Washington Business Journal reports that the District has canceled its $8.7 million contract for two streetcars with Oregon-based United Streetcar LLC.

Apparently another bidder, the Inekon Group, asserted that the contract was improperly issued:

Inekon built the District’s first two streetcars. It offered to build the next two, slated to run on the H Street/Benning Road line, for $9.5 million. While its bid was higher than United Streetcar’s, Inekon argued in its protest that the winning contractor’s low technical score should have ruled it ineligible for the award.

This might not mean the end of the streetcar plan. But it does make DDOT look a bit like a player in amateur hour, especially if they decide they have to start the process all over again because their scoring was off—which could certainly delay things more.

UPDATE: DDOT spokesperson John Lisle tells us over email: “The solicitation continues and we are determining our course of action.”

We’ll update with more information as it becomes available.

Photo via D.C. Streetcar