City of Seattle
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
Consultant Contracting
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT):
Operational, Management, and Efficiency Analysis
Procurement Schedule
Table 1: Procurement Schedule
Schedule of Events / Date / Time / Location(s)RFP Release / July 30, 2012 / Daily Journal of Commerce; City of Seattle Consultant Opportunities page (under Current Solicitations), http://www.seattle.gov/html/business/consultant.htm
Optional Pre-Submittal Conference / August 9, 2012, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM / Al Rochester Conference Room, City Hall, 600 – 4th Ave, 2nd floor (room 265), Seattle, WA
Deadline for Questions / August 15, 2012, 4:00 PM / Email all questions to Jane Dunkel,
Questions & Answers (Q&A) Posted / August 16, 2012, 4:00 PM / Q&As will be posted on the City of Seattle Consultant Opportunities page (under Current Solicitations), http://www.seattle.gov/html/business/consultant.htm
Sealed Proposals Due to the City / August 27, 2012, 4:00 PM / See Page 2, Table 2: Delivery Address
RFP Interviews / Sept 18, 2012, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM / Al Rochester Conference Room, City Hall, 600 – 4th Ave, 2nd floor (room 265), Seattle, WA
Announcement of Successful Proposer(s) / September 21, 2012
Anticipated Negotiation Schedule / September 24-28, 2012
Contract Execution / October 8-12, 2012
The City reserves the right to modify this schedule at the City’s discretion.
Notification of changes will be posted on the City website or as otherwise stated herein.
Procurement Contact
Project Manager: Jane Dunkel, , 206-684-7892
Table 2: Delivery Address
Fed Ex & Hand Delivery - Physical Address / US Post Office - Mailing AddressCity of Seattle
Legislative Department
City Hall
600 4th Ave, Floor 2
Seattle, Washington, 98124-4025 / Susana Serna
City of Seattle
Legislative Department
PO Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025
It is important to use the correct address for the delivery method you chose.
Unless authorized by the Project Manager, no other City official or employee may speak for the City with respect to this solicitation. Any Proposer seeking information, clarification, or interpretations from any other City official or City employee is advised that such material is used at the Proposer’s own risk. The City will not be bound by any such information, clarification, or interpretation. Following the Proposal submittal deadline, Proposers shall continue to direct communications to only the City Project Manager. The Project Manager will send out information to responding companies as decisions are concluded.
Table of Contents
1. Purpose and Background. 4
2. Period of Performance. 4
3. Solicitation Objectives. 4
4. Minimum Qualifications. 4
5. Scope of Work. 4
6. Contract Modifications. 4
7. Instructions, Procedures and Requirements. 4
8. Response Format. 4
9. Selection Process. 4
10. Award and Contract Execution 4
1. Purpose and Background.
Purpose: The Seattle City Council, in partnership with the City Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of City Auditor, is seeking a qualified consultant to assess SDOT’s organizational structure and operations to identify and recommend changes to operational approaches and management practices that could yield budget efficiencies, productivity, and better outcomes for maintaining and improving the City’s transportation infrastructure.
Phase I: The first assessment, to be completed by January 15, 2013, will include:
· A peer review that benchmarks SDOT’s operations with that of similar sized transportation departments across the country and identifies areas where efficiency could be improved or cost savings gained;
· A review of how SDOT measures performance and productivity across all its divisions; and
· A comparison of SDOT’s organizational and management structure to transportation management structures in other jurisdictions, and recommendations, if any, for changes to SDOT’s current structure and organization.
Depending on the results of the analysis in Phase I, the City may choose to fund all, a portion, or none of Phase II.
If the City chooses to continue this effort, Phase II, to be completed by December 31, 2013, would consist of:
· A longer-term analysis of, and recommendations related to, areas identified in Phase I;
· An evaluation of how SDOT prioritizes transportation maintenance projects and recommendations for how this could be improved; and
· An analysis of SDOT’s responsibilities to help policymakers narrow its focus and priorities leading up to potential renewal of the Bridging the Gap Levy, including a review and analysis of SDOT’s estimated $1.8 billion deferred maintenance backlog.
