RFP - CPA Change Management and Training~1.docx

MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY

Request For Proposals (RFP) -Non-Federal Funded

RFP#: 164-24

COMMBUYS # BD- BD-24-1206-MBTA-MBTA-105606

Capital Projects Advancement Change Management &Training Date Issued: July 25, 2024

Attn: Bidder/s:

Request for Proposals (RFP) # 164-24 RFP Description: Project Advancement change management and Training

Dear Prospective Bidder:

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (“MBTA” or “Authority”), a corporate and a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, existing pursuit to Mass. Gen. Laws, ch 161A (as amended) invites Bidders to participate in the competitive bid 86-2486-24. The Scope of Work outlined below in Section 2 is to produce project advancement change management training. The MBTA may, at its own discretion, award contract(s) to one or multiple Bidders. All formal communication with the MBTA during the bidding period shall be only through the MBTA’s designated point of contact.

The MBTA’s designated point of contact for this solicitation will be:

Mellissa O’Connor

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 10 Park Plaza Room 2810 Boston MA 02116 Email: moconnor2@mbta.com

The RFP shall be launched through COMMBUYS and proposals must be submitted electronically no later than 16th of August 2024 in full compliance with this RFP including but not limited to Section 3, Bidders Instructions and Procurement Process. This RFP shall remain in force until the execution of the Contract, or until modified or cancelled by the MBTA.

Respectfully, Mellissa O’Connor Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

RFP#164-24

Comm buys bid BD-24-1206-MBTA-MBTA-105606

Contents

RFP: 164-24 - 1 - COMMBUYS #: BD-24-1206-MBTA-MBTA-10506

Project Name: Capital Projects Advancement Change Management &Training

INTRODUCTION

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (“MBTA” or “Authority”) is seeking a qualified professional services provider to perform Organizational Change Management (“OCM”) and Training Material Development activities in support of an enterprise resource planning system implementation project that will add new modules to the MBTA’s existing Financials and Materials Information System (“FMIS”) application. FMIS is the MBTA’s system of record for financial information and is an instance of Oracle-PeopleSoft’s Financials and Supply Chain Management product suite.

MBTA wishes to engage the services of a professional services organization (“Contractor”) with significant expertise and experience in OCM, who will work collaboratively with the MBTA Sponsors, Project Director and Project Manager to help ensure the MBTA user community are engaged, prepared, and trained to execute business transactions within the application. The work covered by this SOW is meant to enhance the MBTA’s efforts by bringing additional expertise, experience and best practices to our project, while also providing the opportunity to tailor and better integrate these practices into our organizational culture overall.

The OCM and training activities covered by this SOW will be managed as a workstream within the existing Capital Projects Advancement (“CPA Project”) project, an on-going effort with the following mission and goals:

CPA Project Mission

The CPA Project is a transformative effort intended to improve the MBTA’s capital program delivery, administrative function, and operating capabilities through the implementation of PeopleSoft functionality into FMIS to support project-based accounting requirements.

CPA Project Goals

· Implement project accounting PeopleSoft modules Project Costing (PC) and Customer Contracts (CC) in FMIS to establish capabilities and functionality within the financial system of record to migrate all CMS functionality to FMIS

· The Project Costing (PC) and Customer Contracts (CC) modules of PeopleSoft will become the central repository for all project accounting activities and will be contained within the financial system of record

· Establish an MBTA project register with controlled budgets and costing of project activities with a common language across business applications to meet MBTA business requirements

· Build a foundation to allow interoperability of MBTA business applications through a common language to ensure Capital Projects are managed using system controls as required to meet regulatory, compliance, and organizational needs

· Enable project reporting capabilities to produce Funding Availability, Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Drawdown, Bond Reconciliation, and Budget/Actuals

· Design the future interface between FMIS/PMIS

CPA Project Details

· A dedicated and collaborative team of MBTA resources is working with an existing financial systems solutions provider (“Provider”) to deliver the core functionality requirements that have been approved as a part of the CPA Project. The team is comprised of the following existing roles and resources:

· Project Leadership Team – comprised of executives and project directors from the MBTA and the Provider

· Project Management Team

· Provider Project Director

· Provider Project Manager

· Provider Deputy Project Manager/Agile Scrum M

· MBTA Project Director

· MBTA Project Manager

· Core Project Team

· 4 Provider Functional Area Leads

· 2 Provider Functional Support resources

· 1 Provider Technical Lead

· Provider Technical Developers (Varying based on project needs)

· 1 MBTA Senior Business Lead

· 4 MBTA Functional Area Leads

· 1 MBTA Technical Developer

· The project is using an Agile project methodology, working in 2-week sprints.

