"Where Olmsted County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:36:49, May 15th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Though I hated to see you reference Glenn Beck by name [Three Times ... [Read More]
- 11:42:07, May 10th 2013 - yenken - I feel very sorry for those who have commented do far, as when you stand fa ... [Read More]
- 12:10:25, Apr 26th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Mr. "Cabtrom's" garbage-out[burst]--in response to Ms. Reisner's w ... [Read More]
- 9:51:50, Apr 24th 2013 - jeff pischke - To Jerry Grehl, the number to the fillmore county sheriffs office is 7 ... [Read More]
- 9:27:24, Apr 22nd 2013 - Cabtrom - Blah blah blah, garbage in garbage out! ... [Read More]
- 7:00:49, Apr 11th 2013 - Donald Pierce - Col. Stan Gudmundson hit most of the important nails squarly on the h ... [Read More]
- 12:44:54, Apr 4th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - My compliments to Ms. Hammer for giving us well-crafted "Rachel Rea ... [Read More]
- 5:09:06, Apr 3rd 2013 - truthiness - I see this is dated April 1. That explains it! ... [Read More]
- 12:04:33, Apr 3rd 2013 - Frank W. Hawthorne - Say WHAT?!? Stan's American-Pie [In SKY] is Falling--Not Again? ... [Read More]
- 12:40:21, Mar 29th 2013 - Jacob - It's a shame that so few people care about making their voices heard. If we ... [Read More]
29
How will you keep your kids busy this summer vacation?
Rochester City Lines must alter route times, council says
Mon, Jun 25th, 2012
Posted in Rochester Government
Posted in Rochester Government
Comments
By Nate Langworthy
After Rochester City Lines failed to procure a competitive bid to continue to manage Rochester’s bus transit system as they have done for the past 46 years, the company continues to up the ante in court.
Twice thwarted in efforts to halt the bidding process by seeking restraining orders against the city, Rochester City Lines has expanded it’s lawsuit against the city, centering around it’s claim to routes and schedules as proprietary intellectual property developed over their time operating the buses, the company has placed incoming transit operator, First Transit, individual city council members and staff on the list of defendants.
The routes and schedules have historically been developed in a collaborative effort between Rochester city lines and public works staff. However, City Lines attorney Steven Diaz asserted that the transit operating know-how rests with his client.
“If you took Dan Holter (RCL general manager) and threw him in jail…and you left (Tony) Knauer (city transit director) to run the system, your buses would stop,” said Diaz.
The issue of intellectual property spilled over into a council hearing, as City Lines proposed running buses with a new fleet, on a similar schedule to city-owned buses. Representatives from Rochester police and fire departments spoke against allowing this schedule due to safety concerns that doubling the number of buses on the second street downtown transit hub would bring. The public safety officials warned that pedestrian safety would be jeopardized and the path of emergency vehicles could be impeded if the request were to be approved.
“They’re right about what they say,” said Diaz, beginning an address to the city council that went on for more than an hour, in which he offered scathing criticism of city public works staff.
“They (public works staff) chose to create this false crisis as part of a deliberate plan to push RCL out of business,” said Diaz.
When asked by council president Dennis Hanson, public works director Richard Freese, denied that this was the motive behind conducting the best value bid process and subsequently awarding the contract to First Transit.
City attorney Terry Atkins shared an earlier decision from Judge Joseph Chase, in which the judge wrote that routes and schedules “are not trade secrets”.
“No legal basis has been brought to my attention that would protect RCL from another bus company simply starting up operations in Rochester and imitating or duplicating service on the routes and schedules RCL runs,” said Atkins read from Judge Chase’s ruling.
“We’re functioning under a mandate from the Federal government,” said council member Randy Staver, reiterating the onus for a competitive bidding process placed on the city by the Federal Transit Administration if the city is to receive aid to operate the system. “We needed to do it. It was crystal clear to the council.”
The council unanimously approved City Lines’ proposed routes for a 90-day trial period with the caveat that they must stagger arrival times to no less than 15 minutes before or after a city bus arrives at a stop and that RCL buses can not identify their buses with route numbers identical to those run by First Transit.
