Keolis Transit Services, LLC, (Keolis) has been awarded a five-year contract by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) Board of Commissioners to operate and maintain its OmniRide bus service in northern Virginia.
Keolis will begin operating the OmniRide service Nov. 1, 2020, and has already begun changeover activities to ensure a smooth transition.
OmniRide says Keolis provides safe, reliable mobility services to millions of passengers in the United States. With the rider experience at the forefront, Keolis carries more than 100 million passengers each year on local, commuter, paratransit and commuter rail services in 12 cities. This includes the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter rail service, which PRTC co-sponsors with the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
“This partnership with Keolis will help OmniRide move forward to evolve our current mobility options for the county, as well as look for new opportunities to run safe, efficient and effective public transportation,” said Prince William County Supervisor Margaret Angela Franklin, who also serves as PRTC Chair. “We look forward to a successful partnership with Keolis.”
In the competitive procurement process, OmniRide says Keolis impressed PRTC’s evaluation committee with its knowledge of the region as the operator of VRE and the in-person interview. Out of three companies that submitted proposals, Keolis also scored highest on the five evaluation criteria.
“Those results assured the evaluation committee that Keolis was the right candidate to take over operations of OmniRide’s commuter, local and paratransit service. They have the maintenance of our assets, as well as the safety and health of operators and passengers at the forefront of their business model,” said Perrin Palistrant, director of planning and operations for OmniRide.” Additionally, the cost model submitted provides PRTC flexibilities to adjust service levels in the future based on service needs and allows for more control of costs and more predictable budgeting.”
In June 2019, the commission authorized OmniRide to conduct a new procurement for operations and maintenance contractor services, which currently are performed by First Transit, Inc. OmniRide says the new procurement was not due to performance issues with First Transit, but because the contract with First Transit was expiring and OmniRide is required to issue a new procurement. Also, OmniRide says it wants to further evolve the operations and maintenance contract due to major changes in service design, new technologies and the planned opening later this year of a new OmniRide maintenance facility near I-66 and the Prince William Parkway. OmniRide says it thanks First Transit, the organization’s operator since 2003, for its excellent service and partnership over the past 17 years.
