It didn’t take long for NJ Transit to forgive Academy Bus, LLC. The Hoboken-based bus company has secured four NJ Transit contracts in the past year, despite being embroiled in payments towards a $20.5 million settlement over allegations of defrauding the agency and leaving thousands of customers stranded for over six years.
Three of these contracts were awarded on an "emergency" basis without competitive bidding. In another instance, Academy was the sole bidder for the contract. Earlier this year, a fifth contract was awarded to Academy but later rescinded after NJ Transit's chief procurement officer raised concerns about the bid scoring process.
Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University's Center for Urban Policy Research, expressed that NJ Transit should seek ways to foster more competition. Last May, Academy was granted an $81.7 million contract to manage nine routes in Passaic County over five years as the only bidder. This contract cost 70% more than its predecessor, which covered two additional years.
Pfeiffer questioned whether officials could have adjusted or divided the contract to encourage greater competition. “Why didn’t anybody else bid?” Pfeiffer asked. “Was there anything about the (request for proposal) that would have turned off the other bidders? Is this the best way to contract for this service if you only have one bidder?”
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