NYC RFI on Mobile Payments
Content
The City of New York
Department of Finance
Parking Operations and Planning
Request for Information (RFI) for:
Mobile Solutions for Payment and Hearing Scheduling of Parking
Tickets
1
I.
RFI Purpose & Objectives
The New York City Department of Finance (DOF) is issuing a Request for Information to obtain
information on mobile solutions for payment and hearing scheduling for parking tickets. Prospective
vendors should understand that this RFI is not a request for proposal but rather a request for
information that will assist the City in understanding A) the current market environment for mobile
payment options that could provide greater ease for vehicle owners; and B) the current market for
technologies that would allow someone to request a hearing and submit evidence.
I.A Background
The New York City Department of Finance is a Mayoral City Agency that collects over $30 billion annually
in revenue for the City of New York (“City”). Among other functions, DOF administers the adjudication
and payment collection processes for parking tickets 1 issued in the City. Each year, the City issues
between 8-10 million parking tickets, primarily by the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”)
through regular patrol officers and Traffic Enforcement Agents that report to NYPD. DOF collects
between $550-$600 million in annual revenues from base fines and penalties on these violations. A
further 1.5 - 2 million tickets are adjudicated by the parking court each year online, via mail or in-person.
Vehicle owners may submit evidence through any of these channels.
The City currently offers both the payment and adjudication of parking tickets online, via mail or inperson. Although there are currently multiple channels through which individuals may pay or dispute
their parking tickets, DOF is interested in learning about mobile solutions that would allow for the
payment and adjudication of parking tickets via a smartphone or other mobile device.
I.B Objectives
The primary objective of this RFI is to identify and assess mobile platforms that support the payment of
parking tickets and learn about their current use and future viability. A secondary objective is to identify
existing mobile platforms that support the request for a hearing of parking tickets and learn about their
current use and future viability.
Additional objectives include the following:
• Determine the level of integration with the City’s existing systems that would be needed to
support such platforms
1
DOF also adjudicates and collects on camera violations issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for
vehicles that DOT has recorded going through a red light, illegally driving in certain bus lanes or speeding in a
school-safety zone. Hereafter, these violations are encompassed under “parking tickets” unless otherwise noted.
It is important to understand, though, that notices of liability for camera violations are not placed on the
windshield of a vehicle. Rather, they are instead mailed to the registrant of the vehicle sometime after the
violation occurs, and at the time of mailing are also uploaded into Finance’s system of record for tickets. A camera
violation and a parking ticket are different documents, with different form, format and content.
2
•
•
•
[For payment solutions only] Identify the tenders that would be supported by such mobile
platform, including but not limited to:
o Credit Cards
o ACH transfers
o Alternative payment methods, such as bitcoin, ApplePay, PayPal, etc.
Determine whether such platforms could support the real-time payment or request for a
hearing of “windshield” tickets that have been issued but not yet loaded into Finance’s IT
systems
Identify potential costs to both the City and the public that such solutions would add to the cost
of the ticket itself and the City’s convenience fee.
The Department also operates programs under which commercial fleet owners can manage the large
volumes of tickets issued to their vehicles. The requirements and legal rules for these programs are
substantially different from typical non-commercial ticket issuance. We are uncertain about whether
there is demand for mobile solutions for management of fleet tickets. We are also concerned that the
solution for such tickets would be substantially more complex than the solution for private vehicle
tickets. Consequently we are not at present including fleet requirements in this RFI. Nevertheless, we
are interested in feedback on actual or potential for fleet solutions and ask that you provide any
information you have about solutions or services you provide or contemplate providing.
II.
Current State
This section describes the current state environment for parking ticket payments and hearing scheduling
requests.
II.A Parking Ticket Payments
A motorist has 30 days from the date the ticket is issued on the windshield to pay a parking ticket base
fine in full or request a hearing for the parking ticket. If the motorist fails to make a timely payment in
full or request a hearing within 30 days, then a penalty of $10 is added to the base fine. 2 Should the
motorist fail to pay in the next 30 days an additional $20 penalty is added and, thereafter, a third and
final penalty of $30 if the motorist does not take action in the subsequent 30 days. Thereafter, the ticket
may be docketed by DOF in a Civil Court, which places the ticket in “judgment” and allows the City to
take further enforcement actions. A payment on a judgment violation results in an enforcement “hold”
being placed on the vehicle to prevent enforcement actions from being taken on the vehicle.
