Montgomery SS4 RFP.pdf

Montgomery County Safety Action Plan Request for Proposals Selection Criteria

Montgomery County invites proposals from qualified firms for the purpose of developing a comprehensive Safety Action Plan.

1 Project Introduction Montgomery County, Georgia (the “County”) has been awarded funds under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program to develop a comprehensive Safety Action Plan for the County. The general purpose of the grant award and this project is to improve roadway safety by significantly reducing or eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries through safety action plan development with the project focused on all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, motorists, personal conveyance and micro-mobility users, and commercial vehicle operators. The Safety Action Plan must identify a community's most significant roadway safety concerns, identify safety countermeasures projects, and then prioritize implementation of those projects. The Safety Action Plan must be developed in conformance with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SS4A Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheet.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-02/SS4A-FY24-Self-Certification- Worksheet.pdf

2 Project Scope Expected project activities and timelines are described below. Limited flexibility will be allowed regarding the specific format and contents of deliverables produced. Items not included in this scope but beneficial to achieving a federally approved Safety Action Plan useful to the County are permissible to add.

2.1 Study Area

The SS4A grant application proposed a study area consisting of the Montgomery County Limits.

Consultants, in consultation with the County, will determine an appropriate study area.

2.2 Action Plan

Consultants will create and deliver a Safety Action Plan in compliance with SS4A standards. Consultants must adhere to all guidelines for Safety Action Plans outlined on USDOT’s webpage Comprehensive Safety Action Plan https://www.transportation.gov/grants/ss4a/comprehensive-safety-action-plans. The consultant will ensure that each of the following 8 Components of an Action Plan are met, and are included in the Safety Action Plan:

1. Leadership Commitment and Goal Setting

Description: An official public commitment (e.g., resolution, policy, or ordinance) by a high-ranking official and/or governing body in Montgomery County publicly committing to an eventual goal of zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries. The commitment must include a goal and timeline for eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries achieved through one, or both, of the following: (1) the target date for achieving zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries, OR (2) an ambitious percentage reduction of roadway fatalities and serious injuries by a specific date with an eventual goal of eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-02/SS4A-FY24-Self-Certification-Worksheet.pdf https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-02/SS4A-FY24-Self-Certification-Worksheet.pdf https://www.transportation.gov/grants/ss4a/comprehensive-safety-action-plans

Consultants will assist the County in drafting the required resolution and any meetings with/presentations to the governing body to facilitate resolution adoption.

2. Planning Structure

Description: A committee, task force, implementation group, or similar body charged with oversight of the Action Plan development, implementation, and monitoring.

Consultants will form the implementation group with local assistance, establish regular communication with the group, and facilitate group meetings.

3. Safety Analysis

Description: Analysis of existing conditions and historical trends that provides a baseline level of crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries inside the study area limits. Includes an analysis of locations where there are crashes and the severity of the crashes, as well as contributing factors and crash types by relevant road users (motorists, people walking, transit users, etc.). Systemic and specific safety needs are analyzed (e.g., high-risk road features, specific safety needs of relevant road users, public health approaches, analysis of the built environment, demographic and structural issues, etc.). To the extent practical, the analysis should include all roadways within the jurisdiction without regard for ownership. Based on the analysis performed, a geospatial identification of higher-risk locations is developed (a High- Injury Network or equivalent).

Consultants should describe their approach to data collection and analysis of existing conditions in the study area, including whether they plan to develop a High-Injury Network and, if not, what equivalent will be substituted. County and municipal engineers should be included in the analysis process and know how to maintain and update this data after the performance period.

4. Engagement and Collaboration

Description: Robust engagement with the public and relevant stakeholders, including the private sector and community groups, that allows for both community representation and feedback. Information received from engagement and collaboration is analyzed and incorporated into the Action Plan. Overlapping jurisdictions are included in the process. Plans and processes are coordinated and aligned with other governmental plans and planning processes to the extent practical.

