Six bus firms bid for transportation service

Northern Lehigh School District should soon have a new five-year districtwide transportation services contract in place.

Six firms submitted requests for proposals on Monday to the district on Monday, according to Greg Derr, director of support services and transportation.

Derr said First Student, Paragon, Gross, S.T.A. Transportation, Peterman, and Kistler were among the firms to submit the RFPs for a contract, Derr said.

"We were really pleased with the responses that we've received," Derr said. "We had seven contractors at our prebid meeting, so we feel we had a good representation of local contractors."

Derr said the district's current contract with First Student ends on June 30. The new contract would go into effect on July 1, 2010, he said.

Whichever firm is chosen will provide regular transportation to and from school, transportation for all the nonpublic schools, as well as after-school activities and athletic event transportation, Derr said.

The award date is set for Jan. 11, he said.