GO TRANSIT ISSUES RFP FOR MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICES
I. GENERAL
A. General Information
The City of Oshkosh (also herein referenced as the “City”) is requesting
proposals from firms (hereinafter known as “Proposers”), to provide Non-
Ambulatory Paratransit Services.
B. Questions or Addenda
Questions regarding this RFP must be submitted via electronic mail. No
informal communication shall occur regarding this RFP, including requests for
information or speculation between Proposers and any City of Oshkosh
employees. Any contact or attempt to contact any other employee of the City
regarding this RFP may result in the immediate disqualification of the
Proposer. Oral and other interpretations or clarifications will be without legal
effect. Only questions answered by formal written addenda will be binding. All
questions regarding this RFP must be submitted via email by the deadline
stated within this RFP to:
Jon G. Urben, General Services Manager, City of Oshkosh
Email: jurben@ci.oshkosh.wi.us
Proposers interested in receiving any addenda to this RFP shall provide an
email address to Jon Urben by no later than the deadline for submitting
questions stated within this RFP.
II. TERMS AND CONDITIONS
A. RFP Submittal
All proposals, sealed and marked “PROPOSAL FOR MARKETING & PUBLIC
RELATIONS SERVICES,” are due by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 30,
2022 and must be delivered to:
City Manager, c/o City Clerk’s Office,
Room 108, City Hall,
215 Church Avenue, P.O. Box 1130,
Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130
PART B – GENERAL INFORMATION
GO Transit provides fixed-route bus service in the City of Oshkosh. As required by the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), GO Transit also offers paratransit service to
individuals with disabilities within the City of Oshkosh that are unable to access bus
routes. Additional paratransit services are also provided to other populations within the
City of Oshkosh and rural Winnebago County residents. The purpose of this RFP it to
hire a contractor who will provide marketing and public relations services including
social media management. GO Transit’s mission is to provide reliable, affordable and
accessible public transportation to support our community’s mobility needs.
The City of Oshkosh/GO Transit is hereinafter referred to as “GO Transit.”
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
GO Transit has established a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program in
accordance with regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 49 CFR
Part 26. It is the policy of GO Transit to ensure that DBEs, as defined in 49 CFR Part
26, have an equal opportunity to receive and participate in DOT-assisted contracts.
There is no contract goal established for this agreement. If a proposer is certified with
the State of Wisconsin as a DBE vendor, please indicate the DBE certification within the
submitted proposal.
Funding
Funding for this procurement is provided by City, State, and Federal taxpayer dollars.
As such, the agreement with the successful proposer shall at all times be subject to the
rules and regulations of Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Federal
Transit Administration, under the provisions of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of
1964, as amended. (See Federal Clauses pages 18-29).
Length of Contract
The contract length will be for three (3) years with an anticipated start date of August 1,
2022. After the initial three-year contract this contract may be renewed by the city for
two additional one year terms. A sample contract is listed on p. 18.
Project Introduction
GO Transit is seeking competitive proposals from qualified and experienced firms to
develop and execute strategies and tactics in support of its marketing initiatives. The
successful proposer’s marketing initiatives will incorporate a wide range of strategies to
effectively promote and increase awareness of GO Transit’s services to key audiences
including but not limited to: existing riders; potential riders; and the general public/nonriders.
The successful proposer will have demonstrated experience in brand building,
marketing, public relations, social media management & marketing, digital marketing, media planning & placement and market research. GO Transit’s primary marketing goals
are to maintain and increase bus ridership and improve public perception of transit in the
City of Oshkosh
Estimated Budget
GO Transit has a current total contractual services budget of approximately $24,000 per
year for this service. Additionally, advertising expenses were approximately $7,000 in
2022. We anticipate similar budget amounts each year of this RFP’s resulting agreement.
However, additional services may be requested beyond these amounts, which depend
on campaigns, unforeseen events and tasks we agree to undertake in a given year. See
“Cost Proposal Form” to provide rates for additional services.
Insurance Requirements
Prior to award of this contract the successful proposer will be expected to provide a
certificate of insurance meeting the attached insurance requirements. Note: the proposer
does not need to provide a bid bond, payment bond or performance bond for this project.
The City of Oshkosh Insurance Requirements are attached to this RFP.
