Selling to Long Beach Transit, LBUSD, Long Beach City College, Long Beach Utilities and the Airport: Where Each Posts Bids

The City of Long Beach and the Port are the two largest public buyers in town, and the route to both is in Selling to the City of Long Beach and the Port. Five other public buyers post their own work: a transit agency, a school district, a community college, the Utilities department and the Airport. They split between two platforms and four sets of rules. This page gives each buyer’s portal, its registration, and any dollar threshold it states, and says where a threshold could not be confirmed. Everything below is as of October 2026.

The short answer

Long Beach Transit

Long Beach Transit (LBT) posts on PlanetBids, portal 28908². Its vendor page says “Both formal and informal solicitations may be available through PlanetBids” and “Late responses cannot be accepted”; procurement is at (562) 591-8753¹. The page states no dollar thresholds. A separate “Bid Appeal & Protest Procedures” document dated 2026, written under FTA guidelines, covers protests¹.

LBT is also where the DBE question surfaces. Its page says the California Unified Certification Program has finished reevaluating firms and that LBT “is resuming its DBE program”¹.

Official pages disagree The City’s compliance page says “Effective October 3, 2025 the DBE programed [sic] is paused”³. Long Beach Transit’s page says “LBT is resuming its DBE program”¹. The Long Beach Transit page is undated, so the pages do not show which is newer. The cautious reading is that Long Beach Transit’s solicitations follow its page, City-run ones follow the City’s, and each solicitation states whether a DBE goal applies. The certifications are in LBSBE, Port SBE and DBE.

Long Beach Unified School District

The district posts on PlanetBids, portal 23758. Its vendor page says “Effective 03/15/2022 all District Bids will be accessible on the LBUSD Planet Bids Website”, and vendors choose commodity codes when they register⁴⁵. Two lines on the page describe how vendors are treated: “Vendor qualifications are not reviewed before being added to the Bidder Database”, and responsibility is “determined … on an individual case by case basis”⁴.

The Purchasing and Contracts Branch is at 2201 E. Market St., (562) 663-3005. Facilities bids, whose numbers start with “F” or “FAC”, have their own line, (562) 997-7550⁴⁵. A bidder threshold for the district was not located on the pages read.

Long Beach City College

The college posts on PlanetBids, portal 53010⁶. Its purchasing page asks for a W-9, insurance and an additional insured endorsement and lists a purchasing line, (562) 938-4843⁷. Its current-opportunities page carried an ongoing RFQ, 25-D003, for economic development business advisors, with responses due “June 30, 2028”⁶.

The bands come from the Handbook of Purchasing Regulations, revised February 3, 2023⁸:

Source:⁸, handbook revised February 3, 2023. The public-works bands follow the state’s Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, which the district adopted on October 23, 2012⁸.

Contractors bidding over $3.5 million must also submit a prequalification application⁹. These bands are from a 2023 document, and whether they are current as of October 2026 is unverified.

Long Beach Utilities

The Long Beach Utilities Department, which runs gas, water and sewer from 1800 East Wardlow Road and was formerly called Long Beach Water, posts on the City’s Long Beach Buys, where it appears as its own organization alongside “City of Long Beach” and “LEGISLATIVE” on the public bid search¹⁰¹³. Its purchasing page says it “purchases most of its materials, supplies, equipment and services through a centralized purchasing system managed by the LBUD Procurement Group”, with a contact at [email protected]¹⁰.

The one dollar line it states: “formal ITBs and RFPs over $200,000” appear in the Press-Telegram classified section¹⁰. The City Charter lets the utility’s board award contracts without advertising up to a limit the Council sets by ordinance; the Charter text still uses the old “Water” names in places¹¹.

On October 2, 2026, six of the City’s 23 open bids carried Utilities’ UD prefix, including a sewer improvement on Cherry Avenue (UD-26-361, opening October 14, 2026) and welding supplies, parts and repair (UD-26-360, opening October 8, 2026)¹³. The full list is in What the City and Port of Long Beach Are Buying.

Long Beach Airport

Long Beach Airport (LGB) is a City department, so its solicitations run through Long Beach Buys: “The City utilizes an online registration and bidding system”¹². The Airport’s page describes DBE and ACDBE plans for federally funded work, a master concessionaire for concessions, and advertising “managed by Clear Channel”, with the leasing office handling concession and advertising RFPs¹². The Airport’s ACDBE program says LGB is a member of the California Unified Certification Program¹⁴.

Two Airport bids were open on October 2, 2026: ARFF Cleaning and Related Services (AP-26-757, opening October 8, 2026) and Operation of Long Beach Airport Advertising Program (AP-26-740, opening October 30, 2026)¹³. The Airport’s page states no dollar thresholds, and concession terms and expiration dates were not located in a source that could be cited.

Where the thresholds stand

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Long Beach Transit post its bids?

On PlanetBids, portal 28908; its page says formal and informal solicitations may both appear there¹².

Does one registration cover the City, the Port, the schools and the college?

No. The City uses Long Beach Buys, and the Port, Long Beach Transit, the school district and the college each use their own PlanetBids portal, numbered 19236, 28908, 23758 and 53010^2461315.

Does Long Beach Utilities post on Long Beach Buys?

Yes. Utilities is listed as its own organization on the City’s public bid search, and it states a formal bid line of over $200,000¹⁰¹³.

What are Long Beach City College's purchasing thresholds?

Its handbook, revised February 3, 2023, requires no written quote up to $15,000 and three written quotes from $15,001 to the Annual Formal Bid Limit; over $200,000 goes to formal bid⁸.

Where does the Airport post solicitations?

On Long Beach Buys; concession and advertising RFPs go through the leasing office¹².

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