procurement

Texas DOT this week signed with Federal Signal Technologies LLC (FSTech) to provide three years of back office operations for the Texas DOT operated tollroads -  for $68m. Two two-year extensions are optional. Three firms were ranked after four had been asked to submit bids. FSTech was scored highest followed by TransCore and ACS.

The Illinois Tollway has issued a Request for Information (RFI) as the first step to procuring a new toll system. Kristi Lafleur, executive director told us on the telephone today that the Tollway hopes to get more flexibility and more capability from a new toll system.

Washington State DOT is moving to procure toll systems to be implemented starting in 2012 for two new projects in the Seattle area - the WA99 Alaskan Way Tunnel (2 toll points) and I-405 Express Toll Lanes (18 toll points.) The systems will at some point be extended to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge WA16, and the WA520 Floating Bridge Replacement. Both of these two currently have toll systems - but troubled ones, not working adequately, WSDOT says.

Kapsch TrafficCom IVHS Inc (Kapsch) has been chosen over TransCore to supply the next generation tag-reader system to the E-ZPass group of 24 toll agencies of the E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG). In a one page announcement just released the IAG says: "Kapsch TrafficCom IVHS, Inc.

Four companies have been shortlisted in the procurement of toll interoperability hubs by the Alliance for Toll Interoperability (ATI): ACS, Cofiroute, Federal Signal and an Egis/CS-Intrans joint venture named Secure Interagency Flow. Eleven groups had proposed so this means seven were dropped.

The bizarre toll system procurement at the Port Authority New York New Jersey (PANYNJ) took another turn yesterday evening with letters emailed to Telvent and ACS telling them their protests had been rejected. There is an opportunity to appeal the protest rejection but given the speed and decisive nation of the rejections this is unlikely. (CORRECTION)

The nation's second biggest toll authority seems to be backing out of a decision May 25 by their Board of Commissioners construction committee to award a $81.9m contract to ETC Corp for replacing their toll system.

Eleven companies or groups have bid to set up and operate a national hub for billing the tolls of out-of-area motorists based initially on license plate camera reads. In Phase One of the procurement by the Alliance for Toll Interoperability (ATI) three of the eleven will be selected to set up a hub each and demonstrate their billing of nightly batches of data for a three month period late September to late-December.

Proposals were received from:

Jefferson County is looking for a developer/concessionaire to take on the first build of the Jefferson Parkway, another stage in the development of a belt route for the Denver metro area, and an important north south connector for the county. The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority (JPPHA) has scheduled a "Bidders' Conference" in the county offices in Arvada CO, December 14.

I want to weigh in on this morning’s post about Chairman Wageman as a staffer who has worked closely with him over the past three and a half years. There’s no denying the fact that our Chairman is one of the most polarizing figures in Texas transportation right now.  You were on the money with your subhead entitled, “Loved or hated.”  However, there were other statements that were not accurate, such as when you said he was “erratic.”