Planning and Research Services

The vendor is required to provide the office of transit with support to assist with meeting federal and state requirements, conducting research to benefit rural transit agencies that can improve operations and efficiency, and conduct transit planning activities.
- Contract management:
• Manage the contract, including the budget, staff resources, progress reports, and invoices.
• Hold regular meetings with department staff to review progress on tasks.
- Research:
• Lead research subtasks on fares, transit technology, rides to medical services, workforce development, and regional coordination efforts across a variety of geographies.
• These subtasks may overlap.
• The results of these subtasks will be targeted at assisting rural agencies with operational efficiencies, better service coverage, more strategic decision making, and potentially assisting department with funding strategies for regional services or targeted service investments.
• This work will require some stakeholder outreach and stakeholder meeting facilitation.
• The final products from these subtasks may be shared with external partners, so document production will result in easy-to-read narratives and compelling graphics.
- Planning:
• The office of transit may need assistance with statewide, local, and regional transit planning efforts.
• These efforts could be minor and targeted to one agency or could include multiple agencies and aim to coordinate operations and capital projects across multiple agencies.
• The office of transit may also require assistance with statewide transit planning efforts including the development of a statewide transit plan, or program development support.
- Alternative fuels operations:
• Department has added alternative fuel vehicles to the state term vehicle contract.
• This allows rural transit agencies to add alternative fuel vehicles to their fleet.
• Department is looking for consultant teams that have expertise in battery electric, propane, CNG, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and supportive infrastructure.
• Department may need consultant support to ensure that rural agencies that want to add these types of vehicles have considered their facility capacity, staff capacity, operations, training requirements, and maintenance requirements.
• Each agency will be a separate subtask.
• Department may also need some general support in planning, grants, and research for alternatives fuels.
• This task may require in-person work.
• Consultants may need to do in-person visits with rural agencies.
- Data and reporting:
• This task will be used as needed to ensure department can meet all federal and state reporting requirements.
• Work is expected to include analysis and evaluations for service data, demographic data, performance measure development and monitoring, standardized data reports utilizing transit system scheduling and dispatching software, and financial reporting.
• To ensure timely reporting, the consultant team may be required to visit some transit agencies in-person to assist with data standardization and reporting.
• Department anticipates needing assistance in development of GTFS and maintenance of GTFS for both rural and urban agencies.
• The office of transit has begun the process of incorporating GTFS data into TIMS.
• Department may need assistance with preparing data to be included in TIMS.
- Project management:
• Department office of transit requires project management assistance on special projects.
• This work may cover topics such as facilities, discretionary grant applications, research projects, or other opportunities that arise during the contract.
• For facilities work, the project manager and team may be required to provide day-to-day oversight, manage scope, budget, and schedule, lead technical work, conduct site visits, ensure compliance with all applicable federal requirements, monitor and report on construction progress, support environmental assessments, support contract development and execution, and provide strategic direction to projects.
• An understanding of federal transit administration (FTA) rules, regulations, policies, and FTA project management oversight will be essential to this work.
• Other project management work may include technical writing, independent research, information gathering and data collection, data analysis, and managing projects scope, budget, and schedule.
- 5307 governors apportionment support:
• Working with state small urban systems that are part of the governor’s apportionment to provide technical assistance support, program development, and personnel development.
• Working with department, each agency will identify specific areas of focus of their program where support is warranted.
• Technical assistance will include areas of the FTA program such as FTA compliance, financial management, procurement, data gathering and reporting, financial statement, and NEPA.
• For program development tasks may include the development of long-term goals, service strategies, funding strategies, and grant support.
• Personnel development may include elements such as peer-to-peer exchange, training development, succession planning, and process documentation.
• Site visits will be required for this task.
- Mandatory or Optional Pre-Bid Conferences Date: April 17, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: May 08, 2025