Staff recommends that Council approve the agreement for $1,206,460 with Northwest Bus LLC to purchase eight (8) body-on-chassis small buses for paratransit use.
 

The City of Billings MET Transit system was notified by the Federal Transit Administration on July 09, 2024 of its successful application and award of competitive Section 5339B Bus and Bus Facility funds to purchase eight (8) replacement body-on-chassis small buses as well as purchase related maintenance equipment; the vehicles this project will replace have reached end of federal usable life. In fulfillment of this award, MET Transit is requesting authorization to purchase eight (8) gasoline powered 25-foot body-on-chassis small buses to replace existing vehicles in the paratransit fleet using an in effect multi-state purchasing agreement held and executed by the State of Washington. This agreement has competitively established pricing with multiple manufacturers and transit vehicle types with variable options for a multi-year period and is used for purchases across the nation; Billings MET Transit has previously obtained authorization from the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services  and utilized available options to purchase Gillig heavy-duty transit buses. The City of Billings Purchase Agreement, the Washington Master Contract with the vendor, as well as the Cooperative Purchasing Authorization have been attached.
 

City Council may:

• Approve the purchase of eight (8) body-on-chassis small transit buses for a total of $1,206,460; or
• Not approve the purchase and advise staff on how to proceed.

Purchase of the eight (8) body-on-chassis small buses will be executed using a combination of Federal funding and local funding at approximately 30% local and 70% Federal across the project. MET Transit has adequate local capital reserves to execute this project and is utilizing Section 5339(B) competitive funds awarded by the Federal Transit Administration; this project was budgeted and approved in the FY26 annual budget and is reflected in the City of Billings Equipment Replacement Plan. Pricing details are as follows:
 

Item	QTY	Unit Price	Local Funds	Federal Funds	Totals
Small Bus; Front Mounted Lift	4	$           151,856.00	$   179,469.15	$    427,954.85	$       607,424.00
Small Bus; Rear Mounted Lift	4	$           149,759.00	$   176,990.84	$    422,045.16	$       599,036.00
		Total	$   356,460.00	$    850,000.00	$   1,206,460.00

MET Transit requests City Council approval of a $1,206,460 purchase agreement with Northwest Bus LLC to acquire eight (8) replacement paratransit small buses. The vehicles being replaced have reached the end of their federally defined useful life, and MET secured competitive FTA Section 5339B grant funding to support the acquisition. The purchase will utilize a Washington State multi-state cooperative contract, which provides competitively bid pricing and has been successfully used by Billings in prior fleet procurements. The project is funded with 70% Federal / 30% local dollars, with sufficient local capital reserves available. This acquisition was planned and approved in the FY26 budget and aligns with the City’s Equipment Replacement Plan. Staff recommends approval.