Invitation for Expression of Interest (“EOI”) for Operating the Rehabus Feeder Services In 2018, the Transport Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (“TD”) invited interested parties (Proponents) to operate the Rehabus Feeder Services with effect from 1 June 2019 for a time period of three years. After years of operation, it is proven that to engage another Rehabus operator to provide Rehabus service can improve the operational efficiency in general. As the service period of the existing Rehabus operator will soon be expired, TD invites Proponents to operate the Rehabus Feeder Services and it is expected that the operator will start to commence the services from 1 June 2022 for a period of 5 years. TD may extend the operating period of the Rehabus Feeder Services for a further period or periods not exceeding 5 years at any one time, so that the operating period granted together with all extensions thereof shall not in any case exceed a period of 10 years in aggregate. A. Feeder Routes1 Hong Kong Island 1. Queen Mary Hospital route 2. Eastern Hospital route 3. Southern District route (Fridays (Public Holidays), Saturdays and Sundays) Kowloon 4. Queen Elizabeth Hospital route 1 The operating days of all the Feeder Routes are from Mondays to Fridays except Public Holidays unless specified as above. 1 5. United Christian Hospital route 6. Hong Kong Children’s Hospital route New Territories East 7. Shatin route (Mondays to Fridays and Sundays) 8. Tai Wai route 9. Tai Po route New Territories West 10. Pok Oi Hospital route 11.Tuen Mun Hospital route 12. Princess Margaret Hospital route (a) Kwai Fong route (b) Caritas Medical Centre route B. Recreational Routes2 13. Lantau route 14. Stanley route 15. The Peak route 16. Tai Mei Tuk route 17. Sai Kung Pak Tam Chung route The routes mentioned are existing services provided to the Persons 2 All the recreational routes are operated on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays only. Advance booking for the service is required. 2 with Disabilities (PwDs). The successful Proponent will operate the Rehabus Feeder Services in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) setting out the general principles and guidelines governing the role of the service provider and the administrative arrangements of the Government for such operation to be signed between the Government as represented by TD and the successful Proponent at a later stage. 2. The successful Proponent will operate the Rehabus Feeder Services by using 20 rehabuses to be allocated by the Government. Additional rehabuses provided to the successful Proponent will be subject to the satisfactory performance of the Proponent and availability of funding. The successful Proponent will receive direct Government subvention in return for the provision of the Rehabus services. All the fares of the Rehabus services collected should be kept by the Proponent for covering part of its expenditures for operating Rehabus services. 3. The Proponent must be an existing non-profit making organisation with the personnel possessing experiences in managing and operating transport services to provide Rehabus Feeder Services. In short, the Proponent must be a non-profit making organisation and eligible for receiving direct subvention from the Government at the time of submission of the EOI Proposal. A non-profit making organisation must be a bona fide non-profit making charitable organisation exempted from tax under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112 of the Laws of Hong Kong). According to Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, charitable institutions or trusts of a public character are exempted from tax. 4. If there is more than one Proponent showing interest in operating the Rehabus Feeder Services in response to this Invitation for EOI, the Government will conduct an Invitation for Proposals (IOP) to select the most appropriate service provider to provide the Services. For operating the Rehabus Feeder Services, the successful Proponent will be required to: (a) sign an MOU with the Government in form and substance to be determined by the Government; and 3 (b) commence the operation of the Rehabus Feeder Services from 1 June 2022 or such date as may be specified by TD. Submission of proposals 5. The proposals submitted by any Proponent in this EOI should include such forms as specified below: (a) indicating its interest in operating the Rehabus Feeder Services as in the format set out in Annex 1; (b) providing its particulars, including without limitation experience and competence in public transport operations and management as in the format set out in Annex 2; and (c) providing the staff required and recurrent resource required as set out in the format set out in Annex 3. Reference materials 6. The information on the operational arrangements of the existing Rehabus Feeder Services is provided in Annex 4 for the reference of the Proponent. This is the minimum requirements for the level of Rehabus Feeder Services to be operated by the Proponent. 7. The specified submission forms (Annexes 1 to 3) and the reference materials (Annex 4) are available for collection from 6 August 2021 (Friday) to 20 August 2021 (Friday) during office hours (9.30 a.m – 6.00 p.m., Monday to Friday (except public holidays) at the following address: Disabled Transport Section, Transport Department, 11/F., South Tower, West Kowloon Government Offices, 11 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon 4 8. All EOI submissions and proposals should be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked with “EOI for Operating the Rehabus Feeder Services” and should reach TD at the aforesaid address on or before 12.00 noon, 20 August 2021 (Friday). In case a black rainstorm warning or typhoon signal No. 8 or above has been issued or “extreme conditions after super typhoons” announced by the Government is/are in force between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon on 20 August 2021, the submission closing time will be extended to 12.00 noon of the following working day. Late submissions will not be accepted. For the purpose of this paragraph, “working day” means a day excluding any Saturdays, public holidays within the meaning of the General Holidays Ordinance (Cap. 149 of the Laws of Hong Kong), and a day on which a black rainstorm warning or typhoon signal No. 8 or above has been issued or “extreme conditions after super typhoons” announced by the Government is/are in force between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon. Purpose of invitation for EOI 9. This EOI exercise is not an IOP exercise, nor part of an IOP exercise. Neither this EOI exercise nor any submission received by the Government in this exercise constitutes an offer or the basis of any contract which may be concluded, nor are any of these documents binding on the Government. Government’s rights and disclaimers 10. The submission of an EOI or proposal by a Proponent shall be taken to be an acceptance of the terms of invitation of this EOI exercise. 11. The Government reserves the right to change any of the operational arrangements and any other specifications for the Rehabus Feeder Services in this Invitation for EOI and in any future IOP exercise for their procurement or cancel this EOI exercise and not to consider any proposal or not to grant any operation right. 12. All costs and expenses involved in the preparation and submission of the EOI in response to this invitation shall be borne solely by the Proponents. 5 13. All information and statistics contained in this invitation and the attached specified forms are provided to facilitate the Proponents’ preparation of their proposals only. The Government does not warrant or represent (whether expressly or impliedly) as to the correctness, accuracy, completeness, reliability, timeliness or fitness for a particular purpose of any such information and statistics. In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, no representation or warranty is given as to the achievement or reasonableness of any future projections or estimates contained in the Invitation for EOI. Nothing in the Invitation for EOI nor in any other written or oral information which is, has been or will be provided or made available to any Proponent should be relied on as a representation, statement or warranty as to the intentions, policy or action in future of the Government, its officers or agents. The Government does not accept any liability to any person howsoever caused by the use of or reliance on any such information and statistics. The Proponents should conduct their own independent assessment of the information and statistics contained in this invitation document and seek professional advice if they deem necessary. 14. The participation of the Proponents in the EOI shall be entirely at their own risk. The Government will not under any circumstances be liable to any of the Proponents for any costs, expense, loss or damage whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the EOI irrespective of whether the Government actually proceeds with the procurement of the Rehabus Feeder Services. Personal data of Proponents 15. The personal data of the Proponents and of any individual provided as part of the EOI submission (collectively referred to as “personal data” in paragraphs 15 to 17) will be used by the Government for the purposes of processing the EOI submission, and all other purposes necessary for or directly related to the said purposes including but not limited to the resolution of any dispute arising from the EOI submission. 16. By submission of an EOI, the Proponent acknowledges and consents and has ensured that the individuals who are the subject of personal data have acknowledged and consented that personal data provided in the EOI submission may be disclosed to other Government Bureaux and Departments, the 6 Legislative Council, the District Councils, non-governmental organisations and data access applicants under the Code of Access to Information.