Agenda Item No. 6b June 24, Honorable Mayor and City Council Attention: David J. Van Kirk, City Manager

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1 Agenda Item No. 6b June 24, 2008 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Honorable Mayor and City Council Attention: David J. Van Kirk, City Manager Dale I. Pfeiffer, Director of Public Works RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF TEN (10) 35-FOOT NEW FLYER COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS TRANSIT BUSES TO REPLACE EXISTING DIESEL BUSES SLATED FOR RETIREMENT DISCUSSION: The City s seven, diesel-powered, 1995 Gillig fixed-route transit buses have exceeded the Federal Transit Administration s 12-year life cycle and are slated for retirement. Replacement of these vehicles with transit buses that operate on environmentally clean compressed natural gas will provide a smooth fleet inventory transition, and allow for the continued growth of Vacaville City Coach transit. In January 2008, the in-house Transit Vehicle Replacement Selection Committee was established with members from the Transit section, fleet, maintenance management, and the transit operator. After an exhaustive six-month long evaluation, the Selection Committee recommended New Flyer of America as the manufacturer and the 35-foot, heavy-duty, low-floor, Compressed Natural Gas transit bus. The recommended vehicle will operate on environmentally friendly, clean-burning Compressed Natural Gas. Other features of this vehicle include comfortable high-back passenger seating and a low-floor design, eliminating the necessity for passengers to climb any steps to enter and exit the bus. The low-floor design allows for easier and faster boarding for seniors and young children, which in turn provides for improved on-time performance. By transitioning our existing diesel-powered transit vehicles to the cleaner burning CNG fuel type, Transit will also benefit from the lower cost of CNG fuel. Currently, Transit pays $4.06 per gallon of diesel fuel compared to $1.76 per gasoline gallon equivalent of CNG. The annual fuel savings is expected to be well over $100,000. The savings derived here will allow for the continued delivery and expansion of City Coach services at a time where other local transit agencies are cutting service and raising fares. Staff recommends utilizing the Federal Transit Administration approved Piggyback procurement process, which will provide a lower price per vehicle unit than otherwise could be achieved by the City issuing an RFP for a small order. An available Piggyback procurement contract from the Rogue Valley Transit District in Medford, Oregon is available, which will allow the City to purchase ten (10) 35-foot transit vehicles that meet our required specifications. Delivery of all ten vehicles can be expected by October New Flyer of America has offered a price of $391,765 per unit for a total project cost of $4,206,580, including tax. Transit s budget for procurement of these replacement vehicles comes from three sources, including FTA Capital funds of $2,088,856, Local Transportation Development Act funds of $1,966,144, and Prop1B funds of $240,000, for a total budget of $4,295,000. RECOMMENDATION: By simple motion, that the City Council of the City of Vacaville adopt a resolution authorizing the Director of Public Works to execute a purchase agreement contract with New Flyer of America for the purchase of ten (10) 35-foot New Flyer Compressed Natural Gas transit buses to replace existing diesel buses slated for retirement.

2 RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF TEN (10) 35-FOOT NEW FLYER COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS TRANSIT BUSES TO REPLACE EXISTING DIESEL BUSES SLATED FOR RETIREMENT WHEREAS, the City s current fleet of diesel fixed-route buses have reached the end of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved 12-year life cycle; and WHEREAS, the City s fleet of diesel fixed-route buses have provided reliable service to the City of Vacaville and to thousands of citizens and are now slated for retirement; and WHEREAS, the City has made a commitment to the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District in utilizing an alternative fuel such as Compressed Natural Gas within our transit fleet; and WHEREAS, the Federal Transit Administration has approved Piggyback contract bus procurements as a cost effective purchasing methodology; and WHEREAS, the purchase of ten (10) 35-foot New Flyer Compressed Natural Gas transit buses from an FTA approved Piggyback bus procurement contract would allow for the continued growth of City Coach transit; and WHEREAS, the proposal received by New Flyer of America was carefully reviewed and compared as to features, service, and cost by the Transit Vehicle Replacement Selection Committee. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Vacaville, that the Director of Public Works is authorized to execute a purchase agreement contract with New Flyer of America for the purchase of ten (10) 35-foot New Flyer Compressed Natural Gas transit buses to replace existing diesel buses slated for retirement. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was introduced and passed at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Vacaville, held on the 24th day of June 2008, by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ATTEST: Michelle Thornbrugh, City Clerk

3 Transit Vehicle Replacement Replacement of 1995 Gillig Transit Buses Compiled by the Transit Vehicle Replacement Selection Committee Committee Members: Transit Manger, Brian McLean City Fleet Manager, Tony Willingham Maintenance Manager, Mark Paulson Mechanic Representative, Mike Simmons Operations Manager, Nina Johnston, First Transit Operations Safety Manger, Sandy Rowe, First Transit Bus Driver Representative, John Shepard Date: June 5, 2008