2
For DOT-issued camera violations, a $25 penalty is applied if payment is not made within 30 days of the notice of
liability (NOL) being mailed to the vehicle’s owner. No other penalties are applied to these violations.
3
Channel
Accepted Tender
In-Person
Credit/Debit card; paper check; money Finance Business Centers
order; cash
Appendix A)
Paper check
NYC Department of Finance
Church Street Station
POB 3640
New York, NY 10008
Online
Mail
Credit/Debit card; ACH
Location
nyc.gov/payonline
(See
Online
Parking tickets may be paid online by going to nyc.gov/payonline and selecting “Parking and Camera
Violations” or by going directly to secure24.ipayment.com/NYCPayments/nycbookmark.htm. There are
currently several limitations to paying online:
•
•
The site does not refactor to display a mobile-friendly format when accessed through a mobile
device
There is a volume limit of ~250 tickets that can be displayed and paid in a single transaction
The site does allow for payment of “windshield” tickets that pass the system’s ticket format validation
(“check digit”) rules. These are tickets that have been issued to a vehicle but have not yet been loaded
into Finance’s ticket system of record, STARS, due to a several day lag period during which time the
issuing agencies conduct quality assurance on their issued tickets. However, the site does not support
the ability for a payer to look up such tickets and confirm whether payment has posted until the original
ticket data has posted to STARS.
Per City Rules, online payments by credit/debit card are subject to a 2.49% convenience fee.
In Person
Motorists may also pay in person at a Finance Business Center between 8:30am-4:30pm Monday
through Friday. There is one center in each borough. There are currently several limitations to paying inperson:
•
•
•
Payment requires travel time to a center, often at great cost and distance
Upon arrival, motorists may have to wait additional time in a queue to pay
Payment cannot be made during evenings, weekends and holidays
By Mail
Finally, motorists may pay by mail, which by its nature results in payments being credited more slowly
than the other more immediate methods.
4
II.B Parking Ticket Hearings
If a motorist wishes to contest a parking ticket, he or she may request a hearing on the ticket online or
by mail, or may appear in-person for a hearing at a Finance Business Center.
Channel
Evidence Constraints
Location
In-Person
Requestor can bring evidence to
hearing
Requestor can submit hard copies of
evidence with written hearing request
Finance
Business Centers
Appendix A)
NYC Department of Finance
Parking Hearing by Mail
Cadman Plaza Station
POB 29021
Brooklyn, NY 11202-0921
Online
Mail
III.
Requestor can load up to 5MB of data http://nycserv.nyc.gov/NYCServWeb/
as evidence
PVOHearingRequestViolationSearch.jsp
(See
Future Vision
To further improve customer service and efficiency, DOF is seeking information on how best to take
advantage of new technologies and extend public access to government. Greater use of mobile
applications is one way that DOF envisions making this happen.
III.A Parking Ticket Payments
After an internal review of DOF’s current payment channels and of recent developments in
contemporary payment technologies, DOF believes that emerging technologies may provide a
convenient way for motorists to expeditiously pay their parking tickets via a smartphone or mobile
device.
III.A.1 Requirements:
Following are some minimum requirements that DOF would expect any mobile payment solution to
address:
1) A user must be able to pay a parking ticket via smartphone or another mobile device.
2) A user must be able to easily enter identifying information about the ticket that they wish to pay
into a smartphone or other mobile device.
3) The solution must support payment of “windshield” tickets, i.e., tickets that have been placed
on the vehicle but which have not yet been entered into the City’s system of record for parking
tickets.
5
4) The solution should interface with the City’s systems as seamlessly as possible in a way that
enables the City to maintain internal and customer-facing data standards, reporting and
accuracy.
5) The graphic user interface (GUI) through which the user enters details and authorizes payment
must be aesthetically pleasing, intuitive and easy to understand, and require minimal keyed
detail entry by the user.
