Terms of reference for the provision of expert support to design a big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management in the City of Larissa (Greece)

1.     CODATU

CODATU is a network bringing together urban mobility actors aiming to promote sustainable urban mobility in developing cities. To foster the exchange of knowledge and know-how, CODATU organizes conferences, training, technical cooperation and regularly publishes guidelines on this topic. The association also supports cooperation between local authorities in the field of transport and urban mobility.

2.     Context of the mission

2.1     The Urban Transport Community

The “Urban Transport Community” is an initiative of the European Interreg MED program launched in November 2016. This Community of Practice is led by the “Urban Transports” project led by MedCities (Barcelona, ​​Spain), in partnership with UNIMED (Italy), Area Science Park (Italy), CODATU (France), CIVINET CY- EL (Cyprus-Greece), POLIS (Belgium) and the municipality of Durres (Albania).

The Community promotes urban mobility planning in the Euro-Mediterranean region as an effective tool to reduce GHG emissions and improve quality of life. Since 2016, this Community has brought together seven territorial cooperation projects co-financed by the ERDF and nearly 120 organizations from 12 Euro-Mediterranean countries.

To capitalize and transfer the actions implemented by these seven projects, a mentoring program is currently being launched to support local authorities with a tailor-made support to implement the replicable solutions developed and tested by our Community. Eight cities, hereafter identified as the Replicators, selected via a public call will therefore each be accompanied by an expert in urban mobility (hereafter identified as Mentor) to adapt an action implemented by a “Pioneer City” to prepare for its implementation.

The City of Larissa (Greece) was thus selected to develop Big data and ICT for smart traffic management in its territory, drawing inspiration from the Cites of Rimini and Misano Adriatico (Italy), hereafter identified as Pionneer cities.

The objective of this service provision is to provide expert support, as Mentor, to design a big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management in the City of Larissa (Greece).

As partner of the Urban Transport project, CODATU has the role of coordinator of this mentoring program and is the Contractor of this service provision.

2.2    Misano Adriatico and Rimini, the Pioneer Cities

Both cities Rimini and Misano Adriatico have developed pilot actions to collect data and further analyse the impacts of traffic and tourism flows during two important events: the “San Marino and Rimini Coast Grand Prix” part of the Moto GP World Championship, in Misano, and the yearly “Ecomondo Expo” the Rimini green technology Fair.

The Planning Office of Misano Adriatico Municipality promoted a study on mobility flows during the Moto GP in September 2018, as a step for rethinking mobility strategies, based on the evidence of visitors’ flows and needs, looking for more eco-friendly and multi-modal integrated transport solutions.

The Rimini Strategic Plan Agency, driven by a wide local and regional governance, launched a similar analysis during Rimini “ECOMONDO2018” the leading expo on green and circular economy in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

Big data was collected in an aggregated manner, respecting all privacy criteria. The data came mainly from Cell Site Location Information (CSLI), Floating Car Data (FCD) i.e.data from on-board black boxes installed in vehicles for insurance purposes, Traffic Control System (TCS) and traffic detection cameras. The sample focuses on data regarding the starting point of the travel, the length of the journey, the rush hours for the arrivals and departures, the parking areas, the length of the stays and any other information connected to the use of mobility services dedicated to visitors.

More information on the measure: https://medurbantools.com/portfolio_page/big-data-analysis-in-rimini-and-misano/

2.3    Larissa, the Replicator city

Larissa is the capital and largest city of the region of Thessaly in Greece. The Municipality of Larissa has a population of more than 160.000 residents and have a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. The Municipality plans and organizes urban mobility in the city of Larissa in close cooperation with local stakeholders in accordance with the approved SUMP.

Over the past years, the Municipality of Larissa has conducted urban mobility interventions. One of the future goals of the Municipality is to explore ways to monitor the effectiveness of the urban mobility solutions implemented. Big data open new ways to extract information on the way mobility systems work. The Municipality of Larissa wishes to get engaged in the mentoring process to employ big data to monitor the implementation of the urban mobility solutions implemented and to evaluate them. Until now, the planification of the mobility has been done without regular data collection but with punctual qualitative and quantitative studies.

 The outcome of this intervention would be to identify the weak and strong points of the mobility solutions.

With the mentoring process the Municipality aspires to:

• Receive detailed information on what the Pioneer City has implemented: the details of the intervention, the cost, the obstacles, the required synergies, the sustainability strategy etc..
• Discuss with local stakeholders the steps which would have to be taken to adapt and replicate the Pioneer City’s solution successfully,
• To obtain an adaptation report, which would be an Action Plan on the steps which would have to be taken to replicate the solution.

