Countywide BEE-line paratransit traditional service & technology enhancements

Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation is soliciting proposals for operation of its Bee-Line Paratransit Traditional Service and technology platform replacement, with proposals due September 11, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. EDT and a mandatory bidders' meeting on July 21, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.

The service is a seven-day-per-week, demand-responsive, curb-to-curb paratransit system serving seniors and individuals with disabilities throughout Westchester County and limited areas in Bronx County, Putnam County, and Connecticut. Core service hours are Monday–Friday 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with ADA-mandated quarter-mile service coverage at other times. The service area is divided into Southern and Northern Westchester County zones. As of end of 2025, the system served approximately 8,895 registered riders with 4,621 active riders, completing 250,827 annual passenger trips (26,127 weekday completions, 1,766 Saturday, 1,093 Sunday). Current on-time performance stands at 82.42% against a County target of 90% or above; no-show rate is 4.67%. The incumbent, WeDriveU, has operated the service since January 1, 2022, under a fixed monthly fee of $353,665.04 plus $50 per trip; 2025 total cost was approximately $15.67 million. Liquidated damages for performance failures totaled $1.24 million in 2024 and $1.00 million in 2025.

The County will supply approximately 75–80 vehicles (Ford E-350 and E-450 body-on-chassis, Chrysler Voyagers, Toyota RAV4 SUVs, Prius hybrids, and Transit Connects), leased at $1.00 per vehicle annually, plus fuel and vehicle insurance. The proposer must provide an operations, administration, training, and maintenance facility within Westchester County and is responsible for all routine and major maintenance, component replacement, collision deductibles, driver hiring and training, dispatching, fare collection, and record-keeping.

The technology component requires complete replacement of the current Ecolane scheduling software with an industry-leading platform supporting integrated modules for passenger onboarding, reservations, operations, automated scheduling, real-time optimization, dispatching, IVR/text capabilities, mobile device tablet (MDT), AVL/GPS, rider self-service portal and mobile app, and reporting—with 100% ADA compliance. The proposer must migrate 8,895 registered riders and historical trip records, integrate with existing systems, support multi-modal trip planning, and provide complaint lifecycle management. County clarified that on-premises solutions place infrastructure costs on the County; cloud-based solutions require the vendor to bear all infrastructure, hosting, maintenance, and cybersecurity costs. A 3-to-6-month implementation timeline is expected but not mandatory; Ecolane remains the system of record until formal County acceptance. Seven years of data retention is required. Technology acceptance includes unit and system testing, 30 calendar days of parallel operation, 100% data-conversion validation, cybersecurity review and approval before production deployment, and at least 30 calendar days of enhanced post-go-live support. Enterprise-grade relational database management systems other than Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle are acceptable for cloud solutions if meeting industry standards.

The contract term runs January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2031, with one optional five-year renewal (January 1, 2032 through December 31, 2036) exercisable solely at the County's discretion. Reimbursement is structured on a per-trip basis for traditional service and revenue-hour basis for shuttle services. Proposers must submit certified audited financial statements for the prior two fiscal years demonstrating sound financial condition and provide a performance bond equal to 25 percent of estimated annual payments within ten days of award. Proposers must demonstrate a minimum of five years' experience providing demand-responsive paratransit service with at least ten vehicles in weekday service, or equivalent public transit experience.

Performance standards include Valid Complaint Frequency Rate (3 complaints per 1,000 trips), on-time performance measured within a 30-minute window, missed trip rate, and Accident Frequency Rate (20 accidents per million vehicle miles), with liquidated damages ranging from $100 to $300 per late-trip occurrence. The County reserves the right to modify performance standards with 60 days' notice and to conduct site visits and interviews with responsive proposers. Amendment 1 extended the technical question deadline to August 10, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., with County responses released August 5, 2026. Amendment 2 (issued August 20, 2026) reaffirmed the July 21 bidders' meeting and September 11 proposal deadline. Responses to IT questions dated August 10, 2026 clarified technology responsibilities, data migration requirements, database management, and cybersecurity procedures. Paul Chenard, Program Administrator for Transportation, is the primary contact: 914-995-2434 or pqcm@westchestercountyny.gov. No incumbent has been awarded an identical or substantially similar contract within the past five years.