[Complaint Concerning Contract Award Under UMTA-Funded Project]

A firm complained concerning a contract award to another firm for buses, spare parts, and accessories under an Urban Mass Transportation Administration grant to the Metropolitan Bus Authority (MBA) of Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. The complainant contended that: (1) MBA improperly rejected its bid as nonresponsive and failed to properly evaluate life-cycle costs; and (2) the awardee did not adequately document its standardization costs. GAO held that: (1) MBA did not evaluate life-cycle costs because the complainant, the only other bidder under the solicitation, did not base its costs on actual experience; (2) the complainant did not adequately document its life-cycle cost estimates and that, therefore, MBA properly rejected the bid as nonresponsive; and (3) the award was based on the fact that the awardee submitted the only acceptable bid, rather than on a comparison of standardization costs. Accordingly, the complaint was denied.