Orange County Grand Jury 2004-2005 Can You Hear Me Now? Problems with the Octa Mobile Communications System

Summary In 1997 the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) contracted for an integrated transit Acronyms & communications system. State-of-the-art voice and data Abbreviations in this transmission plus key management information, Report including automatic vehicle location and route schedule adherence, was promised. After eight years, $12.7 OCTA Orange County million, and three project managers, OCTA has a system Transportation that: Authority (cid:131) provides some data transmission and poor voice PM Project Manager transmission (cid:131) provides fair vehicle location RFP Request for Proposal (cid:131) frequently drops calls or fails altogether (cid:131) frustrates dispatchers, coach operators, field supervisors, transit police—virtually everyone who uses the system on a regular basis In addition, there is an atmosphere where some employees fear voicing their concerns to management. Therefore, continuing problems with the system are not reported or fixed.

Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to investigate the practical operation of the OCTA integrated transportation communication system to determine: (cid:131) whether there was appropriate oversight of the project (cid:131) whether the allegations of garbled transmission, dead spots, inoperative equipment and poor program management are valid 3. Method of Study To conduct this study, the grand jury: (cid:131) interviewed OCTA employees and board members, contractors, and other county employees, ) reviewed documents, including the contract and contract amendments, news articles, the 2002 OCTA internal audit report, system fault logs, incident reports, internal and interagency letters and memoranda, and (cid:131) observed the radio system in operation, both at the dispatch center and on board OCTA buses.

November 13, 2000: Added additional microwave relay sites to improve coverage, and added an automatic passenger counter and fleet expansion program to the system.

Background 4.1 Contract Development On April 4, 1997, Orange County Transportation Authority sent out a request for proposal for an ITCS (integrated transit communication system). The project called for a state-of- the-art wireless digital voice/data mobile radio system, consisting of three subsystems: 1) a digital radio frequency communications subsystem with 800-megahertz frequency, using two microwave towers, 2) a computer-aided dispatching subsystem, and 3) a vehicle subsystem. The system was to provide route schedule adherence and automatic vehicle locator functions to automatically display the location of each bus and graphically depict whether it was meeting its route schedule. The system was to be installed in three phases: (cid:131) Phase I: Base radio system to provide voice and data communications to the fixed route vehicles and voice communications to the support vehicles. (cid:131) Phase II: Automatic vehicle locator (cid:131) Phase III: Paratransit system (transportation for special needs) Three bids were received. A “best and final” offer was accepted by OCTA on September 22, 1997. Completion of Phase I was scheduled for December 12, 1999. The first project manager (PM1) was appointed. Between acceptance of the contract and December of 2001, the contract was amended four times, as follows: 1. August 24, 1998: Combined Phases I and II, with a revised completion date of November 2000.

1.) 6.2 Internal audit: Internal audit should monitor contract implementation to ensure payment follows performance. (See