DRAFT
Terms of Reference
Pre-feasibility study for the [CITY] Bus Rapid Transit System
IMPLEMENTING AGENCY
Contents
1. Introduction 3
1.1. Background 3
1.2. Objective 4
1.3. BRT system features 4
2. Scope of work 5
2.1. Inception report 6
2.2. Corridor demand analysis 6
2.3. Concept plan 7
2.4. Service Plan 8
2.5. Infrastructure Planning 10
2.6. Financial, Social, and Environmental Analysis 13
3. Review Committee 15
4. Timeline 15
5. Selection Process 16
5.1. Eligibility Criteria 16
5.2. Skill requirements 16
5.3. Evaluation criteria for technical bid 17
5.4. Submission of proposal 17
5.5. Financial proposal 18
5.6. Combined evaluation of technical and financial bids 18
1. Introduction
The IMPLEMENTING AGENCY (IMPLEMENTING AGENCY) intends to implement a high quality bus rapid transit (BRT) system as a key component of a comprehensive effort to expand the use of sustainable transport. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY hereby seeks proposals from interested consultants to carry out preliminary planning for the [CITY] BRT system. The final deliverable from the study will be a detailed service planning and infrastructure design that IMPLEMENTING AGENCY will use to seek funding from domestic and/or international sources.
1.1. Background
[CITY] is the second largest city in ______state with a population of XX lakhs in the greater metropolitan area. [CITY]’s population is expected to increase to XX lakhs over the next five years, resulting in increasing demand for transport infrastructure. Studies conducted in [CITY] show a dramatic increase in private vehicle trips as the existing public transport is overburdened and there is little infrastructure for walking and cycling.
IMPLEMENTING AGENCY has set a goal of reversing this scenario and achieving an increase in the use of sustainable modes, namely walking, cycling, and public transport. Table 1 shows two representative scenarios for [CITY]. If business continues as usual (“20XX: Status quo”), deteriorating public transport service quality will result in a sharp increase of private vehicle usage. This trend can be changed if the city makes substantial investments in sustainable transport facilities and services. Sustainable modes can become the preferred modes for travel. Besides facilitating increased mobility of city residents, this scenario will result in significant co-benefits including reduced traffic congestion, avoided pollution, and healthier lifestyles.
Table 1. Transport scenarios for [CITY].
Mode / 2013 / 2018: Status quo / 2018: GoalWalk / XX % / XX % / XX %
Cycle / XX % / XX % / XX %
Bus / XX % / XX % / XX %
Paratransit / XX % / XX % / XX %
Private vehicles / XX % / XX % / XX %
IMPLEMENTING AGENCY has identified BRT as a mass transit option that can provide high quality public transport service to the majority of the city residents at a reasonable cost. As part of ______’s Sustainable Cities through Transport planning process, IMPLEMENTING AGENCY has identified a XX km BRT network covering major arterial corridors including ______, ______, ______, and ______(Figure 1). The proposed BRT network covers major demand corridors in the city, establishing high quality public transport between residential locations and major commercial and institutional destinations.
1.2. Objective
The objective of the Pre-Feasibility Study is to develop a concept plan for a BRT system on the proposed corridors (Figure 1), including required services and infrastructure. The proposed BRT system should be able to accommodate existing and future public transport demand and help [CITY] achieve its mode share goals. The outcome delivered by the Consultant will inform the detailed design of the BRT system.
Figure 1. Proposed BRT corridors in [CITY]
1.3. BRT system features
The [CITY] BRT system will follow international best practices in BRT design. The following design characteristics should be assumed for all planning activities during preparation of the Pre-Feasibility Study:
· Median busway alignment. The busway will be located where conflicts with other traffic are minimised. Median alignment reduces conflicts with turning vehicles at intersections and property access points. The central verge is largely free of obstructions such as delivery vehicles or auto rickshaws that require access to the kerb.
· Dedicated right-of-way. All BRT trunk corridors must have a dedicated right-of-way with physical segregation to ensure that buses can move quickly and are unimpeded by congestion.
