# Dane County Transportation Services: The County Ride Contracts Van Companies Can Bid On

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/states/wisconsin/dane-county/ · Updated 2026-10-02

Dane County transportation services are the rides the county Department of Human Services pays for: group trips and individual rides for older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, and residents with no other way to reach care. Its Transportation Call Center, 608-242-6489, schedules them, and the county buys the rides from private and nonprofit companies through bids on its eProcurement Portal.

- Dane County buys group and individual rides for older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans from private and nonprofit companies.
- County ride bids post on the county eProcurement Portal under NIGP code 95200, with the main Human Services round each spring.
- Recent bids priced rides by the service hour, the one-way trip, or a rate sheet, with up to four yearly renewals.
- A for-profit wheelchair van company carrying riders for pay in Madison needs a city specialized transportation license.
- As of August 2026, Metro Transit is preparing the RFP for a new paratransit contract that begins July 1, 2027.

## Dane County NEMT at a glance

| Fact | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Who schedules county rides | The Dane County Transportation Call Center, 608-242-6489, or TransportationCallCenter@danecounty.gov |
| Who books Medicaid rides | MTM, the state NEMT manager, at 866-907-1493. DHS intends to move the program to Verida, with no date set as of August 25, 2026. |
| Where county bids post | The Dane County eProcurement Portal, under Human Services, NIGP code 95200 |
| When bids open | Human Services runs its main RFP round each spring for contracts that start the next January, and posts other bids during the year |
| State aid | $1,190,011 in 2026 specialized transportation aid under Wis. Stat. 85.21, plus a local match of at least $238,002 |
| Contract term | Up to four one-year renewals after the first term on the 2023, 2024, and 2025 ride bids; the 2025 bid's first term ran June to December 2025 |
| Insurance on county bids | $1,000,000 each for general, auto, and pollution liability, plus workers' compensation, with the county as additional insured |
| On-time standard | On the 2024 and 2025 bids, 90% of riders picked up and dropped off within 15 minutes, and 100% within 30 minutes |
| Madison license | Specialized transportation service: $1,200 for one year or $2,200 for two under MGO 11.06, plus $35 a vehicle and $25 a driver |
| Medicaid trip volume | 33,291 completed Medicaid trip legs started in Dane County in May 2026, out of 301,246 statewide |

## Who arranges rides here

- [Dane County Transportation Call Center](https://www.danecountyhumanservices.org/Disability-and-Aging/Transportation/Community-Access-Transportation): Approves and schedules county-funded rides for older adults, people with disabilities, and others. (608) 242-6489
- [Dane County Human Services Provider Hub](https://providers.dcdhs.com/Partnering-With-Dane/Open-RFPs): Posts county ride contracts for bid on the county eProcurement Portal.
- Dane County Risk Management: Takes the insurance certificates county ride contractors file. (608) 266-4965
- [City of Madison Traffic Engineering](https://www.cityofmadison.com/traffic-engineering/taxis/starting-a-taxicab-service): Licenses taxicab and specialized transportation companies in Madison. (608) 266-4761
- [MTM Wisconsin](https://www.mtm-inc.net/wisconsin/): Books Medicaid rides for Dane County members as the state NEMT manager. (866) 907-1493

Dane County buys rides of its own, on top of the Medicaid rides the state pays for. Its Department of Human Services (DCDHS) runs group trips and individual rides for older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, and rural residents, and apart from its volunteer driver program it pays private and nonprofit companies to drive those rides, under contracts it puts out to bid.

Statewide, Wisconsin Medicaid rides go through one manager, MTM, and the Department of Health Services announced on May 21, 2026 that it intends to move the program to Verida, with no switch date set as of August 25, 2026. The [Wisconsin guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/wisconsin/), [MTM in Wisconsin](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/mtm-health/wisconsin/), and [Wisconsin picks Verida](https://nemtguide.com/news/wisconsin-verida-nemt-award/) cover that side. Medicaid volume is high here: 33,291 of the 301,246 Medicaid trip legs completed statewide in May 2026 started in Dane County, the second most after Milwaukee.

