2026-10-07 Training RFI_Final_ .pdf

Request for Information

(RFI)

Comprehensive Public Transportation Training Program Development and Management

Request for Information (RFI)

Issue Date:

Due Date/Time:

Title:

Commodity Code:

Issuing Agency:

Inquiries:

Response Delivery Method:

October 7, 2026

November 30, 2026 / 3:00 PM(EST)

Comprehensive Public Transportation Training Program

91838 Education and Training Consulting, 92416 Course Development Services, 92400 Educational/Training Services

Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation 600 East Main St, Suite 2102 Richmond VA, 23219

Any request for clarification must be submitted in writing via e-mail and include “Comprehensive Public Transportation Training RFI Inquiry from <insert company name>” in the subject line no later than November 10, 2026. Emails shall be sent to melissa.myers@drpt.virginia.gov . Questions will be addressed and posted on the eVA VBO website by November 13, 2026.

• One (1) electronic copy of complete submission

• One (1) electronic copy of submission, with redactions of proprietary information, if applicable mailto:melissa.myers@drpt.virginia.gov

Table of Contents

Request for Information (RFI) Table of Contents Introduction

Purpose Background Key Objectives

Instructions and Information Timeline and Descriptions Question Submission

Areas of Interest Developing and Delivering Training Accreditation and Certification Assessing Agency Needs Communities of Practice Events Management General Questions/Statements

References and Submission Submission Checklist

DRPT Connects

Introduction Purpose The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) seeks information from qualified consultants and/or entities to assist in the potential development, management, and execution of all or components of a comprehensive training program and the development of communities of practice. These will be tailored to the needs of large and small urban and rural public transportation providers within the Commonwealth as well as other technical and non-technical audiences. The training program aims to enhance workforce skills and competencies in alignment with industry standards and best practices and promote a lifelong learning culture within the transit industry.

This Request for Information (RFI) is for information-gathering purposes only and may inform the development of a future Request for Proposal (RFP). Responses to this RFI will not result in a contract but may influence the scope of future RFP’s, task orders, or other programming.

All information submitted in response to this RFI becomes the property of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Agency is not liable for any costs incurred by respondents in preparing or submitting their responses.

Background Currently, 40 public transit service providers operate in Virginia in a variety of operational environments serving Large Urban, Small Urban, and Rural areas. These 40 agencies operate various modes of transit – fixed guideway (e.g., commuter and light rail), bus rapid transit, fixed route bus service with complimentary paratransit, deviated fixed route service, demand response service (including micro transit in some instances), commuter bus service, and ferry boat service. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) provides important cross-jurisdictional transit services but is not the focus for this RFI. Transit agencies in Virginia have recurring challenges of retaining and maintaining institutional knowledge, developing and maintaining a culture of safety, proactive internal talent development, establishing workforce pipelines, and modernizing internal practices for the 21st century. Many of these challenges are a result of national workforce trends like an aging workforce, limited or stagnated funding, aging infrastructure, barriers to credentials, and limited partner coordination. Of the 40 transit agencies, not counting WMATA, 72% (29) operate in small urban and rural areas with limited administrative, operational, technology, financial, and other staff capacity.

DRPT, as the Commonwealth’s coordinating state agency on public transportation matters, recognizes the challenges our agencies are facing and seeks to address these challenges and gain knowledge as to how the industry at large, both transit-specific and non-transit, can better support transit agencies in their work to provide safe, reliable, and affordable transit operations and administration. While also complying with federal and state requirements. DRPT also plays a unique role as compared to other state

Departments of Transportation’s, as an agency specifically focused on transit that has technical assistance, grant management, and financial oversight responsibilities associated with helping to manage a variety of transit funding sources specific to the Commonwealth.

Key Objectives The envisioned program will:

• Assess and address the training and staffing needs of public transportation providers and transit professionals across urban and rural contexts.

• Focus on key competencies and skills necessary for the effective operation, management, and support of public transportation systems.

• Offer both credentialed and non-credentialed training opportunities in coordination with secondary accrediting bodies as applicable.

• Develop and deliver training for identified learning paths as a result of assessed agency training needs. E.g., career progression, program management, skill development, federal compliance, etc.

• Provide accessible and inclusive training delivery methods (in-person, virtual, hybrid).

• Identify and facilitate communities of practice throughout the Commonwealth’s public transportation providers through various means of engagement.

Instructions and Information

Timeline and Descriptions

Day/Date Description

October 7 Advertisements announcing the RFI placed in Mass Transit Magazine. Announcement of RFI also placed on eVA and sent via email to known parties.

October 7 RFI copies are available and supplied via eVA.

November 9 Teams conference call for general request information, verbal Q&A (will be recorded) – Meeting Link

November 10 Written Questions Due – 11:59 PM EST

November 13 Written replies distributed to all known service providers via eVA and email.

November 30, 2026 By 3:00pm EST RFI responses due via eVA platform https://eva.virginia.gov/ https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/210423078169924?p=fcAE4YHlBR5pnk4k5B

Question Submission

Questions regarding this RFI may be submitted via email to DRPT’s procurement officer, Melissa Myers, Melissa.Myers@drpt.virginia.gov, only during the allotted timeframe detailed in the timeline.

Answers to all pertinent questions, from all respondents, will be returned to all known RFI participants without identifying the respondents submitting the inquiry.

mailto:Melissa.Myers@drpt.virginia.gov

Areas of Interest

Developing and Delivering Training How would your organization approach, solve, or otherwise address the following points?

