NRT Inc., a transportation company based in Lowell, located northwest of Boston, reportedly said that the city failed to compensate them after the pandemic forced school shutdown in March, reported The Lowell Sun.
NRT Inc. filed a complaint that reportedly states that the city stopped payments in March, “without justification,” and owes the company nearly $2 million. The local bus company has been providing transportation to Lowell Public School district students since 2004. NRT Inc.
CEO John McCarthy told The Lowell Sun that the city normally pays them 10 installments in a one-year period, but when Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker closed the schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the payments stopped.
McCarthy reportedly said that they were instructed by the city to be ready to start transportation services again if the schools reopened. This meant that employees and bus drivers were still being paid for performing maintenance duties and other operational procedures, McCarthy added. “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes,” said McCarthy.
These behind the scenes costs are reportedly what NRT Inc. states the city should be paying them for, under their existing contract, to be ready to transport students when schools reopen.
