Whether Standard Bus Contracting will buy out the assets of Takhini Transport to provide school bus service for the coming year is still under consideration, says a Standard Bus vice-president.

"At this point in time, we are not entirely sure,” Tom Jezersek said in a telephone interview this morning.

"We have been in talks with Takhini bus lines.

"They have come to us and asked if we are interested, so we are taking a look at their fleet to see if it meets our needs, our requirements, and if it does, can we make a deal suitable to each party?”

Similarly, said Jezersek, Takhini Transport has offered to sell Standard Bus its yard in the Kulan industrial park.

Calgary-based Standard Bus was the low bidder earlier this month for the school busing contract in all 10 Yukon communities, dislodging Takhini Transport for the first time in a decade.

It was Takhini Transport, however, which outbid Diversified Transportation in 2001, taking over busing in most communities which had been held by Standard Bus' subsidiary for some 30 years.

As he indicated in an interview last week, Jerezek repeated this morning his company is interested in meeting with the existing employee groups.

"If they are interested in talking to us, if they are interested in working for us, we are interested in talking to them,” he said. "We want to make this as easy a transition as possible .

"Our goal is to not rock the boat as much as possible, and upset anybody.”

Jerezek said officials from Standard Bus will be in Whitehorse in the next couple of weeks.

The vice-president also insisted last week the low bids were not built on the backs of the employees.

Standard Bus submitted the low bid earlier this month for school busing in each of the 10 communities.

The contracts were officially awarded and accepted earlier this week.

The contract period has been reduced from the standard three years to two years this time because the Department of Education is undertaking a major review of its busing policy and service.

Department spokeswoman Dea Hrebien explained last week the review is expected to be complete in time for the next tender, which will then go back to the regular three years.

Takhini Transport held the contract for seven of the 10 routes over the last three years, and Norline Coaches of Whitehorse provided the service in Haines Junction, Destruction Bay and Carmacks.

In the bids this month, however, Standard Bus submitted a price of $4.6 million to provide busing in Whitehorse for the next two years, or $2.3 million per year. Takhini Transport bid $5 million, or $2.5 million a year.

For all 10 routes, Standard Bus will provide the service for $3 million annually, down a hair from the total annual cost over the last three years.

The contract does carry a fuel rider that goes up and down with the cost of diesel fuel.

These contracts are based on the Feb. 23 pump price of $1.27 per litre.