· Off-board fare collection. To reduce travel times, improve customer experiences, and prevent revenue leakage, the system will employ electronic off-board fare collection at all BRT stations. On-board fare collection should only be used on direct service extensions.
· Platform-level boarding. In order to reduce boarding and alighting times, the bus-station platform must be at the same level as the bus floor. This is particularly helpful for the elderly, disabled, or people with suitcases or strollers.
· Central stations. Centrally positioned stations will serve both busway directions. Central stations allow for easier integration between different BRT services, particularly when two routes cross on perpendicular streets. Central stations also reduce construction and operating costs.
· Excellent NMT access. High quality pedestrian and cycle facilities along the corridor help ensure that passengers can reach BRT stations safely.
These fundamental elements of BRT will form basis of the Pre-Feasibility Study. The consultant is encouraged to make use of the BRT Standard, a technical tool that describes the components that make up high quality BRT systems.[1] The BRT Standard establishes gold, silver and bronze rankings, which are determined by the project’s compliance with key elements. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY’s aim is to achieve at least a gold or a silver standard BRT, incorporating international best practises to ensure that the system to contributes to the city’s goal of expanding the use of sustainable transport.
2. Scope of work
The Consultant will build on the work already undertaken by IMPLEMENTING AGENCY in corridor identification and prepare a Pre-Feasibility Study for the [CITY] BRT system. The end product will be a viable proposal enabling the IMPLEMENTING AGENCY to proceed with detailed service and infrastructure planning. Consultant submissions will include:
· Inception Report. This report will review existing secondary data and outline all data collection activities proposed by the consultant.
· Corridor Demand Analysis: This report will form basis for the Pre-Feasibility Study. It will include detailed surveys, analysis, and modelling to establish the need for a BRT system.
· Concept Plan. This report will establish the service typologies on proposed corridors along with street sections, alignments, and intersection designs.
· Service Plan: This report will detail the types of trunk, complementary, and feeder services; the fare collection system; IT systems; institutional structure, and other elements of BRT operations.
· Infrastructure Plan. Based on the findings of the Service Plan, the consultant will develop an infrastructure plan covering corridor design, station design, bus design, the station-bus interface, terminals, and depots.
· Financial, social, and environmental analysis. This report will include analysis of capital costs, operating costs and revenues, social impacts, and environmental impacts.
The methodology of the study is detailed below.
2.1. Inception report
At the commencement of the project the Consultant will collect and review all relevant reports, with particular attention to the ______, City Development Plan (CDP), Master Plan, Comprehensive Mobility Plans, Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Studies, City Corporate plans, transport-related DPRs, and other plans. Data on socio–economic characteristics, vehicle ownership, and transport policies shall be collected. Based on this information, the Consultant will prepare a brief profile of the planning area including population and demographic data, land area, regional linkages, and socio-economic information. Collection of secondary data can be done in consultation with relevant state and corporation authorities such as the ______State Transport Corporation (__STC), the ______, Regional Transport Office (RTO), etc.
The Consultant will also compile information on existing public transport operators, including the current institutional and permitting relationship between the operators and the relevant oversight agencies. The Consultant will identify relevant agencies and institutions with a role in public transport and traffic management.
The Consultant will compile spatial information on plans for other related projects such as existing, planned, and proposed cycling networks, pedestrian networks, and pedestrian zones to understand how they would complement the BRT. In addition, information on underground utility networks as per information available with the Client and urban local bodies also should be compiled. This information should be mapped using a GIS platform.
Finally, the Consultant should prepare a plan for all surveys to be conducted in the subsequent planning phases, including survey forms and locations.
2.2. Corridor demand analysis
The Consultant will prepare a Corridor Demand Analysis report for the [CITY] BRT system including the results of primary surveys and documentation of the travel demand model for the [CITY] public transport system.
2.2.1. Surveys
The Consultant will conduct travel demand and traffic surveys to inform the service plan, corridor designs, and other elements of the Pre-Feasibility Study:
· Documentation of public transport network. The Consultant will compile a complete database of public transport services in [CITY], including stop names and locations, route definitions, headway, running time, dwell time and fare structures. All data should be collected for city buses (both publicly and privately operated) and share autos.
