The Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved the purchase of four bus shelters for the Mountain Express Transit (MET) bus system at its March 19 meeting.
At a BoCC work session earlier in the day, Transportation Coordinator Kevin Bruce presented to the BoCC about the bus shelters, explaining that the bus shelters were budgeted last year and that 80 percent of the costs will be paid by grants from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
He stated that the quotes his department received for the shelters were “wide ranging,” but that he wanted to proceed with a bid from the Durango-based company ModStreet due to it being the only bidder to use steel construction instead of aluminum and being compliant with the American Disabilities Act.
He stated that the ModStreet shelters are modular, meaning they can be picked up and relocated, and that ModStreet is the only company out of those that submitted quotes to provide solar lighting, a bike rack and a bench as part of the shelter.
Bruce commented that the industry standard is to provide a one-year warranty on bus shelters, but that ModStreet is providing a three-year warranty.
ModStreet was the “middle bid” in terms of cost, he added.
Commissioner Ronnie Maez asked if aluminum shelters are more expensive than steel ones.
Bruce explained that all the other bids were for aluminum shelters, including bids higher and lower than the ModStreet bid, but that he expected that the cost of shipping aluminum might contribute to a higher cost.
Maez commented that he likes that the shelters are movable.
Bruce added that the bike racks can be mounted on the shelter in multiple locations and the roofs can be realigned in multiple configurations, making the shelters highly customizable depending on location.
In response to questions from Commissioner Warren Brown, Bruce explained that the county received five bids for the bus shelters with prices ranging from $56,000 to $76,000. ModStreet came in at $69,127.
Brown asked if Bruce knew if the Town of Pagosa Springs plans to buy any bus shelters for town.
Bruce stated that he did not know of any such plans.
Brown suggested that the information on these shelters should be shared with the town to ensure consistency.
Bruce noted that, in a grant application for the Town-to-Lakes Trails project, the town included ModStreet products, but that he was unsure if the town intends to purchase from this supplier or if they were only included as an example for the grant.
In response to a question from County Manager Derek Woodman, Bruce explained that there are a “half dozen proposed locations” for the bus shelters, including at the intersection of Vista Boulevard and Bonanza Avenue, at Walmart, at City Market, at the new county transit facility and at 1st Street near U.S. 160 and the proposed pedestrian bridge over the San Juan River.
Bruce also explained that the delivery time for the shelters would be 12 weeks, which is the fastest delivery time offered in the bids.
He added that gathering stakeholder input would be critical for determining the locations for the shelters.
Maez asked what Bruce’s opinion is on where the shelters should be located, to which Bruce responded that he prefers the Vista and Bonanza intersection, Walmart, City Market and Pagosa Springs Middle School as locations.
Maez commented that Bruce is likely well informed about the correct locations and that he would “depend on you” to choose shelter locations.
At the meeting, Brown thanked Bruce for his work and pointed out that the CDOT grant will cover $56,286.40 of the cost of the shelters.
The board then unanimously approved the purchase.
josh@pagosasun.com
