The vendor is required to provide toll collection service (TCS) includes:
- System implementation, integration, and management
• Integrate the authority’s project requirements into the vendor’s existing service framework.
• Create and manage interfaces with the required external entities.
• Manage and operate an end-to-end toll collection system for unpaid pay-by-plate transactions in the continental country
• Ensure seamless integration with the authority’s existing roadway systems and department.
• Design all integrations and interfaces with scalability in mind to accommodate future growth and enhancements
• Conduct virtual workshops, including business rules, requirements, design, invoice, noticing, and reporting, in addition to any other areas needed.
• Develop and manage an automated court package generation
- Transaction processing
• Process all lane transactions.
• Forward all e- ZPass etc. transactions to department for processing
• Process all image-based registered and unregistered pay-by-plate transactions including all images returned as uncollectable from department
• Conduct automated and manual image reviews for license plate identification.
• Manage problematic plates.
• Perform in-state and out-of-state department lookups for vehicle owner information.
- Customer and account management
• Establish and manage customer accounts for pay-by-plate transactions, including registered prepaid and post-paid accounts.
• Provide a user-friendly interface for customers to manage their accounts and make payments.
• Provide multi-channel customer support (phone, email, web, and text)
• Manage customer inquiries, disputes, and complaints.
• Maintain a high level of customer satisfaction.
- Invoicing and payment processing
• Generate and distribute customer invoices for pay-by-plate transactions according to the authority’s business rules.
• Process payments through multiple channels (online, mail, phone, and cash payment networks).
• Implement a cash payment network.
• Establish a bank account on the authority’s behalf for a daily sweep of the payments received.
• Reconcile all payments and provide detailed financial reporting to the authority.
- Collections
• Implement and manage a comprehensive collections strategy for unpaid tolls.
• Generate and send notices for unpaid tolls according to the authority’s business rules.
• Manage the escalation process for unpaid tolls, including subsequent notices, fines, and fee assessment.
• Coordinate with the authority for department holds and court adjudication processes.
• Develop and manage the creation of automated court packages (both printable and electronic) for potential legal action
- Reporting and analytics
• Provide comprehensive reporting on all aspects of the toll collection process, including system performance and collection trends.
• Provide real-time access to system data and performance metrics.
- Compliance and security
• Ensure compliance with all relevant federal, state, and local regulations, including data privacy laws.
• Implement robust data security measures to protect customer information.
• Maintain all necessary licenses and certifications for toll collection and debt collection activities.
- Performance management
• Meet or exceed all established key performance indicators (KPIS).
• Participate in monthly performance reviews with the authority.
• Implement continuous improvement strategies based on performance data.
- Implementation management
1. Implementation process:
• All transactions sent to department before the cutover date will remain under department management until they reach final disposition.
• The vendor's system will process new transactions after the cutover date.
• No historical data migration from department is required for this implementation
2. Integration requirements
• Develop and test data integration with all authority service providers
• Complete comprehensive testing to include operational readiness testing with service providers before going live
• Ensure seamless data flow between all integrated systems
3. Implementation plan
• Develop a comprehensive implementation plan for converting from violation-based to pay-by-plate processing.
• Provide detailed documentation of new processes and procedures
• Deliver thorough training to authority staff on system use and management
• Execute a comprehensive implementation plan from the current violation processes to the new pay by-plate processes and systems
2.1.10 communication and transparency
• Maintain clear and regular communication with the authority on all aspects of the system and services.
• Provide the authority complete visibility into system operations, including access to near real-time data and performance metrics.
- Documentation required
• The vendor shall submit all contract documents listed in the table below for the authority’s review and approval.
• The vendor shall use document standards for all document types submitted to the authority for review and approval as part of the project management plan (PMP).
• All drawings and diagrams shall conform to generally used industry standards and practices and the authority documentation and procedures.
• All project documentation shall be written in plain english, in a font no smaller than 10-point.
• Using copyrighted documents is prohibited, and any documentation submitted can be copied without additional authorization.
• all project documentation submitted by the vendor shall be in electronic format using standard MS word, MS excel, MS project, and pdf formats.
• The vendor shall maintain comprehensive documentation of all system components, APIs, interface control documents, and interfaces if they are not part of the list of documents outlined in the table below.
