North Carolina eVP #677-PL27-01

Turnkey Eastern Wake County Microtransit Operations

The Town of Wendell is seeking a turnkey provider to replace SmartRide Northeast with on-demand microtransit across eastern Wake County. - Government buyer: Town of Wendell, Planning Department, on behalf of Wendell, Knightdale, Zebulon, and unincorporated eastern Wake County. - Requested service: Design, implement, and operate a shared-ride microtransit service, including the operational strategy, labor, capital, technology, and administrative capacity. - Provide, lease, maintain, clean, insure, and fuel or charge the fleet; keep at least one wheelchair-accessible vehicle available throughout operating hours. - Provide an accessible rider app and website, multilingual phone dispatch, customer support, and fare collection capability if fares are adopted. - Supply a dedicated program manager; hire, train, and supervise operators; coordinate with the community; and provide unified branding, marketing, and performance reporting. - Base Case: Plan for approximately 23,000 rides and 11,000 operating hours annually, with weekday service for at least 13 hours per day, starting no later than 6:00 AM and ending no earlier than 7:00 PM. The target maximum wait time is 30 minutes. - Alternative Case: Describe possible enhancements, such as later evening or Saturday service, additional vehicles, improved response times, or a different service area, within an annual budget cap of $1.3 million. Vehicle availability is also requested for Wendell special events outside regular service hours. - Named service: The new operation will replace SmartRide Northeast. No specific OEMs, vehicle makes or models, vendors, or product part numbers are identified. - Period: Operations are planned to begin in 2027. The contract duration, end date, and option years are not specified.

Description

The Town of Wendell seeks proposals from qualified firms to provide microtransit service in Eastern Wake County, serving Wendell, Knightdale, Zebulon, and unincorporated eastern Wake County. The selected firm will provide a turnkey operational strategy, including labor, capital, technology, administrative capacity, and technological integration for internal planning and customer trip planning. The service is to replace the existing SmartRide Northeast microtransit service beginning July 1, 2027. Responses are due November 16, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET, and vendors must be registered with North Carolina's Electronic Vendor Portal to respond.

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