Wall school bus company wins 6M contract from Colorado district

Wall-based school transportation company Student Transportation Inc. announced Wednesday that a subsidiary has been awarded a $6 million annual contract with a school district in Colorado.Student Transportation of America Inc. will provide school transit services starting in July for Mesa County Valley School District 51 in Grand Junction, the company said in a news release. The pact is for five years, with optional renewal years, and covers the 12^th-largest district in the state.

This is STA’s first contract in Colorado.

 “This is a great bid win for us, and we are excited about expanding our operations in Colorado,” Don Kissell, senior vice president, said in a prepared statement. “As we begin our new partnership with the Grand Junction community, we want them to know we value this opportunity greatly. We will be looking to show other school districts in the state how our public-private partnership can not only upgrade their fleet and improve service, but lower their cost of operation.”

STA will provide 140 new state-of-the-art vehicles under the contract, including 122 clean-burning propane-fueled ones. The result will be the youngest and largest “green fleet” of school vehicles in Colorado, it said. STA will also install and utilize new routing software for the fleet. Under the contract, the district will pay for the vehicles’ fuel and provide maintenance and parking facilities, it added.

“Our talented team in operations is looking forward to getting started and forging a strong local relationship while drawing upon our years of experience and demonstrating our outstanding culture of compassion, caring and customer service,” Kissell said.

STA said current drivers and transportation personnel will be given first opportunity to work for it, and it will then recruit and hire additional drivers and personnel as growth requires.

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