## Who the county ride programs serve

DCDHS decides who qualifies for the county's individual rides, and its Transportation Call Center, 608-242-6489, schedules them. The programs, as DCDHS describes them in 2026:

- **Group Access Service (GAS) and Rural Senior Group Trips (RSG).** Scheduled group rides to meal sites, grocery stores, food pantries, senior centers, adult day centers, and special events, door to door with help over curbs and up to three steps. No medical trips. GAS serves Madison, Monona, and Middleton, and RSG serves the rest of the county. Riders pay 50 cents one way for a meal trip, $1.00 for in-town shopping, and $1.50 for out-of-town shopping, and no one is turned away for not paying.
- **Older Adult Transportation Assistance (OATA).** Individual rides countywide for adults 60 and over and people with disabilities who live in their own homes, with accessible vehicles available. It is generally temporary, with a co-pay based on ability to pay.
- **Supplemental Medical Transportation Assistance (SMTA).** Individual rides to medical appointments that are frequent, long, or far from home, countywide, with door-to-door and accessible service.
- **Rural Transportation.** Individual rides for rural residents with no access to public transit.
- **Retired Senior and Volunteer Program (RSVP).** Medical rides by volunteers in their own cars, usually not accessible.

The limits matter for a ride company. People who get Medicaid rides through the state's common carrier transportation cannot use the county's medical rides, and Family Care, Family Care Partnership, and IRIS members cannot use these programs at all. The group ride contract also leaves out people living in assisted living or a nursing home. County work covers riders no other program pays for, so it adds to Medicaid work instead of competing with it.

## Where the county's ride money comes from

One source is state aid under Wis. Stat. 85.21. WisDOT's 2026 guidelines say counties are the only eligible applicants and that private for-profit and nonprofit organizations may provide service through contracts with the county. The 2026 aid totals $15,977,800 statewide, and Dane County's share is $1,190,011, which the county must match with at least $238,002 in local cash.

Two program rules explain why the county bids its rides out. Any transportation contract worth $10,000 or more a year must go through a competitive public procurement and be rebid at least once every five years. Contractors also have to give the county the trip data it needs for its quarterly ridership reports to WisDOT.

On top of that, DCDHS buys many services through a yearly purchase-of-service RFP round each spring for contracts that start the next January, and it releases other RFPs during the year. See [government NEMT contracts](https://nemtguide.com/guides/government-nemt-contracts/) for how county bids compare with state and federal ones.

## The ride contracts Dane County has put out to bid

Three county ride contracts went to bid from 2023 to 2025, each posted on the county eProcurement Portal with a first term the county can renew for up to four more years.

| Contract | Bid window | Priced by | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran Transportation, 424005-DNB | Mar. 30 to May 26, 2023 | One-way trip | 1 year plus four renewals |
| Group Specialized Transportation, 425012-DNB | June 6 to Aug. 1, 2024 | Hour of service | 1 year plus four renewals |
| Transportation Services, 425018-CMS-DNB | May 12 to June 3, 2025 | Bidder's rate sheet | June to Dec. 2025, renewable through 2029 |

A fourth request, 423022-CNO for children, youth, and family rides in 2023, closed with no valid responses, according to the county's bid summary.

### Group Specialized Transportation

This contract runs routed, scheduled group rides from riders' homes to meal sites, grocery and discount stores, malls, pharmacies, libraries, food pantries, and the occasional special event. The county sets the service boundaries, destinations, and schedules, and the contractor does the daily routing. A bidder could price one service area or several, with an hourly rate for each year from 2025 to 2029. The contractor collects the small fares and sends the monthly total to the county by check, and drivers may not take tips.

The RFP listed the hours the county bought in 2024 and expected for 2025, by service area. The county's estimate of the total fell slightly, from 17,041 hours to 16,700.

| Service area | Hours in 2024 | County estimate for 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| GAS (Madison, Monona, Middleton) | 6,755 | 5,500 |
| Central South | 2,143 | 3,700 |
| North | 3,061 | 3,300 |
| Southeast | 2,928 | 3,100 |
| Southwest | 2,154 | 1,100 |

### Transportation Services

The 2025 bid covers individual rides that DCDHS staff schedule: non-emergency medical appointments, groceries and markets, work, and school, some on a regular schedule and some as needed. Pickup windows may not exceed 30 minutes, no fares are collected, and the contractor bills the county monthly. A monthly report, due by the 15th, lists each ride's date, passenger, origin, destination, and cost. Every driver must hold a City of Madison taxi operator permit. The county invited bids whether or not a fleet has wheelchair vehicles, and a company that does must secure every wheelchair and meet the federal lift and ramp standard, 49 CFR 38.23.

