Change Order Notice Illinois State Safety Oversight Agency (SSOA) Consultant Services

The Illinois Department of Transportation is issuing a change order notice to increase funding for the final renewal term of its State Safety Oversight Agency consultant contract through March 2028, with the notice due for public posting by October 15, 2026. The amendment is driven by Federal Transit Administration Special Directive 26-1 (March 2026), which mandated corrective actions for systemic deficiencies in IDOT's oversight of Chicago Transit Authority rail transit operations.

The vendor continues to provide rail transit safety expertise, planning support, training, administrative services, and oversight for the Illinois SSO Program in compliance with FTA regulations (49 CFR Parts 672, 673, and 674) and the MAP-21 Act. The scope expansion includes 21,450 additional labor hours distributed across Rail Transit Safety Investigators/Inspectors (3,250 hours for inspections), Training Coordinators (8,000 hours for training material development and delivery), and Transit Safety Auditors (9,500 hours for Safety Management Inspection and special directive support), with Principal Auditor and Principal Transit Safety Auditor hours supplementing each category. The consultant is expected to dedicate approximately 5–7 full-time equivalents to the program.

The additional funding requirement is $2,149,471.50, raising the total contract not-to-exceed amount from $5,133,662.85 to $8,163,662.85. Through February 2026, $3,371,744.98 had been expended. FTA enforcement consequences for non-compliance include potential withholding of SSO formula grant funds or up to five percent of the State's urbanized Area Formula Funding. The change order exceeds the $25,000 threshold requiring publication under Illinois Procurement Code Section 33E-9.