Title
Heavy Duty Bus Procurement - Request to Issue Request for Proposals (Ordinance S-47325)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue a Request for Proposals for the procurement of at least 243 heavy-duty, 40-foot buses to replace the City's buses that will reach the end of their useful life in the coming years.
Report
Summary
Phoenix’s heavy-duty bus fleet of 494 buses, which is operated and maintained from three city-owned garages, currently averages nearly seven years of age. As a result of this request for proposals, the Public Transit Department (PTD) will replace the oldest 40-foot buses to reduce operating and maintenance costs, as well as provide a more reliable, comfortable, and efficient service for transit users.
The buses purchased through this five-year contract will replace a total of 243 buses, with the ability to purchase an additional 57 buses if additional funds (such as regional/federal grants) become available. PTD’s approved five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) includes the purchase of these vehicles, with such capital purchases procured with 85 percent federal funding and 15 percent local/regional funding.
Through the life of the contract, the estimated cost to purchase a 40-foot, heavy-duty bus ranges between $535,000 to $602,000. Staff anticipates purchasing between 40 and 60 buses each year as the current fleet vehicles reach their end-of-life.
Evaluation Criteria
The following is a breakdown of the evaluation criteria that a panel of qualified staff will use to recommend award of the contract:
1,000 points total:
- Design: 200
- Quality: 200
- Warranty: 100
- Schedule: 100
- Price: 400
Financial Impact
The estimated cost over the course of the contract will be between $138 and $176 million, depending on whether the 57 additional buses are purchased on top of the planned quantity of 243 units. Funds are programmed in the Public Transit Department's five-year Capital Improvement Program for the purchase of these vehicles with 85 percent federal funding and a 15 percent match of local/regional funding.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
This item was presented to the Citizen's Transportation Commission on Jan. 28, 2021.
This item was recommended for approval by the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee on Feb. 3, 2021, by a vote of 4-0.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Public Transit Department.