Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
MARCH 19, 2026
Subject
SUBJECT: METRO EXPRESSLANES BACK OFFICE SYSTEM
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
AUTHORIZE the Chief Executive Officer to:
A. AWARD a firm fixed unit rate contract, Contract No. PS53258000 to BRiC-TPS, LLC, for implementing, operating, and maintaining a new ExpressLanes Back Office System (BOS) in the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) amount of $114,749,473 for the eight-year base period, excluding contract options, and which shall be authorized as follows, subject to the resolution of any properly submitted protest(s), if any:
1. The Design and Implementation phase of the new BOS will be authorized immediately upon contract execution in an amount NTE $15,583,030;
2. The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) phase of the new BOS will be authorized at the completion of the BOS Implementation in an amount NTE $99,166,443; and
B. EXECUTE individual contract modifications for Contract No. PS53258000 within the Board-approved contract modification authority.
Issue
ISSUE
A tolling BOS is required to enable Metro to efficiently operate the current I-10 and I-110 ExpressLanes and the future I-105 ExpressLanes. In 2018, Metro entered into an eight-year base contract (PS40164-2000) with TransCore LP to design, build, operate, and maintain the I-10 and I-110 ExpressLanes BOS. The existing contract is scheduled to expire on March 9, 2029. Staff is seeking to award a new BOS Contract No. PS53258000 to BRiC-TPS, LLC, to begin the design, development, and implementation of a new BOS that will provide Metro ExpressLanes with significant system improvements and efficiencies, resulting in streamlined operations and cost savings. The existing contract will be kept and managed for continued Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of ExpressLanes, while a new and improved BOS is developed in parallel. Development of a new BOS for tolling typically requires 18 months, given the complexities with the system design, development, implementation, and migration of the existing BOS customer data, including account and transaction data to a new BOS.
Background
BACKGROUND
The ExpressLanes BOS encompasses services, software, and hardware that serve as the system of record to provide critical functionality, including transaction processing, customer account management, transponder management, legally mandated interoperability, payment processing, and toll violation handling. The BOS is closely integrated with two other core components of the ExpressLanes system: the Roadside Toll Collection System that handles roadside infrastructure and dynamic pricing, and the Account Services component that covers the staff and facilities needed to provide account support to ExpressLanes users.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Staff is seeking this Board Action to award a new BOS contract that will allow ExpressLanes to continue expansion, including support for the new I-105 corridor. The new BOS will be designed to handle the transaction growth anticipated with the I-105 and will go live prior to the first segment of the I-105 ExpressLanes opening, in advance of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. In addition, the new BOS contract will implement the latest tolling capabilities, including features available to our partner California Toll Operators Committee (CTOC) agencies to establish regional and national interoperability. This will allow Metro ExpressLanes customers to use their account at toll facilities throughout the region and country to align with state legislation currently being advanced. The advancements in the new BOS will position Metro to join others at the forefront of interoperability.
The new BOS contract will include new state-of-the-practice tolling architecture, including advanced processing systems, new network technology, new security technology, updated hardware, along with new system architecture and design that delivers best-in-class BOS tolling capabilities and the latest tools for transaction processing and customer interfaces. The new BOS will afford Metro with opportunities to increase efficiencies in transaction and account processing, improvements in overall transaction reconciliation, increase toll revenue collection by improving processing timelines by a minimum of 15%, and will furnish opportunities to drive down mailing costs- affording Metro a 25% potential savings in printing and postage costs. These savings are anticipated to increase net toll revenue as well as potentially lower the Pay As You Go fee.
Continued growth in transaction volume will be supported with the new BOS contract, including a scalable system design that can meet the long-term projections for increased volume. Volumes are expected to more than double with the I-105 corridor expansion. The proposed solution has been proven to operate both reliably and effectively in other California Toll agencies.
Further, the new BOS will have the capability to support regional interoperability with western region states, with the latitude to expand support at the national level.
Additional design improvements include a simplified and intuitive User Interface that will improve account servicing by reducing call average handle times by an anticipated 25% for customers, along with improvements to the self-service external websites, including expansion of payment methods, and addition of a new Mobile App enabling a more simplified account management and improved customer experience. In addition, the design will incorporate usability features that focus on ease of use and customer satisfaction.