6) The solution must come at no or minimal cost to the user and the City.
7) The user must be provided with a receipt articulating details of the transaction including date,
ticket number and payment amount.
8) The solution must meet payment-industry standards for security
9) The solution shall integrate seamlessly with DOF’s existing legacy systems.
III.A.2 Assumed Optimal Business Process Flow:
Our assumption regarding the optimal business process is as follows:
1) A violation is issued, either:
a. Parking ticket -- A parking ticket is issued to a vehicle and the hard copy is placed on it;
or
b. Camera violation – a notice of liability is mailed to the vehicle registrant
2) The motorist uses his or her phone to take a picture of the ticket; scan a barcode; and/or apply
some other “single click” option through which the phone captures ticket metadata.
3) The motorist is directed to a simple GUI that enables expeditious payment of the ticket and
minimal keyed entry of ticket and payment details.
4) Upon making the payment, the user is provided with a receipt.
Note that Finance is only at the early stages of investigation. We assume the above process to be
optimal but recognize that there is much we may have to learn from the market about best practices.
We welcome any proposed descriptions for additional payment technologies and processes that would
allow payment of parking tickets.
III.B Parking Ticket Hearings
As noted earlier, DOF is more concerned with learning about the market for mobile payments than a
mobile solution that would allow for a hearing to be requested and scheduled. Nevertheless, we remain
interested in solutions that could meet the following requirements.
III.B.1 Requirements
Following are some minimum requirements that DOF would expect any mobile hearing scheduling
solution to address:
6
1) A user must be able to request a hearing for a parking ticket via smartphone or another mobile
device.
2) The solution should interface with the City’s systems as seamlessly as possible in a way that
enables the City to maintain internal and customer-facing data standards, reporting and
accuracy.
3) A user must be able to easily enter identifying information about the ticket for which they wish
to request a hearing into a smartphone or other mobile device.
4) A user must be able to upload evidence at or exceeding the data size currently restricted for
online hearing requests (currently 5MB).
5) The graphic user interface (GUI) through which the user enters details and uploads evidence
must be clear, aesthetically intuitive and easy to understand, and require minimal keyed detail
entry by the user.
6) The solution must come at no or minimal cost to the user and the City.
7) The solution must be secure.
8) The solution shall integrate seamlessly with DOF’s existing legacy systems.
III.B.2 Assumed Optimal Business Process Flow
Our assumption regarding the optimal business process is as follows:
1) A violation is issued, either:
a. Parking ticket -- A parking ticket is issued to a vehicle and the hard copy is placed on it;
or
b. Camera violation – a notice of liability is mailed to the vehicle registrant
2) The motorist uses his or her phone to take a picture of the ticket; scan a barcode; and/or apply
some other “single click” option through which the phone captures ticket metadata.
3) The motorist is directed to a simple GUI that enables expeditious request for a hearing of the
ticket and minimal keyed entry of ticket.
4) The motorist is provided the option of uploading evidence via the smartphone built-in camera.
5) Upon making the hearing request, the user is provided with confirmation of successful
submission.
The preceding flow is only an example. DOF is looking for vendors to utilize their experience to propose
the most effective and efficient process to achieve DOF’s goals.
IV.
RFI Response Instructions
IV.A
RFI Due Date, Time and Location
Date:
Time:
January 15th 2015
3:00 PM
7
1. Responses must be submitted electronically by e-mail, in either Adobe PDF or in Microsoft
Word, to [email protected].
2. All responses to this RFI are to be prepared and submitted at the Contractor’s expense. The
DOF will not pay any costs incurred by Contractors in connection with the preparation,
submission, and evaluation of the RFP response.
