03-08-2022, 10:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-08-2022, 10:38 AM by danbrotherston.)
(03-08-2022, 09:48 AM)jamincan Wrote: At work, if I approach a vendor and request a quote and they just shrug their shoulders and point to other businesses that use their services and tell me they have a policy of not providing quotes, that "option" is going to end up in the trash. I would have made the same decision as the Region did at that time. It looks to me like Presto took themselves out of the running. I know you cynically believe there was some sort of anti-Presto conspiracy among staff at the Region, Dan, but I have yet to see a shred of evidence to that effect.
Presto is not just any an interchangeable vendor. They are the ONLY source for integrated transit fare cards.
And our government is not a business and should not be run like a business (I get tired of saying this) But even if we were a business, if your customers were telling you "You MUST have X for a good customer experience." Then even if the sole vendor of X isn't willing to follow YOUR process, you should probably pursue a relationship with them anyway.
I'm not suggesting there is an anti-presto conspiracy, where have I called it a conspiracy? A conspiracy would be if esolutions paid council or staff under the table to take Presto out of the running. I never suggested anything remotely like that, so don't accuse me of such things.
I simply believe our council and staff had a personal preference not to use presto. Nothing about that is a conspiracy, in fact, it's literally the thing we elect people for, to have a preference, even if we use processes like RFPs to pretend otherwise sometimes.
In any case, Presto is the ONLY vendor that can provide an integrated fare card solution in the region. So council and staff had to decide from the outset, do we want an integrated fare card, and what are we willing to give up for it.
They pretty much decided no, they didn't want that, and wouldn't pursue such an option.
But blaming an RFP process for that decision is dishonest.
Frankly, I think it was a mistake (both at the time, and now). It was not a user centric decision (as few decisions at GRT are) and was not a future looking decision, and so it will only become an increasingly big issue as our intercity transit improves.