Issued by: City of Philadelphia - Big Ideas PHL
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Status: open
Posted: Mar 7, 2020

Description

Issued by: The City of Philadelphia, Managing Director’s Office, Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability Statement of Purpose: The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) seeks a qualified consultant to support an evaluation of the impact of the City’s plastic bag ban on shoppers’ bag use behavior before and after the ban goes into effect on July 2, 2020. The primary goal of this study is to measure and understand the effect of the ban on the choices shoppers make about what bag to use, if any, at checkout. This will inform future policy development related to regulation of the provision of shopping bags provided to customers by businesses. Department Overview: The Managing Director’s Office (MDO) works in coordination with individual operating departments to implement the Mayor’s vision and deliver efficient, effective, and responsive public services to every neighborhood in Philadelphia. OTIS oversees the Streets Department, Water Department, Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet, and the Office of Sustainability and coordinates policy, planning, and decision-making among the entities that manage local transportation and utilities infrastructure. Project Background: In December 2019, Philadelphia passed a law that bans businesses from providing single use plastic shopping bags and non-recycled paper shopping bags to customers. The law aims to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags and to cut down the use of single-use plastic bags, which account for significant proportions of the litter in our streets and waterways as well as contaminant in the City’s recycling system. The bill also calls for a study of the impact of the ban in order to assess whether the policy is working as intended and if changes are required in order to achieve its goals. GovLabPHL, under the Mayor’s Office of Policy, Legislation, and Intergovernmental Affairs, is collaborating with OTIS, the Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet, the Department of Licenses and Inspection, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Commerce to design this evaluation. GovLabPHL is an initiative focused on elevating the practical use of data and evidence in city government. The full evaluation will assess three components of impact: 1) compliance with the law, 2) environmental impact, and 3) change in individuals’ bag use behavior. The evaluation of compliance and environmental impact will be done internally, using data that is already being collected or can feasibly be collected through existing processes. Because evaluating individual bag usage cannot be done with existing data or processes and therefore requires a new and likely time-intensive data collection effort, this component of the evaluation requires the services of a consultant. To evaluate the impact of plastic bag bans or fees on bag usage, other cities have collected data through observations at stores. Research assistants stationed at store checkout record the number and types of bags shoppers use. To ensure enough data is collected for meaningful analysis, the total number of observations would likely need to number in the tens of thousands. Evaluators then compare changes over time, in some cases between stores both inside and outside the jurisdiction where the bag policy is in effect. General Disclaimer of the City: This RFP does not commit the City of Philadelphia to award a contract. This RFP and the process it describes are proprietary to the City and are for the sole and exclusive benefit of the City. No other party, including any Applicant, is intended to be granted any rights hereunder. Any response, including written documents and verbal communication, by any Applicant to this RFP, shall become the property of the City and may be subject to public disclosure by the City, or any authorized agent of the City. Scope of Work: OTIS and GovLabPHL are seeking a consultant to support the evaluation of the impact of banning certain kinds of shopping bags on individuals’ bag use behavior. The consultant will collaborate with GovLabPHL to design and plan the evaluation, and will be responsible for: hiring and training research assistants to collect data, managing observational data collection across three time periods, and conducting data entry and cleaning. Depending upon the applicant’s proposal, the scope of work may also include data analysis and collaboration with GovLabPHL to write a final evaluation report. Primary outcomes of interest and data collection sources are outlined below (to be finalized in collaboration with selected consultant during the planning phase and prior to any data collection):OUTCOMES: Change in individuals’ bag usage behavior: Change in usage of reusable bagsChange in usage of paper bagsChange in usage of disposable plastic bagsDATA SOURCES: Observations of shoppers’ bag usage at a sampling of stores in and outside of Philadelphia at 3 points in time (pre-ban, shortly after implementation, 12 months after implementation)Possible additional data sources: retail scanner data analysis of sales of substitute plastic products (e.g. trash bags); shopper surveyNote: there may be additional outcomes of interest (e.g. impact on shopper spending, perceptions of businesses or shoppers) to be discussed with consultants and incorporated into evaluation if feasible. Because baseline data collection must be completed before the law goes into effect on July 2, 2020, we are seeking applicants who can begin work on this project as soon as possible. RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE: Work with GovLabPHL and other partner departments to design the evaluation, including sampling method, hypotheses, and data analysis planWork with GovLabPHL to finalize data collection plan, including selecting stores and locations, identifying timeline and method for scheduling observations, and developing data collection instrument(s)Hire, train, and manage team of paid research assistants to conduct observations at selected storesImplement and manage data collection process at baseline, 3 months after effective date, and for a period ranging between 6 and 18 months after the effective dateOversee data entry and cleaning for all three data collection periodsThe scope of work may also include conducting data analysis and a report of results. Please indicate your availability and cost estimates to conduct these activities in your proposal. DELIVERABLES: Methodology and analysis plan, written in collaboration with GovLabPHLCleaned dataset for all observational dataFinalized protocol with findings (if applicable, report template provided by GovLabPHL)Actionable recommendations for city policymakers (if applicable)Monitoring/Security: By submission of a proposal in response to this RFP, the Applicant agrees that it will comply with all contract monitoring and evaluation activities undertaken by the City of Philadelphia and with all security policies and requirements of the City. Insurance Requirements: As a contractor of the City of Philadelphia, the selected applicant may be required to maintain insurance. Specific policies and minimum limit(s) will be commensurate with the scope of work to be performed, and will be determined with the consultant once selected. The consultant may be required to provide proof of insurance at the City’s discretion. Submission Requirements: To apply for this contract opportunity, applicants must submit a response to govlabphl@phila.gov that includes the following: Statement of qualifications: describe your experience and capability in providing services similar to the responsibilities required for this projectBrief proposal that includes 1) estimated project cost (Please note: The proposed budget should not exceed the small contract amount of $34,000); 2) your availability to start work on this project; and 3) a high-level project plan with approach, staffing, timing, milestones, and deliverable review processes. REQUIREMENTS: Experience designing applied research and/or policy evaluationsExperience managing large-scale data collection efforts for research projectsEffective methods for managing and delivering on timeDeadline for Submission: This opportunity will remain open for up to two weeks from the date posted, or until the City receives a minimum of three proposals. If you have any questions, please post them in the comment section below, and we will respond. Please do not send questions to GovLabPHL about this RFP.

For Questions or Additional Information, Contact:

Name: Big Ideas PHL
Email: eContractPhilly@phila.gov

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