Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT)

I-15 Express Lanes

Attachment D - Proposal Instructions and

Evaluation

December 4, 2025

UDOT I-15 Express Lanes Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation i

Table of Contents

1 Proposal Instructions

1.1 Overview

1.2 Technical Proposal Requirements and Content

2 Price Proposal Instructions

3 Proposal Evaluation Process

3.1 Evaluation Stages

3.2 Technical Evaluation

3.3 Cost Evaluation

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 1

1 Proposal Instructions

1.1 Overview

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is requesting proposals from qualified Contractors (or Responders) to establish an Express Lanes Back Office System (BOS or System) that includes a customer service center and all supporting functions. Under this procurement, the project shall cover system development, transition and delivery, and operational services to support account management activities for Express Pass customers. The selected Contractor shall provide the requested services on I-15 in Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas for a period of five (5) years with the opportunity for five one-year renewals. The potential ten-year contract term shall include both the deployment of the system and subsequent operations.

Each responder shall submit a technical proposal and a price estimate for the new BOS. The price estimate shall be prepared using the Cost Proposal Worksheet in Attachment E. All costs incurred in preparing and responding to this RFP shall be borne by the Contractor.

The technical proposal including the requested forms, along with the Cost Worksheet, shall be electronically submitted by the due date through the online bid system. The submitted proposal shall include the UDOT Solicitation Number and Title in the file name. Late proposals shall not be accepted or considered for evaluation. An overall procurement schedule is provided in the following table.

Action Date Request for proposals issued December 10, 2025 Deadline for written inquiries December 31, 2025 (5:00 pm MT) Responses to inquiries January 15, 2026 Deadline for submittal of Technical Proposal and Cost Worksheet January 30, 2026 (5:00 pm MT)

Anticipated Notice of Intent to Award February 20, 2026 Anticipated Notice to Proceed April 15, 2026 Due date to complete BOS design, transition, data migration, and acceptance testing

January 31, 2027

1.2 Technical Proposal Requirements and Content

The technical proposal shall adhere to the page limitations identified in the following table. If the proposal exceeds the page limits identified in the table, the excess pages shall not be reviewed, regardless of content.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 2

Document Maximum Number of Pages Requirements

Proposal 70 pages Single-sided, 8.5”x11” pages.

11”x17” fold-out is permitted but shall be counted as 2 pages.

Text should be at least an 11-point font with single line spacing.

Graphics, tables, headers, and footers may use smaller fonts but shall be legible in both electronic and printed form.

Cover letter, table of contents, tabs, and required forms and resumes are excluded from the page count.

The following shall be considered minimum contents of the technical proposal, and shall be submitted by the Contractor in the order listed:

Section 1: Introduction and General Qualifications

Introduce the Contractor’s team that shall be managing, implementing, and maintaining the project, and summarizing the highlights of the proposal.

Provide a narrative to demonstrate an understanding of project goals/objectives.

Provide a high-level description of the Contractor’s organization, staff size, and business areas.

Describe the Contractor’s relevant and recent experience related to the different BOS functions requested in this RFP.

Demonstrate an understanding of Utah’s Express Lanes program features.

Section 2: Project Management

Designate, by name, the Contractor’s Project Manager (PM) to be employed. The PM shall be responsible for implementing the statement of work, overseeing the project team, and shall be the single point of contact for this contract. The PM shall be available to UDOT as needed to manage the project.

Explain how the different requirements in this RFP shall be managed and coordinated.

Explain how the Contractor shall meet the time and budget requirements, including internal procedures for quality assurance and cost control.

Identify potential risk factors associated with this project and discuss ways to mitigate these risks.

Demonstrate the ability to attend bi-weekly project meetings with UDOT.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 3

Section 3: Personnel and Resources

In this section, the Contractor shall identify the proposed team and key personnel. Key personnel shall have in-depth knowledge and experience of the techniques and procedures needed to complete the project. No changes in the key personnel assigned to the project shall be permitted without the prior written approval of UDOT’s Project Manager. UDOT reserves the right to reject any proposed replacement of key staff. At a minimum, this section shall include the following:

Key personnel of the Contractor and subcontractors (if any) who shall be working under the agreement.

Proposed subcontractor organizations (if any) along with their qualifications, roles, and responsibilities for the company as a whole.

An organizational chart for the project depicting the project team, key staff, and their roles. At least eight (8) positions identified on the organizational chart shall be designated as key staff (key personnel may occupy more than one position), and include:

o Project Manager o Data Migration Manager o Software Design Manager o Hardware/Network Design Manager o System Test Manager o Customer Service Manager o Financial Manager o Quality Assurance/Control Manager

Define the expected roles and responsibilities of each of the eight (8) positions.

