C250202_RFP_Exhibit_A,_SOW.pdf

RFP 250202

EXHIBIT A

SCOPE OF WORK

OC Bus Customer Satisfaction Survey

BACKGROUND

The Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) projects, programs, and services affect every aspect of transportation within Orange County (OC). OCTA is a multi-modal agency involved in decisions that affect the daily quality of life for more than three million people who live in OC and countless others who travel to OC.

As OC’s primary transportation agency, OCTA is responsible for providing public transportation via countywide bus and future streetcar services, funding grants for community circulators, and active transportation projects, coordinating rideshare services, funding the three (3) Metrolink lines in OC, operating the 91 and 405 Express Lanes, working with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to improve freeways, partnering with local jurisdictions to improve streets and roads, and developing and implementing short- and long-term transportation plans.

OCTA’s countywide bus service (OC Bus) is comprised of fifty-one (51) bus routes as of January 2025. Services include local fixed-route, community, and bus rapid transit (OC Bus Rapid). As of October 2025, average weekday ridership was more than 117,000 boardings, and during the weekend, average Saturday ridership was more than 66,000 boardings, and average Sunday ridership was more than 57,000 boardings.

OCTA conducts both qualitative and quantitative studies to gain knowledge of the transportation needs of OC residents, including the following surveys:

• The 2014 Bus Customer Satisfaction Survey collected more than 2,500 responses from October to November 2014 with an on-board intercept survey.

• The 2020 Transportation Needs Assessment (TNA) survey collected more than 6,900 responses from February to March 2020, again from an on-board intercept survey.

• The 2024 Rider Safety Perception Survey collected more than 7,000 survey responses in September 2024.

OCTA seeks professional survey and analysis services to conduct a 2026 OC Bus Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS). The CSS effort shall include the development of a survey instrument and collection of survey responses from OC Bus transit riders on buses and at bus stops and transit centers. The analysis of collected responses shall result in a high-level summary of findings and presentations, as well as a final report.

By assessing the current transit rider experience and considering prior survey results, OCTA will be better equipped with an inclusive view of transit riders’ expectations and experiences. As part of the CSS, OCTA is seeking both representatively sampled information and rider feedback that may lead to improvements in a variety of areas, including establishing priorities and developing services, programs, and projects.

Results of the CSS shall be utilized by the OCTA Board of Directors (Board) and executive staff to assist with future planning efforts and program development, and to support opportunities for meaningful engagement as OCTA continues to work towards its mission of improving transportation for all residents of OC. Specifically, the CSS shall set to accomplish the following goals:

• Measure satisfaction levels on key service areas (i.e., reliability, fares, information, comfort, cleanliness, etc.) from current transit riders

• Measure awareness, perceptions, and attitudes towards OC Bus services and amenities

• Profile transit riders’ travel patterns including trip frequency and trip purpose

• Identify usage of, and preferences for, various communication channels

• Gather detailed demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic information from existing transit riders

OBJECTIVES

OCTA is planning to conduct a countywide CSS to understand the current needs of existing OC Bus riders, as well as their current travel patterns, fare usage, and demographic profiles. OCTA is seeking to engage professional services to conduct the CSS for:

1. Development of a research plan informed by industry best practices and established survey methodology

2. Development of survey instrument

3. Administration of surveys, including distribution and collection of surveys

(in-person, on-board and at bus stops, and / or online)

4. Data collection and processing

5. Data analysis and development of a draft report

6. Development of a final report, executive summary, and presentation

The anticipated launch date for this project is March 2026.

Survey efforts shall attempt to gather information including but not limited to the following:

• Overall satisfaction of transit services

• Customer satisfaction across key service areas

• Interests and barriers to transit use

• Rider retention

• Trip frequency

• Trip purpose

• Travel time of day

• Length of trip

• Fare usage

• Cost to use transit

By conducting a thorough analysis of data and information, the CSS shall also address the following:

• Identify service areas of high satisfaction for transit riders

• Identify opportunities to enhance service planning, operations, communications, and customer experience

• Assess existing transit riders’ travel behavior characteristics, including trip frequency and trip purpose

• Gather an appropriate sample that is representative of the routes of the OC Bus system

SCOPE OF SERVICES

OCTA is seeking a Consultant with a demonstrated track record of creating, organizing, conducting, analyzing, and reporting qualitative and quantitative research related to transportation and regional and local public policy issues.

Consultant shall be responsible for completing all of the tasks described below:

TASK 1: OVERALL STRATEGY AND WORK PLAN

Proposals shall include a best practice model project plan addressing research methodology, sampling, development of survey instruments, data collection and analysis, development of a highline summary, draft report, and final report and presentations to OCTA’s public committees and Board.

