The COMET Board of Directors votes to re-bid service contract
August 13, 2019
Ron Anderson, Chairman of The COMET Board of Directors, announced today that The COMET Board has voted to re-bid the Fixed Route and Paratransit Program Contract which is currently held by Transdev Services, Inc of Lombard, Illinois. They are responsible for employing the drivers, performing the maintenance of the busses and other related services such as paratransit, security, landscaping, bus stop maintenance, mystery riding and IT which are provided by a series of local minority and women owned businesses.
The contract was initially awarded in February of 2015 to help The COMET ramp up its services to the Midlands after receiving additional resources from the Richland County transportation penny tax. Initially a five year contract, it allowed for five one-year extensions before it could be re-bid.
Over the last five years, the current service provider Transdev has worked with The COMET to increase services by 63%, increase the number of passengers by 35% and have added 350 stops in the Midlands along with more benches and shelters for our riders.
The COMET Board of Directors appreciates Transdev’s contributions to the progress that has been made. The end of the five year contract is here and both The COMET and Transdev have agreed it is in the best interest of both parties to put it up for bid. Both parties have learned so much over the past five years that a new Request for Proposal (RFP) can be developed to provide both greater efficiency and value to the citizens of the Midlands while being more effective and cost efficient for both The COMET and the contractor.
“Transdev has been a great partner to work with over the past five years,” said Chairman Ron Anderson. “Their expertise and support have helped advance public transportation in the Midlands and we certainly hope and expect Transdev will be one of the companies that bid on the new contract.”
Anderson has appointed a five member committee of the board to work with John Andoh, Executive Director/CEO and others to prepare the RFP.
It is the goal of The COMET to have the RFP released by November 2019 , have responses returned by December 2019 and to successfully identify a new contractor by February 2020.
“The COMET Board is excited about the advances The COMET is making across the region,” added Chairman Ron Anderson. “We are looking forward to taking the next step in continuing to make mobility more accessible and convenient for everyone in the Midlands.”
About The COMET
The COMET is a service of the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority and provides countywide public transit services on 38 fixed routes, two ReFlex services, vanpool service, subsidy programs with Uber and Lyft and DART ADA complementary paratransit service throughout Richland and western Lexington Counties. The COMET transports approximately 2.8 million passenger trips a year on a fleet of 81 buses and vans. Transit services are provided under contract with Transdev Service, Inc of Lombard, Illinois. For additional The COMET information, please call (803) 255-7100, TDD/TTY: 711 through the relay service, email: [email protected] or visit www.catchthecomet.org. Catch The COMET…We Will Take You There!
