RFP_SUN260384_Consulting_Services_-_Comprehensive_Operations_Analysis_for_SUNTRAN_-_Addendum__1.pdf
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- Solicitation number
- RFP# SUN/260384
- Issued by
- Marion County, Orlando City, Florida
About this file
This Addendum #1, dated February 18, 2026, is issued by the City of Ocala, Florida, to all bidders for RFP #SUN/260384, which solicits consulting services for a Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) of SunTran, the City's public transit system. The COA project encompasses two concurrent components: a detailed operational analysis and a feasibility study evaluating the costs and risks of transitioning transit operations and maintenance in-house versus the current contracted delivery model. The scope requires extensive data collection including field surveys of all bus routes, statistically significant on-board and stop-by-stop ridership data collection with ride check surveys and transfer analysis for both weekday and weekend operations, interviews with SunTran personnel across all operational functions, and analysis of system characteristics including planning, scheduling, dispatching, maintenance, supervision, facilities, and staffing. Deliverables include a detailed work plan and schedule, up to five Transit Steering Committee meetings, twelve monthly progress reports, eight public informational meetings with venues provided by the City, technical memoranda documenting data collection results, route-by-route evaluation reports, service improvement plans with cost estimates, and a final COA Report with executive summary and board presentations. The project must be completed within nine months from the kick-off meeting, with a Notice to Proceed anticipated upon City Council approval. All SunTran vehicles are equipped with Automatic Passenger Counters (APCs), though APC data is not certified for National Transit Database (NTD) reporting; the consultant will have access to this data. The City has not completed any preliminary work on the project, and no not-to-exceed budget has been established.
The procurement is federally funded through the Federal Transit Administration and requires compliance with FTA regulations, including FTA Circular 4220.1F and all mandatory Federal clauses. Proposers must demonstrate at least seven years of experience developing COA studies for transit operations with at least three directly comparable projects completed and must provide three public transit agency references. The evaluation criteria allocate 40 points to experience and qualifications, 40 points to project understanding and methodology, and 20 points to price proposals. A 2.55% disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) utilization goal applies; proposers must either meet this goal or document good faith efforts, with all DBEs requiring certification through the Unified Certification Program. The solicitation encourages minority and disadvantaged business enterprise participation but does not apply local consultant preference. Proposers must submit questions by February 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. EST, with proposals due March 17, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. EST via the City's e-procurement portal. The contract term is two years, with the study duration capped at nine months from kick-off. This is a fixed-price contract requiring detailed cost breakdowns for all specified tasks, with proposers submitting a lump sum cost plus optional services pricing based on professional recommendations. Contractors must maintain professional liability insurance for five years post-acceptance and comply with all City of Ocala General Terms and Conditions. The City reserves the right to conduct negotiations with the highest-ranked proposer following a protest period.
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Addendum # 1
Date: February 18, 2026
To: All bidders
From: David Williams, Buyer
Solicitation Number: RFP# SUN/260384
Solicitation Title: Consultant for SunTran Comprehensive Operations Analysis
SECTION 1. SOLICITATION – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What is the composition of the Transit Steering Committee? (e.g., City staff, citizen representatives, etc.)
Answer: To be determined.
2. When does the City anticipate issuing a Notice to Proceed?
Answer: Upon City Council Approval, preferrable as soon as possible after award.
3. A DBE goal of 2.55% is identified in Exhibit B. However, DBE participation does not appear to be part of the evaluation criteria. Please confirm the DBE goal of 2.55% is applicable to this procurement.
Answer: While the DBE goal of 2.55% does not appear in the evaluation criteria, it's applicable to this procurement.
4. If the City chooses to hold proposer interviews, has a target date or date range for those interviews been identified? Will they be in person or virtual?
Answer: A need for interviews and a date range will be determined upon bid closing and review of proposals, both in-person and virtual options will be provided.
5. Are all Sun Tran vehicles equipped with Automatic Passenger Counters (APCs)?
Answer: Yes, however, APC Data is not certified for NTD Reporting.
6. What, if any, preliminary work has the City completed with respect to the (cost-benefit) feasibility study? Is such information available for review?
Answer: No work in any capacity has been done on this project.
7. The proposed project includes two distinct components. Is it the City’s desire the COA component be completed prior to the feasibility component? Or should bidders plan to conduct the two components concurrently?
Answer: Both components should be completed concurrently.
8. Will the City provide venues for the eight “informational meetings”?
Answer: Yes. Venues to be determined.
9. Is it the City’s intent to conduct a BAFO with short-listed firms?
Answer: Please refer to Section 2.4 Evaluation Process and Criteria (pages 11-12) of the Request for Proposal.
10. Has the City identified a not-to-exceed amount for the proposed project? If so, what is the amount?
Answer: No, a not-to-exceed amount has not been set.
11. Task 2.1 Methodology describes an “Origin and Destination Survey.” Is SunTran requesting both of the following:
1. Statistically significant on board survey of rider origin-destination activity AND
2. Survey of bus rider stop-by-stop level on and off activity (described in Task 2.4) Answer:
1. Yes and 2. Yes
12. Is the rider survey described in Tasks 2.4 through 2.6 intended to supersede the information currently available from the existing AVL system? What is the level of confidence in existing AVL system data? What proportion of the fleet is equipped with working equipment?
