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CC - CONSENT ITEM: (1) Approval of a Professional Services Agreement with Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. to Conduct a Comprehensive Mobility Services Analysis in an Amount Not-To-Exceed $758,471.38; and (2) Authorization to the City Manager to Approve Amendments to the Agreement for Contingency Costs of approximately 15% Not-To-Exceed $115,000.
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Meeting Date: March 18, 2024
Contact Person/Dept: Dorothy Suchkova/Transportation Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-6547
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Attachments: []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (03/13/2024)
Department Approval: Diana Chang, Chief Transportation Officer (02/28/2024)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends the City Council (1) approve a professional services agreement with Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. (Nelson\Nygaard) to conduct a Comprehensive Mobility Services Analysis in an amount not-to-exceed $758,471.38, and (2) authorize the City Manager to approve amendments to the agreement for contingency costs of approximately 15% not-to-exceed $115,000.
BACKGROUND
Culver CityBus is a division of the City of Culver City’s Transportation Department. It is the second oldest municipally owned bus system in the State of California, serving the public since 1928. In addition to providing fixed route bus services, Culver CityBus manages all of Culver City’s mobility services and operates fixed bus service on eight routes. Culver CityBus provides service runs bounded by the LA Metro Green Line and LAX to the south, UCLA to the north, Fairfax Ave. to the east, and Venice Beach to the west.
Culver City’s draft General Plan projects that the City will add about 21,000 residents and 24,000 jobs by 2045. It is not possible to accommodate the City’s growth by adding additional roadway capacity, so innovative mobility strategies are necessary to ensure that people are able to move to, through, and around Culver City as it continues to grow. The City also needs to join the region in preparing to meet the transportation demands of the 2028 Olympics. Given the need to adapt to these conditions, the Transportation Department seeks to develop a Comprehensive Mobility Services Plan (CMSP) to study changing travel patterns post-pandemic, identify ways to improve Culver City’s existing mobility services and fixed-route bus services, and implement new mobility services to manage transportation demand, enhance mobility, and reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the City of Culver City and Culver CityBus’s service area.
The objectives of the Comprehensive Mobility Services Analysis are to:
● Evaluate operational performance of Culver CityBus fixed-route services.
● Improve operational efficiency and ridership of Culver CityBus services.
● Improve Culver CityBus’s connectivity with other transit operators in the region.
● Enable robust stakeholder and community engagement.
● Facilitate long-term community relationships and transit engagement.
● Optimize Culver CityBus and Culver City’s transportation network in the post-pandemic context.
● Analyze new and innovative mobility service options and evaluate the opportunity to better integrate with Culver CityBus transit network.
● Improve alternative mobility access in Culver City.
● Research and measure current and expected travel demand to, from, within, and through Culver City and the Culver CityBus service area. This exercise may result in redefining the service area.
● Propose a new Comprehensive Mobility Services Plan that will better position Culver City in the region to meet unmet transit demand, improve transit efficiency, effectiveness, and access, and maintain agency sustainability.
The Project is expected to kick off in March 2024 and conclude in September 2025. The Project will involve significant community engagement throughout that period in the form of rider surveys, community outreach events, and ongoing updates to the Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee of the City Council.
DISCUSSION
On January 4, 2024, the City released a Request for Proposals for a consultant to assist in conducting a Comprehensive Mobility Services Analysis and developing a Comprehensive Mobility Services Plan.
A non-mandatory preproposal meeting was held on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, with representatives from five firms attending. Responses to all questions received were posted to PlanetBids on January 18, 2024. A total of three proposals were received on February 8, 2024. The proposers are listed below in alphabetical order:
1. AECOM Technical Services, Inc.
2. HDR Engineering, Inc.
3. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc.
A proposal evaluation team consisting of staff from the City’s Transportation Department conducted a comprehensive technical evaluation of the proposals were received. The proposals were evaluated based on the criteria below:
• Qualifications and Experience (40%)
• Questions/Responses to Scope of Services (35%)
• Total Proposed Costs (25%)
Prior to evaluating the proposals, the City determined that the proposal submitted by HDR Engineering, Inc. was not responsive to the Request for Proposals and eliminated it from consideration. After thorough technical evaluation, AECOM Technical Services, Inc. and Nelson\Nygaard were selected as finalists, and the proposal evaluation team conducted interviews with each proposer on February 15, 2024. After the interviews, the evaluation team finalized the evaluation assessments and determined Nelson\Nygaard to be the best qualified firm.
Nelson\Nygaard has extensive experience in analyzing fixed-route and innovative mobility services and developing recommendations to improve service performance and operational efficiency. Nelson\Nygaard will be supported by ETC, a transit market research firm, Toole Design Group, a planning and design consultancy, and Arrellano Associates, a local firm specializing in community engagement. The consultant team demonstrated a strong understanding of the goals of the project and the challenges and needs of the Culver City community and the need for truly innovative approaches to planning and providing mobility services.
Nelson\Nygaard has conducted operational analyses and transit planning studies throughout the Los Angeles region and the country, including with Big Blue Bus, Long Beach Transit, and Foothill Transit, among others. They are adept at facilitating planning processes that bring stakeholders together to deliver projects that meet the needs of their communities. The proposed project manager has 25 years of experience in transit planning. He has led more than 40 transit planning studies and operational analyses and is a leader in integrating innovative technologies and approaches into existing service offerings.
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the professional services agreement with Nelson\Nygaard for consultant services to conduct a Comprehensive Mobility Services Analysis and authorize the City Manager to negotiate and approve the final terms of the agreement.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
The contract with Nelson\Nygaard would be for $758,471.38 plus approximately 15% contingency of $115,000. The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 includes sufficient funding to cover the cost of these services in Account No. 20370100.619800 (Transportation Administration - Other Contractual Services). These services will be partially paid for with a Federal Transit Administration Route Planning Restoration Program grant. On October 24, 2022, City Council approved acceptance of the grant and appropriated the $645,750 grant award for this work. This is a reimbursement-based grant; therefore, the Transportation Department will pay these costs from Transportation Department funds and be reimbursed for $645,750. The remainder of the contract value will be paid with Transportation Department funds. No General funds will be used.
ATTACHMENTS
None
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
1. Approve an agreement with Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. for an amount of $758,471.38;
2. Authorize the City Manager to approve amendments to the agreement for contingency costs of approximately 15% not-to-exceed $115,000; and
3. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.