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City of Aspen
Mitigating the Transportation Impacts of Development
Request for Proposals

I INTRODUCTION
The City of Aspen is seeking professional planning services from a consultant or consultant team (referred to herein as Vendor) to develop a comprehensive plan for evaluating and mitigating the transportation-related impacts of development. The project will include the development of traffic study parameters, a trip generation model, and mitigation menus. The final product will be used to update the City’s transportation mitigation policies and standards in an effort to reduce the impacts of development on Aspen’s air quality and traffic.

The Project Team will include representatives from the following:
• Consultant team
• City of Aspen Community Development Department
• City of Aspen Engineering Department
• City of Aspen Environmental Health Department
• City of Aspen Transportation Department

II BACKGROUND
The City of Aspen is seeking to improve the fairness and consistency of its development approval process in regards to how it requires development to mitigate for traffic impacts including increased single-occupant vehicle trips, degradation to transportation Quality of Service and negative air quality impacts. Specifically, the City of Aspen seeks a consultant to lead a project that will standardize the development review process and mitigation requirements by:
• Establishing a trigger point for the requirement of traffic impact studies;
• Developing standardized parameters for traffic impact studies;
• Creating a trip generation model specific to the realities of Aspen’s resort environment;
• Creating a menu of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) mitigation options coupled with a relative scoring system;
• Creating a menu of multi modal Quality of Service mitigation along with vehicle level of service options coupled with a relative scoring system. Factors that can be considered while developing the multi modal quality of service scoring system include Pedestrian Level of Service (Ease of crossing the street for pedestrians; Presence of elements that make it inviting for pedestrians such as the presence of a sidewalk, width of sidewalk, buffers between sidewalk and vehicle travel lanes), Bicycle Level of Service (Ease of bicycling to/from and within a site; Presence of bike lane, Motorized vehicle volume, speed and percentage of service vehicles; Pavement condition; Potential to improve safety and comfort with elements to buffer bicyclists from pedestrians; On street parking; Availability of bicycle parking; Connection between cycling facilities and transit), and Transit Level of Service (Service Frequency; Information on transit availability; Proximity and ease of travel along the sidewalk and from building front and street sidewalk to transit stop; Connection between cycling facilities and transit; Capacity and quality of existing bus stop; Lack of appropriate bus stop where one is/will be needed).

The City of Aspen works in Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, etc) and Adobe programs (InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat, etc). The study drafts and the final study must be provided in these programs.

III DELIVERABLES/SCOPE OF WORK
The Vendor is expected to conduct the project, with City staff able to assist in the collection of data, as necessary, to help control costs. The project is expected to be broken into the following sections and include the following minimum information:

1. Review of current procedure. The consultant team will work with staff to understand the existing procedures. This may consist of reading existing policies, interviews, etc.

2. Aspen-specific traffic study parameters. The consultant team will outline the triggers of and requirements for an Aspen-specific traffic study that all applicants must use when they are required to conduct a traffic study as part of their development project.

3. Aspen-specific trip generation model. The consultant team will provide parameters for a recommended Aspen-specific trip generation model that all applicants must use as part of their development project.

4. Final mitigation scoring tool – TDM. The consultant will provide a tool to score projects based on the trip generation for the project. Staff is interested in a matrix or other scoring methodology that would clearly identify what type(s) of TDM measures will mitigate single occupancy vehicle trips associated with development. This could be based on land uses, location, etc.

5. Final mitigation scoring tool – Multi Modal Quality of Service and vehicle level of service. The consultant team will provide a tool to score projects based on the multi modal quality of service along with the vehicle level of service for the project. Staff is interested in a matrix or other scoring methodology that would clearly identify what type(s) of Quality of Service measures will mitigate infrastructure and vehicle level of service impacts associated with development.

6. Recommendation report. The consultant team will prepare and deliver a final report that outlines recommendations for improving the development review process as it relates to transportation.

7. City Council presentation (on-site). The consultant team is expected to present findings of the final report to City Council. An optional check-in during the process may be appropriate and can be included as an add-on service

IV TIMELINE
Staff intends to select a vendor in late fall/winter of 2012, with project completion no later than May of 2013.
• Questions Due: September 27
• Possible pre-bid conference: October 1
• RFP Due: October 12
• Interviews held: October 29
• Optional second interviews: October 31

V PROPOSAL FORMAT
Proposals that omit any information or do not use the format requested may result in disqualification. At a minimum, all submittals should include the following:

Section 1 Introduction
Introduce company and staff including awards, certifications, and education.

Section 2 Qualifications
Explain expertise of the consulting team, including roles and experience of key personnel to be assigned to this project, and subcontractors. Also include examples and samples of comparable projects completed in the past 5 years, with references for each project. References must include a contact name, current telephone number, and email address. Please outline specific experience related to TDM, Quality of Service and traffic modeling. Outline local knowledge and/or applicable experience related to resort communities. Local/resort knowledge may include previous work experience in the Aspen area, work experience in resort communities, or having a local firm as part of the consultant team.

Section 3 Solution
Provide a description of the understanding and approach to the project and anticipated project deliverables. Be sure to address all topics outlined in Section III, Scope of Work, above. Deviations from the Scope of Work outlined above are acceptable if they will result in a more accurate final product.

Section 4 Timeline
Outline the proposed phasing and completion schedule.

Section 5 Costs
Outline the estimated total budget based on the proposed scope of services, detailing the budget for each phase/portion of the project, and specifying rates for various individuals and/or entities. Also include the fee schedule for completion of additional services if additional services were to be requested.

VI PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Prospective consultants shall submit ten (10) paper copies and one (1) electronic copy of their proposal on or before 3:00pm, October 17, 3012 in order to be considered for this project. Paper copies must be individually bound in a three-ring binder or folder that contains recycled content. Plastic spiral bounding is not acceptable. The electronic copy must be compiled into a single PDF or Word document and be the exact order of the paper copy. Failure to follow this format may result in disqualification.

Proposals must be placed in a sealed envelope or box clearly marked “Proposal for Mitigating the Transportation Impacts of Development” and received on or before 3:00pm, October 17, 2012 at the City of Aspen Purchasing office. The office is located at 130 S. Galena Street, in Aspen, Colorado, 81611. The City cannot accept faxed or scanned copies. Proposals received after the due date and time shall be returned to the vendor unopened.
The City reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals or accept what is, in its judgment, the Proposal which is in the City's best interest. The City further reserves the right, in the best interests of the City, to waive any technical defects or irregularities in any and all Proposals submitted.

VII EVALUATION CRITERIA AND WEIGHTS
The following is a list of weighted criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals:
• Related Experience (including local knowledge/experience and/or related resort experience) 35%
• Effectiveness of Solution (likelihood of approach to improve current system) 35%
• Cost 15%
• Completion Timeline 15%

Discussion may be conducted with responsible Vendors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award for purpose of classification to assure full understanding of, and responsiveness to the solicitation requirements. Any cost incurred by the Vendors in preparing or submitting a response to this RFP or interviewing for this project shall be the respondents’ sole responsibility.

VIII. PROJECT SCHEDULE
1. Consultant selection
2. Initial team member meetings
3. Research and development of trigger points, trip generation model and mitigation options
4. Review of above with project team
5. Modification based on project team input
6. Presentation to Aspen City Council
7. Final materials completed

IX. LEGAL
Vendors are required to review the Instructions to Offerors of Professional Services and the Professional Services Agreement to familiarize themselves with the legal requirements and parameters for contracting with the City. By participating in the request for proposal process, the vendor agrees to comply with all of the provisions of the City’s contract requirements without change.