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AN ORDINANCE relating to establishing a fee for on-demand use of King County-owned bicycle lockers at Metro transit passenger facilities; and adding a new section in to K.C.C. Title 4A.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. The transit division, also known as Metro, has operated a bicycle locker program since the mid-1990s. The objective of the program is to encourage transit passengers to access transit facilities by bicycle. The lockers provide secure bicycle parking that protects bicycles from weather, theft, and vandalism. Lockers are leased to individuals on an annual basis. The program is popular, and there is a waiting list at about half of all existing bike locker sites.
2. When compared to the current system of reserved lockers, on-demand lockers operated by other transit agencies and municipalities in California have been shown to serve five to seven times as many cyclists per year.
3. Metro has secured a federal grant to test a program involving on-demand bicycle lockers. The program would allow transit passengers to use any participating locker at any Metro facility on an hourly basis, rather than lease a single locker at one facility for a year. Bicycle lockers would be available to those who purchase an access card in advance. Metro would charge an hourly fee for on-demand use. The access card would be debited based on the number of hours used at a time.
4. Metro plans to install and test on-demand bike lockers at multiple sites throughout the county for public use. These sites include Convention Place, Northgate Transit Center, Aurora Village Transit Center, Kenmore Park-and-Ride, Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride, South Sammamish Park-and-Ride, Eastgate Park-and-Ride, South Kirkland Park-and-Ride, Renton Transit Center and Tukwila Park-and-Ride. On-demand bicycle lockers would be offered as a service for a fee. Free bike racks would remain available at each facility, in addition to the existing locker program based on annual rentals, for those who do not wish to use the on-demand service.
5. The costs of an on-demand bike locker program include, but are not limited to, customer call center support, maintenance of electronic equipment by the vendor, cardholder information database tools, local field support, usage tracking and cleaning.
6. Metro has determined that an appropriate initial minimum fee for use of an on-demand bike locker program would be five cents per hour, which would cost a user approximately eleven dollars per month to use a locker five days a week, ten hours per day. Metro determined this initial fee based on the department of transportation's internal review of all cost considerations for operation and maintenance of an on-demand locker program, as well as expert opinion from equipment vendors and professionals in the field.
7. K.C.C. 2.99.030.G.2. requires that enterprise fund fees be established by ordinance. K.C.C. 4.08.265 establishes the public transportation fund as a first-tier fund for the public transportation enterprise.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. A. Section 3 of this ordinance establishes fees for on-demand use of King County bicycle lockers.
B. The fees are imposed in accordance with K.C.C. 2.99.030.G.2.
SECTION 2. Section 3 of this ordinance shall constitute a new section in K.C.C. Title 4A.
NEW SECTION. SECTION 3. A. Fees are established for on-demand use of bicycle lockers installed at King County transit passenger facilities to partially offset the cost to establish and operate the on-demand locker program. All fees charged under authority of this section shall be used to support the on-demand locker program. Any revenue collected by the department of transportation under authority of this section shall be deposited into the public transportation operating account of the public transportation fund.
B. The program's costs include, but are not limited to, contract administration, facility construction, operation and maintenance, vendor selection costs and customer support.
C. The department of transportation shall set the fee or a range of fees for on-demand use of bicycle lockers in accordance with this section.
D. The department of transportation shall calculate fees or a range of fees for on-demand bicycle lockers. The initial maximum fee rate for on-demand use of bicycle lockers shall not exceed ten cents per hour. Factors considered in setting the fee include a review of average rates for use of bicycle lockers at other transit agencies; the desire to establish a value for this service; the need to partially recoup operational costs; and recognition that rates should be set low enough to stimulate demand and encourage more people to participate in the on-demand locker program. The department may round up the actual fee charged to the next full hour.
E. The department of transportation shall post fees and rules for on-demand use of bicycle lockers on signs on or near the lockers. The department shall also post the fees, rules and penalties on the department of transportation website.
F. The department of transportation may suspend or revoke use privileges of a user who:
1. Fails to pay the applicable fee;
2. Uses an on-demand bicycle locker for long-term storage;
3. Damages or abuses an on-demand bicycle locker; or
4. Uses any bicycle locker for any purpose other than short-term storage of a bicycle and related bicycle equipment.
G. In addition, the department of transportation may remove or impound property from a bicycle locker for documented failure to comply with posted rules. The department shall make a reasonable, good-faith effort to contact the owner of any property impounded for violation of posted rules, and to return the impounded property to the owner.
H. Within a range of fees set as authorized under subsection C. of this section, the department of transportation may vary the fee for on-demand bicycle locker use where there is a reasonable basis to do so, including, but not limited to factors such as location, time, demand or usage patterns.
I. The department of transportation shall review the fees for on-demand use of bicycle lockers at least once per year.
J. Once the fee or range of fees for on-demand use of bicycle lockers is set, the department of transportation may not increase the hourly fee, or the upper end of the hourly fee range, more than one hundred percent of that which is in place for the hourly fee or range, unless the department is authorized to do so by the council by ordinance. The department may not increase the fees or the upper end of the range of fees for on-demand use of bicycle lockers, within one hundred twenty days of a previous increase to the fee or range, unless the department is authorized to do so by the council by ordinance. However, for the convenience of bicycle locker users, the department may round up an increase in the hourly fee or fee range to the next highest increment of five cents, even if such rounding up would cause the hourly fee or fee range increase to exceed one hundred percent.
K. The department of transportation may contract with a vendor or other agent to operate the on-demand bicycle locker rental program.
L. By March 31 of each year, the executive shall transmit an annual report for the previous calendar year in the form of a paper original and an electronic copy filed with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers. The report shall include:
1. The average daily occupancy of on-demand bicycle lockers and monthly rental information for traditional keyed bicycle lockers at transit passenger facilities;
2. The total revenues, by category, associated with on-demand bicycle lockers;
3. All rate structures in effect;
4. All costs, by category, associated with bicycle lockers, including separate detail on costs specified to on-demand bicycle lockers;
5. An analysis of the on-demand bicycle locker program's effectiveness; and
6. Recommendations, as appropriate, for rate and code changes to both maximize use of the bicycle lockers and maximize cost recovery for the county.
advertising requirements
Off icial paper, 10 days prior