Toll Collection Technology for Washington State. Request for Information (RFI)

Transcription

1 Toll Collection Technology for Washington State Request for Information (RFI) ACQ RFI Release Date: June 30, 2008 Prepared by the Administrative Services Contracts Office Washington State Department of Transportation PO Box Maple Park Avenue SE Olympia, WA

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION RFI PROCESS RFI SCHEDULE ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS RFI COORDINATOR RESPONSE PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS COST OF RESPONSE PREPARATION RESPONSE PROPERTY OF WSDOT PUBLIC RECORDS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION VENDOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS SYSTEM CRITERIA... 7 Page 2 of 7

3 1. INTRODUCTION Toll collection, both manual and electronic, in Washington State was resumed in July 2007 with the opening of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge (TNB). The new bridge span carries about 40,000 vehicles on an average day. The same electronic toll collection technology is also in use for the State Route 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project. This first high occupancy toll (HOT) lane effort in Washington State opened in May 2008 and currently attracts around 1,200 toll customers a day. All toll payers use either the TransCore ego TM sticker transponders (or the exterior mounted version) or ASTM v6 TDMA transponders. The TDMA transponder is also used for commercial vehicle weigh station bypass applications throughout Washington State. Lane equipment for toll collection on both TNB and the HOT lanes includes lane controllers, and TransCore Encompass 6 TM readers. In the next months, Washington State may add a significantly larger scale of toll collection by tolling the existing SR 520 Bridge to provide construction funds for a replacement facility. The replacement bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2014 and will also be tolled. In addition, the Washington State Legislature has created a committee to study tolling of SR 520 and possibly the existing parallel crossing, the Interstate 90 Bridge. See for additional information. Additional improvements for the I-90 Bridge are scheduled to be complete in The SR 520 daily toll collection is estimated at 120,000 customers and the I-90 Bridge could add another 150,000 vehicles per day for a total average daily traffic (ADT) for both crossings of about 270,000 vehicles. In addition, several organizations in the Puget Sound region are studying tolls for use in traffic management on a region-wide scale. The significantly increased size of the toll vehicle market, the new multiple toll points, additional facilities and the much larger geographic customer area require the need for a reassessment of available technical solutions for toll collection. WSDOT requests companies that provide roadside or vehicle based toll collection technology solutions to submit details about their collection methods and technology for consideration as replacement toll collection technology for Washington State. Companies that provide traditional transponder technology, video tolling, as well as those with other collection methods such as GPS technology are encourage to respond to this RFI. This RFI is not requesting information on customer service, or back office toll collection software applications. The goal is to evaluate the best roadside or vehicle based toll collection technology, or combinations of technologies for upcoming tolling projects in the state. Since Washington State tolling includes both traditionally tolled facilities where all lanes are tolled as well as HOT lanes where only some lanes of a facility may be tolled, and future facilities may include any of these combinations, vehicle based toll collection technology solutions that can work optimally in both Page 3 of 7

4 environments are of particular interest. In addition, all solutions must work equally well at slow speeds and highway speeds. WSDOT has a webpage with links to many of the statewide tolling efforts at: WSDOT will review submissions, interview some or all submitters, and prepare a summary of various methods and their likely applicability in Washington. Companies that offer the best perceived value to the State may be asked for additional information or to participate in field trials at the sole discretion of WSDOT. Any costs for preparing and submitting an initial response to the RFI and subsequent inquiries or presentations will be borne by the company. Companies selected for any field demonstrations may be reimbursed for these additional efforts. 2. RFI PROCESS After a review of the RFI responses and assessment of the marketplace, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) may or may not choose to issue a Request for Proposal for Toll Collection Systems. Participation in the RFI process is not a requirement for any subsequent competitive procurement, although the results of this RFI may be used to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP). WSDOT reserves the right to refrain from issuing an RFP or any other formal solicitation document for this product. This RFI is not a formal solicitation and no contract will be awarded as a result. 2.1 RFI Schedule Release RFI June 30, 2008 Vendor Questions Due by 5:00 PM July 17, 2008 Responses to Vendor Questions Due by 5:00 PM July 18, 2008 Vendor Submissions Due by 5:00 PM August 1, 2008 WSDOT reserves the right to revise the above timeline. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS 3.1. RFI Coordinator Vendor communications concerning this RFI should be directed to the RFI Coordinator listed below. RFI Coordinator Tami Grant Page 4 of 7