The City of Seattle is requesting a comprehensive review of all aspects of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) operations, including its management structure, as well as short-term and long-term opportunities to make adjustments to how these services are provided, in order to achieve operational efficiencies and effectiveness and budgetary savings.
Background: The City of Seattle, a municipal corporation, provides an array of services to the residents, businesses and visitors of Seattle. Seattle has a Mayor-Council form of government, whereby the Mayor is responsible for all executive functions and manages the day-to-day operations of most City departments, including SDOT. The City Council oversees the City’s legislative processes, establishes City policy and adopts the City’s annual budget. The City of Seattle’s General Subfund budget for 2012 is approximately $917 million, which includes more than $40 million dedicated to SDOT. The City’s General Subfund shortfall for 2013 is currently estimated at $40 million, which highlights the importance of and continuing need to identify realistic and implementable options for efficiencies and budget savings SDOT, and elsewhere in the City.
SDOT develops, maintains, and operates a transportation system that promotes the safe and efficient mobility of people and goods, and strives to enhance the quality of life, environment, and economy of Seattle and the surrounding region. The major assets of the City's transportation system are 1,540 lane-miles of arterial streets, 2,412 lane-miles of non-arterial streets, 135 bridges, 494 stairways, 587 retaining walls, 22 miles of seawalls, 1,060 signalized intersections, 47 miles of bike trails and more than 200 miles of on-street bicycle facilities, 35,000 street trees, 2,150 pay stations, 40 parking meters, 26,200 curb ramps, and 1.6 million lane markers. The transportation infrastructure is valued at over $13 billion.
SDOT has over 700 employees, organized in nine major divisions:
· Director’s Office
· Resource Management,
· Human Resources,
· Street Use & Urban Forestry,
· Street Maintenance,
· Capital Projects & Roadway Structures,
· Traffic Management,
· Policy & Planning, and
· Major Projects.
SDOT’s services include:
· Major maintenance and replacement of the City’s transportation capital assets;
· The development and construction of additions to the City’s transportation infrastructure; and
· Operations and routine maintenance needed to keep people and goods moving through the City. This includes operation of the City’s movable bridges, traffic signals, street cleaning, pothole repairs, street use permit issuance, tree maintenance, engineering and transportation planning.
As a mature city, Seattle rarely creates new road transportation facilities. The City optimizes or redevelops existing facilities to make them safer, more efficient and supportive of diverse urban needs. The City also maintains or improves critical transportation infrastructure of regional, statewide and national significance in cooperation with external partners.
SDOT’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) comprises two-thirds of its budget. Funding for programs and capital assets comes from a variety of sources including bonds, federal, state and local grants, state and regional partnership agreements, Bridging-the-Gap property tax levy, commercial parking tax, and the employee hours tax (this tax was repealed at the end of 2009 but some unprogrammed funds remain), fees for service, real estate excise taxes, street vacations, gas tax, and an annual allocation from the city's General Fund.
Please see “2012 Action Agenda” for a comprehensive discussion of Seattle Department of Transportation goals, actions, and accomplishments at http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/actionagenda.htm and CIP white paper under Seattle Department of Transportation at http://www.seattle.gov/financedepartment/cipwhitepapers.htm.
2. Period of Performance.
Period of Performance: The period of performance for this contract is detailed in the table below.
Phase Name / AnticipatedStart Date / End Date / *Funding Available
Phase I: / Oct 12, 2012 / Jan 15, 2013
Phase II: / Feb 15, 2013 / Dec 31, 2013
Total Funding Available:
*Funding Available: This is a competitive process. Up to $500,000 is available for the Phase I and Phase II assessments proposed in this process.
3. Solicitation Objectives.
The City expects to achieve the following outcomes through this consultant solicitation:
- Identify and enter into a contract with a consultant, or a group of consultants, with experience reviewing and assessing the management of local transportation infrastructure, to complete an operational, management and efficiency analysis of the Seattle Department of Transportation.
4. Minimum Qualifications.
The minimum qualifications are required for a Consultant to be eligible to submit a RFP/RFQ response. Responses must clearly show compliance to these minimum qualifications. Those that are not clearly responsive to these minimum qualifications shall be rejected by the City without further consideration:
Minimum Qualification:
The consultant (the individuals performing the analysis) must demonstrate considerable experience providing public sector consulting services, including analysis of transportation planning and management, capital improvement programming, project management, measuring performance, and operations and maintenance.
