Transit Resources

Tools to help your RFP to set realistic expectations and deliver a focused review. Over our history, ETA has submitted hundreds of proposals for mass transit technology RFPs. We’ve won some, we’ve lost some, and we’ve seen RFPs pulled without warning. Win, lose, or draw our practice is to reach out to transit agencies and ask for feedback about the RFP—our proposal, where we excelled, where we came up short, and what struggles the agency had during the process. That’s the nature of our industry. This last point serves as the subject for this article; what are the common challenges for proposal evaluation? Our 2018 transit agency survey discovered that comparing offerings was the “biggest source of stress” for those on proposal decision committees, followed by “determining value versus price” and “determining the importance of features.” These are all valid concerns—but easily fixed. The key to solving these issues starts with preparing the RFP itself. The same 2018 survey revealed that “preparation,” “creating technical requirements,” and “determining desired outcomes” were the top three headache-inducing tasks. For the most part, an RFP includes the following components: Cover letter or statement of interest Vendor information Proposed solution Strategy for implementation Warranty & support information Cost proposal Required forms Each section should ultimately contribute to the decision-making process. It’s not uncommon for an evaluation structure included in the RFP which looks something like this: Technical response: 20 points Price: 40 points Vendor qualifications: 20 points Organization of the proposal: 10 points Situational understanding: 10 points And that’s about it in terms of the breakdown and weighting of the proposal response. That’s all a decision committee relies on to score and rank their evaluation. The highest score wins, and to the victor goes the spoils. But what if the evaluation criteria are wrong? What if it’s weighted incorrectly? Why does price weigh more than the solution itself (40% of transit agencies use it as their primary decision factor) than the vendor’s track record (vendor experience is the primary factor for just 11% of transit agencies)? What mechanisms exist in your RFP for establishing value versus performance? Our 2019 survey revealed long-term performance (70.2%) must be part of the evaluation process. That certainly isn’t listed in the standard scoring criteria? Just 52 percent of transit agencies say that the intelligent transit system (ITS) they purchased lived up to expectations in our 2020 agency poll. The picture I’m painting here is that the defined evaluation criteria baked into RFP documentation are inherently flawed; they are not up to the task and are highly subjective. Why do so many agencies value long-term performance, but fail to include any sort of measurement tool within their evaluation structure? Why are nearly half dissatisfied with their ITS purchase? How do we change the evaluation so that it most accurately reflects the needs of the transit agency and delivers on the expected outcomes? Here are a few ideas to consider before you put together your RFP: Pre-proposal polling: Conduct an anonymous internal poll of your transit agency. If possible, include everybody. Everybody is drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, planners, customer support, and administration. Use this effort to discover hidden truths about your agency and potential issues. Look for potential areas of resistance. Find pain points in potential solutions. Include the ability for respondents to rank their answers to gauge priority and level of severity. We recommend Survey Monkey, DooPoll, or even use Microsoft Sharepoint to create your surveys and leverage these tools automatically tally the results. Conduct pre-RFP pricing research: We know that transit agencies (ETA included) keep a tight lid on their pricing structure. It’s a competitive industry, after all, and any advantage helps. This practice doesn’t mean they won’t provide you with ballpark figures for planning purposes. Use this information to A) understand the approximate cost for each component (ITS, APC, AVA, etc.), and B) evaluate cost against the amount of funding you have available. If possible, ask for an estimated ‘per vehicle cost’ to help account for hardware, installation, and recurring fees. This effort will help you set expectations before writing your RFP. It is better to know what you’re asking for and compare it to the final pricing. With this baseline pricing in mind, it will help establish expectations for what your agency cannot afford. It will also help you derive a better sense of value from your proposals. It may even cause you to think about how much weight you place on pricing in the overall evaluation hierarchy. Create a compliance matrix with priority values We’ve written before about the importance of including a compliance matrix as part of your RFP documentation. This approach is an excellent way to get answers about what a proposed system can and cannot deliver. What’s missing from the matrix is a correlation between features and their importance to the final solution. A compliance matrix evens the value across all items but does nothing to tell your evaluation committee how to weigh capabilities against price and competition. Including this information will help the vendor present prioritized solutions based on needs. For example, if your internal survey efforts reveal the following priorities: Cloud-based ITS Route and schedule management NTP reporting Automatic passenger counters Onboard Wi-Fi Then assign value to those features within your matrix (a scale of 1–10, perhaps?). The vendors responding to your proposal will understand what you value the most. They can also construct their proposal to prioritize some aspects over others and deliver more up-front value. A well-constructed spreadsheet may even include auto-calculation to help score each entry in advance. An entry in a compliance matrix theoretically might look like this, where “yes” answers to compliance earn full marks, where “no” responses don’t earn points, and “extra cost” applies a multiplier value to adjust the score to account for additional charges: Provide this spreadsheet as part of the RFP and ask vendors to complete it as part of their submission. Lock and hide those columns, cells, and worksheets from the file submitted to vendors. Reveal those fields after submission to see how a vendor stacks up based on their responses. Include in your calculations weighted penalties for unsupported systems. Proposal creation Now that you are adequately armed with priority preferences by role (via the internal survey), you will have more insight into how each business unit will react to your final choice. Additionally, you’ll have a sense of what you can afford and what systems to prioritize (using the ITS Price Estimator) and, ultimately, a point-by-point accounting of each vendor’s capabilities (courtesy of the weighted compliance matrix). With this information, you can create an RFP document that better captures the actual deliverables for your project and have the background data needed to conduct a proper evaluation. With this data in hand, you can quickly rule out submissions below a capability threshold that you identify before evaluating. The goal, after all, is to narrow down proposals quickly. This approach: Greatly assists in the preparation of the RFP Clearly defines the technical requirements It helps determine an agreed-upon, prioritized outcome Reduces internal debate process The process helps build a right-sized transit spec while avoiding common pitfalls and finding that vendor who will be your forever friend. Now that you’re ready to construct your RFP, you can focus on telling a precise story—your story—so that any vendor responding has a full grasp of everything your system needs to accomplish. Construct your RFP to follow a logical progression and use clearly-defined topics and industry-standard terminology. Avoid copying and pasting from other sources, which typically results in a messy, contradictory document. We recommend a sequence that follows this general approach: Introduction (overview of your agency and history) Objectives (description of the challenges you seek to resolve) Resources (provide details about your agency, e.g., number of vehicles, makes and model, installed hardware, contact points, who has the final say, etc. Scope (define every deliverable, feature, and intended use—a good place to include your compliance matrix) Submission requirements (we recommend the following:) Statement of interest About the vendor Technical proposal Implementation plan Warranty & support Price proposal Required forms A significant consideration in this process is to allow enough time for vendors to create a thoughtful response to your solution. A good rule of thumb is six to 12 weeks from the RFP’s issue (or street) date. We also encourage you not to put page limits on the proposal. These highly technical and complex systems allow the vendor the necessary time to explain the system and benefits thoroughly. Yes, this can lead to some lengthy proposals. Consider the amount of money you are about to spend and the consequences of selecting poorly. In this decision, we highly stress that you should err on the side of information. Short summaries could cause a potential vendor to omit details that could otherwise influence your decision one way or another—all to satisfy an arbitrary page count. The added information serves as a handy reference to answer any questions you may have. Proposal evaluation You’ve now laid the groundwork for your evaluation with all your pre-proposal work. The tools and concepts presented above provide your transit agency with enough background information to help identify potential vendors to look for before the issuance of the RFP—and then compare their response against the pre-RFP evaluation. More importantly, you have established a list of criteria based on priority gathered by stakeholders at all levels of your organization. Take your time to evaluate the results. Ask questions. Conduct pilot programs. Take the necessary steps to ensure that you’re making a comprehensive decision in your agency, taxpayers, and riders’ best interest.

