Whether you’re buying new or upgrading your transportation technology for a large company, a sprawling university, a city government or a different type of organization, you need the best product for your riders. Every campus transportation system is different and there are many products on the market. RFPs that successfully deliver what you and your organization need will be rooted in performance-based measurements rather than specific deployment methods and/or integrations into dying technology debt. Ask about performance-based metrics instead of asking modern transportation tech companies to integrate with dated technology.

What are some of the most important questions to pose to prospective vendors? How can you ensure they’re meeting your unique needs, considering industry trends and setting your operations up for maximum efficiency and flexibility?

4 Must-Ask Transportation Technology RFP Questions

1. How does your solution beat competitors in terms of ETAs and real-time accuracy?
   A good RFP gets to the heart of what is most important to your campus transportation operations. Asking questions that force vendors to differentiate themselves from the competition with specific performance metrics, as well as asking questions most valued by riders, can quickly provide answers to help your team make a decision.
   
   With TripShot’s True-Time® arrival notifications, riders won’t receive estimated arrival times but instead will know exactly when their rides will arrive. With our capacity to capture GPS every second, paired with the intelligence behind TripShot’s mapping algorithms, we deliver the most accurate notifications from any CAD/AVL system on the market today. 
2. How is your product able to adapt to unexpected or sudden changes in our transportation needs?
   Transportation trends have changed over the last several years. Campuses have needed to flex their services to accommodate hybrid work schedules, new demands from riders and more. Asking how a vendor’s product will prepare your campus for future trends and less predictable scenarios makes it more likely the vendor can meet your needs over time and save you money by avoiding going to RFP in the future. 
   
   TripShot was started to solve the problems of long and unpredictable commutes. During COVID-19, we rolled out Reservations and a capacity meter to help riders feel confident taking company-provided transit service to campus. TripShot allows you to be flexible and think creatively about the services you provide and deliver to your riders. Whether using Fixed Route, On Demand or another mode, riders enjoy the flexibility and an intuitive rider app. 
3. How can your product scale to meet our changing needs?
   Campus transit systems often grow to incorporate multiple campuses or commutes to and from neighboring areas. Your RFP should ask questions that encourage vendors to demonstrate that their solution is scalable and flexible. This is another way to ensure you’re picking the right vendor for the long haul and saving your organization money over time. 
   
   TripShot is built for scalability. Our customers can easily make last-minute service changes or do native long-term planning within the dashboard. Transit admins can run 2 vehicles or 200 all under the same platform and flex easily between vehicle types throughout the day based on demand. TripShot customers can add new regions without entering into new contracts or incurring new costs.
4. How do your company’s values align with ours?
   Questions that get to the core of the vendor’s values and reputation will allow you to understand if they will easily connect with your team and achieve the goals set out in your RFP. What is most important to your organization? What are you hoping to achieve with this RFP? What questions can you ask to confirm that these values will be honored by the vendor?

Create a Future-Facing RFP

Your RFP process should be thorough and thoughtful enough to save your organization time and money over the years. Which vendors are most trusted in the transportation industry? Which vendors have built their SaaS products from the ground up to specifically solve problems with campus transportation? Which vendors build with their customers to continuously innovate, create new features and adjust to new trends in campus transportation?