Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1. The current vehicles used for Lexpress are Glaval Universal vehicles. These are cutaway buses with 20 seats or 16 should wheelchair users be onboard. The vehicles have room for two wheelchairs that board via a lift. In FY24 (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024) the vehicles operated about 129,122 miles total in actual revenue service, and 145,918 in actual vehicle miles, which includes travel to/from garage and for fueling. On average, each bus does about 15 miles per service hour, multiplied by 12 hours per day per bus, and with about 247-254 service days per year. Our vehicles need to be sturdy, dependable, comfortable, easy to board, and must be fully ADA accessible (see attached list of ADA requirements). Riders must also be able to see out front and side windows. a. Based on the above, are you able to offer a few suggestions on what types of vehicles you think we should consider? 2. Do you know of any dependable vehicle options that have the minimum rider capacity we seek that are also low-floor? As a service that provides many rides for seniors and people who may board with walkers, shopping carts, or strollers, a low-floor would be a great option, but we need to weigh the pros with the cons of such a vehicle. We welcome your input on this. 3. As we get many riders that board with shopping carts and also walkers or strollers, do you have a recommendation as to interior layout that we should take into consideration? We are contemplating having at least seats closest to the front face into the aisle for more room for shopping carts, etc. We welcome your input on this. 4. The length of Lexpress contracts have generally been for four years with two optional extension years. Most of the buses we have obtained in recent history have been Altoona tested for 7 years/200,000 miles. a. Based on your above responses, do you feel our typical contract terms would work well with the type(s) of vehicles you might suggest or do you have suggestions on the length of our contract terms? 5. While the Lexpress contract typically includes a provision that the Town could increase or decrease service hours based on budget or other factors, we have not had a contract that has llowed us to add vehicles during the contract term. It may help to know that we would likely include in our RFP Price Proposal Form a requested breakdown of price that will ask for: Fleet Cost per Service Hour & Operations Cost per Service Hour. The total of the two would be the hourly price per service hour for Lexpress. a. Should a funding opportunity arise that allows the Town to add additional vehicles during the contract term, do you think it would be feasible for a vendor to add vehicles after the contract has started at rate committed to in contract? Do you have recommendations that might make this feasible for both parties? Please share any other thoughts you have on this topic.
