State postpones The state has delayed the awarding of a four-year contract for the Honolulu Airport taxi-dispatching service.
airport taxi contract
The attorney general recommends
studying the dispatch serviceBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com
The state Department of Transportation said yesterday that it was postponing the award indefinitely on the recommendation of Attorney General Mark Bennett.
The postponement comes after a Dec. 22 Star-Bulletin column criticized the contract and its selection process. The award was to be announced on Saturday.
A spokesman said the Lingle administration needs additional time to address problems raised by the contract. Lingle officials also noted that the previous contractor, SIDA of Hawaii Inc., owes the state about $670,000 in payments for the existing contract, which expires on Jan. 31.
"Delaying the awarding of the contract will allow the state to ensure the integrity of the contract bidding process," said Bob Awana, Lingle's chief of staff.
Bennett said his recommendation is based on questions raised about the way the contract is structured. Based on the Transportation Department's guidelines, the winning bidder's payments to the state are based on the number of cab trips from the airport each month.
But the state does not have a system to independently verify that number. Instead, it must rely on the dispatching service to give the state the information for determining payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of the contract.
Several taxi operators complained in the "Raising Cane" column by Rob Perez that the selection process seemed designed to eliminate most prospective bidders and favor one or two vendors. They also said that the 1 1/2-month turnaround time is too short, and criticized the state's decision to allow bus companies to take part in the bidding.
Star Taxi owner Bob Alfred said bus companies like Roberts Hawaii Tours, which runs the airport shuttle-bus service to Waikiki, would have a conflict of interest should it be awarded the dispatching service contract. The bus operator, the state's largest transportation company, would make more money steering business to its company-owned shuttles than to cab drivers, Alfred said.
Roberts, which has submitted a bid, does not believe that there is a conflict, said company spokeswoman Helene "Sam" Shenkus.
Shenkus noted that the company has operated the dispatch service at Kahului Airport and has not received any complaints about steering business from cabdrivers.
State Department of Transportation
