1. A Partnership Between
State Of Vermont Agency Of Transportation (VTrans)
and
Vermont Public Transportation Association (vpta.org)
ITS Massachusetts Annual Meeting, May 9, 2012
(www.itsmass.org)
Liz Curry, Grants Manager
Chittenden County Transportation Authority
Statewide Procurement of
Paratransit Scheduling &
Dispatching Software

2. Champlain Islanders Developing
Essential Resources
Green Mountain Transit Agency Rural Community
Transportation
Special Services
Transportation Agency
Addison County
Transit Resources Stagecoach Transit
Services, Inc.
Advance Transit, Inc.
Marble Valley Regional
Transit District
Connecticut River Transit
Green Mountain
Community Network
Deerfield Valley Transit
Association
www.vpta.net

3. Overview
• Why the project needed
• How the project is structured
• Projects steps and timeline
• Challenges overcome and future challenges

4. Current Services
VT Transit Agencies provide some or all: deviated fixed route,
fixed route & demand-response services
• Deliver services for seniors and people with disabilities through
E&D program
• Deliver NEMT services
• Broker services to third parties – taxis & volunteers; deliver
service directly if no other lower cost method
• Two systems have ADA service associated with fixed routes
• CCTA & AT
• Other third party contracts

5. Current Practices
• All reservations, scheduling, dispatching done manually
• Agencies use Access database tool developed & paid for by
VTrans
• Tracks client, trip & cost data for demand-response trips
• Generate reports for billing third parties and invoicing grants
• Two-way radios and cell phones used for driver communication

6. Call and Trip Volume Ranges
• Smaller agencies serve a single rural county or part of a county in
Bennington, Windsor, Grand Isle & Orange Counties
• Mid-size agencies serve a more populated county or more than one county in
Franklin, Washington, Windsor/Windham, Rutland and Addison
• Large agencies include urban Chittenden County and most rural Northeast
Kingdom with three counties
Transit Agencies Number of Calls Number of Trips
4 25-110 40-150
5 110-250 100-250
2 300-1,000 500-880

7. Two-Phase Project
 Phase One
Includes all statewide activities required to develop detailed specifications that
define vendor scope of work and package a formal Request for Proposals
 Interview dispatching, scheduling, billing, reporting staff at 11 transit agencies
 Identify unique characteristics of each system
 Develop matrix of functions
 Assess capacity to transition from manual systems to software
 Phase Two
Will involve the actual procurement that leads to a contract with a vendor and the
deployment of the software at each agency
 Assemble scope of work, federal contracting provisions, scoring criteria, submittal procedures & release RFP
 Working committee reads proposals and interviews vendors
 Negotiate with finalists and select vendor
 Hold statewide kick-off meeting
 Begin implementation at large, medium, small system

8. Timeline of Key Events
• December 2010: VTrans approval to proceed
• March 2011 - Kick-off with TranSystems and VPTA members
Opportunity for each transit agency to become familiar with
TranSystems, understand the benefits and impacts of software
• TranSystems presented prior rural procurement and technical
assistance work: Iowa, Missouri, Tennesee, Pennsylvania
• Characteristics of each procurement
• Challenges
• Lessons Learned
• Steps in Vermont process
• Benefits to and impacts on transit agencies
• Software features

9. Timeline of Key Events
• April 2011 – Software features survey and site visits
• Survey ranked software functions each transit agency
categorized into:
Must have Nice to have
Need in next 5 years Will never use
• TranSystems visited each agency for one day on site to
discuss survey responses
• Developed report with set of recommendations and software
features matrix that formed the basis for the levels of software
sophistication and specifications

10. Timeline of Key Events
• May 2011 – Vendor Expo and panel discussion
• Invited software eight vendors; six registered; five attended
• Featured product displays
• Discussion panel moderated by TranSystems – each vendor
made presentation followed by question & answer session
by transit agencies
• July 2011 – Needs Assessment Report summarized:
• Current practices, preferences for features, levels of
sophistication
• Key challenges with product design, IT infrastructure,
statewide procurement, and implementation

11. Timeline of Key Events
• October 2011 – Cost estimate and State of Good Repair
application by VTrans
• TS able to develop cost estimate fairly quickly based on experience in
other states and on details of features ranked by survey & site visits
• January 2012 – First draft specifications and notice of SGR
award
• Provided concrete details on how software modules would automate all of
the manual tasks VT Agencies do now
• Critical decision to use hosted solution v. site-based software
• Announcement of local match split between VTrans and Agency of
Human Services

12. Specifications and Requirements
•Consultant started with boilerplate specifications and
level of detail followed from assessment of each transit
agency’s paratransit functions related to software
•Levels of sophistication reflect calls per day, trip volume,
and types of service provided (demand response; NEMT;
ADA)
•Each level of sophistication distinguished by different
modules (e.g. ADA eligibility application and database)

13. Specifications and Requirements
PARATRANSIT SCHEDULING AND DISPATCHING SOFTWARE MODULES
COMMON COMPONENTS:
Existing database conversion
Client registration by transit agency & Medicaid eligibility link with Dept. VT Health Access
Agency resource management (drivers, volunteers, & vehicles)
Reservations
Scheduling
Manual dispatching with system-generated manifests
Built-in GIS support
Billing, cost-allocation and reporting by program
Customer service – complaints, compliments
NTD reports and supporting detail data
Management and operation reports
LEVEL 2: ADVANCED SCHEDULING AND DISPATCHING SOFTWARE
All of the above plus:
Automated eligibility processing – automates eligibility application form & data (e.g. ADA); links data to client
registration
Scheduling – adds subscription trip tracking & allows same day trips to be added
AVL tracking [Optional] – vehicles equipped with GPS technology
LEVEL 3: FULLY AUTOMATED SCHEDULING AND DISPATCH SOFTWARE
All of the above plus:
Mobile data terminal (MDT) interface [Optional] – manifests automatically transmitted
Web based components [Optional] – customer interface for client registration & reservations/cancellations

14. Timeline of Key Events
• March 2012 – Second draft of specifications
• Modifications based on revised proposal for NEMT services
• Some agencies moved from Level 1 to Level 2, and Level 2 to
Level 3
• Final draft and RFP target issue date August 2012

15. Phase Two
• Looking at August RFP release and anticipate 4-6 month
procurement process
• Contract by spring, 2013
• Initial deployment at beta site by end of fiscal year 2013

16. Summary of Project Components
•Clear goals based on mutual need for automation to increase efficiencies &
productivity
•Collaborative approach to standardize systems and avoid duplication
•Consultant selection based on familiarity with statewide procurements and
with technology required to meet rural transit system needs
•Review of literature enabled project to benefit from other statewide
experiences and mature product
•Face-to-face discussion with vendors to ascertain similarities and differences
•VTrans application for State of Good Repair grant successfully allows for
multi-year implementation

17. Challenges Ahead
• Deployment will require high level of engagement at
each site
• Structure of contracting entity and product owners
• Project and cost management
• On-going training and adaptability