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It wasn’t the lowest bid. And the company’s not local. But Hawaii Department of Education officials determined was the best consultant to study the state’s broken student transportation program.

The nationally renowned Maryland company, whose report was made public late last week, — of New York and Honolulu-based — for a to do a comprehensive review of the school bus program and analyze alternative models for comparison.

Education officials have said for months that the consultant’s report will help them figure out how to rein in student transportation costs, which more than doubled to nearly $75 million annually over the past few years. Civil Beat has been documenting the runaway bus costs in its investigative series, Taken for a Ride.

The state after keeping it under wraps for almost two weeks while the Attorney General’s office reviewed it.

“The analysis indicates that virtually every aspect of the student transportation program in Hawaii requires some degree of reform,” MPS President Thomas Platt and Vice President Timothy Ammon said in a Nov. 19 letter to Ray L’Heureux, the assistant superintendent who oversees the bus program.

They said the proposed reforms are comprehensive and implementation will require a long-term commitment of time and resources, but if done right will reverse the escalation in costs and vastly improve service quality.

Here are some highlights from the report:

• The state should retain the current model of contracted service delivery — not own and operate its own buses — and focus its efforts on correcting the flaws that exist in how this model is planned and executed. It is not the structural operating environment factors that are to blame. Rather, over the years the state has failed to adapt to changing circumstances in a shifting marketplace.

• The state is paying on average $1,756 per student and $86,520 per bus. These transportation costs are substantially higher than most operations with a traditional route structure similar to Hawaii.

• Unable to control the rate of increase in unit costs, the state has resorted to cutting service. “This approach undermines the integrity of the program and the policy objectives of the school board while failing to address the underlying cause of the problem.”

• The DOE needs to regain control of the routing function, but lacks the necessary technology. “In the absence of robust contract oversight there is no feedback mechanism to ensure that the contractors are executing the routes as designed and, in turn, invoicing their services accurately.”

• Implementation will involve utilizing a pilot program in 2013; executing a revised competitive procurement model by 2014; and doing a phased-implementation of the revised model by 2015.

• The DOE must shed its route-specific and long-term contracts that hamper competition. But it should be careful to keep the vendors motivated and engaged to provide services during the transition.

The Board of Education has set aside time Tuesday to hear an from MPS on its report. State lawmakers plan to do the .

The Legislature has budgeted millions of dollars less than the department has requested for school bus services to try to force DOE to get skyrocketing costs under control. The district in July had to cut 74 bus routes — impacting some 2,000 kids — to make up part of a $17 million budget gap after state lawmakers gave the department less money than it had asked for.

The Legislature may be involved with more than just budgeting for bus services next session. MPS recommended the state change its procurement laws to stimulate competition among school bus companies.

Earlier, the State Auditor’s office also underscored the dire need for the department to reform its transportation program in a released Oct. 31. Auditor Marion Higa’s 54-page report blasts the department for its ineffective and unsystematic management of student bus services.

MPS, which met with the auditor when it did its whirlwind on-site visit as part of its study, uses a lot of the same language in its report as Higa, such as a need for “systemic” change. MPS spent two months analyzing the state’s student transportation services and preparing the report, including a nine-day trip to Hawaii to study the program first-hand and talk to key sources of information.

The state hired MPS, a national transportation consultant that formed 12 years ago, based on its 21-page proposal submitted June 15. The DOE’s James Kauhi, Tracy Okumura and Gilbert Chun chose the company, and the $109,000 contract was awarded Sept. 6.

“Basically, they had the best resume of experience that fit the department’s requirements going forward,” DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said.

Civil Beat tried for the past week to get someone at the department to talk about why MPS was chosen over the other two consultants. Messages seeking comment from L’Heureux and Kauhi were not returned as of Friday.

TAS, a national transportation consultant with 24 years’ experience, said in its 43-page bid proposal that it could do the study for $24,450. TAS said it has worked with more than 400 districts and agencies in 19 states, reviewing all types and styles of programs. TAS said it has become the nation’s largest dedicated student transportation consulting firm.

PKF, the only Hawaii company to bid, said in its 35-page proposal that it could do the study for under $250,000, with the exact amount to be billed based on actual hours incurred. PKF officially formed two years ago, retaining staff and operations after buying out Grant Thornton, which had more than 50 years’ experience albeit not exclusively in transportation like the other two firms.

Based on its proposal, PKF had the least amount of experience, compared to MPS and TAS, in providing consulting work specifically for student transportation programs. PKF’s proposal instead highlighted financial statement audits and accounting services as part of the experience that qualified it for the job.

Civil Beat obtained all three bid proposals through a public records request.

Platt touted his firm’s experience and staff in its proposal. He said MPS, along with its project partner, TransPar Group, are the two largest companies in North America dedicated to providing professional services to the student transportation industry. Collectively, the team has done more than 500 relevant consulting projects.

The MPS proposal highlighted five other school districts — from Rhode Island to Ontario — that have transportation programs the firm has helped reform. Those reports were not made available as of Friday, despite being part of Civil Beat’s public records request.

The DOE’s official solicitation for bids lays out the evaluation criteria used to select the consultant to do the project. In order of importance, the department was looking for experience and professional qualifications relevant to the project type; past performance on projects of similar scope; and capacity to do the work in the required time. MPS submitted its report four days after the original Nov. 15 deadline.

Here’s the MPS study: