As evidence of the SPMA's leanings, they point to two developments. First, SPMA Executive Director Joel Horn recently led a delegation to Las Vegas to look over that city's new system, which was built by Bombardier. Also, last week Horn traveled to Vancouver, to look over Bombardier's elevated SkyTrain.
But such fears of favoritism are totally misplaced, according to Tom Weeks, chair of the SPMA board. "That's absolutely not true," he says, adding, with some justification, that it is a lot easier and cheaper for monorail staff to visit Las Vegas or Vancouver than it is to travel to Japan or Malaysia, home to Bombardier's competitors. "We want to select the best system available. We are going to great lengths to encourage additional bidders," Weeks says.
Activists like Dick Falkenbury, who recently resigned from the SPMA board, admit that the SPMA seems to be encouraging a competitive bidding process, but says that even considering Bombardier is a huge mistake. Because the Bombardier system does not allow passengers to move between cars, as the other systems do, "there is a capacity issue," he contends. The Bombardier trains hold too few passengers, will be harder to load and unload, and, as the system's ridership grows over time, will be impossible to increase in length without also increasing the length of the platforms at each of the stations, a move that would be prohibitively expensive if even possible, he believes.
The SPMA says the bidding process is still in its infancy. On March 5, the SPMA issued a request for qualifications (RFQ), which asks for potential bidders to show they can meet the minimum qualifications necessary to build the system. The RFQ process is expected to run through May.
