September/October 2023 - 24

Transit Agency
Consortium Applies
for FTA Waiver for
Minibuses
The consortium, led by HIRTA, is requesting the
temporary waiver during a time when smaller
transit providers face increased costs and limited
supply for appropriately-sized transit vehicles.
BY MI S CHA WANE K- L I BMAN, ED I TOR IN CH I E F
O
n Aug. 11, a consortium of 10 smaller transit providers, led by the
Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (HIRTA), filed a temporary
Buy America waiver for a low floor, 20-foot, zero-emission
minibus with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
If granted, the temporary waiver would provide a new option
for fleet renewal among the group of agencies that have experienced
a limited procurement landscape complicated by supply
chain issues and rising costs. A successful waiver could also
provide a roadmap for peer agencies who are facing similar issues.
The vehicle procurement challenges rural, small city, paratransit
and nonemergency medical transportation providers in the U.S.
have experienced during the past 18 months have reached a dire
stage. The increased costs and long lead times mean transit vehicles
that were meant to have a useful life of between five and seven years
are now operating between 12 and 14 years. Funds that should
be put toward operations are being used to maintain aging fleets.
A Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
survey conducted in August 2022 found smaller transportation
providers saw price increases between 30 and 70 percent,
growing wait times and order cancellations with 80 percent of
survey respondents reporting they felt " highly concerned with
the state of standard vehicle replacements. "
In a letter to support the waiver application, CTAA, The Bus Coalition
and 21 state transit associations wrote, " Today, the demand
for small buses (particularly body-on-chassis vehicles) far outstrips
supply with estimates of 20,000 small bus purchases currently
backlogged. That number is expected to grow to 26,625 in 2025. "
Julia Castillo, executive director of HIRTA, explained pre-pandemic,
the agency would expect to pay around $100,000 for a
24 Mass Transit | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
Photo: Adobe Stock | 273796811
cutaway bus that would be delivered in
approximately four months. Now, the cost
has increased 75 percent and the delivery
time is between 24 to 36 months.
" We're not talking months anymore,
we're really talking years, " said Castillo.
" Iowa has the second oldest fleet of small
vehicles in the United States and if we
didn't do something, this was not going
to be beneficial or safe for the people we
serve or for our staff. "
HIRTA Business Manager Brooke
Ramsey explained HIRTA's fleet was
undergoing a right sizing post-pandemic
but the process was made more
difficult with vehicle supply issues. She
noted HIRTA placed an order for Ford
Transits in January 2022 and, as of press
time, the earliest delivery date for those
vehicles would be the end of the current
calendar year.
September/October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2023
