Public Transportation Services

The Board of County Commissioners of Okaloosa County, Florida, issued an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) on April 20, 2026, for a qualified service operator to provide comprehensive public transportation services, including demand response (door-to-door), non-emergency, and Transportation Disadvantaged services throughout Okaloosa County and surrounding areas. The operator will be responsible for full-service maintenance, daily inspections, vehicle cleaning, and custodial maintenance of transit vehicles and bus stops/shelters, while the County retains responsibility for procurement and disposition of transit vehicles. The current EC Rider system generated approximately 40,047 fixed-route trips and 59,916 demand response trips in 2025, with service hours operating weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., paratransit service Monday-Friday from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday from 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Proposals will be evaluated on six criteria: Analysis and Recommendations (20 points), Implementation Approach (30 points), Similar Experience and References (10 points), Management/Organization Resources (15 points), Quality Assurance (15 points), and Financial Capacity (10 points). Key deadlines include a mandatory pre-proposal meeting and site survey on April 29, 2026, at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and the Okaloosa County Transit Building; a question deadline of May 8, 2026; proposal submission by 5:00 p.m. CDST on May 20, 2026; short-list vendor announcement on May 29, 2026; vendor presentations during the week of June 9, 2026; negotiations from June 15-26, 2026; and Board approval anticipated for August 18, 2026. The contract term is September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2029, with two optional one-year renewal periods.

The procurement is federally grant-funded under Grant #23PLN65 and requires respondents to comply with federal requirements including SAM.gov registration, E-Verify employment eligibility verification, drug-free workplace certification, and various federal certifications regarding lobbying, debarment, and work hour standards. Additionally, operators must submit a Florida Certificate of Good Standing, references, conflict of interest disclosures, anti-human trafficking affidavits, and public entity crime certifications in compliance with 2 CFR regulations and Executive Orders 12549 and 12689. The operator must demonstrate a 45-day cash reserve based on the estimated annual budget and maintain a performance bond of $500,000 for the contract duration. Performance standards require maintaining 90% on-time performance and a minimum of 1.7 riders per revenue hour for paratransit service, with penalties assessed for non-compliance with regulatory requirements, training certifications, preventative maintenance schedules, and reporting deadlines. The RFP does not specify a particular contract amount; pricing will be negotiated as part of the ITN process based on proposed hourly rates for demand response and Transportation Disadvantaged services. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises or restrictions on organizational types responding to this solicitation are detailed in the available documents.