• The vendor shall update the documentation listed in the table below to reflect system code changes, configuration changes, and enhancements before being put in revenue service or yearly if no defined changes have occurred. - System integration and testing
• The TCS vendor will integrate the authority’s requirements into their existing service framework, leveraging their established systems and processes to meet the authority’s specific needs for image-based tolling and revenue collection.
• Integrate and test with authority’s existing systems and interfaces (a-to-be, department, etc.)
• A-to-be batch compiles transactions for image-based transactions before sending them to the TCS.
• The zip file sizes are roughly 20 mb each. transactions are sent in near real-time.
• Provide application programming interface (APIs) or interfaces for data exchange with department, image review, manual image review, department, out of states department, cash payment network vendors and the local and regional courts, a reputable bank, authority, and other stakeholders.
- Image processing.
• TCS shall route the image-based transactions to the appropriate location(s) for processing.
• Perform automated image review for license plate identification and route to the appropriate location(s) for processing.
• The automated review shall include:
o Continuously updates and improve the automated image review system to enhance performance and
increase the percentage of images processed automatically.
o Routinely updates the system to recognize new license plate designs and formats as they are issued
by department, ensuring timely and accurate processing of all plate types.
• TCS shall send the unidentified image-based transactions to the appropriate location(s) for manual image review and processing.
• The manual image review (mir) system and/or mir vendor shall conduct a double-blind manual license plate review of images that cannot be automatically processed with a high accuracy rate and a third review when the double-blind results differ and send the results to the appropriate location(s) for processing.
• The mir system and/or mir vendor shall provide the authority and other authorized parties with secure access to the rejected images for quality control.
• The vendor shall receive and process any initially rejected image-based toll transactions resubmitted from the authority’s quality review for processing.
- Department lookups
• TCS shall integrate the department ROV lookup into their existing processing for collection.
• The vendor shall comply with the commonwealth of department department ROV lookups on behalf of the authority.
• The exchange of registered owner of vehicle (ROV) information is free for any public agency for commonwealth of state ROV lookups.
• Vendor shall post the ROV information with a date stamp on the customer’s account for
invoicing, noticing, and collection purposes.
• Vendor shall perform as many of the forty-nine (49) united states non- department and country
provinces as allowable by law and individual department policies for out-of-state ROV information lookups as defined in the authority’s business rules.
• Vendor shall post the out-of-state ROV information with a date stamp on the customer’s account for invoicing, noticing, and collection purposes.
• Maintain an account database of vehicle registration information.
• Comply with all relevant privacy and data protection regulations.
- Pay-by-plate before fees incurred and invoicing
• The vendor shall match and reconcile the customers’ pay-by-plate website entries, or the pay-by-plate payments received via mail or calls to the processed image-based transactions before fees and invoicing occur.
• The vendor shall create and post the customers’ pay-by-plate website entries, or the pay-by-plate payments received via mail or calls and the image-based transaction to the customer’s account.
• The vendor shall not process the payment until after the pay-by-plate entry has been reconciled to process the image-based transactions.
• Unmatched pay-by-plate payments shall remain in the vendor system as outlined in the authority’s business rules.
• The vendor shall provide the authority with an unmatched report of all customers’ entries that have not been reconciled based on a configurable duration (number of days) after the customer entries on the website or received payment.
- Invoicing
• Post pay-by-plate transactions to the customer accounts
• Generate invoices with an image for all unpaid pay-by-plate transactions received within the configurable number of days.
• For pricing purposes, the assumption is an average of three (3) transactions on the first invoice. imagery is printed on both sides of the paper in black and white.
• The vendor shall update the ROV information every thirty (30) days.
• Check the ROV retrieval date requirement before invoicing and update the accounts when required. include the ROV information retrieval date on the customer’s accounts for adjudication evidence.
• Send invoices on a configurable number of days cycle, including the account unpaid balance from previous invoices and the total amount due (within one (1) month, a commuter could receive three invoices before receiving a violation notice).
• Manage returned mail and perform skip-tracing to obtain a current address for future mailings.
• Resend invoices with the updated addresses obtained from skip tracing or other sources.
