New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 27 - STUDENT TRANSPORTATION › Subchapter 9 - CONTRACTING FOR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES › Section 6A:27-9.3 - Bid specifications

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Specifications drawn for purposes of
				competitive bidding shall be drafted in a manner designed to encourage free,
				open, and competitive bidding. Specifications shall not knowingly discriminate,
				or exclude prospective bidders by reason of the impossibility of performance or
				bidding by any one bidder. The bid specifications shall be definite, precise,
				impose common standards, and protect against discrimination in accordance with
				N.J.S.A.
				10:5-31et seq. When bid specifications are
				formed to deter rather than to invite genuine competition, an award to the
				favored bidder shall be set aside.
(b) Any revisions to the bid specifications
				shall be furnished to all prospective bidders and shall not restrict
				competitive bidding. Modifications to the specifications shall not invalidate
				the award of a contract to the successful bidder when it appears that all such
				bulletins were received by all prospective and actual bidders in advance of the
				submission of bids. If a district board of education finds it has made in good
				faith a mistake in its specifications that cannot be corrected, bids shall be
				rejected and re-advertised.
(c)
				Variations from the bid specifications required by this subchapter shall be
				reasonable and are subject to review by the Commissioner.
(d) Bid specifications shall contain a number
				to identify each bid and language that requires contractors to comply with all
				current applicable State and Federal laws pertaining to student transportation.
				Bid specifications shall be prepared to include, but not be limited to, the
				subchapter's requirements.
1. The bid
				specifications shall include a separate route description for each individual
				route to and from school.
i. A route is a
				selected or an established course of travel by a vehicle with definite stops
				for the purpose of loading and unloading students. A route for the
				transportation of general education public school students shall be described
				from the first bus stop to the destination listing each street traveled and the
				schedule for arriving and departing.
ii. A route for the transportation of
				students with disabilities, vocational school students, and nonpublic school
				students shall be described listing, at a minimum, each bus stop, the schedule
				for arriving and departing, and the vehicle capacity. The statement "the
				direction of the vehicle from the last stop shall be along the safest most
				direct route to the destination" shall also be included in the route
				description. In addition, it shall include language that requires the
				successful bidder to submit to the district board of education, within 10 days
				of the start of the contract, a description of the actual streets
				traveled.
iii. Transportation
				routes shall be arranged so buses transverse highways that serve the largest
				number of students within a reasonable time limit and at a minimum
				cost.