New buses not suitable for city use

A rider boards a city bus at Transportation Plaza in April 2020. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record
A rider boards a city bus at Transportation Plaza in April 2020. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record

The Hot Springs Board of Directors approved the purchase of two buses Tuesday night that the intracity transit department can't use.

The 2021 Ford F550 Champion Low-Floor models don't allow easy access to the passenger compartment from the driver's seat, a requirement for the fixed routes they were intended to serve. The deficiency wasn't discovered until the buses were delivered in February. The board awarded a $364,704 bid for the two buses to Central States Bus Sales Inc. of North Little Rock last July.

"The design and construction of the 2021 Ford F550 chassis with the Champion Low-Floor body presents an engine and transmission plate that is almost the same height as the base of the driver's seat, requiring a driver to be able to flex one's knees beyond normal limits, and exit the seat to the passenger area," the city manager's office said in its request for board action. "Fixed route service requires the driver to have readily and unencumbered access to the passenger area which cannot be achieved with the current model."

The buses' configuration is also inadequate for paratransit routes, the city said, making them unsuitable for city use.

Modifications the company made after the city determined the vehicles didn't meet its bid specifications were unable to remedy the access problem. City Attorney Brian Albright recommended the city pay the bus company to avoid litigation. A resolution added to Tuesday night's agenda authorized the sale of the two buses, requiring the sale to recoup at least 90% of the city's outlay.

"I don't want to take anything away from these buses," City Manager Bill Burrough told the board. "They are top of the line, very, very nice pieces of equipment I do believe will sell fast to the right application."

The July resolution awarding the bid stipulated the cost would be borne by a Federal Transit Administration grant. Action the board took Tuesday night switched the funding source to the city's general fund, requiring a $364,704 adjustment to the 2021 general fund budget the board adopted last year.

Using city funds allows the buses to be resold, as, according to the request for board action, the FTA grant requires the buses be in service for seven years or 200,000 miles before they can be sold. The city said proceeds from the sale will go back into the general fund.

The $2.1 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding intracity transit received last year funded all of its 2020 operations, allowing the department to forgo the close to $500,000 general fund subsidy it typically requires for annual operations.

"We saved the general fund some funding, but at the end of the day we're going to have to ask for some of that back to complete this purchase," Deputy City Manager Lance Spicer told the board. "It's not a recommendation we come at lightly. General fund moneys are something we covet and protect dearly, but at this point it doesn't appear to be a workable solution from our side of the fixed-route transit."

A specification for the driver's compartment included in the bid checklist the city provided vendors stated no control console could be located on the interior engine cover.

"This will enable the driver to assist wheelchair passengers without exiting the vehicle from the driver's door, stepping into traffic, walking around the vehicle only to reenter through the curbside passenger door," the specification said.

Central States Bus Sales indicated it was in compliance with the specification, marking the yes box on the checklist, but the city said access to the passenger area was inadequate. One of the buses was brought to City Hall for the board to inspect prior to its business meeting Tuesday night.

"We had one clause we felt like met the specification for the driver to be able to enter the cab area of the vehicle," Burrough told the board. "There's some wording issues in there, and we addressed those with our city attorney."

Spicer told the board the city will write more detailed bid specifications in the future.

"Also, we intend to lay eyes and see how these two components, the chassis and that passenger body, fit together," he said. "That's something we can check the box and know that these will be workable units for us."

The city plans on using federal funds to purchase two buses that do meet intracity transit's requirements for fixed routes, telling the board it will take about eight months to procure the buses.

"There is a cooperative purchasing agreement through the Oklahoma Department of Transportation that meets FTA regulations that will assist us in finding two fixed-route buses we will go view in Springdale before we purchase those from the vendor," Spicer said.

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