A Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services official says there never was a moratorium on school bus tenders, despite what local companies may say.
General manager Greg Seguin said he has never seen any information claiming the tender process would be put off until 2010 and he was told the Ministry of Education never committed to such a delay.
School bus operators in Wellington and Dufferin Counties were notified a few weeks ago the consortium is going to tender next month on its remaining 334 bus routes for the 2010-11 school year.
Sequin explained the decision to go to tender was made by its management committee, which is comprised of five superintendents representing local school boards.
“It was a unanimous decision,” said Seguin. He realizes all operators are concerned about the outcome of the tender process but he questions the claims of smaller operators who say they cannot compete with the larger corporations.
“I truly don’t believe that,” he said.
He explained each company can have a maximum of 50% of the routes within each of the four geographical areas – north, centre and south Wellington, and Dufferin County – and a maximum of 25% of total routes.
A Community News story last week incorrectly stated the maximum was 50% overall.
The consortium hopes savings will equal those in the first round of tenders in the spring – about $660,000.
However, Seguin noted, while 35% of the tender deals with price, the other 65% addresses technical and safety issues.
He refuted statements by several operators that the tender documents are flawed or outdated and he took exception to claims that no feedback was considered.
“That’s not true,” he said. He pointed to the minimum of 40 days notice and the timing of the tender process, which he said were two changes made to the process after operators expressed concern about short notice and having to submit tenders late in the school year.
“There’s things that we certainly listened to,” Seguin said.
He also suggested operator concerns about loss to the community in the terms of fuel and parts purchased locally seem unfounded.
“I will suggest every company buys fuel in the community,” he said, adding there was no local economic fallout after the first tenders.
“That just didn’t happen.”
Seguin said he understands the concerns of all companies, but the process is about improving things for students.
“Any dollars saved through the RFP process hopefully will go back into improving the walking distances [criteria for students],” he said.
