On a SOLE-SOURCE basis, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Office of the Under Secretary for Transportation Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, plans to acquire, from the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), services to create a national urban street design guide which will serve as a blueprint for cities around the United States to redesign their streets (1) to support the development of sustainable and livable communities; (2) enhance bicycle and pedestrian safety through improved geometric design standards; and (3) compile associated research, case studies, and expertise for designing multi-modal streets and intersections in major metropolitan centers. Under the contemplated SOLE-SOURCE contract, the authors of the urban street design guide should ensure the direct input, involvement and review of city transportation officials, engineers, planners, and designers. The design guide should be structured to address significant obstacles to the effective design and implementation of sustainable streets in urban areas. The selected consultant and project manager should ensure that the standards therein reflect best practices from cities large and small that have geographic diversity, face separate and distinct transportation challenges, and a variety of transportation modes and projects. The project managers must be capable of managing the development of the design guide and demonstrate the ability to synthesize the input and review of cities around the country. The design guide should be complete within two years after the date on which the contemplated SOLE-SOURCE contract is awarded. NACTO is a nonprofit organization that is uniquely positioned to engage with national leaders from major metropolitan areas on these issues. NACTO was founded in 1996 by then Commissioner Elliot Sander of New York City's Department of Transportation to provide a forum for the leaders of large central cities to encourage the exchange of transportation ideas, insights, and practices while fostering a cooperative approach to key national transportation issues. The organization has a history of accomplishing these objectives by: Sharing data and best practices, through research projects and peer-to-peer workshops Communicating regularly, through conference calls with the Cities and via an annual meeting with the USDOT Secretary and other federal agencies Advocating change in transportation laws, regulations, and financing to enable cities and their metropolitan areas to better provide the integrated transportation services envisioned by Federal transportation law. Transportation is one of the key areas in which cities have the direct ability to influence street design to achieve sustainability and livability objectives for the 21 st century. NACTO members have first-hand experience in how transportation programs function to foster or hinder the implementation of sustainability more than any other level of government or transportation stakeholder in the country. NACTO members are on the ground making sustainable transportation happen, all over the country. From repurposing underutilized curbsides and asphalt to create a lively public arena to retrofitting existing streets for safe walking, biking, and transit access, to highlighting the role of bicycling and bike share as an integral part of the transit network, city transportation officials from America's largest cities are on the frontlines of transforming once sprawling and unsustainable 20th century cities into livable, healthy, and economically competitive 21st century cities. Further, NACTO and its member cities have a breadth of experience creating urban design guides of similar scope and character. The organization developed the Urban Bikeway Design Guide in 2010-11 to address shortcomings in existing national design standards for on-street bikeways in urban areas, incorporating best practice research from abroad and building an improved set of design standards. NACTO's member cities have within the last five years, made significant contributions in this arena, including the New York City Street Design Manual, San Francisco Better Streets Plan, and Boston Complete Streets Design Guidelines. Notwithstanding DOT's SOLE-SOURCE intentions as specified and justified above, any organization which believes that it can provide services to create an urban street design guide and bring together the transportation departments of major cities around the U.S. so as to perform all of the functions described above, at the high level of quality and on the time schedule required by USDOT, may, not later than 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time June 20, 2012, e-mail, to
[email protected] and to
[email protected] , a Statement of Qualifications attempting to prove the submitter's capabilities.