Project Grant TX2023078

APPLICATION PURPOSE: THIS FTA SECTION 5339 LOW NO FUNDING IN THE FEDERAL AMOUNT OF $21586913 WILL PROVIDE FUNDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF 20 BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES (BEBS) AND APPLICABLE ELECTRIC BATTERY INFRASTRUCTURE CHARGING EQUIPMENT THE INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC BATTERY CHARGING EQUIPMENT TO SUPPORT THE 20 BEBS AND WORKFORCE TRAINING TO ALL OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO ENSURE PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF ZERO EMISSION BUSES (ZEBS).THIS BUSES AND BUS FACILITIES COMPETITIVE AND LOW OR NOR EMISSIONS PROGRAM FUNDING ($21586913 FTA / $3653977 LOCAL) WILL ALLOW METRO TO PURCHASE TWENTY (20) 40 BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES IN FY2023 TO SUPPORT TRANSIT EQUITY ACCESS AND JUSTICE40 INITIATIVES. THE INITIAL BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES (BEBS) WILL DEPLOY ON ROUTES SERVING JUSTICE40 IDENTIFIED CENSUS TRACTS LOCATED THROUGHOUT HOUSTON WHICH ARE DESIGNATED DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES (DACS). METRO WILL ALSO IMPLEMENT ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE (ZEV) INFRASTRUCTURE AT THREE OF ITS BUS OPERATING FACILITIES (WEST POLK AND KASHMERE) TO SUPPORT DEDICATED ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ITS INITIAL 20 BEB PROCUREMENTS. TWO OVERHEAD EN-ROUTE CHARGERS WILL ALSO BE INSTALLED AND LOCATED AT THE TMC TRANSIT CENTER TO SERVE A PORTION OF THE ROUTES. IN ADDITION METRO ALSO PLANS TO SUPPLEMENT EXISTING OPERATIONS MAINTENANCE AND FACILITIES TRAINING WITH BEB-SPECIFIC MODULES AND SOPS IN THE NEAR-TERM AS METRO WORKS TOWARDS INITIAL BEB DEPLOYMENT. SAFETY CERTIFICATIONS FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PROCURED BEBS CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROPOSED AND FUTURE BEB ROUTES WILL ALSO BE ADDRESSED.; ACTIVITIES PERFORMED: METRO WILL PURCHASE TWENTY (20) 40 BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES IN FY2023 THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (MPO). THE 40 BEB COMMUTER COACH HAS AN APPROXIMATE UNIT COST OF $1077342 A BATTERY (KWH) OPERATING RANGE OF 450-675 KWH (100-200 MILES) AND AN ESTIMATED LIFE OF 12 YEARS OR 500000 MILES. THE BUS DEPOT CHARGERS WILL BE PURCHASED AS PART OF THE 20 BEV PURCHASE BUT INCLUDED AS A SEPARATE LINE ITEM. A SCHEDULE IN DOCUMENTS (ELECTRIC BUS REPLACEMENT PLAN FY23) SHOWS ELECTRIC BUSES TO BE PURCHASED AND OLD BUSES TO BE REPLACED. THE USEFUL LIFE OF BUSES TO BE REPLACED IS 12 YEARS OR 500000 MILES WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.METRO WILL ALSO INSTALL ZEV INFRASTRUCTURE AT THREE OF ITS BUS OPERATING FACILITIES (WEST POLK AND KASHMERE) TO SUPPORT DEDICATED ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ITS INITIAL 20 BEB PROCUREMENTS. ON JULY 22 2022 THROUGH A COMPETITIVE BIDDING MECHANISM TERMED IFB (ISSUED FOR BID) METRO CONTRACTED WITH MASS ELECTRIC ON 11/9/2022 TO INSTALL THE ELECTRIC BUS INFRASTRUCTURE. THE CONSTRUCTION NOTICE TO PROCEED EFFECTIVE DATE WAS 11/28/2022 AND THE CONSTRUCTION START DATE WAS 12/5/22. THE ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE IS 3/28/23. THE APPROXIMATE COST AND QUANTITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT TO BE PROCURED INCLUDE FOURTEEN (14) 180 KW CHARGERS WITH A SINGLE CHARGING PORT ($1555722) SIX (6) 180KW CHARGERS WITH DOUBLE CHARGING PORTS ($781225) AND TWO (2) 50KW CHARGERS WITH SINGLE CHARGING PORTS ($141163). A PROFORMA INVOICE FROM NOVA BUS SHOWING THE COST OF RELATED CHARGERS NOVA BUS PROFORMA INVOICE FOR CHARGERS AND A SCHEDULE SUMMARIZING THE COST TO INCLUDE A 12.5% CONTINGENCY ESCALATION UPCHARGE REPORTED BUDGET - LOWNO EMISSIONS ELECTRIC BUS PROJECT W ESCALATION % ARE INCLUDED IN DOCUMENTS.THE WEST AND POLK BUS OPERATING FACILITIES WILL BE UTILIZED FOR TYPICAL REVENUE SERVICE WHILE THE CHARGING STATION AT KASHMERE IS INTENDED TO BE USED FOR MAINTENANCE PURPOSES. METRO WILL INSTALL PLUG-IN CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE AT THIS (KASHMERE) LOCATION. TWO OVERHEAD EN-ROUTE CHARGERS WILL ALSO BE INSTALLED AND LOCATED AT THE TMC TRANSIT CENTER TO SERVE A PORTION OF THE ROUTES. THE FACILITY DESIGN FOR GARAGE CHARGING HAS BEEN FINALIZED. ADDITIONALLY BASED ON AN 80% FTA / 20% LOCAL SPLIT METRO WILL REVISE AND SUPPLEMENT EXISTING STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOPS) AND TRAINING FOR OPERATIONS MAINTENANCE AND FACILITIES SPECIFIC TO THE BEB SYSTEM TO OBTAIN COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF NEW BEB COMPONENTS HOW TO PROPERLY OPERATE BEBS AND MAINTAIN THEM IN A STATE OF GOOD REPAIR. SAFETY CERTIFICATIONS WILL BE ADDRESSED FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PROCURED BEBS CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROPOSED AND FUTURE BEB ROUTES ACCORDING TO ASE CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.; EXPECTED OUTCOMES: HOUSTON HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS IN THE COUNTRY AND IS DESIGNATED AS A NON-ATTAINMENT AREA UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT (CAA) FOR EXCEEDING THE NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARD FOR OZONE POLLUTION LEVELS. AS A RESULT METRO HAS IMPLEMENTED A SHIFT TO LOWER EMISSION VEHICLES TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES ALONGSIDE OTHER REGIONAL AND LOCAL EFFORTS. METROS ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE FLEET TRANSITION PLAN (ZEVFTP) ALIGNS WITH KEY REGIONAL AND LOCAL PLANNING EFFORTS MAKING IT A PRIORITY AMONGST OTHER TRANSPORTATION ENDEAVORS PLANNED FOR THE HOUSTON REGION. AS A RESULT OF INPUT FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS EXPERTS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS THE METRONEXT MOVING FORWARD PLAN IS METROS LONG-RANGE PLAN TO EXPAND TRANSIT SERVICES AND EASE TRAFFIC CONGESTION. SIMILARLY THE ZEVFTP OUTLINES THE NECESSARY NEXT STEPS TO ACHIEVE METROS NEAR AND LONG TERM ZERO-EMISSIONS VEHICLE PROCUREMENT GOALS. THESE GOALS WILL FURTHER METROS MISSION OF PROVIDING SAFE CLEAN RELIABLE ACCESSIBLE AND FRIENDLY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES EQUITABLY TO THE HOUSTON REGION. BOTH PLANS ARE ALIGNED IN THE GOALS OF INCREASING ACCESSIBILITY TO DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES (DACS) BY SERVING AREAS OF PERSISTENT POVERTY (APP) AND HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES (HDCS); ENHANCING THE AGENCYS CAPITAL ASSETS BY REPLACING DIESEL-POWERED BUSES THAT HAVE MET THEIR MINIMUM USEFUL LIFE; PROVIDING A BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE THROUGH MORE RELIABLE BUSES AND DECREASING GHG EMISSIONS; AND WORKING TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FLEET. METRO HAS PLEDGED TO PROCURE ONLY ZERO EMISSION VEHICLES (ZEVS) BY FY2030. METROS ZEVFTP IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO SUPPORT TRANSIT EQUITY ACCESS AND JUSTICE40 INITIATIVES. THE INITIAL 20 BEBS WILL DEPLOY ON ROUTES SERVING JUSTICE40 IDENTIFIED CENSUS TRACTS LOCATED THROUGHOUT HOUSTON WHICH ARE DESIGNATED DACS. IN ADDITION THIS INITIAL DEPLOYMENT WILL ENSURE THAT FTA INVESTMENTS DIRECTLY RESULT IN BENEFITS IDENTIFIED IN THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGETS (OMBS) JUSTICE40 INTERIM GUIDANCE. SPECIFICALLY THIS PROJECTS INVESTMENT IN BEBS AND SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE WILL (1) REDUCE GHG EMISSIONS AND LOCAL AIR POLLUTANTS AND IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES (2) IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ACCESSIBILITY RELIABILITY AND OPTIONS TO TRANSPORTATION-DISADVANTAGED POPULATIONS AND (3) INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN CLEAN ENERGY JOB TRAINING AND SUBSEQUENT GOOD JOB PLACEMENT/HIRING.; INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE BENEFICIARIES OF METROS ZEVFTP WILL ALLOW THE ORGANIZATION ITS RIDERS AND THE WIDER HOUSTON METROPOLITAN REGION TO ENJOY BENEFITS INCLUDING EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS IMPROVEMENTS IN PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL EQUITY SAVINGS ON FUEL AND MAINTENANCE COSTS JOB AND ECONOMIC GROWTH ENERGY SECURITY AND MORE. THE LONG-RANGE VISION FOR METROS TRANSIT SERVICE AND TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE WILL CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING OVERARCHING GOALS:A.SERVE MORE PEOPLE AND MORE PLACES.B.PROVIDE FASTER MORE RELIABLE AND MORE FREQUENT SERVICE.C.PROVIDE BETTER ACCESS AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.THE FIRST 20 BEBS DEPLOYED ARE DEDICATED TO A MAJORITY OF EQUITY-BASED ROUTES AND FUTURE ZEV PLANS FOCUS ON EQUITY PUBLIC HEALTH AND ACCESS OUTCOMES.; SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: N/A