· Sprint Tasks and backlog are managed within the Provider’s Jira platform

· The project is currently underway and has the following phases outlined below:

· Phase 1 – Plan & Discover – Completed

· Phase 2 – Analyze & Design – Completed

· Phase 3A – Configure & Develop – Completed

· Phase 3B – Configure & Develop – Completed

· Phase 3C – Configure & Develop – July 2024 thru December 2024

· Phase 4 – Test & Train – September 2024 thru May 2025

· Phase 5 – Deploy & Optimize – April 2025 thru October 2025

· The following high-level schedule for milestone events should be considered:

· September 2024 – Start of OCM Activities

· October 2024 – Start of Training Development/Build

· December 2024 – End of Business Process Testing and Development

· January 2025 – Start of System Integration Testing

· March 2025 – Start of End User Training – UAT Users

· April 2025 – Start of User Acceptance Testing

· May 2025 – Start of End User Training – All Users

· July 2025 – Production rollout & system Go-Live

· Details on the MBTA’s FMIS Application

· Production Instance of PeopleSoft Financials Supply Chain, PUM 49, PeopleTools 8.60

· Current Production Modules: GL/AP/AR/BI/PO/IN/ePro/Commitment Control/Cash Management

· Modules being implemented by this project: Project Costing (PC) and Customer Contracts (CA)

· Oracle Guided Learning is deployed in both Non-Production and Production environments and the MBTA’s FMIS Support team is responsible for supporting OGL in Production

· End User Audience

· There are 825 FMIS Application Users

· CPA Project Scope of Work – The requirements have been organized into 44 high level business processes that each encapsulate activities related to specific business transactions. They are listed as:

· These requirements are being satisfied through project work using one or more of the following methods:

· Delivered core PeopleSoft functionality

· Configuration of new modules or functionality not currently in use

· Conversion of data from the current application

· Conversion of data from external applications that will be retired

· Technical Development of new Extensions, Integrations, or Reporting

· The changes being implemented by this project include new terminology and processes that are replacing elements that have been in place for more than 20 years at the MBTA.

SCOPE OF WORK

Scope of Work Objectives and Assumptions

· Ensuring that the new services, business processes, and technologies implemented by our project are communicated to and accepted by MBTA Stakeholders.

· Ensuring that all MBTA Stakeholders are aware of and understand anticipated changes in data sharing and business processes prior to the implementation of those processes.

· Ensuring that employees are equipped with the knowledge and skills required to successfully execute the changes associated with this project.

· Ensuring that effective and efficient communication plans are in place to keep MBTA Stakeholders informed on the progress and implementation of our deliverables.

· Ensuring that change champions and OCM practices are established to support the implementation of our project, as well as future change as MBTA’s organizational goals evolve over time.

· Assumptions:

· The available budget within the project for this work is between $800,000 and $1,200,000

· The MBTA estimates the OCM work related to this engagement can be accomplished by 2-3 resources in varying levels of participation throughout the project

· The MBTA has estimated the level of effort to complete the training material development inclusive of Design, Development, and Rework is between 2,700 and 3,500 hours.

· All training materials will be reviewed by the MBTA Learning and Organizational Development team to ensure materials provided meet MBTA training standards.

Estimated Training Material

· The estimated training components are listed below based on the functional team’s analysis of the business processes above, the availability of current relevant material, and the complexity of the training required. The quantities provided are subject to change but are provided as an estimate.

· For Oracle Guided Learning:

· Complex is defined as any process guide or objects that includes navigations to three or more distinct PeopleSoft components.

· Simple is defined as any other Oracle Guided Learning process guide or object.

Develop Change Management Plan

· Formulate a strategy and develop mechanisms to aid the MBTA through the changes being implemented by the Project.

· Compile and produce a final draft with MBTA Approval of the Change Plan to support the Project.

· Perform the change management activities articulated in the change management plan.

