2021200034_A1_Electric Scooter Share Services_RFI.pdf

Request for Information

Electric Scooter Share Services

Solicitation Number RFI 2021200034

Due Date and Time:

Friday, August 13, 2021

3:00 PM PDT

CITY OF EUGENE

Central Services Finance Division/Purchasing Telephone: (541) 682-5055

The Purchasing office is currently closed to the public.

I. INVITATION TO SUBMIT INFORMATION

INVITATION TO SUBMIT INFORMATION

Solicitation Number RFI 2021200034

Notice to Suppliers Letters of Interest, including high-level price range information for Electric Scooter Share Services will be accepted by the Purchasing Office until Friday, August 13, 2021 at 3:00 PM. This Request for Information (RFI) is for informational purposes only and will not directly result in a contract award.

Project Description The City of Eugene is requesting Letters of Interest from companies that operate shared-use electric scooter fleets. The City wishes to compile information about available services and establish a budget and a list of suppliers who may wish to submit proposals for a possible future Request for Proposals

(RFP).

Upon review of the Letters of Interest, the City may issue a subsequent solicitation with the intent to issue a Shared Micromobility Device License for the subject services.

Solicitation Documents Solicitation documents may be examined electronically by logging in to OregonBuys.

To view City of Eugene solicitations:

Scroll to Supplier Activities Click the Open Bids icon Click the Advanced Search button Click Select Organization Select City of Eugene Click Search Click the Bid Solicitation # to view solicitation details and documents

A copy of the Solicitation may be also be obtained by email request to the Purchasing Analyst shown below.

Offerors shall submit an electronic response, including Letter of Interest and accompanying information, in a single PDF file by email to the Purchasing Analyst referenced below.

Letters of Interest with all accompanying information shall be submitted before the due date and time specified in the Request for Information.

Dated: July 13, 2021

Noel Dietz, NIGP-CPP, CPPB Purchasing Analyst City of Eugene NDietz@eugene-or.gov

II. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

1. Fill out and return the attached Standard Request for Information Form with Offeror Letter of Interest. The City will use this information to contact Offerors about future solicitation requests.

Include Offeror responses to the questions outlined in Section III. Background and Questionnaire in Offeror’s Letter of Interest.

2. Offerors shall submit an electronic response, including Letter of Interest and accompanying information, by emailing the City’s Purchasing Analyst.

Letters of Interest with all accompanying information shall be submitted before the due date and time specified in the RFI. Offeror shall bear all risks associated with delays in email or file sharing services.

3. Letters of Interest may be withdrawn by written notification on company letterhead signed by an authorized person and received prior to the deadline for submitting Letters of Interest.

4. This RFI does not commit the City to pay any costs incurred by any Offeror in the submission of Letters of Interest.

5. This RFI and one copy of each Letter of Interest received in response to it, shall be kept by the City of Eugene Purchasing Office and made a part of a file or record which shall be open to public inspection, excepting any information that is considered trade secret under ORS 192.501(2), each sheet of such information must be marked with the following legend:

“This data constitutes a trade secret under ORS 192.501(2), and shall not be disclosed except in accordance with the Oregon Public Records Law, ORS 192.”

The Oregon Public Records Law exempts from disclosure only bona fide trade secrets, and the exemption from disclosure applies only "unless the public interest requires disclosure in the particular instance." ORS 192.501(2). Therefore, non-disclosure of documents or any portion of a document submitted as part of a letter of interest may depend upon official or judicial determinations made pursuant to the Public Records Law.

6. Questions or clarification requests shall be submitted by email to the City’s Purchasing Analyst no later than 2:00 PM PDT on Friday, July 30, 2021. Contents of questions and clarifications should include a reference to the page or item being addressed, the reason and any proposed alterations.

The City may limit the number of responses it provides in response to Offerors’ questions.

Therefore the City asks Offerors to prioritize questions asked. Do not include questions with the response to the RFI.

7. Statements by City staff or its representatives are not binding on City, unless confirmed by written addendum. Addenda will issue and Offerors shall receive Addenda as follows: City will not mail notice of Addenda but will publish notice of any Addenda on the ORPIN site. Addenda may be downloaded from ORPIN. Interested Offerors should frequently check ORPIN until closing.

III. BACKGROUND AND QUESTIONNAIRE

Background On July 13, 2020, the Eugene City Council adopted Ordinance No. 20634 which (1) allows companies that operate shared micromobility devices to obtain business licenses and (2) authorizes a one-year shared micromobility pilot program. The focus of the pilot program is to offer electric scooter-share services to the Eugene community.

