REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak_ODOT_DAS Approved.pdf

REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak Cascade Marketing Services_ODOT (B37744) Page 1 of 6

REQUEST FOR SPECIAL PROCUREMENT No. REQ-DASOBO-00157514

PART A. Requesting Agency must complete Items 1 through 13.

1. Requesting Agency Name: Oregon Department of Transportation (“ODOT”)

2. Date of Request: October 20, 2025 3. Agency Number: 73000

4. Agency Contact Name: Tracy Raby 5. Phone: (503) 986-2710

6. Type of Request: Class Special Procurement __X__ Contract-specific Special Procurement

7. Time Period Requested: From: December 15, 2025 To: June 15, 2027

8. Total Estimated Cost: $496,000

Note: With approval of this SP Request, the cumulative Total Estimated Cost approved under the SP will be $3,294,850, see section 10., subsection a. “Request” below for more information.

9. Title: Supplies and/or Services to be Acquired: Amtrak Cascades Marketing Services (“Services”)

10. Request, Background, Current Need, and Proposed Contracting Procedure:

a. Request:

ODOT requests approval of this Request for Special Procurement (“SP”) No. REQ-DASOBO-00157514 to amend Contract No. B37744 (“Contract”) with B2 Creative, LLC (“Consultant”), a Washington corporation, for Amtrak Cascades Marketing Services as follows:

1. extend the Term of the Contract for one (1) year and six (6) months beyond the maximum term of five (5) years, until June 15, 2027; and

2. increase the Maximum not-to-exceed (“NTE”) Compensation by $496,000 for a total NTE of

$3,294,850.

The Contract extension and increase will cover the interim period of time required to allow sufficient time to complete a competitive solicitation for future Services.

b. Background:

ODOT is a department of the State of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. ODOT develops programs related to Oregon’s system of highways, roads, bridges; railways; public transportation services; transportation safety programs; driver and vehicle licensing; and motor carrier regulation. ODOT’s goal is to provide a safe and reliable multimodal transportation system that connects people and helps Oregon's communities and economy thrive.

ODOT worked to grow Amtrak Cascades’ ridership in Oregon so the continued passenger rail service for the State is provided. ODOT aligned the Oregon schedule with trains in Washington to support connections. Due to a derailment on December 18, 2017, in DuPont, Washington, a new obstacle: loss of a trainset was created. The obstacle required a schedule change that was detrimental to Oregon, disrupted ODOT’s inter-city connections and sometimes resulted in an insufficient number of trainsets to run all schedules. The situation contributed to a downturn in ridership in 2018-19.

REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak Cascade Marketing Services_ODOT (B37744) Page 2 of 6

ODOT sought deeper insights into the ridership decline, especially among Oregon’s own rail customers. In 2019, ODOT deployed a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand riders’ experience of the Amtrak Cascades service in our state. ODOT particularly sought to identify any disconnect that may exist between rider perceptions and their actual experiences on and around the train.

ODOT gathered a wide range of information from this research and landed on three primary objectives:

1. Increase ridership by first inspiring current customers to take an additional rail trip this year; and second, inspiring new riders.

2. Increase customers’ confidence in using our service.

3. Increase Oregonians’ exposure to and awareness of Oregon rail as a pleasant, easy alternative to driving.

ODOT’s train schedule and equipment were restored in the spring of 2020, offering a new opportunity to attract riders to a “refreshed” and re-activated service. ODOT issued the Amtrak Cascades Marketing Services Request for Proposal (“RFP”) No. 730-34065-20 to aid ODOT in capitalizing on that opportunity and, ultimately, reversed the declining ridership trend.

The Amtrak Cascades Marketing Services RFP No. 730-34065-20 was published February 26, 2020, through the Oregon Procurement Information Network (“ORPIN”) by ODOT and closed April 9, 2020.

The purpose of the RFP was to provide development and fulfillment of a marketing plan to optimize ridership, including the creation and delivery of content over multiple marketing channels. Ten proposals were received. Following proposal evaluation, Notice of Intent to Award with protest period, and successful negotiations, ODOT entered into one Contract on December 03, 2020.

The Contract provides valuable, relevant, and consistent content across multiple channels to attract and retain riders and inspire riders to book a trip in Oregon via Amtrak Cascades. The Contract provides riders with valuable content and information riders need (such as how to travel with a bike), information riders can use now (such as seasonal promotions (e.g., “game train”)), and consistent content to provide updates with sufficient frequency for retention and clear brand association. The Contract was also set-up to allow for inclusion of a financial model featuring revenue streams that will support the marketing strategy, with the goal of making the pool of content self-supporting at ODOT’s discretion and only as authorized by law.

