San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) could take a historic step by giving preference to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) contractors in bidding.

The public transit system's board will vote Sept. 14 to give qualified LGBT contractors a five percent bid preference over small business prime contractors through a change to its small business program.

BART said LGBT businesses still face barriers in the market – particularly in the construction industry – and hoped to welcome LGBT businesses as part of the effort to rebuild the system.

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BART Board Chair Rebecca Saltzman said, “BART has a track record of prioritizing local, small, disadvantaged and women-owned businesses and this change will be a natural extension of those efforts.”

“As an agency, we want to do everything we can to make commissioning more inclusive.”

To qualify for the proposed new policy, an LGBT contractor would need to be certified as a small business by either the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce or the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as the California Department of General Services.

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