(RFI) # GPS/AVL

Transcription

1 Request for Information (RFI) # GPS/AVL System for Snow and Ice Trucks Ohio Department of Transportation Office of Maintenance Operations Issue Date: 7/28/2015 Respond By Date: 08/28/2015 at 11:00am Introduction This is a request for information (RFI), and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will take procurement action in this matter. This RFI is being used to gather information for ODOT to make decisions regarding the development, installation, operation and maintenance of a GPS/AVL System for Snow and Ice Trucks. This RFI is designed to provide Respondents with the information necessary for the preparation of an appropriate response. Each Respondent is responsible for determining all factors necessary for submission of a comprehensive response. Responses should be based on the material contained in this RFI or any other relevant information the Respondent thinks is appropriate. By submitting a response, each Respondent agrees that it will not bring any claim or have any cause of action against the ODOT, the State of Ohio, or any employee of ODOT or the State, based on any misunderstanding concerning the information provided or concerning the ODOT s failure, negligent or otherwise, to provide the Respondent with pertinent information as intended by this RFI. Information submitted in response to this RFI will become the property of the State of Ohio. The State of Ohio will not pay for any information herein requested nor is it liable for any cost incurred by the Respondent. Again, a response to this Request for Information does not constitute, nor guarantee, a contractual agreement between ODOT and the Respondent in any way. Background To effectively and efficiently address the needs for snow and ice removal on approximately 43,000 lane miles of highways, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has at its disposal over 1,600 plow trucks, 3,000 employees, and 650,000 tons of salt stored at 200 locations around the state. In total, snow and ice control can comprise 40-45% of the annual operating expense with approximately $70 million spent annually on labor, equipment, and materials. As a result, snow and ice control is typically ODOT s single largest cost item in the maintenance budget and requires efficient management and effective use of the resources needed to perform snow and ice removal. Beginning with the winter season, ODOT implemented a ten truck GPS/AVL resource management system pilot at Cuyahoga County s Independence Garage. Following this project, ODOT continued with a project in Madison County which ran from

2 2011 through With this project, ODOT desired to track truck location, status, material usage, and other attributes for Madison County s snow and ice removal vehicles. With these two projects, ODOT determined the advantages, disadvantages, and feasibility of using GPS/AVL as an enhanced method for the tracking and management of ODOT s snow and ice resources. The projects connected to the Pengwyn controller system, Roadwatch air/pavement temperature sensors and plow connection & position sensors. Continuing research efforts in 2012, ODOT initiated a research project with the University of Akron to quantify the benefits and costs of a statewide system, while also introducing still and video images from a dash/window mounted camera, Force America controllers and truck bed scales. Dr. William Schneider, the Principal Investigator (PI) with the University of Akron, had also developed a wire diagram and harnesses for the installing of sensors on the vehicles, determined how to connect to the Force American system and researched the best modem and antenna combination to purchase for the project. ODOT is extending and expanding the Akron research to seven counties. All of the snow plows in the seven counties will be equipped with GPS/AVL equipment for a total of approximately 170 vehicles for the upcoming CY 2015/2016 season. The purpose of extending project is to confirm outcomes of the research to date and further test the durability of the software, website, modems, wiring harnesses, cameras, antennas and cloud data management. Scope The Ohio Department of Transportation is seeking vendors who could implement a scalable Global Positioning System (GPS) Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) solution. The solution will support management of the state s snow and ice fleet and could accommodate future growth in the number of snow and ice trucks as well as in the number and type of other maintenance vehicles. More specifically, ODOT is seeking vendors or partnerships who could: Develop or provide a GPS/AVL software program that tracks the location of vehicles on a website, displays photos from onboard cameras, gathers and displays data from truck and spreader sensors, creates reports, and is expandable to meet future needs, Transmit telemetric information obtained by specialized sensors installed on a vehicle, for example, plow position, salt spreader usage, air/pavement

