FINANCE,_PAYROLL_&_HUMAN_RESOURCE_INFORMATION_SYSTEMS_(Addendum_#3_Revision).pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

RFI - 01

FINANCE, PAYROLL & HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION

SYSTEMS

METRO Regional Transit Authority

416 Kenmore Blvd

Akron, OH 44301

RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2025

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: October 16, 2025

RESPONSE DEADLINE: October 23, 2025, 4:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/akronmetro https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/%7bproject.government.code%7d

METRO Regional Transit Authority

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FINANCE, PAYROLL & HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

I. Introduction RFI II. Scope of Work

III. Questions and Answers IV. Vendor Questionnaire V. No Evaluation

VI. Disclaimers VII. Federal Requirements (if applicable)

VIII. Vendor Questionnaire

Attachments:

A - Legal Ad RFI -01

B - METRO Concept of Operations

C - METRO Current State

Request For Information #RFI - 01 Title: FINANCE, PAYROLL & HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

1. Introduction RFI

Introduction

Akron METRO (METRO) Regional Transit Authority (RTA) serves northeast Ohio from its headquarters in the City of Akron located in Summit County. METRO serves over five (5) million riders annually in the Akron metropolitan area. METRO also provides service connections to Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), Portage Area Regional Transit Authority (PARTA), and key destinations such as the Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital.

Akron METRO Regional Transit Authority (METRO) is seeking information on specific finance, payroll, and human resource information systems (HRIS) in order to learn about the state of the industry and to inform a Request for Proposal (RFP) that is anticipated to be released later this year.

Ultimately, METRO plans to replace its finance and payroll systems and needs these new systems to integrate its current HRIS (NEOGov) or needs the new finance and payroll system to be procured alongside an HRIS system.

1.1. Background

METRO developed a Transit Technology Review, Evaluation, and Acquisition Plan and more recently a Current State and Concept of Operations for three core systems including Computer Aided Dispatch / Automated Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL), Finance, Payroll, and HRIS as well as their Asset Management & Maintenance Systems (AMMS). All systems are identified for replacement; however, this RFI specifically focuses on the Finance, Payroll, and HRIS systems. Ultimately, an RFP will be issued for CAD/AVL and a separate RFI and RFP will be issued for AMMS, all anticipated to be released later this year.

All questions are focused on the finance, payroll, and HRIS elements and there is no need to respond to this RFI if you wish to pursue the CAD/AVL and AMMS systems in the future. Additionally, while vendors are strongly encouraged to respond to this RFI if they intend to participate in the upcoming RFP for Finance, Payroll, and potentially HRIS, submission to the RFI is not a prerequisite for responding to the future RFP. However, vendors will have the opportunity to demonstrate their solution(s) as part of the RFI process

2. Scope of Work

2.1. 2.1 Operational Context

METRO Regional Transit Authority (METRO) provides essential mobility services to its community, relying on a suite of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to manage its complex daily operations. However, many of the core systems are built on aging technology. These legacy systems, coupled with a history of acquisitions by the vendor and limited integration, have led to an operational environment characterized by data silos, significant manual processing, and workflow inefficiencies.

Recognizing these challenges and the opportunity to enhance service delivery, METRO has initiated a comprehensive ITS Modernization project. This initiative, guided by the findings of the 2022 Transit Technology Review, and extensive stakeholder engagement, aims to strategically replace or upgrade these critical systems. The Burgess & Niple (B&N) team has been engaged as the ITS project manager to guide METRO through the planning, procurement, and implementation phases of this critical undertaking.

Scope for System Upgrade Objectives Outlined in the Concept of Operations (ConOps): The scope of this Request for Information (RFI) is to establish capabilities in the market to modernize, provide compliance, automate, create transparency, and integrate with transit operations. More specifically, A. Provide a reliable finance, payroll and human resource information system

(HRIS) or integration with NEOGov, a vendor may address either or both options;

B. METRO has NEOGov but is open to procuring a new HRIS module as part of the procurement for the finance and payroll modules.

C. Provide modern well-designed software solutions that provide high quality and intuitive user experience to perform finance and payroll operations for multiple union rules and multiple administrative payroll scenarios;

D. Provide a system that is compliant with the Federal Transit Administration

(FTA) Chart of Accounts;

E. Provide grant administration including the ability to assign labor hours to the grant; and robust standard and configurable reporting; and, F. Provide integration with other existing systems via an Application

Programming Interface (API).

Published alongside this Request for Information (RFI) is the Current State Memorandum and the ConOps for Computer / Aided Dispatch Automatic Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL), Finance, Payroll & Human Resource Information System (HRIS), and the Asset Management and Maintenance System (AMMS). These documents outline how Akron METRO is operating now and how it wants to operate going forward. Please read them prior to preparing your responses.

When responding to this RFI, be clear about what features may be under development on your Roadmap and what are existing features of the module or software system as a whole. There is no benefit to either organization when it’s not clear what the system can do now vs. what is planned.

2.2 Definitions of Terms

CAD/AVL – the backbone of modern transit management and provides modern dispatch and fleet management.

Finance – general ledger, accounts payable/receivable, budgeting, reporting.

Payroll – wage calculation, taxes, benefits calculations & deductions, garnishments, compliance.

HRIS – employee records, recruiting, onboarding, training, and performance management.

Asset Management – cataloging physical assets such as buses, facilities, equipment, technology, and tools as well as consumable liquids such as fuel and oil, etc.

Maintenance Management – Preventative and corrective maintenance scheduling, work orders, parts inventory software.

Point of Sale (POS) – the physical or virtual point where items like tickets are sold

2.3 RFI Questions Aligned to ConOps

Please provide comprehensive responses that align with this section of the RFI and address challenges outlined in the Current State and ConOps.

2.3.1. General Vendor & System Overview

A. What is your registered legal business name?

B. Provide a brief overview of your company background

1. Years in business / established date;

2. Strengths of the company – what is your company known best to provide?

3. Years providing these services

4. Does your company have any areas of specialization? If so, what areas?

5. Provide a brief description of your history including any expansion, acquisition or growth; and,

6. Core team details.

C. Company contact information

1. Name & Title

2. Telephone number

3. Email address

4. Provide a summary of your company’s experience with public-sector and transit agency implementations of finance, payroll, and human resource information systems. Do you offer all three functionalities or modules? Include information about dependencies.

5. How many transit agencies have you deployed your solution with? Share which functionalities/modules the agencies have implemented in their operations.

6. Identify transit agencies and public sector clients currently using your system and the modules deployed if your system can be deployed in isolated modules. Include clients with multiple complex union rules affecting payroll.

Provide the agency name, the modules that have been implemented, and a contact with name, title, email address, and phone number.

a. Provide one or two examples of how you have solved an issue with a client or how your product met their needs.

7. Akron METRO has approximately 400 team members. Share the name of your top 5 customers and the number of employees each agency employs.

2.3.2 Onboarding New Clients

Describe the strategy/approach that you employ to successfully onboard and implement your Finance, Payroll, and if offered your HRIS. Include the following and any additional information you believe is pertinent:

A. Details on integration with banking institutions, credit card companies, and point of sale (POS) systems.

B. Details on integration with HRIS and benefits systems (i.e., Navigator) regardless of whether your company provides an HRIS solution.

C. Details on a high-level project plan from implementation through training and turnover to METRO.

2.3.3. Capabilities Overview

Describe the full range of your solution. Specifically, what core functions does your solution provide? Examples can be finance, payroll, HRIS, asset management, maintenance tracking. Please note that METRO is planning to replace CAD/AVL as well as its Asset Management and Maintenance system in addition to Finance and Payroll and possibly its current HRIS (NEOGov).

2.3.4. Finance and Payroll

How does your system support budget planning, forecasting, and grants management for agencies dependent on federal/state transit funds?

