Concerns about the specifications for the University’s new bus system prompted University officials to extend the deadline for prospective bidders to April 21, nearly a month later than the original deadline.Gary Graham, Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation director, said the University held a non-mandatory, pre-bid meeting to allow for questions, and the bidders who attended the meeting wanted clarification on some of the items in the specifications.”This contract is very complicated — it’s 70 pages long,” Graham said. “Even though we tried to anticipate everything … a lot of the bidders wanted clarification on what we penned.”The articulated bus was the biggest concern for the bidders.The specifications called for one articulated bus — a bus that bends in the middle — and the bidders who attended the meeting agreed the cost of an articulated bus along with its maintenance requirements would be too costly for the University.”They essentially said, ‘If you want it, it’s going to be very costly … we can provide them, but it may not be within what you think you can afford.’ So we took it out,” Graham said. “We didn’t want to be put in a position of putting a bid out, and everybody comes in so high that we have to reject all bids and start over from scratch.”The University added another 39- to 42-foot transit bus to the specifications list to replace the articulated bus, raising the total of requested transit buses to 14.The commencement of the contract for the bus system was also set back a month. Originally set for July 1, the specifications now state the contract will begin Aug. 1, still in time for the new semester.Colorado Robertson, Student Government president, said the University is trying to maintain a reasonable increase in the cost of the bus services. The Student Required Fee Advisory Committee met and approved a possible $26 increase on the transportation fee. The exact fee increase won’t be known until the University receives the bids.”We really liked the articulated bus, but we had to look and see what we were willing to pay. I don’t think we could pay and justify that,” Robertson said.Brandon Boyd, SG transportation director, said he is disappointed the deadline had to be extended.”It was inevitable — nothing ever goes textbook,” Boyd said. “I hope that everything goes to plan, and we can have a new service installed by the fall time.”Contact Brianna Paciorka [email protected]