Demonstrate Utah-specific experience (if any) for the proposed Customer Service

Manager.

Describe the organizational flexibility in resource allocation to deal with potential unforeseen issues and circumstances, in order to complete the BOS design and implementation by the requested time.

Describe the firm’s strategy and tools to facilitate, promote, and maintain effective teamwork internally, and with clients.

Provide resumes for each of the key personnel (prime and subcontractors) who are listed in the organizational chart. Include titles, education, academic degrees, professional licenses, qualifications, proposed roles and responsibilities, and summary of similar work performed. Each resume shall not exceed two (2) pages in length.

Section 4: Technical Approach

The responders shall provide a detailed technical approach which identifies the different components of the project to successfully deliver the BOS and its related services. The technical approach shall be organized into the following subsections:

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 4

Back Office System Design:

Describe in detail the proposed BOS system and the approach suggested by the Contractor to meet all the requirements stated in the RFP. The Contractor is encouraged to describe innovative approaches and value-added contributions during design of the BOS. At a minimum, this section shall include:

o Proposed system design and architecture, demonstrating an in-depth understanding of the various system components, interfaces, integration, modules, and software design.

o Proposed hosting solution of the BOS addressing location, staffing, reliability, redundancy, business continuity, scalability, and end of term transition to other hosting platforms.

o The ease and simplicity of configuring system parameters to accommodate changes in business rules, policies, or operations, such as replenishment amount, minimum threshold balance, and the addition of new UDOT Express Lanes corridors.

Back Office Services and Operations:

Provide a narrative detailing the respondent’s understanding of on-going operations of UDOT’s new BOS and the approach to meet all the requirements stated in the RFP. At a minimum, this section shall focus on the following key areas:

o Understanding of customer account management and the ability to provide the highest level of customer service.

o Ability to staff, operate, and maintain a modern call-in customer service and mailing center. Describe the availability of customer service representatives and their locations and explain how the Contractor plans to achieve the required performance standards during periods of high call volumes.

o Ability to manage transponder orders and inventory including shipping and receiving.

o Effectiveness of the proposed approach to report to UDOT the status of the Express Lanes program operations.

Implementation and Delivery:

Explain in detail the approach to successfully deliver the BOS as stated in the RFP. At a minimum, this section shall include the following:

o Present a feasible and comprehensive work plan to implement and deliver the BOS within the prescribed timeframe. The plan shall include a logical process to design, develop, test, transition, and implement the new system. It shall also

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 5 include the necessary steps to coordinate with the current back-office provider and UDOT.

o Demonstrate the ability to work closely with UDOT during system design and development, including design reviews, workshops, training, and system reporting capability.

o Explain how the Contractor plans to meet or exceed the schedule requirements of the project.

o Describe the ability to implement the system safely and with minimum disruption to Express Pass users.

o Discuss how data migration, including customer accounts, shall be managed and executed successfully. Identify risks that you anticipate and describe how you plan to mitigate them (see Scope of Work in Attachment C for a discussion about system migration).

Section 5: Project Schedule

The Contractor shall provide an overall schedule for the design and implementation of the BOS showing key milestones and deliverables and their anticipated completion dates. The schedule shall include enough information about the project activities and dates including major development milestones, testing, mobilization, data migration, customer service transition, document submission, and review process. A more detailed schedule with critical path activities shall be provided by the winning Contractor within ten (10) business days after the notice to proceed.

Section 6: Project References

The Contractor shall provide at least two (2) projects of similar or related work that have been started (or completed) for clients in the last five (5) years. Each project shall be at most two (2) pages long and should include the following information in the order listed below (UDOT reserves the right to ask other non-referenced clients about the Contractor’s performance):

Name of firm (Prime Contractor) that provided the services.

Client organization name and address.

Contact name, title, phone number, and email address. UDOT shall be able to contact the client in reference to verify the project; otherwise, it shall be reflected in the score as not verified.

Brief description of the project, including services relevant to this RFP such as integration with existing systems, migration to the new BOS from a legacy system, and how this was accomplished and the timeline it was fully completed.

Project dates and contract value.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 6

2 Price Proposal Instructions Along with the technical proposal, the Contractor shall submit a cost proposal by completing and signing the Cost Proposal Worksheet in Attachment E. All the elements of the Cost Proposal Worksheet highlighted in green shall be completed in accordance with the instructions described in this section. The Contractor shall submit the completed Cost Worksheet in Microsoft Excel as part of their response to this RFP.

