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 IsraelS@finance.nyc.gov. 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: IsraelS@finance.nyc.gov 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