Asucd Long-Range Plan s2

ASUCD LONG-RANGE PLAN STS/Tipsy Taxi

I. PURPOSE AND HISTORY

Tipsy Taxi and Specialized Transportation Services (STS) were previously two separate commercial units of the Associated Students of University California, Davis (ASUCD) that merged into one commercial unit called STS/Tipsy Taxi in 2006.

Tipsy Taxi was established in 1985 by ASUCD to provide undergraduate students with on-call transportation services during the weekend evening and early morning hours. The purpose was to provide students with a reliable and convenient mode of safe transportation between various locations throughout Davis.

In 2003, STS was established to provide transportation services for special events and functions to various student and campus-related organizations as well as to any member of the general public. STS was able to consistently generate profit from its operations until 2008 when a federal law known as the “Final Charter Rule” was passed. The transportation law requires that, as a recipient of federal funds, STS make each offer to a prospective customer, known as a bid, available to all private charters in the surrounding Yolo County area. The law left STS severely diminished in its ability to produce revenue and be a self-sufficient unit.

STS/Tipsy Taxi briefly partnered with the now defunct U-DASH shuttle program, which temporarily boosted its income. Although the shuttle was not a part of ASUCD, Tipsy Taxi provided a number of minibuses for the program. When U-DASH was cancelled in March of 2010, the unit was paid for its time and resources and did not incur any losses.

II. PERSONNEL

For the 2010-2011 budget, STS/TT has seven (7) paid positions: Director, Assistant to the Director, Clerk, Tipsy Taxi Supervisor, Tipsy Taxi Driver, STS Supervisor, and STS Driver.

Director (1): The Director supervises the operations and ensures that the unit is operating as efficiently and smoothly as possible. The director conducts job performance evaluations throughout the quarter to assess each employee of the unit into effect any necessary changes to operations. The Director is responsible for handling large charters and completing all paperwork pertaining to compliance to federal transportation standards. He or she also maintains payroll, monitors the budget and ensures that any revenue earned goes directly to ASUCD capital reserves. The Director regularly meets with the Unitrans General Manager to discuss matters relating to the coordination of operations. The Director also serves as a link to ASUCD by regularly reporting to the ASUCD Senate and working closely with ASUCD Senators and the Controller.

Assistant (1): The assistant to the Director handles paperwork. The assistant also assists the Director in operational matters and is present during office hours.

Office Clerks (2): The Office Clerks are responsible for staffing the office during opening hours and assuming the responsibilities of the Assistant should that individual be absent.

Dispatcher (Tipsy Taxi Supervisors, 16): Supervisors answer every call that is received through Tipsy Taxi’s phone line and are delegated the task of creating routes for the drivers. They dispatch drivers and continually monitor the radio used for communication between drivers and the supervisors. They also are responsible for organizing logs containing each student that uses Tipsy Taxi services and all relevant information. Upon the office’s closing, supervisors close and lock the STS/Tipsy Taxi offices. These positions are hired by the unit and are not affiliated with Unitrans or its operations.

Supervisor (STS Supervisors, 15): A supervisor is a Unitrans supervisor and is not hired by the unit. To make sure that all the buses are safely functioning, that they have been properly inspected and

Senate Bill #24 Passed by Senate on November 18, 2010 cleaned, and that there are enough space for the safe transportation for a charter event. They are responsible for any road calls, mechanical errors, hazard spills, and wrong turns.

Tipsy Taxi Drivers (175): Drivers are hired and employed by Unitrans, but work under the supervision of the Director and the supervisors. For every shift, the driver must check in and check out with the Supervisors. Before operating the vehicle, the driver conducts a vehicle safety check and also makes sure that the vehicle is in good operating condition at all times. The driver picks up and drops off passengers at various locations arranged by the supervisors through the radio. In addition, drivers must exercise good judgment at all times and have the right to refuse service to any passenger.