Consultants are expected to create a Community Participation Plan that details an engagement strategy for both public and key stakeholder outreach. The engagement strategy should include the overall outreach and engagement framework, approach, process and schedule, strategies, and format. It should also include a list of materials and/or media to be developed to implement that framework, including notices and announcements, public meeting agendas, publicity materials, presentations, display boards, project website, etc. Various engagement strategies should be considered to gather the information necessary to prepare a final deliverable that responds to stakeholder interests and concerns. Equity considerations, outlined below, should be woven into the engagement strategy.

5. Equity Considerations

Description: Plan development using inclusive and representative processes. Underserved communities are identified through data and other analyses in collaboration with appropriate partners. The analysis includes population characteristics and initial equity impact assessments of the proposed projects and strategies.

Consultants should describe their approach to equity, including the data and methods used to identify underserved communities and assess equity, as well as what outreach techniques will be used. Equity considerations should be woven into the engagement strategy outlined above.

6. Policy and Process Changes

Description: Assessment of current policies, plans, guidelines, DOT Standards to identify opportunities to improve how processes prioritize transportation safety. The Action Plan discusses implementation through the adoption of revised or new policies, guidelines, and/or standards, as appropriate.

Consultants will conduct a review of current county policies, plans, and guidelines and make recommendations that would improve transportation safety.

7. Strategy and Project Selections

Description: Identification of a comprehensive set of projects and strategies, shaped by data, the best available evidence, and noteworthy practices, as well as stakeholder input and equity considerations, that will address the safety problems described in the Action Plan. These strategies and countermeasures focus on a Safe System Approach and effective interventions and consider multidisciplinary activities. To the extent practical, data limitations are identified and mitigated. Once identified, the list of projects and strategies is prioritized in a list that provides time ranges for when the strategies and countermeasures will be deployed (e.g., short-, mid-, and long-term timeframes). The list should include specific projects and strategies or descriptions of programs of projects and strategies and explain the prioritization criteria used. The list should contain infrastructure, behavioral, and/or operational safety interventions.

Consultants should include their experience with the Safe Systems approach, Vision Zero, Complete Streets, Public Rights-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), and other road safety practices, emphasizing their understanding of these programs in rural contexts. As described above, to the extent practical, the analysis should include all roadways within the jurisdiction regardless of ownership.

Strategies and projects should include more than what can be implemented on roads owned by the County;

the consultant should also provide strategies that the County can implement within its corporate limits to reduce serious injuries and fatalities on roads owned and maintained by the state and other jurisdictions bordering the area of study. In addition, strategies for cross-jurisdictional collaboration should be included.

8. Progress and Transparency

Description: Method to measure progress over time after an Action Plan is developed or updated, including outcome data. The method must include a method to ensure ongoing transparency is established with residents and other relevant stakeholders. Must include, at a minimum, annual public and accessible reporting on progress toward reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries and public posting of the Action Plan online.

Consultants will develop the method for measuring and advertising progress with the County staff and local leaders. Consultants will be responsible for data reporting during the period of performance.

Consultants are not responsible for advertising the data to the public or updating the data after the period of performance is complete.

2.3 Draft Review Standards

Drafts of all deliverables should be provided to the steering committee with sufficient time for review.

Formal deliverables (drafts or final products) should be provided to the steering committee at least one week before any meeting for review of the documents. These review times should be built into the project schedule proposed by the consultants.

2.4 Data Collection and Reporting

In addition to creating the Action Plan, the consultant will be responsible for fulfilling the data collection requirements and reporting for submittal of a 2025 SS4A Implementation Grant. This includes:

1. A report that describes:

a. The costs of each eligible project and strategy carried out using the grant.

b. The roadway safety outcomes and any additional benefits (e.g., increased walking, biking, or transit use without a commensurate increase in crashes, etc.) that each such project and strategy has generated, as

i. Identified in the grant application; and

ii. Measured by data, to the maximum extent practicable; and

c. The lessons learned and any recommendations relating to future projects or strategies to prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets.

