Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: July 7, 2003
Author/Local: D.Louie/6655
RTS No. 03518
CC File No. 1805Meeting Date: July 22, 2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
General Manager of Engineering Services
Manager of Materials Management
Director of Current PlanningSUBJECT:
Award of Request for Proposal (RFP) No. PS03024
Pender Street Bike Route and Traffic Operations StudyRECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council ( subject to conditions set out in Recommendations B, C, and D) authorize the award of RFP, No. PS03024 to G.D. Hamilton Associates Consulting Ltd. (Hamilton Associates) offering best value to the City, and that an agreement is entered into with Hamilton Associates to complete the Pender Street Bike Route and Traffic Operations Study at a fixed lump sum cost of $48,657 plus GST (less any municipal rebate received), with the cost to be shared 50/50 between TransLink and the City's existing Downtown Transportation Plan budget.
B. THAT all legal documentation is to be in a form which is satisfactory to the Director of Legal Service, General Manager of Engineering Services, and the Manager of Materials Management.
C. THAT the Director of Legal Services be authorized to execute and deliver the necessary agreement on behalf of City Council.
D. THAT no legal rights or obligations shall arise hereby and none shall arise or be granted hereafter unless and until all legal documentation has been executed and delivered by all parties.
COUNCIL POLICY
Consulting contracts with a value over $300,000 are referred to Council for approval.
PURPOSE
This report seeks Council approval to award RFP No. PS03024 to Hamilton Associates to provide professional services to identify the optimal scheme for introducing a bike facility to connect the bike lanes on Pender at Cambie to the bike lanes on West Georgia at Pender.
BACKGROUND
On July 9, 2002, Council approved the Downtown Transportation Plan which included the development of a bicycle route network. As part of the network, an eastbound bike lane on Pender Street and a westbound bike lane on Dunsmuir Street were proposed to facilitate east-west bike access across the downtown peninsula. Because of the narrow width of Pender Street between Howe and Cambie, significant changes would be required such as converting Pender Street from a two-way street to a one-way street. Due to the potential impacts of the changes, particularly to transit services, the Downtown Transportation Plan recommended further detailed analysis.
On November 5, 2002, Council approved the allocation of funds from the Downtown Transportation Plan budget to hire a consultant to undertake a detailed traffic analysis of the Pender/Dunsmuir Bike Lane proposal. TransLink will be participating in the analysis and has agreed to fund 50% of the cost of the analysis.
On June 10, 2003, Council approved the implementation timetable for the Downtown Transportation Plan. Included in the deliverables within three years is the design and implementation of bike lanes on Pender and Dunsmuir.
DISCUSSION
RFP No. PS03024 was issued and posted on the City's web site and on the BC Purchasing Commision's BC Bid web site on May 29, 2003. Proposals were opened on June 18, 200 and referred to the General Manager of Engineering Services, the Manager of Materials Management and Director of Current Planning for a report back. Five proposals were received from the following four proponents:
· Boulevard Transportation Group;
· Hamilton Associates;
· IBI Group (Base and Alternate Proposal); and,
· Urban Systems.The services required by the contractor in the RFP include:
· Identifying all feasible options for a bike facility along the Pender Street corridor;
· Short-listing options based on a set of evaluation criteria to be developed;
· Evaluating short-listed options, including the use of traffic micro-simulation analysis; and,
· Determining the optimal scheme and associated costs.The study will be jointly managed by Engineering Services, Current Planning, and TransLink. It will also be completed in consultation with stakeholder groups and results will be presented at an Open House for public feedback. A report back to Council on the study findings is anticipated early next year.
The RFP and proposal evaluation process was facilitated by the Materials Management Branch of Corporate Services. An evaluation team made up of staff from Engineering Services, Current Planning, and TransLink assessed the proposals against the following criteria:
· Company profile and experience of key personnel;
· Understanding of project requirements;
· Methodology and approach;
· Value added services; and,
· Price.Based on the above criteria, Hamilton Associates' proposal provides the overall best value to the City. Both TransLink and the City have had previous good experiences with this company. The evaluation team is confident that Hamilton Associates is capable of successfully completing the study. Therefore it is recommended that the contract for the Pender Street Bike Route and Traffic Operations Study be awarded to Hamilton Associates.
TransLink staff concurs with the recommendations of this report.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The fixed lump sum cost of this contract is $48,657 and will be jointly funded by the City and TransLink. The City's share of funding is available within the Downtown Transportation Plan budget and was previously approved by Council on November 5, 2002. TransLink has confirmed their 50% contribution to the cost of the contract.
CONCLUSION
Staff has conducted a public proposal call for a consultant to complete the Pender Street Bike Route and Traffic Operations Study. After an evaluation of all submitted proposals, it is recommended that G.D. Hamilton Associates Consulting Ltd. be awarded the contract based on best value to the City.
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