Sticking with protests, First Transit Inc. has filed a protest against the Greensboro Transit Authority board’s recommendation to continue with the current contractor to operate the city’s bus system even though First Transit was the low bidder.

The GTA board will hear First Transit’s protest at its May 28 meeting, and if necessary the City Council will hear it at its June 3 meeting. I hope it goes that far so the public will get better insight into the bidding process for a public transportation contract, which at best appears top be subjective and at worst appears to be ” “arbitrary, capricious, wrongful and unreasonable,” as First Transit’s attorney’s described it in its protest.

But there’s an even bigger issue, specifically GTA’s projected $2.5 million deficit:

Councilmember Mike Barber said he supported the Veolia contract but said Greensboro’s bus system is flawed and needs more than just a renewed contract. He said past city councils have lacked the courage to set rates high enough, and that the GTA has insisted on running all routes through the J. Douglas Galyon Depot on East Washington Street, which made no sense.

“I think we’ve missed an opportunity to revamp our transit system,” Barber said. “Not on the contract, but revamping our entire approach and our routing. I think the contract was a best-value contract, and this contractor has shown consistently good service, so that I don’t have a problem with.”

Pretty strong statement considering the fact that the Galyon Depot was renovated at a cotst of $13 million inorder to serve as Greensboro’s transportation hub. Yeah, I know there is still hope that rail service through the Galyon Depot will ramp up, but it appears that will take a while to happen, if ever.