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AC TRANSIT DISTRICT Board of Directors Executive Summary GM Memo No. 08-166 Meeting Date: August 6, 2008 Committees: P...

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AC TRANSIT DISTRICT Board of Directors Executive Summary

GM Memo No. 08-166 Meeting Date: August 6, 2008

Committees: Planning Committee External Affairs Committee Rider Complaint Committee Board of Directors

Finance and Audit Committee Operations Committee Paratransit Committee Financing Corporation

SUBJECT: Consider Delivery Schedule of A300L Van Hool Buses RECOMMENDED ACTION: Information Only

Briefing Item

Recommended Motion

Fiscal Impact: None Background/Discussion: Delivery of the new, A300L Van Hool buses has been suspended as a result of the delay in the delivery of an emissions system part. All of the buses that are currently in production have engines certified to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2007 standards. Meeting these requirements requires use of a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). The DPFs are required to be supplied as part of the delivery of the diesel engine and are specified by the engine manufacturer, Cummins, and certified as compliant by the EPA and CARB. The District’s bus manufacturer, Van Hool, must make many choices which tailor the engines to properly fit AC Transit buses. These choices are actually a series of options that are available and documented on the Cummins website. Van Hool staff must choose things such as position of components, mechanical, electric and electronic interfaces, accessory drives and, for this discussion, emissions components, most notably the diesel particulate filter. In the case of the Cummins ILS engine fitted to the new A300L, forty foot buses, Van Hool chose DPFs from the Cummins website that would physically fit into the space BOARD ACTION:

Approved as Recommended [ ] Approved with Modification(s) [ ]

Other

[ ]

The above order was passed on: . Linda A. Nemeroff, District Secretary By

GM Memo No. 08-166 Meeting Date: August 6, 2008 Page 2 of 2 available in the new buses. This choice was made early in 2007. An order was placed with Cummins and subsequently confirmed and entered into its production system. However, at the time the order was placed, Cummins had erroneous references in its system that showed that the DPF Van Hool ordered was compatible with an ISL engine in transit bus duty. Unfortunately, AC Transit staff recently learned, that indeed, the DPF supplied is not compatible with this use. Van Hool and Cummins have been working diligently to arrange for replacement DPFs to be supplied to retrofit into the AC Transit buses. Cummins’ initial estimated lead time to produce and deliver the replacement DPFs is at least forty five days. In addition, the Van Hool factory is shut down for its annual summer holiday from the last week of July to the third week in August. This holiday period influenced planning of the DPF retrofit. Cummins was able to deliver two of the replacement DPFs on July 15th. Van Hool installed a DPF into one of AC Transit’s buses on the 16th. The bus passed tests on July 17th to verify that the installation was compliant with Cummins’ installation requirements. This test is crucial to make sure that emissions regulations are met, the warranty will be honored and optimal fuel economy will be achieved. The remaining replacement DPFs necessary to finish building AC Transit’s buses will be on hand in time for the Van Hool factory re-opening on August 18th. Buses will begin shipping at a rate of three to five per week starting the week of August 25th. The shipping rate depends also on the District’s ability to process buses internally to ready them for service. The final shipping schedule will depend on the Board’s direction and the decision of the General Manager. Prior Relevant Board Actions/Policies: Attachments: None Approved by:

Rick Fernandez, General Manager Joe DeProspero, Chief Maintenance Officer

Prepared by:

Stuart Thompson, Special Projects Manager, Bus Procurement

Date Prepared:

July 25, 2008