Consultant shall provide the OCTA Project Manager (PM) with written project updates every week via e-mail throughout the entire project duration. Other updates or issues needing urgent attention can be relayed directly to the OCTA PM by phone or in person.

Task 1 Deliverables:

1. Consultant shall use industry best practices to develop and manage the Project Plan, which includes a proposed timeline with specific milestones for survey development, data collection, analysis, and reporting; tasks; consultant resources and responsibilities; budget; and activities to ensure timely and effective completion of all project components.

2. Weekly progress updates sent via e-mails or meetings (eight [8] in total)

TASK 2: DEVELOP SURVEY INSTRUMENT AND SURVEY PLAN

Consultant shall work collaboratively with OCTA staff to develop a draft print survey instrument. The development process for the survey instrument may include consideration of data gathered through previous focus groups, roundtables, existing OCTA surveys, other related external data sources and utilize best practices and appropriate methods for survey development. Consultant shall also coordinate with OCTA staff to ensure instrument compatibility (format, conditional logic, and survey length). The OCTA PM shall review the survey instrument and work with Consultant to finalize materials.

Once the content and layout of the survey instrument is finalized, Consultant shall translate the survey instrument into at least the following languages to ensure broad accessibility and inclusivity of OCTA’s diverse transit rider population: Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Farsi, and Arabic. Consultant shall work with OCTA staff on wording or grammatical edits to ensure usage of appropriate regional dialects that match OC demographics.

Consultant shall be responsible for providing sweepstakes prize(s) to incentivize survey participation, each individually valued at approximately one hundred dollars ($100.00).

Consultant shall also be responsible for selecting and contacting winners after survey administration. Sweepstakes rules shall be provided by OCTA staff.

Using industry best practices for a qualitative survey, Consultant shall collaborate with OCTA staff to determine the appropriate sample size and collection methodology to gather representative survey results for the OC Bus system, including considering routes, geographical areas served, rider trip times, and the diverse audiences served. The target sample size is anticipated to be approximately five thousand (5,000) completed responses, based on historical performance of previous OC Bus customer surveys.

Collected surveys shall make an effort to meet agreed demographic targets for language spoken at home. Surveys shall be available in all target languages with best-effort targets to collect a representative sample of OC riders reflecting actual ridership demographics where possible. Language targets may be informed by OC census information (2024 American Community Survey), which indicates English (52% of language spoken at home), Spanish (25%), Vietnamese (6%), Chinese (4%), Korean (3%), Farsi (1%), and Arabic (1%).

The goal of the CSS is to gather a representative sample of OC Bus riders, with sufficient sampling to represent each OC Bus route, along with key rider demographics, gathered from intercept surveys of riders onboard OC Bus or at bus stops and transit centers.

Consultant shall work with OCTA staff to determine appropriate sample size and survey collection targets. In addition to the representative sample, Consultant may augment survey results with online survey collection.

After finalizing the survey instrument and the sampling plan, Consultant shall pre-test the survey in all listed languages from Task 2 to ensure survey functionality and minimize grammatical or spelling errors.

Task 2 Deliverables:

1. Draft survey instrument in print / online formats

2. Final, approved print and online survey instruments

3. Translations of survey instrument in seven (7) languages

4. Draft of proposed sampling plan

5. Final sampling plan

6. Provide sweepstakes prize(s)

TASK 3: SURVEY ADMINISTRATION

Before official survey administration, Consultant shall complete a test administration of the survey to validate planned logistics, technology, and sample capture approach. Test results and survey feedback shall be analyzed jointly by OCTA staff and Consultant for final survey modifications. Any suggested modifications shall be approved by the OCTA PM before official administration.

The survey administration for transit riders shall include in-person data collection (including on-bus or at bus stops). In-person data collection, including survey administration and collection, shall be conducted by Consultant. Survey administration efforts shall ensure that all supported languages of the survey instrument are available as needed.

OCTA shall produce and provide the requested quantity of print survey instruments needed for survey administration. Survey administration shall ensure that surveys in needed languages are available for individuals to respond in their desired language.

Survey instruments can be printed (which OCTA shall provide once approved) or alternative options, such as completion of surveys on tablets or mobile devices

While an online version of the survey (with QR code or link) may be considered for additional responses, these online surveys would not count against targeted survey efforts or sampling information, as they would not accurately capture where an individual was contacted. In OCTA’s experience, results from online only surveys can experience quality issues and would only be considered to augment the needed intercept surveys for this effort.

