Fitchburg staff to issue Vision 0 safety-action-plan RFP; committee weighs scope and scoring

Ross (staff) told the Transportation & Transit Committee the city plans to issue a request for proposals at the end of July seeking a consultant to prepare a Vision 0 comprehensive safety action plan. "This RFP will go out, at the end of July," Ross said, and staff expects to notify the selected consultant by roughly Sept. 15, subject to the number of proposals received and review time.

Committee members pressed for clarity on several points: whether the consultant should explicitly evaluate off‑street paths as well as roads, how demographic data and level-of-service metrics will be incorporated, and whether a local preference should factor into selection. One committee member argued that the RFP should ask the consultant to analyze "motor vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle LOS" so mitigation recommendations address all modes, not just cars. Ross said the consultant would be expected to collect demographic information and that the RFP language can be revised to require bike and pedestrian level-of-service analyses.

Committee members discussed timeline and budget. Ross said the planning grant and city resources provide a roughly $300,000 budget for the plan; he said cost-effectiveness will be a scored criterion and that lower-cost responsive proposals would be considered if they deliver comparable value. The committee also discussed whether the city should award points for local firms as a tie-breaker; Ross said a modest local preference could be used sparingly.

Next steps: Ross will revise the draft RFP to reflect committee feedback — including clarifying whether paths and specific demographic items are in scope — and staff will publish the RFP at the end of July. The public comment window for Metro Transit and other related opportunities remain open (Metro's public meeting is July 29).