5 Physical Address Mailing Address Washington State Department of Transportation Administrative Services Contracts Office 719 Sleater Kinney Road SE Olympia, Washington Washington State Department of Transportation Administrative Services Contracts Office 719 Sleater Kinney Road SE PO Box Olympia, Washington Phone (360) Response Preparation Instructions Companies desiring to submit technology solutions should follow these guidelines: Provide a brief overview of your company and its capabilities. Describe your vehicle or roadside based toll collection technology in easily understandable terms avoiding unique terms for specific technology as much as possible. Include enough information so that a reasonably knowledgeable evaluator can understand your proposed solution. Identify any roadside (or other) infrastructure needed for deployment. Graphics, drawings and diagrams of proposed solutions are encouraged. Descriptive narrative corresponding to graphical images is desired. Describe how your proposed solution can address the tolling requirements in Washington State for cashless and non-stop tolling. All submissions must include descriptions of working technology applications from other projects. These do not have to be toll collection applications, but if examples are not toll collection, describe the particular applicability to toll collection. Submissions are limited to twenty pages. Graphics, drawings and diagrams are not included in the page total. Company and standard product information can be included as an attachment. Please limit this information to relevant information. If your application includes in-vehicle elements, please include a range of typical costs for these items. All replies must be received within thirty days of advertisement. Please provide responses in an electronic format such as Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word. This will assist in our review process. Page 5 of 7

6 Responses to this RFI should be submitted to the RFI Coordinator no later than 5:00 p.m. August 1, 2008, Pacific Time. Please do not cut and paste your responses into this RFI. Instead, provide your response as a separate document and include numbers referencing the RFI section to which you are responding. Only the one electronic copy need be submitted. Submittal of materials by CD-ROM is the preferred method of delivery. Alternatively, submittals can be made by . Please submit responses to the RFI Coordinator. The RFI Coordinator will an acknowledgement of receipt to the vendor Cost of Response Preparation Vendors will not be reimbursed for costs associated with preparing or presenting any response to this RFI Response Property of WSDOT All materials submitted in proposal to this RFI become the property of the WSDOT. WSDOT has the right to use any of the ideas presented in any proposal to the RFI. Selection or rejection of a proposal does not affect this right Public Records and Proprietary Information Any information contained in the response that is proprietary or confidential must be clearly designated. Marking of the entire submission as proprietary or confidential will be rejected as non-responsive. To the extent consistent with chapter RCW, the Public Disclosure Act, WSDOT shall maintain the confidentiality of Vendor s information marked confidential or proprietary. If a request is made to view Vendor s proprietary information, WSDOT will notify Vendor of the request and of the date that the records will be released to the requester unless Vendor obtains a court order enjoining that disclosure. If Vendor fails to obtain the court order enjoining disclosure, WSDOT will release the requested information on the date specified. WSDOT s sole responsibility shall be limited to maintaining the above data in a secure area and to notify Vendor of any request(s) for disclosure for so long as WSDOT retains Vendor s information in WSDOT records per state law. Failure to so label such materials or failure to timely respond after notice of request for public disclosure has been given shall be deemed a waiver by Vendor of any claim that such materials are exempt from disclosure Vendor Comments and Questions Vendors may submit comments and questions to the RFI Coordinator prior to responding to the RFI by the date indicated in the RFI schedule in Section 2.1. Responses to vendor questions will be considered addendums to the RFI. Modifications to the RFI that may result from Vendor comments will be sent to all Vendors. Where there appears to be a conflict between the RFI and any Page 6 of 7

7 amendment or addenda issued, the last amendment or addendum issued will prevail. 4. SYSTEM CRITERIA Proposed toll collection technologies should provide capabilities to discriminate vehicle identification and position in cashless and non-stop roadway applications. The technologies should allow for deployment over specific facilities or regional systems and allow flexibility to support different tolling schemes (for example, static toll rates or dynamic toll rates) across different facilities. The ability to differentiate customers on the basis of vehicle class or type is desirable. Functionality to discriminate customers based on the number of vehicle occupants is also of interest. Page 7 of 7