For these reasons, design, development, implementation, and the transition to a new BOS that incorporates a scalable architecture and is fundamentally capable of meeting the program’s future needs are essential. The design, development, and delivery of a bespoke BOS developed to meet the requirements of ExpressLanes is a highly complex effort. The process requires significant planning, a meticulous design around ExpressLanes Business Rules, conformity with specialized laws unique to California, acquisition and build out of new infrastructure, development, configuration, and multiple levels of testing, including unit testing, functional testing, system integration testing, performance testing, and user acceptance testing. The process also requires a complex data migration that involves data analysis, data mapping, and countless resources in order to facilitate a seamless transition of operations from the existing BOS to the new BOS. The recommended vendor has proven experience, including staff expertise to deliver all facets of this highly complex process. In addition, Metro staff’s experience with prior migrations will be leveraged to mitigate risk associated with moving from the current BOS operations to the new BOS.
Since each toll agency has very specific business rules, rates, customer policies, and standard operating procedures dictated by the agency and statute, the BOS will be customized to meet Metro’s specified requirements. The new BOS has demonstrated ease in customization, helping to mitigate the effort in adapting to Metro’s Business rules.
All in all, the new BOS will position ExpressLanes for continued growth and improved customer experience.
Contract Duration
The BOS contract duration and statement of work, which includes over 1,500 requirements, were developed in consultation with a team of tolling industry subject matter experts and further informed by lessons learned from Metro’s previous BOS procurements. Designing, building, and implementing a new BOS of this magnitude and complexity is a highly resource-intensive task that requires years of planning, development, configuration, and testing. Furthermore, transitioning operations from an existing BOS to a new BOS necessitates a significant amount of careful data coordination, privacy protection, data security, and program management for the millions of transponders and hundreds of millions of transactions that the system actively manages. As a result, the current best practice in the tolling industry is to incorporate base contract durations for BOS contracts that are on the order of 5-10 years to maximize the value received. The new BOS contract adheres to this best practice by incorporating a base contract duration of 8 years.
Base Contract Cost
Implementation
The implementation cost of $15.6M includes software design and integration cost of $6.7M which includes the software delivery components including resources to support software design, software architecture, software development, all customization and configuration, along with the resources required to support the multiple phases of software validation. The implementation cost also includes all technical documentation deliverables including design documents, interface control documents, etc. In addition, these cost account for all of the development and resources required to support data migration from the existing BOS to the new system. Lastly implementation cost include the staffing and resources required to deliver training in preparation for production delivery.
The $8.9M for all hardware acquisition includes computers, servers, storage, memory, network, as well as all initial software licenses required to operate the BOS.
Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
The maintenance cost of $45.1M, covers O&M for the 7-year duration of the Base contract. At a high-level this includes maintenance of the 877-phone line, interactive voice response system, website, service center representative computer and interface maintenance, data center, ongoing software license renewals, cash/check/credit card payment processing, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance and yearly financial audits. In terms of staffing, the O&M period includes service center on-site technical experts along with dedicated software developers, database administrators and software testers to maintain and improve the system during this period.
Pass-Through Costs
Staff has identified items to be handled as pass-through costs on this contract, which eliminates markup on those items, reduces contract risk, translates into lower fixed unit price proposals, and therefore provides the best value for Metro. These include postage, mail house handling costs (e.g., printing), monthly phone licenses, credit card tokenization fees, DMV lookup costs, and communications leased lines.
For the base term of the contract, pass-through costs include $54 million, of which $17 million is associated with Printing and Telecommunications costs and $37 million is direct postage costs, equating to approximately 50% of the overall contract value, and are required expenses regardless of the contractor operating the BOS system.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
This Board action is not anticipated to have an impact on the safety of Metro’s patrons or employees. The BOS contracts do not include any physical infrastructure on the Metro corridors.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The project schedule will require $7.7 million in FY26. These costs have been included in the FY26 budget for Cost Center 2220, Project Numbers 307001 and 307002, Account 50308, Task 03.11.
Since this is a multi-year project, the cost center manager, the Executive Officer, and the Deputy Chief Operations Officer of Shared Mobility will be responsible for budgeting the cost in future years.