In the end of the process, the Municipality of Larissa expects to have a clear understanding on which fields of mobility the big data could be applied, how they could be used to evaluate the existing mobility systems and how to extract the desired information. To promote this intervention, the Municipality of Larissa will rely on existing collaboration with stakeholders and will explore the need to create new synergies.

3.     Nature of the services requested

The mobility expert recruited will play the role of Mentor for the City of Larissa to support the design of “Big data and ICT strategy” for smart traffic management, relying on the exchange of experience with the Cities of Rimini and Misano Adriatico.

The scope and characteristics of the services are as follows:

3.1   (A) State of the art and workplan

The service provider is expected to synthetize the state of the art of smart mobility and ICT in the City of Larissa. It will consider:

– The specificities of the local context (relative regulations, etc.);

– The approved SUMP;

– The Current urban mobility projects;

– The public, private and associative stakeholders involved in this field;

– The quantitative data available.

In addition, an exchange with the cities of Larissa, Rimini and Misano will make it possible to build a work plan and consolidate the timeline of activities foreseen.

Deliverables under section A :

• A1 : Work plan and timeline
• A2 : Report in English « State of the Art of Big Data and ICT for smart traffic management in the City of Larissa”

3.2   (B) Facilitate the Knowledge exchange between the mentoring parties

In parallel to the State of the Art, 4 online bilateral meetings will take place between March and May 2021 involving the technical teams of the Replicator and the Pioneer institutions. These meetings will aim at better understanding the pioneer case, the replicator context and the potential adaptably between them. The agenda, frequency and calendar of these meetings will be agreed upon between the Replicator, the Pioneer and the service provider, under the coordination of the contractor. Additionally, a visiting study to the premises of the Pioneer institutions is foreseen to be organised either physically or online during the mentoring process with the aim of getting to know better the experience of the Pioneer institution. For both types of meeting, a Guidelines for Bilateral Meetings and Visiting Study will be provided by the contractor to support in their preparation.

To be noted that both studies in the cases of Misano and Rimini were commissioned to an Italian Company which will be involve during the mentoring process in at least one meeting and the visiting study.

The service provider is expected to:

– Prepare and facilitate the bilateral meetings between the mentoring parties by consulting them in advance, setting the discussion items and the agenda of the meetings, prepare presentations of first findings or relevant points for exchange and guide the exchange between both parties (4 meetings of 2 hours approximately). The contractor will deal with all the logistics.

– Draft a brief report of each bilateral meetings capturing the main conclusions of the exchange, the main learning outcomes, the next steps and the risks or challenges identified for the way forward (+/- 5 pages).

– Prepare and facilitate the visiting study (physical or online) by consulting the mentoring parties in advance, setting the discussion points, prepare presentations on relevant points and guide the exchange between both parties. The contractor will deal with all the logistics.

– Draft a report with the main learning outcomes, challenges identified and next steps after the visiting study (+/- 10 pages).

The travel and accommodation expenses of any physical meeting during the mentoring will be taken in charge by the contractor and should not be considered in the financial offer.

Deliverables under section B:

B1 : 4 brief reports in English of bilateral meetings (+/- 5 pages) and 1 report in English of the visiting study outcomes (+/- 10 pages).

B2 : Presentations (PPT or Word) in English used during the meetings and visiting study.

3.3   (C) Pilot design of a “Big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management” in the City of Larissa

Based on the information collected under sections A and B, the service provider will define the best-suited methodology to design a « Big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management » in the City of Larissa.

This strategy will also be based on the results of the stakeholder consultation during a workshop organized in Larissa. This workshop will bring together all local stakeholders, such as bus companies or the Cyclists’ association. The agenda and the objectives of the workshop will be agreed between the consultant, the replicating city and CODATU. The pioneer cities will be able to participate in this workshop online or physically according to its availability and interest.

The consultant is expected to:

– Prepares and facilitates the workshop that will take place in Larissa by consulting the Municipality beforehand, setting the objectives, preparing the agenda, the work methodology, the presentations and leading the workshop. CODATU will take care of the logistics of these exchanges.

– Draft a report with the main discussions and conclusions of the workshop

– Draft the “Big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management” in Larissa

Deliverables of section C:

• C1: Concise report describing the conclusions of the workshop and the strategic orientations adopted and Presentations (PPT or Word) in English used during the workshop

• C2: Report (+/- 25 pages) « Big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management » in the City of Larissa.

