The Connect Transit Procurement Department is an integral part of the agency’s overall business strategy, working with vendors to acquire the best value for the supplies and services needed to provide our service. Some of the goals of the department include lowering costs, improving safety, and helping to enhance our reputation within the community while ensuring transparency and fairness.
Need More Information?
For more information on Connect Transit's procurement and purchasing opportunities, please contact the Procurement Department at (309) 886-1179 or email us at [email protected].
The Procurement Department engages in full and open competition offering opportunities relating to:
- Business Services: goods and services for day-to-day operations, including planning, consulting, technology, marketing, and other services
- Capital Projects: large-scale projects, ranging from transportation vehicles to facility expansion
- Construction and Design: various upcoming facility projects
- Material Management: parts and supplies to support facilities and fleet maintenance
Connect Transit requires a variety of goods and services to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective public transportation. We strive to obtain the best value in terms of cost, quality, schedule, and safety from our business partners. As a public entity, we must act as a good steward of public funds and are committed to acting with honesty and integrity, and the Procurement Department is key to those values.
The Procurement Department provides support to our internal departments. We solicit competitive offers via the online solicitation process using the Connect Transit e-Procurement Portal. More information on the e-Procurement Portal can be found below.
Our suppliers should be committed to providing consistently reliable delivery and service, high-quality products and services for reasonable prices, and open and honest communication.
Interested in doing business with us? Click here to register as a vendor on our e-Procurement Portal!
Bonfire E-PROCUREMENT PORTAL
We have partnered with Bonfire Interactive to create an e-Procurement Portal that will allow you to receive notifications of business opportunities and to submit bids and proposals digitally. Bonfire makes it easier to centralize procurement across the organization for improved visibility and consistency across departments. Vendors will be able to see the bid schedule with a calendar, brief project description, supporting documentation, required and optional attachments, required costs/pricing tables, and any questions that are required for the procurement.
Registration is easy and free. Please be sure to select NAICS codes associated with your type of business or organization. Our solicitations will be set up using those codes and will be matched to vendor and contractors with the same codes. Bonfire has easy-to-understand instructions and videos for vendors, to assist with free Bonfire registration and to view current opportunities.
Need Help? If you experience trouble with registration in Bonfire, support is available at 1-800-354-8010 ext. 2. Support is available Monday to Friday 8 AM-8 PM EST. Please contact Bonfire at [email protected] for technical questions related to your submission. You can also visit their help forum at https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us.
Minimum System Requirements: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, or Mozilla Firefox. Javascript and browser cookies must be enabled.
Business Opportunities
All publicly advertised business opportunities will be posted on Connect Transit's e-Procurement Portal. Prospective bidders or proposers can use the links below to access upcoming or view past opportunities.
Importantly, vendors interested in being notified of upcoming business opportunities should be sure to use the button below to register on the e-Procurement Portal. We use this portal as a supplier database and will search for registered vendors to match them with projects as they are being advertised. As soon as a matching project is advertised, you will be notified of the opportunity.
Upcoming Projects
We have many exciting upcoming projects that will provide opportunities for businesses to participate in our procurement process. In the coming years, we have two major capital projects planned. We will construct a Downtown Bloomington Transit Center that will provide a safe, customer-focused transportation hub for the Downtown Bloomington area. We will be investing in a vehicle storage and training facility on our existing campus to be used as paratransit and microtransit vehicle storage, as well as a workforce development and meeting center.
Other upcoming capital projects include:
- Microtransit Vehicle Procurement
- Additional Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
- Various Software Systems Upgrades
- Administration Facility Repairs / Improvements