Johnson County On Demand Public Transportation Service Request for Qualifications

Agency:	Johnson County
State:	Iowa
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541330 - Engineering Services 541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
Posted Date:	Mar 25, 2024
Due Date:	Apr 19, 2024
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Request for Qualifications

On Demand Public Transportation Service in Northern Johnson

County, Iowa

March 2024

Background

Johnson County will be seeking qualified transportation operator to provide door-to-door on

demand and pre-scheduled service in the fast-growing Northern region of Johnson County, through

its Trip Connect program. This service is intended to serve a population of Johnson County

residents who need transportation to employment and education in Coralville and North Liberty

during days and times when other public transportation is not available. For that purpose, Johnson

County is requesting Statements of Qualifications from transportation operators that describe their

qualifications and capacity to fulfill the requirements listed below. It is anticipated this Request for

Qualifications will be followed by a subsequent formal Request for Proposals, should Johnson

County decide to proceed with the program. Submitting a response to this RFQ is not a pre-

requisite to submitting a Proposal, if and when an RFP is issued by Johnson County.

The Trip Connect program will be a new transportation service in the fast-growing northern portion

of Johnson County. Initially Trip Connect will be a pilot service, overseen by CorridorRides and

managed by Johnson County. Funding to pilot Trip Connect was secured through grants from the

State of Iowa Department of Transportation Special Project and the National Center for Mobility

Management Ready to Launch as well as Johnson County’s Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The

service will operate over a two-year period. This program is the result of a coalition of human

service agencies, employers, and transportation providers, facilitated by the Johnson County

Mobility Coordinator. The interested stakeholders have studied the need for this type of service

over the past two years.

Requirements of Transportation Service Provider/Vendor

Johnson County is seeking, at a minimum, the following requirements of a vendor for this

transportation service:

• Operate reliable and safe door to door on-demand and pre-scheduled transportation.

• Provide at least two (2) vehicles and qualified drivers during expected times of operation.

o ADA Accessible vehicle must be made available upon request.

o Suitable vehicles include cars, buses and/or vans that are regularly maintained and

safe for passengers.

• Provide proper vehicle and liability insurance related to service.

• Adequately supervise the drivers and vehicles during operation.

• Schedule and dispatch on-demand and pre-scheduled trip reservations.

• Maintain adequate fleet management and maintenance procedures.

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• Process(es) for cashless, cash, and ticketed fare collections, fare discounts, and

reconciliation.

• Lead marketing, outreach, communication, and recruitment with riders, employers, and

post-secondary educational institutions.

• Deliver competent customer service.

• Administer proper Drug and Alcohol testing and background checks for safety sensitive

positions as required by the Federal Transit Administration.

• Make all data reporting, service statistics, and financial information pertinent to the service

available to Johnson County and the public.

For each component above, respondents should describe their ability to meet the listed

requirement. Respondents should highlight any other relevant features and functionalities not

mentioned above.

Vendor Information and Qualifications

Please provide the following information about your company:

1) A brief history of the company, including how long it has worked in the transportation

industry and a description of current transportation customers.

2) The company’s capacity to take on additional work, including its enterprise resource

management tools, the depth of its adoption or development of software supporting such

management, and customer service staff

3) Whether Vendor is a publicly-traded or private company, size of its workforce, and has

experience operating public transit services in Iowa or other states.

4) Your company’s experience utilizing scheduling and dispatching software for public

transportation.

Timeline

Johnson County anticipates launching this transportation service in July 2024. An RFP will be

published in Spring 2024 to select a vendor for the operation of the service. Negotiations and

detailed planning with the selected vendor or vendors will take place in late Spring and early

summer 2024. Selected vendor(s) will be subject to requirements connected with the receipt of

Federal funds, including but not limited to equal employment opportunity, suspension and

debarment verification, anti-lobbying compliance, access to records, seatbelt use and text

messaging prohibitions.

Submittal Instructions

Please submit statement of qualifications via email to Kelly Schneider

kschneider@johnsoncountyiowa.gov no later than April 19th, 2024.

Johnson County On Demand Public Transportation Service Request for Qualifications

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