Title: Michigan Department of Transportation Statewide Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) Procurement Evaluation – Phase I: Software Procurement
Abstract: This project evaluates the process that was followed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and other stakeholders for the acquisition of new Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) software aiming to integrate and facilitate the management of various Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) components across Michigan. The reported evaluation is based on a review of various documents associated with the procurement project and interviews with key individuals involved in the procurement. This includes individuals from the MDOT, the Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT), the Michigan Department of Management and Budget (DMB), Kimley-Horn of Michigan, which was commissioned under a separate contract to draft user needs and requirements for the procurement, and consulting firms responding to the procurement’s Request for Proposal (RFP). Positive experiences from the procurement include: involvement of the entity that would be ultimately be responsible for ongoing system support; use of vendor demonstrations prior to drafting the RFP to help build a better understanding of what was available and feasible; use of technical requirements to steer submitted solutions towards what exactly was being sought; appropriate consideration of the State’s long-term needs; use of an evaluation committee covering various fields of expertise; and use of an external consulting firm to draft the system requirements. Negative experiences include the late involvement of MDIT; a potential loss of impetus due to the long interval between the draft and final RFP; a lack of continuity caused by the fact that few people were continuous throughout the project; a lack of involvement of operational staff; too much reliance on an external firm to draft the system needs; and the need to devote significant time to answer and review the high number of requirements attached to the RFP. Many of these negative experiences can directly be linked to the delays that resulted from transferring the project lead to MDIT and establishing for the first time an effective collaboration between these two agencies. A repetition of a similar process would consequently likely go more smoothly and quickly.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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