The vendor is required to provide for the successful deployment of a demand-response paratransit software system across its service area, which consists of three distinct service zones operating under dedicated and hybrid service models.
- Provide to achieve operational efficiencies of 20-40% through the acquisition and implementation of a centralized web-based scheduling and dispatching software solution for its paratransit fleet.
- Software system must enhance capabilities to:
• Manage customer files, generate schedules, and improve or eliminate reliance on manual scheduling.
• Account for both directly operated and purchased transportation services.
• Enable riders to manage their own trips, including self-service trip requests and the ability to manually negotiate their trips based on current availability.
• Provide a rider portal where users can securely fund their accounts.
• Continuously optimize trip and operator manifests in real time.
• If any trip is canceled or dropped, the software must dynamically reshuffle the remaining trips to ensure equitable and logistically sound distribution.
• Integrate high-resolution GPS tracking with a sub 1-minute refresh rate to provide accurate real-time vehicle location data.
• Streamline the rider application and reapplication process, ensuring a robust and user-friendly workflow.
• Provide accurate, real-time reporting for both directly operated and purchased transportation services.
• Ensure seamless data migration from existing provider route match & its payment processor RMPay, including the cleaning of old, superfluous data to maintain system integrity.
• Database management
○ Must allow for the creation of new client files and the conversion of existing data into a fully functional, sortable, and searchable database.
○ Data fields must include: contact details, third-party payees, mobility aid requirements, disability status, trip history, emergency contacts, and customizable demographic codes.
○ Must support a robust application and reapplication process for riders.
• Customer self-service portal
○ Riders must be able to fund their own accounts through a secure payment portal.
○ Riders must be able to request their own trips and manually negotiate scheduling adjustments based on available time slots.
• Real-time trip optimization
○ The software must dynamically adjust and reshuffle trips when cancellations occur, ensuring equitable and logistically efficient ride distribution.
• GPS tracking & vehicle data
○ Sub 1-minute refresh rate required for real-time vehicle tracking.
○ Must support live dispatching & trip tracking, providing real-time updates to riders via the mobile app.
• Advanced geospatial features
○ Software must integrate with google real-time GTFS (general transit feed specification).
○ Must include the ability to define and display service zones, physical barriers, fare zones, and major travel destinations.
○ Must allow for manual updates to street maps to reflect construction, detours, or new road infrastructure.
• Data export & interoperability
○ GIS data must be exportable to ESRI ArcGIS, google earth, and other standard GIS platforms.
○ Must allow for automated generation of mapping reports for operational planning.
- Trip reservations & scheduling
• Automated & manual trip booking
○ System must support both standing-order and demand-response trips.
○ Must allow reservation staff to access and edit client records in real time.
• Vehicle & operator scheduling
○ Must optimize driver assignments while respecting work rules, CBA, labor laws, and vehicle capacity.
○ Must dynamically update schedules based on real-time cancellations, vehicle positioning, and system policies.
○ Must support the transfer of data from route match & RMPay.
• Fare collection & payment processing
○ The software must provide integrated electronic fare collection, allowing riders to pre-load funds and pay via mobile or web portals.
○ Payment processing must comply with PCI-DSS security standards.
• Same-day scheduling (preferred but not required)
○ The system should prioritize and optimize advance trip scheduling.
○ If same-day scheduling is offered, it must be fully automated and integrate seamlessly with scheduled runs.
○ Proposals including advanced same-day scheduling capabilities will receive preference but are not mandatory.
- Mobile application requirements
• Rider-facing features
○ Must include trip booking, trip editing, and push notification alerts.
○ Riders must be able to view their vehicle’s location on a live map as it approaches.
○ Must allow agencies to restrict app access for riders who abuse booking privileges.
• Integration with scheduling & dispatch
○ Trip requests via the mobile app must seamlessly integrate into real-time scheduling algorithms.
○ Fare payment must be directly linked to the rider’s funding account.
- System reporting & compliance
• Real-time data analysis & reporting
○ Must support real-time operational supervision with web-based reporting tools.
○ Reports must be available on-demand and exportable in multiple formats (csv, pdf, excel, etc.).
○ System must be able to automatically generate scheduled reports and send them to designated recipients via email.
• Standard reports must include:
○ Ridership by funding source
○ Revenue vs. deadhead hours/miles
○ Trip cancellations, no-shows, and on-time performance (OTP) metrics
○ Service efficiency reports (e.g., rides per hour, scheduling optimization)
○ Passenger miles for national transit database reporting purposes
• Customizable ad-hoc reporting
○ Users must be able to create, format, and print user-defined reports based on any database element.
- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- A Non-Mandatory Pre-Proposal Meeting Date: May 28, 2025