Levi and Christian sit down with Brad Miller, CEO of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, to trace his journey from growing up around transit in Pennsylvania to shaping some of the most talked about projects in Florida. Brad shares how early lessons on Virginia Railway Express, Charlotte’s multimodal expansion, and a leap to Des Moines prepared him to lead PSTA through the SunRunner BRT, the Clearwater multimodal hub, a full network redesign, and one of the nation’s largest zero emission bus fleets. He explains how ferries, mobility on demand, and paratransit innovation all fit into a tourism heavy region, and why investing in workforce development is central to PSTA’s culture of curiosity and innovation. Along the way, Brad offers candid advice on working with boards, navigating hurricanes and funding pressures, and saying yes to opportunities that can transform a career and a community.

In this special roundtable episode of Stop Requested, ETA CEO John Maglio joins hosts Levi McCollum and Christian Londono, along with Stephen Kuban, CEO of KTS, to compare what they are seeing and hearing about AI across the public transportation industry.

In the final episode of their Miami-Dade series, Levi McCollum and Christian Londono talk with Doug Bermudez, Chief of the EASY Card Fare Programs and Customer Experience Division at Miami-Dade County Transportation and Public Works. Doug shares how his path from frontline customer service and marketing led to overseeing the fare programs, contact center, and rider communications that shape how people experience the system. The conversation explores Miami-Dade’s evolution from paper transfers and smart cards to contactless payments, fare capping, third-party apps, and account-based ticketing. Doug also discusses why technology only works when it removes friction for riders, how agencies can use feedback to find gaps, and what it takes to prepare a regional transit system for the World Cup.

