Title
State Infrastructure Bank Loan Application
Explanation
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) was reauthorized by the federal Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st. Century (TEA 21) as one of 4 states to provide a State Infrastructure Bank (SIB). The SIB's function is to accelerate capital investments in transportation infrastructure, including the purchase of public transit vehicles, beyond the usual flow of federal capital assistance funds. Loans provided through the SIB are zero percent interest and 10 year terms.
The City of Gainesville has several existing capital needs that could benefit from a SIB loan. These include construction of the Gainesville Transportation Center, purchase of 25 low floor 40' buses, purchase of 15 paratransit vans, and purchase of 6 small hybrid electric buses.
In December 1998, the City Commission authorized the City Manager to file a loan application in the amount of $800,000 for the Gainesville Transportation Center. Since that time, a new concept plan was prepared by Dover, Kohl and Associates as a product of the Kelly Power Plant Repowering Charette. The cost of construction for this new building design is anticipated to be an additional $1.0 million. Therefore, if the City Commission desires to move forward with a redesign of the Transportation Center the requested loan should be approximately $1,800,000.
The most pressing transit capital need at this time is the acquisition of 25 low floor 40' ADA equipped buses. The acquisition of 24 buses would provide the City with a fleet of 100% ADA accessible buses. The Florida Transit Association has established a statewide-pooled procurement program that provides these buses at a cost of approximately $250,000 each. This is a very good price for a fully equipped low floor 40' bus, which includes radio, destination signs, farebox, etc. Because this procurement is part of a 1,000 bus statewide-pooled purchase, delivery schedules are gener...
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