Downtown and Uptown Wayfinding

The City of Cincinnati's Department of Transportation and Engineering is seeking professional consulting services to develop a comprehensive wayfinding program for Downtown and Uptown Cincinnati through a Phase 1 Conceptual Master Plan and Recommendations. The project involves conducting a GIS-based audit of existing vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding systems, which currently include approximately 116 vehicular directional signs, 142 pedestrian directional signs and maps, and 17 digital IKE Smart City kiosks. Key deliverables include performing community and stakeholder engagement (two sessions for Downtown, one for Uptown), developing integrated digital and static multi-modal wayfinding concepts, and producing a comprehensive executive summary report with actionable recommendations. The evaluation criteria will weight proposals as follows: 30% for relevant experience and expertise, 20% for technical approach and methodology, 20% for key personnel qualifications, 10% for cost and value proposition, 10% for implementation timeline, and 10% for economic inclusion status. Critical dates include a non-mandatory pre-submission meeting on December 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET via Microsoft Teams, a deadline for written questions on December 9, 2025 by 11:00 AM ET, and proposal submissions due electronically through the City's Bonfire portal by December 19, 2025 at 4:00 PM ET, with the contract term spanning eight months from the effective date.

The City has established specific enterprise participation goals, including a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) subcontracting goal of 6% and a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) subcontracting goal of 4%, with failure to meet these levels potentially resulting in proposal rejection. Proposers must provide itemized cost estimates for each project task and secure various insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, general liability (minimum $1,000,000 per occurrence), professional liability (minimum $1,000,000 per occurrence), and automobile liability with a $1,000,000 umbrella coverage. Contractors must comply with Living Wage requirements (minimum $19.27 per hour), Equal Employment Opportunity provisions, and applicable signage standards including AASHTO, ODOT, MUTCD, and ADA guidelines. Offerors must complete a detailed corporate information form disclosing business history, certification status under various enterprise programs, and legal compliance history. While a specific budget range is not explicitly stated, the comprehensive nature of the project and the extensive deliverables suggest a significant investment in modernizing the city's 20-year-old wayfinding infrastructure. All project deliverables, including maps, drawings, reports, and computer data, will become the property of the City upon completion.