Committee approves solicitation for new transit scheduling app and software

The Safety and Public Works Committee approved staff authorization to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to procure a new cloud‑based transit scheduling platform and rider app.

Public Works Director Mike Habegorst told the committee the current software lacks vendor support and requires staff to manually handle glitches. “Currently our software that we're using, we can't reach out for, any support. They don't have any support staff to operate this when there's a glitch,” Habegorst said. Staff described desired features including a downloadable rider app, speech mode and ongoing cloud updates.

Committee members asked about estimated price ranges and features. Habegorst said the RFQ will emphasize qualifications and required features rather than lock staff to a single price; the $30,000–$50,000 range in the staff memo reflects varying feature sets respondents might offer. He also said the department has budget capacity in its operating fund to absorb the purchase and that prior efficiency steps have already reduced staffing need from 1.5 positions to approximately 1 FTE for transit software support.

The committee discussed rollout and user adoption; Habegorst said staff will use onboard materials and in‑bus QR codes—similar to a prior public survey—to encourage riders to download and use the app, while maintaining phone dispatch for riders who prefer it.

A councilmember moved to authorize the RFQ solicitation and the motion passed by voice vote. Staff will return with responses and pricing for council consideration before purchase and implementation decisions are finalized.

Notes: staff emphasized a qualification‑based procurement to match required features to available products; the transcript records a voice approval but no numeric roll call.