Request for Proposals

#26-06

Advertising Consulting Services

For The

Monterey-Salinas Transit District

RFP #26-06 SCHEDULE

Issue Date: Monday, April 20, 2026

Question Submission Deadline: Monday, May 4, 2026 by 12:00 PM

Deadline to Submit Proposals: Monday, June 1, 2026 by 2:00 PM

Monterey-Salinas Transit

19 Upper Ragsdale Drive, Suite 200

Monterey, CA 93940

Request for Proposals For

Advertising Consulting Services for the

Monterey-Salinas Transit District

Monterey-Salinas Transit District (MST) invites qualified firms/individuals to submit a proposal detailing qualifications and costs for providing advertising consulting services. The firm/individual selected will perform advertising consulting services on behalf of MST as detailed in the Scope of Work herein.

The consultant selected will enter into a contract with MST effective on November 1, 2026, and shall remain in effect for a period of three (3) years. MST shall have the option to extend the contract for two (2) additional one (1) year option terms.

Proposals must be received by MST NO LATER THAN 2:00 PM, Pacific Time on

Monday, June 1, 2026. Any submissions received past this deadline will be considered non-responsive and will not be accepted. Proposals must be submitted through Monterey-

Salinas Transit’s Bonfire eProcurement portal. If you are not already registered, please do so at www.mst.org/procurement and select “Become a Vendor.”

If you have any questions regarding this solicitation, please submit them via MST’s Bonfire Portal no later than 12:00 PM on Monday, May 4, 2026. An addendum to this RFP will be issued answering any questions received by the deadline.

It is the responsibility of the proposing firms to check MST's eProcurement Portal for any addenda that may be issued relative to this solicitation. Proposers that accessed any of the solicitation documents for this solicitation will be notified of the issuance of any addenda.

In order to allow for an adequate evaluation, MST requires an offer in response to this solicitation to be valid and irrevocable for one hundred and twenty (120) days after the proposal due date and time. All proposers will be notified of contract award, if award is made.

If you have any questions related to the procurement process, please contact:

Monterey-Salinas Transit

19 Upper Ragsdale Drive, Suite 200

Monterey, CA 93940

Attention: Steven Bruno, Purchasing Agent

Phone: 831-264-5884

Email: sbruno@mst.org http://www.mst.org/procurement mailto:sbruno@mst.org

History and Overview of MST

The Monterey-Salinas Transit District (MST) was created by state law AB644 and formed on July 1, 2010. The District succeeds the Monterey-Salinas Transit Joint Powers

Agency formed in 1981 when the City of Salinas joined the Monterey Peninsula Transit

Joint Powers Agency which was formed in 1972.

Current members of the district are the Cities of Carmel, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzales, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Sand City, Seaside, Soledad, and the County of Monterey. A board of directors with a representative from each member jurisdiction governs the agency and appoints the general manager.

MST serves a 159-square-mile area of Monterey County, Northern San Luis Obispo, Southern Santa Cruz, and Southern Santa Clara Counties. MST’s 37 routes serve an estimated 437,325 within ¾ mile of a bus stop in Monterey County.

For more information about MST, log onto http://www.mst.org/.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Objective: To increase advertising revenue of Advertising on the Go/Shelters and develop other advertising streams of revenue. Maintain existing and actively search for and generate new business accounts. Identify public and private partnership opportunities to advertise MST services and activities.

Tasks:

1. Advertising on the Go/Shelters: Aggressively seek new business accounts. Promote existing accounts. Seek out non-traditional revenue streams. Facilitate the installation and documentation of ads as they are placed on buses and in shelters.

2. Other advertising revenue streams: Develop new and creative forms of MST advertising opportunities, including but not limited to the following:

o Tickets/Passes/Transfers o Transit Stations/Centers/Exchanges o Bus Stop Beautification Program o Visitor-oriented services (i.e., Carmel Valley Grapevine Express, MST Trolley, etc.)

o Bus Wraps

3. Promote MST to existing and new clients with “added value” elements and incentives.

4. Propose innovative technologies MST can consider adopting to increase advertising reach and revenue, such as advertising on electric signs aboard buses and electric kiosks at transit centers and high ridership stops as the technology becomes available.

http://www.mst.org/

5. Submit a report by the 15th of every month documenting the previous month’s activities, contracts signed, revenues received, and other relevant data as requested by MST.

6. Advise MST on revisions to Advertising on the Go/Shelters with regards to rates, policies, procedures, and packaging, and recommend changes as needed to the program.

This includes researching and comparing MST’s current rates to market rates to determine potential changes.

