The group of school bus operators that serves the Quinte Region is pushing the Provincial Government to reconsider the process of awarding a new service contract which would begin next June.
Tri Board School Bus Operators Association Co-Chair Sean Payne says a request for proposals is set to go out within days but each of the group’s 25 operators would be forced to put in their own proposals, rather than one group bid, as has been the case in the last six years.
Payne says that could lead to a significant loss of business for some of the small companies that run buses.
“Our real concern with that is there’s about 25 operators that operate for Tri Board and we know that probably a good 19 of them will not be successful. It’s just the nature of an RFP. They’re generally structured to only award to two or three operators.”
He says that likely means many of those operators will end up with very little, or no business at all and that the province should protect their small businesses by sticking with what has worked for years.
“We’re saying that approach is far superior to an RFP and that it gives Tri Board the assurance of value for money and also maintains the existing operator group which has years of experience. We have generational businesses out there that have been around for decades.”
Meanwhile, Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith says he knows how the process has affected small school bus operators in the past and that’s why he and his Hastings-Lennox and Addington counterpart Daryl Kramp, have been working with the Ministry of Education to see what can be done.
“There have been school bus companies that haven’t survived this RFP process and that’s why we’ve both been very active over the last months and weeks and even yesterday, trying to find a solution to this issue. But at the end of the day this comes down to the province simply overpaying for student transportation.”
Smith added that the association is, rightfully, looking at a worst case scenario and he hopes it doesn’t turn out that way, noting that there is still a chance that more than just a handful of contracts could be awarded, as long as the cost is right.