ETA’s radio integration improves dispatch communication at TARTA.

Join hosts Levi McCollum and Christian Londono for a special episode of Stop Requested as they welcome their first overseas guest, Stuart Barker, Portfolio Director at Clarion Events, the world’s third-largest event organizer. Dive into the story behind the Transport Ticketing Global event in London and its fast-growing North American counterpart, both of which have become essential hubs for transit professionals exploring the latest in fare collection and ticketing technology. Stuart shares how these events evolved from a small gathering in a London hotel basement to international forums drawing attendees from over 65 countries, and why agencies at every stage of technology adoption, from cash-only to cutting-edge mobile payments, are finding value in attending. Get an inside look at what makes the North American event unique, with focused content tailored to the region’s diverse needs and opportunities for agencies to network and learn from both industry leaders and peers. Exclusive Offer: Transport Ticketing North America in Chicago on June 24th and 25th is free to attend for transit operators, transit agencies, and government representatives. If you’re a vendor, be sure to listen for a special discount code just for our listeners. Register now for Transport Ticketing North America

What does it actually take to plan ferry service in New York City? In this episode of Stop Requested, Levi and Christian talk with Nina Verzosa, Assistant Vice President of NYC Ferry at NYCEDC, about how ferry routes are designed, evaluated, and changed over time. Nina explains how ferry planning compares to buses and rail, how customer feedback shapes decisions, and what the recent systemwide NYC Ferry route changes were designed to accomplish.

In this heartfelt episode of Stop Requested, Christian and Levi reflect on the life and legacy of Clinton B. Forbes, marking one year since his passing. They share personal memories of working with Clinton, recalling his charisma, dedication to customer service, and transformative leadership in public transit. From his ambitious projects like the Route Performance Maximization plan to his commitment to community service through United Way, Clinton’s impact was profound. Join them in honoring his contributions to transit and the invaluable lessons he imparted to those who had the privilege of knowing him.

Boca Raton, FL. May 29, 2026. ETA announced today a new partnership with Transdev to bring its intelligent transit technology suite to Texas State University (TXST). Working alongside Transdev, the operator of TXST’s campus transit service, ETA will deliver CAD/AVL technology, rider information tools, onboard announcements, and integrated passenger counting capabilities across the university’s 49-bus fleet. Service is expected to launch in August 2026.

In this episode of Stop Requested, Levi McCollum and Christian Londono talk with Frank White III, former CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and founder and managing partner of Praxis Advisors Group. Frank reflects on leading KCATA through workforce shortages, funding pressures, regional coordination, and the return of fares after years of fare-free service. The conversation explores why transit leaders have to get the basics right before pursuing bigger ambitions, how data and transparency can help navigate difficult decisions, and why transit agencies should have a seat at the table in economic development and regional planning. Frank also discusses the realities of the transit CEO role, KCATA’s work in transit-oriented development, and how he is applying those lessons through Praxis Advisors Group.

In this episode of Stop Requested, Levi McCollum and Christian Londono talk with Shofi Ull Azum, Chief Planning and Development Officer at Cherriots in Salem, Oregon. Shofi shares how the agency uses community feedback, rider data, and operational experience to shape service decisions. The conversation explores Cherriots’ ridership growth, 90 percent on-time performance, and plans for microtransit, bike share, and new transit centers. Shofi also discusses why public engagement should not end with a survey, how planning and operations work together, and the importance of showing communities how their input influenced the final plan.

In this episode of Stop Requested, hosts Levi McCollum and Christian Londono speak with Lou Ferri, General Manager at Transdev leading paratransit operations for RTC Las Vegas, about his remarkable 25-year journey in paratransit services. Lou shares how he transitioned from working at a gym to discovering his passion for paratransit through a chance encounter with Palm Tran’s executive director. Learn about the operational complexities of managing America’s largest single paratransit contract, completing over 6,000 scheduled trips daily with 445 vehicles across Las Vegas. The conversation explores the unique challenges of paratransit operations, from eligibility processes to rider demographics, and how Las Vegas differs from Palm Beach County. Lou shares powerful stories about serving riders with disabilities, including visually impaired individuals who’ve found independence and community through accessible transportation. Discover insights on leadership, the importance of treating people as human beings, and Lou’s advice for emerging transit professionals: expect the unexpected, ask questions, and find your “why.”