Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program
The BART Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements comply with Federal Law contained in 49CFR Part 26. The procedures contained in the DBE Program assure that the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) Contract is administered without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex or national origin and that DBEs have an equal opportunity to compete for and participate in the OAC Contract.
Design-Build Contract
The OAC Contract process recognizes that at the time of bid on a design-build project, the contractor has not yet fully completed design so the methods of construction and quantities of materials are not yet known and construction subcontracts cannot yet be fully committed. Therefore the OAC Contract allowed for a two-phase DBE commitment to allow for both the design development and construction periods. The OAC contractor completed a Construction Commitment form indicating their DBE commitments for each category of work.
It is important to note that the OAC contractor has met and exceeded the DBE goals set by BART. However, additional DBE contracting opportunities may become available once construction begins.
Operations and Maintenance Contract
Following completion of the OAC Contract, currently scheduled for mid-2014, a 20-year operations and maintenance (O&M) contract will begin with Doppelmayr Cable Car (DCC), the system supplier. In its proposal, DCC listed Acumen Building Enterprise, Inc., an Oakland-based DBE engineering firm, as a subcontractor. DCC has indicated that Acumen will employ approximately 25 workers to operate and maintain the OAC for the next 20 years.
Project Stabilization Agreement
BART has entered into an OAC Project Stabilization Agreement (PSA) which covers all on-site construction work on the project. The PSA is not intended to duplicate the DBE Program and does not contain race or gender based hiring goals. Rather, the PSA is a local hiring program to enhance and encourage employment opportunities for all residents of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, defined as “Local Area Residents,” and specifically residents of the City of Oakland, which is defined as the “Project Local Impact Area.”
The PSA aims to enable an effective pathway for individuals into the construction industry and into union apprenticeship programs. As part of the PSA, the following local hiring goals have been established for hiring and retaining Local Area Residents and Oakland residents:
- Fifty percent (50%) of all hours worked on the project, on a craft by craft basis, to be worked by Local Area Residents.
- Fifty percent (50%) of all hours worked by Local Area Residents to be worked by Oakland residents (total twenty five percent (25%) of all hours worked on the project).
- Apprentices to perform twenty percent (20%) of the craft hours performed by local area residents. Fifty percent (50%) of those hours to be performed by Oakland residents.
The PSA was executed by the trade unions and BART, and the OAC contractor has signed an agreement to be bound to the PSA. All parties have committed to work together to meet the local hiring goals established in the PSA. To ensure adequate monitoring of the PSA, BART, the OAC contractor and union representatives have established a Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) that meets regularly to ensure compliance with the local hiring program. The JAC recently established an OAC Local Hire Program subcommittee which is open to members of the community, where the results of the OAC project’s local hiring goals will be reviewed and discussed on a regular basis.
Last Updated: April 24, 2013
