SLED Opportunity · CALIFORNIA · SANTA BARBARA COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS
AI Summary
Santa Barbara County seeks consultant services to develop a Countywide Bike Map and Bicycling Wayfinding Plan using AI to enhance cyclist safety and sustainable transportation. Funded by Caltrans, the project partners with UC Santa Barbara and Simon Fraser University.
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments is seeking Consultant services to prepare a Countywide Bike Map (print and digital) and Bicycling Wayfinding Plan. In partnership with UC Santa Barbara and Simon Fraser University, this project will advance cyclist safety, expand access to bike infrastructure, and support the adoption of ecofriendly transportation across Santa Barbara County.
The project is funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program. The project “trains” artificial intelligence (AI) using data from OpenStreetMap.org to consistently rank routes based on human input about levels of bicycling comfort. The consultant will produce an easily updated, user friendly bike map and a regional wayfinding plan that adapts to AI findings.
A pre-proposal Zoom conference for interested proposers will be held MARCH 10, 2026, at 2:00pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81236483269 (Meeting ID: 812 3648 3269).
The Consultant will work with exported GIS data from UC Santa Barbara to produce cartographic outputs, further described in the Scope of Work. SBCAG will collaborate with the Consultant to adopt a universal, future-proof regional wayfinding plan that evolves alongside the bike network and AI generated insights.
The project’s methods will be scalable for other California communities, creating a replicable approach for timely, consistent GIS data on bicycle infrastructure.
The anticipated timeframe for project delivery is approximately twelve months, with the approved final completed no later than March 31, 2027.
In addition to attached Background files, the following resources are provided to interested consultants for project background:
Please note the following changes in the Attachments section of this RFP:
Two page maximum, not including optional attachments (resumes, credit value, or confidential financial statements).
The cost proposal must include all costs associated with the proposed solution, including licensing, software, staff, and any other expenses.
Import and organize provided GIS Layer in an ArcGIS compatible format
Coordinate and facilitate public outreach and feedback related to map content, wayfinding design, and wayfinding locations.
Did you read through and confirm that you meet all of the proposal requirements?
Did you read the Agreement Example (Attachment A) in Attachments?
After reviewing the SBCAG standard agreement in Attachments, did you include any desired edits to the agreement within your proposal?
Did you review the background information provided in Attachments B through I?
Please upload your COMPLETE proposal here. Upload the Cost Proposal in the next step.
Confirm that your Cost Proposal is not attached in your Proposal, and is attached separately here.
Execution of the contract is expected no later than:
Example: February 18, 2021.
Q (Proposal Format): Please confirm whether there is a preferred structure, section order or required content that should be used to structure the technical proposal.
A: SBCAG does not require a specific proposal format. However, offerors are encouraged to organize their technical proposal in a manner that aligns with the Evaluation Phases outlined in the RFP. This helps ensure a clear, orderly review. Within this structure, respondents should use Sections 3 through 6 to demonstrate their expertise, approach, and any value added ideas relevant to the project.
Q (Signage & Wayfinding Scope Detail): Can you please provide an outline of the what the anticipated scope of signage and wayfinding should be inclusive of and what phases of design work (ex. Signage Guidelines, Concept, Schematic, etc.)?
A: SBCAG anticipates that the Wayfinding Plan will include signage guidelines, concept development and schematic level design, consistent with the level of detail provided in the Ventura County Transportation Commission's 2017 Bicycle Wayfinding Plan (Appendix D: https://www.goventura.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/VCTC_Bicycle_Wayfinding__Plan_April_2017_FINAL.pdf). The intent is to establish a clear regional framework, design standards, and example sign families that can guide future implementation by local jurisdictions. Final fabrication ready construction documents are NOT required as part of this planning level scope.
Q (Existing Signage Standards): Are there existing signage standards we should be thoughtful of or would we be starting from scratch?
A: There is an existing network of bicycle wayfinding signage along the South Coast (Foothill and Coastal Routes) spanning Goleta, the County unincorporated area, and the City of Santa Barbara. These signs follow California MUTCD requirements. While all jurisdictions must comply with CA MUTCD for official traffic control devices, some cities - such as Solvang - use permitted color variations for street name signs or may have local branding preferences for supplemental, nonregulatory signage. The Wayfinding Plan should account for these existing conditions and local preferences while maintaining MUTCD compliance.
Q (No subject): The RFP refers in many places to an AI-generated comfort-scored network that the consultant will be responsible for converting into a standardized GIS dataset. Are we to assume that all the AI work has been completed already, and will be made available to the consultant for conversion and ingestion into a tool? Or will the consultant be responsible for any aspect of the AI workflow, including training an LLM to translate OSM data into comfort scores?
A: All AI development, including model training, feature engineering, and generation of the comfort-scored network, is being completed by UC Santa Barbara and Simon Fraser University. The consultant will not be responsible for any AI modeling, machine learning, or LLM development. UCSB will provide the consultant with the completed comfort-scored GIS dataset, which the consultant will then convert into a standardized Connected Routes dataset for use in the map, wayfinding plan, and online tool.
Q (No subject): Is the contractor responsible for production costs of the limited print-run of the hardcopy maps?
A: Yes. Offerors should include the cost of producing the limited print-run of hardcopy maps in their cost proposal, consistent with the printing and production requirements described in the RFP.
Q (No subject): Will SBCAG be providing sample GIS data files that the contractor will be working with? Or, can you direct us to links for downloading such files?
A: UC Santa Barbara will provide the necessary GIS data files to the awarded consultant. Because the comfort-scored network and related datasets are still under development by UC Santa Barbara and Simon Fraser university, sample files are not available during the proposal phase. Files will be available in the following geospatial formats: .shp, .shx, .dbf, .prj, and/or compiled into a .gpkg file. Additional formats may be available upon request if needed. At a minimum, the dataset will include a line feature class representing the comfort-scored network with core attributes required for conversion into the standardized Connected Routes dataset.
Q (No subject): Will the attendees for the pre-proposal meeting be published?
A: The Zoom recording of the preproposal meeting is available for viewing and may include attendee-provided information. SBCAG does not publish a separate attendee list.
Q (comfort-level determination): To what degree is open street map used in the determination of comfort-level? Will the SBCAG output be the determination of comfort-level? Will you provide us with the parameters for your determination of comfort-level? Could your AI provide computation of comfort-level as classification criteria based on parameters such as: class1 = ([field1]>123 and [field2] < 234) or [field3]=42? In other words, can you show us the equation/algorithm you are using?
A: Comfort-level determination is being developed by UC Santa Barbara and Simon Fraser University using a combination of OpenStreetMap attributes, Replica traffic metrics, and contextual variables. The resulting comfort-scored network will be provided to the awarded consultant as a completed GIS dataset. The consultant will not be responsible for developing, modifying, or validating the AI model or its parameters. The computation methods used by UCSB and SFU - including data preprocessing, feature engineering, and model training - are opensource (R and Python) and will be published as part of the project's transparency and reproductibility goals. These materials will document the model structure and inputs, but the comfort-level determination is not based on a single equation or rule set; it is produced through a machine-learning classification model. Offerors should refer to Attachment G: "Background - Project Meeting Minutes with Defined Comfort Levels" for the conceptual definitions used in the project.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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