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COVERAGE OF THE 2016 APTA ANNUAL MEETING

First-Ever Procurement Super Session Invites Super-b Questions

Navigating the maze of continuously evolving procurement rules and policies is a challenge for even the most seasoned public transportation professionals.

At this year’s Annual Meeting, APTA offered a new kind of hands-on help. For the first time, 11 procurement experts from government, business and public transit agencies gathered to answer a wide range of questions from conference attendees.

The near capacity 90-minute question-and-answer session was lively and informal, which encouraged open, free-flowing discussions between the audience and panelists, and even among attendees. For example, during one exchange, ­panelists invited FTA Assistant Chief Counsel Cecelia M. Comito, who was in the audience, to join them on the stage to help field inquiries.

Participants lined up at two microphones to seek guidance on issues such as determining when to use sole source versus single source contracts, exceptions to Buy America requirements, best practices for working with small businesses and DBEs and FTA’s growing use of paperless e-procurement.

Considerable attention focused on Buy America, particularly the new regulations pertaining to the FAST Act. Panelists noted that FTA is doing a better job of clarifying the rules and accelerating its case-by-case review of waiver requests.

One point that was emphasized throughout the session was the need for public transit agencies to maintain a clear audit trail that “tells a story” about every stage of a project. “Always assume there are Buy America requirements in every federally-funded project over $150,000,” advised one expert.

As the session concluded, the panel recommended multiple resources, including APTA’s procurement guidelines, forums and Procurement Handbook: A Guide for Transit Industry Executives, as well as NIGP/The Institute for Public Procurement’s Global Best Practices. Attendees also were encouraged to create their own networks of contacts who could offer information and advice.

Attendees reported that the session was very helpful and recommended that it be repeated at the next Annual Meeting.

The Panelists
C. Mikel Oglesby, deputy executive director, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Pompano Beach), moderated the panel, which included the following procurement experts:

John Adler, chair, APTA Procurement and Materials Management Committee; vice president for procurement, Dallas Area Rapid Transit; Alvin Burns, director, procurement and contracts administration, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (Tampa, FL); Cecelia M. Comito, assistant chief counsel, FTA; and Natalie E. Cornell, member, APTA Board of Directors; chair, Business Member Procurement Committee; director, business development, LTK Engineering Services.

Also, James Harper, director, office of acquisition management, FTA; Ted Lucas, director, procurement and contracts, Sound Transit; Wright Parkes, immediate past chair, APTA Procurement and Materials Management Committee, director of procurement, Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (Cincinnati); and Steven S. Policar, superintendent, transit fleet contract management group, King County Metro Transit (Seattle).

Also, Joe Zavala Ramirez, vice chair, APTA Procurement and Materials Management Committee; manager, contracts and procurement, Valley Metro (Phoenix); Janice R. Thomas, senior director, office of business diversity and civil rights, Metra (Chicago); and ­Richard J. Wieczorek, chair, APTA Standards Bus Procurement Guidelines Terms and Conditions; department manager, procurement and materials management, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.

 

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