Professional A&E Services for the New Operations Control Center at VTA Almaden Headquarters

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) seeks proposals from responsive and responsible qualified firms to provide engineering design services for the New Operations Control Center ("OCC") at the VTA Almaden Headquarters and further described in the Scope of Work.

The new OCC to be located on the 11^th floor of the Almaden HQ building will support both light rail as well as bus operations. Portion of the 11^th floor of the Almaden HQ building will be also used by VTA’s Express Lanes Traffic Operations Center (TOC design & construction by others). The gross area of the 11^th floor is about 25,000 sf out of which OCC will have 19,000 sf and TOC will have 6,000 sf. Once VTA board approves the contract between VTA and the design consultant (Contractor) for the new OCC, VTA will share the existing drawings for the Almaden HQ along with the proposed improvements & schedule to accommodate VTA staff on floors 11-17.

Background

VTA will replace the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (“SCADA”) system and Operations Control Center with a new state of the art Operations Control Center (“OCC”).   The new OCC/SCADA will be located in VTA’s new headquarters building (“Almaden HQ”) located at 488 S. Almaden Boulevard in downtown San Jose, California. VTA staff will occupy floors 11 – 17 at the Almaden HQ. Currently, all listed floors in the Almaden HQ are going through renovations. Move-in/Occupancy by VTA staff to Almaden HQ floors 12-17 is scheduled for December 2026.

Project Details

• Reference ID: S26001
• Department: Engineering and Program Delivery
• Department Head: Casey Emoto (Chief Engineering and Program Delivery Officer)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-15T23:00:00.000Z
• Pre-Proposal Meeting: 2026-04-09T17:00:00.000Z — Virtual Pre-Proposal Conference through Microsoft Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/25216870252082?p=nvYs7mqlsbPBuBXmVp +1 408-889-1601 United States, San Jose Conference ID: 141 650 397#

Addenda

• Official Notice #1: Pre-proposal Conference: Presentation and Attendee Lists (released 2026-04-10T15:08:29.576Z) —

  See attached:

  • Pre-proposal conference presentation slides
  • Pre-proposal confeence attendee list
  • Site visit attendee list

Evaluation Criteria

• Qualifications (20 pts) —

  The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal its qualifications to perform the Scope of Work and its experience in successful delivery and performance of comparable work on comparable projects, including demonstrated capability and experience in:

  1. 1. 1. 1. Technology oriented and based close reference to transportation-oriented operation command and control center projects including supervisory control data acquisition systems.
           2. Coordinating effectively with the project owner and multiple external stakeholders and third parties to support successful delivery of comparable projects. For the purposes of this evaluation criteria, "external stakeholders and third parties" refers to the applicable operating entity or department, Class 1 railroads, local jurisdictions, public and private utility owners, the California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC") and other regulatory agencies, and other third parties and external stakeholders with jurisdiction over or an interface with, the applicable project. 5-10 years’ experience involving coordination with Authority Having Jurisdictions (“AHJ”) or entities comparable in scope is particularly relevant and is preferred.
           3. Managing construction interfaces and construction impacts in a dense urban environment when delivering a comparable project, including experience coordinating and liaising with the surrounding community.  
           4. Collaborating and coordinating effectively with other interfacing contractors and consultants when performing comparable work on a comparable project.
• Staffing and Project Organization (20 pts) —
  1. 1. 1. 1. Proposer team. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal a cohesive team with a clear and effective division of responsibility between the Proposer Members (if applicable) and between the Proposer and the proposed Subcontractors to support successful delivery of the Scope of Work. Demonstrated experience of Proposer and/or of Proposer Members  (if applicable) and the proposed Subcontractors working together performing comparable work on comparable projects is preferred.
           2. Key Personnel experience, capability, and qualifications. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal the capability, experience, and qualifications of its nominated key personnel necessary to satisfy the minimum requirements for Key Personnel under the Scope of Work and to successfully deliver the Scope of Work ("Key Personnel"). Demonstrated experience of Key Personnel successfully working together performing comparable work on comparable projects is preferred.
           3. Organizational and management structure. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal a well-defined and appropriately-resourced organizational management structure that: (A) supports effective communication and issue resolution, (B) incorporates those Key Personnel and other personnel that bring relevant experience from comparable projects (including from the Reference Projects), best practices, and lessons learned, and allocates those Key Personnel and other personnel to those roles that enable them to utilize that experience and those best practices and lessons learned to support successful delivery of the Scope of Work, (C) demonstrates the Proposer's understanding of the Scope of Work, including the schedule for the Scope of Work, and (D) demonstrates the adequacy of the labor commitment for the Scope of Work, including taking account of the requirements to scale-up and/or scale-down the labor commitment according to the phasing of the Scope of Work.
• Work Plan and Approach / Project Understanding / Schedule (30 pts) —
  1. 1. 1. 1. Project Understanding. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal a clear understanding of Contract requirements and the risks, challenges, and opportunities for the Project and how, by reference to specific examples, the Proposer's experience delivering comparable work on comparable projects (including the Reference Projects) will be utilized to address those risks, challenges, and opportunities when performing the Scope of Work.
           2. Work Plan. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal a well-defined and credible work plan for delivering the Scope of Work that: (A) aligns with the Contract requirements and Project objectives, (B) supports timely delivery of the Scope of Work in accordance with the defined milestones, (C) manages and mitigates risks to the Project, (D) establishes clear communication, coordination, and issue resolution protocols supporting productive working relationships between the Proposer and VTA, interfacing contractors and consultants, and external stakeholders, and (E) incorporates, by reference to specific examples, best practices and lessons learned from the Proposer's experience delivering comparable work on comparable projects (including the Reference Projects).
           3. Quality Management. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal, a well-defined and credible approach to quality assurance and quality control during the performance of the Scope of Work.
           4. Technical Submittal. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal a well-defined and executable technical submittal for description of the part of the Scope of Work for which a technical submittal is required to be submitted and supports successful on-time and to-budget delivery of Project in accordance with the Contract requirements.
           5. Schedule. The Proposer demonstrating through its Proposal, a well-defined and executable schedule that supports successful on-time and on-budget delivery of Project in accordance with the Contract requirements.
• Past Performance (20 pts) —