### Veteran Transportation

This program serves veterans and their spouses living in Dane County, whatever their discharge status. It runs group rides to the Veterans Service Office, the VA hospital, and food pantries, plus individual rides to medical appointments that do not fit a group trip. The 2023 RFP named Great Lakes DryHootch as the provider at the time, reported 1,578 one-way trips in 2022 and 853 in 2021, and set a target of 1,300 trips with at least 1.5 full-time drivers.

## What a Dane County ride bid has to show

### Insurance, vehicles, and drivers

- **Business standing.** At contracting, you must be registered and in good standing with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. On the RFPs, administrative costs may not exceed 15% of the program cost.
- **Insurance.** $1,000,000 per occurrence each of general liability, business auto liability (owned, non-owned, and hired vehicles), and pollution liability, plus workers' compensation at Wisconsin statutory limits. Name the county as an [additional insured](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/additional-insured/) and give it 30 days' written notice of cancellation.
- **Vehicles.** A current State Patrol certificate of inspection under Trans 301, or a City of Madison taxicab vehicle permit and inspection. Working heat and air conditioning, and two-way contact with dispatch. If drivers use phones or tablets, the group ride RFP requires push-to-talk.
- **Drivers.** A valid license and, for the group rides, a DOT driving abstract, a Wisconsin Department of Justice criminal record check, and a national background check before hire. The county may refuse a driver with more than two accidents in 12 months or more than two moving violations in two years.
- **Training and testing.** Defensive driving, first aid and CPR, wheelchair securement, passenger assistance, emergency procedures, and sensitivity training. The group ride RFP also asked for a drug and alcohol policy that meets FTA rules; the [drug and alcohol policy template](https://nemtguide.com/templates/nemt-drug-and-alcohol-policy/) is a starting point.

### Service standards and scoring

Both the 2024 and 2025 bids set the same standards: 90% of riders on time within 15 minutes and 100% within 30, no more than 0.5% missed trips, no more than 0.1% wrong drop-offs, more than 25,000 miles between non-injury accidents, more than 60,000 miles between injury accidents, and more than 5,000 miles per road call. The 2023 veteran RFP set a higher on-time bar, 95% of riders within 15 minutes.

On the group ride contract, each standard missed in a month cuts that month's pay by 1%, and missing one standard four months running, or four standards in one month, is a default.

The RFPs scored proposals out of 105 points: 30 for program strategies, 20 for experience, 20 for cost, 15 for the program overview, 15 for quality improvement, and 5 for being a local vendor. A vendor with a physical place of business in Dane County gets those 5 points, and one in Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, or Sauk County gets 2. On a request for bid, a locally based and owned vendor within 15% of the low bid may match it, and the margin is 10% for a locally operated vendor and 5% for one in a neighboring county.

## Madison's license for wheelchair van companies

Madison General Ordinance 11.06 says no one may carry passengers for hire within the city limits without a city license, and that includes rides in a specialized transportation vehicle, one especially suited to elderly riders or riders with disabilities. Rides given only to elderly, low-income, or disabled people by volunteers or by employees of a bona fide nonprofit are left out, and so are ambulances. A for-profit wheelchair van company picking up riders for pay in Madison needs the license.

- **Company license.** The ordinance sets a specialized transportation service license at $1,200 for one year or $2,200 for two, and $1,000 to renew for two years, under fees in effect since 2020. The City Clerk's fee list (May 2025) shows $2,075 for a two-year para-transit operating license, so confirm the amount when you apply. You apply to the City Clerk with the fee and proof of insurance. Traffic Engineering reviews it, the Transportation Commission considers it after a published notice, and the Common Council decides.
- **Renewal.** Licenses expire June 30 of odd-numbered years. File the renewal by March 31 of that year, or it is treated as a new application and charged the initial fee.
- **Vehicles.** A $35 permit a year for each specialized transportation vehicle, with a tag on the back of the vehicle and a card inside.
- **Drivers.** A public passenger vehicle driver's permit from the Madison Police Department, $25 for an original permit.

Questions go to Traffic Engineering at 608-266-4761 or taxis@cityofmadison.com.

## Metro Transit's paratransit contract

Madison's Metro Transit buys its ADA paratransit service under contract. The city's 2027 budget request, updated August 6, 2026, says Metro is reviewing its paratransit administration, eligibility policies, scheduling software, workflows, and contractor oversight before releasing the RFP for a new contract that begins July 1, 2027. It also lists inflation in contracted paratransit costs among its 2027 cost drivers. If you want that work, line up the Madison licenses and the federal paratransit rules now; the [ADA paratransit contractor guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/ada-paratransit-contractor/) explains what transit agencies ask for.

