The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Highway Division
Request for Response (RFR)
Document Title: Statewide Real Time Traffic Management (RTTM) System Application, Development Requirements
Document Number: 201407 RTTM
August 4, 2014
Table of Contents
1RFR Introduction and General Description
1.1Procurement Scope and Description
1.2Background Information
1.3Adding Contractors after Initial Contract Award
1.4Acquisition Method(s)
1.5Performance and Payment Time Frames Which Continue Beyond Duration of the Contract
1.6Contract Duration
1.7Estimated Value of the Contract
2Estimated Procurement Calendar
2.1Physical Bidders’ Conference (in person)
3Specifications
3.1Bidder Qualifications
3.2Statement of Work (SOW) Requirements for RTTM System
3.3Project Schedule
3.4Executive Order 515, Establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy
3.5Compensation Structure/Pricing
4OTHER TERMS
5EVALUATION CRITERIA
6HOW TO SUBMIT A PAPER BID RESPONSE
6.1Environmental Response Submission Compliance
Appendix A: Requirement Traceability Matrix
Appendix B: Data Center Requirements
Appendix C: Construction Contractor and Operator Responsibility Matrix
Appendix D: Standard Operating Procedures
Appendix E: Sample Test Plan
Appendix F: Proposed and Existing Locations
Appendix G: Required Terms for ALL RFRS
1General Procurement Information
2Terms and Requirements Pertaining to Awarded Contracts
2.1Commonwealth Tax Exemption
2.2Contractor’s Contact Information
2.3Contractual Status of Orders and Service Contracts
2.4Publicity
2.5RFR - Required Specifications
APPENDIX H: Instructions for Execution and Submission of MassDOT Standard Forms
1Forms located on the Solicitation’s Forms & Terms tab
1.1MassDOT’s Standard Contract Form
1.2MassDOT Terms and Conditions
1.3Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form)
1.4Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing
2Forms located on the Solicitation’s Specifications tab
Appendix I: Glossary
Table of ContentsPage 1
1RFR Introduction and General Description
1.1Procurement Scope and Description
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is soliciting Bidders for the acquisition of software solutions for the development, integration, operation and maintenance of all necessary components to deploy a Real-Time Traffic Management (RTTM) system as described in this Request for Response (RFR)
This RFR requires the development and integration of all software necessary to provide a Real Time Traffic Management System (RTTM) for MassDOT, including the operation and maintenance of the completed RTTM system, including both software and hardware, after system acceptance. The terms Bidder, and System Integrator and System Operator are used interchangeably throughout the document. The procurement and installation of the field equipment (Bluetooth readers, sign displays, solar power and cellular communications) are not part of this RFR. This work is the responsibility of the “Construction Contractor or Contractor”. However, to allow for testing and implementation, the schedule for the installation of all RTTM field equipment must coincide with the completion of the RTTM software. As such, the System Operator’s software applications shall support the Contractor during installation, testing and operations.
1.2Background Information
Based on the success ofMassDOT’s July, 4th2012 operational test to display travel time messages on portable variable message signs along the I-90, I-93 and Route 3 corridors, MassDOT has recently expanded the system to Cape Cod with the new sign standard. Eventually the RTTMS will be expanded to major highways throughout the Commonwealth. The purpose of the RTTM system is to calculate and display continuously updated travel times on major Interstate and State highways between key interchanges or decision points. The travel time messages will inform drivers of the distance and number of minutes it will likely take to travel from the message sign they are reading to destinations 5 to 10 miles further down the highway, by calculating the current travel time to the destination. Additionally, travel times for all measured roadway segments shall be provided and formatted for viewing on the public MassDOT website.
The sign shown in Figure 1 is the statewide standard for displaying times along the highway. It is a static sign that has an LED insert that will display the travel times for up to three pre-determined destinations. The travel time signwill replace the variable message boards (Figure 2) that are currently used on I-93, I-90 and Route 3.
