Title
Contracts for Project Management and Purchase of One (1) Zero-Emission Battery Electric Bus and ChargePoint Charging Equipment (B)
Explanation
Regional Transit System (RTS) submitted a grant application to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA’s) Low or No Emission Vehicle Grant Program after obtaining City Commission approval for its FY20 Program of Projects on March 5, 2020, which outlined RTS’s plans for grant applications during FY20. In submitting for various FTA grants, applicants are permitted to form public-private partnerships. RTS chose to partner with the Center for Transportation and the Environment, Inc. (CTE) because they have been successful in helping applicants obtain grant awards. As the RTS fleet solely consist of Gillig buses, RTS elected to partner with Gillig as the manufacturer of the electric bus to maintain fleet uniformity. On June 2, 2020, project selections were announced by the FTA and RTS was awarded $1,205,620 for its project, which includes contracting with CTE for project management, and purchase of a Gillig 40' battery electric bus and charging equipment.
Both CTE and Gillig were named in the grant application, as required by FTA. The Federal Register announcement, January 24, 2020, page 4349, second paragraph under C.1. states that “If an application that involves such a partnership is selected for funding, the competitive selection process will be deemed to satisfy the requirement for a competitive procurement under 49 U.S.C. 5325(a) for the named entities.” There are no proposed changes to the partnership. Therefore, the use of CTE and Gillig are done as a specified source due to the aforementioned grant application and award. RTS has negotiated draft agreements with both CTE and Gillig for the completion of this project.
Strategic Connection: This item is connected to Goal 2: Sustainable Community in the City’s Strategic Plan, objective #5: Reduce the city organization’s carbon footprint by 25% to achieve the climate change goal. Deploying battery electric buses in place of fossil fuel vehicles will reduce energy consumption and harmful emissions, including greenhouse gases and particulates. With this project, the battery electric bus that RTS is proposing to put into service will consume less energy per mile than buses that use other common propulsion technologies used in the transit industry, such as gasoline, diesel, and natural gas engines.
Fiscal Note
Funds in the amount of $1,205,620 have been provided by the federal grant award for this project, with no local match required. This award includes funding in the amount of $107,000 for a project management contract, and $1,053,292 for the purchase of a zero emission bus and charging equipment.
Recommendation
The City Commission authorize the City Manager or his authorized designee to execute contracts and any necessary associated documents with the Center for Transportation and Environment, Inc. for project management, and Gillig LLC for the purchase of one (1) Zero-Emission Battery Electric Bus and ChargePoint Charging Equipment, subject to approval by the City Attorney as to form and legality.