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Raleigh, N.C. The state Department of Transportation provided little oversight as a Cary company operated a vanpool program for low-income workers in rural areas of North Carolina and racked up excessive fees, according to an audit released Thursday.

The auditors' findings have been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation to determine if any criminal charges are warranted.

The DOT hired 2Plus Inc. in late 2000 to operate a fleet of vans to help low-income people in rural areas commute to work. The program peaked at 34 routes in 2006, but only 10 were still running when the state cut ties with the company two years ago.

The audit found that 2Plus operated the program without a contract for the equivalent of six years because officials in the state Division of Public Transportation failed to execute new contracts after old ones expired. That led to disputes over the purpose of the program, such as 2Plus using some vans to transport South Carolina workers to jobs in North Carolina and non-resident aliens to jobs at Outer Banks hotels, according to the audit.

The absence of a contract also led to "excessive and unreasonable" fees for the program, the audit states. Those included an extra $163,272 to cover personal mileage of volunteer van drivers, temporary rentals when state vans weren't available and insurance deductibles, according to the audit.

"It's just poor management every way you look at it," State Auditor Beth Wood said. "It's just mind-boggling to me. You've got this kind of gross mismanagement, and then I have to turn around and cut nine positions (because of a tight budget)."

Byron York, executive director of 2Plus, said neither the company nor its staff received undue benefits.

"The program has been honest, legitimate. We show where the expenses have been and for what," York said.

The state paid 2Plus $4.3 million through June 2010, and the company says it is still owed $617,404, according to the audit. The state also spent $721,590 on the vans used in the program, the audit states.

The DOT didn't have lease agreements with 2Plus for most of the state-owned vans, the audit states.

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Audit: DOT mismanaged rural vanpool program