Student Transportation Routing and Operations Platform

Portland Public Schools District 1J in Multnomah County, Oregon is requesting proposals for a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service student transportation routing and operations platform under RFP 2026-037, with proposals due October 20, 2026 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time and a public opening at 2:05 PM the same day.

The platform must replace disconnected point solutions with a unified system providing automated route generation, dispatch operations, special education transportation management, McKinney-Vento support, driver mobile applications, parent communication, school-site visibility, and advanced reporting and analytics. The District operates a substantial transportation network serving 43,391 total students with 8,287 assigned riders across 548 routes and 1,146 runs managed by 409 drivers employed by PPS (118), First Student (216), and Student Transportation of America (75), plus 13 contracted companies. The scope includes specialized services: 177 curb-to-curb routes for special education students, 121 neighborhood routes for general education, and up to 250 contracted cab routes. The software must integrate with Synergy (Student Information System), Workday (HR/payroll), and the District's enterprise data repository, and support complex operational scenarios including dual-household student address management, seasonal transitions, hazard zone definition with conditional network logic, IEP resource optimization, and bell-time tiered routing analysis.

Minimum functional requirements include a routable street network covering five Oregon and two Washington counties with block addressing, lane information, directional data, and speed limits; support for multiple loading zones, student addresses, and weekly schedules; manual adjustment capabilities with nightly data sync; GIS integration and external data exchange; driver feedback mechanisms; and user-defined reporting without vendor intervention.

The District anticipates interviews and demonstrations November 9–13, 2026, with a Notice of Intent to Award on November 17, 2026, and contract start January 13, 2027. The contract term is five years with an option to renew for one additional five-year term. Evaluation includes written proposals (functional fit, qualifications and experience, internal workforce equity and diversity practices, implementation and support methodology, sustainable business practices, and price) and demonstration/interview (software product demonstration and implementation services). Price is evaluated with the lowest five-year total cost receiving maximum points. Proposers must submit three references including the most recent District project if contracted with PPS within the past five years. Proposers must complete a 26-question security assessment questionnaire addressing FERPA, COPPA, PCI, HIPAA compliance, data segregation, encryption standards, multi-factor authentication, incident response, and disaster recovery. Contractor personnel with potential unsupervised student contact must pass fingerprint-based criminal history verification at the contractor's expense ($94.50 per person). The District is committed to increasing contracting opportunities for certified minority-owned, women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and disadvantaged businesses and requires vendors to demonstrate sustainable business practices and workforce diversity initiatives. Proposals remain valid for 90 days following the submission deadline.