URS consolidates CT commuter-ride services

Connecticut's statewide commuter services are being bundled under a single vendor for more efficiency at lower cost, and at least one long-time New Haven vendor may suffer, authorities say.

San Francisco-based URS Corp., with operations in Rocky Hill, won a two-year Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) contract that pays $3.31 million the first year as it oversees promotion, rider registration and service expansion for car- and van-pools, commuter buses and parking lots, and trains.

The precise number of Connecticut commuters using alternative transportation is unknown, but that data is presently being collected, state and URS officials say.

Margaret Dwyer, URS business manager for transportation demand management, says her company will work closely with Connecticut employers to establish on-site commuter programs to maximize the services.

"Our job is to maximize use of the existing transportation infrastructure, whether that is roads, trains or buses,'' Dwyer said.

Dwyer says URS will add 11 new full-time staffers -- including customer support and sales and marketing -- to work on the Connecticut contract.

URS also provides civil and commercial engineering services to large-scale infrastructure projects such as roadways and bridges. It currently employs some 100 engineers, designers, project managers and other staff in Rocky Hill, officials say.

Known collectively as Connecticut Commuter Services, the state had been carved into four regions that were doled out to four separate vendors, said James Stutz, the ConnDOT official in charge of the commuter program.

One of those, nonprofit Rideworks in New Haven, is likely to shut its doors once the operational transition to URS is completed on Oct. 1, authorities say. Rideworks oversaw commuter operations in the state's south central quadrant.

Rideworks referred queries to ConnDOT.

Stutz said Rideworks relied heavily on ConnDOT as a major funding source. He said it was likely that the loss of that funding could be damaging for Rideworks.

Rideshare, based in Windsor, is another nonprofit transportation provider that serves central and eastern Connecticut.

A Rideshare spokeswoman said the loss of its portion of the state transportation contract won't disrupt its popular Easy Street commuter van-pool operations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.

Officials for Connecticut's other commuter contractor, MetroPool, could not be immediately reached for comment.

In addition to its 2-year contract, URS has the option for three one-year renewals.

"This is a cost savings over these organizations being paid separately for their services,'' Stutz said.

URS oversees statewide commuter services in Massachusetts and Delaware, as well as regional programs in southern Pennsylvania, metropolitan Atlanta, Las Vegas and southwest Florida, Dwyer said.