IV.B
City Point of Contact
All inquiries and questions regarding this RFI shall be addressed to the Authorized Agency
Contact Person:
Solomon Israel
Senior Contracting Officer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (212) 602-7039
1 Centre Street, 10th Floor, Room 1040
New York, NY 10007
The deadline for submitting questions is 5PM, January 6th, 2015
IV.C
Format and Content of the Response
The following is the preferred outline for a response to this RFI. This outline is intended to
minimize the effort of the respondent and to structure the responses for ease of analysis by
DOF.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
IV.D
Cover Letter
1.0 Company Background
2.0 Past Experience with Similar Projects and References
3.0 Proposed Solutions
3.1 Mobile Payments
3.2 Mobile Hearings
4.0 Possible Cost and Payment Structures / Return on Investment to City
4.1 Mobile Payments
4.2 Mobile Hearings
5.0 Optional Commercial Fleet Mobile Solutions
6.0 Miscellaneous Information, Suggestions and Attachments
Company’s Solution and Offering
The respondents shall outline in detail the operation, features and function of their proposed
solution.
IV.D.1 Mobile Payment Solution
8
The response to RFI Outline Section 3.1 Proposed Solutions Mobile Payments shall include the following:
A. Do you currently offer a solution to other clients (i.e. municipalities or other government
entities or authorities) that allows for payment of a parking ticket via smartphone or other
mobile device? If so, describe how it currently works in practice including:
o How the ticket details are entered or captured by the user
o How the user selects payment type
o The extent to which the user must type in details
o How long it takes for payment to process in the partner client’s IT system of record
o How the payment is processed
o The extent of integration between your product and your partner client’s IT systems
o With what mobile operating systems is the solution compatible
o What telecommunication technologies does your solution use?
o Your approach to security
B. Does your solution meet the requirements described in RFI Section III.A.1? If yes, please
describe how for each requirement listed. If no, describe if and how you could build a solution
that would meet these requirements.
C. Does your solution meet the assumed optimal business process described in RFI Section III.A.2?
If yes, please describe how. If no, state whether and how you could adapt your product to meet
this standard.
D. If you think there is a better, alternative way to meet the requirements than the assumed
optimal business process, explain.
E. Is your solution able to support payment of windshield tickets, as described in this RFI by DOF?
F. Do you charge a fee to the customer or client for this solution? How much? Under what
conditions would you be willing to waive this fee?
G. What is the nature of your relationship with the ticket-issuing client? For instance, are you
working under a contract that resulted from a competitive procurement? Do you know if there
is potential for New York City to contract with you via an intra-governmental procurement?
H. How do you promote your solution to the client’s customer base?
I. Your approach to security.
IV.D.2 Mobile Hearing Solution
The response to RFI Outline Section 3.2 Proposed Solutions Mobile Hearings shall include the following:
A. Do you currently offer a solution to other clients (i.e. municipalities or other government
entities) that allows for an online hearing to be requested on a parking ticket via smartphone or
other mobile device? If so, describe how it currently works in practice including:
o How the ticket detail(s) is(are) entered or captured by the user
o How the user selects hearing channel
o The extent to which the user must type in details
o How long it takes for transaction to process in the partner client’s IT system of record
o How the hearing is processed
9
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
o The extent of integration between your product and your partner client’s IT systems
o With what operating systems and mobile platforms is the solution compatible?
o What telecommunication technologies does your solution use?
o Your approach to security
Does your solution meet the requirements described in RFI Section III.B.1? If yes, please
describe how for each requirement listed. If no, describe if and how you could build a solution
that would meet these requirements.
Does your solution meet the assumed optimal business process described in RFI Section III.B.2?
If yes, please describe how. If no, state whether and how you could adapt your product to meet
this standard.
If you think there is a better, alternative way to meet the requirements than the assumed
optimal business process, explain.
Do you charge a fee to the customer or client for this solution? How much? Under what
conditions would you be willing to waive this fee?
How do you promote your solution to the client’s customer base?
Your approach to security.
If you do not currently offer a solution describe your proposed business process flow.
10
Appendix A: Finance Business Centers
Motorists may pay in person at a Finance Business Center between 8:30am-4:30pm Monday through
Friday (excluding public holidays). There is one center in each borough.
Borough
Manhattan
Bronx
Brooklyn
Queens
Staten Island
Address
66 John Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10038
3030 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor
Bronx, NY 10455
210 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
144-06 94th Avenue
Jamaica, NY 11435
350 St. Marks Place
Staten Island, NY 10301
11
Department of Finance
Parking Operations and Planning
Request for Information (RFI) for:
Mobile Solutions for Payment and Hearing Scheduling of Parking
Tickets
1
I.
