1. Innovative Ways to Perform Exemplary Contractor Oversight
Two Case Studies – METRO & SMART
FTA National Training, Little Rock, AR - April 16 – 17, 2014

2. Innovative Ways to Perform Exemplary Contractor Oversight
Case Study # 1

3. FTA Drug and Alcohol Conference Contractor Oversight and Compliance

4. The Metropolitan Council is the regional policy-making body, planning agency, and provider of essential services for the Twin Cities metropolitan region.

5. The Council’s essential services enhance the region’s
quality of life and economic competitiveness.
We:
Operate Metro Transit, serving 81 million bus and rail passengers in 2012 with award-winning, energy-efficient fleets. Our strategic investments support a growing network of bus, rail and transit ways, and transit oriented development
Collect and treat wastewater at rates 40% lower than peer regions, while winning national awards for excellence.
Work to ensure adequate clean water for the future, through our water supply planning and lake and river monitoring programs.
Plan for future growth in partnership with communities and the public.
Plan, acquire and develop a world-class regional parks and trail system.
Provide affordable housing for qualifying low-income residents.

6. Metro Transit
Major Transit Provider for Twin Cities Metropolitan Region 2013 Provided 81,368,750 rides Fleet of Vehicles including Bus, Light Rail and Commuter Rail 2,800+ Employees 2,540 Safety Sensitive Employees 1,700+ Drug or Alcohol Tests

7. Metropolitan Transportation Services (MTS)
Service Owner 8 Service Contractors(1 subcontractor) 5 Paratransit Services (Metro Mobility) 4 Dial a Ride Services (Transit Link) 3 Local Services 2 Express Services ,454,963 Rides 800+ Vehicles

8. MTS
Oversight Responsibility for: 6 Service owners 9 Contractors 6 Local Services 6 Express Services 2 Dial a Ride Services ,168,656 Rides

9. Drug and Alcohol Program
Metro Transit
HR Manager for Occupational Health (FTE .5)
HR Assistant for Occupational Health (FTE .5)
MTS
Project Manager (FTE .3)
Two Graduate School Interns

10. MTS D & A Program Manager
Review provider policies and provide feedback and assistance with revisions if necessary -Notify providers of annual MIS reporting deadline (written notice) -Review all MIS reports in DAMIS prior to submission deadline -Review random testing charts semi-annually -Perform on-site audits (post accident and random testing, etc) at least once per year -Ongoing resource for regional providers

11. Graduate School Interns
Recruited from Public Policy Graduate Programs
Full time in the summer and part time during school year
Hired to perform portions of sub-recipient oversight of MTS Contractors and Suburban Transit Providers
Conduct mock collections at both collections sites and at transit garages for Metro Transit

12. Intern Duties Review 1/3 of contractors and sub-recipients annually
Research changes in regulations
Use triennial workbook as a base for review
Initially conduct a desk review
Conduct onsite review
Develop findings and recommendations
Follow up is done by MTS

13. Desk Review Policies MIS Form Training Materials Service Agents
Service Agent and contractor oversight plan and/or documentation of monitoring activities for Collection Site, Laboratory, MRO, SAP, BAT and STT
Monitoring activities for contractors and safety sensitive employees
Summary of consortium pool the employer is in

14. On-Site Review Testing logs Test results Decision making processes
Follow-up on positives
Records of inspection, maintenance and calibration of EBT
Credentials of lab, MRO, SAP
Contracts and agreements with service agents
Training attendance lists
Anything that previously required corrective action

15. Results Recent FTA Review Metro Transit and 4 Subcontractors Reviewed
Findings
Policy Manual 37
DAPM 20
Records 21
BAT
Urine Collection 9
MRO
SAP
Total 96

16. FTA Drug and Alcohol Conference

17. Oversight Discussion Case Study # 1
Innovative Ways to Perform Exemplary Contractor Oversight
Case Study # 1
Oversight Discussion
What are your similarities to this structure?
What ways are you able to adopt some of METRO’s methods?
What techniques are you unable to adopt? Why?
What oversight techniques could you recommend?

