Executing Agency (Client): The City of Galati (the City)
The city of Galati, with a population of 250,000, is a significant commercial and industrial centre in southeast Romania, with the local economy related to steel processing (ArcelorMittal), ship manufacturing (Damen Shipyards) and adjacent industries. Galati has about 345 kilometres of streets in total. The City has already completed the first phase of the urban infrastructure upgrade with a total amount of about EUR 14 million, co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund; however, there are still investments needs in the urban transport sector and related infrastructure.
The City has therefore approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with a request to provide funding for the modernisation of urban roads and for an upgrade to related road and public transport management measures. The Bank is considering providing a RON 100 million (or EUR 22.6 m equivalent) to the Municipality of Galati, to finance key investments in the urban transport sector and related infrastructure.
The Project’s objectives are to enhance the quality of public transport services and mobility of the citizens of Galati. The Project will finance the rehabilitation and performance-based maintenance arrangements of about 15 kilometres of streets, which are priority investments according to the City’s urban development plan. In addition, the Project will finance the acquisition of trolley-buses and the introduction of an automated fare collection system, both of which designed to improve the attractiveness of public transport for users.
The current fare collection system in the City is obsolete. The public system is based on monthly paper passes and single fares collected as cash on-board by conductors. High cost and fare evasion along with ‘cash leakage’ are the primary shortcomings of the current system.
Whilst Transurb operation is established and every ticket issued is recorded, the private mini bus ticketing system is unstructured and unregulated and suffers from a number of issues as below:
- Lack of detailed accounting of cash for each individual transaction
- Significant loss of income caused by a cash-based ticket system
- Lack of regulatory measures to police routes, frequency and compliance of route fuel theft
- Non-payment of taxes on ticket revenue
- Buses carrying more passengers than the legal limit
- Buses exceeding safety standards
Given the financial position of Transurb and the need for a City subsidy of some €8 million/year, the City has embarked on reform of the urban transport sector that includes transport optimisation and improvement the company’s public transport operations. Given the current situation and following a study commission by Galati Municipality (available to the consultant), the City have decided to introduce an automated fare collection system.
The City plans to have an AFC system where users are issued with contactless smart cards carrying information with a stored value. It is planned that the card will be able to carry money, various public and private operated transport tickets and dedicated applications for access to other services including, parking zones or bicycle rental.
The cards will be available both personalised and none personalised. Personalized cards will have a set of personal data printed on them to identify the card holder and give an access to certain pre-defined benefits, like discounts for public transport services. Personalised cards will be issued and required for the groups of citizens entitled to free of charge public transport services.
According to the City’s plans, the new AFC system will allow the tracking of the public transport fleet. This will be used to monitor operator’s performance and to pay for the actual delivered services. It should enable the improvement of service quality by providing real time information to users on the expected arrival of vehicles at stops.
The Consultant will carry out the following tasks, inter alia:
- Public Transport Sector Overview
- Review of the Legal Analysis
- Business Plan and Project Justification
- Design and scope of the AFC System
- Procurement Support
- Contract administration support
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or group of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in second quarter 2015 and has an estimated overall duration of 24 months.
Maximum Budget available for the Assignment: EUR 200,000 (exclusive of VAT).
The Consultant must determine whether any indirect taxes/VAT are chargeable on the proposed services and state the basis for such. If any indirect taxes/VAT are payable, the Client will have to pay indirect taxes/VAT element to the services directly to the Consultant unless otherwise agreed.
Funding Source: EBRD Shareholder Special Fund (“EBSF”)
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant shall be responsible for mobilisation of qualified engineers, technicians and other professional staff with the proven experience in the administrative management, procurement, design and supervision of similar.
The Consultant shall demonstrate:
- Experience in similar assignments in the past seven years;
- Experience in countries with similar environment (climatic, social, administrative and cultural) conditions;
- Experience in implementation of projects financed by Multilateral Development Banks or IFIs.
The Consultant will provide a team of qualified experts with very good command of English with specific expertise as follows:
- AFC Public Transport Ticketing Expert/Team Leader
- very good current and demonstrated knowledge of AFC systems
- experience in the design and implementation of at least two AFC contracts
- Procurement Expert
- very good knowledge of procurement policies and rules of the Multilateral Development Banks (such as WB and EBRD)
- experience in implementation of procurement activities - at least two projects financed the Multilateral Development Banks (such as WB and EBRD)
- experience in the procurement of at least two contracts based on the World Bank Supply and Installation of Information Systems Two-Stage Tendering Standard Tender Documents
- Financial Expert
- extensive finance and/or accounting experience.
- good understanding of the Romanian financial and fiscal legislation, including public finance
- experience in the financial and clearing-house aspects of AFC systems or similar complex systems.
- Legal Expert (Romanian)
- qualifications from anaccredited university/law school.
- extensive experience in the legal drafting of contracts under Romanian Commercial and Civil Code/Law
- experience in the legal drafting of contracts for the operation and maintenance of out-sourced facilities; the experience in drafting contracts for the operation and maintenance of out-sourced AFC contracts will be considered a distinct advantage.
It is expected that the Consultant will engage a sufficient number of local experts to enable the proper interaction with the client and with the local business environment.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants to be shortlisted, the information submitted should include the following:
(a) brief overview of the firm/group of firms including company profile, organisation and staffing;
(b) details of similar experience of firm or group of firms and related assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, percentage carried out by consultant in case of association of firms or subcontracting, main activities, objectives;
(c) CVs of key experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.
(d) Completed Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:
The expression of interest shall not exceed 25 pages (excluding CVs and contact sheet).
One original and one copy of the expression of interest, in English, shall be submitted to the Client in an envelope marked “Galati Urban Transport Rehabilitation Project -
Automated Fare Collection”, to reach Client not later than 9 April 2015 at 14:00 (Romanian time).
One further electronic should be submitted to the EBRD’s contact person by the same due date.
The Client Contact Person:
Mr Costel Hanta
Director
Municipality of Galanti
Domneasca Str. 38, Galati, 800008, Romania
Email: hanta.c@primaria.galati.ro
Phone: +40 236 323136
The EBRD Contact Person:
Larissa Gosling
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6338
Fax: +44 20 7338 7451
E-mail: GoslingL@ebrd.com
Important Notes:
1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected from a shortlist and be invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
2. Evaluation criteria and respective weightings are:
(a) Consultancy firm(s)’ experience in implementation of similar assignments in countries with similar environment (30%)
(b) Consultancy firm(s)’ experience in implementation of projects financed by Multilateral Development Banks or IFIs (30%)
(c) Qualifications and experience of Individual experts based on their CVs and team composition (40%)
