Who "Specs Out" CTA and Pace Buses?

[geneking7320]

Who decides the specifications for the buses purchased by CTA and Pace?

Would it be an individual or committee? Also, I believe APTA has been working to consolidate some of the options available to bus purchasers.

How does this affect the process?

Gene King

[Busjack]

The APTA documents on the Standard Bus Procurement Guidelines are at http://www.apta.com/ebiz/procurement/. The CTA announcements for the Nova and NABI buses both stated that CTA was the first to use the Guidelines in the 40 and 60 foot classes. My understanding from reading other web sites is that Toronto and NYC pushed for the guidelines because their buses were falling apart. In Toronto, the problem was that the Orion VIs were no good, and the Orion VII was developed in response (see Coupler Magazine and an unofficial Toronto site editorial page about the 9400 series).

However, I opened up a couple of the Guidelines, and while they have some black letter requirements, such as a noncorrosive frame and the low floor must go to the back door (if any), most of the details, such as transoms or sliding windows, and type of intelligent bus system, are left to the agency. I don't know who in CTA makes those calls, but they apparently add to the price (the Optima press release referred to CTA "specials").

The buses must also pass Altoona testing to qualify for FTA funds. One of the reasons the 7500s were a year late was delays in passing.