SOLICITATION: Long-Range Multi-Modal Transportation Plan for the District of Columbia

The District of Columbia has experienced an accelerating rate of growth over the past decade. Since 2004, approximately 70,000 additional residents have moved to the District bringing the total number of residents to over 618,000. The daytime population of DC expands to over 1,000,000 people. The economy of the District and the Washington, DC region has remained strong throughout the national recession. District residents have some of the highest rates of biking, walking, and transit use of any city in the country, and Capital Bikeshare, launched in September 2010 has been an overwhelming success in facilitating additional bicycle travel. At this point in the District of Columbia’s history, all stakeholders need to coalesce around a future vision that builds on recent successes and charts a path forward.

However, creating a unified transportation vision for the District of Columbia will not be easy and must address issues including:

1. Ensuring that all residents of the District of Columbia, regardless of age, income, and ability, can have convenient and reliable multi-modal transportation options that connect them to economic opportunity;
2. Assuring a state of good repair of existing infrastructure and prioritizing priority investments;
3. Allocating limited right-of-way among many users;
4. Managing curbside space and right-of-way to benefit the city and the region, while also supporting local and neighborhood goals;
5. Accounting for changing land use and new mixed-use growth in previously underdeveloped parts of the city;
6. Engaging a diverse population and multiple--and at times overlapping--set of agency jurisdictions;
7. Achieving clarity with elected officials and the general public about the transportation vision and priorities;
8. Improving public health outcomes through active transportation and a safe and accessible transportation network;
9. Reducing DDOT’s and the region’s environmental footprint through energy efficiency, stormwater management, and air quality and greenhouse gas improvements; and
10. Funding and financing a transportation network that has significant maintenance needs, as well as the need for new capital investment.

DDOT is committed to bringing the best policies and practices of other cities around the world to build upon our existing infrastructure and assets. The Plan will set the long-term vision and implementation actions as DDOT continues to build a world class, sustainable transportation system in a growing and evolving city. This includes consolidating all modal studies to have one master multi-modal plan that considers street planning, design, use, funding, regulation, operations, maintenance, education and enforcement. This study will require interaction with all internal, external, and community stakeholders, including other District of Columbia agencies, and community, civic, and business organizations. The final outcome of the Plan will be adoption by the Mayor and City Council of the District of Columbia.

The Long-Range Multi-Modal Transportation Plan will also be used as the State Long Range Transportation Plan for Federal transportation purposes, and as such, the final plan must be consistent with provisions of Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 450.

Scope of Work

C.1 This outline Scope of Work summarizes the tasks, and the required products of the project. The description of the tasks is included to clarify the nature of the work that is expected to be performed by the selected contractors. Offerors are urged to use this information as the basis for preparing their approach and suggesting any modifications to the work.

C.2 Gather Existing Conditions

The contractor shall gather existing data from DDOT and other available data sources, such as WMATA, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, District Agencies such as the Office of Planning and the District Department of the Environment, and other sources. The horizon year for the Plan should be 2030. The contractor shall also identify any new areas of data that can be incorporated into the analysis of the transportation system on an initial and ongoing basis. DDOT will provide access to the city’s traffic counts, and it is anticipated that very few new counts will be needed, due to our on-going signal optimization program. DDOT will also provide access to data on Capital Bikeshare usage, Circulator bus route ridership, and other data such as tree locations, planned streetcar, freight, and bicycle routes, and other existing inventories as needed. The District of Columbia’s GIS data includes detailed information on current zoning, rights-of-way, and other base data. New multi-modal traffic volumes, infrastructure inventories, and land use conditions will be analyzed.

C.3 Stakeholder Outreach and Engagement

There will be several layers of stakeholder engagement necessary to complete the Plan. DDOT has identified the following:

C.3.1 Internal DDOT Stakeholder Group consisting of representatives from the DDOT Administrations

C.3.2 District of Columbia Stakeholder Group consisting of representatives from other District agencies

C.3.3 Citywide Stakeholder Group consisting of representatives from other government agencies and jurisdictions, as well as key stakeholders from other business, civic, and resident organizations.

C.3.4 General community outreach and engagement.

DDOT welcomes offerors to detail their approach to engagement and a stakeholder engagement process that will lead to the adoption of the Plan by the Mayor and City Council.

C.4 Define Transportation Vision, Goals, and Policies

The contractor shall work with DDOT staff to define the vision and goals for transportation in the District of Columbia. Based on this vision and goals, the contractor shall also identify areas of existing policy gaps or potential new approaches to policy related to funding and management of the transportation system. The contractor shall also assess DDOT’s existing performance measures and identify any additional measures to support ongoing evaluation and monitoring of progress toward the plan vision and goals.

C.5 Evaluate Future Conditions and Alternatives

The contractor shall evaluate projected future traffic volumes by all modes, infrastructure inventories, and land use conditions. Based on projected future conditions, the contractor shall work with DDOT staff to frame and evaluate alternative approaches to planning and managing the transportation system including all modes of travel. There may be the need to identify subareas, such as the Central Business District, or TOD Zones around Metro rail stations, that require focused attention and analysis over and above what DDOT has already completed.

C.6 Define Preferred Future Transportation Vision

Based on the review of the alternative future conditions, the contractor shall work with DDOT to identify a preferred future transportation vision and short-, medium- and long-term actions to achieve the future vision, including both policy and investment needs, and potentially including actions by external stakeholders necessary to help support achieving DDOT’s mission and vision.

C.7 Identify Implementation and Funding Options

The contractor shall identify overall approaches to funding the transportation system based on best practices from other cities and with an understanding of the District of Columbia’s unique opportunities and challenges. The funding options will ultimately be linked to the recommended short-, medium-, and long-term improvements and should include identification of opportunities for new and innovative implementation approaches, such as public-private partnerships, grant opportunities, and other sources.

C.8 Final Plan Document

The contractor shall produce a final plan document compiling the interim work products and incorporating stakeholder input. The final plan must be provided in print and electronic format. The final plan must be consistent with provisions of Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 450.

C.9 Support Adoption of the Multi-Modal Transportation Plan

The contractor shall (along with DDOT) present the completed Multi-Modal Transportation Plan Update for adoption to the City Council. The contractor shall also be responsible for presenting the completed Plan to the Mayor’s Cabinet and other agency stakeholders, and incorporating feedback from these stakeholders.