TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager
SUBJECT: Application for FY 2021 FTA Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program
ACTION ITEM
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider authorizing the General Manager or his designee to file and execute applications and funding agreements with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Buses and Bus Facilities Program to rehabilitate or replace maintenance lifts at the District’s Central Maintenance Facility (CMF).
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Financial Stability and Resiliency
Initiative - Infrastructure Modernization
This grant is one of the few available that can be used towards bus facilities maintenance needs. Investing in the state of good repair of the CMF maintenance lifts is a requirement of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Transit Asset Management (TAM) Regulation and the District’s TAM Plan.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
The District plans to apply for approximately $7.2 million in Federal FY 2021 funds to rehabilitate maintenance bay bus lifts at CMF. This project is currently listed in the Capital Improvement Plan. Awards under the Bus and Bus Facilities Program require a minimum 20% match; therefore, the District will need to contribute at least $1.8 million in District or other grant funds as the required match if awarded the full amount.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
On September 20, 2021, the FTA issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. The program applications are due on November 19, 2021. This is a competitive funding program that makes $410 million available to assist in the financing of capital projects to replace, rehabilitate, purchase or lease buses and related equipment; and to rehabilitate, purchase, construct, or lease bus-related facilities. Staff recommends applying to rehabilitate the maintenance bay bus lifts at CMF.
Several of the bus lifts at CMF are original equipment that were installed when the facility was built in the 1980s. They are now in need of repair or are no longer serviceable. Repair or replacement parts for some of the lifts are obsolete and no longer available for purchase. The bus lifts are installed in the revenue repair maintenance bays (bus repair bays) at CMF which is the District’s heavy repair department that performs engine, transmission, and differential repairs as well as other large mechanical tasks to the District’s fleet.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
Not applying for the funds would cause the District to forgo the opportunity to compete for federal funds to keep the District’s facilities in a state of good repair. The cost for these projects would need to be funded through other funding opportunities or absorbed into current District budgets.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
Staff could apply for the funds for bus purchases or other facility improvements and rehabilitations such as paint booths or sewer repairs. However, bus lifts have been identified by staff as the most applicable to the funding program and the most consistent with the District’s immediate needs.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
None
ATTACHMENTS:
None
Prepared by:
Eve Ng, Capital Planning and Grants Manager
Approved/Reviewed by:
Chris Andrichak, Chief Financial Officer
Salvador Llamas, Chief Operating Officer
Cecil Blandon, Director of Maintenance
Joe Callaway, Director of Capital Projects
Richard Oslund, Acting Director of Management & Budget
Jill A. Sprague, General Counsel