AGENDA #4i

MEMORANDUM

TO:	Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
FROM:	K. Stephen Spade, Transit Director Kenneth C. Pennoyer, Director of Business Management
SUBJECT:	Approval for the Purchase and Delivery of Transit Buses
DATE:	June 9, 2008

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to request Council approval for the purchase of up to 9 forty-foot diesel buses.  The enactment of the attached ordinance would establish a project budget for a transit capital grant that will be used to purchase the buses. 

BACKGROUND

The Town currently owns 98 buses that range in age from 1 to 13 years old.  The national standard, average fleet age is seven years.  Chapel Hill Transit staff has developed a plan to bring the existing fleet within the national average while providing a modest expansion over the next five years.  This procurement is consistent with the adopted goals of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan to increase transit use in the community.

Buses to be Purchased

The buses to be purchased are forty-foot diesel low-floor buses.  Chapel Hill Transit currently has a multi-year contract with the Gillig Corporation and would order the buses under that contract.

Funding Sources

On May 8, 2008 the State of North Carolina awarded Chapel Hill Transit $2,296,000 (83%) in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program funds for the purchase of diesel and hybrid buses.  Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds are federal funds available to those projects that demonstrate an improvement in air quality.  The 2008 emissions requirements now allow the use of CMAQ funds for the purchase of diesel buses. 

Federal Transit Administration	State of North Carolina	Chapel Hill Transit
$2,296,000	$287,000	$287,000

Matching Funds

Chapel Hill Transit will request $287,000 (10%) in State matching funds from the N.C. Public Transportation Division.

The Town of Chapel Hill will provide a local match of $287,000 (10%) that is available in the Transit Department’s Capital Reserve Fund.

DISCUSSION

Town staff developed specifications for buses using base bus specifications.

The Notice to Bidders was published in the July 31, 2006 edition of Passenger Transport and on Town of Chapel Hill’s website.  Bid notices were sent to 23 bus manufacturers and subcontractors throughout the United States and Canada.  On September 21, 2006, two bids were opened and read and on October 9, 2006 the Chapel Hill Town Council awarded a multi-year bid to the Gillig Corporation.

The Town’s solicitation included requests for pricing forty-foot diesel transit bus. Bidders were required to submit technical information regarding specifications of the vehicle(s), training of operators and mechanics, a suggested list of spare parts and maintenance tools, and warranty provisions.  This information may be used to calculate the cost of the vehicles over their useful life, vehicle performance, and standardization values for each manufacturer’s vehicle(s).  These values are the anticipated additional lifetime costs to the Town that would result from the acquisition of any specific model of buses.

The Town received two bids; one from the Gillig Corporation, the other from Millennium Transit Services who was deemed non-responsive due to lack of a bid bond.

Determination of Unit Pricing for Buses Ordered after Initial Purchase

The price of a bus ordered after the initial purchase will be the Base Award Order Price, plus any change, which will be calculated, based on a formula utilizing the U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index (“P.P.I.”), Category wpu, 1413 “Truck and Bus Body”.  The change in this index will be used to adjust from the Base Award Order Prices.

Manufacturer	Base Award
Gillig Corporation	$324,573 ea.

A delivery schedule for the buses will be quoted when the order is placed.

RECOMMENDATION

That the Council adopt the following resolution and enact the following ordinance approving the purchase of up to 9 forty-foot diesel low-floor buses from the Gillig Corporation.