RFI: Lockage and Mooring Self-Serve Payment Options for the Trent-Severn Waterway

Title: RFI: Lockage and Mooring Self-Serve Payment Options for the Trent-Severn Waterway (TSW) Description: Current Situation: Lockage and mooring fees are currently collected by Parks Canada Agency (PCA) lock operators as vessels travel through the lock stations along the TSW. Staff are also responsible for the physical operation of the locks (opening/closing gates, adjusting water levels) and for guiding boaters as they travel through them. The collection of user fees from boaters requires a considerable amount of time and effort due to the variety of options that are available to boaters, which range from one-day passes to seasonal permits that allow for unlimited use of the waterway for one season. User fees are priced by the foot, which means that they vary based on the length of the vessel that is locking through or mooring for the night. Self-Serve Payment Options: PCA wants to explore the possibility of allowing boaters to use “self-serve payment options” that will allow boaters to pay their lockage and mooring fees on their own, in advance of their arrival at a TSW lock station. The goal in doing so would be to minimize the amount of staff time required to collect those user fees. Reducing the amount of time and effort required for fee collection should also result in shorter transit times for boaters at TSW lock stations. Nature of Request for Information: This is not a bid solicitation. This RFI will not result in any direct request for proposal or the award of any contract. As a result, potential suppliers of any goods or services described in this RFI should not reserve stock or facilities, nor allocate resources, as a result of any information contained in this RFI. Nor will this RFI result in the creation of any source list. Therefore, whether or not any potential supplier responds to this RFI will not preclude that supplier from participating in any future procurement. Also, the procurement of any of the goods and services described in this RFI will not necessarily follow this RFI. This RFI is simply intended to solicit feedback from industry with respect to the matters described within this document. Time and Place for Submission of Responses: Suppliers interested in providing a response should send it by email to (pat.alguire@canada.ca) by the closing date. Suppliers wishing to submit their responses via a channel other than email need to contact the procurement officer indicated above.