A. Can you track budgets separately, especially, can an agency upload two or more budgets (e.g., operating and capital) and track purchase requisitions (PRs) and purchase order spending against the budget? If so, explain?

B. What tools are provided for automated internal controls and audit readiness?

C. Can your financial module integrate with project and asset management systems to support lifecycle costing and capital programs?

D. Describe your procurement and contract management features, including support for your client contracts?

E. Does your system follow or can it be configured to follow the Federal Transit

Administration’s (FTA’s) chart of accounts?

2.3.5 Payroll and Timekeeping

A. How does your payroll system handle union agreements, shift differentials, overtime rules, and retroactive pay adjustments common in transit agencies?

1. How many variable payroll rules and how many sets of variable rules can your system handle? Akron METRO has various union and administrative rules for mechanics, operators, administrative staff, and contract police officers. A new system must be able to handle these programmable rules across several sets of scenarios.

B. Describe your time & attendance tracking options (mobile, biometric, geofenced[AN1] [RN2] [JH3] , supervisor approval workflows, self-service).

1. Does your system integrate with systems like TimeTrak and NEOGov?

2. Does your system integrate with CAD/AVL systems that track operator time? If so, which ones?

C. Does your solution offer employee self-service interface where they can retrieve their paystub, current W2 and see their sick, vacation, holiday, personal and any other leave balances?

1. If so, provide a description and screen shots of the interface or reference appendix material.

D. Does your solution offer a mobile application?

1. Please share more details about your mobile application.

E. What capabilities exist to manage multi-jurisdiction taxation and garnishments

(e.g., child support)?

F. How does your solution ensure payroll accuracy, audit compliance, and transparency for employees?

G. Can your system integrate with benefits management software like Navigator?

EASE was acquired by Navigator and will be live later this year with Akron

METRO.

2.4. Human Resources Information System

Akron METRO is primarily interested in a new finance and payroll system, however, if your solution offers an HRIS module, please tell us that you offer it and answer the questions below.

A. What recruitment and onboarding tools are available, and how do they integrate with background checks, work verification (e.g., E-Verify) and credential verification (e.g., CDL (FTA database portal), medical, driver abstract)?

B. How does your system support employee learning, training compliance, and certification tracking?

C. What performance management and succession planning functionality is built in?

D. Describe the employee self-service portal (mobile, kiosk, multilingual support) and what information an employee can access and modify online? Is the information that an employee can modify that presents a security risk (i.e., home address, bank account information) able to be verified by a human?

2.5 Workforce Management & Transit Integration

A. Does your solution natively support or integrate with transit scheduling/dispatch systems (i.e., HASTUS)?

B. How does your system optimize staffing and scheduling for 24/7 operations with diverse roles (operators, mechanics, admin)?

C. What analytics are available for workforce productivity, absenteeism, and overtime management?

2.6. Technical Architecture & Integration

A. Is your solution cloud-hosted, on-premises, or hybrid? Describe your hosting/security model.

B. What APIs, middleware, or integration tools do you provide for third-party systems?

C. How do you support data migration from legacy systems (e.g., Fleet-Net, FleetWatch)?

D. Provide details on your system’s cybersecurity protections, including SOC 2, NIST, and disaster recovery protocols.

2.7. Reporting, Analytics & Compliance

A. What standard financial, HR, and payroll dashboards are included? You may provide visuals.

B. Can reports be easily customized by non-technical staff?

C. How does your system ensure compliance with FTA, Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and state labor requirements?

D. Provide examples of grant compliance reporting used by other public transit agencies.

2.8. Implementation and Support

A. What is your typical implementation timeline for a mid-to-large sized transit agency?

B. Describe your management change process, staff training, and ongoing support services.

C. What service-level agreements (SLAs) do you provide for system uptime, response times, and critical incident resolution?

D. Outline your pricing structure and total cost of ownership (licenses, implementation, upgrades, training).

E. How much does your system cost? How much does ongoing maintenance and support cost? Please provide costs in US dollars (USD) and provide the payment interval (e.g., monthly, semi-annually, annually). Ranges within +/-

25% are acceptable.