Answer:
1. Yes
2. APC System has not been verified, confidence level is unknown.
3. 100% however, APC Data is not certified for NTD Reporting
13. Please provide clarification on how the proposal price is scored. Does the respondent get full points by providing a detailed project budget, following the task list provided in the scope of services or is the fee compared to what is provided by the other respondents? If it is the latter, what is the formula for how points are awarded?
Answer: Price Proposals will be scored based on the Evaluation Criteria on page 12 of the Request for Proposal.
14. Are the APCs functional in collecting quality data? Are the APC units installed on both large and small buses? Are they rotated around the system for data collection? If so, will this data be available to the consultant team?
Answer:
1) . APC System has not been verified, confidence level is unknown 2). Yes, APCs are in 100% of the Revenue Vehicle Fleet 3). APC Data will be available for the team
15. Please provide, if possible, additional information for the purposes of survey scope and budgeting:
a) Please confirm that only one bus operates on each route at a time and they pulse at the downtown transit center.
b) Please provide route level average weekday and Saturday ridership
c) Please provide route level weekday and Saturday vehicle hours
d) Does the fare media technology record transfer information? If so, please provide an estimate of percentage of riders board or alight at the downtown transit center Answer:
a) This is correct
b) email Buyer for this information at dwilliams@ocalafl.gov
c) No weekend deviation in vehicle revenue hours, daily service total revenue hours mailto:dwilliams@ocalafl.gov approximately 115 hours per day for routes 1-7 plus an additional 8 hours for route 8
d) SunTran currently uses a manual system for fares.
16. Please confirm/clarify the following two distinct surveys are requested in the RFP
a) Origin/Destination survey with location of passenger start and end points, as well as trip purpose
b) Passenger count survey to understand stop level ridership by route Answer: a) Origin/Destination survey with location of passenger start and end points, as well as trip purpose Answer:
a) No trip purpose will be collected
b) Passenger count survey to understand stop level ridership by route ANSWER: yes, collect data at stop level
17. Would the Origin/Destination survey be used for future travel demand model (TPO) calibration/updates?
Answer: No.
18. What are the current data reporting requirements of RATP Dev and will these datasets be available to the consultant? Will RATP Dev be available for interviews?
Answer: All route and ridership data that is collected will be available and RATPDev will be available for interviews.
19. Is there a desire for the consultant to recommend governance, such as Board of Directors, or General Manager structure?
Answer: No recommendation for governance. A detailed review of the In-House Operations and Maintenance Cost and Feasibility Study Analysis should include additional structure to support the option.
20. What is the projected start date for this project? Is there a desired end date for the project?
Answer: The desired start date (TBD) is after all proposals have been evaluated, the selection committee meetings are completed, and City Council approves the recommended award.
The duration to complete the study must be no longer than 9 months from kick-off meeting with City staff.
21. May we use 11” x 17” pages for the project schedule and price proposal to enhance legibility?
And if so, will those still count as 1 page?
Answer: Yes, 11" x 17" pages is acceptable and each page will be counted as one page.
22. Please clarify the difference between the information requested in Tabs 1 and 3. Tab 3 seems to include information (Proposed Approach and Methodology) that would be included in Tab 1 (Scope of Work).
Answer: TAB 1 – PROJECT SCOPE OF WORK. Here, Proposers should provide detailed evidence demonstrating their ability to comply with the requirements and specifications set forth in this Solicitation, see page 9 of the RFP.
TAB 3 – PROJECT UNDERSTANDING, PROPOSED APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY,
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, AND PROJECT SCHEDULE Here, Proposers should demonstrate how the Project will be implemented pursuant to the objectives, requirements, and specifications set forth in this Solicitation. Proposers shall demonstrate knowledge of the City’s Project objectives and existing conditions, identify potential implementation issues, and present a comprehensive plan for completing the specified work, see page 9 of the RFP.
23. What is the methodology for the proposal price criteria? Is it based on price or on fulfilling the questions in the evaluation criteria table?
Answer: Price Proposals will be scored based on the Evaluation Criteria on page 12 of the Request for Proposal.
24. Could you provide additional clarification on the DBE question? Is there a penalty for not including a DBE in your proposal?
Answer: Please refer to ATTACHMENT 3 – DBE Utilization Form.
25. 1. Would the City please provide a sample contract?
2. On page 6 of the General Terms and Conditions - Warranty, the City is requiring the design professional to provide a warranty that it’s services will be without defects. Would the City please remove this requirement? Design professionals do not provide materials or supplies like a vendor, instead we provide professional services. To require a warranty related to professional services is requiring perfection, which no one can achieve. We can however warranty that our services will be per the standard of care.
3. On page 10 of the General Terms and Conditions – Indemnification - as currently worded, we believe that the indemnity provision is not in compliance with FL Statute 725.08 and is unenforceable. Would the City please consider rewording same to conform with the statute?
Suggested language per FL Statutes 725.08: “The design professional shall indemnify and hold harmless the City, and its officers and employees, from liabilities, damages, losses, and costs, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees, to the extent caused by the negligence, recklessness, or intentionally wrongful conduct of the design professional and other persons employed or utilized by the design professional in the performance of the contract."
Answer: We have reviewed your specific inquiries and have determined that, while they may be (1) reasonable requests given the circumstances of this RFP; and (2) adjustments to a final agreement with which the City of Ocala may be willing to agree, those determinations would be more appropriately made during the contract negotiations following the conclusion of the solicitation process.
We will make note of these requests and, in the event that your firm is selected, we will be happy to discuss them again at that time.
SECTION 1. SOLICITATION – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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