Local school bus operators continued their fight against the provincial government’s request for proposal process to secure a new contract for school transportation services Tuesday.
Last year the government announced the RFP process to secure the next contract for Tri-Board Transportation, which covers the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board, and the Limestone District School Board.
The Tri-Board School Bus Operators Association has been campaigning against the RFP process saying that it typically yields contracts for around four operators. There are approximately 25 operators serving this area currently and the operators association says the RFP process would squeeze out up to 19 of the smaller operators, forcing them to close their doors for good.
On Tuesday, lines of buses drove past Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith’s Rossmore office blaring their horns to promote awareness for their cause.
Sherry Barker of Parkhurst Transportation explained what they’re hoping to accomplish with MPP Smith.
“We just need a B-memo that can go out to all of the boards across the province that says there are alternative methods to procurement of school transportation that doesn’t require an RRP.”
Barker said that they favour a benchmark contract.
“So the one that I’m most familiar with is the benchmarking. Benchmarking is simply a process where they take a third-party person who comes in, they look at the expenses of an area or an industry and they set the rate for the cost of school transportation.”
Under the RFP process, all of the operators would have to submit individual bids for the contracts which would ultimately prove to be too expensive for many of the smaller operations.
MPP Todd Smith released a statement on the rally and the situation saying:
“School boards and transportation consortia in Ontario are required to hold open, competitive bidding for procurements of $100,000 or more, but each has the freedom to set its own process. As we have seen elsewhere in the province, an RFP is not the only avenue available. While Tri-Board Transportation has created RFP criteria that is heavily weighted to service, rather than price, I understand these small business operators are concerned about their ability to compete. We continue to have dialogue about the issue.”
The RFP process originally opened on December 15, 2020 with a closing date in March 2021. When the province declared a state of emergency on January 12, the closing date for the RFP process was pushed back to late 2021 and the current contract, set to expire on August 31, was extended to the same day in 2022.
Sherry Barker of Parkhurst Transportation, spearheaded the rally against the RFP process outside MPP Todd Smith’s office. (Photo: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
Lines of buses drove by MPP Todd Smith’s office in Rossmore blasting their horns at the rally Tuesday. (Photo: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
