Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: George Tablack
Department: Finance and Administrative Services Division: Purchasing
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO AWARD fixed contract to the awarded vendor, New Flyer of America, Inc., under the Commonwealth of Virginia, Contract No. E194-75548-MA2275, Low Floor Transit Buses, Heavy Duty, 12 Year (30, 35, 40, 60 ft. sizes), for the Transit Division, in the estimated amount of $3,671,558, and authorize the Director of Purchasing to renew the contract as renewed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for one year period.
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Why Action is Necessary
In accordance with the Broward County Procurement Code, Section 21.135.e, the Director of Purchasing shall have the authority to enter into a contract awarded by a public procurement unit if the public procurement unit and/or the vendor agree to such an award of their contract and the procurement was accomplished under generally accepted public procurement principles. The actual award of such a contract shall be made by the applicable awarding authority.
What Action Accomplishes
Provides for the piggyback purchase of four 60-foot Articulated New Flyer Transit Buses, including Spare Parts and Training.
Is this Action Goal Related
Yes
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE PURCHASING DIVISION AND THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT/TRANSIT DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board’s Value for “Cooperatively delivering an efficient and accessible regional inter-modal transportation network.”
The Office of Economic and Small Business Development did not assign Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation goals for this procurement. Consistent with the United States Department of Transportation (FDOT), the purchase of buses with federal funding are exempt from DBE goal assignment. Broward County requires that each transit manufacturer, as a condition of being authorized to bid or propose on Federal Transit Administration (FTA) assisted transit vehicle procurements, certify that it has compiled with the requirements of title 49 CFR 26.49 (Exhibit 1).
The purpose of this contract is to provide for the purchase of heavy-duty, low-floor articulated transit buses and equipment for Broward County’s Transit (BCT) Division. Obtaining the necessary vehicles will improve the capacity of the transit system. BCT is seeking to piggyback on the Commonwealth of Virginia Contract No. E194-75548-MA2275 for the purchase of four 60-foot Articulated New Flyer Transit Buses, including spare parts and training (Exhibit 2).
BCT has 32 New Flyer low-floor, articulated transit buses in operation. This bus purchase is critical to BCT as it allows for the implementation of expanded transit services as contained in the recently passed Broward County Transportation Surtax Plan. BCT also has FTA requirements to ensure the transit bus fleets remain in a “state of good repair” by replacing them when their useful life has exceeded. The FTA established life expectancy for a transit bus is 12-years or 500,000 miles. In 2019, BCT retired six articulated buses. Currently, BCT has a need to purchase 4 articulated buses to achieve its important business goals.
The Commonwealth of Virginia contract was competitively solicited and is in effect from June 7, 2017 through May 31, 2021 and meets the FTA requirements for compliance (Exhibit 3). Additionally, it meets the Broward County fixed-route transit fleet requirements and complies with the FTA piggyback requirements. On June 7, 2017, Contract No. E194-75548-MA2275, Low Floor Transit Buses, Heavy Duty, 12 Year (30, 35, 40, 60 ft. sizes), was awarded to New Flyer of America, Inc. to provide (new) heavy-duty, low-floor transit buses and equipment or products, as well as required services to maintain the provided equipment (Exhibit 4).
The Commonwealth of Virginia contract includes options that meet BCT’s technical specification requirements, allows for prompt replacements of older model buses which have reached their useful lifecycles, aids in achieving a state of good repair, and avoids reliability and increasing maintenance costs associated with older buses.
Commonwealth of Virginia has authorized Broward County to utilize its contract for County needs by execution of Assignment Agreements, which allows the vendors to provide the necessary vehicles to the County. In order to expedite the procurement of the transit buses and obtain delivery in an efficient manner, whereby timeliness is a major factor, the Transit Division is requesting approval to utilize this contract.
The Purchasing Agent and the Transit Division have determined that the utilization of Contract No. E194-75548-MA2275 will allow for the County to benefit from economical pricing and reduction in delivery time. Utilization of this contract will also allow the County the ability to take advantage of lower costs available through competitive pricing, while reducing administrative costs of project solicitation.
The amounts referenced in this agenda item were rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
Source of Additional Information
Brenda Billingsley, Director, Purchasing Division, (954) 357-6070
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
This project is funded with Florida Department of Transportation grant and local funds budgeted within the Transit Division.
MTD0005520, MTD0005521, MTD0005522