The cost worksheet includes a breakdown of total project cost separated between system design and implementation, maintenance, monthly service fee, per-item costs, and end-of-contract transition cost. The Contractor shall also provide cost estimates for several optional BOS features for consideration. UDOT may choose to include one or more optional features in the executed contract if the cost is not prohibitive. The cost submitted by the Contractor for optional features shall not be included in the cost evaluation score. The Contractor shall also provide the loaded hourly labor rate by staff position for the first year of the contract term.

The Contractor shall enter a lump sum amount in the Cost Proposal Worksheet for system design and implementation (Sheet 2). This cost includes system development, infrastructure and hosting, integration and testing, migration cost, operational setup, and other cost elements necessary for the design and implementation of the BOS. The proposed design and implementation cost shall not be more than 25% of the total proposal cost.

The design and implementation cost only applies to the first year after NTP. Payment to the Contractor for system delivery costs shall be based on major milestones and deliverables approved by UDOT, according to the payment schedule in the following table. After awarding the contract, the percentages shown in that table shall be applied to the total system design and implementation cost shown in the Cost Proposal Worksheet. If system acceptance testing is not achieved by the date identified in the procurement schedule (i.e., January 31, 2027), the Contractor shall be required to pay UDOT liquidated damages in the amount of $5,000 per calendar day for failure to meet this milestone. The enforcement and payment of liquidated damages starts when UDOT can no longer collect toll revenues under the current Contractor.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 7

Deliverable (1) Percent Payment

Cumulative Gross

Payment

Payment less

Retainage

Cumulative Net

Payment

Notice to Proceed 5.0% 5.0% 4.75% 4.75%

Project Management Plan (includes schedule) 5.0% 10.0% 4.75% 9.50%

Implementation and Transition Plan 5.0% 15.0% 4.75% 14.25%

System Design Document 10.0% 25.0% 9.50% 23.75%

Completion of Initial System Test 10.0% 35.0% 9.50% 33.25%

Data Migration Plan 5.0% 40.0% 4.75% 38.00%

Master Test Plan 5.0% 45.0% 4.75% 42.75%

Start of Test and Data Migration 10.0% 55.0% 9.50% 52.25%

Completion of Acceptance Testing 45.0% 100.0% 42.75% 95.00%

Retainage Released (2) 5.0% 5.00% 100.00%

(1) The Contractor shall pay UDOT liquidated damages for failure to achieve system acceptance testing by January 31, 2027.

(2) The 5% retainage is released after all final items, including punch list issues, are closed.

Under Maintenance Cost (Sheet 3), the Contractor shall enter the fixed monthly maintenance cost for each year of the contract term. This cost should include routine and periodic maintenance of equipment including but not limited to the customer website, call center, IVR, SMS, software upgrades and licenses, and the backup BOS site. These costs are not subject to changes in the number of accounts or transponders. The total annual maintenance cost for years 1 through 5 shall not be different than the total annual maintenance cost for years 6 through 10 by more than 25%.

The Contractor shall enter the monthly service fee by level of active accounts for each year of the contract term (Sheet 4). For the purpose of this RFP, an active account is defined as one that incurs at least one Express Lanes transaction per month. The table below provides the historical monthly average number of active user accounts and projections through the end of the contract term. These projections are used only for evaluation purposes, and UDOT does not guarantee that the estimated quantities shown in this table shall be the actual quantities that occur in any given year. The Contractor shall invoice UDOT for the variable program cost based on the actual number of active accounts during the month.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 8

Contract Year (1)

Fiscal Year Total Accounts

Active Accounts (2)

% Active Accounts

Historical

2019 18,392 12,321 67.0% 2020 19,219 11,464 59.6% 2021 17,781 8,948 50.3% 2022 17,298 10,342 59.8% 2023 17,859 11,092 62.1% 2024 18,884 11,854 62.8% 2025 19,725 12,474 63.2%

Projections

1 2026 20,909 13,310 63.7% 2 2027 22,268 14,268 64.1% 3 2028 24,205 15,624 64.5% 4 2029 25,923 16,873 65.1% 5 2030 27,271 17,953 65.8% 6 2031 28,253 18,797 66.5% 7 2032 29,044 19,455 67.0% 8 2033 29,741 20,039 67.4% 9 2034 30,396 20,560 67.6%

10 2035 30,973 21,033 67.9%

(1) The initial contract shall be for 5 years with an option for additional 1-year extensions up to five years, for a total contract term of 10 years.

