New bids result in lower Fall River school bus costs

It appears that the process of obtaining new bids for Fall River school bus transportation has paid off.

Just before the Fall River school year ended, a special committee meeting was held where the school transportation bids were rejected due to concerns over the state’s procurement law.

The previous proposal lowered the initial figure from $11.9 to 10.1 million with the concerns looming of changing school start times and using fewer buses breaking the law.

After Monday’s school bus transportation re-bid, the figure, minus athletic transportation due to reimbursement, comes in at a final cost of just under 10 million at $9,990,265.60.

The re-bid creates a savings of $2 million dollars from the initial proposal and a savings of over $100,000 from the bid process that had to be scrapped.

Mayor Jasiel Correia III and Kevin Aguiar were both vocal concerning garnering new bids for the contract.

Tremblay, Fisher, Amaral, and Whaling City bus companies all won various proposals in the re-bidding process.

The School Committee is expected to vote on the measure later this month.