San Diego's NCTD taps ALC for paratransit service

American Logistics Co. (ALC), a national passenger transportation management company, announced it was selected by San Diego Area's North County Transit District (NCTD) to operate the agency's LIFT ADA Paratransit Service. In selecting ALC, NCTD will save more than $8 million during the initial six-year base term of the paratransit services contract.

Through the use of proprietary trip optimization technology (ParaMax) and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), ALC is able to deliver on its promise of reduced costs and improved service, according to the company. In most cases ALC can reduce the cost of paratransit programs by 20 to 30 percent, regardless of the size of the transit program. ALC's ParaMax technology reduces transportation costs by analyzing all trip reservations, to "right size the route" and "right size the fleet."

ALC was one of five transportation service providers vying for the NCTD LIFT Paratransit Service contract during a competitive bidding process that began in September 2010, and culminated in a final recommendation by the evaluation committee to select ALC in December 2010.

The NCTD LIFT Paratransit Service contract is based on an initial six-year base term, with a three-year option to be exercised at NCTD's discretion. ALC will begin operating LIFT ADA Paratransit Service for NCTD on July 1, 2011, and will also provide trip reservations, scheduling and dispatching services.

Each ADA paratransit trip will be assigned by ALC to one of four contract transportation providers in the North San Diego County area with whom the company already has service agreements. Using this approach, NCTD will also benefit from no longer having to pay for fuel or vehicle acquisitions, which are provided by ALC's contract service providers, and covered by the all-inclusive flat rate price per trip.

With ALC's Coordinated Transportation Model, NCTD will also be able to easily incorporate future flexible service provisions from the NCTD Mobility Plan, without the need to procure a separate contractor to dispatch/operate those services.