The District has awarded a five-year, nearly $141 million contract to a multinational operator of transit systems to run the D.C. Circulator.
RAPT Dev North America, which already runs the D.C. Streetcar system, will maintain and operate the Circulator’s six-line system and its 72-bus fleet. The contract, for $140.7 million over a base period of five years and three months, requires D.C. Council approval. It was submitted to the council on May 30.
This will be the first time the D.C. Department of Transportation has had direct oversight of the D.C. Circulator since it launched in 2005. The system is currently operated and maintained under agreement with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
“Assuming management oversight is the next major step of continuing our efforts to deliver quality service and at the same time improve opportunities for DC Circulator personnel,” DDOT Director Jeff Marootian said in the release.
RAPT Dev’s D.C. Streetcar contract totals nearly $80 million. The Circulator contract, if approved, provides for three option periods — the first at $160 million, the second at $183.4 million and the third at $211 million.