Doing Business with MCTA
Procurement Terms and Conditions
MCTA receives subsidies from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (PennDOT) and the Federal Transportation Administration. As such, procurement practices must be conducted with integrity, consistent with sound business practices and applicable laws and regulations. The procurement process shall provide for fair and open competition among all proposers. All procurements must follow FTA and PennDOT rules. If you are considering providing a good or service to MCTA, please review the attached terms and conditions every vendor must follow (depending on the value of the good or service rendered).
Terms and Conditions Protest ProceduresDBE Program
Monroe County Transportation Authority (MCTA) is committed in our efforts to expand contracting opportunities for small, minority and woman-owned businesses. Our DBE Program Office provides information on where you can access technical assistance, training, and other resources for vendors looking to do business with us. Contact us at rgress@gomcta.com. In accordance with the DBE regulations codified at 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part (49 CFR, Part 26), Monroe County Transportation Authority developed its DBE goal methodology. The overall DBE goal established for Federal Fiscal Years 2023 through 2025 is 1%. Please contact us for additional information on current opportunities.
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Goal for 2023 - 2025
Requests For Proposals / Invitation for Bids
IFB For Fuel
The Monroe County Transportation Authority hereby gives notice that it will receive sealed bids for the purchase and delivery of Unleaded Gasoline and #2 Grade ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel. Bidders shall submit one original bid and three copies in a sealed envelope. Bidders shall reference this particular sealed bid opening by indicating “MCTA Fuel Bid – U-Monroe2023-24” (for Unleaded Gasoline) and "MCTA Fuel Bid - D-Monroe 2023-24" (#2 Grade ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel) clearly and identifiably on the face of its sealed bid envelope. Bids shall be submitted on forms furnished in this IFB and shall be received at the following address no later than the following deadline for submission date and time (local time), Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM.
The contact information for any questions is Iris Rivera at 570 839 6282 x 333
IFB for unleaded gasoline IFB for #2 Grade ultra low sulfer diesel fuel
RFP For Microtransit Software as a Service
Monroe County Transportation Authority (MCTA), DBA Pocono Pony, is seeking proposals from qualified firms for a one (1) year contract with two additional, one-year options, to provide a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform and provide technical support for the agency’s microtransit services. The design of MCTA’s microtransit project is a zone-based service that provides curb-to-curb, on-demand service with a focus on app-based booking. This contract shall include the furnishing of all labor, materials, and services required as set forth in the Scope of Work section of this Request for Proposal (RFP).
The contract resulting from the successful proposal is subject to financial assistance grants between MCTA, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the PA Department of Transportation. The successful proposer will be required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Completed vendor proposal submissions are due no later than 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, 2023. Review the RFP for specific submission requirements and procurement schedule. Proposals received after said time or at any other place other than the time and place stated in the RFP will not be considered. An RFP must be submitted consistent with all required documentation. Any proposal submitted on any other form will be considered non-responsive and will be rejected. MCTA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.
Questions related to this RFP can be sent to rschlameuss@gomcta.com and will be accepted until Friday, March 24, 2023. Answers will be posted below.
RFP For Microtransit Services.
