DATE:
May 23, 2023
CATEGORY:
Consent
DEPT.:
Public Works
TITLE: Safe Routes to School Program—
Professional Services Agreement
RECOMMENDATION
1. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute a professional services agreement with NN Engineering, Inc., to provide professional services for the Safe Routes to School program in the amount of $222,000.
2. Appropriate an additional $152,000 for the Fiscal Year 2022 -23 Operating Budget in the Measure B Fund for the Safe Routes to School program to be reimbursed by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority 2016 Measure B Bicycle/Pedestrian Education and Encouragement program. (Five votes required)
BACKGROUND
On December 3, 2019, the City Council approved a $230,895 contract with Alta Planning+Design, Inc., for the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) 2.0 program, which included collaborating with schools and school district staff and delivering SRTS services at all 15 public schools in the City from 2019 to 2023. The activities included updated suggested routes to school maps, walk and bike safety trainings, bike rodeos, bike repair services, walk audits, student and parent surveys, music notes assemblies, and other activities.
On November 30, 2021 , staff p resented an update to the City’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) on the 2021-2023 Safe Routes to School program activities . The BPAC provided feedback on program approaches such as fostering a partnership with schools, school districts, and parents to drive program participation.
On May 3, 2022 , staff updated the Council Transportation Committee (CTC) on SRTS program activities. The CTC provided feedback on SRTS program elements , such as partnering with parents and school districts and conducting student access surveys for the school year.
On April 26, 2023 , the City’s BPAC met jointly with the City of Los Altos Complete S treets Commission to receive an overview of the SRTS program for each city and to explore
Safe Routes to School Program—Professional Services Agreement May 23, 2023
opportunities for collaboration. The Mountain View BPAC advised staff to coordinate with the City of Los Altos on upcoming education and engagement events to ensure that Mountain View students attending school in Los Altos are receiving the same SRTS education along with Los Altos students attending school in Mountain View.
ANALYSIS
In March 2023, the City issued a Request for Proposal s (RFP) to provide professional services to the SRTS program. The RFP was posted on the Public Works Department’s webpage and was emailed to 20 consultants.
The City received proposal s from Alta Planning+Design and NN Engineering , I nc. (NN Engineering), in response to the RFP. A selection committee comprised of staff from Transportation, Traffic Engineering, and Mountain View Whisman School District evaluated the proposals and interviewed the respondents . After a thorough evaluation based on firm’s qualifications, experience, project understanding, implementation approaches and references, the selection committee determined that NN Engineering was the most qualified consultant to fulfill the scope of services for the SRTS program for the 2023-24 school year. Their proposal also provided pricing for an additional three years should the City choose to use their services beyond June 30, 2024.
NN Engineering is an engineering and planning firm with extensive experience in S RTS, active transportation planning, emerging mobility trends, and creating vibrant urban communities . As a subsidiary of Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc., NN Engineering possesses deep and local knowledge of Mountain View through their ongoing work on Mountain View’s Active Transportation Plan and Vision Zero Action Plan/Local Road Safety Plan.
To support the safety training aspects of SRTS, NN Engineering has teamed with a subconsultant, Safe Moves. Safe Moves provided SRTS services to Mountain View from 2011 to 2018 . During that time, they hosted bike rodeos, delivered safety training on school campuses, and collected student tallies.
Scope of Work
The scope of work for this project is summarized below:
Task 1—Project Kickoff and Management: NN Engineering ( Consultant) will conduct a kickoff meeting with City staff to discuss project goals, scope, and activities. The Consultant will also establish regular coordination meetings with City staff, submit monthly invoices and progress reports, and provide documentation to support grant reimbursement.
Safe Routes to School Program—Professional Services Agreement May 23, 2023
Task 2 —SRTS Curriculum Development: The Consultant will prepare transportation safety curriculum for elementary, middle, and high schools. This task will include peer review of transportation safety curricula, SRTS curriculum development, and multilingual student support flyers.
Task 3—Safety Education: The Consultant will prepare and provide a series of grade-appropriate educational training sessions for all private and public schools . This task will include delivering transportation safety training for all grades; bicycle rodeos and safe walking training for third, fourth, and sixth graders; and traffic safety musical assemblies for middle school students.
Task 4 —Engagement and Encour agement Events: The Consultant will support and facilitate engagement and encouragement events and activities to encourage safe active transportation use. These activities may include family bike rides, community bike rodeos, transportation safety campaigns, walk and roll events, and bike train or carpool coordination.
Task 5—Data Collection and Program Evaluation: The Consultant will conduct student and parent surveys to understand school access mode share, transportation safety concerns, and participation rates for education and engagement opportunities . This data collection will also support reporting requirements for VTA’s Measure B Education and Encouragement Program.
Task 6—Final Report and Presentation : The Consultant will prepare a draft and final annual report with a summary of all completed activities in the school year. The report should include highly accessible visual representations of program participation and results.
Optional Tasks: Several optional tasks were included in NN Engineering’s proposal that would be pursued in future years if there is interest and agreement from the school districts and as workload allows. These tasks include:
• Teacher Training on Transportation Safety: The Consultant will work with the school districts to identify teachers, coaches, or teaching partners, and to provide transportation safety education training for teachers or trainers. This training will cover transportation safety curriculum and/or League Cycling Instructor certification.
• Addressing Risky Biking Behavior: The Consultant will develop a strategy to collaborate with local community groups to influence and address risky biking behavior , such as not wearing a helmet, not stopping at traffic signals, biking on the sidewalk without yielding to pedestrians, swerving across roadways, and riding directly toward oncoming motor vehicle traffic. Strategies may include empowerment, skills, and safety education.
• Walking Audits and SRTS Infras tructure: In coordination with City staff and the school community, the Consultant will develop a new walking audit plan for all schools. The Safe Routes to School Program—Professional Services Agreement May 23, 2023
walking audit will identify pain points and safety issues for each school and advance improvement concepts to enhance school access safety.
NEXT STEPS
City staff will complete the current SRTS program at the end of the current school year . This contract has included musical assemblies for all K-8 students at public schools, safety training for all public school s tudents from Grades 2 to 8, Citywide and middle school bike rodeos, development of SRTS maps and educational materials, supporting the SRTS coordinating committee and encouragement events, student and parent surveys , and walking audits for all K-12 public schools. Staff also continues to work on related activities , including the crossing guard program and infrastructure improvements focused on enhancing school access.
With City Council approval of the consultant agreement terms, the work outlined in the 2023-24 SRTS professional services agreement will begin in summer 2023 . It is anticipated that the program will be completed by June 2024.
Staff will return to Council to recommend a new professional services agreement with NN Engineering for the 2024-25 school year in spring 2024 assuming the Consultant’s performance meets expectations. Optional tasks may be recommended at that time.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total SRTS program budget is $222,000. The City has allocated $70,000 in the Fiscal Year 2022-23 operating budget for SRTS. An appropriation for the remaining $152,000 is included in the recommended action and will be allocated from the City’s share of VTA 2016 Measure B Bicycle/Pedestrian Education and Encouragement Program grant funds.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Do not authorize the City Manager or designee to execute the professional services agreement.
2. Provide other direction.
Safe Routes to School Program—Professional Services Agreement May 23, 2023
PUBLIC NOTICING
Agenda posting and a copy of the report to SRTS subscribers and the BPAC.
Prepared by:
Priyoti Ahmed
Transportation Planner
Ria Hutabarat Lo
Transportation Manager
Approved by:
Dawn S. Cameron
Public Works Director
Audrey Seymour Ramberg
Assistant City Manager
PA-RHL/LL/1/CAM
935-05-23-23CR
202867