White House Roundtable on Clean Bus Manufacturing

[Busjack]

With Nova Bus Ending US Production and ENC (ElDorado) shutting down transit bus mfg. , I guess something had to be done. A New Flyer announcement led to an announcement on the White House Roundtable on Clean Bus Manufacturing. The APTA release has the best explanation of the issues discussed:

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The recent pandemic severely impacted the financial viability and competitiveness of U.S. bus manufacturing, leaving only two major manufacturers in the market. Thanks to support from the Biden-Harris Administration, the industry is working diligently to overcome these challenges.

The main things that came out were more flexibility in payments and cost adjustments, but also reducing the customization of buses and getting back to the Bus Procurement Guidelines (White Book), which CTA first implemented for the 6400s, but it appears from which TAs have diverged. On customization, the Task Force report said:

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There is no “standard” bus in the United States. Customization reflects different climatic conditions across the country, unique needs of customers, the desire to maintain consistent inventory and employee training, and agency branding. However, customization, particularly for smaller bus orders, can come with costs. It requires specialized engineering, procurement of tens of thousands of individual parts and components, and a unique and highly specialized supply chain. These factors may increase the price of each bus and lengthen the procurement cycle.
While some customization is necessary, the industry might benefit from the development of a limited set of options and floor plans for some major bus systems. This might include floor and seating layouts, axles and drivetrains, the operator’s “cockpit,” door and window systems, and HVAC systems. Over time, this could strengthen the supply chain, reduce bus production schedules, reduce costs, and simplify bus procurements. Some “standardization” is already in use on new zero emission buses given the weight and technology limitations inherent in their design.

There was also discussion on increasing the manufacturing base by inviting foreign companies, but there wasn't consensus on how to make them Buy America Act compliant.

[Busjack]

An article by ENO on the costs of bus customization. One interesting tidbit:

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Manufacturers usually offer standard configurables for certain elements of a transit bus, such as seating arrangements, and customer information systems. For example, a manufacturer may offer standard configurations for one, three, or five security cameras, with specific locations on the bus. The engineering necessary for these options is done in bus development. A transit agency may opt to specify a certain location for a security camera that is different from the manufacturer’s standard configurations. This can increase costs as additional engineering is required to determine features like the wiring for the body of the bus. Additional examples include custom taillight arrangements to match the design of an agency’s older buses, or custom color requests for interior paneling or seat coverings beyond standard options. 

Do the last 3 items (additional security cameras, custom taillight arrangements, and custom color schemes) sound like some transit agency around here (and I am not referring to CTA)?

[Busjack]

35 minutes ago, Elkmn said:

There's no way CTA gets gilligs, right? Aren't they meant for bus systems in smaller areas?

Probably more relevant here, as this is where APTA  is wrestling with there only being 2 major bus assemblers left and costs have gone up because of customization. It's more a matter of Gillig only being willing to bid on a more standardized bus, and has sufficient volume to do so. My reference in the last sentence of the preceding post was to Pace, and Gillig has explicitly no-bid several Pace procurements. The question is essentially whether CTA would go back to the White Book spec., but with its need for such things as cameras, I don't think so.

[Busjack]

11 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

What kind of customizations? Like any and all? I've seen agencies with the same kind of Gilligs, but different windows (framed vs frameless), so minor customizations such as that? Or less noticeable ones?

I also refer you, more relevantly to this topic, and suggest you read the items for which there are links in the first two posts.