Develop Communication Plan

· Formulate a strategy and develop Project communications to ensure end users and stakeholders have the necessary awareness of the Project and the tools and resources to support them through the transition.

· Compile and produce a final draft with MBTA Approval of the Communication Plan to support the Project.

· Perform the change management activities articulated in the communication plan.

Develop the Project Training Plan.

· Develop a training plan that organizes and details the curricula and learning paths based on the provided materials.

· Establish logistical and resource requirements to support training delivery

· Compile and produce the Project Training Plan, that includes any review and revision cycles required by the MBTA for acceptance.

· The Project Training Plan will be reviewed and approved by the MBTA Centralized Training Council Create and Manage the Training Material Development Plan

· Organize the work and tasks to deliver the completed training materials based on the provided requirements to support the Training Plan.

· Part 1 – Initial materials covering all delivery methods to validate build/review process

· Expected Completion in November 2024

· Part 2 – Materials to support Integration Testing

· Expected Completion in January 2025

· Part 3 – Materials to support User Acceptance Testing

· Expected Completion in March 2025

· Part 4 – Materials to support End User Training

· Expected Completion in May 2025

· Manage the Training Material Development Plan to ensure delivery within overall project plan.

· Account for internal project team review and revision cycle

· Account for MBTA business user review and revision cycle

· Review and revision cycle timelines to be defined within the Training Material Development Plan.

Develop Training Content

· Secure and provide resources with sufficient PeopleSoft Financials Supply Chain platform awareness to efficiently build and deliver training material.

· Manage the tasks and resources assigned to build all items included in the approved Training Material Development Plan.

· Leverage existing MBTA test scripts and training materials as a resource for training content.

· Leverage MBTA data in all training materials to provide proper context for functionality being demonstrated.

· Create and author narratives and scripts for any training material to be delivered in SCORM or video format.

· Create and author training materials using MBTA’s Oracle Guided Learning (“OGL”) platform, which may include but is not limited to Process Guides, Smart Tips, Messages, Links, Beacons, Hotspots, Launchers, Surveys, or Task Lists

· Perform quality assurance review to ensure consistency of form and format for all training materials included in the approved Training Material Development Plan.

· Provide training materials included in the approved Training Material Development Plan in an editable Microsoft Word format for modification by the MBTA.

· Route all training material content through the following review and revision process

Organize and Facilitate End User Training

· Schedule and facilitate any instructor-based training opportunities based on the training plan for the Project.

· Schedule and facilitate any informational sessions based on the training plan for the Project.

· Schedule and facilitate drop-in/open meetings to solicit end user feedback based on the training plan for the Project.

Maintain a (“RAID”) Risks/Actions Items/Issues/Decisions Items Log of OCM Items

· Use the MBTA’s Wrike platform to document OCM RAID log items within the project

· Perform updates to RAID repository within the MBTA’s Wrike platform.

Establish an End User Audience Matrix

· Establish and maintain a database to manage the end user audience that includes but is not limited to the tracking of:

· Name, Email, Job Title, Application User ID & Usage, Contractor/Employee role

· Active/Inactive Status based on employment or contract status

· Attributes related to their depth of involvement and impact of business processes

· Participation in training or other informational sessions run by the project team.

· Communications and interactions with end users

· Assigned “Personas” to each end user to aid security, training, and engagement activities

· End user’s organizational alignment within management hierarchy

· Maintain the end user audience dataset with continuous updates through project completion Conduct Stakeholder Engagement

· Perform outreach activities to project stakeholders to foster engagement and awareness of the project

· Ensure issues raised by stakeholders are brought into the project for resolution

· Develop strategies and perform activities to increase buy-in across the stakeholder committee and prepare their organizations for the changes being deployed by the project.

Conduct Change Management Communications

· Develop and send email-based campaigns as necessary to support the change management plan using the MBTA’s Mailchimp platform.

· Develop and send end user surveys as necessary to support the change management plan using the MBTA’s Mailchimp or Qualtrics platforms.

· Publish information on change management and training activities using the MBTA’s internal T-STOP platform.

· Publish event/calendar updates to inform end users of change management activities within the change management plan.

· Publish event/calendar updates to inform end users of training activities within the training plan.

Manage End User Training Assignment

· As an extension of the end user engagement plan, identify and assign end user training.

