Request for Prequalification

The Public Transportation Division of Ayalon Highways Ltd. ("Company") intends to conduct a household travel habits survey to include 10,000 households across the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv.  The intention is to rely on smartphones and GPS data logger devices to measure actual travel by participants and to support the completion of the survey questionnaires using web-based application.  The participating households will be asked to report on activities and travel for a full week.  The survey will be conducted by web-based questionnaires designed for self-completion with backup by CATI or face-to-face interviews if needed.

The selection of the survey software platform will be determined through a three stage process:  pre-test; qualification for pilot; and final proposal for full survey.

This call invites companies to qualify for the pre-test survey in provision of a software package to support the survey process.  Qualifying companies ("Candidates") will be invited to submit a detailed proposal according to the company's qualifications for a pilot survey.

This pre-test is carried out in order to verify the relevance of the software platform and will not be compensated.  Based on the pre-test performance the Company has full discretion to select candidates for the pilot survey process.

The Company has full discretion to select any platform for the large-scale survey and is not under any obligation towards any of the candidates subsequent to the pilot survey.

1.      Requirements

Applicants shall demonstrate that they meet the following requirements:

• Can provide a platform that meets the functionality requirements described in Section 2 below, which shall be supported by submission of relevant documentation.
• Proof of a successful field application of the software in a multi-part survey with at least 300 respondents. This may include similar or previous version software.  The survey must provide proof of experience in using GPS measurements for data collection.
• Experience in providing 24/7 software support for field surveys.

The pre-test shall demonstrate two elements:

• Robustness of GPS measurements and interpretation that minimizes impacts of urban canyons and registration of “phantom” non-trips.
• Calculation of inferred values in the diary section based on previously collected socio-economic and/or travel data and current GPS measurements.

Pre-test may be conducted in English with a brief sample questionnaire.  The questionnaire shall include data collection on frequented locations in the recruitment interview in order to demonstrate the functionality of inferred values in the diary for destination, purpose and mode.  Upon request, the Company will provide a draft questionnaire intended for the full survey, for reference for the pre-test.   Subsequent to the pre-test the candidate will submit the results in digital file format for analysis.  The Company by its exclusive judgment will determine which of the applicants passed the pre-test successfully.

2.      Functionality of Software Platform

The data collection process for the household travel survey includes four elements:

• Web-based recruitment questionnaire designed to gather data on two topics:
  • Household socio-economic data (e.g. household size, number of vehicles available, type of dwelling unit).
  • Demographic and socio-economic data on each individual member of the household (e.g. age, level of education, employment status)
• Frequently visited locations which shall be applied as inferred values in the travel diary, using one of two options:
  • Questions in the recruitment phase for each individual household member, covering all of the regularly taken trips and activities in a representative week.
  • Interpretation of measurements based on GPS data gathered over the period of the survey.
• GPS-based recording of trips undertaken during the survey period and algorithm to interpret measurements into trips using both smartphone devices and GPS data logger devices.
• Web-based activity and travel diary for each household member that provides a chronological list of activities (e.g. purposes, duration) and travel characteristics between activities (e.g. mode, costs, accompaniment).

Real-time prompting for smartphone GPS application for survey, an advantage.

These four components must work together to reduce respondent's burden both by tailoring downstream questions based on earlier responses (e.g. for school age children eliminating both unnecessary questions and restricting permitted responses) and by maximizing inferred values in the activity and travel diary.

In addition, the software platform must provide a back-end system that supports three functions:

• Software to enable back-office review and upgrading of responses, with full data editing support for both the recruitment questionnaire and diaries, included CATI, to enable assisted completion when self-completion was insufficient. The actual implementation of these functions will be carried out by a local survey team.
• Tracking of progress and cross referencing sampling results and sample design, including an ability to update and adjust sampling plan.
• Reporting system for overall monitoring of progress: aggregate overview, reports by segment and detailed status reports for each of the households in the sample.

3.      Pilot Survey

The pilot survey must represent an end-to-end simulation of the full survey process to be conducted in Hebrew.  Each candidate will be expected to conduct a pilot survey of approximately 200 households.  A sample will be provided and a local survey team will conduct the entire necessary interface with the households, including obtaining initial consent to participate in the survey, guidance and support to survey participants, and any required CATI completion of surveys (incomplete or incongruent responses).  Below are the principal requirements for conducting the pilot survey.

1. Delivery of all hardware and software materials necessary to conduct survey;
2. Implementation of the questionnaire in Hebrew (Company will provide Hebrew and English versions of the questionnaire), verified and fully operational in the software;
3. Data editing, CATI and management reporting systems in place and operational;
4. Train local survey team software and back office systems' usage;
5. Support in place, covering two tiers of support:
   1. Trained local support staff able to answer questions in Hebrew for respondents; or back office staff that encounters problems available 7/24;
   2. Remote support for issues that cannot be handled by local staff, response within one business day (Israeli business day).

Pre-test Schedule

December 17, 2014 – Publication of Request for Qualification

January 6, 2015 – Submission of Candidate response to this request

January 30, 2015 – Submission of pre-test results to the Company

Planned future Schedule for the project

February, 2015 – Selection of candidates

February – March, 2015 – Submission of a detailed proposal according to the company's qualifications for a pilot survey

March-June 2015 – Execution of pilot survey

June- July 2015 – Submission of detailed proposal for executing full survey

July– September 2015– Organization and finalization of full survey process

October, 2015 – June, 2016 – Execution of full survey.

Submission Requirements

Participants must submit the following information and documentation:

1. Respondent's name, form of corporation, place of registration (as applicable), location of activities, contact name, address, telephone, fax, email;
2. Description of the software platform functionality and features, as well as description of the GPS measurement accuracy;
3. Information regarding software's implementation and operation, as applicable;
4. Respondent's annual sales revenue, marketing and sales brochures, as applicable;
5. Previous relevant experience for GPS-based surveying;
6. Previous experience in conducting household travel surveys in general and GPS- assisted surveys in particular;
7. Independent test results from third parties or customers, where available;
8. Description of the field application for software platform and assessment of the performance of the software in the field;
9. Evaluation of the local pre-test;
10. Detailed methodology for conducting pilot survey.

Submissions by email only, by no later than January 6, 2015, 17:00 Israel time, to: Rutia@ayalonhw.co.il

Questions and requests for clarification may also be sent to the above mentioned email address and/or to: RebeccaShliselberg@gmail.com.

Candidates will be notified and subsequently requested to submit a detailed proposal according to the company's qualifications for a pilot survey.

The Company will review the information received from respondents and retains the right to request further clarifications and/or additional information. Every effort will be made to assist qualification for participation.

No part of the process, including receipt of a response, shall be considered a commitment by the Company, or its representatives, nor shall it form the basis for any sort of business relationship between the Company and any respondent.

Without derogating from the generality of the foregoing information in this Request for Prequalification, the Company hereby clarifies that any detail whatsoever listed in this Request may be changed at any time, at the sole discretion of the Company, and that no detail herein shall oblige the Company in any way.

Any and all expenses derived from the preparation and/or submission of a reply to this Request are the respondent’s alone, and under no circumstances will the respondent be eligible for any refund and/or compensation and/or indemnification for any damages caused in relation to a reply submitted and/or in the preparation and/or submission of a reply.