Figure 1: Travel Time SignFigure 2: Temporary Travel Time Sign
The Statewide RTTM system consists of two distinct work efforts: the low bid construction and warranty of all field devices and the best value procurement of a System Operator. The System Operator provides an integrated software solution that calculates travel time from the field sensors and updates the travel time signs every minute. The System Operator also operates and maintains the completed RTTM as a live system for the duration of the contract – with the exception of the one year contractor equipment maintenance period. As such, these two entities shall work together cooperatively during acceptance testing of the field equipment components and also during the one year maintenance of the field equipment as a live system until taken over completely by the System Operator.
This work involves the construction and installation of the Statewide Real Time Traffic Management (RTTM) System consisting of one hundred and thirty-seven (137) separate, permanent, ground-mounted Travel Time Signs collocated with Bluetooth Readers and one hundred and thirty-one (131) standalone, permanent Bluetooth Readers. To fill in gaps of coverage during construction, additional standalone Bluetooth sites may also be installed and will also be the responsibility of the System Operator. Additionally, the existing Cape Cod RTTM system will be included as part of this contract. The Cape Cod RTTM consists of 9 Travel Time Signs with collocated Bluetooth readers and 11 standalone Bluetooth readers.
The data generated from the system will be utilized by MassDOT for displaying a real time map of travel speeds on their webpage and at the Highway Operations Center (HOC) located in South Boston. Additionally, the RTTM will simultaneously provide real time datavia an XML feed, This data is currently provided through the MassDOT developer’s webpage at : The XML data feed is provided free of charge to developers to help spur innovative smart phone applications for the benefit of the traveling public.
The proposed Statewide RTTM XML feed to developers shall be provided through a hosted, managed service. As part of this service, the bidder shall submit a recommended XML schema that best meets the needs of MassDOT and the developer community as part of the RFR. This XML data feed and data will be provided free of charge to developers to help spur innovative smart phone applications for the benefit of the traveling public.
The Travel Time Concept of Operations and Construction Contract No 607422 are available on request.
1.3Adding Contractors after Initial Contract Award
If, over the life of the Contract, the Procurement Management Team (PMT) determines that additional Contractors should be added, additional Contractors may first be drawn from the list of companies which responded to this Solicitation and were considered qualified, but were not awarded contracts. If necessary to meet the requirements of MassDOT, MassDOT may reopen the Solicitation to obtain additional bids.
1.4Acquisition Method(s)
The acquisition method(s) to acquire goods and/or services from this Solicitation is Fee for Service.
1.5Performance and Payment Time Frames Which Continue Beyond Duration of the Contract
All term leases, rentals, maintenance or other agreements for services entered into during the duration of this contract and whose performance and payment time frames extend beyond the duration of this contract shall remain in effect for performance and payment purposes (limited to the time frame and services established per each written agreement). No new leases, rentals, maintenance or other agreements for services may be executed after the contract has expired. Any contract termination or suspension pursuant to this section shall not automatically terminate any leases, rentals, maintenance or other agreements for services already in place unless the department also terminates said leases, rentals, maintenance or other agreements for service, which were executed pursuant to the main contract.
1.6Contract Duration
The term of this Contract is forty-five (45) months, which includes three months for initial software development sufficient to operate the existing Cape Cod RTTM (9 signs, 21 devices) effective January 1, 2015, and an additional three months for full system development (i.e. dashboard, data warehouse). At that time it is anticipated that the operation of the existing I-93 corridor (20 signs) will commence on March 1st, 2015. As each RTTM corridor is completed by the Construction Contractor the system will become operational. It is anticipated that all corridors will be completed by the Construction Contractor by July of 2015. After system acceptance of all field equipment by MassDOT the Construction Contractor will warrant and maintain the RTTM (excluding Cape Cod) for one year. After this period the System Operator will be responsible for complete maintenance of the Statewide RTTM for 24 months.
