Charles County Commissioners have awarded a contract to MV Contract Transportation to run the county’s VanGO public transportation system.
The new contract comes in at $3.37 million, $230,000 cheaper than the county’s previous contract with longtime contractor Veolia. It is the result of a re-bid conducted by the county, after the previous bidding round yielded only one bid from Veolia at a $1.5 million markup.
Facing a 42 percent hike in costs to the system, Charles officials re-bid the project, but also warned riders of the prospect of several painful service cuts and rate hikes. Community Services even lobbied the commissioners to take the program in-house to save money.
On Friday, May 25, the county recieved three bids, and the Department of Community Services recommended MV Contract Transportation be awarded the contract, as they were the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, according to the county.
According to a county press release, MV was founded in 1975 by Alexis and Feysan Lodde. The California based company is the largest minority and privately-owned passenger transportation firm in the country. They contract with more than 140 local government and transit agencies in 26 states and the District of Columbia.
In a prepared statement, Charles County Administrator Paul Comfort said he is excited with the County’s selection.
“Over the years, I’ve had some experiences working with this company,” Comfort said. “They have a wonderful reputation, and an excellent track record of quality service to its customers.”
Veolia will officially end its services on June 30. MV Contract Transportation will serve the same routes beginning July 1, 2007.
The commissioners said that there will be no interruption in transportation services for residents of the county.