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Ossining transportation budget plans: bus contract renewal, monitors, testing electric buses in pilot
Summary
Transportation staff recommended renewing the contract with the district's current vendor to lock annual increases at CPI, described progress on bus-safety camera enforcement and monitoring, and said the vendor plans to trial electric full-size buses in the near term pending grant funding and infrastructure work.
At the March 15 workshop, transportation staff reviewed a budget that reflects steady operations, an ongoing vendor relationship for contract transportation, and a multi-year approach to electrification of the bus fleet.
Transportation director Jim (presenting) recommended the board renew the district's contract with its current contractor rather than re-bid, saying renewal limits annual increases to a CPI factor and avoids the larger year-one cost spikes districts often see on open bids. "If you go out to bid, then you're subject to whatever the market is," he said, adding that renewing an existing contract typically locks increases at about 3 percent.
Jim said the district now runs 89 contracted routes (up from 83 previously) and that the contract line reflects both an estimated CPI increase and the fact the district pays fuel for wet-contract mileage. He also said the district has 64 bus monitors budgeted (75 are needed including grant-funded monitors) and is actively hiring; the bus-monitors line reflects that recruitment and retention progress.
Transportation staff described safety and enforcement technology already in place. The district-installed bus-patrol cameras generated about 505 summonses initially and then tapered; internal and external camera systems (including vendor-installed Lytx forward-facing driver cameras) are improving compliance. Jim said Royal Coach (the operator) and its parent company are deploying systems that record driver behavior and send alerts for coaching.
On electrification, the district is participating in a Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES-led electrification grant process with consultant support; Jim said the vendor plans to purchase two electric full-size buses in the coming year and allow the district to evaluate operations, but widespread adoption depends on grant funding, manufacturing lead times and the need for charging infrastructure. He noted that electric buses currently cost substantially more than conventional buses and that state and federal grants are intended to offset much of the price difference.
Timing: administrators said they are awaiting grant notifications and clarified that contract renewal terms, vehicle procurement timelines and any infrastructure work to support electrification will be scheduled to minimize service disruption.