4 Report: Transit Vehicle Selection Process In 1995, the City of Vacaville embarked on a mission to provide fixed-route transit services to the citizens of Vacaville. To meet that goal, seven new 1995 Gillig 30-foot diesel buses were purchased and pressed into operating service. Since that time the City s seven fixed-route diesel buses have collectively traveled almost 4 million miles and have provided reliable public transit service to hundreds of thousands of passengers. The 1995 Gillig diesel 30-foot transit bus has a 12-year life cycle as mandated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). To extend the 12-year life cycle by an additional 3 years the City s seven Gilligs went through an extensive rehabilitation process in 2006 to provide for reliable service through the year As with any mechanical device such as a transit bus, as the vehicle continues to age, the cost to maintain the vehicle continues to escalate annually. Additionally, air quality standards, as mandated by the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District are continually becoming more restrictive on diesel emissions. In early 2007, transit staff began planning for the eventual retirement of our Gillig transit vehicles to maintain the continuity of service within our transit operations. In January 2008, Transit staff convened the Transit Vehicle Replacement Selection Committee. This committee was comprised of the Transit Manager, City Fleet Manager, Maintenance Manager, Mechanic representative, Operations Manager, Operations Safety Manager, and Bus Driver representative. The Committee started the process by evaluating our initial vehicle selection criteria which included: 1. The City s existing commitment to the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District to use Alternative Fuels for transit operations. Alternative fuels included gasoline, Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). 2. The City s existing Compressed Natural Gas fueling infrastructure. 3. The cost of Compressed Natural Gas as compared to other alternative fuels. 4. Bus length of feet 5. Passenger seating capacity with a minimum of 30 seats In a comparison of fuel costs between diesel and CNG, currently diesel costs Transit $4.06 per gallon whereas CNG costs $1.76 per gasoline gallon equivalent. Based on our current Transit operations, operating a fleet of CNG transit vehicles would provide a savings of over $100,000 annually, as compared to our current diesel fuel needs. Additional savings through the use of CNG would be garnered through the IRS Alternative Fuel Rebate Program. The IRS provides a $0.50 rebate per CNG Therm used. Based our anticipated use of CNG via a larger fleet of CNG-fueled transit vehicles, we can expect an annual rebate of approximately $30,000.

5 In total, the City Coach fuel budget is expected to drop from the current level of over $230,000 to under $100,000 annually. The costs savings will provide the ability for City Coach to continue our strong growth at a time when other local transit agencies are being forced to reduce service and raise fares. Vehicle Selection Process As the question of fuel type was answered, the Committee moved to the question of procurement process. A common procurement process approved by the Federal Transit Administration is called Piggyback procurement. Piggyback procurement allows for a transit agency to use an existing contract issued by another transit agency. For a smaller transit agency such as City Coach, this process provides expediency of procurement while providing a price per unit based on a larger quantity of buses, and therefore, a lower price than otherwise could be achieved by the smaller transit agency. The Selection Committee continued the process by next setting forth to investigate and review bus manufacturers building heavy-duty transit buses powered by CNG. A list of four manufactures building CNG-powered transit buses was developed. At this point, maintenance staff as well as transit management staff began making contact with our counterparts across the country that were currently operating CNG vehicles manufactured by the four vendors. Extensive interviews with maintenance mechanics were made, as well as an investigation and review of the maintenance history of the four vendors and their CNG transit vehicles. Information such as the reliability of a vehicle, customer support from the particular manufacturer, parts availability, quality of design and vehicle build, mileage characteristics, and overall performance were explored. From the list of four manufacturers, the Selection Committee narrowed the investigation down to one manufacturer, New Flyer of America. The Committee then made field trips to transit agencies operating New Flyer of America buses similar to the type required by the City of Vacaville. The vehicles were scoured for mechanical robustness, build and fit of parts, vehicle driving capabilities, overall performance and its potential ability to serve the needs of City Coach transit. The Selection Committee was thoroughly impressed with the vehicle and customer service provided to the various transit agencies operating the New Flyer of America CNG buses. The final step taken by the Selection Committee was a vast search across the United States for an available contract with Federal Transit Administration-approved language allowing for a Piggyback procurement for a New Flyer vehicle of the type required by City Coach transit. After more than two months, a contract was found in Medford, Oregon with the Rogue Valley Transit District. The contract in question allowed for the Piggyback procurement of ten (10) 35-foot, heavy-duty CNG-powered transit buses. The buses in question have the following characteristics: Manufacturer: Length: FTA Life-cycle: Fuel type: Configuration: Seating: New Flyer 35 foot 12 years Compressed Natural Gas Low-floor 30 plus standing

6 The proposed vehicle operates on environmentally clean, Compressed Natural Gas providing enormous long-term fuel cost savings, lower db noise level than the City s current diesel transit buses, improved fuel economy compared to diesel vehicles, comfortable high-back passenger seating, and easier entry and exit via the low-floor design of the bus. CNG Transit Bus Vehicle Cost New Flyer of America has proposed a price per unit of $391,765. Total project cost for ten (10) units is $3,917,650 plus tax. Per Unit Cost $ 391,765 Ten (10) Units $3,917,650 Tax $ 288,930 Total with Tax $4,206,580 Replacement Transit Bus Funding Plan Federal Transit Administration $2,088,856 Local TDA $1,966,144 Prop1B $ 240,000 Total $4,295,000 CONCLUSION Based on an exhaustive analysis of the current and future needs of City Coach transit, an extensive evaluation of manufacturers producing CNG transit bus vehicles, the preferred and FTA approved Piggyback procurement methodology, and the City s budget for transit bus replacement, the Selection Committee recommends the purchase of ten (10) 35-foot, heavyduty, low-floor, CNG-powered transit buses from New Flyer of America via a Piggyback procurement under the Rogue Valley Transit Authority bid documents.

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