TheRide Awards Contract for Paratransit Services to Select Ride

Nov. 21, 2014
The decision follows an evaluation period where TheRide staff, Local Advisory Council (LAC) Executive Board Members, and a consultant from RLS Associates evaluated responses to a Request for Proposals for paratransit service.

At its November meeting, the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (TheRide) Board of Directors voted unanimously to award Select Ride Inc. the contract to deliver paratransit services.  The decision follows an evaluation period where TheRide staff, Local Advisory Council (LAC) Executive Board Members, and a consultant from RLS Associates evaluated responses to a Request for Proposals for paratransit service.  The three-year contract begins May 1, and was awarded for a not-to-exceed price of $10,723,182. 
 
TheRide’s current paratransit contract ends April 30.  The new contract allows TheRide to provide in-house advance reservation scheduling, an aspect of the service delivery which has not been provided directly by TheRide since 2004. TheRide will also supply a fleet of lift-equipped accessible buses.  Some benefits of this new agreement include: 

  • Customers will experience no changes in the advance reservation process.
  • Customers will continue to call the same advance reservation phone number.  
  • Customers will receive calls notifying them in advance of a late trip.
  • TheRide staff will receive and schedule all advance reservation requests.
  • TheRide staff can immediately address and resolve customer reservation concerns.
  • All accessible buses will have TheRide’s A-Ride logo for clear identification.
  • All provider vehicles will be co-branded with the TheRide’s A-Ride logo for clear identification.

TheRide currently contracts with Select Ride Inc. to deliver paratransit services.  These services are important to the community with 122,500 trips delivered in FY 2013.  Paratransit service is TheRide’s largest service contract with an annual expense of $3.2 million dollars.  TheRide last released a request for proposals for paratransit services in 2010.  At that time, Select Ride, Inc. was awarded a one-year contract with two one-year renewal options to deliver service.  In July, 2013, The AAATA Board authorized an extension to the current contract through April 30. 
 
Brian Clouse, TheRide’s paratransit coordinator, expressed that during that time, the authority identified many service challenges and goals, and defined contract terms that would better align with the Five-Year Transit Improvement Program, which began in August.  “Implementing a long-term contract with Select Ride permits TheRide to project service costs over the course of the next five years, while providing customers with increased efficiency, better convenience, and enhanced customer service.”