Marin Transit has approved a four-year, $73.3 million service contract with Marin Airporter to continue operating 15 fixed routes in the county.

Marin Airporter, most known for its airport shuttle and charter services, has been providing local transportation service under contract with Marin Transit since 2006.

“This is kind of a big deal for us,” Robert Betts, director of operations and maintenance for Marin Transit, said at a March 3 board meeting. “This is potentially one of the largest contract awards dollar-wise in the history of our agency.”

The contract is for Marin Airporter to serve local routes 17, 22, 29, 49 and 57; rural routes 61 and 68; community routes 219, 228, 233 and 245; and supplemental school routes 613, 619, 625 and 654. Marin Airporter also would be responsible for maintaining about 32 bus stops along routes, Betts said.

The last multiyear contract was approved in 2018. That five-year agreement was worth about $30.5 million.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the agencies struggled to retain bus operators, and as a result contracts were adjusted to accommodate big salary bumps for drivers.

That contract was extended with an increased rate for another two years in 2023. The two-year extension amounted to another $28.3 million.

The new contract is estimated to cover 115,000 hours of operations and maintenance services annually at a rate of about $107.66 an hour starting July 1. That is about a 10% increase over the rate for this final year of the existing contract, Betts said.

The rate will increase about 4.5% each fiscal year through June 30, 2029. The contract includes options to extend for up to three more years.

Although six other transportation agencies were interested in the job, Marin Airporter was the only provider to cast a bid for the new contract.

“When we reached out to those six vendors that expressed interest, they all came back with a similar message: It is very challenging for them to bid on work here in Marin County without real estate,” Betts said.

Marin Transit is trying to develop a site at 1075 Francisco Blvd. East. in San Rafael as an electric bus maintenance and parking facility.

Betts said owning a bus yard could improve its chancing of having a more competitive bidding process because it would enable contractors from outside the county to consider applying next time.

If Marin Transit is successful in constructing its planned bus hub by 2030, that could be a good time to think about putting out the service contract for bid again, as it could increase the competition, Betts said.

Betts said the agency has been grateful for the partnership with Marin Airporter over the past 20 years.

“They’ve really done an amazing job growing with us as an agency and really increasing service for our community,” Betts said.

San Rafael Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati, a member of the Marin Transit board, asked how flexible the contract is if bus routes are changed or ended.

Betts said the pricing allows for about another 20,000 service hours to adjust.

Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan, also a member of the agency’s board, said he appreciates the fact that the contract includes maintenance of bus stops along the routes served by Marin Airporter.

“In many ways our stops are the entry points into our buses, and you know, clean, well-maintained stops makes more people want to ride transit,” Lucan said.