- Noticing and collections
• Manage the (invoicing, first notice, second notice, legal notice, department hold, and court adjudication) escalation process for unpaid transactions.
• Perform skip tracing to locate customers with returned mail or outdated contact information.
• Utilize advanced address verification techniques to improve contact rates.
• Regularly update customer contact information in the system as required by the statutes and the authority’s business rules and maintain the historical records.
• Offer and manage payment plans for customers unable to pay full amounts and train staff to negotiate settlements within the authority’s approved parameters.
• Capability to implement and manage an amnesty program as defined in the authority’s business rules
• Generate first notices and assess fines for all unpaid pay-by-plate transactions previously invoiced within a configurable number of days cycle.
• First notices must be sent via USPS first class mail per the agency.
• Generate second notices and assess fines for all unpaid pay-by-plate transactions previously invoiced within a configurable number of days cycle.
• Generate the legal notices and assess fines for all unpaid pay-by-plate transactions previously invoiced within a configurable number of days cycle.
• Based on the authority’s business rules, generate the department hold notices and assess fines for all unpaid pay-by-plate transactions previously invoiced.
• The vendor shall update the ROV information for the in-state ROVs every thirty (30) days.
• Check the ROV retrieval date requirement before noticing and update the accounts when required.
• Include the ROV information retrieval date on the customer’s accounts for adjudication evidence.
• This requirement confirms the correct address is being used for all future communications being sent.
• Send notices on a configurable number of days cycle based on the anniversary date (date of first invoice) with an exception to the department hold notice, including the aggregated account unpaid balance from previous invoices and notices with the total amount due.
• Manage returned mail and perform skip-tracing to obtain a current address for future mailings.
• Resend the first notice with the updated addresses obtained from skip tracing or other sources.
• Manage the escalation process for unpaid tolls, including fine assessment
- Debt collection strategy
• Vendor shall ensure that all collection activities comply with the fair debt collection practices act (FDCPA) and other relevant laws and regulations.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive collection strategy for unpaid pay-by-plate transactions and present it to the authority for approval.
• Implement a multi-channel collection approach, including mail, email, phone, and text messaging (for those customers who have opted in as their preferred communication method) to manage payments, customer inquiries, disputes, and complaints.
• Provide and manage an online portal for customers to view and pay unpaid tolls easily.
• Integrate with the cash payment network within the Authority an option for customers to pay.
• Authority does not require a specific number of locations or designate specific municipalities within the authority.
• However, the intent is to provide broad accessibility and convenience for customers.
• The vendor’s proposed cash payment network should ensure sufficient coverage and distribution to meet customer needs effectively.
• Authority will review and approve the proposed locations to ensure they align with operational goals and customer convenience. - Data management
• Store and manage images and account data securely.
• Comply with the authority’s data retention, which follows the library of state privacy and business rules and policies.
• Comply with all applicable data protection laws, including but not limited to the act
• Implement robust data security measures to protect sensitive customer information.
• At a minimum, the vendor will conduct security audits annually, provide results to the authority, and promptly address any vulnerabilities.
• Upon the vendor's awareness of a security event that occurs with the TCS system, the vendor shall perform additional security audits and provide the findings to the authority.
• Provide secure access to authority and other authorized parties for compliance monitoring and dashboards.
• To be payment card industry data security standard certified, conduct all required testing by a qualified security assessor (QSA) audit annually.
• Payment card industry data security standard compliance level shall be determined by annual transactions processed and compared to the requirements of each credit card company used as a payment method within the contract, including the customer payment portal
- Reporting and reconciliation
• Generate reports on the TCS activities and performance (see appendix 8.10 reporting matrix)
• Provide daily financial and operational reports to the authority.
• Reconcile all transactions to include but not limited to pay-by-plate transactions, payments, fees, fines, civil penalties, adjustments, refunds, chargebacks, bank deposits, credit card merchant postings, department holds and removals, etc.
• Track key performance indicators (KPIS) for collection efforts, such as collection rate and recovery by age of debt.
• Conduct root cause analysis on uncollectible debts to inform future collection strategies.
• Maintain audit trails for all transactions and account activities.
• Provide monthly performance, non-compliance reports, and collection trends with the vendor’s invoice package.
- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: March 21, 2025