The consultant must demonstrate experience providing consulting services for government entities and/or jurisdictions in dense urban environments, for transportation organizations in multiple lines of business and modes of travel.
Desired Qualifications:
1. The consultant should have substantial experience in the transportation sector, consulting for public and private organizations. Familiarity with best practice and industry standards for the various services typical of cities in large urban areas is highly desired. Experience conducting similar analyses for comparable agencies is preferred.
2. In the transportation sector, previous experience with any or all of the following concerns is preferred.
a. The benefits and drawbacks of organizational and management structures,
b. The strategic prioritization of capital transportation projects,
c. Alternative methodologies for prioritizing maintenance,
d. Best practices in contracting and construction management,
e. Methods for meeting multiple policy goals, such as fair labor practices, social equity, quality of life, complete streets, water quality, and climate change, and
f. The gathering, analysis, and reporting of data on performance for decision-making.
5. Scope of Work
This work will be completed in two phases. The purpose of this solicitation is to select a consultant for the entire scope of work. Thus, the Consultant must respond to and be prepared for both phases of work. The City has provided a very specific schedule and tasks, although the City reserves the right to modify the work as required to fulfill the City’s needs, including ending the work after Phase I, if they so choose.
Unless specified otherwise, the elements of this scope of work encompass all major areas of work currently performed by SDOT, within and above each Division of the organization. This includes but is not limited to the Office of the Director, Resource Management, Human Resources, Street Use and Urban Forestry, Street Maintenance, Capital Projects and Roadway Structures, Traffic Management, Policy and Planning, and Major Projects. The City of Seattle will provide the consultant with full access to SDOT staff, documents, and other information the consultant finds pertinent to this scope of work.
The Mayor, City Council, and SDOT Management engage in this contract with the shared desire that SDOT become one of the most productive, effective, and efficient city transportation agencies in the country. In every respect, it is the intent of these parties to engage the consultant in the following scope of work in service to these larger, meaningful goals.
Phase I.
Preliminary Analysis of Seattle Department of Transportation Operations and Management and Identification of Short-term and Long-term Opportunities
October 12, 2012 to January 15, 2013.
The following items are required during Phase I. During Phase I the consultant will conduct a preliminary analysis that results in a complete report of short-term opportunities for operational efficiency, including the identification and definition of long-term opportunities for operational efficiency that the consultant and the City of Seattle find worthy of detailed analysis for Phase II.
1. Phase I will last approximately 12 weeks. The Phase I Report is due to the City of Seattle on Tuesday, January 15, 2013.
2. Phase I will include the following activities, to be fully documented in the Phase I Report:
a. An initial assessment of SDOT’s management, including an analysis of:
i. The efficiency and effectiveness of SDOT’s organizational structure and span of control,
ii. The processes SDOT employs for planning, financing, prioritizing, contracting, and delivering capital improvements and maintenance projects, and
iii. The system of asset management currently in place.
This review should also include, with respect to industry standards, peer organizations, and best practices, a preliminary assessment of methods used by SDOT to meet multiple policy goals, such as fair labor practices, social equity, quality of life, complete streets, water quality, and climate change.
b. Benchmarking of performance, for practices within divisions and the department as a whole, against industry standards, peer organizations, and best practices. Particular attention should be focused on identifying valid comparisons and performance measures in the focus areas listed below. These focus areas were identified based on SDOT meeting one or more of the following criteria:
i. Areas with significant financial dependency on primarily non-grant sources
ii. Areas with high customer/public contact
iii. Areas that have been identified through preliminary analysis or the experience of other jurisdictions as having the potential for efficiency
iv. Areas that have a significant backlog.
Focus Areas
Division: Capital Projects and Roadway Structures
· Bridge maintenance and replacement
· Project control and construction management
Division: Traffic Management
· Parking equipment and technologies
· Signs and marking
· Signal and controller installation and maintenance
· Traffic Management Center
Division: Street Maintenance
· Scheduling and project management for street maintenance
· Sidewalk paving and stairways
· Snow/ice control and storm response