Board approves ninth amendment to Serco parking-meter contract after questions about competitive bidding

The Board of Supervisors on June 8 approved a resolution authorizing the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) to execute a ninth amendment to the Serco parking meter collection and management contract, extending the term and increasing the not-to-exceed amount.

Supervisor David Campos pressed the SFMTA for details about why the agency has amended the contract repeatedly since it was first awarded following a 2002 competitive solicitation and why the department had not issued a fresh request for proposals (RFP) after earlier amendments that included substantive technology changes.

“The purpose of going through a competitive bid process is that it allows us as a city to make sure that, in fact, we are getting the best deal possible for taxpayers,” Campos said, pressing SFMTA staff and the contract administrator about the rationale for another noncompetitive extension.

Lorraine Fuqua, SFMTA contract administrator for the meter contract, told the board that most of the earlier amendments were housekeeping; only a few changed the term or not-to-exceed amounts. She said the agency planned a yearlong SF Park pilot to gather data on new payment technologies — including credit/debit, parking cards, and pay-by-cell — and that the pilot’s results would inform a future citywide procurement.

“We will receive some really, really good data. The pilot is going to run… and then we’ll have about six months to examine our findings,” Fuqua said, describing sensor and payment testing under the SF Park program.

Supervisor Campos and the budget analyst both expressed continued concern that the city had asked the board repeatedly to allow noncompetitive extensions without returning with a completed RFP. The budget analyst said he had “not heard any reason in my judgment… why this contract could not be competitively bid.”

The board voted to adopt the resolution. The roll call shows the item passed with seven ayes and four no votes.

What the board approved was a ninth amendment to the Serco contract to extend the term and increase the contract amount to allow continued meter collections and to support pilot deployments of new parking technologies. SFMTA said the agency expects pilot data to justify future specifications and to reduce uncertainty about operations such as coin-collection staffing levels.

The board record shows members asked the agency to return with pilot results and clearer justification for any further extensions or forgoing an RFP.

Votes at a glance: the resolution to approve the ninth amendment passed on a roll call tally of 7 ayes, 4 noes.