A management company is being sought to take over the operations of Dial a Ride in Benton Harbor.
At a Tuesday meeting of the Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority Board, TCATA Deputy Director Tressa Greschak updated members on a Request for Information the service has issued. With TCATA Interim Director Todd Shurn set to leave at the end of September, the board feels a reset of Dial a Ride is needed.
Greschak said Tuesday the search for parties that may want to take over has gotten off to a good start. There are only a few minor problems.
“It looks like the largest issue we have right now with respondents is some of them do one thing but not another thing,” Greschak said. “They might do transit but they don’t have an app. So we’ve encouraged them to work together so we can have one contract and then they can basically subcontract out.”
Greschak said the nearest company to have reached out is from Detroit, but she believes it would fire local.
“Even if they’re not a local company, they will largely have to hire local people, right? They’re not going to go to Detroit to hire drivers, probably.”
Greschak said she’ll be back next month with more information, and at that time a Request for Proposals could be issued to make an actual hire.
One possible benefit of hiring a management company to run Dial a Ride would be lower insurance costs. The board was told Monday while Dial a Ride’s revenues this year have been up, so have costs, and that’s because of fleet repairs, wages, and higher insurance. The service was dropped by its previous insurer in September and had to sign up for a more expensive policy that also brings with it higher deductibles.
The goal is to have a management company take over Dial a Ride by the time Shurn leaves on September 30.