· Schedule, notify, and manage the appointments for any in-person training opportunities provided by the Project.

· Review and report on training completion by end user community.

Measure Organizational Engagement

· Develop and deploy methods to evaluate end user engagement with the Project.

· Develop and deploy methods to evaluate overall preparedness of the organization for the planned functionality and processes that will inform Project Stakeholders and Executive Steering Committee on status.

Perform Deployment Readiness Assessment

· Perform surveys, workshops, and interviews with MBTA leadership, Project Steering Committee, Project Stakeholders, Project Management Team, and Project Team to establish an assessment of the MBTA’s readiness for deployment of the proposed changes.

· Assess the MBTA’s capacity for and tolerance of proposed changes.

· Assess risks and obstacles that could negatively impact the Project.

· Identify skill and resource gaps that could negatively impact the Project.

· Perform stakeholder analysis to validate Project Stakeholder list.

· Consolidate findings into an assessment document for distribution to MBTA leadership and Project Steering Committee as a part of Go/No-Go gating criteria.

Project Administration

· Work collaboratively with existing project team as a part of unified effort to deliver the project.

· Perform updates to tasks and work assignments within task management tools (Jira/Wrike)

· Assimilate into the project team’s Agile methodology-based work processes

· Leverage the MBTA’s MS Teams platform as a repository for all files and project work product.

· Participate in Agile Sprint-based team meetings.

· Participate in Weekly Project Management meetings.

· Provide weekly status updates for inclusion in the Weekly CPA Project Status report.

· Submit deliverables in a mutually agreed upon format to the MBTA’s Project Manager Provide Documentation and Knowledge Transfer

· Provide all work product and deliverables in the editable format it was created in.

· Perform knowledge transfer to project staff on deliverables provided and how to perform any required changes.

· Participate in project closeout activities to ensure all work product and materials are transferred to the MBTA.

Deliverables and Payment

· To ensure the success of the Project, the MBTA recommends a hybrid approach that includes payments for approved deliverables based on acceptance criteria as mutually agreed to by the MBTA and the Contractor; and progress payments during the project timeline that do not exceed the Contractor’s costs incurred.

· Deliverables – To be submitted for review and approval upon completion:

· Deliverable Review Process – Contractor will be expected to accommodate at least 2 review cycles for all deliverable content and will need to account for the following:

· Draft Review Cycle

· Submitted to MBTA Project Manager upon substantial completion within MBTA provided project task management tool

· MBTA review period of 5 business days

· Contractor Revision

· Requested revisions based on provided feedback to be performed no longer than 3 business days once reviewed by the designated MBTA resource

· Final Review Cycle

· Submitted to MBTA upon completion of Contractor revisions within MBTA provided project task management tool.

· MBTA approval period of 5 business days

· Monthly Progress Payments – To be submitted for review and approval for each month of the engagement

· Monthly Status Report (Including listing of Completed Tasks and Open RAID log Items)

· Evidence of Updates to End User Audience Matrix

· Listing of Project Communications issued

· Listing of Project Surveys issued

· Updated Training Material Development Schedule

· Invoice Submission – Deliverables and Monthly Progress Payments will follow the process outlined before for processing:

· Contractor to submit Deliverable Payment request in mutually agreed upon format that the MBTA will route via DocuSign to the following

· MBTA Project Manager

· Contractor Project Manager

· MBTA Project Director

· Contractor Project Director/Sponsor

· Invoices for Approved Deliverables to be submitted to MBTA Accounts Payable after DocuSign routing is completed Expected Contract Duration or similar

· The maximum contract duration shall not exceed one year.

· Contractor to propose timeline and resources that support the provided deliverables and milestones.

Additional Services

Additional, directly related services may be added to this Agreement prior to the start or throughout the duration of this Agreement if agreed to in writing by the Parties.

BIDDERS INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCUREMENT PROCESS

Bidders’ Conference The MBTA reserves the right to hold one or more Bidders’ conferences with all Bidders at any time prior to the Response Date. Bidders’ conferences may be held either in person or by telephonic or electronic means. If held telephonically or electronically, the Bidders’ conference will permit interactive communication between all Bidders and the MBTA. The MBTA will provide notice of any Bidders’ conference via COMMBUYS. If a Bidders’ conference is conducted by telephonic or electronic means, the notice will inform Bidders of the manner of the meeting.

