4 MOBILITY PLUS SCHEDULING SOFTWARE CONTRACT AWARD

Transcription

1 4 MOBILITY PLUS SCHEDULING SOFTWARE CONTRACT AWARD The Transportation Services Committee recommends the adoption of the recommendations contained in the following report dated February 20, 2013, from the Commissioner of Transportation and Community Planning. 1. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that: 1. Council authorize the Commissioner of Transportation and Community Planning to enter into a contract with RouteMatch Software, Inc. for the supply and installation of new Mobility Plus scheduling software and associated interfaces at a total cost of $546,536 excluding taxes. 2. Council authorize payment of warranty and support costs to RouteMatch Software, Inc. in the amount of $74,000 annually, for a total cost of $212,000 for three years, excluding taxes. 3. The term of the contract be for a period of five years, commencing on the date of successful installation and system acceptance of the software. 4. The Commissioner of Transportation and Community Planning be authorized to execute the contract, subject to the approval of Legal Services as to form and content. 2. PURPOSE This report seeks Council authorization for the award of contract to RouteMatch Software, Inc. for the supply, installation and on-going warranty and support of the new Mobility Plus scheduling software and associated interfaces with the existing interactive voice response (IVR), web-based booking and cancellation, and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems. The contract award is in accordance with the Regional purchasing bylaw where RouteMatch Software, Inc. has the highest overall score and the lowest cost. Council approval is required because the total contract value exceeds $500,000.

2 3. BACKGROUND Mobility Plus is York Region s door-to-door specialized transit service for those who are unable to use accessible, conventional transit service for all or part of a trip On January 1, 2001, all municipally-operated transit systems within York Region were amalgamated into a single Regional system known as York Region Transit (YRT), and included specialized transit services for people with disabilities. One of the key objectives at that time was to effectively integrate the former specialized municipal services into a new Regional system, with the coordination of eligibility requirements, operations, and administration. Mobility Plus staff have been working on a service delivery structure that produces the optimal balance of service quality and cost per trip The majority of customers registered with Mobility Plus use the door-to-door transit service for their requested trips. It has become apparent, through the review of travel patterns and destinations, many of the trips can be delivered using a variety of YRT/Viva accessible services. YRT/Viva services are scheduled to travel along roadways at regular intervals. An optimal solution is to utilize those vehicles, where feasible, to provide all or a portion of a Mobility Plus trip, also known as Family of Services. In addition, it allows Mobility Plus the opportunity to schedule other trip requests, thereby providing more trips with the same allocated funds. The current Mobility Plus scheduling software is not able to meet the new requirements for Family of Services Presently, all Family of Services trips are scheduled manually by the Trip Reservationists using a combination of specialized scheduling software and the Trip Planner on the YRT website. YRT staff has been exploring an automated solution that will allow an interface between the specialized and conventional scheduling systems. This will give the Trip Reservationist several options to choose from when providing a trip to a Mobility Plus customer and optimizes the process. 4. ANALYSIS AND OPTIONS On November 15, 2012, York Region Transit (YRT/Viva) issued a request for proposal (RFP) for the supply and installation of Mobility Plus scheduling software and associated interfaces with the existing interactive voice response (IVR), web-based booking and cancellation and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and automatic vehicle location (AVL)

3 systems. The notice was advertised in Biddingo on the Internet ( and circulated to firms known to supply such software. All proposals were evaluated based on the proponent s compliance with the conditions described in the RFP The selection of the preferred proponent was based on a comprehensive evaluation of the proponent s compliance with the conditions described in the RFP and their experience on similar projects and technical capabilities. A three-step process, described below, was followed for the selection of the preferred proponent: Technical and management proposal (assigned 50 points out of 100) - Proponents who scored a minimum score of 60 per cent of the assigned points were invited for a technical demonstration. Technical demonstration (assigned 20 points out of 100) - Proponents who scored a minimum score of 60 per cent of the assigned points moved on to the financial stage of the RFP process. Financial proposal (assigned 30 points out of 100) - The lowest financial proposal was awarded 30 points and the other financial proposal was scored proportionately comparing it to the lowest proposal. A 70/30 split between technical and management/demonstration and financial proposal was chosen as the project included costs for software licenses and technical services for the implementation. The higher split for the financial proposal provides better value for the software product as against the 80/20 split which is typically used for consultant services. Eleven proponents purchased the RFP documents and four responses were received by December 13, 2012, the closing date. The proponents were required to submit their technical, management and financial proposals in separate envelopes. Financial proposals were opened only for the proponents who scored a minimum score of 60 per cent of the assigned points for their technical and management proposal and technical demonstration individually. The following proponents submitted proposals: Enghouse Transportation. Giro Inc. RouteMatch Software Inc. Trapeze Software Inc.

