The COMET Awards New Service Contract For Fixed Route And Paratransit Programs
(June 1, 2020) Columbia, SC – The COMET announced today that The COMET Board has voted to award the Fixed Route and Paratransit Program Contract to RATP Dev effective July 1, 2020. The present five-year contract, currently held by Transdev Services, Inc of Lombard, Illinois, will expire on June 30, 2020.
RATP Dev brings 46 years of success in managing and operating high-quality, safe, responsive and efficient transit systems throughout the United States.
“We appreciate Transdev’s contributions to the progress we have made together,” said Board Chairman Ron Anderson. “We are grateful for Transdev’s expertise and support which has helped advance public transportation in the Midlands.”
The new contractors will be responsible for employing the drivers, performing the maintenance of the buses and other related services such as paratransit, security, landscaping, bus stop maintenance, mystery riding and IT which are provided by small, local, minority and women owned businesses.
There will not be an interruption in The COMET services during this transition. Current employees will be actively engaged in transition training and will be able to bid for positions with the new company. RATP Dev plans to hire locally for other employment opportunities.
“We are looking forward to this next step with RATP Dev to continue to make mobility accessible and convenient for everyone in the Midlands,” said John Andoh, Executive Director/CEO of The COMET. “RATP Dev brings a unique history of designing, managing, operating, maintaining and modernizing all forms of public transport and we are looking forward to seeing how we can continue to grow The COMET across the region.”
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The decision to put the contract out for bid at the end of the initial five years was made in the fall of 2019. As Chairman of The COMET Board, Ron Anderson appointed a five member committee of the board to work with The COMET Executive Director/CEO and others to prepare the Request for Proposal (RFP).
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About The COMET: The COMET is a service of the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority and provides countywide public transit services on 34 fixed routes, five ReFlex services, vanpool service for commuters, subsidy programs with Uber and Lyft and DART for transportation to grocery stores and at night, ADA complementary paratransit service throughout Richland and portions of Lexington Counties and eight Blue Bike bikeshare stations in Downtown Columbia. The COMET transports approximately 2.8 million passenger trips a year on a fleet of more than 80 buses, vans and trolleys. Transit services are provided under contract with Transdev (until June 20, 2020), Enterprise Holdings, Lyft, Uber and Bewegen. For additional The COMET information, please call (803) 255-7100, TDD/TTY: 711 through the relay service, email: info@catchthecomet.org or visit www.catchthecomet.org.
Catch The COMET…We Will Take You There!
About RATP Dev: Founded in Paris nearly 120 years ago, RATP Dev’s first Metro line crossed the French Capital and opened for the Paris World Fair on July 19, 1900 after eighteen months of construction. Today, RATP Group is one of the world’s largest providers of transit. RATP Dev, a wholly owned subsidiary of RATP Group, offers services to urban networks in 14 countries, including North America.
