County falling behind on new electric-bus system in South Miami-Dade
In two years, Miami-Dade County plans to unveil one of the most ambitious bus projects in Florida: a $463 million network of electric express buses designed for group boardings, running express routes between air-conditioned stations built on the 20-mile busway running parallel to busy U.S. 1.
Now the county faces a central problem with that plan: Currently, there are no companies authorized to sell Miami-Dade the buses.
The last several months saw the bus bidding process fall apart after county lawyers disqualified the two bus makers that submitted proposals for the $163 million contract to deliver 100 electric buses and the charging stations needed to keep them running.
That means even more delays for a bidding process already behind schedule, with the original plan calling for the contract to be awarded at the start of 2021.
When will Miami-Dade get its BRT system in South Dade?
The county’s Transportation and Public Works Department declined to comment, citing bidding rules restricting public communication on contract competitions.
With no qualified bidders, Miami-Dade must start again with another contracting competition for the vehicles in its planned “BRT” system — an abbreviated reference to the bus rapid-transit mode of travel. The county could try to be quicker with a second bidding process after the first one took 14 months to ultimately fall apart.
A delay in delivering the buses would force the county to either push back opening the new BRT system, or run traditional buses along the route until the electric buses arrive. Or it could rework the original plan for electric buses.
Miami-Dade needs two contracts for the planned BRT system: one for the buses, one for the stations. The $300 million contract for the stations was awarded to OHL USA in June, and still proceeding.
That agreement is to build the 14 stations along the existing busway. The stations are designed with structural canopies and climate-control waiting areas, plus pre-ticketing equipment needed for platform-level group boarding that is a signature of BRT systems.
BYD and New Flyer electric-bus bids tossed
The other contract is for the buses. BYD, a bus maker with a parent company in China, and its competitor with a Canadian parent, New Flyer, both bid on the $163 million bus order after Miami-Dade asked for proposals in February 2020.
New Flyer was disqualified in February for having a subcontractor sign paperwork the county requires for small-business set asides. The County Attorney’s Office ruled a New Flyer executive had to sign the document.
BYD was disqualified last month for a more substantive reason. Bruce Libhaber, an assistant county attorney, wrote in an April 20 memo that the company’s timeline for delivering the electric buses stretched beyond the county’s deadline of March 1, 2022.
BYD said it could meet that deadline, but not with the testing time the county wants once the winning bidder delivers a prototype vehicle.
“By this, BYD attempts to convert the 14-month delivery schedule required by the [request for proposals] into a nearly 21-month delivery time frame,” Libhaber wrote.
Kevin Amézaga, director of the Miami Riders Alliance advocacy group, said Miami-Dade shouldn’t let a desire for electric buses cause delays for a system that would mean significant upgrades for one of the busiest routes in the county.
“The best thing the county can do for the environment is to get people out of their cars,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if the buses are electric or run on natural gas. If it arrives every five minutes, people will get out of their cars.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 6:43 PM.