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Home My WebLink AboutTA.10 - ZED DigitalREQUEST FOR INFORMATION 0 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 1 COVER LETTER Attn: Mr. Victor Kandle, Mass Transit Administrator County of Hawaii, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo, Hawaii, 96720 Dear Team, We are writing to express our interest in providing Programming Services for Public Transit App Development as outlined in the Additional Notice pursuant to HRS Sec. 103D-304(b). At ZED Digital, we bring over 7 years of extensive experience in implementing cutting-edge trip planning and mobile ticketing solutions for transit. Our headquarters are in Columbus-OH. We hold a National Women’s Business Enterprise Certification WBE by the Federal Government. We believe our extensive experience and proven track record in developing public transit applications make us a strong candidate for this project. We look forward to the opportunity to further discuss how we can contribute to the success of Hawaii’s public transit system. I will be your primary contact and am authorized to enter contracts on behalf of the firm. You can reach me at 614.523.3974 sumithra@zeddigital.net, or 1275, Kinnear Rd. Columbus, Ohio 43212, in case of an interview. Sumithra Jagannath President, ZED Digital REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 2 Firm Information Firm Name: Closerlook search services Inc DBA ZED Digital Contact Name: Sumithra Jagannath Title: President Phone: 614.523.3974 Email address: sumithra@zeddigital.net Location: 1275, Kinnear Rd. Columbus, Ohio 43212 Age of the firm: 17 years Number of employees over the past 5 years: 25 Individual Qualifications Sumithra Jagannath (20+ years) Project Role: Project Manager Workload Availability: 25% Skills: Project management, Usability Engineer, Digital Marketing Strategist Experience: President, ZED Digital, Digital Marketing & Software Development, Professor of Usability Education: B.Eng (Computer Science, 1990; M.Sc Computer Science 1992, McGill University William Roberts (7+ years) Project Role: Full-stack developer Workload Availability: 100% Cloud hosting with Google Cloud and AWS HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Jquery, JSON, Angular, C#, and SQL Otterbein University: 2010 – 2014 Columbus, OH Bachelor's of Science: Math and Science Education Karthik Hariraj, Hardware & Cloud Engineer PROJECT ROLE: Installation, Test, and maintenance lead, hosting lead Workload Availability: 100% Education: Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, (2015 – 2019) Technical skills: Internet of Things, Payment Card Industry Ruban Jayakumar (14+ years) Project Role: Lead Software Engineer & Architect Workload Availability: 100% Skills: Software Architect for ZIG, ASP .NET, Data Aggregation, Web, and App Development Experience: MDOT, CDOT, TARC, ACRTA, ZED Digital, COTA, Cleveland RTA, Ehash Software Solutions Education: B.E, Computer Science and Engineering – Anna University REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 3 Johnny Anthony, Mobile App Developer ZED Digital PROJECT ROLE: Cyber Security Specialist, Test, and maintenance lead WORKLOAD AVAILABILITY: 100% Education: Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Sri Krishna College of Technology, Coimbatore (2015 – 2019) Technical skills: Android Programming, Block Chain, Network Security, Internet of Things, Payment Card Industry Security Emerson Keppler CREATIVE DIRECTOR Workload Availability: 25% Education B.F.A. Graphic Design & Advertising – Columbus College of Art and Design Skills Graphic design, UX/UI, Mobile app design, Proficient with Mac and PC, & full Adobe Suite! References CLIENT’S REFERENCES ACRTA, Lima OH 2023 till Ongoing Multimodal trip planner with Fixed Route, On Demand services, Lyft, AVL validators onboard vehicles Brian Wildermuth Co-Executive Director brian@acrta.com Ecolane Inc 2022 till Ongoing Mobile ticketing and trip planner integrating fixed route, On Demand, ADA, Microtransit, Uber, Lyft, Bikeshares, Scooters in single app X4MaaS. Contactless mobile ticketing, onboard validators – sensors with ADA Compliant validation with phone in pocket Susan Clutter, Director, Business Development, Ecolane susan.clutter@ecolane.com ViaPlus (Vinci Highways) 2022 till Ongoing Multimodal Trip Planner platform Richard Arce President Email: arce@viaplus.com LETS Public Transportation 2023 till Ongoing Michigan Mobility Wallet with MaaS trip planner and mobile ticketing, trip booking for Demand Response services Adam Baranski Deputy Director abaranski@livgov.com Clinton Bluebus 2023 till Ongoing Michigan Mobility Wallet with MaaS trip planner and mobile ticketing, trip booking for Demand Response services Ty Piontek, Operations Manager (989) 534-2704 piontekt@clintontransit.com REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 4 Experience Statement From Transit Mobility as a Service Solutions to Contactless Mobile Payment and fraud detection sensors, ZED Digital has always been at the cutting edge of technology. We help our partners by offering the most innovative technology solutions, transforming their everyday tasks into smart experiences. COMPANY ZED Digital is a solely owned OHIO S-Corp founded in Columbus OH 2005. We are certified DBE by INDOT and WBENC certified woman-owned business with headquarters in Columbus- OH and satellite offices in Orlando-FL and Montreal-Canada. We have a staff of 20 people with a combined experience of 80+ years in the Transit industry. We have served over 100 clients. QUALIFICATIONS AND HISTORY ZED Digital has a unique competitive advantage compared to other Smart Mobility Software companies. Our MaaS mobility aggregation platform, called CloserLook Search®, has powered MaaS needs of several large implementations such as statewide multi-agency Multi modal Trip planner+Mobile Ticketing platform for MDOT and CDOT, Central Ohio Transit Authority, Ohio Department of Transportation, Transit Authority of River City (TARC), Greater Cleveland RTA. CloserLook Search® has successfully powered our MaaS and trip planner solution