RFP _ South Fulton CID Freight Cluster Study_.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

South Fulton CID Freight Cluster Plan: Sustainability Focus

The South Fulton Community Improvement District (CID) is seeking proposals from firms or teams of firms experienced in freight and sustainable transportation planning, analysis and development of policies and projects. The Scope of Service for the work is included as Attachment A and the location of the study is included as Attachment B.

The South Fulton CID intends to award the contract during calendar year 2025. Available funds for the project are $310,000. Interested firms should submit a proposal that addresses the factors listed below and the scope of services in Attachment B. The Consultant must provide a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget (detailed further in Attachment C) and agree to sign a contract which undertakes obligations required by the Georgia Department of Transportation, among other terms.

The South Fulton CID anticipates that a contract will be awarded in October 2025. Proposals should strive to be concise and no more than 30 pages, and must include the following information:

1. Name of lead firm and any sub-consultants.

2. Point of contact (name, title, phone number, mailing address, and email address) at lead firm.

3. Overview highlighting technical competence of consultant/or sub-consultants in the type of work required.

4. Description of experience on similar projects including a list of at least 3 references within the past 5 years, with current contact information.

5. Listing of key project personnel and their qualifications.

6. A detailed description of the project understanding and overall technical approach proposed for accomplishment of the work.

7. A proposed schedule and work plan for the accomplishment of the work described in

Attachment A.

8. A proposed project budget in the format of Attachment C to this RFP.

9. Any other pertinent information.

The CID encourages meaningful Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation. As this project is partially funded by ARC, the DBE participation goal for this project is ARC’s DBE goal of 16.7%. Please refer to the ARC DBE policy, available at https://atlantaregional.org/about-arc/arc-business-opportunities/, for more information.

The review of written proposals will be based on the following evaluation criteria, with the relative weights in parentheses:

1. Related experience, qualifications and references of the firm or project team (40%)

2. Technical approach (30%) https://atlantaregional.org/about-arc/arc-business-opportunities/ https://atlantaregional.org/about-arc/arc-business-opportunities/

3. Work plan and schedule (25%)

4. Cost/Fee (5%)

Additional information should not be required to respond to this RFP. However, technical questions should be submitted in writing to Joddie Gray no later than 4:00 pm on August 20, 2025. Written questions should be submitted by email to jgray@southfultoncid.com. All questions received, and responses to those questions, will be posted on the South Fulton CID website by 4:00 pm on August 25, 2025.

Submit electronically by 4:00 pm ET on September 10, 2025 to jgray@southfultoncid.com.

If interviews are necessary, the short-listed firms will be invited to participate in an interview process with an evaluation committee, to be scheduled the week of September 22, 2025 (tentative). The South Fulton CID will confirm a specific interview date and time with short-listed firms. The South Fulton CID reserves the right to award this contract based on initial proposals received without formal interviews.

The CID reserves the right to: (a) waive any irregularities, informalities, technicalities, variances, or defects in any proposal; (b) reject any and all proposals, in whole or in part, submitted in response to this RFP; (c) request clarifications from all proposing firms; (d) request resubmissions from all proposing firms; (e) make partial, progressive or multiple awards; (f) withdraw or cancel this RFP without prior notice, at any time, at its sole discretion; and.(g) retain all proposals submitted, and to use any idea in any proposal regardless of whether the proposal is selected.

There is no expressed or implied obligation for the CID to reimburse any firm for any expense incurred in preparing or presenting a proposal in response to this request for proposals. The proposing firm shall be solely responsible for any and all costs associated with developing and preparing its proposal.

Neither the recommendation of a firm for selection, nor the approval of a firm by the CID Board, is a guarantee of an agreement for services with any firm. Any services will be governed by a written, fully executed contract, should the CID in its sole discretion choose to offer it to a firm and any contract award for this study is contingent upon ARC and the Subgrantee receiving adequate funding for this purpose from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the US Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT).

mailto:jgray@southfultoncid.com

ATTACHMENT A: SCOPE OF SERVICES

In 2018, the South Fulton CID conducted a precursor to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Freight Cluster Plans. It was a multi-modal plan, focused on freight movement. The recommended projects addressed congestion, safety, and access and most of the projects have been completed or are in progress. During the CID’s Board of Directors 2022 Strategic Planning meeting, the Board discussed what next steps the CID could take to advance both transportation and the community and focused in on the need and opportunity to address sustainability.

The following scope of work includes a review of infrastructure and commuting patterns that can create a freight and sustainability network. The overarching objectives of the plan will be to create a districtwide strategy for improving workforce quality of life, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving efficiency in freight transportation, enhancing supply chain resilience, and supporting sustainable transportation practices.

