Provide ADA/SRP Paratransit Svcs, Phila. County, 5 yrs

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) issued Request for Proposal No. 25-00165-APES on May 18, 2026, seeking qualified contractors to provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Shared Ride Program (SRP) paratransit services throughout Philadelphia County for a five-year contract term with two optional one-year extensions, with service commencement anticipated for November 24, 2025. SEPTA intends to award up to two separate contracts to different proposers, each covering identical service volumes with a fleet of approximately 55 accessible vehicles per contract area (Phase 3 and Phase 7). The contractor must provide comprehensive demand-responsive, door-to-door transportation services including driver hiring and training, vehicle maintenance and repairs (routine maintenance and repairs; SEPTA covers major repairs), scheduling coordination with SEPTA's centralized dispatch, customer service operations, and compliance with strict performance metrics including 90% on-time performance (within 10 minutes before to 20 minutes after scheduled pickup), Mean Distance Between Failure of at least 19,000 miles, and no more than four chargeable accidents per 100,000 miles. Required qualifications include demonstrated experience in paratransit operations, maintaining facilities with adequate parking, maintenance bays, dispatch offices, and training areas with high-speed internet connectivity, and deploying qualified personnel including a Project Manager with minimum three years transit experience and two years paratransit experience, Operations Supervisor, Lead Dispatcher, Street Supervisors (one per ten tours), Certified Trainer, and mechanics including at least one ASE Master Certified technician. All drivers must complete 24 hours of behind-the-wheel training, pass background checks and drug/alcohol screening, hold valid commercial driver's licenses for a minimum of three years with clean driving records, and meet stringent criminal history requirements. Proposers were required to submit one hard copy and one electronic copy of both technical and price proposals by 4:30 PM on Friday, July 25, 2025 (extended from July 18, 2025 via Addendum No. 1), with a virtual pre-proposal meeting held on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 10:30 AM via Microsoft Teams, and questions due by 4:30 PM on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, submitted to Paul Stavros at pStavros@SEPTA.org. Evaluation criteria emphasize cost competitiveness, technical capability, operational experience, staffing qualifications, facility adequacy, and demonstrated ability to maintain service quality standards with submitted proposals remaining firm for at least ninety days from the RFP opening date.

This procurement is subject to federal compliance requirements including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is contingent upon a financial assistance contract between SEPTA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, with funding derived from a combination of federal FTA Section 5310 grants, state transportation funds, and local matching sources. SEPTA has implemented Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation goals and small business set-asides common to federally-funded transit projects, ensuring that disadvantaged business enterprises have full opportunity to submit bids without discrimination based on race, sex, color, or national origin, and all contractors must comply with applicable Equal Employment Opportunity laws and Executive Order 12549 regarding contractor eligibility. The incumbent contractor is Easton Coach Co., which currently operates these services and provides operational baseline data including Phase 3 productivity reports covering Fiscal Year 2025 with 197,652 total service hours, 1,940,656 service miles, and 222,273 patron trips generating 250,412 passenger trips, along with an average daily trip volume of 707 trips for the Shared Ride Program and approximately 40% cancellation rate. SEPTA provides the vehicle fleet, voice communication systems, Mobile Android Tablets with GPS/Automatic Vehicle Location capability, and software systems including RideCo scheduling software, AssetWorks M5 maintenance software, and Veritas complaint tracking, with contractors retaining collected cash fares as progress payments deducted from monthly invoices and being reimbursed based on revenue hours at agreed-upon contract rates. The contract structure requires contractors to submit detailed price proposals including per-trip rates, hourly rates, and comprehensive annual operating costs across all service categories and contract years, with specific pricing forms provided for both Phase 3 and Phase 7 service areas revised on July 14, 2025, though specific award values or total contract budget ranges were not disclosed in the available procurement documents.