RFI Purpose & Objectives
The New York City Department of Finance (DOF) is issuing a Request for Information to obtain
information on mobile solutions for payment and hearing scheduling for parking tickets. Prospective
vendors should understand that this RFI is not a request for proposal but rather a request for
information that will assist the City in understanding A) the current market environment for mobile
payment options that could provide greater ease for vehicle owners; and B) the current market for
technologies that would allow someone to request a hearing and submit evidence.
I.A Background
The New York City Department of Finance is a Mayoral City Agency that collects over $30 billion annually
in revenue for the City of New York (“City”). Among other functions, DOF administers the adjudication
and payment collection processes for parking tickets 1 issued in the City. Each year, the City issues
between 8-10 million parking tickets, primarily by the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”)
through regular patrol officers and Traffic Enforcement Agents that report to NYPD. DOF collects
between $550-$600 million in annual revenues from base fines and penalties on these violations. A
further 1.5 - 2 million tickets are adjudicated by the parking court each year online, via mail or in-person.
Vehicle owners may submit evidence through any of these channels.
The City currently offers both the payment and adjudication of parking tickets online, via mail or inperson. Although there are currently multiple channels through which individuals may pay or dispute
their parking tickets, DOF is interested in learning about mobile solutions that would allow for the
payment and adjudication of parking tickets via a smartphone or other mobile device.
I.B Objectives
The primary objective of this RFI is to identify and assess mobile platforms that support the payment of
parking tickets and learn about their current use and future viability. A secondary objective is to identify
existing mobile platforms that support the request for a hearing of parking tickets and learn about their
current use and future viability.
Additional objectives include the following:
• Determine the level of integration with the City’s existing systems that would be needed to
support such platforms
1
DOF also adjudicates and collects on camera violations issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for
vehicles that DOT has recorded going through a red light, illegally driving in certain bus lanes or speeding in a
school-safety zone. Hereafter, these violations are encompassed under “parking tickets” unless otherwise noted.
It is important to understand, though, that notices of liability for camera violations are not placed on the
windshield of a vehicle. Rather, they are instead mailed to the registrant of the vehicle sometime after the
violation occurs, and at the time of mailing are also uploaded into Finance’s system of record for tickets. A camera
violation and a parking ticket are different documents, with different form, format and content.
2
•
•
•
[For payment solutions only] Identify the tenders that would be supported by such mobile
platform, including but not limited to:
o Credit Cards
o ACH transfers
o Alternative payment methods, such as bitcoin, ApplePay, PayPal, etc.
Determine whether such platforms could support the real-time payment or request for a
hearing of “windshield” tickets that have been issued but not yet loaded into Finance’s IT
systems
Identify potential costs to both the City and the public that such solutions would add to the cost
of the ticket itself and the City’s convenience fee.
The Department also operates programs under which commercial fleet owners can manage the large
volumes of tickets issued to their vehicles. The requirements and legal rules for these programs are
substantially different from typical non-commercial ticket issuance. We are uncertain about whether
there is demand for mobile solutions for management of fleet tickets. We are also concerned that the
solution for such tickets would be substantially more complex than the solution for private vehicle
tickets. Consequently we are not at present including fleet requirements in this RFI. Nevertheless, we
are interested in feedback on actual or potential for fleet solutions and ask that you provide any
information you have about solutions or services you provide or contemplate providing.
II.
Current State
This section describes the current state environment for parking ticket payments and hearing scheduling
requests.
II.A Parking Ticket Payments
A motorist has 30 days from the date the ticket is issued on the windshield to pay a parking ticket base
fine in full or request a hearing for the parking ticket. If the motorist fails to make a timely payment in
full or request a hearing within 30 days, then a penalty of $10 is added to the base fine. 2 Should the
motorist fail to pay in the next 30 days an additional $20 penalty is added and, thereafter, a third and
final penalty of $30 if the motorist does not take action in the subsequent 30 days. Thereafter, the ticket
may be docketed by DOF in a Civil Court, which places the ticket in “judgment” and allows the City to
take further enforcement actions. A payment on a judgment violation results in an enforcement “hold”
being placed on the vehicle to prevent enforcement actions from being taken on the vehicle.
