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Q. Metro Transit (Minneapolis/St. Paul) is soliciting bids for a new tire lease and service contract. This will be a five-year contract requiring the lease of approximately 6,500 tires for our 940 transit buses. It is a federally funded procurement with an estimated contract value of $5 million. Our procurement will consider the cost of running out the current contractor's tires (if there is a change in contractor) in determining the lowest total cost to Metro Transit. One of the interested bidders has requested that we not consider the run-out cost "in the FTA's spirit of free and open competition" and that considering the run-out cost "imposes a barrier to free and open competition of all bidders." We considered run-out cost when awarding our last tire contract, five years ago. Are you aware of any requirement that would prevent Metro Transit from considering run-out costs in determining the low bidder?"
A. We are not aware of any requirement that would preclude you from considering run-out costs in your evaluation of which bidder would represent the lowest overall cost to your agency. We coordinated this response with appropriate FTA personnel. |
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