City sues Circulator operator, alleging it overbilled by $20M

Baltimore is suing Transdev Services Inc., the company that runs the Charm City Circulator, alleging it overbilled the city $20 million for the free bus service.

The city’s complaint, filed Wednesday in Baltimore Circuit Court, alleges the company billed the city for thousands of hours during which the free bus service was not operating since 2010. The city is seeking compensation for the alleged overbilling.

“They overbilled us, and we overpaid,” City Solicitor Andre Davis said. “We want some money back from them.”

Transdev did not respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

The dispute began when a consultant for the city noticed Transdev had billed the city more than $2 million for more than 29,000 hours during which the free bus was not operating from July 2015 to July 2017.

The lawsuit claims the company responded to an inquiry from Transportation Director Michelle Pourciau in an April 11 letter, admitting it had invoiced the city “for scheduled hours for the Charm City Circulator and not the Revenue Service Hours when vehicles were actually operated.”

City officials met with Transdev in June to resolve the dispute “but did not resolve the matter,” the complaint said.

The city is claiming Transdev breached its contract, and wants the case decided by a jury. The company is expected to be served with the lawsuit this week.

Transdev’s contract with the city expires Oct. 11, according to the Department of Transportation. The department is seeking another vendor for a three-year contract to operate the free bus service, which has been in operation since February 2009.

“If the subsequent negotiations are concluded successfully, it is anticipated that the new contract will be awarded by October10,” city spokesman James Bentley said in a statement.