2
For DOT-issued camera violations, a $25 penalty is applied if payment is not made within 30 days of the notice of
liability (NOL) being mailed to the vehicle’s owner. No other penalties are applied to these violations.
3
Channel
Accepted Tender
In-Person
Credit/Debit card; paper check; money Finance Business Centers
order; cash
Appendix A)
Paper check
NYC Department of Finance
Church Street Station
POB 3640
New York, NY 10008
Online
Credit/Debit card; ACH
Location
nyc.gov/payonline
(See
Online
Parking tickets may be paid online by going to nyc.gov/payonline and selecting “Parking and Camera
Violations” or by going directly to secure24.ipayment.com/NYCPayments/nycbookmark.htm. There are
currently several limitations to paying online:
•
•
The site does not refactor to display a mobile-friendly format when accessed through a mobile
device
There is a volume limit of ~250 tickets that can be displayed and paid in a single transaction
The site does allow for payment of “windshield” tickets that pass the system’s ticket format validation
(“check digit”) rules. These are tickets that have been issued to a vehicle but have not yet been loaded
into Finance’s ticket system of record, STARS, due to a several day lag period during which time the
issuing agencies conduct quality assurance on their issued tickets. However, the site does not support
the ability for a payer to look up such tickets and confirm whether payment has posted until the original
ticket data has posted to STARS.
Per City Rules, online payments by credit/debit card are subject to a 2.49% convenience fee.
In Person
Motorists may also pay in person at a Finance Business Center between 8:30am-4:30pm Monday
through Friday. There is one center in each borough. There are currently several limitations to paying inperson:
•
•
•
Payment requires travel time to a center, often at great cost and distance
Upon arrival, motorists may have to wait additional time in a queue to pay
Payment cannot be made during evenings, weekends and holidays
By Mail
Finally, motorists may pay by mail, which by its nature results in payments being credited more slowly
than the other more immediate methods.
4
II.B Parking Ticket Hearings
If a motorist wishes to contest a parking ticket, he or she may request a hearing on the ticket online or
by mail, or may appear in-person for a hearing at a Finance Business Center.
Channel
Evidence Constraints
Location
In-Person
Requestor can bring evidence to
hearing
Requestor can submit hard copies of
evidence with written hearing request
Finance
Business Centers
Appendix A)
NYC Department of Finance
Parking Hearing by Mail
Cadman Plaza Station
POB 29021
Brooklyn, NY 11202-0921
Online
III.
Requestor can load up to 5MB of data http://nycserv.nyc.gov/NYCServWeb/
as evidence
PVOHearingRequestViolationSearch.jsp
(See
Future Vision
To further improve customer service and efficiency, DOF is seeking information on how best to take
advantage of new technologies and extend public access to government. Greater use of mobile
applications is one way that DOF envisions making this happen.
III.A Parking Ticket Payments
After an internal review of DOF’s current payment channels and of recent developments in
contemporary payment technologies, DOF believes that emerging technologies may provide a
convenient way for motorists to expeditiously pay their parking tickets via a smartphone or mobile
device.
III.A.1 Requirements:
Following are some minimum requirements that DOF would expect any mobile payment solution to
address:
1) A user must be able to pay a parking ticket via smartphone or another mobile device.
2) A user must be able to easily enter identifying information about the ticket that they wish to pay
into a smartphone or other mobile device.
3) The solution must support payment of “windshield” tickets, i.e., tickets that have been placed
on the vehicle but which have not yet been entered into the City’s system of record for parking
tickets.
5
4) The solution should interface with the City’s systems as seamlessly as possible in a way that
enables the City to maintain internal and customer-facing data standards, reporting and
accuracy.
5) The graphic user interface (GUI) through which the user enters details and authorizes payment
must be aesthetically pleasing, intuitive and easy to understand, and require minimal keyed
detail entry by the user.
