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Bid Express Service Expands Internet Bidding into Canada

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – June 8, 2007: Bid Express, the online bidding service for transportation agencies and their contractors, recently added Nova Scotia to its list of customers, marking its entry into the international marketplace. The Bid Express service was launched in 1997 and now has 27 agencies using the service. An additional nine agencies have committed to implementing in the near future.

“Bid Express is the only service offering complete Internet bidding to transportation agencies and their contractors, which is why so many agencies have elected to implement it,” said Joe Phelan, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Bid Express.“With Bid Express, contractors can download bid data and upload secure, sealed and digitally signed bids.”

The transportation agencies in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have all implemented the Bid Express service. These agencies are all experiencing the increase in accuracy and efficiency that comes from Internet bidding.

The departments of transportation in Oregon and Indiana are now in a beta testing phase with the service, and other agencies that have committed to future implementation include New York State DOT, NY Thruway Authority, Arkansas DOT, Illinois DOT, Maryland DOT, West Virginia DOT, and Mississippi DOT.

Markets for future growth of the Bid Express service include additional Canadian agencies, European Transportation Ministries, and local capital infrastructure projects within the US.

“Agencies are now seeing how easy it is to implement Internet bidding, and their contractors are requesting it due to the convenience and cost savings it brings to them,” Phelan said.

The Bid Express service also offers several add-on services so that contractors can have the convenience of one-stop shopping for their bidding needs. These services include bid tab analysis, access to online plan sheets, and the Small Business Network – a virtual community for facilitating the communication between prime contractors and subcontractors/suppliers.

The Bid Express service is a web bidding information service developed exclusively for the road construction industry. By using the service, contractors can save time needed for preparing and submitting bids and bid bonds on paper, and travel time and expense in attending lettings. Simple screens allow contractors to quickly scan all current lettings, and a search function is available for keyword information on current lettings and bid tab data from previous lettings. Contractors download bid data and upload secure, sealed and digitally signed bids, making truly paperless bidding a reality. Users have access to lettings from all state transportation agencies using the Bid Express service ­-- not just those of their home state. Agencies benefit by not needing additional staff at lettings and by generating and tracking less paper. They also get electronic bids that are error free and ready to load.

Contractors pay a monthly subscription fee for the service, and membership now exceeds 3000 primes, subs and suppliers.

The Bid Express service is offered by Info Tech, Inc. Info Tech software is installed in 40 state departments of transportation, several hundred US cities and counties and two foreign countries, performing a wide range of functions from project estimation to contract administration to electronic bidding. Info Tech, based in Gainesville, Fla., provides customer-oriented, highly technical consulting, software development, systems integration and network communications services for transportation agencies, consulting engineers and contractors. For more information, contact Info Tech at (352) 381-4400 or visit www.bidx.com.

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Valerie Riley, APR
Info Tech, Inc.
(352) 381-4400
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