Click for Questions & Answers
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What make and model Android Tablets are currently in use? Would MCTA be open to utilizing vendor-provided iPads? | Galaxy Tab A7 Lite. We would be open to using iPads with data plans. iPads must be USB-C compatible. |
| The RFP states awardee must have the “Ability to track and integrate with mobile ticketing platform or to be used as the mobile ticketing platform for our fixed-route service.” Which mobile ticketing platform would you like awardee to integrate with? | MCTA has no mobile ticketing platform for fixed-route. |
| The RFP notes that “the proposer’s plan for providing on-site training, including training schedules, to assure a fully trained workforce by the contract state date.“ Would MCTA be open to virtual training if virtual training is more cost-efficient than on-site training? Or would pricing options for both virtual and on-site training be preferred in the proposal and then MCTA can select which option you prefer? | In-person training is desired. |
| What on-board credit card readers does MCTA currently use for on-board payment? | None. |
| Can you please clarify what you mean by and/or provide an example of “Ability to share, forward, or link trip details”? | An example would be if passengers books trips and would like to share the information with their parents or children. |
| Can you please clarify and/or provide an example of the RFP requirement “Ability to enter custom data into platform for calculations, such as operating cost, revenues, accident data, etc?” Moreover, can you please clarify what the preferred method of reporting this data is? | Proposers should consider how the end user will use back-end information. For example, if the system is able to provide a dashboard, cost per hour, passenger per hour, revenue per hour / day / week / month, would be helpful to know. This could only be provided if there is a data import or manual entry of information into the system. |
| The RFP notes that “MCTA has evaluated other Pennsylvania transit systems microtransit services and have identified these goals and objectives for the proposed service.” What other services were analyzed? | Rabbittransit (York), CATA (State College). |
| The RFP notes that MCTA currently uses Braintree (PayPal) to process credit card transactions. Would you be open to utilizing Stripe? | Yes, if comparable or lower for transaction fees. |
| The RFP states that awardee must “Explain how billing problems are resolved.“ Can you please clarify/provide an example. Do you mean billing issues with customers riding the service or between awardee and MCTA? | We don't anticipate billing problems with the vendor. We know there will be with passengers. Please describe how MCTA will be able to view and modify billing issues with the software. |
| To allow for a thorough response to of MCTA’s questions in this procurement, would MCTA be open to increasing the page limit to 35 pages? | No. |
| The RFP specifies awardee’s solution should “Prevent duplicate trips under one name / account.” Can you please clarify what this means and/or provide an example situation? | Once a passenger books a trip, if they forgot, or do not see the trip they've already booked, and book another trip at the same time for the same location, the system should provide a warning to the passenger that it is a duplicated trip. |
| Would the MCTA be interested in commingling its microtransit and paratransit services at a future date? Does the Authority desire a software with the ability to support such commingling? | No. All other paratransit trips will be scheduled and dispatched through Ecolane, as required by PennDOT. |
| What is the MCTA’s desired go-live date? | July 5, 2023 |
| Can the MCTA share pain points with its current microtransit software? What improvements is the MCTA hoping to achieve by procuring a new software platform? | MCTA respectfully declines to answer this question. |
| Can the MCTA share with vendors how each of the evaluation criteria listed on page 7 of the RFP will be weighted / scored? | No. We respectfuly request that the response be written to address the scope of the RFP and not to any assigned weight to the scoring. |
| The MCTA has listed “Ingests GTSF-RT and delivers GTFS-flex integration” among its evaluation criteria. Should vendors understand this criterion to mean that the MCTA is interested in multi- and intermodal integrations for its microtransit service? Would the MCTA be open to receiving proposals that describe alternative solutions that achieve enhanced intermodal and multimodal capabilities? | MCTA would be interesed in receiving information, not proposals, that can achieve enhanced intermodal / multimodal capabilities. Please note, there are no known bike, scooter, etc., service providers in our area. |
| Can the MCTA share more information about its vision for intermodal and multimodal transportation in and around Swiftwater and the surrounding region? | MCTA's fixed-route service has routes through both PonyPlus (Microtransit) zones. There are also connections to intercity bus service to NYC and Scranton in both zones. We think it would be amazing if our passengers were able to use the same app to book a ride and pay fares for the PonyPlus and fixed-route services. |
| Does the MCTA require hardware and data plans? Should vendors include these components in their pricing? | No. MCTA has Android tablets and data plans. |
| Does the MCTA desire for vendors to respond to each individual technical requirement and specification as described in the RFP’s Scope of Work (pages 13-18)? If so, would the MCTA consider extending its 25-page limit to allow for these responses? | No. |
| What percentage of MCTA Pony Plus riders are walk-on riders? Would the Authority be open to alternative modes of supporting these riders? | Less than 1% |
| What mobile ticketing platform does the MCTA use for its fixed-route services? What payment processor is used? | None. |
| Would MCTA consider a two-week extension to the proposal submission due date? | Due to our tight timeline, this request would be difficult to accommodate. |