· Frequency-occupancy survey. The Consultant will survey frequencies and passenger loads along major public transport corridors. The survey should be conducted in at least 30 locations along the proposed BRT corridors and on other important public transport demand corridors. The selected cordon points should be selected such that 95 per cent of bus and share auto routes pass through at least one cordon.
· Boarding-alighting surveys. The Consultant should determine the number of boardings and alightings at each stop along bus and share auto routes that coincide with the proposed BRT corridors.
· Transfer surveys. The Consultant will conduct transfer surveys at key stops and terminals to determine gaps in the existing bus route network. This analysis will facilitate the planning of BRT routes that provide continuous service between major origin-destination pairs and reduce the need for transfers.
· Traffic counts. The Consultant will conduct 16-hour classified turning movement counts at key junctions along the planned BRT corridors, using specific vehicle classification is clearly distinguish buses, 2-wheelers, 4-wheelers, share-auto etc., for off-peak and peak periods. The purpose of this task is to optimise the layout and dimensions of the junctions and to permit the development of timing plans for the traffic signals at these junctions.
2.2.2. Modelling
For a comprehensive analysis, the Consultant is required to construct and calibrate a transport model using a modelling software or spreadsheet analysis. The key modelling tasks are:
· Code the public transport network, including public transport stops, routes, fares, and speeds.
· Model peak hour passenger demand for each route. Use the data from frequency-occupancy and traffic counts to calibrate the model to ensure that the model accurately reflects existing bus and paratransit operations and demand. (The Consultant should present calibration results, including corridor volumes on public transport, boardings and alightings per stop, and boardings per route.)
· Forecast origins and destinations for trips by public transport users and other road users at the time of opening of the BRT system and 5 and 10 years after implementation. Prepare forecasts for demand for BRT services, feeder services and non-BRT services. Estimate the shift of passengers from other modes, such as private vehicles, autos, to the new BRT system.
· Prepare detailed estimates of BRT demand, including directional boardings and alightings at each proposed BRT station. The demand estimates will inform the service planning process and the dimensioning of physical infrastructure.
The output from these tasks will be used as inputs for the concept plan and infrastructure design, including stations, terminals, and corridors.
2.3. Concept plan
Based on the Corridor Demand Analysis Consultant will prepare a concept plan with roadway configuration for the BRT system, including the following:
· Service typology: initial network plan for trunk, complementary, and feeder services. This section also should discuss how non-BRT services will be handled along the BRT corridors. The Consultant will develop the network plan through an iterative process with the demand and financial modelling results. The network should be displayed in a GIS-based map.
· Fare collection. The Consultant will present a concept plan for fare collection on BRT services.
· Street sections. Conceptual street cross sections showing the alignment of BRT lanes, mixed traffic lanes, NMT facilities, and other street elements. Sections should be prepared for the major ROWs that are found along the corridors.
2.4. Service Plan
The Consultant will develop an operating strategy for the BRT services, including trunk, feeder, and complementary services, as well as required adjustments to regular city bus services in the corridors where BRT is introduced. The Service Plan will provide information on BRT service components, including fare collection, ITS, and institutional structure. The Consultant will prepare a Service Plan including (but not limited to) the following components:
· BRT services.
· Bus fleet requirements.
· Fare system.
· ITS.
· Management information system.
· Institutional model.
· Service contracts.
2.4.1. BRT services
The Consultant is required to develop a service plan for the BRT network including the following:
· Analyse of the existing bus routes by categorising them as: (1) fully affected by BRT introduction; (2) partially affected by BRT; (3) not affected by BRT. This analysis will help identify how existing routes should be modified to compliment BRT services.
· Propose an efficient network of BRT services, including trunk, complementary, and feeder services to include multiple routes along each corridor, with service itineraries optimised to minimise travel times and the need to transfer. Transfers, if required, should be planned in locations with decent waiting areas and minimal walking distances (e.g. formal BRT terminals) and so as to ensure that at least one leg of the journey has high frequency service. Present GIS-based maps showing the proposed BRT services and station locations.