The City of Eugene (herein referred to as “the City”) is interested in inviting electric scooter-share operations within the City because it understands that e-scooters present an opportunity for the City to achieve its stated goals of (a) tripling the percentage of trips completed that do not involve the use of an automobile, and (b) reducing community-wide fossil fuel consumption to half that of 2010 numbers by 2030. At the same time, the City wishes to implement an electric scooter-share system that is safe, sustainable, and equitable. These goals are supported by the City’s Climate Recovery Ordinance, Vision Zero Action Plan, and policies in both the City’s 20-year long range land use (Envision Eugene) and transportation plan (Eugene 2035 Transportation System Plan).

Several factors identify electric scooter-share as an ideal transportation option for Eugene, including Eugene’s climate, close proximity of destinations to Eugene’s downtown, and potential for integration with transit, especially the region’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, EmX. Additionally, Eugene is one of Oregon’s three largest cities, with a population of more than 171,000 people. It is home to three schools of higher education – the University of Oregon (UO), Lane Community College (LCC), and Bushnell University– and has a robust network of bicycle infrastructure available to scooter users.

Project Description In order to ensure that the City issues licenses to the scooter-share operator(s) that best align with its goals and values, the City is releasing this Request for Information (RFI) to qualified electric scooter-share operators that are interested in offering their services in the City of Eugene during a one-year pilot program. No more than two operators will be selected to participate during the pilot period.

Operators will own, operate, and maintain all shared-use electric scooters in their fleets. Upon completion of the pilot program, the City may, at its own discretion:

a. Discontinue the electric scooter-share program;

b. Renew the existing Shared Micromobility Device License for one (1) year with the option to renew again at completion of that year;

c. Not renew the issued business license and initiate a new RFI to select one or more new operators;

d. Revise the Shared Micromobility Mobility Rule based on the City’s learnings from the pilot program;

e. Other direction at the City’s sole discretion.

The electric scooter-share pilot program is being planned to launch in the Spring or Fall of 2021 with a minimum of 300 and maximum of 600 shared-use electric scooters (herein referred to as “scooters”) per day. The specific coverage area, including designated pick up and drop off locations (staging areas), slow- or no-ride zones, and no parking zones, will be defined in collaboration with City staff.

Service provided by the selected operator(s) must be safe, sustainable, and equitable. The selected operator(s) will be required to share both real-time and archived data with both the City and a City-designated third-party for both research and compliance auditing. The selected operator(s) will be required to adhere to local, state, and federal codes and traffic laws relating to electric scooters and shared micromobility devices.

Throughout the pilot program period the City will assess the level of success of the electric scooter-share pilot program based on utilization statistics, regulatory compliance, and evaluation criteria relating to the categories of safety, sustainability, and equity. At the end of the pilot period these same criteria will determine the potential action taken by the City to either continue or discontinue offering shared-use electric scooter services.

Questionnaire

1. Equipment. Please provide a detailed description of your company’s scooters, including design specifications for standard scooter components. This should include for each component the expected lifespan measured in both distance and time, the material composition, and manufacturing origin. This should include, but not be limited to:

a. Handlebars

b. Deck

c. Wheels

d. Brakes

e. Suspension

f. Lights

g. Motor

h. Battery

If your company provides seated scooter models, or any additional adaptive scooter models, please indicate this and provide details for those models as well.

2. System Design and Distribution.

a. The City’s suggested initial number of total scooters is between 300 and 600. Please comment on the feasibility of providing services based on this number, and, if not recommended, propose a new quantity and explain the reasons.

b. If you provided information regarding seated or other adaptive scooter models in response to Question 1: Based on information provided in response to Question 2a, please state what percentage of the total scooter fleet should be seated or otherwise adaptive, and explain your reasoning.

c. Please describe your company’s approach to (1) a phased fleet deployment, and (2) upgrading fleet scooters as technology advances.

d. Describe your company’s use of geofencing, or equivalent technology, to establish staging areas, slow zones, no-ride and no-parking zones, and designated parking areas. Please include the reaction time and margin of error for geofencing or equivalent technology.

e. Please indicate and describe your company’s capability to integrate with public transit.

3. Operations and Maintenance.

a. Does your company use W-2 employees or contract workers (also known as “gig workers”) to recharge, redistribute, and maintain scooters?

b. Please describe standard fleet maintenance protocols used by your company for scooters, including timelines for the removal and replacement of inoperable devices.

c. The City prefers that scooters be available and operable 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Describe how your company (1) recharges and (2) redistributes scooters in cities with 24/7 scooter operations. Please include details such as frequency of charging and redistribution and types of vehicles used to transport scooters for charging and redistribution purposes.

d. Within the past year the City has experienced multiple emergencies, including coronavirus and wildfires. Eugene will also be hosting the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Please describe system capability to handle large events, and how your company intersects and works with cities to respond to large events and emergencies.