2.9. Future Innovation

A. What enhancements are planned over the next 2–5 years (e.g., AI-based scheduling, predictive analytics, automation)?

B. How do you ensure alignment with public sector digital transformation goals?

2.10. RFI Terms

A. Participation by vendors in this RFI process is strongly encouraged if you are planning to pursue the Request for Proposal (RFP) that is anticipated to be issued later this year. However, participation in this RFI is neither a pre-requisite nor a pre-qualification requirement for participation in any future opportunities related to the procurement of a finance, payroll, HRIS or any other referenced system in this RFI.

B. Submissions are subject to Ohio records laws. Proprietary information should be marked as such. The entire submission may not be marked as proprietary.

All submissions become the property of METRO RTA.

2.11. Federal Requirements

Respondents should be aware that any future solicitation as a result of this RFI may be subject to:

• Federal Transit Administration (FTA) third-party contracting guidance (FTA

Circular 4220.1F)

• Buy America requirements (49 U.S.C. § 5323(j))

• Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements (49 CFR Part 26)

• Other applicable federal, state, and local regulations

2.12 Next Steps & Timeline

METRO plans to invite respondents to provide additional information and demonstrate their solution in a virtual presentation. A representative from the agency’s procurement [AN1] [JH2] office will contact the Company Contact listed above to schedule a presentation. The anticipated schedule is as follows:

• RFI Issue Date:

• Question Submission Deadline:

• Question Response Date:

• RFI Response Deadline:

• RFI Presentation Scheduling:

• RFI Demonstrations/Presentations:

3. Questions and Answers

Vendor Queries Due

Questions must be submitted online in the “Q&A” tab. METRO will only accept or respond to questions submitted through the online vendor portal.

One question per submittal. (This does not mean one question per vendor.) Submittals containing multiple questions will not be answered.

4. Vendor Questionnaire

1. Response*

Respondents must submit one (1) electronic copy (PDF) of their response to METRO through METRO’s procurement portal, OpenGov.

All submissions must include “Response to RFI – Finance, Payroll, and Human Resource Information Systems” in the subject line. Please note that all electronic submissions must be limited to a maximum size of 25 GB.

The response must have numbered pages and include an index or table of contents, referencing the appropriate page numbers for sections. Responses are limited to 20 pages, single-sided, 8- 1/2 x 11 responding to the questions and an Appendix of up to 50 pages of any additional material the vendor wishes to provide with no restrictions on page size. Each side of a document does count as one page. If in the 20-pages you wish to reference documents in the Appendix, please do so and it will not count against your 20-page response to the questions.

Again, all submissions must still be 25 GB or less.

Responses should be prepared simply and economically and provide a straightforward and concise explanation of the information requested. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity. The response must have numbered pages and also include an index, or table of contents, referencing the appropriate page numbers for the below sections.

5. No Evaluation

1. This is an RFI - no evaluation requiredNo evaluation

6. Disclaimers

Disclaimers

• This RFI is for market research only and does not obligate [Transit Agency Name] to issue a solicitation or award a contract.

• Respondents will not be reimbursed for any costs incurred in preparing responses.

• Information provided may be used in developing specifications for future procurements.

• Responses will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law (subject to public records laws and FTA requirements).

7. Federal Requirements (if applicable)

Federal Requirements (if applicable)

Respondents should be aware that any future solicitation may be subject to:

• Federal Transit Administration (FTA) third-party contracting guidance (FTA Circular

4220.1F)

• Buy America requirements (49 U.S.C. § 5323(j))

• Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements (49 CFR Part 26)

• Other applicable federal, state, and local regulations

8. Vendor Questionnaire

8.1. Submittal Of Proposal by Certified Personnel *

By submitting a proposal to the County, the individual submitting is confirming that they are authorized to do so on behalf of the Company named in the Proposal.

☐ Yes

☐ No

*Response required