(2) An active account is one that incurs at least one Express Pass transaction per month.

The projections are estimations based on anticipated behavior changes from the removal of a mandatory monthly fee but are not guaranteed to occur. The Contractor’s monthly invoice during operations shall be based on the actual number of active accounts during the billing month.

The monthly service fee costs include but are not limited to the customer service center operating cost, transaction processing, labor cost, insurance, reporting, and credit card fees. The monthly service fee per active account shall be provided in the Cost Proposal Worksheet for the following three levels of active accounts:

Level 1: Up to 16,000 active accounts Level 2: Between 16,001 and 25,000 active accounts Level 3: More than 25,000 active accounts

The Contractor shall provide the price for each level which reflects the cost of managing each active account at that level. The Contractor shall be paid for the volumes that fall within each category. For example, if the total active accounts in one month are at (or below) the Level 1 maximum, the Contractor shall only be paid based on Level 1 pricing. Alternatively, if the total

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 9 active accounts fall within the Level 3 range, the Contractor shall be paid based on the actual number of active accounts that fall within each of the three levels. The monthly service fee per active account shall not be different by more than 20% between any two active account levels, for each contract year.

The Contractor shall also provide the per-item cost for the first year only (Sheet 5) for supplies, packaging and handling of transponders, cost for printing and handling notifications, and cost of generating and emailing statements. The monthly per-item cost is escalated in the Cost Proposal Worksheet by 5% every three years, beginning in year 2 of the contract period. For evaluation purposes, the costs entered in the Cost Worksheet shall be multiplied by the annual preliminary volumes provided in the table below. Postage costs shall not be included in the Contractor’s estimates and shall be passed directly to UDOT.

Contract Year Transponder Shipments

Generated & Emailed

Statements

Printing & Handling

Notifications Supplies

1 4,500 200,000 40,000 1,000 2 5,500 220,000 45,000 1,100 3 6,000 240,000 50,000 1,200 4 6,300 260,000 55,000 1,300 5 6,500 280,000 60,000 1,400 6 6,700 300,000 65,000 1,500 7 6,900 320,000 70,000 1,600 8 7,000 340,000 75,000 1,700 9 7,100 360,000 80,000 1,800

10 7,200 380,000 85,000 1,900

In Sheet 6, the Contractor shall provide a cost estimate to support the end-of-contract transition. This cost includes coordination with the next Contractor by providing documentation and supporting data migration and testing. This cost should be included in the Cost Proposal Worksheet as a lump sum amount.

The Contractor shall price each of the optional BOS services contemplated by UDOT for future implementation (Sheet 7). These items shall be priced separately for design and implementation, maintenance, and service fees within the Cost Worksheet. These cost estimates shall not be included in the cost evaluation score.

The Contractor shall also provide in the Cost Proposal Worksheet (Sheet 8) the fully loaded hourly labor rates in year 1 for additional staff positions. The hourly rates shall be inclusive of burden/overhead, and profit. These rates are escalated in the Cost Proposal Worksheet by 5% every three years, beginning in year 2 of the contract period. UDOT shall use these rates to provide pricing for future work not currently included in the scope of work. All future changes to the Agreement involving labor shall use the loaded hourly labor rates provided by the Contractor in the Cost Proposal Worksheet.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 10

The cost proposal provided by the Contractor shall be inclusive of all costs, fees, and applicable taxes necessary to meet the project requirements for the entire duration of the contract. No price escalation shall be allowed above the cost provided on the Cost Proposal Worksheet to complete the work. Once completed, the cost proposal shall be signed by an authorized member of the firm and submitted by the due date as part of this RFP.

The price proposal shall be evaluated independently from the technical proposal and shall remain sealed until after the technical proposals are scored. The Contractor shall not include any cost information within the technical proposal document. Failure to submit pricing information separately may result in the proposal being judged non-responsive and ineligible for contract award.

Payment to the Contractor for BOS operations and maintenance shall be made on a monthly basis. These payments shall begin after completion of the acceptance testing and go-live. If the Contractor fails to meet any of the performance requirements outlined in Attachment F of this RFP, UDOT has the right to assess non-compliance points and reduce the monthly payment to the Contractor accordingly.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 11

3 Proposal Evaluation Process

3.1 Evaluation Stages

This solicitation shall be evaluated in multiple sequential stages. Initially, the UDOT procurement team shall verify that each submitted proposal complies with the solicitation requirements of this RFP (assessed as Pass/Fail). Proposals that do not conform to these requirements or are unable to meet the minimum and/or mandatory requirements shall be eliminated from further consideration. In addition, proposals that contain false or misleading statements, or which provide references which do not support an attribute or condition claimed by the proposer, shall be rejected.