6) The solution must come at no or minimal cost to the user and the City.
7) The user must be provided with a receipt articulating details of the transaction including date,
ticket number and payment amount.
8) The solution must meet payment-industry standards for security
9) The solution shall integrate seamlessly with DOF’s existing legacy systems.
III.A.2 Assumed Optimal Business Process Flow:
Our assumption regarding the optimal business process is as follows:
1) A violation is issued, either:
a. Parking ticket -- A parking ticket is issued to a vehicle and the hard copy is placed on it;
or
b. Camera violation – a notice of liability is mailed to the vehicle registrant
2) The motorist uses his or her phone to take a picture of the ticket; scan a barcode; and/or apply
some other “single click” option through which the phone captures ticket metadata.
3) The motorist is directed to a simple GUI that enables expeditious payment of the ticket and
minimal keyed entry of ticket and payment details.
4) Upon making the payment, the user is provided with a receipt.
Note that Finance is only at the early stages of investigation. We assume the above process to be
optimal but recognize that there is much we may have to learn from the market about best practices.
We welcome any proposed descriptions for additional payment technologies and processes that would
allow payment of parking tickets.
III.B Parking Ticket Hearings
As noted earlier, DOF is more concerned with learning about the market for mobile payments than a
mobile solution that would allow for a hearing to be requested and scheduled. Nevertheless, we remain
interested in solutions that could meet the following requirements.
III.B.1 Requirements
Following are some minimum requirements that DOF would expect any mobile hearing scheduling
solution to address:
6
1) A user must be able to request a hearing for a parking ticket via smartphone or another mobile
device.
2) The solution should interface with the City’s systems as seamlessly as possible in a way that
enables the City to maintain internal and customer-facing data standards, reporting and
accuracy.
3) A user must be able to easily enter identifying information about the ticket for which they wish
to request a hearing into a smartphone or other mobile device.
4) A user must be able to upload evidence at or exceeding the data size currently restricted for
online hearing requests (currently 5MB).
5) The graphic user interface (GUI) through which the user enters details and uploads evidence
must be clear, aesthetically intuitive and easy to understand, and require minimal keyed detail
entry by the user.
6) The solution must come at no or minimal cost to the user and the City.
7) The solution must be secure.
8) The solution shall integrate seamlessly with DOF’s existing legacy systems.
III.B.2 Assumed Optimal Business Process Flow
Our assumption regarding the optimal business process is as follows:
1) A violation is issued, either:
a. Parking ticket -- A parking ticket is issued to a vehicle and the hard copy is placed on it;
or
b. Camera violation – a notice of liability is mailed to the vehicle registrant
2) The motorist uses his or her phone to take a picture of the ticket; scan a barcode; and/or apply
some other “single click” option through which the phone captures ticket metadata.
3) The motorist is directed to a simple GUI that enables expeditious request for a hearing of the
ticket and minimal keyed entry of ticket.
4) The motorist is provided the option of uploading evidence via the smartphone built-in camera.
5) Upon making the hearing request, the user is provided with confirmation of successful
submission.
The preceding flow is only an example. DOF is looking for vendors to utilize their experience to propose
the most effective and efficient process to achieve DOF’s goals.
IV.
RFI Response Instructions
IV.A
RFI Due Date, Time and Location
Date:
Time:
January 15th 2015
3:00 PM
7
1. Responses must be submitted electronically by e-mail, in either Adobe PDF or in Microsoft
Word, to [email protected].
2. All responses to this RFI are to be prepared and submitted at the Contractor’s expense. The
DOF will not pay any costs incurred by Contractors in connection with the preparation,
submission, and evaluation of the RFP response.