18. Innovative Ways to Perform Exemplary Contractor Oversight
Case Study # 2

19. Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation
FTA Drug and Alcohol Conference
April 15-17, 2014

20. Background Established in 1967
Southeast Michigan’s only regional public transportation
Fixed-Route and Connector Paratransit Services
Covers 1,200 square miles
Nearly 11 million rides annually
As the only regional public transportation provider, SMART offering convenient, reliable and safe transportation for a three county wide area, cover 1,200 square miles. SMART’s Fixed-Route and Connector services connect seniors, students, and professions to employment, educational institutions, medical facilities, and shopping centers. SMART is supported by federal and state funding, local contributions through a transit property tax millage from opt-in communities and bus fares.

21. D&A Program Administration
SMART
Internal
Human Resources
Fixed Route
Connector Service
External D&A Coordinator/ Ombudsman
Community Partnership
Maintenance Contractors
Lake Erie Transit
The Drug & Alcohol Program is administered as an internal program which is over-seen by the Authority’s Human Resources Department and the external program that is independently run under the Authority’s Drug & Alcohol Coordinator and Community Ombudsman program. The internal program covers the Authority’s operational services and the external program has oversight of the Community Partnership Program, Maintenance Contractors, and the transportation provider for Monroe County.

22. Community Partnership Program
Established in 1995 to provide vehicles and operational support to local communities
Supports 75 communities and organizations
CPP Transit Services are tailored to the needs of the community
In 1995 SMART established a community partnership program which is the only program of its kind in the United States. We have partnerships with 75 communities and organizations throughout a 1200 sq. mile service area. Through the program SMART provides vehicles and operational support so that municipalities or service organizations can operate local bus service that meets the specific transit needs within their community as long as the use of the vehicles does not violate any state or federal regulations. The program has allowed the Authority to extend its service capability with a greater flexibility. These programs benefits seniors and people with disabilities who depend on public transit.

23. Regulatory Responsibility
All partnerships are operating “in the shoes” of the Authority
Subject to 49 CFR §40.1(a)(b)
Vehicles provided to the partnerships are Revenue Service Vehicles which are titled to the Authority
Because the partnerships are Operating “in the shoes” of our Authority they are subject to 49 CFR §40.1(a)(b) The Authority has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all the partnership and maintenance contractors meet all regulatory requirements. The vehicles purchased for this program are Revenue Service Vehicles titled to the Authority.
Revenue service vehicle are considered floating and rolling stock that is available to the general public with a reasonable expectation of provided services for the following :
Passengers that directly pay fares
Are subsidized by public policy
Provide payment through some contractual arrangement
Vehicles operated in 'free fare' service are considered in revenue service

24. Program Oversight
As the Drug and Alcohol Coordinator, I am responsible for the oversight of 76 programs which are uniquely organized and independently governed.
Bottom line I am directly responsible for program effectiveness for all 76 programs

25. Challenges

26. Challenges
The Partnerships are mostly municipalities or Non-profit organizations with no transit experience and have issues such as:
Lack of knowledge
Limited Staffing
Limited Resources/Funding
because these programs are mostly municipalities or Non-profit organizations, challenges such as of lack of knowledge, limited staffing, limited resources, and funding hamper their ability to effectively run an independent transportation operation.

27. Solutions
At the Authority support for these programs are provided by a dedicated Ombudsman for each county and a Drug and Alcohol Coordinator who is directly responsible for testing oversight of each program.

28. Assistance
The key element for both the ombudsman and the D&A Coordinator oversight is assistance.
Be a regulation expert
Audit Assistance
Creating a standard policy
Find the most efficient but economical way to maintain their programs

29. FTA Audit August 2014 Findings Polices Collection Sites
Third Party Administrators
One of the most recent was in August 2014 the FTA Audited the Authority
The findings indicated that some corrections were required to the Authority’s program. The following items were identified and have already been corrected:
Policies Both the Authority and contractors required corrections to their policies to ensure that the policies correctly outlined how each program conducted their testing.
Collection Sites Both the Authority and contractors had had the following Issues:
Communications require the establishment of passwords to ensure that proper transmission of information was only passed to the DAPM
Numerous errors were found on several Custody Control Forms which required correction affidavits
Ghosting was found on all of the CCF’s reviewed which indicated that the collector was having the subject initial the tamper seal while it was still on the form.
The several CCF’s had the wrong regulatory agency marked
One of contractors had an onsite collection, the auditor found that a mirror in the bathroom was a medicine cabinet and could have been used to hide items to throw the test result.
Third Party Administers one of the contractors required a password to ensure that proper transmission of test results or information was only passed to the DAPM
The FTA Drug & Alcohol program is similar to my Coast Guard experience, from which many of the procedures I established helped the contractors prepare for their audit. Over the past five years I have implemented many of the procedures I will talk about during this presentation.

