Texas' DCTA issues RFP for MaaS partnerships

Texas’ Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) released a request for proposal (RFP) for Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and is soliciting proposals from firms or contractor teams to provide innovative mobility services for agency member cities, contracted communities, and partner organizations, as well as large employment centers and other areas as the need arises.

MaaS is a trending business model in the transit industry that utilizes on-demand, real-time platform-based services that can include any combination of various transport methods such as car- and bike-sharing, taxis and car rentals/leases, and provides a seamless customer experience for consumer, from travel planning to payments.

Firms selected by DCTA will be contracted to provide service proposals for flexible, efficient, and effective mobility services. These services will enhance and supplement the agency’s existing transit offerings and provide multimodal service to areas where traditional transportation options are less effective.

The agency’s MaaS RFP is open to all companies that provide mobility services and products, including but not limited to, taxis, Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), microtransit companies, AVs, bike-share and car-share companies, personal mobility software developers, and any other service or product that can address some or multiple proposal categories identified in the RFP.

“We believe the future of transit will require a network of multiple service solutions, and MaaS technology makes public transportation more efficient while reducing public reliance on automobiles,” said Raymond Suarez, DCTA CEO. “DCTA will increase the use of non-traditional transit services and products to allow for a more tailored and rapid response to the mobility needs of our riders and communities we serve.”

With new firms and evolving technologies available for utilization by a public transportation authority, DCTA said it may reissue a new solicitation to select additional firms or contractor teams at its discretion. Firms or contractor teams already under contract would not be required to submit a new proposal.  

The procurement and resulting award(s) is available to any other public agency (i.e., city, district, public authority, public agency, municipality and other political sub-division, or public corporation of Texas) located in Texas, as well as other transportation organizations nationwide as allowed by Texas law.