4 Technical and management proposals and the technical demonstrations were evaluated by an expert panel The proponents were requested to submit their technical and management proposals describing compliance with the functional requirements, technical qualifications, experience on other similar projects, as well as technical and financial capabilities. The technical and management proposals were evaluated by an expert panel consisting of Mobility Plus staff, Transit Management Systems staff, external consultants and the Region s Supplies and Services branch staff. The evaluation panel used pre-determined criteria such as compliance with the technical specifications and general requirements, experience and credentials of the firm and familiarity with business processes for paratransit and conventional fixed-route systems for the evaluation. Only two technical and management proposals scored more than 30 points (60 per cent of a total 50 assigned points), the minimum score required for moving to the technical demonstration stage. The technical demonstrations were evaluated by the same expert panel. The evaluation panel used pre-determined criteria such as readiness/availability of the software, vendor experience with similar systems and demonstrated understanding and compliance of project goals and requirements for the evaluation. The two proponents who had moved through the technical and management evaluation stage scored more than 12 points (60 per cent of total 20 assigned points) to move to the financial stage of the evaluation. Financial proposals were opened by the same expert panel that had scored the technical and management proposals and technical demonstration A predetermined score weighted at 30 points (out of 100) was used for the evaluation of the financial proposals. The lowest financial proposal was awarded 30 points and the other financial proposal was scored proportionately comparing it to the lowest proposal. Table 1 below provides a brief summary of the results of the technical and management, technical demonstration and financial evaluations:

5 Proponent Technical and Management Proposal (out of 50) Table 1 Proposal Evaluation Results Technical Demonstration (out of 20) Financial Proposal Cost Financial Proposal (Out of 30) Total (Out of 100) Relative Standing RouteMatch Software Inc $546, Trapeze Software Inc $864, Enghouse Transportation Giro Inc Proponent s technical and management proposal did not score a minimum of 30 points (60 per cent of the 50 points assigned) and were not invited for technical demonstration. Based on the highest overall score and the lowest cost, RouteMatch Software Inc. is the recommended proponent. RouteMatch Software Inc. is very reputable firm providing solutions for the paratransit industry. They have more than 600 customers in North America and Australia. New Mobility Plus scheduling software will bring significant benefits to York Region and Mobility Plus customers It is expected that the new scheduling software will provide the following benefits: Reduced operating costs associated with the Mobility Plus service. Maximized utilization of fixed-route conventional fleet, when possible. Maximized productivity of vehicle operators. Minimized time and distance spent on driving for each vehicle while still meeting schedule and time windows of customers. More options for the Family of Services trips, including real-time scheduling. Additional capacity and efficiency in the call centre as trip reservationists will take less time to book Family of Services trips. Customers will spend less time on the phone. Minimized errors in booking a Family of Services trip because of the automated process. Streamlined data management, analysis and reporting on Family of Services trips as the data will be stored in one system. Automated certification process for customer eligibility to Mobility Plus service. Streamlined driver management as the software will keep track of certifications, licensing, etc.

6 Link to key Council approved plans Vision 2051 includes a goal statement relating to the development of infrastructure for a growing Region, which states that: "A new approach to managing services is required, including water conservation, waste reduction, transportation demand management and reduction in energy use. This program supports that statement by: Building an innovative and reliable specialized transit service. Continuing to expand on the number of opportunities to utilize YRT s Family of Services. Reducing the carbon footprint by reducing the duplication of trips. One of the strategic objectives in the Strategic Plan From Vision to Results, is to foster social inclusion by addressing the needs of a growing and diverse community. The Family of Services program encourages inclusion, self-sufficiency and removes barriers that may exist. 5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The cost for the supply and installation of new Mobility Plus scheduling software and associated interfaces is $546,536 (taxes exclusive). Sufficient capital funding is contained in the 2013 and 2014 Business Plans and Budgets to complete the supply and installation of new software. The annual on-going warranty and support costs will be $74,000 for the next three years after the expiry of the initial two-year warranty period. Sufficient operating funding will be included in 2015 to 2017 Business Plans and Budgets to cover the on-going warranty and support costs. There will be no net increase in operating costs as the payment for warranty and support costs for the new software is equivalent to the current scheduling software. The warranty and support is required to continue receiving software bug fixes and upgrades to existing software, problem resolution, and 24/7 technical support as required should issues arise. The successful proponent also proposes interfaces with the current interactive voice response (IVR), web-based booking and cancellation and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems; as such, there will be no additional impact to the operating costs for those components. Capital cost for creating the interfaces is included in the proponent s base proposal. During 2012, approximately 3,300 Family of Service trips used YRT/Viva for a portion of their trip. This is equivalent to a savings of $129,000, the cost of 47,940 kilometers on

7 a Mobility Plus vehicle at the rate of $2.69 per kilometer. It is anticipated that the number of trips using Family of Service program will significantly increase using the automated scheduling software. It is estimated that the cost of investment into the new scheduling software will be recovered within a two- to three-year period because of the efficient scheduling and cost savings for the Family of Services trips. 6. LOCAL MUNICIPAL IMPACT The Family of Services program allows the disabled community in each of the municipalities more spontaneous travel options and reduces the passenger s dependence on pre-reserved services. It also allows vehicles to be available for those who are not able to use the conventional service for part of their requested trip. 7. CONCLUSION It is recommended that the contract for the supply and installation of new Mobility Plus scheduling software and associated interfaces be awarded to RouteMatch Software, Inc. at a total cost of $546,536 excluding taxes. It is also recommended that payment of warranty and support costs to RouteMatch Software, Inc. in the amount of $74,000 annually, for a total cost of $212,000 for three years, excluding taxes, after the expiry of the initial two-year period be approved. For more information on this report, please contact Rajeev Roy, Manager, Transit Management Systems at Ext or Sharon Doyle, Manager, Mobility Plus at Ext The Senior Management Group has reviewed this report.