Included in the Equipment Replacement Plan is the replacement of eight (8) diesel transit buses within the MET Transit Fixed-Route bus fleet.  These vehicles have all exceeded usable life as defined by Federal Transit Administration minimum useful life regulations; further, these buses are becoming increasingly unreliable due to age and are expensive and difficult to maintain due to lack of available parts. In 2018, MET Transit was awarded $1,360,000 of competitive Federal funds in addition to the accumulation of multiple years of annual Federal formula funds for the replacement of these buses.  Staff has been able to combine the various grants to situate the purchase so that 15% of the purchase price will be covered with local capital funds.  This project will purchase 30-foot diesel transit buses manufactured by Eldorado-National California for $378,144.00 per vehicle. This purchase will be made under the State of Montana Department of Transportation Heavy-Duty Bus Contract, which was advertised March 19, 2019 and closed June 06, 2019.  Acceptance of the annual Federal grant funding for this year's projects (including the bus procurement) was presented to and approved by City Council on January 28, 2019.
 

City Council may:

• Approve the purchase of eight (8) buses and authorize MET Transit to move forward with this project; or
• Disapprove the purchase of eight (8) buses and delay the project.

The total cost of this project is $3,025,152.  The funding sources for this project consist of $2,571,397.20 in Federal grant funds and $453,772.80 in local funds from MET Transit’s Capital Fund.  At $378,144.00 per bus, this translates to $321,422.40 of Federal funds for each bus and $56,721.60 of local share funds.
 

Staff recommends the City Council approve the purchase of eight (8) new transit buses for the amount of $3,025,152.00 utilizing the State of Montana Department of Transportation Heavy-Duty Bus Procurement Contract.