The Beyond the Bid webinar series continued strong on June 6 with its fifth installment, spotlighting the fast-evolving world of transportation and highway traffic safety in public sector procurement. Hosted by GovSpend’s Paige Mockler, this session dug into key industry shifts, emerging tech trends, and powerful data strategies—showing attendees how to proactively uncover and pursue high-value opportunities beyond traditional RFPs.
From AI-enhanced dash cams to smart intersections and predictive repairs, transportation agencies are investing heavily in modernization. With billions of dollars on the table and much of it not going through competitive bid processes, the time for vendors to get ahead of the curve is now.
The Road Ahead: What’s Driving Transportation Spend?
To kick things off, Paige shared a snapshot of the key forces shaping this sector. From EV fleet mandates to smart parking infrastructure, public agencies are rapidly adopting technology to increase safety, efficiency, and compliance.
Emerging priorities include:
- AI-powered fleet tools: Dash cams, telematics, and behavior alerts for real-time safety improvements.
- Smart city infrastructure: Sensor-based parking, mobile tolling, and adaptive signal systems.
- GIS, drones & digital twins: For bridge inspections, predictive maintenance, and optimized urban planning.
- Cybersecurity concerns: Especially around vehicle-to-infrastructure tech and license plate recognition.
- Cross-state compatibility: Ensuring seamless integration across tolling and fleet management systems.
The bottom line: it’s not just about roads and vehicles anymore—it’s about data, automation, and strategic intelligence.
From Reactive to Proactive: Fixing the Prospecting Cycle
Throughout the session, Paige underscored a familiar challenge: many vendors are still too reactive. They wait for bids to drop, only to find that the opportunity has already been shaped by a competitor, rolled into a broader contract, or bypassed the RFP process altogether.
Common obstacles include:
- Missed timing (too early or too late)
- Hidden sole-source or piggyback contracts
- Staff turnover at agencies
- Uncertainty around budgets or existing vendor relationships
Using GovSpend’s data and tools, vendors can overcome these roadblocks by researching past spend, identifying key contacts, and reaching out early in the planning cycle.
Tools in Action: AI + Spending History = Strategic Advantage
One highlight of the webinar was how to use GovSpend’s AI Chat feature to simplify and accelerate the bidding process.
Take, for example, a project from the Connecticut Department of Transportation involving computerized traffic signals. Instead of sifting through PDFs manually, users can prompt GovSpend AI to generate a sales brief, summarize bid requirements, and even draft personalized outreach emails to the project contact.
From there, users can pivot into spending data to research:
- What traffic signal systems the agency already uses
- Which vendors (incumbents) they’ve worked with
- Past pricing, quantities, and project scopes
This empowers vendors to submit more competitive, customized proposals—or, when the opportunity isn’t a fit, to build relationships for future deals.
Building Hot Lead Lists from Purchase History
Beyond bidding, GovSpend’s search filters and contact tools help users build lead lists based on actual purchasing behavior. Want to reach out to agencies buying traffic enforcement tools, electric vehicles, or parking technology? Use filters to identify relevant agencies, then refine the contact list by title—fleet managers, transportation directors, highway safety coordinators, and more.
You can even export these lists directly from the platform, making it easy for sales and marketing teams to launch targeted outreach campaigns.
Setting Alerts for Emerging Opportunities
Looking to catch prospects right as they’re investing in new fleet or infrastructure? Paige showed how to create spending alerts based on recent EV purchases—like buses, sedans, or SUVs above a certain value. From there, users can again identify decision-makers tied to those purchases and offer related products like charging stations, software integrations, or accessories.
One client even used this approach to underprice a competitor by just three cents per item—and won the contract.
Get Ahead of the RFP: Contracts & Meetings
To truly go beyond the bid, vendors need to position themselves before the RFP drops. That’s where GovSpend’s Co-ops & Contracts and Meeting Intelligence modules come in.
In the Contracts module, users can filter for agreements expiring within their typical sales cycle. Using AI summaries, they can quickly understand renewal options, vendor performance, and decision-making timelines—then reach out to contacts before the contract hits the street.
With Meeting Intelligence, users can monitor real-time conversations in public meetings. Want to know which city just flagged an increase in accidents at a key intersection? Or where parking regulations are being challenged by local retailers? GovSpend captures and transcribes these meetings, so users can scan keywords, pull summaries with AI, and identify new opportunities before they’re formalized.
Key Takeaways: Winning Smarter, Not Just Faster
By the end of the session, Paige had shown attendees how to:
- Combine bid data with spend history to craft stronger proposals
- Use AI to save time on research and outreach
- Build and export lead lists based on actual purchases
- Set alerts for signs of new investment
- Use meetings and contract data to engage early and influence outcomes
If you apply even just 10% of what was covered, Paige reminded the audience, you’ll be that much better at navigating public sector sales.
Ready to Go Beyond the Bid?
Whether you’re targeting DOTs, school bus fleets, toll systems, or smart city initiatives, GovSpend gives you the tools to be proactive, informed, and strategic.
Want help replicating any of these tactics? Reach out to your GovSpend rep or email support@govspend.com—we’re here to help you win more, with less guesswork.
If you are not yet a customer, request time with our experts to learn how GovSpend can help you go beyond the bid and win more contracts.
If you sell in other sectors besides Transportation & Highway Safety, check out the topics for our future sessions of the Beyond the Bid series and register here, or read a recap post of one of our previous sessions.
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