4. Safety. Please describe methods and tools that your company uses to:

a. Promote and ensure compliance with helmet requirements;

b. Mitigate intoxicated riding;

c. Communicate safe riding techniques; and

d. Communicate safe parking practices, not just for the scooter rider but for all users of the transportation system.

5. Communications and Customer Service.

a. Please describe the methods and tools that your company uses for one-way and two-way communications with scooter users. Examples include in-app messaging, websites, and on-demand customer service. Please indicate the type of content shared through each method/tool.

b. Please describe any visible language communicated on your company’s scooters, including details about size, color, and font. Include a visual rendering.

6. Community Engagement.

a. Please describe the methods and tools your company uses to engage with both users and non-users of scooter-share, including programmatic events.

b. If your company conducts scooter riding training events, please indicate that and describe the form, frequency and content of such events.

c. Please describe examples of scooter-share launch events you have planned and/or partnered on.

d. What is your experience conducting mid- and/or post-pilot evaluation studies?

7. Equity.

a. Please describe your ability for translation services. This should include electronic and print materials, customer service, and community engagement events.

b. How does your company enable access to its service for people who do not have access to a computer or a smartphone?

c. How does your company enable access to its service for people who are unbanked?

d. Please describe up to three (3) examples of low-income plans you have in other cities.

What type of strategies do you employ to spread knowledge of these programs and facilitate user signup for them?

8. Sustainability.

a. The City is seeking an operator that is sustainable and environmentally friendly. Please describe your company’s ability to conduct operations and maintenance without the use of fossil-fuel consuming vehicles.

b. How does your company recycle, reuse, or otherwise sustainably dispose of shared-use electric scooters once they are no longer fit for operation?

c. Indicate and describe any additional practices your company employs to be sustainable.

9. Open Data and Reporting.

a. Please describe any agreements or partnerships your company has with third-party researchers or contractors. Indicate your willingness to share data with a city-designated third-party researcher or contractor.

b. Please indicate your willingness to share data under both the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) and the Mobility Data Specification (MDS) formats.

c. Please indicate if your company shares data with one or more third-parties other than those identified and selected by a client municipal organization. For example, does your company sell user information to marketing firms?

d. Has your company ever experienced a data breach? If yes, please describe what measures your company undertook to prevent future breaches.

e. Operators will be required to provide accurate monthly reports to the City describing system use, reported complaints, user-involved collision and injuries, customer service responses, system maintenance, education and outreach efforts, low-income fare usage, and penalties issues to Users. Please provide a reporting sample.

10. Supplemental.

a. How might being the sole operator, versus one of two or three, affect your service offerings?

b. The City is invested in its bikeshare program, PeaceHealth Rides. How might your company’s operations complement bikeshare operations in Eugene?

c. Are you willing and/or able to make available your company’s scooter model(s) for City staff to test?

IV. SUBMITTALS

Please submit the following items with your response to this request:

1. Standard RFI Form – Complete and sign the City of Eugene Standard RFI Form attached to the RFI as Section V. This information will be used to contact you if the City elects to issue a future solicitation for these services.

2. Responses to Section III. Questionnaire. Graphics and visuals to illustrate points are encouraged.

3. A visual rendering of language communicated on the scooter body as requested in Question 5b.

4. A reporting sample as requested in Question 9e.

5. Supplemental Information – Include any additional information that you feel may be useful to the City in learning more about the services you provide.

After reviewing the Letters of Interest submitted in response to this RFI the City may, in its sole discretion, invite selected Offeror(s) to discuss their services.

V. STANDARD REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FORM

Solicitation Number 2021200034

Due Date and Time: August 13, 2021 at 3:00 PM

I, the undersigned, and authorized representative of ________________________________ (Firm Name) which is a sole proprietor __________, partnership __________, or corporation __________ have read and thoroughly understand the specifications, the RFI instructions, and all other conditions of the Request for Information solicitation as well as all addenda issued for this solicitation by the City of Eugene for tax collection software and agree that the information submitted is accurate and correct.

Name: Title:

Signature: Date:

Company Name:

Tax ID Number (TIN): ___________________________________________________________

Address:

Phone: Fax:

E-mail Address: ________________________________________________________________

Company contact for this project (if different from above):

Name: Title: ______

Phone: E-mail:__________________________________