified by Miami-Dade County Public schools to provide extra-curricular bus transportation services. Additionally, the City requires that the buses provided be no more than eight years old. 

The ITB was issued on March 16, 2021, with an opening date of April 13, 2021. Bid notices were issued to 3,298 companies utilizing the www.bidsync.com website, including the 13 firms certified by Miami-Dade County Public schools to provide extra-curricular bus transportation services. The notices resulted in the receipt of one (1) bid from the Franmar Corporation (see Attachment A).

The ITB states that the lowest responsive, responsible bidder meeting the requirements of the ITB would be recommended for award.  Staff has verified that the bid submitted by the Franmar Corporation is responsive and has met the requirements of the ITB. Following is a summary of the bidder.

Franmar Corporation

Serving for over 40 years, Franmar Corporation has provided bus transportation services throughout all of Miami-Dade County.  The City has received positive feedback from the references, including the Miami Dade County Public Schools.  Franmar is the City's incumbent service provider and has provided excellent service under the current agreement.

The Procurement Department contacted several licensed companies to determine why they chose not to submit a bid. Primarily, firms responded that the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in fleet reductions or that the current fleet did not meet the requirement that vehicles be no more than eight years old. One firm that had bid and been awarded in the past, but with whom the City had several performance issues, decided not to respond to the ITB. 

A pricing analysis indicates that the prices submitted are the same as the prices on the current contract, despite it being executed in 2016. Therefore, the City will not experience cost escalations as a result of this new award.

Funding for bus transportation services is subject to the approval of funds through the City’s budgeting process. For fiscal years 2018 and 2019, the average annual expenditures for the services has totaled $67,000. Fiscal year 2020 was not utilized in calculating average annual expenditure because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida accept the City Manager’s recommendation to award a contract to the Franmar Corporation, the sole responsive, responsible bidder, pursuant to ITB 2021-094-AY for bus transportation services.