By Jerome Tuaño
The Intercity Transit Authority has given the go-ahead for more than $500,000 in contracts for various projects and operations, including one for a hydrogen fueling station.
At a meeting on April 15, the authority signed off on a $250,000 contract with Stantec A&E to support the agency on its interim hydrogen fueling project at its Pattison Street base in Olympia.
With the board’s approval, Intercity Transit calls for the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services to sign an agreement with Stantec on behalf of the transit agency.
Project Coordinator Jonathan Martin explained Stantec will be supporting Hyfluence Systems Corp., which the transit agency contracted with in June 2025, to build the fueling station and a ground storage system.
The scope of Stantec’s contract includes design, bidding support, construction administration and project close-out services.
The hydrogen fueling project is part of the agency’s Zero Emissions project, which is funded by the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Regional Mobility and Green Transportation grant project. Funds acquired through the program have been used to procure five hydrogen fuel cell buses and the hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
Virtual computing
The aithority also authorized a renewed contract with SHI International to acquire licensing and maintenance services for VMWare, which provides the agency with tools used for virtual computing needs.
Project Coordinator Jeff Peterson said VMWare’s tools have been the foundation for the agency’s data center operations, and has been used to support critical applications, storage and disaster recovery systems.
Intercity Transit has been renewing its contract with SHI on an annual basis, but organizational changes with VMWare now require the agency to shift to a multi-year term.
Peterson added the agency currently lacks the capacity to pursue other options and therefore recommended signing a three-year contract with SHI for $156,500.
Accessibility audit
Lastly, the authority authorized a $201,606 contract with Anthro Tech Inc. for a comprehensive accessibility audit of the agency’s front-facing digital assets.
Procurement Manager Katie Cunningham said the Department of Justice requires state and local governments to meet new accessibility guidelines for web and mobile content by April 26, 2027.
To assist with compliance, Intercity Transit is conducting the audit to bring its websites and mobile applications into full compliance.
The audit will cover the agency’s website, mobile applications, online tools and rider resources, social media, digital notifications and electronic documents.
