WALL, N.J. — Student Transportation Inc. subsidiary Student Transportation of America Inc. (STA) has been awarded a new five and a half year contract with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools in California.

The $10 million contract was recently awarded, and service will begin in January 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will receive roughly half that amount in its fiscal 2015 year, which begins this July.

STA will provide 133 new, ultra-low-emission vehicles and 31 propane autogas vehicles to San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools as part of the contract.

"This is a great addition to our rapidly expanding fleet in California," said Don Kissell, regional vice president of STA. "With the acquisition and integration of the Atlantic Express assets we acquired in February, we will have added almost 600 vehicles to our operations here for next year."

Kissell said that the January start is "unusual," but it gives the company "time to properly set up our facility, bring drivers in for safety testing and perform a route optimization analysis before we take to the road following the winter break."

The company also said that all major contracts that were part of the previously announced acquisition of Atlantic Express' California assets have been extended.

That acquisition of 425 vehicles and approximately $26 million in annualized revenues expanded existing service contracts with Los Angeles Unified School District and added new contracts with Long Beach Unified School District, as well as many private and charter schools in Southern California.

"Our new drivers and staff were welcomed into our STA family,” Kissell said. “We have tremendous respect for the job they do for the schools, parents and students. It's great to be building this type of relationship with the communities in Southern California."