Two MTA tabs from the second half of January show how far apart bidders can land. On Jan. 29, MTA Construction & Development opened seven bids on Contract 6536, Yard Lighting and Amenities, a Long Island Rail Road job, and TDP Associates Inc was low at an evaluated $2,495,520 (RFI-001901). On Jan. 16, MTA New York City Transit opened three bids on SSE 0000534303, MOW: Hoisting Services, and Atlantic Crane LLC posted $2,093,392 (RFI-001801). Neither is an award.

Hillside yard lighting. C&D bid 6536 as an A+B job. The A number is the price, the B1 number puts a dollar value on the bidder's schedule commitment, and the lowest sum wins the evaluation. TDP's $2,495,520 is a $1,798,408 price plus $697,112 of B1. The field, evaluated total first and price in parentheses: TDP Associates Inc, $2,495,520 ($1,798,408); RMD Electric Corp., $3,314,973 ($2,705,000); Jemco Electrical Contractors Inc, $3,446,805 ($2,488,276); CRC Associates, Inc, $4,037,668 ($2,992,000); TAP Electrical Contracting Service Inc, $4,099,112 ($3,402,000); Yonkers Electric Contracting Corp., $4,925,648 ($3,531,424); KLK Electric Inc., $8,319,946 ($7,100,000).

TDP beat RMD by $819,453 (32.84%) on the evaluated total, the field spread 233.40% from low to high, and the median was CRC's $4,037,668. On price alone Jemco was second, $689,868 (38.36%) behind TDP, and the price spread was 294.79%. RMD posted the lowest B1 at $609,973, which lifted it past Jemco on the evaluation. The MTA's capital records identify Contract 6536 as the LIRR project that replaces the lighting at the Hillside Support Facility in Queens with modern, energy-efficient LED systems. It is funded in the 2020-2024 program's LIRR lighting improvements line ($19.5 million allocated), which says the Hillside yard lighting job is scheduled to be awarded in the first quarter of 2026. C&D's Jan. 16 holders list shows at least 17 firms held the documents.

Subway hoisting. NYC Transit's bid-results page, which covers formal material and non-construction procurements, lists this event only as MOW: Hoisting Services, under the maintenance-of-way tag. Three vendors bid: Atlantic Crane LLC at $2,093,392; Bay Crane Service, Inc. at $63,173,351.89; and Positive Lifting at $126,620,965.60. Bay Crane's number is 30.2 times Atlantic's, and Positive Lifting's is 60.5 times. As percentages, the gap from low to second is 2,917.75% and the spread from low to high is 5,948.60%. The page gives totals only, with no breakdown of how each bidder built its number.

Why this matters. These two tabs teach different lessons. The lighting tab is a normal electrical field: seven shops, one aggressive number, and a long tail. The hoisting tab is not normal. When bids on the same event land 30 and 60 times apart, the bidders are rarely pricing identical work at wildly different rates. More often they read the pricing schedule, the quantities or the term differently. Until NYC Transit makes an award, treat Atlantic Crane's figure as the posted low, not as the market price of transit hoisting.

What to do next. Lighting suppliers, pole and foundation subs, and electrical labor should price to TDP Associates on 6536. For hoisting, crane and rigging outfits that work transit property should watch NYC Transit's procurement page for the award, and for a rebid if the agency decides the spread means the schedule needs fixing.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: MTA Construction & Development's 2026 awards list shows Contract 6536 awarded to TDP Associates Inc. on March 20, 2026 for $1,798,408, which is its bid price, with a 0% DBE goal.