Jonesboro finance committee forwards $1.3 million TripSpark transit contract to full council

The Finance and Administration Committee for the City of Jonesboro voted to forward Resolution 25-056 to the full City Council, a resolution to contract with TripSpark Technologies for routing software and rider tools for the Jonesboro Economic Transportation (JET) system. The total cited in committee was $1,300,000 and the resolution lists Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds as the source of financing.

The contract covers a fixed-route intelligent transportation system that will provide vehicle tracking, driver login features and rider-facing tools, including a branded mobile app and real-time arrival information. Tom Coogan, vice president of professional services at TripSpark, told the committee the product gives “full visibility” to operations and riders and allows dispatch to create detours or temporary stops that publish immediately to the ridership.

Why it matters: Committee members said the system would modernize public information about bus locations, integrate paratransit and fixed-route services in one interface, and expand the city’s ability to publish GTFS real-time data to platforms such as Google and Apple Maps. That could make transit easier to use for riders and better inform operations and planning.

TripSpark’s presentation described rider features that include real-time vehicle locations, trip planning, service alerts and the ability to publish temporary route changes to riders. Coogan said the system can push alerts to shelters and to riders who subscribe by text or email and that the company provides 24/7/365 customer support for operations staff.

Committee members asked how the city will handle fare collection and pass purchases. Lee (city staff) and TripSpark representatives said digital fare collection is being explored separately and is not part of the current contract; they described work to identify compatible payment vendors but said a digital fare product would be pursued as a separate project. Dr. Anthony Coleman, a city staff member, pointed to the contract total in committee and asked whether the city had undertaken recent ridership surveys to confirm the investment. Coleman said, “This is a pretty pretty large investment and, I'd like to see have we done surveys, have we done, any ridership, questionnaires,” and asked for more data before council consideration.

Committee members also asked how non-smartphone riders would access information. Lee said the contract includes technology in shelters and on buses that displays arrival times and provides in-vehicle announcements; he said the system is intended to serve both riders with and without personal devices. Coogan said equipment on buses would report location at frequent intervals and that the mobile app is optional: “Should they wanna create an account ... they can, but in large, no account is necessary.”

Staff said the city will retain ownership of the trip data. Coogan said the contract language protects the city’s data and TripSpark will assist with producing marketing or ridership statistics when requested. Coogan estimated an approximate six-month deployment timeline from kickoff to full operation, excluding shelter installation, and said shelters and signage planned under a separate grant would be integrated with the TripSpark system.

The committee voted to forward the resolution to full council. The motion recorded in the meeting packet to forward Resolution 25-056 carried; the mover and seconder on the committee record were not specified in the transcript.

The contract’s funding and implementation details, and any further data on ridership and fare integration, will be considered when the item reaches the City Council.