This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Atlanta, Georgia. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/marta-transit-hub-clayton-county-project-officially-go Following the rejection of tax-funded, billion-dollar transportation initiatives in both Cobb and Gwinnett counties, it's been a tough week for metro Atlanta transit enthusiasts. But better news appears to be on the horizon, south of the city in Clayton County. MARTA officials and Clayton County government leaders have scheduled a groundbreaking Nov. 15 for a major transit hub near the Atlanta airport designed to support more than two dozen regional bus routes while creating hundreds of jobs. MARTA has recognized the need to build such a multifaceted project--officially called the Clayton County Operations & Maintenance Facility--since Clayton residents voted to join the MARTA system back in 2014. Project leaders are calling the scheduled groundbreaking a milestone in efforts to beef up transit services across the south metro. Overview of the 31-acre Clayton County Operations & Multipurpose Facility in Forest Park. Courtesy of MARTA The Forest Park site in question today. Connect Clayton The Clayton O&M Facility is expected to transform industrial acreage to reduce operational costs and increase efficiency for 31 regional bus routes. That means parking will be provided for 290 buses, alongside support infrastructure such as a fuel area, bus wash, and fare retrieval system. Other components will be a wellness center for employees, a MARTA police precinct, and a firing range. According to MARTA, the project will generate 700 construction jobs and 400 permanent ones. It's designed to support Clayton's growing fleet of both electric and diesel buses. (On a related note, MARTA's 16-stop Rapid Southlake bus-rapid-transit route remains in planning phases. That's expected to shave down commute times between Southlake Mall and the airport in one of metro Atlanta's busiest corridors for transit use.) The Clayton O&M Facility will claim a 31-acre site at 5163 Old Dixie Highway in Forest Park that was previously a K-Mart distribution center, according to a project overview. MARTA had previously considered more than two dozen sites based on traffic conditions, development costs, current zoning, and other factors. Courtesy of MARTA Example of a planned BRT stop on MARTA's future Southlake route.Courtesy of MARTA The facility's estimated cost is $150 million--up from $116 million in 2022, when the project was tentatively scheduled to break ground in January this year. The Clayton O&M Facility has received $33 million in federal support, according to MARTA. That includes two Federal Transit Administration Buses and Bus Facilities grants--$13 million in 2019 and $15 million in 2022--in addition to a $5 million earmark secured by Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock. "The robust federal support for this project highlights its critical importance to Clayton County and the entire south metro Atlanta area," Collie Greenwood, MARTA general manager and CEO, said in a groundbreaking announcement today. "This facility will enable us to continue providing reliable transit service in Clayton while creating meaningful job opportunities and investing in the community." According to Connect Clayton, the new facility will be fully operational by the winter of 2026, following two years of construction. MARTA officials say upgrades to 175 bus stops and shelters in Clayton County were also completed earlier this year. Find more context and imagery for the southside transit initiatives in the gallery above. __________________ https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2024/09/24/byron-amos-marta-oversight-amendment.html An Atlanta councilmember is pushing for more oversight of MARTA, as city officials scrutinize how the agency has handled its transit-expansion program. Byron Amos, chair of Atlanta City Council's Transportation Committee, introduced a resolution last week calling for an amendment to an intergovernmental agreement adopted in 2020. The document laid out the roles and responsibilities of MARTA and the city in planning, designing, building and operating projects included in the More MARTA program, which is propped up by a half-penny sales tax approved by voters in 2016. The agreement established a Program Governance Committee (PGC) to oversee financial and policy concerns related to the program. High-level officials at the City of Atlanta, MARTA and Atlanta Beltline Inc. have seats on the committee, which meets on a quarterly or as-needed basis. The proposed amendment would add four city council representatives to the committee, including the transportation committee chair. The other seats would be held by three appointees from various council districts. The expanded representation would "ensure broader oversight and collaboration" in governing the program, according to the resolution. The committee would be required to provide regular reports to the city council regarding any changes to the program. The resolution also recommends requiring approval from the city council, mayor's office and MARTA's general manager for project budgets, schedules and funding sources at the completion of preliminary engineering. Audit finds MARTA overcharged the expansion program by $70M Amos could not be reached for comment by the time of publication. His resolution comes after the city council authorized an audit of the More MARTA program. It found the agency overcharged the program by approximately $70 million. MARTA rejected the calculations, claiming that the auditors used a flawed methodology in applying a Covid-era formula to reverse-engineer what should have been charged to the program for bus service in 2017, 2018 and 2019. MARTA did not provide comment on the resolution, but a spokesperson directed Atlanta Business Chronicle to MARTA's initial response to the auditors' report. The auditors recommended updating the intergovernmental agreement to better define the roles and responsibilities in managing the program, particularly as it relates to stating expectations for communication between MARTA and the city. MARTA agreed with that recommendation. The current agreement is "cumbersome, restrictive and ineffective," said MARTA CEO and General Manager Collie Greenwood in a letter responding to the auditors' report. "The agreement should be restructured for greater clarity and efficiency, minimizing the impact of shifting political dynamics between and during an administration," Greenwood said. "... Reducing ancillary agreements and ensuring a clear, consistent framework will support better business, financial planning and overall success of the program." More MARTA expansion progress has been slow The city council has not yet voted on the resolution, which asks the mayor's office to negotiate the proposed amendment. Several councilmembers have grilled MARTA leadership about the agency's transparency and capabilities to deliver all the projects. Since voters approved the sales tax underpinning the More MARTA program, the Summerhill bus rapid transit line is the only project that has entered construction. MARTA decided to resequence the program in early 2023 due to financial constraints. The agency placed more than half of the expansion on the back burner -- including several segments of a proposed Beltline rail network and BRT lines -- and prioritized nine projects to complete by the end of the decade. Several of the priority projects had been substantially altered prior to the resequencing. For example, in an effort to shave costs, MARTA swapped out light rail for BRT as the transit mode for routes planned along Campbellton Road and the Clifton Corridor. The controversial redevelopment of the Five Points station is now on hold, as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens' office examines an alternative that wouldn't require closing it to pedestrians for several months. The project is primarily funded through the More MARTA program. And, earlier this year, Dickens rekindled the push for infill stations to connect the heavy-rail network to the Beltline. It's unclear how the stations would be funded, though the mayor has floated the More MARTA sales tax as a potential source. In a letter to the auditors, Greenwood said that the resequencing plan proposed in early 2023 likely needs to be revisited and revised. He referenced the mayor's interest in pursuing infill stations, which are currently not on the approved or proposed list of projects. _______________________ MARTA is seeking Proposals from Firms to provide a planning study that will help advance transportation, economic development, land use and resilience planning for a 17.2-mile transit corridor in Clayton County. Question Deadline 09/13/2024 at 12:00 PM ET Questions regarding this procurement must be submitted in writing to MARTA's contact person, Reshaunna Austin via electronic mail raustin1@itsmarta.com. Site Visit: N/A Please contact Reshaunna Austin, Contract Specialist III at (404) 848-5251, or via electronic mail at raustin1@itsmarta.com for additional information regarding this Proposal. The method of Contractor Selection has not been Determined at this time. Project awarded to Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. Award Amount $818,000.00