3.4   (D) Dissemination of the results of the mentoring

The Urban Transport aims to disseminate the results of the knowledge exchange. To this end, the service provider is expected to :

– Participate at a short, recorded interview with the contractor to inform about the midterm results of the mentoring process (+/- 1-hour meeting approx.). The contractor will provide an interview guide to help the service provider prepare the interview. Please note the interview will be recorded and disseminated through the project’s website and social network platforms.

– Draft an Adaptation Report (+/- 25 pages) to summarize the results of the mentoring and highlight the replicable aspects of the Pioneer case and their adaptation proposed to the Replicator. The adaptation report will be common to the 8 mentoring schemes and drafted based on the Adaptation Report Guidelines provided by the contractor. The report should be drafted in consultation with and considering the feedback of the mentoring parties.

– Present the Adaptation Report in 2 meetings / seminars organised by the project. The meetings will most probably be held online between October and December 2021. Should they be organised physically, the travels and accommodation costs for the service provider’s participation will be taken in charge by the project.

Deliverables under section D:

D1: 1-hour online meeting / interview to present the mid-term results of the mentoring.

D2: 1 adaptation report in English (+/- 25 pages). A first draft version of the adaptation report is expected for August 2021, the final version is to be validated by the 31 September 2021.

D3: Presentations (PPT) used during the dissemination meetings / seminars (15-20’presentation).

3.5   Foreseen calendar 

Section A
A1 : Work plan and timeline	April 2021
A2 : Report in English « State of the Art of Big Data and ICT for smart traffic management in the City of Larissa”	May 2021
Section B
B1 : 4 brief reports in English of bilateral meetings (+/- 5 pages) and 1 report in English of the visiting study outcomes (+/- 10 pages).	April to June 2021
B2 : Presentations (PPT or Word) in English used during the meetings and visiting study.	July 2021
Section C
C1: Concise report describing the conclusions of the workshop and the strategic orientations adopted and Presentations (PPT or Word) in English used during the workshop	July 2021
C2: Report (+/- 25 pages) « Big data and ICT strategy for smart traffic management » in the City of Larissa.	July 2021
Section D
D1: 1-hour online meeting / interview to present the mid-term results of the mentoring.	June 2021
D2a: Draft version of Adaptation Report	August 2021
D2b: Final version o Adaptation Report	September 2021
D3: Presentations (PPT) used during the dissemination meetings / seminars (15-20’presentation).	December 2021

4.     Required profile

• Urban planner, engineer, or relevant background with a specialisation in urban mobility, especially smart mobility and ICT tools.
• Experience in the assessment and design of Big data and ICT strategies for smart traffic management.
• Experience of city-to city cooperation to support local authorities.
• English mentoring experience in a similar context would be highly appreciated.
• Fluency in English spoken and written (official working language of the project), the mastery of Greek and Italian would be a plus.
• Experience with European projects in the urban transport sector would be a plus.
• Status: consultant

5.     Duration and budget

This prestation is planned from April 2021 to May 2022.

The maximum budget for this service is € 14 600 (all taxes included).

Any offer exceeding this amount will be rejected. It is understood that the budget includes all of the costs that the successful bidder is required to pay for the normal fulfilment of the services contracted such as general expenses, financial costs, insurance, remuneration for the staff under its control and all verification and job costs. Please note that accommodation and travel expenses for any physical meeting under sections B and D will be taken in charge by the contractor. Please note that any travel beyond these will not be taken in charge by the contractor and should therefore be included in the financial offer.

6.     Expected offer

Applicants must provide the following documents:

An application letter including a brief description of the expressed need as well as the skills and means implemented to meet this need;
• A detailed Curriculum Vitae including, relevant references relating to similar activities
• Detailed offer of the services: expertise and experience relevant to this call, goals and activities of the mission and implementation plan.
• CV of the professional person involved and of the working team, giving relevant examples of similar work undertaken and, if applicable, international experience.
• Economic proposal: candidates must submit an economic proposal in euros that either they or their representative must sign. The prices offered should be all taxes included.

It is essential that the submission should clearly indicate: business name, address, phone number, email address and the Fiscal ID Number (VAT – tax number) of the bidding company.

Please send your Offer before March 29, 2021 to: contact@codatu.org, mentioning in the title of the message [Offer UTC – Larissa].

7.      Selection of offers

The commissioner will choose the service provider based on the following criteria: understanding of the need and the means mobilized to meet it (25%), the suitability of the candidate’s profile (50%), the experience and references of the of the candidate (25%). A telephone interview can also help to decide between the offers.

8.      Administratives clausus

Issue date: March 15, 2021

Deadline for receipt of tenders: March 29, 2021

Contracting authority: CODATU, 21 Boulevard Vivier Merle, 69003 Lyon, France