In the second stage, the UDOT Evaluation Committee shall review and score all technical proposals that pass the initial review using a consensus process. The Contractor shall be evaluated based on criteria developed by UDOT and explained in the RFP. Only the proposals that achieve 80 points or more on the technical score shall advance to the final stage, where the cost proposals shall be opened and scored. The final proposal score shall represent the combined evaluation scores from the technical and cost proposals. A 400-point scale shall be used to create the final recommendation as shown in the table:

Rating Factor Points Percent Procurement Team Initial Review Pass/Fail NA Technical Evaluation 160 40% Cost Evaluation 240 60% Maximum Possible Points 400 100%

The consensus scoring used for the technical evaluation shall be based on the following formula and the associated rating definitions in the table below:

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎 = 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑋 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔

Consensus Rating (Range: 0 - 4) Rating Definitions

4 Exceeded all requirements 3 Partially exceeded requirements 2 Met all requirements 1 Partially met requirements 0 Requirements are not met

3.2 Technical Evaluation

Each proposal shall be evaluated based on the criteria specified in the table below, and the total points awarded for technical evaluation shall be based on the weighted score that includes a consensus rating. A maximum of 40 points can be awarded to a single Contractor for all the evaluation criteria, resulting in a maximum weighted score of 160 points. The Technical

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 12

Evaluation weighted score for a responder shall meet or exceed 80 points to qualify for their cost score to be included in the total score for the proposal.

Technical Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weight

Consensus Rating (0-4)

Weighted Score Comments

1. Project Understanding and Contractor’s Overall Experience Demonstrate knowledge of the scope of work and understanding of the project’s objectives, goals, and tasks.

Demonstrate relevant experience of BOS functions requested in this RFP.

Demonstrate an understanding of Utah’s Express Lanes program and related features.

2. Contractor's Approach to Project Management

Explain how different requirements in the RFP shall be managed and coordinated. Identify potential risk factors and ways to mitigate them.

3. Contractor's Personnel and Resources Prepare an organizational chart.

Identify at least eight (8) key personnel (including subconsultants);

describe their overall qualifications and experience and provide their resumes (maximum of two pages each). Define the roles and responsibilities of key staff positions and demonstrate Utah-specific experience (if any) of the proposed Customer Service Manager. Describe the organizational flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and support project completion on time.

Describe the strategy to facilitate and maintain effective teamwork internally and with the client.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 13

Technical Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weight

Consensus Rating (0-4)

Weighted Score Comments

4. Technical Approach Describe in detail the proposed design elements of the new system including hardware and software components, architecture, hosting solutions, and methods to configure various system parameters. Demonstrate the ability to work closely with UDOT during design and development. Provide innovative approaches and value-added contributions during design and for optional system features. Describe the approach to implementation and delivery including the work plan for system integration, testing, and migration. Discuss how data migration to the new system shall be managed successfully. Explain how the Contractor shall meet the schedule requirements and deliver the system with minimum disruption to the users.

Describe the proposed operations of the new system and demonstrate the ability to manage the call-in center, transponder inventory, and to promptly report system issues to

UDOT.

5. Project Schedule Provide an overall schedule of activities to complete the project on time. The schedule shall show key project activities, deliverables, and milestones and their anticipated completion dates. The schedule shall include enough information to allow UDOT to assess its reasonableness.

6. Project References Provide two (2) project references that have been started or completed for clients within the last 5 years.

UDOT shall assess based on relevance, accuracy of information, quality of work, and satisfaction of referenced and non-referenced clients.

Attachment D – Proposal Instructions and Evaluation 14

Technical Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weight

Consensus Rating (0-4)

Weighted Score Comments

Maximum Score 40

Maximum Possible Points 160

3.3 Cost Evaluation

The price proposal is worth 240 points toward the final score. Points are awarded for the total proposed cost through the potential 10-year contract (excluding the cost of optional features) based on the Contractor’s cost estimate provided in the Cost Worksheet relative to the cost estimate of other bidding Contractors. The Contractor with the lowest bid would be awarded the maximum points. Other responders shall be awarded cost points proportionately based on the formula below. No points are awarded if the Contractor’s price is more than double (200%) than the lowest proposed cost.

𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟ᇱ𝑠 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 = ቈ 2 − 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟ᇱ𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡

𝐿𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 × 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠

The Contractor’s technical score is added to their cost score to determine the total proposal score.