On Jan. 1, the Marguerite began operations under First Transit, which replaced TransDev as the shuttle system’s transportation service provider. While drivers will wear new uniforms and some of the current vehicles will be replaced, there will not be changes to routes or schedules.

First Transit was selected by a committee of Parking & Transportation Services (P&TS) staff and senior management from Stanford Land, Building & Real Estate. The new provider’s contract is valid for five years, which P&TS Marketing and Communications Specialist Olivia Staciwa says is the standard length for these type of agreements.

“Stanford uses a service provider in order to leverage a much larger operator’s expertise in transit operations,” Staciwa said. “This allows our office to provide better transit operations to the Stanford community.”

First Transit was selected from a pool of five providers via a competitive bid process, which Staciwa said “helps to ensure [P&TS] continue[s] to meet the needs of the growing Stanford community and provides the best Marguerite service possible.”

According to Staciwa, the factors assessed in P&TS’s selection process included costs, proposal quality and the scope of services provided by each bidder.

“This is part of normal business operations to ensure that our office is meeting the transportation needs of the Stanford community,” Staciwa said.

Contact Karen Kurosawa at karen16 ‘at’ stanford.edu.