3 temperature sensors, and future data sensors such as engine diagnostic data and truck bed scales, Install hardware equipment, including modems, antennas, cameras and needed cables on approximately 800 snow and ice trucks, potentially expanding to snow and ice trucks, Maintain the equipment including the removal/reinstallation as trucks are removed from, and added to, the fleet, Maintain all hardware in good working order responding promptly to any hardware equipment failures, Provide a web or cloud based system accessible to users via a standard web browser from a computer with high-speed connectivity, Provide a mobile application, Combine the GPS/AVL system with our current weather forecast vendor (Schneider Electric) along with traffic speeds and RWIS station data, The system must present an easy-to-use interface that dynamically maps vehicle locations in real-time, allows users to pan and zoom the map at various levels of detail (such as statewide, county, municipal, street-by-street, and so on), displays vehicle information quickly and easily, and overlays local weather radar, All data must remain in the United States of America, Provide an FTP site that ODOT can connect to and transfer data collected to an ODOT maintained database, Provide search and reporting capabilities that provide tabular and interactive map-based reports (such as vehicle route replays), The ability to integrate other data sources and services into the system and share data with other ODOT systems, specifically ODOT s maintenance management software, AgileAssets), Connect to multiple hydraulic spreader controllers and models such as Pengwyn, Force America, Dickey John, Muncie, Certified Power, etc., The resulting equipment selected cannot cause interference issues with other truck components,

4 Utilize findings (for example: wiring diagrams, access codes, installation instruction etc.) generated from the University of Akron research as described in the back ground information, Device installation, repair, use and software training. RFI Questionnaire Each Respondent is asked to provide the following information: 1. Respondent Information Organization Point of Contact Address Telephone Number Address 2. Does this RFI contain information considered a trade secret? Yes / No 3. Describe any current solutions that meet the requirements. 4. Please indicate any functionality included in the solution which might be beneficial but was not mentioned in the above scope. 5. Describe your firm s experience implementing a GPS/AVL solution for public sector enterprises, specifically for snow and ice removal equipment. Include information on the number of vehicles, the public agency you worked with and a point of contact, and a listing of any non-snow and ice equipment installations. 6. Describe known limitations of the solution. 7. Describe your firm s experience in partnering with other companies to provide a total GPS/AVL solution including development, software, installation and maintenance of hardware, web-site hosting, report writing and data transfers. 8. Describe an example of your firm s pricing structure (not specific prices, instead a description of how products are priced, (e.g. one-time fee, individual vehicle fee, annual service fee, upgrade fees, maintenance fees, etc.). 9. Describe your firm s warranty for individual components and system. List years of successful operation and longevity of components. 10. Describe your firm s testing and verification process to ensure the equipment was installed correctly, to specification, and functions correctly.

5 11. Describe the maintenance and upkeep ODOT should expect with this solution also addressing the issue of obsolescence of individual parts, system components, software, and backward compatibility. 12. Describe the installation and maintenance process knowing ODOT would expect travel by the vendor to ODOT facilities statewide. 13. Describe the timeline associated with implementing this solution, primarily for an initial installation on approximately 800 vehicles by October 1, Describe your experience using the Motorola GX 440 and GX450 modem. 15. Is your company comfortable with using a plug and play system? 16. Please provide any additional comments relevant to this RFI, services or portions of services your firm provides for GPS/AVL solutions. Confidentiality All Respondents are strongly discouraged from including in a RFI any information that the Respondent considers to be a trade secret, as that term is defined in Section (D) of the Ohio Revised Code. All information submitted in response to this RFI is public information unless a statutory exception exists that exempts it from public release. If any information in the RFI is to be treated as a trade secret, the RFI must: Identify each and every occurrence of the information within the RFI with an asterisk before and after each line containing trade secret information and underline the trade secret information itself. Check the This RFI Does include information considered a trade secret box on the Respondent Information Page. Include a page immediately after the Respondent Information Page that lists each page in the RFI that includes trade secret information and the number of occurrences of trade secret information on that page. To determine what qualifies as trade secret information, refer to the definition of trade secret in the Ohio Revised Code, which is reproduced below for reference: (D) Trade Secret means information, including the whole or any portion or phase of any scientific or technical information, design, process, procedure, formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or improvement, or any business information or plans, financial information, or listing of names, addresses, or telephone numbers, that satisfies both of the following: (1) It derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper

6 means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. (2) It is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. RFI Procedure A webinar is scheduled for Thursday, August 13 at 1:00 PM (Eastern) which will cover the intent of the RFI and field questions from the Respondents. Electronic invitations will be sent to all interested parties who provide an address prior to August 13th. Interested parties should send an of interest to: [email protected] Final responses to this RFI (.pdf format) should be sent to the following address by August 28 th at 11:00am: [email protected]