[sustran] Commenting the San Francisco RFQ (Request for Qualifications)

[Eric Britton]

Dear Carshare friends,

 

I would like to invite comment here if you think it useful - i.e., via email
to WorldCarShare at yahoogroups.com - on the San Francisco RFQ (Request for
Qualifications). Again, the base documents are available at
<http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/BidDetail.aspx?K=1694>
http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/BidDetail.aspx?K=1694 

 

To get the ball rolling, let me offer . . . 

 

1.     "The City and County of San Francisco is seeking qualified candidates
to provide car sharing/rental services in order to maximize efficiencies and
meet the mobility needs of city employees, while minimizing cost, fuel
consumption, and vehicle emissions."



2.     At first glance it looks like a very useful approach, aiming as it
does specifically to target city employees (I'd like to see that in EVERY
carshare project) as well as providing specific (though provisional)
geographical targets.



3.     The documents refer to them repeatedly as "rental vehicles". And
"rental pool vehicles".  (Striking me as a good commonsensical way of seeing
all this.)



4.     The encouragement with solid incentives for provision of services by
local business enterprises. 



5.     And for non-profits 



6.     I note the very tight time schedule for the RFQ responses (barely two
weeks).  I guess this implies that the city team 



7.     Very useful that the city team provides specific accounting
background on the costs of operating vehicles in their own conventional city
owned/operated fleets ($7,364/year). Provides a nice solid benchmark. 



8.     My first reading seems to indicate that the successful operator will
be able to redeploy vehicles for more general service in non-peak (for city
employees' needs) periods.)

 

Let me leave it at that for now, since I am sure that you comments will be
more useful than mine, given that many of you here have years of direct
hands-on experience. 

 

The final point I would like to draw to your attention, however, is that
this is very much in line with our main 2009-2012 goal for World Carshare -
namely to see how we can thought this collaborative network and our own
contributions bring information, materials, ideas and perspective to cities
so that they can become stronger partners in carsharing that really works.

 

I look forward with real interest to your comments.

 

Eric Britton