City of Wichita officials on Tuesday announced plans to cancel an $800,000 management contract with First Transit, the Cincinnati-based passenger transportation company that manages the local transit system.
Interim City Manager Ed Flentje said the cancellation follows First Transit’s failure to fulfill terms of the contract.
The canceled contract will not affect service of WT, which currently operates 51 buses and 26 wheelchair-lift vans on 18 fixed routes as well as 17 paratransit routes and rides purchased under contract from social service agencies Starkey, KETCH, Envision, Catholic Charities, ResCare, and Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas. WT carries more than 2 million passengers each year, including 320,800 disabled passengers on paratransit vans.
“Wichita Transit is committed to meeting the needs and priorities of Wichita citizens with courtesy, and with reliable, affordable, quality service,” Flentje said.
Flentje said that Mike Vinson, a city employee who has served as Assistant Director of WT, would begin assuming duties as acting Transit Director, the department’s top management position previously held by General Manager Jay Banasiak, a First Transit employee.
The contract requires that the City give First Transit a 30-day notice regarding termination. The expected termination date is March 15.
First Transit has managed WT since 1998. Its latest contract was awarded in February 2007, when it beat out McDonald Transit Associates and Professional Transit Management. The 2007 contract is a three-year agreement (with two additional options years), totaling $801,168 if obligations and performance goals were met.
For more information regarding services, routes and fares at WT, visit Transit Services.
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