Who won that county or VA ride contract? Finding award records, prices, and the next bid date

Federal ride contracts leave a public trail. SAM.gov and USAspending.gov show who won, how much, for how long and how many companies bid. The unit prices are public on request, and a bidder is entitled to a debriefing. State and county contracts leave a different trail: board minutes and public records requests. Together they tell you who the incumbent is, what they charge and when the contract ends, which is what you need before you bid.

Government NEMT contracts covers registering and finding open solicitations. This guide starts after the award. VA transportation contracts explains how medical centers buy rides, and how to price NEMT trips turns what you find into a bid price.

Where do I find a federal ride contract award?

Search the award on SAM.gov or USAspending.gov. The FPDS ezSearch tool has been retired, and SAM.gov now holds the award data: choose “Contracting” in the search box, enter your criteria, then narrow to “Contract Awards.” Contracting officers must record an award in FPDS within three business days, or 30 days for urgent awards under FAR 6.302-2 (FAR 4.604), so a new award should be searchable within days.

An award page shows:

• the winner and the office that bought the service
• the start date, the current end date and, where it exists, the potential end date with options
• the amount obligated so far and the ceiling with all options
• how the award was competed and how many offers came in
• the set-aside, if any, and the NAICS code

Filter by NAICS 485991 (special needs transportation), and by 621910 if ambulance work is in scope. Then add the agency, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs.

SAM.gov also posts award notices under Contract Opportunities, but do not count on one. FAR 5.301 requires a notice mainly for awards above $25,000 that are covered by trade agreements or are likely to produce subcontracts, and it exempts most orders placed under task or delivery order contracts (FAR 5.301). VA wheelchair van work is often bought as orders under a larger contract, as the example below shows, so USAspending is the better source.

A real example: the Orlando VA wheelchair van contract

VA’s Network Contract Office 8 signed contract 36C24821D0082 on August 25, 2021, for wheelchair van transportation funded by the Orlando VA. It was a set-aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, drew five offers and carries a $55 million ceiling. Its period of performance now runs to February 28, 2027. USAspending lists the contract’s orders, which show how the work grew:

Annual spending went from $4.8 million in the first, shorter year to $11.5 million by option year 4. The last order is described as “revised pricing” for a six-month extension, which points to a changed price schedule, so ask for the amendment. These are obligations, not payments, and a ceiling is the most the agency can order, not what it will. VA’s Philadelphia wheelchair van contract, signed September 24, 2026, has a $12.9 million ceiling, 18 offers and nothing obligated yet, because no orders have been placed.

How do I get the winner’s unit prices?

Ask the contracting officer in writing. The award notice sent to unsuccessful offerors must name the awardee and list the items, quantities and any stated unit prices, and those items, quantities and unit prices “shall be made publicly available, upon request” (FAR 15.503(b)). If listing unit prices is impractical, the notice may give only the total contract price.

That requirement appears in the older, codified FAR and in the FAR overhaul text at 15.207-2. Check which one your buyer follows. VA has used the overhaul text for Part 15 in all solicitations and contracts since November 12, 2025 (Acquisition Policy Flash 26-19).

The rule covers negotiated buys under Part 15. Some ride work is bought under simplified acquisition procedures instead, as the Philadelphia award below was. The codified FAR lets an unsuccessful offeror on those buys request the same award information (15.503(b)(2)), and the overhaul text at 13.301 gives an unsuccessful quoter a brief explanation of the award decision on request.

If you bid and lost, you can also request a debriefing:

1. Ask in writing within 3 days after you receive the award notice. A late request may be accommodated, but it does not extend the protest deadline.
2. Expect it within 5 days of your request, when practicable. The overall evaluated price and technical rating of the winner and of your offer are included, along with the overall ranking and a summary of the reason for award.
3. Do not expect a side-by-side comparison. Cost breakdowns, profit and indirect rates are off limits, and so is any point-by-point comparison of proposals (FAR 15.506).

The codified text says the winner’s evaluated price includes unit prices. The overhaul text at 15.301-1 drops those words and still keeps unit prices public on request under 15.207-2. When a debriefing is required, a GAO protest is due no later than 10 days after the debriefing is held (4 CFR 21.2).

Can I get the winner’s proposal or the signed contract?

You can ask for the signed contract under FOIA, but not for the competing proposals. FAR 24.202 says an agency may not release a proposal submitted in response to a competitive solicitation under FOIA, except for any part of it that the contract spells out or adopts by reference (FAR 24.202). If the winner’s technical approach is adopted into the contract, that part may come out. The agency can still redact trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information under FOIA’s fourth exemption.

For VA medical centers, the FOIA page has a Veterans Health Administration request form for awarded contracts and asks you to specify the type of record and the relevant time period. Name the contract number, the facility and the date range.

The timing rules in 5 U.S.C. 552:

• 20 working days to decide whether to comply, which excludes weekends and legal holidays.
• Up to 10 more working days if the agency sends written notice of unusual circumstances.
• At least 90 days to appeal a denial.
• Fees. A request made for commercial use can be charged for searching, copying and review.

How do I find a state or county ride contract?

Read the board’s agenda and minutes first, then send a public records request for the documents behind them. Many counties approve ride contracts at a public meeting, and the agenda often names the vendor, the term and the rates.

St. Louis County, Minnesota shows the pattern. Its December 16, 2025 consent agenda included a resolution for social service transportation from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028. The text named the contractor, MTM, said it was the only provider still interested and had served since 2020, and listed the contracted rates: a monthly administration fee of $3,000 for fewer than 125 trips or $1,500 for more, a $10.96 fee per leg, and maximum rates of $19.80 base and $1.70 a mile. The agenda does not say how much of each amount reaches the carriers that drive the trips, so ask for the contract and its price schedule.

Public records laws then reach the contract itself. Three examples show how much they differ:

The details: Texas lists those contract terms in Government Code 552.0222 and requires the written date in 552.221(d). Florida’s 119.071 sets the sealed bid rule, and 119.07 allows up to 15 cents per one-sided copy. Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law allows an extension of up to 30 days beyond the first five business days, and a denied requester has 15 business days to appeal to the Office of Open Records.

Ask for the contract, the price schedule or exhibit, every amendment, the bid tabulation and the award notice. Keep the request short and name the contract. Time it for after the agency announces its intended award, because bids and proposals can stay exempt until then.

How do I use the incumbent’s price and end date to plan a bid?

Use the end date to know when to watch for a new solicitation, and use the prices as a check on your own, not as your price. A federal contract may not end on a clean date. An agency can extend an expiring contract while it writes the next one, as the Orlando extension shows, and the VA page describes the short bridge contracts and sources sought notices that come before a new award.

1. Find the end date and the options left. Note the current end date, the potential end date and any option years that remain.
2. Get the price schedule. Ask for the unit prices, then compare the base rate and the per-mile rate with your own.
3. Run your last 90 days of trips through it. As an example, a schedule of $30 for a wheelchair trip plus $2.50 a mile pays $52.50 on a 9-mile trip. If your cost on that trip is $48, you keep $4.50 and cannot afford much deadhead.
4. Check whether you can bid. Set-asides and size standards decide that. See veteran-owned certification for SDVOSB set-asides and HUBZone certification for the other certification a ride company can hold.

The incumbent’s price is what the agency was willing to pay at that time. It leaves out what your fuel, wages and insurance cost now.

Pricing from your own trip records

The comparison in step 3 only works with your own numbers. HealthRide’s trip log exports to CSV or PDF with GPS-recorded miles and timestamps for each trip, which gives you the miles and hours behind your cost per trip. See reports for the trip log and the on-time report.