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District transportation staff urge early bus orders amid rising prices and long lead times
Summary
Okemos' transportation director recommended ordering buses in MSBO phase 1 because production lead times approach nine months; the district proposed buying two buses this year and cited unit-price increases from about $138,000 last year to about $151,000 this year.
Director of Transportation Corinne Karpinski advised trustees to enter the MSBO bus-purchase phase 1 now because production and delivery lead times are nearly nine months. Karpinski said the district historically replaces oldest buses on a cycle but will hold some older buses because of the Cornell route-planning transition.
Karpinski noted a material price increase for school buses. "The buses we bought last year were $138,000. This year, they're $151,000," Karpinski said, describing roughly a $13,585 per-unit increase compared with the previous purchase cycle. She said the district typically sticks with Bluebird for fleet commonality and cost-effectiveness and that the recommendation for the current budget cycle is to order two buses this year rather than three, deferring one replacement until future cycles while maintaining adequate spare units.
Trustees asked whether retired buses produce meaningful resale value; Karpinski said auction timing affects proceeds and gave examples from prior years when the district received about $1,700 per bus a few years ago and nearly $8,000 each for two buses auctioned last year. Trustees requested clearer historical price columns in future visuals to show prior actuals and projected costs.