1. Develop/design curricula that meet public transit agency needs; e.g., soft skills, TSSP1 certification, risk assessment, cybersecurity, procurement, federal compliance, etc.;

2. Work with external and internal experts and technical staff to develop bespoke courses on new topics; and to tailor coursework on federal, industry, and non-industry-wide topics for their specific application to Virginia;

3. Develop materials and courses in a diverse set of formats to meet the needs of trainees across competencies (e.g., in-person, hands-on, remote/virtual, synchronous/asynchronous, etc.);

4. Experience utilizing new technologies to develop and/or enhance training delivery methods like augmented reality (AR) and remote learning;

5. Develop courses that engage multiple learning channels to maximize participant retention, comprehension, and adoption of skills;

6. Develop lasting reference materials and course one-pagers for quick access and future reference for attendees beyond the training;

7. Determine and deliver the most appropriate medium of delivery based on content and audience;

8. Leverage subject matter experts external to DRPT and the transit space when needed;

9. Experience with recording, editing, publishing, and long-term maintenance of training materials;

10. Experience selecting, utilizing, and maintaining an online learning platform to meet the needs and goals of this/a training program.

Accreditation and Certification How would your organization approach, solve, or otherwise address the following:

1. Issuing and maintaining meaningful certifications of completion, credits, or otherwise defined training course/pathway.

2. Working with accrediting bodies, like APA2, APTA3, ASCE4, TSI5, NTI6, etc., to certify that trainings are legitimate and/or qualify for continuing education credits;

1 Transit Safety and Security Program 2 American Planning Association 3 American Public Transportation Association 4 American Society of Civil Engineers 5 Transportation Safety Institute 6 National Transit Institute

3. Determining what course(s), learning paths, or development opportunities should be accredited or certified by an external body

4. Experience working with an external body to certify training and expectations that DRPT should have regarding this process.

5. Working in concert with post-secondary education institutions to develop and certify coursework and implement it into their course offerings

6. Facilitating or participating in certifying transit agency staff as faculty of an accredited post-secondary education institution to allow on-the-job training that also counts toward continuing education?

7. If external accreditation or certification is not required, how do you ensure training is rigorous, useful, and promotes lifelong learning?

Assessing Agency Needs

1. Assess, determine, survey, etc., stakeholder training needs;

2. Incorporate continual monitoring of training effectiveness and agency feedback;

3. Report on training outcomes, effectiveness, reach, and/or other key performance indicators (KPI’s);

4. Capture and contextualize agency culture and identify areas of risk and advancement.

Communities of Practice

1. Developing communities of practice around identified topical areas of need/interest key to transit agency success;

2. Facilitating opportunities for peer learning and cross-communication;

3. Encouraging and nurturing cross-geographic and agency relationships and trust-building;

4. Conflict resolution and mitigation in peer group sessions/formats;

5. Consensus-based leadership and capacity building among working groups;

6. Development, management, and moderation of online peer collaboration forums;

7. Coordinating and partnering with existing communities managed by other industry organizations and associations.

Events Management

1. Coordinate logistics for training events, including but not limited to:

o Venue selection o Accommodation o Food and beverages o Transportation o Ticketing/funds collection and distribution o Engagement incentivization, both novel and traditional

2. Working within GSA travel limitations and requirements;

3. Contract management and public agency coordination;

4. Experience working with industry association conferences and events to coordinate training in parallel with conferences and events.

5. What is your organization’s experience with coordination with public and private education institutions and facilities? Would you propose utilizing their space to deliver training across the state?

General Questions/Statements

1. What is your experience and/or how would you meet Commonwealth of Virginia (COVA) financial reporting and reimbursement requirements?

2. What is your experience reporting and tracking program effectiveness, and what would your approach be for a program as it pertains to your approach?

3. What is your experience working with federally funded agencies? Agencies funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)?

4. What is your experience working with Virginia state agencies to provide training and certification support?

5. Provide up to three (3) current or former clients that have utilized your services for a similar program/project;

a. Include the project scope, cost, duration, and its outcomes if relevant.

b. Public transportation providers are preferred.

6. Please provide an organization profile overview with relevant experience, team members, programs, and projects.

7. Does your organization have a specialization or particular expertise in any field?

If so, please provide examples of training topics facilitated within this area of expertise.

8. Has your organization observed any areas in the public transportation industry (planning, operations, administration, etc.) that are over- or undertrained in a topic area? If so, what? How does your organization work to fill identified gaps in training resources?

9. Detail your agency and/or partner agencies’ capabilities and resources to accomplish necessary tasks to achieve a training program as described in this

RFI.

10. Illustrate high-level cost estimates at various program levels, including a core, or baseline approach, to an “industry leader” program.

11. What is a reasonable timeline to develop and implement a training program as described in this RFI?

12. Would your proposal leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI)? If so, what model type?

(L/SLMs, VLMs, CNNs, JEPAs, LAMs, GANs/Diffusion, etc.) Would they be open- or closed-weight models? Would you use a cloud or dedicated instance for this program? Why?

13. If using AI, what would your approach be to personal data and intellectual property (IP) security? What technical safeguards would you use to resist/address model hallucinations?

References and Submission Submission Checklist Respondent shall submit a proposal in the following format:

1. DRPT’s RFI name, associated with our project, must be shown in the lower left-hand corner of submitted materials

2. The organization shall be indexed with the tabs as follows:

a. RFI cover Sheet

b. Introduction, organization profile(s), and other information

c. Proposed approach, responses to Areas of Interest, responses to General

Questions

d. Cost Estimations

e. Conceptual Timeline

f. Questions

Note: DRPT’s checklist is intended, primarily, as an aid in responding to this RFI, not to disqualify them. The respondent remains solely responsible for the accuracy, novelty, and meeting of minimum requirements in its submitted materials. Submissions after the identified timeline may be entertained by DRPT at our discretion.

DRPT retains the right to utilize information provided to further understand the industry opportunities, develop its own strategies, and inform the potential programming resulting from or relating to activities and topics described within this RFI.