Caltrans has begun a pilot program to accept contractor bids using an electronic bidding system, which the agency hopes will reduce project costs and speed up the bidding process.
Prior to the electronic bidding system, bids had to be physically delivered to the Caltrans district office by dispatching a "bid runner." Now, bids can be submitted on www.bidx.com.
Caltrans, the state agency that manages California’s highways and roads and provides inter-city rail services, awards 600 contracts per year with a total worth $2.5 billion, according to Caltrans spokesman Jason Probst.
One of the problems with needing to physically deliver bids was that subcontractors often didn’t decide until the last minute what they will charge, which was difficult to organize into a final bid.
"[The electronic bidding system] reduces the need for post-bid cost adjustments from subcontractors," Probst said via email. "The end result is Californians getting more value than ever for their transportation dollar."
Departments of transportation in 37 states now accept bids via the website.