Consultant shall have sufficiently trained, experienced interviewers capable of assisting respondents with survey completion and other data collection activities in English and the identified languages from Task 2.

Task 3 Deliverables:

1. Pilot test summary including issues encountered and corrective actions

2. Provide training and documented guidance to survey takers in survey administration and data collection for the CSS

3. Distribute and collect agreed upon sampling size a sample size as determined

TASK 4: DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING

Consultant shall be responsible for entering print survey responses into an electronic format for further analysis, including translation of responses as needed into English.

Technologies such as scanning, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), may be used as long as data quality is maintained. OCTA shall be provided a copy of raw data collected upon request, in addition to upon completion of the project.

Consultant shall be responsible for cleaning the raw data. Consultant shall be responsible for coding responses and categorizing open-ended responses for further analysis.

Consultant shall provide the cleaned survey data to OCTA along with documentation on cleaning and standardization methodology, such as a data dictionary and notes on the data cleaning steps taken.

Task 4 Deliverables:

1. Raw survey dataset to OCTA

2. Return completed surveys, either as original print versions or as scanned or electronic outputs

3. Completed clean survey datasets to OCTA

4. Documentation for methodology and data cleaning, including a data dictionary.

Documentation of basic cleaning, coding, and categorizing of data in preparation for reporting results.

TASK 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND DRAFT REPORT PREPARATION

Once the dataset is cleaned, Consultant shall perform descriptive and comparative analyses to identify customer satisfaction trends and integration of any other data to determine key findings. The key findings shall include any notable trends found in demographics and travel patterns. Consultant shall prepare a highline summary with key findings on overall satisfaction, satisfaction levels in key service areas, rider travel patterns, and rider demographics.

After the highline summary, Consultant shall develop a draft report and provide other pertinent documents based on the survey findings. The report shall include detailed findings (including the key findings mentioned in the highline summary), analysis, and recommendations to meet survey objectives. The report shall also include color bar or column graphs and tables as a way of presenting the results in an easy-to-read format.

The cross tabulations shall compare customer satisfaction levels and travel patterns across overall satisfaction levels, trip frequency, demographic categories, and other factors.

Consultant shall provide a draft report, along with supporting visualizations, charts and cross tabulations that shall be reviewed and approved by the OCTA PM. Any requested edits or clarifications requested during the draft review process shall be returned to Consultant for implementation.

The draft report shall address in sufficient detail the following report outline:

• Executive Summary

• Methodology

• Background

• Findings

• Detailed Results

• Recommendations

• Demographics o Primary Language Spoken at Home o English Proficiency o Race / Ethnicity o National Origin o Household Income o Home and destination ZIP Codes o Age o Gender o Employment Status

• Copy of Survey Instrument

• Survey Question-by-Question Summary with tables

• Computer Data Tabulations and Cross Tabulations

Task 5 Deliverables:

1. Highline summary with key results and findings in a PowerPoint format

2. Review other relevant countywide data sources and, if applicable, synthesize information into the CSS

3. Data tables and cross-tabulations, including but not limited to overall satisfaction, trip frequency, and demographic data

4. Draft survey report

TASK 6: PREPARE FINAL REPORT AND PRESENTATION OF SURVEY RESULTS

After receiving feedback and incorporating any needed changes from the OCTA PM, Consultant shall prepare a final report using the report outline in Task 5. The final report shall be comprehensive but designed to be read and easily understood by parties with no direct involvement with the research.

In addition to the final report, Consultant shall prepare a PowerPoint presentation for a presentation of key findings to OCTA. The presentation shall be presented by the lead Consultant or approved alternate and shall be presented in-person at three (3) meetings, including a presentation to OCTA Executive management, a public committee meeting, and the OCTA Board at OCTA’s administrative offices located in Orange, California.

Task 6 Deliverables:

1. Electronic and hard copy of final written report, including cross-tabulation data

2. Presentation of key findings in PowerPoint format

3. Complete three (3) presentations as scheduled

GENERAL INFORMATION

OCTA’s PM shall approve all work completed by Consultant.

TIMEFRAME

Project will start in March 2026. The final report and presentation shall be completed by the end of August 2026, with Consultant available to present results and findings through October 2026.

LIMITATION ON GOVERNMENTAL DECISIONS

Nothing contained in this scope of work permits Consultant’s personnel to authorize or direct any actions, votes, appoint any person, obligate, or commit OCTA to any course of action or enter into any contractual agreement on behalf of OCTA. In addition, Consultant’s personnel shall not provide information, an opinion, or a recommendation for the purpose of affecting a decision without significant intervening substantive review by OCTA personnel, counsel, and management.