STS Drivers (175): Drivers are hired and employed by Unitrans. They fulfill the driving standards to operate a charter by accumulating a specified number of safe driving hours. They drive large groups of people to and from events.

STS Conductor (16): The conductor is a Unitrans double decker conductor and is not hired by the unit. The conductor must be present on any vintage double deck charter and helps with the safe operation of the vehicle.

Future Plans 1. Upon the decision to expand operation, hire additional employees to accommodate larger ridership. Revert the Clerk position to a full-time position.

III. OPERATIONS

Tipsy Taxi Operations: Supervisors manage the phone lines during operational hours and answer each call that is received. The passenger will provide their name, the addresses of their pick-up and drop- off location, and the number of people in their party. The Supervisor will record this information and then provide an estimated pick up time. The Supervisor will plan a route by using a GPS program, which considers the location of each vehicle, and then communicate it to the drivers. In a given night, 4 vans will be in operation across the city.

Policy: Vans will wait only 5 minutes past their estimate pick up. If nobody is there within that time, the supervisor will send the driver to another address. There is a strict no-alcohol tolerance policy. Also, students who appear to be extremely intoxicated will not be permitted on board. No illegal substances are permitted on board. If any are found, the driver must immediately call the police. No transportation is offered to Sutter Hospital.

STS Operations: A group will contact the unit for operations and the unit will send an E-mail to other charter companies. These approximately 150 private charter companies then have 72 hours to submit their own bid specifying a minimum number of hours and a price. If a bid is placed, STS legally cannot offer their transportation services to the prospective charter.

Federal Standards: The Unit must regularly complete documents to ensure compliance with federal transportation standards. Whenever a charter is requested, strict documentation is kept in the event the unit is audited by the Federal Transit Administration.

Facilities: Operational facilities are currently located at the Unitrans maintenance yard on LaRue Road. Administrative offices located in the South Hall basement currently provide sufficient amount of space.

Future Plans 1. Reinstate Tipsy Taxi service on Thursday nights. 2. Extend hours of operations, having Tipsy Taxi begin at 9PM rather than 10PM. 3. Create an online reservation system for Tipsy Taxi and a website with its own domain, to include a mobile version, to increase ridership and to reduce volume of calls.

Senate Bill #24 Passed by Senate on November 18, 2010 4. Expand advertising through the Internet to increase ridership. 5. Consider amending the reservation system or implementing another one to reduce losses incurred from frequent cancellations of reservations. 6. With the vacation of offices by others in the basement in South Hall, STS/Tipsy Taxi will seek its own office.

IV. FINANCE The Unit’s projected income for the 2010-2011 school year is $42,500 and the projected total of expenses is $75,319. Accordingly, it receives a subsidy of $32,819 to cover its remaining expenses.

Detailed Projected income: Charter Sales and Farebox Recovery are listed as line items for projected Income in the 2010-2011 budget. The total of Charter Sales is estimated to amount to $30,000. Farebox Recovery, an account for revenue generated from Tipsy Taxi fares, is estimated to amount to $12,500. Detailed Projected expenses: The bulk of the Unit’s programmatic expenses come from salaries. The budget for the Unit’s Salaries totals $41,670. Hourly wages and salaries for all positions have been reduced for the following fiscal year. In the salary portion: a. Total Employee Benefits totaling to $2,334. b. Mail is a $15 line-item. c. Office Supplies is a $50 line-item. d. Telephone Equipment is a $1,400 line-item. This is the cost of maintaining the telephone equipment used by Tipsy Taxi and the monthly phone bill. e. Telephone Long Distance is a $80 line-item that covers the cost of long distance phone calls received through Tipsy Taxi operations. f. Cleaning equipment has a budget of $150. This covers the cost of cleaning products that are used to clean vans. g. $1,500 is allocated for Insurance, which covers all four of their vehicles. h. The Unit has a $7,000 budget for Equipment Rental for the cost to rent from Unitrans 40-foot for STS charter. i. The Unit has $200 Employee Development, which is used to pay for employees to attend Unitrans’ leadership retreats. j. $100 is allocated for Cleanup Gift Cards. Gift cards are given to employees who clean up vehicles of hazardous spills for STS charter events. k. Allowance for Uncollectables is a $300 line item. l. Replacement reserve is a $6,010 line item. m. $3,560 is allocated to Administrative Recharge for services such as purchase orders and payroll. n. ASUCD-Unitrans recharge is a $5,000 line item to accommodate overtime. o. $5,600 is allocated to ASUCD-Tipsy Repair for the repair costs for Tipsy Taxi vehicles.

