Conroe recommends First Class Transportation for Woodlands Express; city plans fleet purchases and maintenance facility

City staff recommended awarding a five-year contract to First Class Transportation to operate the Woodlands Express and Conroe Connection services after a joint procurement with The Woodlands Township.

Ms. McKeska (city staff) told the council the recommended contract is a multi-year procurement using federal funding. The solicitation covers passenger service that runs between a Conroe park-and-ride and downtown Houston. The contract is a five-year operating agreement with additional one-year extension options; staff described the procurement as “a 2-point-something million dollar contract” over the initial five-year term and said the city’s net financial position in the first year is roughly $142,000 in net return to the city as shown in the packet.

Staff outlined a broader, multi-year transit plan: the city expects to purchase four express buses in year four under a separate federal grant (staff estimated the bus purchases at over $4 million and said the procurement and vehicle specifications will comply with federal transit procurement rules). Those purchased buses will use compressed natural gas and, after year four, First Class will operate the city-owned buses rather than its own fleet. Ms. McKeska said the city also obtained a $300,000 planning grant (no match required) to study and site a maintenance facility that would meet federal standards for fueling and maintaining natural-gas buses; staff said the planning funds are to study costs and locations and do not fund construction.

Council members asked about useful life, revenue projections beyond the five-year contract, and whether federal funding would cover construction of a maintenance center. Ms. McKeska said the facility design and potential construction funding would be addressed in the planning process; she said staff expects a substantial federal contribution but did not commit to a precise share. A council member asked whether the city would own the buses brand-new; staff answered the city would order new buses and First Class would operate them until the city takes over operations in later years.

No formal contract award occurred at the workshop; staff’s recommendation will be on the council’s action agenda. The item includes federal procurement constraints and future grant-dependent capital work that would require additional procurement steps and federal compliance.