The Contract was finalized for an initial term of two years with the option to amend for up to a total of five years. The Contract was amended collectively as follows:

• August 04, 2021, ODOT issued amendment 1 to this Contract to extend the expiration date to December 03, 2024, and increase funding by $616,775 for a total NTE of $762,775.

• November 04, 2021, ODOT issued amendment 2 to this Contract to increase funding by $330,000 for a total NTE of $1,092,775, revise the Compensation Provisions, and replaced the detailed price breakdown.

• February 03, 2023, ODOT issued amendment 3 to this Contract to increase funding by $1,229,575 for a total NTE of $2,322,350, revise the Statement of Work and Delivery Schedule, and update the Agency’s Contract Administrator.

REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak Cascade Marketing Services_ODOT (B37744) Page 3 of 6

• November 27, 2024, ODOT issued amendment 4 to this Contract to extend the expiration date to December 15, 2025, increase funding by $476,500 for a total NTE of $2,798,850, and update the Agency’s Contract Administrator.

c. Current Need:

ODOT Public Transportation Division (“PTD”) requests approval of this Special Procurement to execute an Amendment 5 to extend Contract B37744 with D2 Creative LLC for one (1) year and six

(6) months beyond the current term of December 15, 2025. Amendment 5 will allow D2 Creative, LLC to continue supporting the Amtrak Cascades passenger rail service in Oregon until PTD and the ODOT Procurement Office (“OPO”) are able to execute a new RFP and award a new contract. The work includes supporting the AmtrakOregon.com website and working with ODOT’s communications group to keep marketing and social media active, while PTD works with OPO to execute a new RFP and award the new contract.

Amendment 5 Additional cost breakdown below:

Admin / Marketing Services – Tasks As Outlined In Current Statement of Work (SOW)

1.1 – Monthly Project Management & Reporting Reporting, meetings, project coordination, budgeting

$37,500

3.5 – Website Launch & Maintenance Content and ongoing maintenance, updates, hosting

$7,500

4.4 - Ridership Retention/Loyalty/Growth Campaigns Creative, messaging, media management, media vendor and sponsor coordination, campaign execution & reporting

$205,250

5.2 - Email Campaigns, Social Media Posting and Analytics Content calendar, messaging, calendars, posting, reporting

$55,750

Estimate is based on 2,750 hours. D2 only charges for actual hours expended on projects.

$306,000

Media Costs

• Rose Festival

• Other Sponsorships/Influencers

• Print Ads

• PPC (Pay per click) - generates most of the activity to the website

• Paid Social

• Programmatic - digital ad space with real-time bidding, optimizing ad placements and targeting

• Out of Home (OOH) -advertising that reaches consumers when they are outside their homes including billboards, transit ads

$15,000 $15,000 $30,000 $60,000 $15,000 $25,000

$15,000

Media expense is a pure pass-through as D2 does not realize commissions on media placements but passes along NET costs to

ODOT.

$175,000

Subscriptions / Tools

REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak Cascade Marketing Services_ODOT (B37744) Page 4 of 6

Includes analytics, social management, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools

$15,000

$15,000

ESTIMATED CURRENT SOW TOTAL $496,000

d. Proposed Contracting Procedure:

1. As required by Oregon Administrative Rules (“OAR”) 125-247-0287, ODOT will post a public notice (“Notice”) on OregonBuys® for a period of seven (7) calendar days in accordance with any conditions of the approved Special Procurement.

2. Advertisement of the Special Procurement and Notice will include a process by which any Affected Person(s) may protest the approval of the Special Procurement.

3. DAS SPS, in collaboration with ODOT, will respond to and resolve protests, if any, as required by OAR 125-247-0700.

4. If no protests of this Special Procurement are received and sustained, ODOT will proceed with an Amendment 5 to the Contract to extend the contract for up to one year and six months beyond the maximum term of December 15, 2025, and increase funding.

5. ODOT will obtain, as required by OAR 137-045-0015, legal sufficiency review and approval from the Oregon Department of Justice (“DOJ”).

11. Justification for use of Special Procurement: Describe the circumstances that justify the use of a Special Procurement. Attach relevant documentation.

Oregon’s Public Contracting Code (the “Code”), set out in Oregon Revised Statutes (“ORS”) Chapters 279A, 279B, and 279C, is predicated on the principles of competition. The Amtrak Cascades Marketing Services were last obtained via a competitive process as noted in section 10.b. Therefore, outside of ORS 279B.065 Small procurements, which limits the maximum compensation of a direct awarded contract or contract amendment to $25,000, there are only two procurement methods defined in statute through which the request articulated in this SP can be solicited and approved:

o ORS 279B.075 Sole-source procurements o ORS 279B.085 Special procurements

The proposed extension of the Contract currently in place will provide ODOT and the traveling public continued access to Amtrak Cascades ridership information until such time as a new contract is established through a formal solicitation process.

12. Findings to Satisfy the Required Standards: This proposed special procurement:

__X__ (a) will be unlikely to encourage favoritism in the awarding of public contracts or to substantially diminish competition for public contracts because:

• The Contract for marketing services was originally solicited through a formal competitive RFP process.

• This Special Procurement will allow an extension of time and increase for the Contract until a new contract can be competitively procured and established.

REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak Cascade Marketing Services_ODOT (B37744) Page 5 of 6

• The current consultant, and other new contractors, will have the opportunity to submit a proposal in response to the future RFP allowing maximum competition.

and

______ (b)(i) will result in substantial cost savings to the contracting agency or to the public because:

or

__X__ (b)(ii) will otherwise substantially promote the public interest in a manner that could not practicably be realized by complying with the requirements of ORS 279B.055, 279B.060, 279B.065, or 279B.070, or any rules adopted thereunder because:

• Extending the term of the current Contract would provide continued access to valuable, relevant and consistent content across multiple channels to attract, retain and continue to inspire riders to book a trip in Oregon via Amtrak Cascades.

• If these services lapse, Oregon riders would not have access to rider safety, rail-accessible destinations, travel experience or culture and history of the State information, via social media, and the website that was developed to complement the AmtrakCascades.com site.

13. Signature: The actual signature of the Agency Head or designee (e.g., Designated Procurement Officer) is not required on the Request if it is submitted through OregonBuys. Agency may elect to attach a signed Request.

Signature: e.g. Electronically in OregonBuys _________________ Type Name: Date:

REQ-DASOBO-00157514_Amtrak Cascade Marketing Services_ODOT (B37744) Page 6 of 6

PART B. The Department of Administrative Services completes Part B.

STATUTORY AND RULE AUTHORITY:

ORS 279B.085(2) states the Director of the Department of Administrative Services may approve a special procurement if the Director finds that a written request submitted under ORS 279B.085(4) demonstrates that the use of a special procurement as described in the request, or an alternative procedure prescribed by the Director will:

(a) Be unlikely to encourage favoritism in the awarding of public contracts or to substantially diminish competition for public contracts; and (b)(A) Result in substantial cost savings to the contracting agency or to the public; or

(B) Otherwise substantially promote the public interest in a manner that could not practicably be realized by complying with requirements that are applicable under ORS 279B.055, 279B.060, 279B.065 or 279B.070 or under any rules adopted thereunder.

OAR 125-246-0170 delegates the authority of the Director of the Department of Administrative Services to approve special procurements to the State Chief Procurement Officer. OAR 125-247-0285 through 125-247- 0288 implement ORS 279B.085.

OAR 125-247-0700(2) Protests and Judicial Review of Special Procurements designates the State Chief Procurement Officer as the Contract Review Authority.

FINDINGS: The findings are accepted, adopted, and incorporated by reference herein.

CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL:

1. Notice Period. The Authorized Agency shall post the Public Notice on OregonBuys. The Special Procurement may not be used until after the completion of the seven (7) day notice period required pursuant to OAR 125-247-0287(4), and either:

a. No Written protests are received by the Contract Review Authority, State Chief Procurement Officer, from an Affected Person in response to the notice, or

b. If any protest is received during the notice period, then not until:

i. the State Chief Procurement Officer or delegate issues a written disposition of the protest in accordance with ORS 279B.400 and OAR 125-247-0700 and OAR 137-047-0700, and

ii. confirms in writing the first possible date of use of the Special Procurement.

2. ORS 279A.165 Requirements. Authorized Agency shall comply with the requirements of ORS 279A.165 and OAR 125-247-0287(12) regarding a report about this Special Procurement. Agency shall use a form and follow the instructions provided by the State Chief Procurement Officer or delegate.

APPROVED

Jay Jackson, Procurement Policy Officer Date:

Department of Administrative Services, State Procurement Services

11/18/2025