Bus contract: Two-year spectacle finally ousts incumbent

The valley’s bus contract should have been settled almost two years ago. And on Thursday, after all the insider gamesmanship, all the political and legal gyration and big costs to the taxpaying public and transit customers, the Regional Transportation Commission got the same result that started this embarrassing display of favoritism.

Incumbent bus operator Veolia Transportation Services was just too expensive to keep the job. Again.

Last week the RTC board awarded a split contract to two new operators. MV Transportation will operate buses in the northern half of the valley, and Keolis Transit America will cover the southern half. MV Transportation bid $525.7 million for a four-year contract with four two-year options, $47.5 million less than Veolia’s proposal. Keolis bid $497.9 million for a five-year contract with two two-year options, $13.5 million less than Veolia. Although 30 percent of the bid scoring wasn’t related to price — a measure intended to favor Veolia — Veolia still lost. Just as it did in 2011.

Back then, the contract was for the entire valley. And outsider First Transit beat Veolia’s bid by $50 million. The whole purpose of putting the bus contract out to bid was to encourage competition and secure the best deal for the riding public. But four members of the eight-member RTC board, pressured by Veolia’s unionized workforce, refused to go along with the bid scoring they had authorized. After a series of votes and legal challenges, the RTC board finally resolved the stalemate by starting over and splitting the contract into two geographic zones.

That decision allowed Veolia to continue running the valley’s buses under the terms of its expired contract — terms that were more expensive than First Transit’s offer.

New bids came back and Veolia still couldn’t figure out a way to bring its costs down. In advance of Thursday’s RTC vote, Veolia’s employees, through the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637, put out word that if Veolia’s high bids were rejected, a summer strike was likely. Thursday, Veolia executives and union members begged the RTC board for a delay in the vote — because two years wasn’t enough time for them to find the efficiencies that might have reduced their bid.

This time, thankfully, the RTC board realized it couldn’t possibly justify more special treatment for Veolia and local labor. This time, the vote was unanimous. Hallelujah for finally letting competition work its magic.

Now it’s up to the union to work out contracts with MV and Keolis. Considering the union is threatening to strike before those talks even start, MV and Keolis shouldn’t expect much in the way of good faith.

If the RTC believes this action redeems the agency for its misguided courtesies, it should think again. This entire, sorry episode has served as a red flag to any company that might consider investing millions of dollars in a bid for a public services contract. Welcome to Las Vegas, MV and Keolis. It’s a miracle you made it here.