AGENDA #4e
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Award of Contract to Purchase of 17 Fareboxes
DATE: November 12, 2001
The attached resolution would award a contract to General Farebox, Inc. (GFI) for the purchase of 17 fareboxes that would be installed in the 14 replacement buses and 3 expansion buses recently received.
The Council awarded a bid to NovaBUS, Inc. on March 26, 2001 for the purchase of 17 buses with an option to purchase up to 10 additional buses. In preparing the specifications for this procurement the fareboxes were inadvertently left out and therefore must be purchased now.
DISCUSSION
The Town currently owns 57 CentsaBill fareboxes purchased from General Farebox, Inc. The fareboxes are installed in 28 Gillig Phantom buses, 26 GMC/RTS buses and 3 Champion buses.
The buses that are being replaced have fareboxes installed in them but are not units that we would install in the new buses as they are older model units that were purchased in 1991 and are now outdated.
The GFI CentsaBill farebox is the only farebox currently used in the Chapel Hill Transit fleet and is compatible with all existing hardware and software. Although Chapel Hill Transit will implement a fare free service in January 2002, the fareboxes are still necessary as they are used to collect information necessary to monitor the system. The fareboxes provide the system with boarding data including passenger counts, and trip-by-trip data useful in monitoring overcrowding on the buses. The fareboxes are also capable of identifying which bus drivers drove which route. The fareboxes store this data and it is retrieved at the time the bus is fueled. While the bus is being fueled the service worker “probes” the farebox and the data is downloaded onto the GFI computer.
The purchase of these fareboxes allows for greater flexibility over the 12-year life of the vehicle. If it is determined to discontinue the fare free service Chapel Hill Transit would be ready to collect fares. The fareboxes are also equipped with card readers that are currently used by different pass holders and allows Chapel Hill Transit to track usage of each type of pass. We may need the card reader technology for future tracking of types of passes if the fare free system evolves into a bus pass type of system. Also, it is proven that the resale value of the vehicle is increased by installed revenue collection equipment.
In order to continue to have standardization throughout the bus fleet we recommend that the same model fareboxes be purchased. Single source procurements are allowed by federal and State entities for standardization of equipment.
The fareboxes will be purchased with funds available in existing bus grants with the Federal Transit Administration contributing 83%, the State 8% and the local match contribution of 9%.
That the Council award a contract for $93,755.00 for the purchase of seventeen CentsaBill fareboxes that are totally compatible with existing hardware and software to General Farebox, Incorporated.
1. Quotation from General Farebox, Incorporated (p. 4).
A RESOLUTION AWARDING A CONTRACT TO GENERAL FAREBOX, INCORPORATED FOR THE PURCHASE OF 17 CENTSABILL FAREBOXES (2001-11-12/R4)
WHEREAS, the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill has obtained a quotation from General Farebox, Incorporated for the purchase of seventeen fareboxes in accordance with G.S. 143-129; and
WHEREAS, the CentsaBill farebox is the only farebox compatible with the hardware and software currently owned by the Town of Chapel Hill’s bus system, and
WHEREAS, the following quotation was received:
17 GFI CentsaBill Farebox $93,755.00
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that a contract for the purchase of seventeen CentsaBill Fareboxes be awarded to General Farebox, Incorporated.
This the 12th day of November, 2001.