Impact to Budget
The funding for this contract is from toll revenues generated on the I-10 and I-110 ExpressLanes. Toll revenue funds are eligible for bus and rail operating expenses within the ExpressLanes corridors.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
This BOS contract delivers the ExpressLanes program with essential system capabilities to efficiently and effectively implement equity-oriented initiatives and programs to ensure low-income households are afforded equitable access to the ExpressLanes and their benefits. The BOS is required to enable, provide, and/or support all of the ExpressLanes program’s equity benefits, including but not limited to: administration of the Low Income Assistance Program, efficient deployment of a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) alternative, collection of revenues for disbursement through net toll grants to local communities, provision of incremental transit service subsidies, and faster and more reliable service for transit patrons on the corridors. Metro ExpressLanes currently has 19,229 qualifying LA County households actively enrolled in the Low Income Assistance Program, has awarded over $103 million in grants to improve the neighborhoods around the ExpressLanes corridors (52% of which are Equity Focus Communities), and offers transit users a time savings of 12 minutes per trip on average compared to the general purpose lanes.
The Diversity and Economic Opportunity Department (DEOD) established a 3% Small Business Enterprise (SBE goal on the new Contract No. PS53258000.BRiC-TPS, LLC, met the goal by making a 3% SBE commitment.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled _Outcome
VEHICLE-MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit.* Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
The ExpressLanes program offers several programs that support VMT reduction, including the Transit Rewards program to incentivize transit use and the Carpool Loyalty program to encourage ridesharing. Additionally, toll revenues are used to fund transportation corridor improvements that promote non-driving travel modes, including pedestrian infrastructure enhancements, bicycle facilities, transit amenities, and more frequent transit service. Quantitatively, a recent report by the California State Transportation Agency indicates that roadway pricing strategies like congestion pricing (e.g., ExpressLanes) are estimated to produce an overall VMT reduction of 17% on average (CTP 2040).
The BOS in this report has mixed outcomes, but on the whole, it will likely decrease VMT in LA County. Within the BOS suite of transactions, Metro seeks to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips, provide a safe transportation system, and increase accessibility to destinations via transit, cycling, walking, and carpooling. The BOS will ease congestion for cars and trucks, or expand vehicle capacity, resulting in the possibility of increased VMT. However, it will also provide for carpooling infrastructure and reinvestment of funding towards transit projects; thus, the projects’ multi-modal benefits may contribute to offsetting the possible increase in VMT.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
The ExpressLanes Back Office System contract supports Strategic Goal 1, providing high-quality mobility options that enable people to spend less time traveling by offering travelers on the corridor a reliable and convenient travel mode alternative.
The ExpressLanes Back Office System contract also supports Strategic Goal 2, delivering outstanding trip experiences for all users of the transportation system, by improving the customer experience for ExpressLanes travelers.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board may elect to direct staff to develop the system software using in-house resources. This alternative is not recommended since Metro staff currently do not possess expertise in developing tolling software and integrating with multiple external parties, such as DMVs and other tolling agencies.
The Board may elect not to award the new BOS Contract. This alternative is not recommended for the following reasons:
• The existing BOS does not support the new planned efficiencies in transaction processing, toll revenue collection, improved customer account service offerings, and violation bundling, proposed by the new BOS contractor.
• The existing BOS contract does not support the level of transaction processing required for I-105 ExpressLanes. The current system hardware would need upgrades and system development requiring a contract modification to add an estimated $43 million in funds to the existing contract, requiring a contract modification if this alternative is chosen.
The new BOS affords Metro cost savings. When comparing the existing BOS contract and the new BOS contract, the new BOS results in a 9% (over $11 million) cost savings over the base contract term.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon Board approval, staff will execute Contract No. PS53258000 with BRiC-TPS, LLC to begin design, implementation, operations, and maintenance of a new ExpressLanes BOS.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Procurement Summary
Attachment B - DEOD Summary
Prepared_by
Prepared by:
Rosa Zamorano, Senior Manager, Transportation Planning, (213) 503-0991
Stephen Lee, Senior Manager, Transportation Planning (213) 407-4538
Tim Lew, Deputy Executive Officer, (213) 418-3134
Mark Linsenmayer, Executive Officer, (213) 922-5569
Shahrzad Amiri, Deputy Chief Operations Officer, (213) 922-3061
Debra Avila, Deputy Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer, (213) 418-3051
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by:
Conan Cheung, Chief Operations Officer, (213) 418-3034