In addition to operating the Cape Cod System, beginning January 1, 2015, the System Operator will be responsible for maintaining the field equipment beginning April 1, 2015. This is when the current maintenance contract expires. The maintenance requirements of the Cape Cod system will be same requirements as specified for the maintenance of the entire statewide system beginning in July of 2016. The Maintenance of the Cape Cod system will be for a term of 16 months and these sites will be rolled into the statewide maintenance beginning in July 2016.
This Contract has two (2) options to renew for a period of up to two (2) years each with a maximum Contract term of seven (7.0) years (including the initial term and all possible renewal options).
This contract is closely coordinated with the field installation Contractor contract which is scheduled to have a NTP on or about August 20, 2014. The Construction Contractor will have 317 days to complete installation and System acceptance. See Figure 3 below and Section 3.3 for details.
Figure 3
1.7Estimated Value of the Contract
Estimated Value (US$1.8M)
MassDOT makes no guarantee that any commodities or services will be purchased from any Contract resulting from this Solicitation. Any estimates or past procurement volumes referenced in this Solicitation are included only for the convenience of Bidders, and are not to be relied upon as any indication of future purchase levels.
2Estimated Procurement Calendar
EVENT / DATESolicitation: Release Date / August 4, 2014.
Physical Bidders’ Conference / August 14, 2014, 2:00 to 3:00 PM
State Transportation Building, Second Floor Conference Room 5 and 6,
Forum: Deadline for submission of written questions / August 18,2014 3:00 PM
Forum: Official answers published on COMMBUYS / August 20 ,2014
Solicitation: Close Date / Submission Deadline / August 28, 2014 3:00 PM Delivered to Project Manager
Solicitation: Announcement of Selection / September 9,2014
Contract: Estimated Contract Start Date / September 24, 2014
All times listed above is Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as applicable.If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Calendar and the dates on the Solicitation’s Summary tab or Forum pages, the dates on the Solicitation’s Summary tab or Forum pages on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Any changes in the Estimated Procurement Calendar which are made after the RFR has been published will not result in amendments to the Estimated Procurement Calendar. Such changes will appear only on the Solicitation’s Summary tab and/or related Forum pages on COMMBUYS. Bidders are responsible for checking the Solicitation’s Summary tab and related Forum pages on COMMBUYS for Procurement Calendar updatesStart Date
2.1Physical Bidders’ Conference (in person)
The Bidders’ Conference is the physical conference conducted by the PMT for the purpose of informing prospective Bidders about general Solicitation information and answering questions from prospective Bidders. Attendance is optional. Please refer to the COMMBUYS website ( for any updated information, including the location, time and confirmation of the Bidders’ Conference.
3Specifications
Additional required terms appear in the Appendices to this RFR.
3.1Bidder Qualifications
3.1.1Company Experience (within the last three years)
The Bidder must provide details of company experience with the following:
- Specifying, implementing, operating and maintaining high volume transactional systems using open source technology;
- Using web services as the data exchange and XML as the data exchange (API) mechanism;
- Designing and developing software and hardware computing architectures and solutions managing rapid (real time) and scalable dissemination of transactional data, combined with archiving the same historical transactional data;
- Developing, deploying, and refining Travel Time Algorithms utilized for calculating vehicle roadway travel times and displaying that information to the motorist.
- Experience with supporting third party developers for testing and establishing the successful integration of data;
- Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) based systems and the systems engineering process;
- Writing communications interface for secure wireless communication devicedrivers and error correction and recovery interface;
- Designing and conducting knowledge transfer strategies between private business and State government.
3.1.2Financial Stability Including Bankruptcy, Litigation and Contract Defaults
The Bidder must provide:
- Most current audited annual financial statements.
- Gross annual revenue for most recently completed fiscal year.
- Last bankruptcy and current/pending litigation.
- Defaults on contracts or legal debarments.
3.1.3Referencesand Reference Information And/or Requirements
The Bidder must provide:
- Relevant project experience from System Operator and proposed third party applications.
