February 25, 1999

Ms. Novina Wong

Clerk

City of Toronto

2nd Floor, West Tower

Toronto City Hall

100 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario

M5H 2N2

Dear Ms. Wong:

At its meeting on Wednesday, February 24, 1999, the Commission considered the attached report entitled, "Common Bus Specifications."

The Commission received the above report for information, noting that a group of transit properties representing more than 50% of the bus purchasers in North America have agreed on a common bus specification and will be meeting with bus manufacturers to advise them of our requirements.

The foregoing is forwarded to the Urban Environment and Development Committee and Toronto City Council for information.

Sincerely,

Vincent Rodo

General Secretary

1-64

Attachment

TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION

REPORT NO. 4

MEETING DATE:February 10, 1999

SUBJECT:COMMON BUS SPECIFICATIONS

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that:

1.the Commission receive this report for information, noting that a group of transit properties representing more than 50% of the bus purchasers in North America have agreed on a common bus specification and will be meeting with bus manufacturers to advise them of our requirements.; and

2.this report be forwarded to the City of Toronto for their information.

FUNDING

The specification for new buses to be purchased by TTC may result in an increase in price. The proposed 1999-2003 Capital Program does not incorporate a price increase in the cost of new buses.

BACKGROUND

At its meeting of September 2, 1998, during discussion of the initial operating experience with the 50 Orion VI low floor buses, the Commission requested staff to keep them apprised of progress resulting from the industry-wide conference planned for the fall of 1998 concerning improvements necessary in bus design generally, structural integrity, long life, performance, cost of ownership, and low floor design.

Specifically, transit operators have not been satisfied with the buses available for purchase. There have been problems with the bus structure, corrosion, the cost and feasibility of achieving long life and, in the case of low floor buses, capacity and cost of ownership issues.

The purpose of the conference was to develop a common specification, acceptable to the transit operators, and then advise the bus manufacturers that our specifications would be changing and our expectations would be greater.

DISCUSSION

TTC sponsored a conference that was held on October 29 and 30, 1998 in Toronto with representation from major transit operators from various areas of Canada and the north eastern United States. A list of attendees and a summary of the resultant common bus specifications (Appendix "A") are attached for information. It should be noted that the specifications include those for both low floor and standard floor buses to accommodate the preferences of individual properties in Canada and the United States.

After the conference, Commission staff finalized the generic specification for new bus purchases incorporating the comments made. The basic issues and concerns shared by all participating parties were as follows:

-Long Life Structure

-Reasonable Cost for Purchase and Operation

-Customer Special Needs

-Capacity and Accessibility

Upon completion and distribution of the proposed specifications to all participants, formal sign off was achieved by late January with an understanding that these properties would incorporate these generic requirements in all future specifications for buses.

It was agreed that a sub-group representing the participants would meet with the bus manufacturers in February of this year to present these new specifications to the industry. Presently, TTC staff are coordinating the identification of property members for this sub-group. The meeting is planned to occur before the end of February, giving the manufacturers an opportunity to respond to the conference membership in March.

Upon completion of the above, all properties that have signed off against the specification document are expected to include these requirements in any future procurement programs. It is intended that copies of the specification will be forwarded to other transit properties not previously involved in our meetings, in hopes that they, too, will consider incorporating them into their purchasing programs.

TTC staff will include all requirements in future releases of our bus specifications.

JUSTIFICATION

Current buses available for purchase in North America are expensive to purchase and operate. Further, their life expectancy does not meet the expectations of the transit industry.

A common specification was developed in conjunction with other operating properties with similar concerns to those of TTC to urge the bus manufacturing and supply industries to produce improved products.

5-92-91

February 5, 1999

Attachment:Appendix "A"