Find a Ride Phase 2 - Request for Information (RFI)

Project Overview

The Mobility Management team at Hopelink, in collaboration with the King County Mobility Coalition, is developing a system to improve the new rider intake, eligibility determination, and enrollment verification processes for specialized transportation services in the Puget Sound Area. As they currently exist, these processes can be a significant barrier to riders seeking services for the first time, highly manual and labor-intensive for the agencies providing the transportation services, and difficult to coordinate at a regional level because processes are unique to each agency.

To improve these processes, Hopelink intends to implement a system that agencies in the region may use to:

• Collect new rider intakes electronically via a secure web-based application, with easy collection of any needed documentation,
• Carry out streamlined eligibility determinations, with straightforward and adaptable workflows for both riders and agency staff, and
• Securely store eligibility information in a centralized database for use by riders, agency staff and Hopelink’s recently developed Find a Ride's trip planner. As the system matures, it could be made available to authorized systems used by healthcare providers, social services caseworkers, and information and referral specialists (e.g., 211) to enable closed-loop referrals for transportation services.

To reduce risk and cost, and to maximize the opportunity for integration with systems in adjacent domains such as healthcare, social services, and information and referral, Hopelink is placing a high priority on the final system using open standards, publicly documented application programming interfaces (APIs), and existing software tools that are in wide use outside the public transportation sector.

Additional information on this project is available at the project website, including our Phase 2 announcement.

Hopelink seeks information in the following areas:

Similar efforts:  information and points of contact about other projects, past, present, or planned, that have similar designs or goals. This includes:

• Examples of data or technology integrations between specialized transportation and healthcare, social services, information and referral entities, or sources of documentation (e.g., login.gov or the Veterans Administration).
• Measures of success and return on investment for riders, providers of specialized transportation, and adjacent domains.

Approaches to data security: information about approaches and lessons learned regarding securely collecting and storing personally identifiable information (PII) about riders in a system that will be managed by Hopelink and used by riders and multiple small transportation providers. This includes information about vendor selection and oversight, identity management, code reviews, third party testing, and information security frameworks in a multi-organizational context.

Interested vendors:  If you represent a technology vendor or know of a vendor with interest in responding to a forthcoming request for proposals, please reply with information about relevant solutions; experience with applying HIPAA- and HITRUST-level data security to design, development, and internal processes; and a point of contact.

Please respond to FindARide@hopelink.org by Friday, April 4, 2025. Hopelink values your time and input. While comprehensive information is welcome, concise and direct answers are equally valued.

If you have any questions regarding this RFI or require the RFI in another format for improved accessibility please contact FindARide@hopelink.org.