- State government customers of similar size and whose projects are or were of similar scope.
3.1.4Employee Requirements
The Bidder must provide:
- Employee technical/business experience, certifications, licenses’.
- Availability to work on this project.
.
- Resumes of key personnel.
3.1.5Technical Support
The System Operator shall be responsible for the Applications and associated hardware and network components for the continuous operation of the RTTM for 45 months – beginning from approximately January 1, 2015 until July 8, 2018. In addition, the System Operator will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of all field equipment for twenty-four (24) months, after the one (1) year construction contractor warranty and maintenance period has expired. System turnover of the field equipment is expected after July 8, 2016. However, the contractor is shall procure a three (3) year warranty beginning from System Acceptance on field equipment replacement parts in order to ensure continuity of operation and maintenance between the Construction Contractor and the System Operator. This schedule is illustrated in Figure 3.
The System Operatorshall provide Technical Support and shall be available 24x7x365 with a maximum response time not to exceedfour (4) hours for on-site problem resolution or the initiation of corrective action, beginning when the System Operator is notified by MassDOT personnel. When outages are detected, the host software shallsend system alerts to designated MassDOT personnel via email.
The System Operator shall supply atechnical support telephone number and contact person(s). The telephone number and the name(s) of contact person(s) shall be provided to HOC managementfor reporting problems and receiving status on equipment repairs and anticipated downtime. MassDOT shall not be responsible for tracking an on–call list.
Maintenance Support
Maintenance work shall include all parts and labor to support and maintain operations of all field systems including,hardware, and software and device firmware. The following maintenance activities shall be performed during the maintenance period:
- Provide manufacturer recommended preventive maintenance to insure continued operation of all equipment.
- Perform periodic tests to determine that all equipment and software elements are performing correctly.
- Perform corrective maintenance to replace worn or defective components, replace malfunctioning equipment modules and resetting or reprogramming defective system controllers and computers.
- Address all equipment failures and malfunctions and as a minimum, shall include the following services:
- Respond to email notifications from the trouble system.
- Maintenance/Service personnel shall be on-site with 4 hours of email notification time/date stamp. (If problem is determined to be resolved via remote connection to any device within 4 hours shall be acceptable). If problem is not resolved by remote communications a visit to the respective location will be required with 8 hours of the initial notification.
- Equipment shall be replaced on site from spare parts inventory. Failed equipment shall be returned to manufacturer for repair under warranty and placed back into spare part inventory at no cost to MassDOT. In the event failure is not a warranty item (i.e. vandalism, damage by another party) a new item shall be purchased upon MassDOT approval and invoiced to MassDOT at a pre-approved, negotiated price.
- All services calls and preventative maintenance actions shall be logged via an online system to track all warranty maintenance service activities including but not limited to: time, date, location, action, device, description of problem, remedy, estimated time of outage and any other related information. This system shall be an online hosted, browser based trouble ticket system. The trouble ticket system shall have the capability to run reports daily, monthly, yearly, based on any and all items within the system database. There shall be no limit to the amount of storage within the hosted system. All data within the system shall be turned over to MassDOT upon completion of the project.
- Provide routine preventative maintenance, as per manufacturers recommended maintenance procedures, on all equipment provided under this contract.
- Responsible for device restart in the event of failure, device firmware upgrades, device performance adjustment and tuning (i.e. radio signal strength).
- Provide preventive maintenance on all field equipment. This would include a minimum twice yearly physical inspection of all roadside equipment for damage and to confirm that each solar power panel array is securely attached to its support post. The Battery Box and batteries shall be inspected for damage, corrosion and any other anomalies that require repair and maintenance.
- Shall respond to Travel Time Application automated faults via email.
- Shall log all maintenance activities via online log and reporting system.
3.1.6Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
As part of their cost proposal, the System Operator shall provide an estimated up time or system availability guarantee of 99.9%,including full system redundancy to ensure the availability requirement.