| Can MCTA identify/clarify the weighting for the evaluation criteria? | No. We respectfuly request that the response be written to address the scope of the RFP and not to any assigned weight to the scoring. |
| The RFP mentions the maximum page count of the proposal is twenty-five (25) pages. Are these single sided 25 pages or double sided (which means 50)? | No. Great try though. Remember to write the RFP to the reader. We want to be informed, but not bored. |
| What is the total coverage area of the service/zone sizes? | You can view the zones and their dimensions on Google Maps from our website: gomcta.com/ponyplus. Pocono Summit Connector: 7.83 sq mi; Tri-Borough Connector: 12.4 sq mi. |
| What is the current productivity (Passengers per Vehicle Hour) of the service? Does MCTA have a target PVH for this program/service? | Our current productivity is about 2 - 3 passengers per vehicle revenue hour (VRH). We'd like it to be closer to 4 passengers per VRH |
| What is the overall budget of the microtransit program? | Around $275,000 per year at our current cost. |
| Is the product go-live date of Wednesday, July 5 , 2023 flexible or a hard go-live date? | This is our cut-over date from our current vendor. |
| Can you please share any details about what system is used by MCTA for fare collection? | Our fixed-route system uses a formerly state of the art smart card system and cash. All transactions on the fixed-route and shared ride service are cash. The PonyPlus service uses credit card transactions through the app. |
| For payment system, does the agency have a preferred vendor or open to any suggestions? | We do have a vendor, but we can switch if necessary. |
| Under the fare payment section, MCTA lists a requirement for the ability of riders to pay by credit card on the bus without app use. Does MCTA intend to install payment validators on the vehicles to accommodate this, if not, is there a method MCTA envisions to accomplish this? | MCTA is open to installing payment validators if this can be accomplished for a reasonable cost. We have not identified a method to do this. |
| Can the bidder attach a separate pricing sheet (showing the breakdown of itemized costs) along with the one provided in the RFP? | Yes, as long as there are no optional costs included with the sheet. |
| What are some of the biggest concerns seen with the current software solution that you would change immediately if you could? | MCTA respectfully declines to answer this question. |
| Does MCTA envision expanding beyond 4 vehicles in the future if the service is successful? | Yes. |
| RFP Scope of Work section (page 13) states, "Ability to ingest MCTA’s GTFS-Realtime Fixed Route data feed and provide on time connections to the fixed-route from the app." Are we expected to connect with the real time locations of fixed-route vehicles, or will schedule-based connections be sufficient? | Schedule-based connections will be sufficient; however, our buses may run late from time to time. This will cause downstream delays on the PonyPlus service if the connection is coming from the fixed-route. |
| RFP Scope of Work section (page 14) states "Ability for dispatcher to communicate with the rider or driver via in-app messaging." What communications are expected between dispatch and the passenger? | Some examples: There have been times when the vehicle was disabled and we had to alert passengers. We had to suspend service due to poor weather (snow) after passengers booked trips. Passengers were not where the driver expected them to be. |
RFP For Fixed Route Scheduling Software
Evaluation in Process: RFPs have been receieved and are under review.
Request for Proposals (RFP) Transit Scheduling and Run-Cutting SoftwareRequirements Compliance Matrix Checklist - REQUIRED
Click for Questions & Answers
Does MCTA’s current scheduling system integrate with Avail solely via XML file?
Yes.
If there are additional integration requirements, is MCTA aware of any required cost from Avail to integrate?
There may be a required cost to integrate. MCTA anticipates covering this cost.
Will MCTA provide their existing scheduling data dating back to July 1, 2019?
Yes, as XML files.
Does MCTA require the run/roster data to be available on the new software?
Yes. MCTA operates by block / run. Roster data, meaning driver names associated with specific bids, is helpful and available with our current scheduling package.
Will MCTA allow proposers to submit additional/supplemental pricing materials in addition to filling out the provided Price Proposal Form?
This RFP is only evaluating a scheduling package. If you have other offerings that integrate with, but are not required or provide premium features, for operation of the scheduling package, you may propose them outside of the RFP with a separate letter.
The selection criteria include "Potential for cost efficiencies based on provided rate schedules" (RFP pg. 12). Can MCTA explain this requirement further?
This is the price analysis function. Because this is an RFP, we don't have to select the lowest cost proposal, but rather the best solution based on factors that include cost. We gained efficiencies of time by moving to our current scheduling package. We will be evaluating the efficiencies of time and cost based on the rate schedule (price) you provide.
The RFP requests as part of submissions "Description of quality control procedures" (RFP pg. 8). Can MCTA please clarify this requirement?
If your organziation has quality control procedures developed that help ensure that the project implementation stays within scope, on time, and within budget, we'd like you to share them.
Will there only be 2 users of the software? If more, can you provide their titles?
Assistant Executive Director and Executive Office Analysit are the current users of the scheduling package.
Is MCTA interested in seeing details of optional products and services in responses (specifically Operations/Dispatching software that is beyond the scope of this RFP)?
This RFP is only evaluating a scheduling package. If you have other offerings that integrate with, but are not required or provide premium features, for operation of the scheduling package, you may propose them outside of the RFP with a separate letter.
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