September/October 2023 - 26
FTA Waiver
we need, so, we asked 'how can we do
something different?' "
Developing new expertise
Something different meant pursuing into
two mechanisms of the transit industry
HIRTA had no previous experience in:
Writing its own Request for Proposals
(RFP) and applying for the FTA waiver.
Ramsey explains several peer agencies
The eJEST on display at CTAA EXPO,
which was held in Oklahoma City,
Okla., in May 2023.
Photo: Mass Transit/Mischa Wanek-Libman
will incentivize domestic manufacturing
and assembly.
" It's a purpose-built bus and it has a
12-year useful life, but it didn't meet Buy
America, " said Castillo. " We believe in
Buy America, but we can't really do it
now because it will take two to three
years, which is not conducive to what
found themselves in the same situation as
HIRTA where they could not find a solution
to their vehicle procurement issues
and smaller agencies didn't have the staff
to find individual solutions, which led to
the forming of the consortium and the
development of an RFP for a right-sized vehicle
that could be delivered in 12 months.
" HIRTA has been around since 1981
and we had never done our own vehicle
procurement. We had relied on our state
to do those for us but this is a time when
we needed something different, and we just
decided to undertake that process to become
the lead agency on the RFP. We went
into it with the other transit systems really
trying to solve the problem, " said Ramsey.
Another step to solving the problem
was applying for the temporary waiver.
Ramsey, who describes her writing style as
short and succinct, explained the waiver
needed to contain detailed information
to ensure nothing was left out.
" I try not to make things longer than
they need to be, but we needed to use
all the words for the waiver because we
wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything, "
said Ramsey.
In brief, FTA has three criteria to potentially
qualify for a Buy America waiver,
including if the application of Buy America
is inconsistent with the public interest;
the steel, iron and goods produced in the
U.S. are not produced in a sufficient or
reasonably available amount and if the
inclusion of domestic material would
increase the cost of the project by more
than 25 percent for rolling stock.
Ramsey and Castillo explain the consortium's
waiver request meets all three
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September/October 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2023
Editor’s Notebook
People & Places
MCTS’ CONNECT 1 BRT Bringing Public Transportation Usage Up in Milwaukee Area
Transit Agency Consortium Applies for FTA Waiver for Minibuses
APTA Awards BART the 2023 APTA Rail Safety Gold Award
APTA’s Big Show Returns to Orlando
Improve Fare Revenues and the Passenger Experience by Upgrading to a Future- Proofed Ticketing Infrastructure
Industry Insights: The Intersection of Diverse Leadership
Products
September/October 2023 - 1
September/October 2023 - 2
September/October 2023 - 3
September/October 2023 - 4
September/October 2023 - 5
September/October 2023 - Editor’s Notebook
September/October 2023 - 7
September/October 2023 - 8
September/October 2023 - 9
September/October 2023 - People & Places
September/October 2023 - 11
September/October 2023 - 12
September/October 2023 - 13
September/October 2023 - 14
September/October 2023 - 15
September/October 2023 - 16
September/October 2023 - 17
September/October 2023 - MCTS’ CONNECT 1 BRT Bringing Public Transportation Usage Up in Milwaukee Area
September/October 2023 - 19
September/October 2023 - 20
September/October 2023 - 21
September/October 2023 - 22
September/October 2023 - 23
September/October 2023 - Transit Agency Consortium Applies for FTA Waiver for Minibuses
September/October 2023 - 25
September/October 2023 - 26
September/October 2023 - 27
September/October 2023 - 28
September/October 2023 - 29
September/October 2023 - APTA Awards BART the 2023 APTA Rail Safety Gold Award
September/October 2023 - 31
September/October 2023 - 32
September/October 2023 - 33
September/October 2023 - APTA’s Big Show Returns to Orlando
September/October 2023 - 35
September/October 2023 - 36
September/October 2023 - 37
September/October 2023 - 38
September/October 2023 - 39
September/October 2023 - 40
September/October 2023 - 41
September/October 2023 - Improve Fare Revenues and the Passenger Experience by Upgrading to a Future- Proofed Ticketing Infrastructure
September/October 2023 - 43
September/October 2023 - 44
September/October 2023 - 45
September/October 2023 - Industry Insights: The Intersection of Diverse Leadership
September/October 2023 - 47
September/October 2023 - 48
September/October 2023 - 49
September/October 2023 - Products
September/October 2023 - 51
September/October 2023 - 52
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