Summary
The selected firm’s shall develop an overall strategy for advertising and promoting public
transit services in the Oshkosh market. In general, this will include, but is not limited to
planning, conceptualizing, producing, implementing, evaluating, and analyzing marketing
and public relations solutions. Specific items/tasks include, but are not limited to the
following:
Create and maintain monthly and annual marketing plan
Implement brand communication strategy
Production of all creative, copy writing and media placement. The selected firm
must have extensive graphic design/creative capabilities.
Social media management (see section below)
Manage public relations, press releases and interview scheduling with the
collaboration of Oshkosh Media Services as needed. Ability to provide media prep
and coaching to GO Transit staff in advance of media interviews. The selected
firm’s staff must be available during interview or onsite, if needed.
Selected firm must have local and regional media relationships.
Promotion of GO Transit’s rider app and website
Development of high quality, economical production options for printing and
marketing materials and items related to this contract
The selected firm will be able to respond and quickly react to the needs of GO Transit
and events outside of GO Transit’s control. Public relations capabilities must include
ability to respond in less than 30-minutes in the event of an unforeseen event(s).
All work products associated with this contract shall be the property of GO Transit. All
graphic design work must be provided in a format editable using Adobe Creative Suite.
Attendance at City of Oshkosh Transit Advisory Board and Oshkosh Common Council
meetings may be required to present on annual marketing plan updates or other topics
as needed.
Social Media Management
GO Transit Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn social media platforms.
The selected firm will manage these platforms on behalf of GO Transit, including content
development, calendar, regular posting of content (including time sensitive posts),
monitoring posts and analytics tracking. GO Transit will provide the awarded firm with
access to the applicable user accounts.
At a minimum, social media should be monitored and managed from 6:00 AM – 8 PM
Monday – Saturday. The selected firm is expected to provide a timely response to posts
when appropriate.
Meetings
Regular meetings will be held between the selected firm’s project manager and other
applicable team members with GO Transit staff for the purpose of maintaining a close
relationship, planning, status reporting, etc. Meetings can be held online or at GO
Transit’s administrative office located at 926 Dempsey Trail in Oshkosh.
Audits
The Contractor shall make financial and operating records available to State, Federal,
County and City auditors in order to comply with program audit requirements.
Accounting records and other related financial books and records shall be subject to an
audit as directed by GO Transit. Such audit shall be completed at Contractor’s expense
and delivered to GO Transit no later than 150 days after the end of Contractor’s fiscal
year.
Non-federal entities that expend $500,000 or more in Federal awards in a year are
required to have annual audits in accordance with OMB Circular A-133. Under the
current service level in this solicitation, the Contractor does not receive more than
$500,000 in Federal awards. GO Transit funding includes roughly 30% federal funds.
However, if the Contractor receives Federal awards through other contracts, this
requirement may apply.
Invoicing
Monthly invoices shall be forwarded within ten (10) days after the end of each month to:
City of Oshkosh AP
P.O. Box 1130
Oshkosh, WI 54903
Contractor Compensation
GO Transit agrees to pay the Contractor monthly. Monthly invoices shall be forwarded
within ten (10) days after the end of each month to:
GO Transit – City of Oshkosh
PO Box 1130
Oshkosh, WI 54903
Upon verification of the monthly invoice, approved invoiced amounts will be paid to the
Contractor within 30 days. In the event an overpayment is made to the Contractor, the
Contractor shall refund all such excess compensation to GO Transit.
Changes to the Agreement
GO Transit may at any time by thirty (30) days written notice change or amend the
awarded proposer’s agreement. Should the Contractor not wish to abide with these
changes, the Contractor shall give 30 days’ written notice of their intent to terminate the
agreement.
General Information
Award of the contract shall be made to the most responsive and responsible proposer
whose proposal meets the specifications and is most advantageous to the City of
Oshkosh.
Proposed Schedule
The following schedule provides information on events and deadlines for this proposal.
RFP Issued May 25, 2022
Deadline for Submitting Written Questions/Clarifications June 10, 2022
Email amendments to proposers, which includes answers to
all questions submitted, supplements and/or revisions to RFP
June 15, 2022
Deadline for Proposal Submittal June 30, 2022
Anticipated Contract awarded July, 2022
Anticipated Contract start date August 1, 2022
The City of Oshkosh reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive any
informalities in the process, or to accept any proposal deemed in the best interests of
the City of Oshkosh.
Addenda / Questions