  Past performance must demonstrate Proposer team's capability to deliver similar work successfully Submit 3–5 relevant project examples. Key components include client references, project descriptions, cost control, schedule adherence, and quality of work, highlighting measurable results to show value beyond just completing tasks.

• Local Firm Preference (10 pts) —

  In accordance with VTA Administrative Code, Section 9-11, Preference for Local Firms, 5 points will be awarded to a Proposal if at least fifty percent (50%) of the dollar value of services to be rendered under that Proposal will be performed by a local firm. An additional point will be awarded for each additional ten percent (10%) of the dollar value of services to be performed by a local firm, to a maximum point award of ten percent of total evaluation points.

Submission Requirements

• PROPOSAL (without Cost form) (required) —

  Refer to Section 4. Proposal Submittals and Forms of the RFP for details on response requirements that are to be submitted in this response section, and upload your COMPLETE Proposal here. Upload cost proposal separately in the next step.

  Submit the following forms as part of your Proposal:

  PROPOSAL FORM 1A. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND PROPOSER GENERAL INFORMATION

  PROPOSAL FORM 3: DESIGNATION OF SUBCONTRACTORS

  PROPOSAL FORM 5: LITIGATION DISCLOSURE

  PROPOSAL FORM 6: GENERAL CERTIFICATIONS

  PROPOSAL FORM 7: NON-COLLUSION DECLARATION

  PROPOSAL FORM 8: REFERENCES

  PROPOSAL FORM 9: KEY PERSONNEL STATEMENT OF AVAILABILITY

  PROPOSAL FORM 10: DESIGNATION OF PROPOSER'S REPRESENTATIVE

  PROPOSAL FORM 11: LOCAL FIRM CERTIFICATION

  PROPOSAL FORM 12: DEBARMENT AND SUSPENSION CERTIFICATION

  PROPOSAL FORM 13: CERTIFICATION OF RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING

  PROPOSAL FORM 15: BIDDERS LIST

• Separate Cost/Price Proposal (required) —

  Proposers shall submit a Cost Proposal for the services requested in this RFP.

  Submit the following forms:

  PROPOSAL FORM 1B. COST PROPOSAL

  Confirm that your Cost Proposal is not attached in your Proposal (on the previous step) and is submitted separately here.

• Bid Bond (required) —

  Each bid shall be accompanied by a certified cashier’s check, or bid bond, in the amount of 10% of the total bid price, payable toSanta Clara Valley Transportation Authority, as a guarantee that the bidder, if its bid is accepted, will promptly execute the Agreement. The bidder shall guarantee the total bid price for a period of 60 days from the date of the bid opening.

  Please scan and upload a copy of your bid bond/cashier's check. Bidder must also MAIL bid guarantee with a postmarked date no later thanThursday, May 7, 2026 addressed to:

  Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
  Norman David
  3331 N. 1st Street
  San Jose,CA95134

  Please have the Bidder Name, Contract Title ("Professional A&E Services for the New Operations Control Center at VTA Almaden Headquarters"), and Contract Number ("S26001") listed clearly on the outside of the envelope.

• Contract Execution, Payment Bond, Performance Bond, and Certificate(s) of Insurance (required) —

  The contract shall be executed by the successful bidder and shall be returned, together with the Payment Bond, Performance Bond and Certificate(s) of Insurance to Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority so that it is received within 14 working daysafter the bidder has received the contract for execution. Failure to do so shall be just cause for forfeiture of the proposal guaranty.

• Contractors State License Board (CSLB) Number —

  Please enter your License Number here. This will be verified against the state database

• California Department of Industrial Relations Registration (required) —

  Please enter your Public Works Contractor Registration Number. This will be verified against the state database.

• California Secretary of State Business License —

  State your Company's Name Here. This will be verified against the California Secretary of State's Website.

• Electronic Pricing Table (required) —

  Would you like to have bidders respond to an electronic pricing table through ProcureNow?

  Choose this if:

  1. This is a quote for a finite set of goods or commodities
  2. This is a public works bid, but you want the bidder to list their total project cost here.
  3. Seeking services for hourly rate schedules
• Bid Bond (required) —

  Will this solicitation require a bid bond?

• Separate Fee Proposal Upload (required) —

  If not using the Electronic Pricing Table, do you want your bidder to separate a Price Proposal from the rest of the Response?

• Evaluation Criteria (required) —

  Would you like to define the Evaluation Criteria for this solicitation?

Questions & Answers