Upon completion of the scope of work, the CID will undertake several pilot projects to advance the planning process.

SCOPE OF WORK

Task 1: Project Management

Task 1.1: Develop Project Management Plan

In consultation with the CID Executive Director and ARC, create a Project Management Plan (PMP) that identified key agencies, organizations, and individuals who must be involved in the overall direction of the plan development process due to the critical nature of their financial, technical and/or political support. These key partners will constitute the Project Management Team.

The Project Management Plan should establish protocols for communicating and sharing data, drafting materials for review, and developing other resources within the Project Management Team and other key stakeholders. A schedule for meetings of the team should be established and preliminary dates for key work task milestones and decision-making points will be defined in the PMP.

While some key agencies may not be on the Project Management team, such as GDOT, relevant transit agencies, and all local jurisdictions within the study area, they will still need to be engaged and provided key information.

Last, the PMP will acknowledge the need for monthly comprehensive progress reports detailing progress on each task with the invoice. The CID will in turn be submitting this information to

ARC.

Task 1.2 Develop Stakeholder and Outreach Plan

The Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan should be developed and approved by the Project Management Team prior to significant work being undertaken on subsequent tasks. The Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan should identify key individuals, agencies, and organizations whose participation will be critical in properly addressing the various elements and emphasis areas defined in the work program. This will include representatives from freight transportation, industrial/warehousing construction, logistics, and other key influencers over the built environment, transportation, and workforce. This would include government agencies, transportation companies, leasing agents, property managers, unions, workforce development agencies, environmental and sustainability organizations, and nonprofits. Include specific outreach techniques to showcase how to effectively involve these stakeholders will be defined.

The Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan should also establish how members of the public, and leadership and staff from private-sector stakeholders will be engaged throughout the process and have the opportunity to contribute meaningful input prior to final decisions being made.

Deliverables:

• Project Management Plan (Draft and Final)

• Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan (Draft and Final)

• Monthly Progress Reports

Task 2: Engagement

As noted, in Task 1 the most effective methods and strategies to involve private-sector stakeholders of the freight and logistics industry as well as a diverse range of the general public in the plan development process should be developed and specific direct engagement techniques, such as stakeholder interviews, online and/or intercept surveys, online mapping tools, advisory committees, technical committees, open houses, workshops, and charrettes will be discussed and refined through consensus of the Project Management Team. At ARC’s discretion, the engagement will also include presentations and opportunities for input at up to three ARC Freight Advisory Task Force meetings.

In addition, the outreach process should showcase how input will be gathered from local commercial property owners, commercial property managers, business leaders, staff that work at local industrial and logistics businesses, truck drivers who regularly travel in the study area, local residents, providers and operators of alternative fuel and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, freight and logistics associations, and practitioners and experts in freight sustainability.

Efforts to engage those community members who have traditionally been underrepresented in the transportation decision making process or who will be most directly impacted by recommendations should be emphasized and will most likely be targeted for future pilots emerging from the plan recommendations.

Private-sector stakeholders and the public should be provided the opportunity to review draft deliverables related to the inventory and assessment of the transportation system and plan recommendations prior to those deliverables being finalized. An early deliverable of engagement and outreach activities will be to define the desired long-term outcomes which implementation of the freight cluster plan will help support. These outcomes must support the regionally defined vision of ‘One Great Region’ and its goals for the Atlanta Region. The regional vision and goals will be scaled and interpreted as appropriate to be more directly applicable and responsive to the unique characteristics of the study area. The locally desired outcomes may be expressed in terms of a vision statement, goals, and objectives, or may use a different nomenclature which resonates more strongly with community members.

Additionally, engagement will support subsequent tasks by covering topics such as current practices, needs, and opportunities for—

• Use of alternative fuels and energy sources in freight transportation.

• More sustainable employee access to work sites.

• Site-specific sustainability measures.

• Sustainable supply chain management.

• Freight being a “good neighbor” that compatibly coexists with surrounding neighborhoods.

These topics are described in more detail in the Task 3 Best Practices Review and the Task 4 Inventory and Assessment.

Information on the process, schedule, draft and final deliverables, and opportunities for engagement must be always readily accessible throughout plan development via a project page on the South Fulton CID website. Consultant should create a project page to be added the SFCID website: www.southfultoncid.com.

Deliverables:

• Statement of Freight Cluster Plan Vision, Goals, and Objectives

• Robust Community Engagement Activities

• Project Page for SFCID Website

Task 3: Best Practices Review

Early in the planning process, the consultant team will conduct a high-level review of best practices for sustainable freight planning to provide direction during the remainder of the planning efforts. The best practices review is not specific to the study area but instead is based on plans from cutting-edge organizations inside and outside of the United States, state and federal policy, and research. The best practices review is conducted primarily through document review but may also include interviews or other means of collecting best practices.

