Budget committee forwards $1.19 billion Siemens light-rail vehicle contract to full Board

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's proposed contract with Siemens Industry Inc. to procure up to 260 light-rail vehicles and related services was forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with committee recommendations on Monday.

John Haley, SFMTA director of transit, described the procurement as a long-term, multigenerational strategy to meet replacement, expansion and Central Subway requirements. Haley said the new vehicle is a "next generation" design and highlighted specific improvements: the car weighs 78,000 pounds, "4,000 pounds lighter than our current car," will reduce wear on tracks and streets, and includes simplified, all-electric doors with far fewer moving parts.

The budget analyst told the committee the initial price per vehicle for the first 24 cars is $3,327,350 and flagged that the proposed not-to-exceed contract leaves an unidentified funding gap of approximately $234,664,582 for optional purchases. Mr. Rose recommended that the MTA include purchase options in the contract and require Board approval before exercising a larger option to buy additional vehicles until funding sources are identified.

Supervisor Breed, a sponsor of the item, called the procurement "possibly the single most important investment that we are making in the City and County of San Francisco," citing expected reliability improvements and lower unit costs; the SFMTA estimated the new vehicles would run more than 58,000 miles between mechanical failures compared with roughly 4,000–5,000 currently. Committee members accepted the budget analyst's recommended amendments and forwarded the item with recommendation; the clerk asked the department to provide amended legislation to the clerk by 9 a.m. the next day.