Under the FAST Act, the Department of Transportation was charged with establishing a forum to encourage public transit operators to engage in joint procurements for rolling stock, including buses, railcars and ferries, to achieve economies of scale. Last month, FTA launched the Joint Procurement Clearinghouse (JPC), a new tool available to all FTA grant recipients that enables them to communicate about procurement needs and solicit partners interested in pooling resources for a joint purchase.
This forum is only open to recipients who engage with and receive assistance from FTA. The JPC resides on an FTA platform that also includes the Transit Award Management System (TrAMS). Individuals can be given access to the JPC by their TrAMS user manager. FTA produced training materials, which can be found on the JPC webpage, to guide users in navigating the new tool.
