Item - 2024.PA11.8

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Parking Authority:

1. Authorized the President, Toronto Parking Authority, to increase the maximum spending limit under the Business Strategy and Marketing Services Vendor of Record from $4,421,645 to $6,500,000 (excluding HST) with the agencies listed below to provide Business Strategy and Marketing consulting services as required:

As Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) continues its journey to becoming the world’s best provider of sustainable parking, Bike Share and last mile mobility experiences, Management has used a Business Strategy and Marketing Services Vendor of Record (VoR) to access agency partners to support Toronto Parking Authority's growth agenda.

The Vendor of Record includes agency partners across a number of service categories that include Strategy Development and Creative Services, Strategic Partnerships, Market Research, Public Relations and Communications and Digital Marketing. Management has retained agencies on the Vendor of Record for a number of key initiatives, including the completion of consumer research, the development and execution of targeted marketing campaigns, ongoing public relations and communications support, the development of go-to-market strategies to secure strategic partnerships and the completion of website enhancements, among others.

The Vendor of Record was established through a competitive request for proposals (RFP) process, with the request for proposals for these services publicly available on Merx in late 2021. Following an extensive evaluation by Toronto Parking Authority's Evaluation Committee, recommendations to establish the Vendor of Record were brought forward and adopted by the Board, at its meeting of February 18, 2022.

Under the authority of the Board, a maximum spending limit of $3,921,645 was initially established. This spending limit has since been increased to $4,421,645 (excluding Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)), under the President’s Delegation of Authority.

As of August 31, 2024, a total of $3,666,179 had been spent against the maximum limit of the Vendor of Record with additional commitments for services made to an amount totaling $669,000 (excluding HST).

Over the course of the last three years, a broad range of initiatives have been executed. A high-level summary of these is below, with more in-depth examples of these initiatives in the "Comments" section of this memo. Initiatives have included:

Market Research and Customer Segmentation Analysis - Toronto Parking Authority completed comprehensive market research and customer segmentation analysis for Bike Share and Green P Parking. This research has been used to guide the development of customer facing communications and marketing initiatives to drive customer experience and transaction and revenue growth.

Marketing Campaigns (2022 - 2024) – including the development and execution of a number of Green P, EV and Bike Share marketing campaigns over the course of 2022 through 2024.

Communications and Media Relations - partners were used to provide communications support, event support, and ongoing management of media inquiries.

Digital Marketing - a substantial redevelopment of the parking.greenp.com website was undertaken.

Annual Reports - preparation and publication of three (3) Annual Reports (2021 – 2023, as required under the Toronto Municipal Code, Ch 179, Parking Authority.

Future programs are in development to continue the execution of the Toronto Parking Authority and Green P business strategies. Investments are planned to continue with the work to date, and include ongoing customer market research to inform product development, customer satisfaction and experience improvement; delivering on partnerships with Bike Share and other partners, and marketing across all channels to drive revenue growth across all business segments, including Bike Share, Green P Parking, and EV.

To ensure that the resources and services under the Vendor of Record are available to support Management’s execution of the remainder of the 2024 and the 2025 Annual Operating Plans (through to Q1 2026), it is recommended that the Board increase the maximum spending limit under the Vendor of Record from $4,421,645 to $6,500,000 (excluding HST).