PSS faces uncertainty in shipment of new school buses

The shipment of school buses and special vans for the Public School System is facing uncertainties beginning this fiscal year after PSS learned that it is no longer allowed to directly apply for grants with the Federal Transportation Administration.

Jack Diaz, the PSS FTA program manager, disclosed to Saipan Tribune that PSS became a sub-grantee of all FTA grants since the creation of the Commonwealth Office of Public Transit Authority, which means all its applications will go through the local transit authority office that will review and decide on all PSS applications.

Diaz said that PSS has been directly applying and receiving FTA grants since the ’90s with an average of $1.1 million being approved each fiscal year. These funds were used to buy school buses and vans for all 19 schools on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. A portion of these awards was allocated for vehicle maintenance every year.

PSS has 28 66-seat buses in all-24 on Saipan and two each on Rota and Tinian. PSS also has eight vans on Saipan and two vans each on Tinian and Rota-all procured through FTA awards.

Diaz said the FTA Region IX office was already notified of the transition this fiscal year.

“They [local transit authority office] took over all the FTA grants.so this means PSS would no longer receive any of these grants beginning this year. Honestly, this would bear a great impact to public schools because we’re not sure if they’re going to continue the allocation for our buses and their maintenance,” Diaz said.

Last week, PSS received five brand new minivans for the special education program. Diaz said these minivans were bought using funds from last fiscal year. “This will be our last shipment from FTA grants,” he said.

The new transit authority office will take over FTA funds starting this fiscal year 2012.

On Tuesday, PSS unveiled a state-of-the-art bus depot in Lower Base that was built using $1.5 million in FTA funds. Diaz is worried how the facility will be maintained, now that no specific allocation has been identified for this purpose.

He will recommend to Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan and the Board of Education to start exploring federal assistance from the Office of Insular Affairs.

The CNMI Office of Transit Authority under the Office of the Governor was created in May 2011 with the signing of Public Law 17-43 into law. It is charged with establishing and overseeing a transportation system in the CNMI, and assessing the Commonwealth’s transportation needs and developing a viable public transportation system.