Title
Phoenix Bus Rapid Transit Program Planning Support Services Contract Amendment
Description
This report requests the Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee recommend City Council approval to execute an amendment to the Phoenix Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Planning Support Services Contract 149143 with HDR Engineering Inc. to provide continued project management, community and business engagement and outreach, transit planning, and engineering oversight for the approved BRT corridor of 35th Avenue/Van Buren Street. The additional expenditures included in this amendment will not exceed $5.5 million through the remainder of the contract.
THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
Report
Summary
In 2015, Phoenix voters approved Proposition 104, creating the 35-year street and transit plan known as Transportation 2050 (T2050) which identified BRT as a key component to continue expanding the City’s high-capacity transit network. BRT is a high-capacity bus service that focuses on improved speed, reliability, convenience, and the overall transit experience. There are common recurring elements found in successful BRT systems, such as: advanced fare collection, enhanced stations, dedicated lanes, custom buses, transit spot improvements, and unique system branding.
In 2019, the Phoenix BRT team was tasked by the Citizens Transportation Commission (CTC) and City Council with reevaluating the BRT corridors as originally outlined in the T2050 plan. The reevaluation was sought as the result of the passage of time since the development of the T2050 plan, whereby Phoenix has experienced significant changes in residential and commercial developments, population growth, and density, in addition to ongoing regional efforts to identify additional BRT corridors that may travel through Phoenix.
In March 2022, the BRT Program exercised the final three-year contract extension through March 2025. This time-only amendment did not include additional funds to the base contract amount of $3 million, as strategies for increased community outreach and other planning tasks were being developed. Since that time, the BRT Program has evaluated expenditures to support future phases of community and business engagement, transit planning, engineering oversight, and project management to continue developing the approved BRT corridor.
Based on a robust technical analysis and community education and engagement efforts, the initial BRT corridor of 35th Avenue/Van Buren Street was approved by the CTC in May 2021, the Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning (TIP) Subcommittee in September 2021, and the City Council in October 2021.
The overall structure of the BRT Program included two contract packages to provide transportation planning services. Package A, with HDR Engineering Inc., includes project management, transit planning, and community education and engagement services. Package B, with AECOM, includes conducting an Alternatives Analysis, developing conceptual designs, and developing 15% preliminary engineering design plans.
To further develop and design the approved corridor, the CTC in February 2022 and City Council in April 2022 approved an extension to AECOM’s contract for 24 months, ending in September 2024, to conduct an Alternatives Analysis, develop conceptual designs, and develop 15% preliminary engineering design plans.
Currently, the BRT Program is conducting an Alternatives Analysis process and developing conceptual designs for the corridor, which includes various phases of community and business engagement efforts.
With the unanimous approval of the initial corridor, the BRT program has identified the continued need of HDR because of their multidisciplinary, national BRT planning experience and insight to provide community and business engagement support.
The scope of work for HDR’s services include:
- Project management
- BRT Planning
- Community and Business Engagement
- Funding, Finance and Delivery strategies
- Corridor Program
BRT Program major milestones
- August 2022: Established a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Executive Leadership Committee (ELC) to gather technical insight and perspective on key decisions for the development of the 35th Avenue and Van Buren Street BRT Corridor. The TAC and ELC include representatives from the BRT Program team, City of Phoenix departments, regional/state government agencies, and council districts.
- October 2022: Completed Phase I of community and business engagement for the Alternatives Analysis. This phase included a BRT Corridor Survey and a revamp of the MeetPhoenixBRT.com website.
- October 2022: Identified BRT priorities based on input from the public and a Goals Workshop with the ELC and TAC.
- December 2022: Toured the MetroRAPID Silver Line BRT in Houston, Texas with Phoenix Mayor, and Council District 1, 4, 7, and 8 teams.
- January 2023: Identified and documented initial BRT Alternatives Analysis Design Assumptions.
- February 2023: Developed initial BRT cross-sections to demonstrate the range of opportunities, impacts, and necessary trade-offs of a BRT corridor alignment.
- March 21, 2023 to April 21, 2023: Phoenix BRT Program hosted two in-person public meetings, one virtual public meeting, and two outreach events within the 35th Avenue and Van Buren Street corridor.
- March 21, 2023: The BRT Program launched the BRT Online Meeting website and the Preliminary BRT Cross-Section Survey at MeetPhoenixBRT.com.
The BRT Program next steps
- Continued and focused community education, stakeholder outreach, and business owner engagement throughout the proposed corridor.
- Monthly meetings with the Technical Advisory Committee to refine corridor alternatives to align priorities and balance amenities, benefits, and impacts.
- Continuing coordination with ongoing and correlating projects along the corridor.
- Preparing efforts for Phase 3 of community and business engagement for the Alternatives Analysis.
Contract Term
The Package A contract with HDR Engineering Inc. commenced on March 15, 2019, and it expires on March 14, 2025.
Financial Impact
The initial authorizations and previous amendments for the Transportation Planning Support Services Package A Contract 149143 were authorized for an expenditure not to exceed $3 million. This amendment will increase the authorization for the contract by an additional $5.5 million. Funding for the BRT program is available in the T2050 fund.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
This item was recommended for approval at the Citizens Transportation Commission meeting on April 27, 2023, by a vote of 11-0.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Public Transit Department.