Salaries: Unit personnel are paid by stipend. Director: The Director receives a stipend of $7,550 at a pay rate of $13 per hour plus longevity bonuses. Assistant: The Assistant Director receives a stipend of $2,530 at a pay rate of $8.75 per hours plus longevity bonuses. STS Conductor: The Conductor receives a stipend of $250 at a pay rate of $8.25 per hour plus standard longevity. Tipsy Taxi Supervisor: $11.50 plus standard longevity. Tipsy Taxi Drivers: A Tipsy Taxi driver earns $10.25 per hour plus standard longevity of 25 cents for every additional year worked. STS Driver: $9.75 per hour plus standard longevity. Supervisor in Training: A supervisor earns $8.00 per hour for training drivers plus standard longevity. Tipsy Taxi Scheduler Meeting: This is compensation for supervisors when meetings are called during non-office hours such as over the weekend. Compensation is $8/hr.

Senate Bill #24 Passed by Senate on November 18, 2010 Rates: As of November 2010, the rates are as follows: Tipsy Taxi: The cost of a single ride is $2. Passes are also available for 5 rides for $10 and 10 rides for $18. STS: The Unit has recently restructured their charter prices $200 deposit fee for all parties.

Affiliated with School: Standard Bus: $60 per hour and $1.25 per mile per bus Double Decker: $70 per hour and $1.75 per mile per bus Non-Affiliated: 10% Increase Standard Bus: $66 per hour and $1.25 per mile per bus Double Decker: $77 per hour and $1.75 per mile per bus.

Future Plans 1. Minimize overtime hours for positions paid by the unit to reduce salary expenses. 2. Arrange for one-ride tickets and package passes to be sold at a centralized location on campus. 3. Expand STS ridership by concentrating on the Greek organization, campus-related groups, alumni functions, weddings, etc. 4. Replace larger vehicles such as the minibus with smaller vehicles such as the passenger vans due to cheaper maintenance costs and fuel costs. 5. Acquire additional phones to reduce call-waiting time. 6. Purchase vans to be used exclusively for Tipsy Taxi. 7. Possibly partner with on-campus or campus-related organizations to receive additional sources of funding. 8. Establish other forms of acceptable payment besides cash, i.e. credit cards, UC Davis student identification card.

V. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

STS/Tipsy Taxi uses a minimal quantity of paper and employees in the administrative office always recycle documents. All lights are turned off when the offices are closed.

All of the Unit’s vehicles operate on natural gas.

Future Plans 1. To reduce fuel consumption, replace larger vehicles such as the minibus with smaller vehicles such as the passenger vans. 2. Collect all used light bulbs and dispose of them properly. 3. Print double-sided.

VI. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The Director handles all collaborations with external sources. The director maintains contact with the ASUCD President, the ASUCD Senate, and the ASUCD Controller.

The Director also meets with the General Manager of Unitrans at least once a week to discuss the loan of vehicles, long-range plans, and operational matters.

Future Plans 1. Look into the possibility of collaborating with the Greek community to provide transportation to and from events on a regular basis. 2. Consider creating a series of partnerships with businesses in the Downtown Davis Business Association for transportation to and from bars.

Senate Bill #24 Passed by Senate on November 18, 2010