The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications is currently running The National Heavy Vehicle Charging Pilot which is an Australian industry partnership with heavy vehicle operators and service providers to test alternative heavy vehicle charges through a phased approach of feasibility studies. A small scale on-road trial concluded in January 2020 with the next phase being the Large Scale On-Road Trial. As part of this trial three separate but related Requests for Expressions of Interest (REOI) have been issued this week, all of which represent the first of a two stage procurement process. This first stage looks to identify a shortlist of potential suppliers with proven capability and experience, prior to seeking Requests for Tender. The REOIs are as follows:
Provision of third party invoicing solutions for collecting and analysing road use data. This activity is to support a large scale on-road trial of direct distance and mass based user charging for heavy vehicles. The solution is required to simulate a model under which charges are collected based on the distance travelled by participants and mock invoices are generated. The benefits of this model include simplified reporting for road users and ability to leverage market-led innovation.
Provision of one or more telematics-based solutions for measuring road distance travelled by participants The department is seeking one or more telematics-based solution that will utilise Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS-based) vehicle telematics devices and hardware to capture and record the distance travelled by a vehicle. This data is then to be summarised and a mock invoice generated to compare current heavy vehicle charges with alternate mass-distance charges. The benefits of this model include simplified reporting for road users and the ability to leverage market-led innovation.
Provision of one or more manual solution for measuring road distance travelled by participants The manual-based solution is required to simulate a prepaid permit system by utilising equipment such as hubodometers to capture and record data about the distance a vehicle has travelled. Using this system, a participant in the National Pilot is required to purchase a set amount of kilometres, the equipment then measures the distance travelled, and this data is matched against the purchased kilometres, with ‘top up’ reminders to simulate a real pre-paid system.
For all REOI, tenderers can proposes one or more solutions, however it is important that at least one solution meets all of the mandatory criteria. Two pre-procurement industry briefing sessions were held Friday, 1 May 2020. These sessions provide general information about the service and the procurement process. These sessions can be accessed and viewed here. All of the above contracts are expected to run for 24 months and the REOIs close on 12th August 2020.
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