Not always. It depends on what the contract type is. In an IFB (invitation for bid), which is highly unlikely for a subway car procurement, the TA would be forced to award the bid to the lowest responsible bidder. In an RFP (request for proposals), many factors are evaluated from each bidder, including technical approach, engineering competency, manufacturing capability, participation of women/minority-owned subcontractors, etc. In the MBTA's order, the bidders were evaluated on their technical merits before the price proposals were even opened. CRRC Changchun scored higher overall than BBD and Kawasaki. CRRC Sifang had also bid, but they scored very low and was eliminated before the price proposals were evaluated. Sifang is the subsidiary that recently gained attention in the news for shoddy quality in the Singapore MRT cars.