Additionally, feedback on the draft may be solicited from stakeholders or the public depending on the timing of Task 2 Engagement activities. Topics of this review may include:

http://www.southfultoncid.com/

• Approaches to reduce emissions of air pollution and consumption of non-renewable resources due to freight activity in the study area. Air pollution includes greenhouse gas emissions and emissions of ozone, particles, and other air pollutants that can harm health. Impacts of air pollution can be felt at any scale, from local to global. These approaches may include but are not limited to use of alternative fuels and energy sources, mode shifts, and reduction of trip length.

• Approaches to reduce pollution of employees accessing the work site, such as via workplace charging of electric vehicles or transportation demand management programs.

• Approaches to help freight be a ‘good neighbor’ that is designed and operates in such a way that it coexists compatibly with surrounding neighborhoods.

The findings from the best practices review shall be documented in a Best Practices Report.

Deliverables:

• Best Practices Report (Draft and Final)

Task 4: Inventory and Assessment

The plan should include a detailed inventory of existing freight sustainability-related conditions and an assessment of current and future freight sustainability-related needs and opportunities for the study area. The inventory is intended to establish a baseline understanding of freight movement in the study area and form a foundation for assessment of freight sustainability needs and opportunities.

Task 4.1: Conduct Inventory of Existing Needs and Opportunities

The inventory should begin with a review of previously completed local, regional, and state plans that are relevant to the study area. The implementation of previous plans that included the study area, as well as other ongoing capital and maintenance projects in or adjacent to the study area, shall be documented as part of this task.

Data related to the existence, condition, and performance of the transportation network within the study area will be collected and documented. This will include:

• Freight origin-destination patterns.

• Major generators of truck trips.

• Authorized and unauthorized truck parking locations for overnight and staging needs.

• Overview of CSX Intermodal facilities

• Job accessibility options for individuals that do not have access to a car or choose not to drive, including:

a. Transit infrastructure, ridership.

b. Bike/pedestrian infrastructure.

c. Commute focused Transportation demand management (TDM) programs and incentives.

Additional data collection for the sustainability-focused freight cluster plan shall include, but is not limited to, the following elements. Although the spatial scales at which data is available may vary, the analysis should be customized as much as possible to the study area.

Alternative Fuels: A deeper dive on opportunities and challengers around alternative fuels will be conducted for the study area. This includes:

• Recharging and refueling locations for alternative energy sources inside the study area and in the broader region. This will include:

o Alternative energy sources such as electricity, hydrogen, renewable diesel, natural gas, biofuels, hybrid solutions, and other relevant alternative fuels.

o Existing and planned electric vehicle and other alternative fueling infrastructure for freight vehicles and for passenger vehicles within the study area, types of charging and refueling stations (e.g., level 2, DC fast chargers), and accessibility for freight vehicles.

• Current prevalence of and opportunities for trucks with alternative energy sources.

o Engage with local freight-related businesses and logistics providers to understand their needs and opportunities for electric and other alternative fuels for freight vehicles.

o Conduct an assessment of the current adoption status of local freight-related businesses and logistics providers of electric freight vehicles and other alternative fuels, and potential interest into further transitioning to electric freight vehicles and alternative fuels for freight movement.

o Identify suitable locations for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and alternative fuel infrastructure on both private and public properties.

• Local, regional, state, and national programs that are potentially applicable to alternative fuel implementation in the study area.

o Identify policies and grants related to electric vehicle charging and alternative fuels for freight transportation or the purchase and operation of alternative energy source freight vehicles.

o Identify any barriers and incentives that may impact the adoption of alternative fuel freight vehicles.

Employee Access: Employee recruitment and retention is a critical concern in the South Fulton CID and transportation access is often cited as a key issue. The plan should document and expand on previous surveys, interviews and activities to not only identify opportunities and challenges, but also to engage a larger stakeholder audience in the development of solutions. This will include a review of:

• Current employee commutes to freight and logistics worksites in the study area.

o To the extent possible using available data and outreach, identify mode share of employee commutes, transit ridership, travel patterns, and the presence of workforce housing. Overlay Justice 40 data sets on origin information to further understand the workforce needs.

o Describe participation by freight and related businesses and workers in GA Commute Options programs and any other relevant programs to encourage commuting by non-single occupancy vehicle modes.

o Justice 40 data sets o Existing CID programs to encourage alternative mode usage.