ZIG™, which has been used since 2017 by Transit agencies such as: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, Central Ohio Transit Authority, Transit Authority of River City (TARC, Louisville KY), and more recently Palm Tran (West Palm Beach FL). ZED Digital is a Transit Technology company with over 25 years of custom software development and over 7 years of extensive experience in implementing cutting-edge solutions in transit technology, specifically specializing in AI Enabled Mobility as a Service and mobile ticketing solutions. ZED Digital has a proven track record in developing and managing transit software solutions. We have 7+ years experience implementing Multi modal Trip planner +Mobile Ticketing solutions for major clients such as TARC, SEAT, GCRTA, ACRTA, BJCTA. We provide state-wide MaaS + Mobile Ticketing solutions for Colorado Department of Transportation and Michigan Department of Transportation, with a muti-agency solution in a single Multi modal Trip planner+Ticketing platform. The ZIG Multi modal Trip planner and ticketing solution proposed for BFT can be viewed in the video link below. Our Mobile Ticketing solution has won international awards. ZED Digital's Superwallet solution has not only been successful in delivering cutting-edge transit technology but has also been recognized internationally. The solution has received prestigious awards in the industry, highlighting its innovation, effectiveness, and impact on enhancing the transit experience for users. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 5 ZIG Mobility as a Service app in 200+ cities. We propose ZIG Mobility as a Service trip planner app capabilities currently available in 200+ cities in 45 states. The features of ZIG include: Mobile Ticketing Capabilities Purchase tickets for multiple modes in one app. Board with phone in pocket. Fully automated fare purchase and validation Multi modal Trip Planner Multimodal ticketing for all your modes in one app combines Fixed route, ADA/Paratransit, Microtransit, Demand Response. Obtain a real-time cost of your entire travel and first/last mile connection options to transit rides. Realtime crowding data on vehicles Our mobile app will inform your riders in real-time on vehicle occupancy and crowd levels. Trip Origin/Destination Analytics Our trip planner provides real-time boarding and alighting data for passengers. This data offers insights for route planning Real-Time transit visualization on trips planned View your bus arriving on a map and the ETA to your stop. Obtain notifications of delays in real- time Find places, landmarks, attractions Find your destinations and plan a ride within clicks. Obtain door to door directions. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 6 Real-time generation of bus schedule ZIG generates PDF documents of your schedules in real-time. This is a unique feature of ZIG. No more outdated PDFs of your bus schedules. ZED Digital has a unique competitive advantage compared to other Smart Mobility Software companies. We introduced the first hands-free ticketing solution in North America which provides Contactless, queueless and cashless ticketing. a. We provide hands-free ticketing – where rider fares and passes can be automatically verified as a person on boards the vehicle, with the phone in their pocket. This provides a seamless rider experience and interaction with County of Hawaii. b. Only ADA compatible device in the market. c. Our validators combine multiple validation modes QR codes, Aztec bar codes, Bluetooth and NFC validation integrated into a single cell-phone sized unit. d. Our mobile ticketing app provides automated ID verification for seniors/students/special fares. The hardware and software combined solution proposed above has the following additional benefits to COUNTY OF HAWAII: 1. OFFLINE PROCESSING: Our validators can validate tickets even in case of limited or no Internet connectivity on rider mobile phones. 2. Our validators will provide the ability to purchase a ticket, display arrival info or alerts in an offline mode. They will use integrated WiFi hotspot to provide connectivity to riders who are offline. 3. Our validators onboard the vehicles provide a reliable approach to fraud detection to track fare evasion. 4. ZIG validators provide the real-time vehicle occupancy data to riders via the app. This is a COVID safety measure. 5. Validators alert riders of social distancing if they are too close to each other. 6. Sensors provide data to help drivers prioritize their order of inspection to avoid discrepancies. 7. Sensors automatically trigger real-time alerts about riders that ride past the destination within their permitted fare. 8. Sensors can enable the Agency to learn rider habits and preferences and personalize the rider experience in future or to make system improvements. For example validators can tell us how much time a user waits at a stop before they boarded. 9. The sensors will enable COUNTY OF HAWAII to deliver personalized messaging to each rider directly to their smartphone. 10. The in-built GPS in sensors provide location-based services with higher accuracy than relying on the GPS on user phones. Description of Hardware Validators Touchless features to increase safety and restore riders' confidence! In 2018, ZED Digital was one of the first to successfully introduce a multi format validator that included REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 7 Internet of Things technology combined with traditional QR and Bar Code validation. Our validators are fully patented and can support all of the following modes: • QR code validation • Bar code validation • Bluetooth validation • NFC validation with phone • NFC smart card validation • * New feature: Contactless BLE for onboard credit card purchases by NFC tap, chip or swipe credit cards Our validators ensure validation and usability with limited or no internet connectivity (Offline Validation). The ZED contactless fare validation process is described: 1. Plan for a trip and purchase fares with the mobile ticketing app. 2. The rider decides if they would like to use the Bluetooth based automatic validator or if they would like to manually scan a QR code. 3. If the user selects QR code, they can activate the ticket on mobile app with a single click and view the QR code on their phone. The user can then scan the code on the QR code scanner provided on the validator. 