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≡ PIVOT POINT ≡
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told her colleagues at the 28 March 2024 Board meeting of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“Metro”):
“We took a delegation to Paris to prepare for the 2028 Olympics and to make sure – here we are on the 40th anniversary of the ‘84 Olympics – but to make sure we have the same kind of outcome and legacy in 2028 that we did in 1984, where, to this day, we continue to benefit from those Olympics. …
“And I think it was an exciting trip, but I also think it put fire under us to realize that we need to get far more involved in Olympic preparation and all that it might mean.”
What it means right now is that Metro needs help to make the public transportation aspects of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games work, a lot of help. And it is asking for it, now.
So, on 15 November, Metro issued a 134-page Request for Proposal PS127282, for “2028 Games Support Services,” – with an additional 48 exhibits, forms and lists, running the total to 693 pages – asking:
“Metro is seeking a consultant team to lead the enhancement and implementation of transportation infrastructure and operations for the 2028 Games, in alignment with the Mobility Concept Plan across Los Angeles. The consultant will support multiple workstreams to ensure the region is fully prepared for the 2028 Games, with the goal of leaving a lasting legacy of improved transportation infrastructure and reduced inequities.”
The scope of work description – one of the exhibits – for the project comprises 126 pages (of the 693), with the requirements including:
● “Work under this contract will encompass strategic planning, project management, and the execution of various interconnected projects, each contributing to the overarching mobility strategy for the Games. This solicitation for Games Support Services (GSS) seeks to provide comprehensive assistance in validating, planning, modeling, and operationalizing the MCP [Games Mobility Concept Plan] workstreams, ensuring all necessary elements are in place for a successful and sustainable transportation network.”
● “Key outcomes to be achieved include:
“• Support Metro’s Games governance functions, including strategic/financial advice to ensure Metro can capitalize on opportunities to innovate as the agency advances projects that can directly support the Games, leave a legacy, and address historic inequities.
“• A clear roadmap for implementation of the MCP [Games Mobility Concept Plan].
“• Overall oversight and program management support for the implementation of MCP projects.
“• Planning support and delivery of a Games Enhanced Transit Service (GETS) (formerly known as supplemental bus system), including but not limited to confirming overall resource needs, developing and implementing a procurement strategy, and overseeing the development of all transit operational plans for the Games.
“• Take advantage of numerous large-scale sporting events planned for the LA Region between 2024 and 2028 to pilot innovative strategies, programs and initiatives with cross-sector stakeholders.
“• Demonstration of well-defined approach to ensure that Cultural Competency is considered and executed in the scope of services in support of the 2028 Games.”
(“Cultural Competency requires awareness of self, reflection on one’s own cultural position and potential biases, awareness of others’ positions and assumptions, and the ability to interact genuinely and respectfully with others across cultural differences …”)
The proposal must specifically identity six key managers for the project and up to 15 additional individuals to support the technical work required, and fill a list of 99 positions specified to complete the project. The program parameters are stated as:
“to secure approximately 2,700 buses (or the required number), 6,000 drivers and 5,000 staff (mechanics, schedulers, management stewards at park and ride/mobility hubs) to operationalize the GETS [Games Enhanced Transit Service] to meet the estimated 1.2 million daily trips to/from venues expected during the busiest day of the 2028 Games. Metro will need to procure these buses by borrowing, leasing or other means.”
Areas specified for staffing include bus operations, first-last mile operations, the Games Route Network, park-and-ride, equipment acquisition, service planning, station safety, workforce management, marketing (including corporate sponsorships), communications and media relations, public outreach, inter-agency coordination, freight, customer experience and ticketing, accessibility, digital interfaces and liaison with the LA28 organizers and others.
It’s massive and will cost millions and millions of dollars for the planning alone.
(None of this, by the way, has to do with Olympic or Paralympic athletes, coaches, news media, officials or volunteers. Those folks are the responsibility of the LA28 organizers, who will be running their own transport system.)
Proposals are due by 7 January 2025, with oral interviews to take place the week of 3 February or 10 February, with pricing proposals to be submitted only after interviews, to those firms selected to continue in the process. Funding is expected to come – all or in part – from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Metro sent a follow-up, 30-page question-and-answer supplement on 25 November (added to the 693), which also included a list of 190 companies which had downloaded the documents, and 83 companies who signed up to attend an online pre-proposal conference on 22 November.
Even with all the documentation, the proposals are expected to be fairly concise:
“The number of pages for the Proposal shall not exceed 75 (excluding table of contents, front and back covers, list of current and completed projects, resumes, and certification forms).”
Metro is asking for help from some of the largest consulting, architecture and engineering firms in the country, with the simple requirement that “GSS [Games Support Services] will manage and coordinate all project phases from inception to close-out, ensuring alignment with Metro’s 2028 Games goals.”
Good luck to the winner!
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