RLS & Associates, Inc.

RLS & Associates, Inc., a women-owned small business headquartered in Kettering, Ohio, provides technical assistance, compliance oversight, and program administration services to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and other transportation agencies as a prime contractor (83% of recent awards), with a WOSB designation, DOT Certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise status, and Subchapter S corporate structure. The vendor operates predominantly under Total Small Business set-asides on labor-hours delivery orders and blanket purchase agreements.

The FTA dominates RLS & Associates' customer footprint, accounting for 16 awards totaling $44.4 million in combined potential value across 80% of the vendor's award count. The Federal Acquisition Service contributes one award worth $20 million through a Federal Supply Schedule contract; Department of Transportation offices (Immediate Office of the Secretary, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Aviation Administration) round out the active set. The two customer rankings align closely — the FTA anchors both volume and dollars — with combined potential value across all awards standing at $65.3 million against $15.7 million in combined obligations (24% drawdown).

RLS & Associates holds two anchor parent vehicles anchoring task-order activity. The $20.9 million Comprehensive Oversight Review and Technical Assistance Program (CORTAP) blanket purchase agreement, established January 15, 2025, and running through January 2030 under the Multiple Award Schedule with a Total Small Business set-aside, has generated 12 task orders carrying $7.8 million in combined potential value. The Federal Supply Schedule contract, awarded May 16, 2024, carries a $20 million ceiling through May 2029 and authorizes eight labor categories spanning technical project management, subject matter expert, training, and event planning services; hourly rates run $45.37 to $209.85 with education requirements from high school through master's degree and no security-cleared positions. Recent representative work includes a $2.41 million labor-hours BPA call (July 1, 2026) for FY 2027 CORTAP Package 5 oversight and technical assistance across FTA regions, a $1.88 million BPA call (September 26, 2025) for CORTAP Package 6 professional services reviews in Regions 6 and 8, and a $1.7 million delivery order (September 26, 2024) for FY 2025 CORTAP reviews (Package 7) in Washington, DC. Work spans comprehensive oversight reviews, compliance auditing, quality assurance, regional technical assistance, and transit grant program administration across FTA regional boundaries.

Activity has accelerated in recent years — one award in 2022 to five in 2025 — though with two awards (combined potential value $4.3 million) completing within the next twenty-four months. SCI-reported invoiced revenue across federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $3.9 million from FY2022 through FY2025 (FY2024 peak of $1.8 million across 3.9 FTEs); median government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable prime contracts ran $181.41/hr, with the 90th percentile at $224.62/hr. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, the vendor performed 0% of hours through subcontractors, indicating direct-delivery staffing on all surveyed work. The vendor's award portfolio tilts heavily toward program management and support services (17 awards under NAICS 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services) with subsidiary exposure to transportation research and development. RLS & Associates operates exclusively as a prime under the FTA and GSA vehicles surveyed; the source lists five grant sub-awards under CFDA 20.505 (Federal Transit Administration Research and Technology Programs, State Planning & Research) and related programs, indicating sub-recipient status on federal grant work as well.

The company's primary work objective is assisting local communities, governmental entities, transportation providers, and human service agencies with transportation-related issues. As a result, RLS has developed a nationally recognized reputation within the transportation industry for responding to clients' individual needs and offering pragmatic, implementable solutions to the critical issues facing today's transportation systems. RLS prides itself on products that, rather than "sit on a shelf," have been developed in such a way as to guide and direct transit leaders for years to come.