• Opportunities for more sustainable employee access to freight and logistics worksites.

o Evaluate opportunities for expansion of public transportation, carpooling/vanpooling incentives, bike-sharing programs, and bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure for employee access to industrial and freight-related worksites.

o Showcase how a trail network could improve access for employees o Identify potential locations for workplace charging of employee electric vehicles at existing industrial businesses or within walking distance of those businesses.

o Identify existing programs (including incentive programs) or grants that can assist with the implementation of workplace charging of employee electric vehicles.

Site- and Employer-Specific Transportation Reviews: The consultant should conduct an assessment of employee parking, truck parking, loading and unloading areas, and TDM programs at a selection of notable freight and logistics sites and employers. This review should cover to the extent possible the most influential sites and employers and be representative of the types of freight and logistics activities that are in the study area.

The review may be conducted via surveys of freight and logistics businesses, stakeholder interviews, or other methods as will be described in the Task 1 Stakeholder and Outreach Plan. This work should be coordinated with Task 2 Engagement activities. This will include an inventory of the presence of and feasibility for:

• Permeable pavers or surfaces

• Green parking lots and roofs

• Bike parking

• Carpool/vanpool priority spaces

• On-site showers (for bicycle/pedestrian commuting)

• TDM Programs:

Employer and commuter assistance Incentives for delivery companies to shift times, routes, and modes

(incentives for food delivery companies to switch more trips to bicycles)

• Other programs, topics, or infrastructure relevant to the study area

Supply Chain Sustainability: The consultant will review local government incentives and disincentives for improving supply chains as well as identify freight and logistics companies that are practicing sustainable supply chain management. This would be conducted through Task 2 Engagement activities, which could include surveys of freight or logistics businesses, stakeholder interviews, or other methods as will be described in the Stakeholder and Outreach Plan (Task 1). This could include:

• Employer:

o Company-specific sustainability goals.

o Participation in Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay program to improve supply chain efficiency.

o Tracking of fuel use and freight emissions (and any offsets).

o Eliminating internal system deficiencies (i.e. no idling while waiting for loading, etc.).

o Others identified through stakeholder interviews.

• Jurisdictional:

o Policy changes that jurisdictions can implement (such as relaxing night-time delivery restrictions, temporary or permanent curb management policies) o Technology application that enables flow of information between cities, freight operators and delivery drivers about road closures, congestion hot spots, curb regulations, and other restrictions in real-time.

Funding Opportunities: This task will also include an assessment of how the CID and jurisdictions within the study area currently fund transportation. This will also incorporate transportation funding trends at the state and federal levels.

Task 4.2: Develop Needs and Opportunities Memo

Sustainability-related needs and opportunities should be identified based on the information gathered in the inventory, as well as input from technical staff, stakeholders, and the public.

Needs are broad strategies for addressing the problems / shortcomings in the study area and/or realizing the opportunities and building on the strengths identified in the inventory and assessment. These may include increasing the share of trucks in the study area using alternative fuels and energy sources, shifting truck movement from more congested to less congested times, reducing idling, shifting freight movement from trucks to rail, and shifting employee commute modes away from single-occupant vehicle travel. The assessment may also use any combination of regional and local area travel demand models, analytical tools, and methodologies which best suit the characteristics and issues of the study area and produce useful information in a cost-effective manner. Needs and opportunities may be highly local, applying to just a small part of the study area, or relevant for the entire study area. The assessment serves to connect problems and opportunities identified in the inventory with recommendations made in Task 5 Recommendations.

Needs and opportunities should be described quantitively when appropriate for the type of need or opportunity, and with as much spatial precision as possible. This assessment will form a basis for developing plan recommendations, which are intended to address the region’s sustainability needs and to realize the most relevant opportunities defined in this task. The assessment shall also consider whether freight trends and emerging technologies may change the need or opportunity in the future.

• Inventory and Assessment Report (Draft and Final)

Task 5: Develop Recommendations

Recommendations should include specific actions for the South Fulton CID and partners to take to address the needs or realize the most relevant opportunities identified in the Task 4 Inventory and Assessment. The recommendations may address any needs, opportunities, or other issues identified in the inventory and assessment task. Recommendations shall consider innovation and new technology wherever practical.

Recommendations shall:

• Be vetted through a robust community engagement process and formally adopted by local government policy officials and/or the CID board as part of the final plan.

• Leverage and complement regional facilities, services, and programs to address local needs and priorities.

• Consider innovative projects, technological advances, electric vehicle charging needs, alternative fuel needs, access to jobs, connected and autonomous vehicles, and changes in the supply chain and logistics industry.

