It's been nearly two years since the county began looking for a company to run its Transport of Rockland and Tappan Zee Express buses, but the county appears no closer to awarding the contract, the Journal News reported.

If all three bids to run the Rockland bus system are rejected, the process would need to start over -- for the fourth time.As a stopgap measure, the full Legislature voted this week to extend the contract with two Coach USA subsidiaries that operate the two lines, which together provide more than 3.5 million rides yearly. The three-month, $3.7 million contract will keep the buses rolling though Sept. 30. The county holds an option to extend the deal through March 2013 without risking its federal transportation funding, which pays for the bus services.

Officials from the county executive's office and its purchasing, public transportation and law departments said this week they recommended rejecting new bids received for a five-year contract valued at about $70 million. The reason is "material variances" found in each bidder's documents, like missing references and personnel history.

The bidders -- Brega Transport Corp., California-based MV Transportation and Coach USA's Rockland Transit Corp. -- said this was the first time they were learning of the variances, even though the county had known about them for weeks or longer. They all said they wanted an opportunity to respond to the county's concerns, but it wasn't clear if the sealed bidding process would allow that.

If all bids are rejected due to these "variances," the process would have to start over for the fourth time. Also this week, a Rockland legislative committee refused to reject the three bids just submitted, with several lawmakers stating they were "frustrated" with the process. That has left the contract award process in limbo.