OXNARD : Area Transit Agency Rejects Bus Route Bid From Santa Barbara Operator

Directors of South Coast Area Transit have decided that the agency can add a bus line to the new St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard for less money than it would have cost to pay a private operator.

But the decision could be reversed by federal transit officials because the directors did not include the cost of district overhead when making the comparison, said Maureen Hooper Lopez, a SCAT official.

SCAT, which receives federal funding for its transit operations, is jointly run by Ventura County and the cities of Oxnard, Ventura, Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula and Ojai.

On Wednesday, the transit agency’s board voted unanimously to reject a bid by Santa Barbara Transportation Co., which had offered to operate the new route for between $121,870 and $133,595 a year, minus fare revenues.

SCAT directors rejected the bid, saying the district could operate the same route for as little as $82,500.

But the lower price reflects the incremental cost to the district, and does not include the cost of the district’s overhead, Lopez said.

When the cost of overhead is included, the district’s cost of $179,849 would be significantly higher than the bid submitted by Santa Barbara Transportation Co., Lopez said.

She said officials with the Federal Transit Administration’s regional office in San Francisco indicated that SCAT might have violated the federal Private Enterprise Participation Policy of 1985. The law requires transit operators that receive federal funds to make a good-faith effort to privatize their transit systems if it proves to be more cost-efficient.

The federal agency is expected to review SCAT’s decision within three weeks.

Lopez said federal officials have the power to overturn the board’s decision, and could award the contract to the private bidder or threaten to withhold part of the $1.38 million in federal subsidies that the district receives.

Meanwhile, the new bus line is scheduled to begin operating Sept. 6. The new route will primarily serve northeast Oxnard.