2. Providing U.S. DOT aggregated annual crash data on serious injuries and fatalities for the study area for the requisite time period (typically 5 years; likely 2020-2024).

2.5 Project Management

The consultant will be responsible for coordinating regular project meetings with the County, including producing all meeting materials, notices, attendance lists, minutes/summaries, etc. A project schedule should be provided in the proposal and updated as needed during the life of the project.

The County will be responsible for project oversight, including programmatic and financial reporting. The consultant should provide the County with clear, accurate, and timely reports and financial statements to facilitate all grant reporting requirements.

2.6 Proposal Schedule

It is the County’s intention that the SS4A Safety Action Plan be finalized by the required Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheet date so that a SS4A Planning and Demonstration and/or Implementation grant can be submitted in the 2025 SS4A grant cycle.

Task Date RFP Issued August 21, 2026 Proposals Due September 22, 2026 Selection / Contract September 2026 Contract Work Begins October 16, 2026 Contract Work Ends March 31, 2027

3 Selection

3.1 Proposal Submittal Requirements

Proposals will need to include a comprehensive response describing the consultant’s knowledge and experience with the tasks described in the above Project Scope. Proposals should include the following Sections:

1. General Experience Summary: The summary will need to emphasize the team’s experience with developing Safety Action Plans or similar type studies, especially community engagement, crash data analysis, and roadway safety audits, consistent with the details in the requested Project Scope presented above.

2. Project Understanding and Proposed Approach: This section of the proposal should include an outline of the understanding of the project goals, scope, and important issues associated with the study area and an approach proposed to address those issues. This section should include a proposed approach and milestone schedule to addressing the desired tasks and outcomes outlined in this document with the requested Scope of Services, including proposed analysis tools and techniques and partner and public engagement strategies.

The section should also demonstrate a familiarity with Montgomery County.

3. Project Team: Provide resumes for specific personnel that will be assigned to the project, including verification that they have experience with similar projects. Include the proposed organizational chart.

4. Firm Overview: General description of lead consultant and any proposed subconsultant(s), including relevant project experience, firm profile, and description of current projects. General discussion of any history of successful collaboration between proposed lead and subconsultant team members, if applicable.

5. Project References: References should include a brief project description, contact name, address, telephone number, email address, and provide evidence of similar work completed within the last five (5) years conducted by the proposing firm(s).

3.2 Project Costs

Project costs will comply with 2 CFR 200.324, as well as the U.S Department of Transportation Grant Agreement (Attachment B).

Consultants should produce a project scope that involves effort consistent with the above costs.

3.3 Selection Criteria

• Scope of Work (35 points)

The consultant has a strong understanding of the project’s objectives for reducing traffic safety issues.

The consultant has general knowledge of the federal requirements associated with the grant award.

The consultant will provide an adequate data-driven approach to the project needs.

The consultant provides a unique, innovative, and out-of-the-box approach to the project.

• Management Plan (25 points) The consultant has well-qualified team members assigned to the project and provides a detailed organizational chart of key personnel.

• Project Schedule (10 points) The consultant provides a well-planned schedule and identifies specific tasks and milestones to be met over the duration of the project.

• Qualifications (20 points)

The consultant explains how well the company AND their key personnel’s experience provides value to the project objectives.

The consultant provided resumes of all team members who will be involved with the project.

The consultant has a fair amount of knowledge of the study area.

• Past Projects & References (10 points)

The consultant has a brief overview of 2-3 similar projects and experience that they have completed.

3.4 Proposal Due Date and Submittal

Proposals are due by 2:00 PM on September 22, 2026.

No late proposals will be accepted. Proposals must be emailed to hayes@hofstadter.com AND jamielynn@hofstadter.com AND hscott@montcoga.gov , with Montgomery Co. Safety Action Plan RFP in the subject line.

mailto:hayes@hofstadter.com mailto:jamielynn@hofstadter.com mailto:hscott@montcoga.gov