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On Tuesday, the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) board approved a contract that creates a pool of 12 vendors, known collectively as Technology Resource Acquisitions for Programs of Regional Transit (TRANSPORT), to provide information technology (IT) support services as needed.

"Rather than hiring more full-time employees, we feel it is better use of our financial resources to be able to draw upon specific skill sets when needed by tapping into this pool of vendors," said CTA President Richard Rodriguez in a prepared statement. "This strategy has worked successfully in other areas at CTA such as construction. . . . This type of IT outsourcing [also] has become a successful trend in the industry."

TRANSPORT is comprised of several functional service categories, the first of which includes communications infrastructure, engineering design, development, implementation and integration.

Other categories, which are being negotiated, would include technology operations and maintenance; testing, validation, verification and evaluation; application engineering and software development; and project management office and support services.

The three-year contract has two one-year options. Jobs will be generated as needed and only the 12 approved vendors may bid on them, CTA said.