Maybe there is another reason for the city accepting Ansaldo's high bid:

From www.HonoluluTraffic.com

Having heard no rational explanation for the City's accepting Ansaldo's high bid over Bombardier's lower bid for the Design/Build/Operate/Maintain (DBOM) contract, let us offer a speculative rationale.

For the Design Build cost (construction costs), Ansaldo is clearly the winner with a bid that is $125 million less than Bombardier. However, for operating costs, Bombardier is the clear winner with a bid that is $240 million less (nearly half) than Ansaldo's.

Overall, Bombardier's bid was $125 million less than Ansaldo's, but they lost the bid, which is a little strange.

Bear in mind that the City's rail construction budget is limited to their using what they can get from the city's ½ percent addition to the GE Tax, any federal dollars, and any private funds they can raise; they cannot use any funds from the city's General Fund.

On the other hand, they can use all they want for operating subsidies from the General Fund. It seems logical, given that the rail construction fund is held together with baling wire and duct tape, so to speak, that they would eagerly favor a bid that was low on constructions costs and high on operating subsidies.