Each Bidder, by submittal of its Response, acknowledges the opportunity to attend any Bidders’ conference, if held, was offered to all Bidders, and waives any right to challenge this procurement based on its attendance at, or failure to attend, a Bidders’ conference.

Each Bidder is encouraged to attend Bidders’ conferences, if held, with appropriate members of its proposed staff, and if requested by the MBTA, senior representatives of proposed team members identified by the MBTA. Nothing stated at any Bidders’ conference or included in a written record or summary of a Bidders conference will modify this RFP or any other part of the RFP unless it is incorporated in an addendum issued.

Procurement Method This RFP is issued pursuant to the following laws and regulations: Mass. Gen Laws, Ch. 161A; 801 CMR 21.00.

Bidder shall be responsible for making itself fully aware of, complying with, and in its Response addressing the impact of and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

This RFP will be launched and managed via COMMBUYS. Instructions for log-in and use of COMMBUYS are described in http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/osd/forms/instructions-for-vendors-responding-to-bids.docx.

Bidders may also contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us or the COMMBUYS Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (Eastern Time), except on federal, state, and Suffolk County holidays.

It is the responsibility of Bidders to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s Designated Representative and to monitor that email inbox for communications from the MBTA, including responses to Bidder questions. The MBTA and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a Bidder’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with Bidder’s computer, network, or internet service provider (“ISP”) cause email communications sent to or from Bidder and the MBTA to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

Bidder shall review and study all documents thoroughly and report any discrepancies, omissions, technical queries, or other clarifications via COMMBUYS.

Questions and clarification requests submitted by Bidder will, together with MBTA’s responses, be made available to all Bidders via COMMBUYS.

MBTA DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE

Unless specifically stated otherwise in this RFP, Bidder must submit changes to Bidder’s designated representative and any other communications in to the MBTA’s Point of Contact via COMMBUYS. The MBTA’s Point of Contact is Mellissa O’Connor moconnor2@mbta.com

IDENTIFICATION OF BIDDER DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE

When submitting a Bid, the Bidder must identify to the MBTA’s Point of Contact its own Designated Representative to act on behalf of the Bidder relating to this procurement.

RFP Calendar and Delivery Instructions Bidder is required to prepare and submit all required documents to MBTA electronically via COMMBUYS.

The MBTA anticipates carrying out the procurement process in accordance with the schedule noted in the table below. All times are local Boston, Massachusetts, USA, times unless otherwise indicated. The schedule is subject to modification at the sole discretion of the MBTA. Bidders will be notified of any change by an addendum to this RFP.

TABLE: RFP CALENDAR

Pre-bid conference

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Dissemination of Confidential Information Not Applicable Examination of RFP Each Bidder shall be solely responsible for examining, with appropriate care and diligence, the RFP and any addenda and material made available to Bidders by the MBTA, and for informing itself with respect to any and all conditions that may in any way affect the amount or nature of its Response, or the performance of the Contractor’s obligations under the Contract with the MBTA. Failure of the Bidder to so examine and inform itself shall be at its sole risk, and the MBTA will provide no relief for any error or omission.

The submission of a Response shall be considered prima facie evidence that the Bidder has made the above-described examination and is satisfied as to the conditions to be encountered in performing the Work and as to the requirements of the Contract.

Rules of Contact Starting on the date the RFP is issued and ending on the earliest of (a) the award and execution of the Contract, (b) rejection of all Responses by the MBTA, or (c) cancellation of the procurement, the following rules of contact shall apply. These rules are designed to promote a fair and unbiased procurement process. Contact includes face-to-face, telephone, email, or formal written communication.

The specific rules of contact are as follows:

1. No Bidder, or any of its team members, may communicate with another Bidder or its team members with regard to this RFP or either team’s Response, except that subcontractors that are shared between two or more Bidder teams may communicate with their respective team members so long as those Bidders establish a protocol to ensure that the subcontractor will not act as a conduit of information between the teams. This prohibition does not apply to public discussions regarding the RFP at any MBTA sponsored Bidders’ conferences.

1. No Bidder or representative thereof shall have any ex parte communications regarding the RFP, the Contract, or the procurement described herein with any member of the MBTA’s Board of Directors, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (“MassDOT”) Board of Directors, or with any MassDOT or MBTA staff, advisors, contractors, or consultants involved with the procurement, except for communications expressly permitted by the RFP or except as approved in advance at the MBTA’s Point of Contact’s sole discretion. The foregoing restriction shall not, however, preclude or restrict communications with regard to matters unrelated to the RFP, Contract, or procurement or from participation in public meetings of the MBTA or MassDOT Boards of Directors or any public or Bidder workshop related to this RFP.

1. Any communications determined by the MBTA, in its sole discretion, to be improper may result in disqualification.

1. Any official information regarding this RFP will be disseminated from the MBTA’s Point of Contact via COMMBUYS.

1. The MBTA will not be responsible for or bound by any oral exchange or any other information or exchange that occurs outside the official process specified herein.

1. The MBTA will not be bound by, and Bidders should not rely on, any oral communications regarding the RFP. Use of any information gathered or received from other agencies or entities shall be at the Bidder’s own risk.

Clarifications of Specifications, Questions and Answers Bidders shall review the RFP and any addenda issued by the MBTA prior to the Response Date, and request written clarification or interpretation of any perceived discrepancy, deficiency, ambiguity, error, or omission contained therein, or of any provision which the Bidder fails to understand or to which the Bidder is suggesting a change. Failure of the Bidder to so examine and inform itself shall be at its sole risk, and no relief for error or omission will be provided by the MBTA. Bidders shall submit, and the MBTA will respond to, questions and requests for written clarification in accordance with this Section 3.7.

Questions and clarification requests shall be minimized or aggregated to the extent possible. All questions and clarification requests shall be made by Bidder through the “Bid Q&A” tab in COMMBUYS. Such comments and questions may be submitted at any time prior to the applicable date specified in Section 3.3 or such later date as may be specified in any addendum and shall: (i) identify the document; (ii) identify the relevant section number and page number) or, if it is a general question, indicate so; and (iii) not identify the Bidder in the body of the question or contain proprietary or confidential information. Questions submitted in any other format or method than that described above will not be considered.

Responses to requests for clarification or questions will be provided in writing and issued by the MBTA’s Point of Contact via the COMMBUYS. In addition, the MBTA reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, not answer all questions submitted by Bidders.

It is the Bidder’s responsibility to verify the MBTA’s receipt of questions and clarification requests.

RFP Addendum The MBTA reserves the right to issue addenda to the RFP after initial publication.

It is each Bidder’s responsibility to monitor COMMBUYS for any addenda and any Bid Q&A records related to this RFP. The MBTA and the Commonwealth accept no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit their Response based on an out-of-date RFP or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

The Bidder shall acknowledge in its Technical Proposal Cover Letter (see Enclosure 1) receipt of all addenda and question and answer responses. Failure to acknowledge such receipt may cause the Response to be deemed non-responsive and be rejected.

MBTA Standard Contract and Terms & Conditions The MBTA does not encourage attempts to negotiate the Section 8.0 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Standard Contract Terms & Conditions. Many of these provisions are required by law; others are longstanding MBTA policy / practice. Accordingly, Bidders / proposers should only redline or object to provisions that they find absolutely unacceptable. Any rejection or modification of these provisions may disqualify a Bid / proposal as being non-responsive or non-compliant.

Confidentiality / Public Information Act Disclosure Requests Disclosure Waiver Each Bidder, by submitting a Response to the MBTA in response to the RFP, consents to the disclosures described in this RFP, including this Section and all other disclosures required by law, and expressly waives any right to contest, impede, prevent, or delay such disclosure, or to initiate any proceeding that may have the effect of impeding, preventing, or delaying such disclosure, under Mass. Gen. Laws, ch. 66 (the Massachusetts Public Records Law or “Public Records Law”) or any other law relating to the confidentiality or disclosure of information. Under no circumstances will the MBTA be responsible or liable to a Bidder or any other party as a result of disclosing any such materials. Each Bidder hereby further agrees to assist the MBTA in complying with these disclosure requirements.

Public Disclosure of Response Documents Subject to applicable law, after execution of the Contract, or in the event that the procurement is cancelled by the MBTA, the MBTA shall have the right to publicly disclose any and all portions of all Responses. The MBTA will not disclose material deemed confidential by the MBTA in accordance with Section 3.10.3, unless otherwise required by law.

Disclosure Process for Requests Under the Public Records Law All written correspondence, exhibits, reports, printed material, photographs, tapes, electronic disks, and other graphic and visual aids submitted to the MBTA during this procurement process, including as part of the response to this RFP, become the property of the MBTA upon their receipt by the MBTA and will not be returned to the submitting parties. Except as provided by applicable law, all materials submitted to the MBTA are subject to release as public records. Bidders shall familiarize themselves with the provisions of applicable law (including the Public Records Law) pertaining to disclosure of information in the MBTA’s possession. In no event shall the MBTA, or any of its agents, representatives, consultants, directors, officers, or employees, be liable to a Bidder or Bidder team member for the disclosure of all or a portion of a Response or related information submitted during this procurement.

If a Bidder has special concerns about information which it desires to make available to the MBTA but which it believes constitutes a trade secret, proprietary information, or other information excepted from disclosure, such responding Bidder shall specifically and conspicuously designate that information by placing “TRADE SECRET - PROPRIETARY” in the header or footer of each such page affected and by identifying such trade secret, proprietary information in the Technical Proposal Cover Letter (see Enclosure 1). Nothing contained in this provision shall modify or amend requirements and obligations imposed on the MBTA by the Public Records Law or other applicable law. The provisions applicable law, including the Public Records Law, shall control in the event of a conflict between the procedures described above and the applicable law.

If the MBTA receives a request for public disclosure of all or any portion of a Response or its related information that is designated as ”Trade Secret - Proprietary,” the MBTA will endeavor to use reasonable efforts to notify the applicable Bidder of the request. The Bidder can assert, in writing and at its sole expense, a claimed exception under the Public Records Law or other applicable law, within the time period specified in the notice issued by the MBTA and allowed under the Public Records Law. The Bidder can choose to defend any action seeking release of the records it believes to be confidential information. The Bidder shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the MBTA and its agents and employees in connection with the Bidder’s opposition to a public records request, and such indemnification shall include all damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) the MBTA incurs because of or arising out of the Bidder’s opposition to any public records request. This indemnification survives the MBTA’s cancellation or termination of this procurement or award and subsequent execution of a Contract. In submitting a Response, the Bidder agrees that this indemnification survives as long as any information submitted by the Bidder is in the possession of the MBTA.

The MBTA shall not under any circumstance be responsible for securing a protective order or other relief enjoining the release of information marked “Trade Secret – Proprietary” in any Response, nor shall the MBTA be in any way financially responsible for any costs associated with securing any such order or for any loss associated with the release of information marked “Trade Secret – Proprietary” or otherwise.

Business Conduct All Responses submitted by a Bidder to the MBTA shall be made without collusion with any other Bidder(s) submitting a Response to this RFP.

Bidder shall not directly or indirectly, in relation to this RFP, give, promise, attempt to give, or approve or authorize the giving of anything of value, including by transferring all or part of the remuneration payable under any Contract, to:

1. any person employed or representing the MBTA;

1. any other person, including any public official;

1. a political party or a labor union controlled by any governmental authority or political party; or

1. a charitable or other organization, or an officer, director, or employee thereof, or any person acting directly or indirectly on behalf of the same for the purpose of (i) securing any improper advantage for either Bidder or the MBTA; (ii) inducing or influencing a public official improperly to take any action or refrain from taking any action in order for either Bidder or the MBTA to obtain or retain business, or to secure the direction of business to either Bidder or the MBTA, or (iii) inducing or influencing a public official to use his or her influence with any governmental authority or public international organization for any such purpose.

Collusion By the submission of a Bid in response to the RFP, the Bidder represents and certifies that its Bid is made without collusion with any other Bidder submitting a Bid on the same commodity / service and is in all respects fair and without fraud.

Prices Each Bid must contain the unit price(s) / rate(s), extended price(s), and the grand total of the Bid. Bidders shall submit their pricing using Form D: Requested RFP Pricing Form. The unit price / rate shall prevail in case of an error in price extension. Prices submitted shall be valid throughout the Acceptance Period.

Acceptance Period From and after the Response Due Date identified in Section 3.3 (as amended) the MBTA shall have one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days to award a Contract based on this RFP. Such 180-day period is the “Acceptance Period.” The Bidder’s Bid is irrevocable and shall remain open and available for acceptance by the MBTA during the entirety of the Acceptance Period. The MBTA reserves the right to extend the Acceptance Period with respect to any or all Bidders upon obtaining the applicable Bidder’s written consent to such extension.

Eligible Entities Any contract resulting from this Bid will be available for use by all MassDOT divisions and departments.

Pre-Contractual Expenses The MBTA shall not be liable for any pre-contractual expenses incurred by the Bidder in connection with this RFP. The Bidder shall not include any such expenses as part of its proposal. Pre-contractual expenses include all expenses the Bidder incurs prior to the date the MBTA enters into a Contract with any Bidder (or prior to the MBTA’s withdrawal or cancellation of the RFP, as the case may be), such as, but not limited to, expenses the Bidder incurs in preparing its Bid, submitting its Bid to the MBTA, negotiating with the MBTA any matter related to this RFP, and inspection, testing, shipping, and return shipping of proposed goods or samples.

Tax Exemption The MBTA is exempt from Federal Excise Tax, including Transportation Tax, and will furnish properly executed tax exemption certificates upon request. The MBTA is also exempt from Massachusetts State Sales Tax — Exemption Number E-042-323-989. Such taxes should not be included in Bid prices.

The Bidder alone shall be responsible for payment of all federal, state and local taxes of all types and kinds applicable to any Agreement it enters into with the MBTA and/or to the compensation it receives from the MBTA or any other party in connection with such Agreement.

Insurance The insurance policies that the successful bidder shall carry are outlined in the attached Minimum Insurance Requirements document with this solicitation. The successful bidder shall submit proof of insurance for the requirements detailed at the time of submitting their bid. If proof of insurance is not available at the time the Bidder submits its Bid, the successful bidder certifies that it will carry such insurance policies and all costs associated with the insurance requirements are included in its Bid pricing. The successful bidder shall provide proof of all required insurance within three business days of conditional notice of award.

SUBMISSION OF RESPONSE

Response Submissions Responses shall be submitted via COMMBUYS.

Each Response shall be submitted in the following two parts:

1. Technical Response including:

· Bid Cover Letter

· Power of Attorney (as described in Section 4.2 of this RFP)

· Form A: Pre-Award Bidder Evaluation Data Form

· Form B: Technical Response

· Form C: Small Business Program Attestation Form

1. Price Response as a separate document, including:

· Form D: Price Response: Bidders must fill in all the applicable sections in the pricing template.

The specific requirements for submission of the Technical Response are set forth in Form B. The specific requirements for submission of the Price Response are set forth in Form D.

If a Bidder is a team, whether or not legally formed, the Bid Cover Letter shall be signed by all parties to the Bidder so that the Response is legally binding upon each member of the Bidder.

Any interlineations, erasures or overwriting in the Response will only be valid if they are initialed by the Authorized Signatories.

Bidders shall submit Responses including all forms and schedules and shall not remove pages from the provided forms. The Technical Response and Price Response shall be completely separate documents. Bidder Financials shall be included in Technical Proposal only.

Any Response which materially fails to meet the Response requirements of the RFP will be found non-responsive without further evaluation unless the evaluation team, at its discretion, determines that the non-compliance is insubstantial and can be corrected. In these cases, the evaluation team may allow the Bidder to make minor corrections to the Response.

Power of Attorney Bidder shall enclose a power of attorney in its own form, duly signed by a legally authorized officer of the Bidder authorizing the Authorized Signatories to sign the Response and bind the Bidder to the Response.

Acceptance of Response The Response constitutes a binding offer by the Bidder to enter into the Contract, and the MBTA shall have the right to accept or reject such offer and/or any conditions proposed in full or in part. If the Response is accepted, the Bidder shall conclude the Contract with the MBTA based on the RFP, any addenda, the Response and any agreed amendments or modifications thereto. Until the formal Contract is signed, Bidder has no authority to proceed with the Scope of Services or to incur any costs for which MBTA may be held liable. The MBTA shall have no obligations to Bidder until a formal contract has been entered into.

Incomplete Response If Bidder does not fully comply with this RFP, or if the Response is incomplete or vague, the Response may not be considered, unless the MBTA in its absolute discretion decides otherwise.

MBTA POLICIES

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