ATTACHMENTS

The following attachments are hereby made part of this Request for Proposals (RFP) #26-06:

Appendix A – Sample Contract

Appendix B – Required Forms

SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

Each proposal must include all completed forms from Appendix B as well as the following information. This information should be confined to no more than 20 Pages, excluding resumes of staff members and required forms. Please submit One (1) electronic version of your proposal.

1. Firm name, business address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address.

2. Date of establishment of business.

3. Type of organization (individual, partnership, or corporation).

4. Description of firm’s experience with local government agencies, especially transit agencies, if any.

5. Description of firm’s experience with other clients.

6. List of current clients and contact information.

7. Names of individuals who would be directly engaged in the performance of work under this solicitation. For each of the individuals please submit:

a. Number of years related experience.

b. List of references and contact information.

c. Brief description of work performed for these references or relationship to these references.

8. Describe any areas of specialty that your firm has (such as type of client and/or subject matter and/or other).

9. Include your general approach on how to best serve MST and how you propose to meet

MST’s needs. Please be sure to describe your familiarity with MST’s service area/market for these services.

10. Please outline your cost for the described services using the Cost Proposal Form in

Appendix B. Do not include your cost proposal in the same document as your technical proposal. This must be uploaded separately to the Cost Proposal section of the procurement submittals in Bonfire.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURE

The Evaluation Committee will review all proposals. Those firms determined to meet MST objectives may be invited to an oral interview, if deemed appropriate. Staff will recommend a firm for contract award and a contract will be awarded pending approval of the Monterey-

Salinas Transit District Board of Directors.

The selection will be made of the firm or person whose proposal is most responsive to the

Request for Proposals (RFP) and offers the best advantage to MST.

As part of the selection process, consultants may be requested to provide information concerning client representation for evaluation by MST. If, at the discretion of MST, a conflict of interest, real or apparent, exists or may exist, then MST reserves the right not to select a consultant to perform the services herein, regardless of the qualifications of that consultant or the ranking of the consultant as provided below.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate proposals:

1. Qualifications of the Firm: Technical experience in performing work of a closely similar nature; experience working with transportation organizations or other public agencies; record of completing work on schedule; strength and stability of the firm;

technical experience and strength and stability of proposed sub-consultants, if any; and assessments by client references. (20 points)

2. Staffing and Project Organization: Qualifications of project staff, particularly key personnel, especially the project manager; key personnel’s level of involvement in performing related work; logic of project organization; adequacy of labor commitment;

concurrence in the restrictions on changes in key personnel. (20 points)

3. Demonstrated understanding of the project requirements and potential problem areas; project approach, work plan, and quality assurance program. (25 points)

4. Demonstrated familiarity with MST’s service area and market for the services described herein. (10 points)

5. Cost and Price: Reasonableness of the total price and competitiveness of this amount with other offers received. Consultants are asked to submit a cost proposal separate from their technical proposal that accurately reflects their costs in performing the services discussed in the scope of work. (25 points)

RIGHTS OF MST

This RFP does not commit MST to enter into a Contract, nor does it obligate MST to pay for any costs incurred in preparation and submission of proposals or in anticipation of a contract.

MST may investigate the qualifications of any Proposer under consideration, require confirmation of information furnished by the Proposer, and require additional evidence or qualifications to perform the Services described in this RFP.

MST reserves the right to:

1. Reject any or all proposals.

2. Cancel this solicitation at any time for any reason at MST’s sole discretion. MST is not responsible for cost of proposal preparation.

3. Issue subsequent Requests for Proposal.

4. Postpone opening for its own convenience.

5. Remedy technical errors in the Request for Proposal process.

6. Approve or disapprove the use of particular sub-consultants.

7. Negotiate with any, all, or none of the Proposers.

8. Solicit best and final offers from all or some of the Proposers.

9. Award a contract to one or more Proposers.

10. Accept other than the lowest offer.

11. Waive informalities and irregularities in proposals.

The proposals received become the exclusive property of MONTEREY-SALINAS TRANSIT

DISTRICT. At such time as a contract award is made by MST, all proposals submitted in response to this RFP shall become a matter of public record and shall be regarded as public records, with the exception of those elements of each proposal which are trade secrets as the term is defined in California Government Code 6254.7 and which are so marked as “TRADE

SECRET,” “CONFIDENTIAL,” OR “PROPRIETARY.” MONTEREY-SALINAS TRANSIT

DISTRICT shall not in any way be liable or responsible for the disclosure of any such records or portions thereof, including, without limitation, those so marked if disclosure is deemed required by law or by an order of a court. Proposals that indiscriminately identify all or most of the proposal as exempt from disclosure without justification may be found technically unacceptable.