IV.B
City Point of Contact
All inquiries and questions regarding this RFI shall be addressed to the Authorized Agency
Contact Person:
Solomon Israel
Senior Contracting Officer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (212) 602-7039
1 Centre Street, 10th Floor, Room 1040
New York, NY 10007
The deadline for submitting questions is 5PM, January 6th, 2015
IV.C
Format and Content of the Response
The following is the preferred outline for a response to this RFI. This outline is intended to
minimize the effort of the respondent and to structure the responses for ease of analysis by
DOF.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
IV.D
Cover Letter
1.0 Company Background
2.0 Past Experience with Similar Projects and References
3.0 Proposed Solutions
3.1 Mobile Payments
3.2 Mobile Hearings
4.0 Possible Cost and Payment Structures / Return on Investment to City
4.1 Mobile Payments
4.2 Mobile Hearings
5.0 Optional Commercial Fleet Mobile Solutions
6.0 Miscellaneous Information, Suggestions and Attachments
Company’s Solution and Offering
The respondents shall outline in detail the operation, features and function of their proposed
solution.
IV.D.1 Mobile Payment Solution
8
The response to RFI Outline Section 3.1 Proposed Solutions Mobile Payments shall include the following:
A. Do you currently offer a solution to other clients (i.e. municipalities or other government
entities or authorities) that allows for payment of a parking ticket via smartphone or other
mobile device? If so, describe how it currently works in practice including:
o How the ticket details are entered or captured by the user
o How the user selects payment type
o The extent to which the user must type in details
o How long it takes for payment to process in the partner client’s IT system of record
o How the payment is processed
o The extent of integration between your product and your partner client’s IT systems
o With what mobile operating systems is the solution compatible
o What telecommunication technologies does your solution use?
o Your approach to security
B. Does your solution meet the requirements described in RFI Section III.A.1? If yes, please
describe how for each requirement listed. If no, describe if and how you could build a solution
that would meet these requirements.
C. Does your solution meet the assumed optimal business process described in RFI Section III.A.2?
If yes, please describe how. If no, state whether and how you could adapt your product to meet
this standard.
D. If you think there is a better, alternative way to meet the requirements than the assumed
optimal business process, explain.
E. Is your solution able to support payment of windshield tickets, as described in this RFI by DOF?
F. Do you charge a fee to the customer or client for this solution? How much? Under what
conditions would you be willing to waive this fee?
G. What is the nature of your relationship with the ticket-issuing client? For instance, are you
working under a contract that resulted from a competitive procurement? Do you know if there
is potential for New York City to contract with you via an intra-governmental procurement?
H. How do you promote your solution to the client’s customer base?
I. Your approach to security.
IV.D.2 Mobile Hearing Solution
The response to RFI Outline Section 3.2 Proposed Solutions Mobile Hearings shall include the following:
A. Do you currently offer a solution to other clients (i.e. municipalities or other government
entities) that allows for an online hearing to be requested on a parking ticket via smartphone or
other mobile device? If so, describe how it currently works in practice including:
o How the ticket detail(s) is(are) entered or captured by the user
o How the user selects hearing channel
o The extent to which the user must type in details
o How long it takes for transaction to process in the partner client’s IT system of record
o How the hearing is processed
9
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
o The extent of integration between your product and your partner client’s IT systems
o With what operating systems and mobile platforms is the solution compatible?
o What telecommunication technologies does your solution use?
o Your approach to security
Does your solution meet the requirements described in RFI Section III.B.1? If yes, please
describe how for each requirement listed. If no, describe if and how you could build a solution
that would meet these requirements.
Does your solution meet the assumed optimal business process described in RFI Section III.B.2?
If yes, please describe how. If no, state whether and how you could adapt your product to meet
this standard.
If you think there is a better, alternative way to meet the requirements than the assumed
optimal business process, explain.
Do you charge a fee to the customer or client for this solution? How much? Under what
conditions would you be willing to waive this fee?
How do you promote your solution to the client’s customer base?
Your approach to security.
If you do not currently offer a solution describe your proposed business process flow.
10
Appendix A: Finance Business Centers
Motorists may pay in person at a Finance Business Center between 8:30am-4:30pm Monday through
Friday (excluding public holidays). There is one center in each borough.
Borough
Manhattan
Bronx
Brooklyn
Queens
Staten Island
Address
66 John Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10038
3030 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor
Bronx, NY 10455
210 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
144-06 94th Avenue
Jamaica, NY 11435
350 St. Marks Place
Staten Island, NY 10301
11