The council also voted to reject a letter of protest for Rochester City Lines, which alleged that Knauer created a conflict of interest by meeting with First Transit general manager Paul Bruharin prior to the opening of the bidding process. In addition, City Lines claimed that the bid’s winner was not in question during the bid process as evidenced by former RCL operations manager Randy Huston and maintenance director Roger Richie joining First Transit before the bid was awarded.
“The facts simply do not support RCL’s continuing claim of bias, prejudice, or predetermination in the evaluation process,” Atkins wrote in a letter responding to the protest. “Even if the scoring of City employee Committee members were discounted completely in the evaluation process, RCL would still have been the fourth ranked firm and the outcome of this procurement would be unchanged.”
Diaz asserted that transfers from commuter buses to transit buses will no longer be honored. However, Knauer stated First Transit has agreed to honor such transfers at least until the end of the year.
After Rochester City Lines failed to procure a competitive bid to continue to manage Rochester’s bus transit system as they have done for the past 46 years, the company continues to up the ante in court.
Twice thwarted in efforts to halt the bidding process by seeking restraining orders against the city, Rochester City Lines has expanded it’s lawsuit against the city, centering around it’s claim to routes and schedules as proprietary intellectual property developed over their time operating the buses, the company has placed incoming transit operator, First Transit, individual city council members and staff on the list of defendants.
The routes and schedules have historically been developed in a collaborative effort between Rochester city lines and public works staff. However, City Lines attorney Steven Diaz asserted that the transit operating know-how rests with his client.
“If you took Dan Holter (RCL general manager) and threw him in jail…and you left (Tony) Knauer (city transit director) to run the system, your buses would stop,” said Diaz.
The issue of intellectual property spilled over into a council hearing, as City Lines proposed running buses with a new fleet, on a similar schedule to city-owned buses. Representatives from Rochester police and fire departments spoke against allowing this schedule due to safety concerns that doubling the number of buses on the second street downtown transit hub would bring. The public safety officials warned that pedestrian safety would be jeopardized and the path of emergency vehicles could be impeded if the request were to be approved.
“They’re right about what they say,” said Diaz, beginning an address to the city council that went on for more than an hour, in which he offered scathing criticism of city public works staff.
“They (public works staff) chose to create this false crisis as part of a deliberate plan to push RCL out of business,” said Diaz.
When asked by council president Dennis Hanson, public works director Richard Freese, denied that this was the motive behind conducting the best value bid process and subsequently awarding the contract to First Transit.
City attorney Terry Atkins shared an earlier decision from Judge Joseph Chase, in which the judge wrote that routes and schedules “are not trade secrets”.
“No legal basis has been brought to my attention that would protect RCL from another bus company simply starting up operations in Rochester and imitating or duplicating service on the routes and schedules RCL runs,” said Atkins read from Judge Chase’s ruling.
“We’re functioning under a mandate from the Federal government,” said council member Randy Staver, reiterating the onus for a competitive bidding process placed on the city by the Federal Transit Administration if the city is to receive aid to operate the system. “We needed to do it. It was crystal clear to the council.”
The council unanimously approved City Lines’ proposed routes for a 90-day trial period with the caveat that they must stagger arrival times to no less than 15 minutes before or after a city bus arrives at a stop and that RCL buses can not identify their buses with route numbers identical to those run by First Transit.
The council also voted to reject a letter of protest for Rochester City Lines, which alleged that Knauer created a conflict of interest by meeting with First Transit general manager Paul Bruharin prior to the opening of the bidding process. In addition, City Lines claimed that the bid’s winner was not in question during the bid process as evidenced by former RCL operations manager Randy Huston and maintenance director Roger Richie joining First Transit before the bid was awarded.
“The facts simply do not support RCL’s continuing claim of bias, prejudice, or predetermination in the evaluation process,” Atkins wrote in a letter responding to the protest. “Even if the scoring of City employee Committee members were discounted completely in the evaluation process, RCL would still have been the fourth ranked firm and the outcome of this procurement would be unchanged.”
Diaz asserted that transfers from commuter buses to transit buses will no longer be honored. However, Knauer stated First Transit has agreed to honor such transfers at least until the end of the year.
No Comments Yet. Be the first to comment!