4. In the automatic scan or Bluetooth mode, the mobile app notifies the users to turn on their phone’s Bluetooth port. 5. The user then activates a ticket using a one-click action before boarding. 6. As the rider boards the vehicle, the Bluetooth validator on the bus will communicate with the rider's mobile phone and auto validate the ticket while the phone remains in the user’s pocket. 7. The driver will see a green light on the sensor unit indicating a valid ticket or a red light indicating an invalid one. 8. In the case of red light, the driver can verify the authenticity of the ticket using visual validation: color of phone screen (red or green), the time remaining for the ticket to expire (ticking clock), the date and will see if it is a special fare (discount ticket).The driver can touch the phone screen to move the QR code to ensure it is not a screenshot. 9. Touchless Next Stop request to the driver from the mobile app. No more pulling chords or touching bus surfaces! 10. Touchless SOS emergency request and alerts to drivers and control rooms in case of health emergencies onboard QR Code Scanner, NFC & Bluetooth ZED’s validator combines multiple technologies in a single unit. • The sturdy design is vandalism proof. • Customizable length power cables will be supplied to connect to the DC power outlet on the bus • The power connection is built into the connector box on the back of the validator to prevent yanking or breaking. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 8 • The chords are hidden inside the mounting pole at the back to prevent vandalism and are connected to the power supply on the bus from under the dashboard. • The validators will be installed behind the farebox on the flat dashboard surface approximately midway between the doorstep and the driver. • The range of the Bluetooth sensors will be limited to 2-3 feet around the farebox area to ensure accuracy of scanning. Contact and contactless EMV (cEMV) payments (Open Payment) Our validators have been recently enhanced to accept credit card payments onboard with a smooth magnetic stripe swipe path, durable EMV chip contact insertion slot, and fast EMV/NFC contactless tapping pad from contactless cards and most mobile wallets and wearables including Apple Pay, D-PAS, ExpressPay, Google Pay, MCL, PayWave, and Samsung Pay. This enhanced feature will enable Metrolink to accept credit card payments directly onboard the coaches without the need to use the mobile app. Riders can swipe their credit cards directly on the validators to purchase a ticket. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 9 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 10 ELECTRONIC Validators With Contactless eMV (cEMV), QR Code Scanner, NFC & Bluetooth REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 11 OPTIONAL ALL DOOR BOARDING REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 12 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 13 VALIDATOR ANALYTICS ZIG offers unique analytics that combines all mobility options, including public and private transportation modes. ZIG is the only tool to provide such deep analytics for public and private modes combined in a single device. ● The data is available in real-time. Transit agencies know that reducing ride times and wait times, developing a reputation of reliability, and offering a safe service are critical for both the rider experience and enticing new riders to use the system. ZED’s Approach is to use Big Data Analytics to understand rider expectations. Our Data Analytics platform helps you keep up with, and surpass, rider expectations. Assess real-time data on rider wait times, overall ride times, and headways across all routes. This will allow you to quickly identify potential pain points for your riders, and areas of improvement for your service. The post pandemic route optimization changes need to cater to a changing work schedule as well as origin and destinations of trips. To this end, our solution delivers Origin/Destination analytics and heatmaps to help track the changes in rider commuting habits. This data will help tailor the solution to changing rider needs in a post pandemic world. Heatmap, charts of rider trip origin/destination changes during and after Pandemic REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 14 Changes in rush hour commute before and after Pandemic Support We provide Emergency telephone support with 2-hour response 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including all regular American holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day). We assign notified issues to one of the two categories listed below, based on severity. Category 1 Site Outage/Emergency Support Category 2 Tech support and regular maintenance Issues that render the software as a whole or any vital function unusable Issues causing the software to function correctly, but continually slow Actions that severely compromise the security of the software or data held within it Minor faults where parts are not functioning properly, but this does not affect the overall impact of the software Data logged by the webserver is corrupt. All other scheduled maintenance work or software additions/changes Emergency messages or information to be distributed on the website or via email blasts/social media etc. Updates that occur that need our support during or after business hours Please call our emergency hotline at 614 383 9993 or email helpdesk@zed.digital. We will begin to work within 2 hours of your notification. This includes holidays and after hours. Please email your account representative or helpdesk@zed.digital. Our service policy is to deliver a resolution within 1-2 business days, depending on the complexity of the issue. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 15 APPENDIX