The Vendor is required to provide an incident communications management software aims to centralize and streamline the process of communicating transit-related incidents across multiple external channels.
- Currently, Incident Communications Specialists (ICS) manually enter and update incident information across numerous systems, including digital signage, trip-planning tools, alerts, social media platforms, and the agency website.
- Objectives
• Centralize incident communication workflows into a single, integrated platform
• Automate message distribution across multiple external communication channels
• Reduce manual effort and eliminate duplication in public notifications
• Improve consistency and timeliness of public-facing information
• Provide analytics and reporting on communication performance
• Enhance rider experience by integrating with route/trip planning tools to reflect service disruptions
• Replace current redundant systems
- Each platform requires separate updates for the duration of the incident. This manual, multi-step workflow increases workload and introduces risk of human error.
- The new solution shall eliminate these inefficiencies by centralizing entry and distribution.
- Centralized communication platform
• A multi-user, centralized tool with a standardized user interface for incident entry and real-time outbound communication.
• Seamless integration with data and communication sources including, but not limited to:
o X (formerly twitter)
o Email systems
o SMS delivery systems
o Digital signage platforms (e.g., Penta wavwriter for sunrise SESA, papercast/e-paper, daktronics/OVX, onboard signage, bus headers)
o Route/trip planning tools (e.g., GTFS-based apps, transit app, agency on demand app)
o Dynamic integration with agency website (SITECORE), including display of delay/disruption messaging on route pages.
- Customer communication options
• Passenger opt-in capabilities for multiple notification channels including a mobile application
• Support for communication by mode, route, or geographic area
• Multi-lingual support
• Accessibility (ADA) considerations
- Administration and governance
• Role-based permissions and access control, managed by designated administrators
• System audit logging for quality assurance and performance evaluation
• Ability to create standardized message templates and automated distribution rules
• Historical reporting and analytics with configurable dashboards and export capabilities
- Incident entry & management
• Create, edit, update and archive incident notifications
• Structured fields for incident type, location, affected routes, severity, estimated resolution time, and notes
• Tagging system for categorizing incidents (e.g., delay, detour, accident).
• Upload and store attachments (e.g., detour maps, instructions).
- Multi-channel communication integration
1. Social media
• Publish messages (including media) to x and other emerging platforms (e.g., bluesky) email & SMS
• Deliver notifications to predefined contact lists
• Support passenger opt-in for mode-, route-, or area-specific messaging
• Provide scheduled delivery options
• Allow use of templates or custom messages
2. Digital signage
• Push incident messages to:
o Penta wavwriter for sunrise SESA signage (TRAX & frontrunner)
o E-paper/papercast signs
o Daktronics signs (OVX) displays
o External, third-party signage using GTFS/GTFS-RT or html feeds
• Allow location-based or geo-fenced targeting and message prioritization
3. Trip/route planning tools
• Integration through APIS/other with:
o Transit app
o Agency website (sitecore CMS)
o Google/apple maps
- Unified communication interface
• Single dashboard for composing and sending messages across all channels
• Minimal steps required for message creation and dispatch
• Spell-checking and message preview
• Full audit trail of communications, with filtering by incident, user, or communication type.
• Ability to update active incident messages and notify passengers upon incident closure
- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 13, 2026
