Staff recommends that the City Council declare 17 MET Transit buses as surplus equipment and allow MET to dispose of the buses via direct sales or negotiated sales in conjunction with advertised availability, and disposing of any remaining units via auction and salvage. 

MET Transit has 17 used 35-foot heavy-duty buses that have been replaced by recently purchased and received new 32-foot heavy-duty buses.  The 17 buses are retired Gillig Phantoms that were originally purchased between the years of 2004 through 2007 and have a combined mileage of over 7.6 million miles.  These buses have exceeded their useful life and were replaced using Transit specific funds.  Bus manufactures do not traditionally accept trade-ins as new buses are sold factory direct, meaning a robust dealer network is not available to handle used buses. Due to the age of these vehicles, parts are difficult to source, making the vehicle difficult to maintain in full working capacity. Traditionally, similar vehicles being disposed of by MET Transit have received very little interest at public auction, resulting in very low bids or vehicles being sent to be scrapped. Staff feels the most effective and valuable method of disposing of these vehicles is to solicit quoted offers by running ads both locally and nationally indicating availability of the used buses in print and digital publications to attempt to attract buyers who may be seeking vehicles of this type. If all vehicles are not disposed of in this manner, the vehicles will then be sold via auction and scrapped if not sold. 

City Council may:

• Approve declaring the 17 Transit buses as surplus equipment and allow MET to dispose of the buses via advertisement and solicitation of offers before taking to auction or salvage; or
• Not Approve this action and advise staff on how to proceed. 

It is estimated, based on past auction sales, that the buses could sell within the range of $1,500 to $5,000 per vehicle, depending on condition.  At least two units are not in a state that is reasonable for repair and may result in a lower sale or salvage figure. Staff estimates that revenues should be at least $8,000 via private sales, but this figure may change.