The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), in coordination with five other Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) [Waco MPO, Killeen-Temple MPO (KTMPO), Capital Area MPO (CAMPO), Alamo Area MPO (AAMPO), and Laredo MPO], are requesting written proposals from consulting firms to conduct a Fort Worth/Waco/Temple-Killeen/Austin/San Antonio/Laredo High-Speed Transportation Study. This effort will build on the recommendations from Record of Decision (ROD) and Tier 1 Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Service (TOPRS) Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

In late 2017, the Federal Railroad Administration published the Record of Decision (ROD) and Tier 1 Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study (TOPRS) Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). While this document did evaluate conventional, higher-speed, and high-speed passenger train alignments, the document focused on service and operations and broadly addressed corridor issues and alternatives. The document did not consider emerging modes or technologies. Prior to building high-speed passenger service, Tier 2 [project-level National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)] evaluations are needed to analyze site-specific projects. To help expedite future Tier 2 project-level NEPA document(s), the purpose of this study is to evaluate technology options, identify potential station locations, and prepare a set of alternative recommendations for service from Fort Worth to Laredo.

This is an invitation to respond to the Request for Proposals by submitting a response to Kevin Feldt, AICP, Program Manager, North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, Texas 76011. Proposals must be received by 4:00 p.m., on Friday, November 16, 2018. Proposals submitted after that time will not be considered and will be returned to the proposer unopened.

The RFP is available at http://www.nctcog.org/rfp. To guide you in the preparation of this proposal, a copy of the Instructions for Proposals and a Sample Contract are also provided at this web address. The Sample Contract contains required documentation which must be submitted with the proposal.

A pre-proposal conference will be conducted, at the NCTCOG offices, at 616 Six Flags Drive, Centerpoint Two, in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, at 3:30 pm. Interested proposers may participate in the pre-proposal conference via WebEx using the following link: https://nctcog.webex.com/nctcog/j.php?MTID=m2b5d75f2ee4e4db4b971ac6f486bccfe. To participate in the audio portion of the pre-proposal conference, please dial 1-800-250-3900 and enter Participant Pin# 577455.

Attendance is not mandatory at the pre-proposal conference, but is strongly encouraged to benefit potential proposers from the discussion and answers provided to questions. Questions submitted in advance of the pre-proposal conference will be answered at the pre-proposal conference.

Any amendments or updates to the RFP, as well as all questions and responses, will be posted on NCTCOG's website. Written questions concerning the RFP should be submitted by email to TransRFPs@nctcog.org by 5:00 p.m., October 30, 2018.