STAR Transit Urban Operations - Addendum No. 4

St. Tammany Parish Government in Louisiana is issuing a Request for Proposal to procure operations and management services for STAR Transit Urban Operations, a demand-response curb-to-curb transit service serving the Parish's designated urbanized areas. The selected provider will operate transit service Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., maintaining or increasing the current service level of approximately 27,000 annual revenue hours and 58,000 trips while observing specified holidays including New Year's Day, MLK Day, Mardi Gras, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas observances. The Parish will provide ten wheelchair-accessible transit buses (six 12-6B buses and four 16-2B buses), while the provider must supply any additional vehicles needed to meet service requirements and assume responsibility for all operational costs including facility rental, personnel salaries and benefits, insurance, maintenance, vehicle acquisition, and training expenses. Proposals must be submitted by 2:00 p.m. on June 25, 2026, with written inquiries due by June 15, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., and responses to inquiries provided by June 22, 2026; the contract will commence October 1, 2026, for an initial three-year term with options to extend for up to two additional one-year terms. Evaluation will be based on a maximum of 100 points distributed across Proposed Solution/Technical Response (25 points), Qualifications of Proposer (20 points), Financial Proposal (35 points based on lowest cost formula), Local Match Proposal (15 points), and five bonus points for certified Veterans Initiative or Hudson Initiative small entrepreneurships, with the Parish covering fuel costs up to $175,000 annually.

Proposers interested in responding must obtain a Unique Entity Identification (UEI) number from sam.gov and comply with all Federal Transit Administration mandatory provisions, including debarment certifications and Buy American requirements. The provider is responsible for contributing or identifying approximately $650,000 annually as a local match to federal FTA grant funds, with the current total local match for the program at approximately $722,000 annually. While the procurement documents do not identify a specific incumbent vendor or current contractor, the Parish has established operational benchmarks based on existing service levels, and the provider must integrate with the existing fleet of ten Parish-owned transit buses. Bonus points are available for certified Veterans Initiative or Hudson Initiative small entrepreneurship designations, indicating potential set-aside consideration for disadvantaged enterprises. The Parish will conduct quarterly performance reviews, random trip sampling for on-time performance and passenger treatment analysis, and monthly provider meetings to ensure service standards are maintained, though specific award values or total contract budget ranges are not explicitly stated in the available documentation.