Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Consultant Agreement with SRF Consulting for $149,554 to complete the Billings MET Transit Financial Sustainability and Governance Study.

The Billings MET Transit Division of the Aviation and Transit Department is requesting City Council approve a Consultant Agreement with SRF Consulting to complete a Financial Sustainability and Governance Study. This plan will provide recommendations, as well as related scenarios, to help meet changing demands as the City of Billings and surrounding area continues to grow. Currently, MET Transit exists as a municipal transit system funded locally via established property taxes and supplemented by both state and federal funds. With significant recent changes to property tax laws as well as historically limited alternative revenue sources, MET is seeking assistance in developing alternative or additional revenue streams as well as development of scenarios displaying the impact of stagnant or reduced revenue. Further, as the greater Billings area continues to expand, MET is seeking assistance in evaluating existing governance practices and models to ensure the transit system continues to meet the needs of the community. MET Transit intends to utilize the developed scenarios and recommendations informed by the data gathered to guide future decisions and facilitate further discussion. Further, the Aviation and Transit Department also intends to use the study data to inform decisions regarding the ongoing Airport authority discussion and potential impacts to Departmental structure and MET Transit. The scope of work of the study includes elements focused on community engagement, data collection regarding both MET Transit and other systems across the nation, analysis and scenario development for various revenue models and actions, and overall recommendations. 

This project is identified in the 2025 Billings Urban Area Unified Planning and Work Program (UPWP), which was most recently recommended for approval by the City Council on August 12, 2024. The UPWP was ultimately approved by the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) on August 20, 2024.  The UPWP is developed annually in conjunction with the Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) and identifies tasks to be completed using Federal Highway and Federal Transit planning dollars allocated annually. 

A Request for Proposals was advertised in the Yellowstone County News and on the City of Billings website on April 18 and 25, and May 03, 2025. Two firms directly responded to the RFP with submitted proposals.  These proposals were reviewed and scored by a combination of MET Transit staff and MPO staff. Both proposals were initially evaluated to ensure compliance with RFP requirements and then scored on a value per point basis with points awarded in categories including overall firm experience with similar or related plans, firm staff's experience and abilities, and overall proposed methodology in fulfillment of the proposed scope of work. Firm scoring as follows:
 

FIRM	PROPOSAL COST	TOTAL AVERAGE POINTS	COST PER POINT
SRF Consulting	$         149,554.00	95	$             1,574.25
Kittleson & Associates	$         148,745.00	82	$             1,806.62

As SRF Consulting represents the best cost per point value, staff recommends award to SRF Consulting for completion of the MET Transit Financial Sustainability and Governance Study. 


 

City Council may:

• Approve the Consultant Agreement with SRF Consulting; or,
• Not Approve and direct staff on how to proceed. 

The cost of the Consultant Agreement to complete the MET Transit Financial Sustainability and Governance Study would not exceed the Agreement amount of $149,554.  Funding for this project will be 80% Federal, 20% local, and is programmed in the Unified Planning and Work Program, utilizing Federal Transit Administration section 5303 federal funds and MET Transit reserve funds for match.