City gets new transit provider

The new provider for CRANE Public Transit will be Holiday Express Bus of Grand Island.

The Grand Island City Council approved an agreement with the new transit service provider during a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Public transit services are currently provided through CRANE by Senior Citizens Industries. According to Charley Falmlen, Transit Program Manager for CRANE Public Transit, the original contract was to provide service for three years, with two extension years.

"We did go through the entire contract with SCI. We used up all of our extensions," Falmlen said. "So, it was just time for the contract to end." Senior Citizens Industries didn't want to continue providing for the transit. According to Falmlen, Senior Citizens Industries expressed concerns in regards to how the transit has grown and liability insurance.

Councilman Mark Stelk, who also sits on the Senior Citizens Industries Board of Directors, further explained why they weren't interested in signing a new contract.

Firstly, the transit had grown into more than Senior Citizens Industries could handle. According to Stelk, Senior Citizens Industries felt it was getting further away from their mission to help take care of elderly people.

"When we started, we were running the Handi-Buses, which was just a small, local run of buses," Stelk said. "Well that grew and grew and grew, and then finally we had a full fleet of buses and we got to the point where we needed a bus barn."

Secondly, Senior Citizens Industries could not afford liability insurance. According to Stelk, the lack of insurance put all the board members and senior citizens at risk of losing their assets if one of the buses got into a bad wreck.

"It just got to where we could not afford the risk of doing it," Stelk said. "And sadly, we had to say, you know, enough is enough."

During the summer, the city advertised for a request for proposal of a transit service provider to continue the CRANE public transit. The Public Works Department's transit division also sent a request for proposal to nine potential firms.

Holiday Express, which operates the Grand Island Public Schools district buses, submitted a bid for the Transit Service Provider request for proposal at the end of August. The company is also negotiating with Hall County for a rural transit system. After working with Holiday Express, a proposed contract was brought before the council. Five terms were made in the Transit Service Provider agreement.

The first term was for a start-up period, which is listed to end on March 30, 2024. The second term was for a partial year of operations period, beginning on April 1, 2024 and ending on Sept. 30, 2024.

According to Public Works Director Keith Kurtz, this partial year of operations period is meant to align Holiday Express' contract with city budget periods.

The next three terms are for three full years of operation, beginning on Oct. 1, 2024 and ending on Sept. 30, 2027. The contract also has an option to renew on an annual basis for a two-year period.

There will be a few changes under Holiday Express. All current employees will have to be rehired and maintenance will also change from Fleet Services to Holiday Express.

The Crane Public Transit office will change locations, moving from their leased space to being housed at Holiday Express. Once the service providers are changed, Kurtz said there shouldn't be any interruptions or changes in the users service.