30. Key Elements
Contractors who perform Safety-Sensitive functions must meet all requirements of Parts 655 & 40 and must have:
Knowledgeable DAPM
Compliant Policy
Testing
Record Keeping
Training
To be in compliance each contractor must have these elements.

31. What to Look for in an Audit
Knowledgeable DAPM
Compliant Policy
Are they part of a consortium?
Readily apparent test processes
All applicable training & certifications
Info for a qualified SAP
DAMIS Compliance
KNOWLEDGEABLE DAPM
Are they in the testing pool
Have they had training on how to perform their duties
Do they utilize guiding forms
Are they trained to perform reasonable suspicion determinations
Do they have good communications and passwords with
SAP
MRO
Collection site
Do they maintain a follow-up schedule
COMPLIANT POLICY
Up-to-date
Tailored to Meet the needs of the organization
Knowledgeable DAPM
Compliant policies
ARE THEY PART OF A CONSORTIUM?
Readily apparent test processes
All applicable training & certifications
Info for a qualified SAP
DAMIS compliance
READILY APPARENT TEST PROCESSES
Pre-Employment
Back ground checks
Removal from the pool
Random Testing
Adequately Spread
Minimum testing rates
Post-Accident Testing
Must meet FTA testing thresholds, time requirements
Documentation
Return-to-Duty/Follow-up Testing
Testing rate, documentation
Observed
ALL APPLICABLE TRAINING & CERTIFICATIONS
Drug and alcohol awareness
Reasonable suspicion
Has it been documented
INFORMATION FOR A QUALIFIED SAP
Do they have a contracted SAP
Is the SAP Certified for Safety Sensitive programs
Is the certification current
Is the SAPs role clearly defined in the policy
DAMIS COMPLIANCE
Are they correctly reporting their testing numbers
Are they listing the tests under the proper job description
Are they only reporting FTA Safety Sensitive employees

32. Tools DAMIS Reporting Program Policy Files/Spreadsheets
Knowledge of Contractors’ Operation
Comprehensive Knowledge of Regulations
Audits
DAMIS Reporting
Each programs DAMIS report is reviewed for:
Any issues that will require updates or corrective actions
Random testing (are they meeting their percentages)
Accidents (Check sheets, testing performed)
Reasonable suspicion (Documentation)
Return to duty testing /follow up testing (Direct observation, frequency)
Testing percentage
Program Policy
Each policy should provide a detailed process of the how the contractor runs its program
The policy must provide contact information for:
DAPM
TPA
Collection site(s)
SAP
Knowledge of contractors operation
Visit the contractor
What kind of service do they perform
How is it structured
Are the FTA regulated employees in a pool with employees regulated by another transit administration (i.e. FMCSA, USCG)
Files/Spread Sheets
Create simple “go-to” binders:
Contact information
Correspondence
Current policy  
MIS reports
Audit documentation /follow-up
Use a basic spreadsheet to collect pertinent info and to keep consistent, accurate info about your contractor’s compliance status. Be sure to keep sensitive data secure.
Comprehensive knowledge of the regulations
Each of your contractors may operate under more than one regulatory agency
Audits
All the tools mentioned should provide good information to prepare for your audit
Use the interview check list used by FTA auditors to determine compliance

33. Oversight Discussion Case Study # 2
Innovative Ways to Perform Exemplary Contractor Oversight
Case Study # 2
Oversight Discussion
What are your similarities to this structure?
What ways are you able to adopt some of SMART’s methods?
What techniques are you unable to adopt? Why?
What oversight techniques could you recommend?