Transit Agency Intergovernmental Agreements: Common Issues and Solutions (2012)

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12 III. TRANSIT AGENCIES’ USE OF IGAS AND MOUS The uses of IGAs and MOUs are quite varied. The uses include an agency serving as the host agency for the region’s metropolitan planning organization (MOU),117 providing public transit service in an area outside of an agency’s legal service area in general or for a specific purpose,118 acquiring land for streetcar expansion,119 furnishing emergency replacement bus service,120 and maintaining busways and link-up ser- vices for intermodal transfers.121 The agreements have been used for grade separation projects, station and parking lot development, station improve- ment/upgrades, road development and exchanges of property,122 and transportation projects123 such as with the state department of transportation (DOT).124 Other uses include leasing land or property, temporarily using transit assets,125 and agencies’ pooling to obtain liability insurance or for fuel hedging.126 The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX) employs joint funding agreements to authorize cost-sharing re- sponsibilities and transit license agreements to place shelters on private property. The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) stated that it has used IGAs to utilize the expertise of staff employed by other jurisdictions, and to provide TriMet staff to other jurisdictions. [An] example is in planning projects.….We often use MOUs preliminary to IGAs to outline each party’s expectations but we do not use MOUs for binding arrangements or where payments are involved. We utilize IGAs to pass through federal funding to subrecipients and to receive grant funding obtained from other governmen- tal entities. We use IGAs to procure governmental ser- vices for TriMet such as tax administration by the state for the agency and transit police services with other local jurisdictions in the TriMet service district area. In addi- tion, IGAs are utilized for cooperation in various operat- ing programs such as agreements for specialized services for State of Oregon Medicaid brokerage services, ADA paratransit services funding, special programs such as data sharing and technology development, regional tele- communications and security operations. The Washington Transit Agency (Whatcom) states that it uses IGAs and MOUs with regard to its Internet 117 Survey response of CDTA. 118 Survey response of Access Transp. Systems. 119 Survey response of Central Arkansas Transit Auth. 120 Survey response of CT Transit. 121 Survey response of Metra. 122 Id. 123 Survey response of Greater Cleveland RTA. 124 Survey response of Metro-North (used for joint funding, operation, and maintenance of the New Haven Line and branch line service in Connecticut and with New Jersey Tran- sit for the Western Hudson service). 125 Survey response of Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit Dist. (MetroLink). 126 Survey response of Stark Area Regional Transit Author- ity (SARTA). connection, city communication system, signal preemp- tion system, police services, city right-of-way, ring net- work protocols, Public Transportation Benefit Area ser- vices, surplus property services, Unified Certification Program, and student pass program, as well as the use of vehicles.127 Transit agencies have entered into agreements with all levels of government and governmental units or agencies. For example, Whatcom named the State of Washington, Ben Franklin Transit, Lummi Nation Transit, Pierce Transit, Spokane Transit Authority, C- TRAN (Vancouver, Washington), the cities of Seattle and Bellingham, King and Whatcom Counties, the Whatcom Council of Governments, and Western Wash- ington University. As for other uses of IGAs and MOUs, the Capital District Transportation Agency (CDTA) said that it has MOUs with a number of institutions (primarily colleges and universities) regarding bus operations to the insti- tutions and access of their students, faculty, and staff to CDTA’s services; that it partners with a number of or- ganizations to support development that is supportive of transit services; that it has used “piggyback” options on vehicle purchases and has allowed others the same option on their purchases; and that as for third-party responsibilities, CDTA has used MOUs with local gov- ernments for planning studies and other projects when the municipality is responsible for local match. LYNX explained that the use of IGAs and MOUs provides LYNX with “flexibility in creating legally bind- ing documents that define the roles and responsibilities of each party” and that some of the documents may be “linked to a procurement in which parties outside of LYNX have responsibilities such as providing a local match or in-kind contribution.” The Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority (Metra) in Illinois stated that it is a special district that works with many municipalities in the development, operation, and maintenance of stations through IGAs. The Greater Portland Transit District in Maine said that it uses the agreements for its bus operations and Americans with Disabilities Act services, the ownership of facilities and landlord/tenant responsibilities, student ridership discounts and monthly passes in cooperation with its partners, and state participation with respect to third-party responsibilities. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transporta- tion Agency (Los Angeles MTA or LACMTA) stated that it has “used agreements and MOUs to document all understandings and agreements with other cities and agencies.…LACMTA has also used [the agreements] for training with college districts.” Omnitrans in California stated that it “prefers to use a cooperative agreement (i.e., IGA) for specific projects that require greater specificity, involve specific deadlines or timetables or concern complex interagency issues.” Some agencies explained that IGAs are used for agreements with out- 127 Survey response of Washington Transit Authority (WTA).