• Knit together previous plans and projects identified at the community level through previous freight plans, comprehensive transportation plans (CTPs), Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) studies, county/city capital improvement programs (CIP), CID work programs, corridor studies, and other initiatives previously undertaken within the study area.

• To prioritize short term strategies, rank recommendations based on a series of criteria that is agreed upon by the key stakeholders. It may be cost related or project readiness.

A Short-Term Action Plan and Long-Term Vision Project List shall be developed. Regardless of the unique needs and priorities of the Subgrantee, the following general outcomes shall be achieved:

• Fiscally constrained Short-Term Action Plan: This is a five- to ten-year fiscally constrained list of transportation projects, policies, and actions which reflect currently available funding sources and feasible policy actions that can be taken by the Subgrantee and by local government jurisdictions / CIDs in the study area. Developing this Short-Term Action Plan may require incorporating existing revenue forecasts or developing a new revenue forecast. The Short-Term Action Plan shall be developed with a focus on implementation.

Additionally, one to two pilot projects shall be identified within the Short-Term Action Plan. These pilot projects will serve as test cases to evaluate the feasibility and impact of specific recommendations. The pilot projects shall include information from planning to implementation. Potential private-sector partners, including local freight-related businesses, shall be identified where applicable. Additional data on these projects shall be provided in the Recommendations Final Report (developed in Task 6 Documentation) to assist with potential grant applications, including the purpose of the project, a more detailed cost estimate, obstacles, potential partnerships, issues that may increase costs (i.e., utility upgrades), and other related data.

• Long-Term Vision Project List: This is a prioritized list of transportation projects, policies, and action steps necessary to support the plan vision, goals, and objectives.

This project list does not have to be fiscally constrained, and it may be broken into two tiers based on project ranking. Along with the Short-Term Action Plan, this will result in two to three tiers of recommended projects, policies, and action steps.

• Fiscally constrained Short-Term Action Plan with Pilot Projects (Draft and Final)

• Fiscally unconstrained Long-Term Vision Project List (Draft and Final)

Task 6: Develop Documentation

The planning process shall conclude with the Recommendations Final Report and Executive Summary. The Recommendations Final Report shall describe how recommended projects, policies, and actions were developed, evaluated, and prioritized, and will include the fiscally constrained Short-Term Action Plan and the fiscally unconstrained Long-Term Vision Project List. Summary information from previously submitted deliverables shall be included as needed to support the development of the Short-Term Action Plan, Pilot Projects, and Long-term Vision Project List. A user-friendly Executive Summary will be prepared that explains the key recommendations and conclusions.

The consultant should showcase how they will use innovative and creative approaches to documentation. They will provide the CID will all electronic copies of each interim deliverable and the final plan. To the extent possible, system inventory and assessment data, as well as the final project recommendations, will be mapped in ArcGIS. Relevant geospatial files (preferably geodatabases) shall be provided to the CID and ARC upon completion of the freight cluster plan.

Mapped information developed in other software, whether conceptual in nature or geographically accurate, shall also be provided, in either the original source format or exported into an intermediate format usable by ARC.

The minimum required deliverables for the completed plan, as defined in this work program and which will collectively constitute the South Fulton CIDs freight cluster plan, are the:

• Project Management Plan

• Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan

• Statement of Freight Cluster Plan Vision, Goals, and Objectives

• Best Practices Report

• Inventory and Assessment Report

• Fiscally constrained Short-Term Action Plan and Pilot Projects

• Fiscally unconstrained Long-Term Vision Project List

• Recommendations Final Report

• Executive Summary

• Word and/or In-Design, PDF, Excel, ArcGIS, and other relevant electronic files

• Recommendations Final Report (Draft and Final)

• Executive Summary (Draft and Final)

• A copy of adopting resolution(s)

SCHEDULE

This plan is anticipated to take 12-18 months to complete. Ideally the project will be initiated in early 2025 and all work and services required by ARC will be completed on or before December 31, 2026.

ATTACHMENT B: STUDY AREA

The study area is located partially within the cities of Palmetto, Fairburn, Union City, and South Fulton and entirely within Fulton County, as noted in Figure 1 however, the study reach should extend to major warehouses, manufacturing, and industrial sites three to five miles outside the study area to promote coordinated long-range transportation planning efforts.

Figure 1: South Fulton CID Study Area

ATTACHMENT C: PROJECT BUDGET

The Consultant must provide a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget with hours and rates by person.

A summary of the budget should also be included in the format below and should not exceed $310,000:

Tasks Amount

Task 1: Project Management

Task 2: Engagement

Task 3: Best Practices Review

Task 4: Inventory and Assessment

Task 5: Develop Recommendations

Task 6: Prepare Documentation

Total: