REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JOE VARGAS, Director
Department of Transportation
BY: BRIAN BARR, Assistant Director
Department of Transportation
SUBJECT
Title
Reject all bids for a two-year Requirements Contract, with options for three one-year extensions for the purchase of Solar Real Time Digital Displays for bus stops as no responsive bids were received (Bid File 9589)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council reject all bids for a two-year Requirements Contract, with options for three one-year extensions for the purchase of Solar Real Time Digital Displays for bus stops.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Transportation/Fresno Area Express (FAX) owns and operates 1,481 bus stops outfitted with varying degrees of amenities. A majority of these locations have limited access to electrical power or communication cables required to power and operate modern amenities such as digital displays. Solar powered digital displays equipped with cellular radios provides a means to easily deploy and install display signs at any location. These displays will allow FAX to inform its ridership of route information, arrival time, departure time, city announcements, and emergency announcements.
The city received two bids in response to the solicitation. After review of the bid proposals, staff concluded that the proposed products do not meet the specifications of the solicitation and therefore both bidders are non-responsive.
BACKGROUND
FAX owns and operates 1,481 bus stops outfitted with varying degrees of amenities. A majority of these locations have limited access to electrical power or communication cables required to power and operate modern amenities such as digital displays. Solar powered digital displays equipped with cellular provides a means to easily deploy and install display signs at any location.
The solar real-time digital displays provide an effective means for FAX to inform its ridership of route information, arrival times, departure times, city announcements, and emergency announcements. This is accomplished through cellular transmission of real-time feeds from Google’s Application Program Interface.
The Requirements Contract includes two types of digital displays, the first is an LED 15 X 96 pixels per display line with a maximum of 24 characters at a given time. The second is grayscale 1200 X 1600-pixel E-paper display with embedded LED front illumination light for nighttime use. The E-paper displays are capable of customized images and text. All real-time digital displays must comply with Americans with Disabilities Act as described in Title 24 California Building Code requirements, including but not limited to 11B-216.13 and 11B-703.
A Notice Inviting Bids was published in the Fresno Business Journal on December 6, 2021, posted on the City’s website, MassTransit.org, and faxed to 6 building exchanges. The specifications were distributed to 33 prospective bidders. Two sealed bid proposals were received and opened in a public bid opening on January 11, 2022. Staff reviewed the product data sheets provided by the bidders and determined the proposed products do not meet the specifications, and therefore both bidders are non-responsive.
Upon Council approval of rejecting all bids, staff will revise the bid specifications as needed and rebid the requirements contract.
The City Attorney has reviewed the Agreement and approved it to form.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378 the award of this contract does not qualify as a “project”; therefore, it is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented this action is not recommending award and the use of federal funds preclude the use of local preference.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund from this request.
Attachment:
Bid Evaluation