## How to get Dane County ride work, step by step

1. **Register on the county eProcurement Portal.** Subscribe to the County of Dane and pick NIGP code 95200 so Human Services projects reach your inbox.
2. **Register as a county vendor,** as the DCDHS provider hub asks of every bidder, and keep your company in good standing with the Department of Financial Institutions.
3. **Get the Madison licenses** for your company, vehicles, and drivers if you will pick up riders for pay in the city.
4. **Inspect and insure every vehicle.** Book the State Patrol Trans 301 inspection or the Madison vehicle permit, and get certificates at the $1,000,000 levels.
5. **Build the bid file before the bid opens:** a driver training plan, a drug and alcohol policy, a vehicle inventory, a maintenance plan and checklist, an organization chart, and two or three reference letters. The [bid or no-bid checklist](https://nemtguide.com/templates/bid-no-bid-checklist/) helps you decide which areas to price.
6. **Watch each spring's postings** and submit through the portal before the deadline.
7. **Join MTM separately** for Medicaid trips, since county contracts and Medicaid credentialing are separate files.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I book a ride through Dane County transportation services?

Call the Dane County Transportation Call Center at 608-242-6489 or email TransportationCallCenter@danecounty.gov. The call center decides who qualifies for the county's individual ride programs and schedules the trips. For the group shopping and meal-site rides, riders can also go through their local senior service organization. Medicaid members book Medicaid rides with MTM instead.

### Can people on Medicaid use Dane County transportation services?

Not for medical rides if they get Medicaid rides through the state's common carrier transportation, and not at all if they are enrolled in Family Care, Family Care Partnership, or IRIS. Those riders use MTM or their long-term care program. The county programs cover people whose rides no other program pays for, so county work adds to Medicaid work rather than competing with it.

### Where does Dane County post transportation bids?

On the Dane County eProcurement Portal. Create a free account, subscribe to the County of Dane, and pick NIGP code 95200, which the Department of Human Services assigns to all of its projects. Human Services runs its main RFP round each spring for contracts starting the next January, and posts other bids at other times. Late, mailed, or hand-delivered proposals are rejected.

### Do I need a City of Madison license to bid on a county ride contract?

Often. The 2025 Transportation Services bid required every driver to hold a City of Madison taxi operator permit, with its background check. The 2024 group ride RFP asked for proof of City of Madison taxi licensing or Wisconsin Medicaid provider status, or a plan to get one before signing. Vehicles need a State Patrol inspection or a Madison taxicab vehicle permit.

### How does Dane County pay its ride contractors?

It depends on the contract. The 2024 group ride RFP asked for an hourly rate for each service area, with time after the first hour prorated to the nearest 15 minutes. The 2023 veteran RFP counted service by the one-way trip. Both left the final payment terms to be set at award. The 2025 individual ride bid asked for a rate sheet, with billing sent to the county each month and no fares collected from riders.

### What insurance does a Dane County ride contract require?

The 2024 and 2025 ride bids required $1,000,000 per occurrence of commercial general liability, $1,000,000 of business auto liability covering owned, non-owned, and hired vehicles, and $1,000,000 of pollution liability, plus workers' compensation at Wisconsin statutory limits. Dane County must be an additional insured and get 30 days' written notice of cancellation. Certificates go to county Risk Management.

## Official resources

- [Dane County eProcurement Portal](https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane)
- [Dane County Human Services: How to become a provider](https://providers.dcdhs.com/Partnering-With-Dane/How-to-Become-a-Provider)
- [Dane County Human Services: Community Access Transportation](https://www.danecountyhumanservices.org/Disability-and-Aging/Transportation/Community-Access-Transportation)
- [WisDOT: 2026 county specialized transportation (85.21) guidelines](https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/doing-bus/local-gov/astnce-pgms/transit/8521-guide.pdf)
- [City of Madison: Starting a taxicab service](https://www.cityofmadison.com/traffic-engineering/taxis/starting-a-taxicab-service)
- [Madison General Ordinances 11.06, public passenger vehicles for hire](https://library.municode.com/wi/madison/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COORMAWIVOIICH11--19_CH11PUUT_11.06LIREPUPAVEHI)