DTD Active Transportation Grants Evaluation Effort Publication 02/12/2026 02:59 PM CST Bid Intent Not Available Question Acceptance Deadline 02/25/2026 03:00 PM CST Questions are submitted online Yes Closing Date 03/17/2026 03:00 PM CDT

This request for proposals is seeking an evaluation contractor with a proven ability to conduct portfolio-wide evaluation of infrastructure projects, related behavior-based interventions and studies for active transportation grant investments. In addition, this contractor will have proven abilities to create an evaluation framework and corresponding tools that are easy to implement and applicable to the entire grant portfolio for on-going evaluation management efforts by both staff and grantees, long after the contract is completed. The contractor must be able to demonstrate expertise in program evaluation (as opposed to research), demonstrate a long-standing history of delivering customer excellence, accountability to deliverable timelines and outcomes, and the proven capacity to effectively deliver projects on budget and with the right level of expertise on staff. Project Title: Active Transportation Grants Evaluation Effort Start & End: 2026-2027 Major Question to Answer: Seek to understand if the grant investments in active transportation infrastructure and amenities are achieving the economic, environmental and health benefits as the research suggests. Deliverables: 1. Complete and document a final evaluation of active transportation grants at CDOT. 2. Create an Evaluation Plan and related tools for usage after the contract is completed that are culturally relevant and at a reading level that is inclusive of all populations in Colorado. Boundaries: Project boundaries are inside the state of Colorado, and focused on active transportation infrastructure and amenities administered by CDOT project managers RFP 26-033 NM Page 5 of 25 with public grant funds awarded in the past, and those project types eligible for future awards. C. Background 1. History The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) exists to provide the best multimodal transportation system for Colorado that most effectively and safely moves people, goods, and information. A good transportation system allows us to safely get to the places we need to go and want to go, and supports recreational movement based activities. One of the most vital transportation mechanisms available to all people is active transportation, which is any human-scale and typically humanpowered mode of transportation such as walking or cycling. As a result, it is essential that communities receive access to resources to strengthen their ability to deliver safer active transportation infrastructure and environments. This includes studying, designing, creating, maintaining, and expanding safe active transportation infrastructure and amenities. CDOT delivers funds for active transportation through grant programs to promote safe access to active transportation for all people in Colorado. 2. Current Challenges and Opportunities CDOT makes investments in the state owned transportation system as well as systems owned by local jurisdictions. Those investments in local transportation systems have significantly increased in volume and sources of funding in recent years. These funds are considered passthrough grants to local grantees, which includes both public and private entities. This fund portfolio includes a mixture of state and federal pools with specific requirements relevant to each type of funding. CDOT currently administers 7 grant programs that aim to award at least a portion of funds to active transportation improvements. Both the number of grant programs, and the size of existing grant programs, have expanded significantly over the last five years, resulting in an award allocation of approximately $60,000,000 annually. The current process of CDOT active transportation grant making involves various mechanisms for capturing some quantitative and qualitative outputs, however the RFP 26-033 NM Page 6 of 25 process is not consistent across all programs, therefore we currently are unable to track shared outputs and ultimately portfolio outcomes. 3. Relevant Stakeholders and Their Roles CDOT Project Management Team: The primary CDOT contacts for this evaluation effort, consisting of grant managers and active transportation staff. This team will be accountable to oversee the vendor contract and ensure expected outcomes are achieved. This team will coordinate all final acceptance of deliverables with all necessary CDOT stakeholders. Upon award selection, name of primary project points of contact will be provided, which may change at any time. Notification of staff changes will be shared if/when changes occur. CDOT Grant Functional Area Subject Matter Experts: Will provide details on specific grant portfolio and project resources and will be available for direction and to ask questions. The contractor shall maintain a project management team and primary points of contact during all phases of the project. The contractor is expected to maintain staff with technical expertise in public health and transportation evaluation, relevant methods experience, financial analysis, team management, project management, cultural awareness and inclusive communication. The project management team shall be responsible for communication with the CDOT team on all matters related to project execution and implementation. Any concerns discovered regarding compliance to any technical or program requirements shall be immediately sent to the CDOT project management team via email with separate time for resolution identified in the next project status meeting. The contractor is the sole responsible entity for final deliverable submission and project completion. The contractor shall make CDOT aware of any impediments that prohibit the completion of any deliverables that need CDOT input unless already stated. Contractor shall submit a progress report and invoice CDOT on a monthly basis, by the fifteenth (15th) business day of the month following the month for which the services RFP 26-033 NM Page 7 of 25 and costs are incurred. Invoices shall identify the Original Contract Routing No. Contractor shall not invoice CDOT for a month prior to the last day of that month. Contractor shall provide backup documentation supporting all charges listed on each invoice at the request of CDOT. Monthly reports and invoices must be submitted to CDOT via email. D. Overview and Goals This request for proposals is seeking an evaluation contractor with a proven ability to conduct portfolio-wide evaluation of infrastructure projects, related behavior-based interventions and studies for active transportation grant investments. In addition, this contractor will have proven abilities to create an evaluation framework and corresponding tools that are easy to implement and applicable to the entire grant portfolio for on-going evaluation management efforts by both staff and grantees, long after the contract is completed. The contractor must be able to demonstrate expertise in program evaluation (as opposed to research), demonstrate a longstanding history of delivering customer excellence, accountability to deliverable timelines and outcomes, and the proven capacity to effectively deliver projects on budget and with the right level of expertise on staff. Major Question to Answer: 1. Seek to understand if the grant investments in active transportation infrastructure and amenities are achieving the economic, environmental and health benefits as the research suggests. 2. Create an Evaluation Plan and related tools for usage after the contract is completed that are culturally relevant and at a reading level that is inclusive of all populations in Colorado. CDOT manages the active transportation grant portfolio under currently existing strategies and goals. The existing strategies and goals that need to be integrated into the evaluation plan include: 1. Policy Directive 14: the framework for Colorado’s 2050 transportation plan which guides strategic direction and investments. a. Advancing Transportation Safety - Reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries involving Vulnerable Road Users by 50% from the 2023 baseline before 2037. RFP 26-033 NM Page 8 of 25 b. Sustainably Increasing Transportation Choice via Clean Transportation - Reduce surface transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by 60% on or before 2037, compared to the 2005 baseline. 2. CDOT Wildly Important Goals Increase the expenditure of grant funds for active transportation, multimodal, and transportation demand management projects from $30.9 million in fiscal year 2024 to $33.6 million by June 30, 2025. 3. The CDOT Active Transportation Plan is currently in development. Strategies and goals in the updated plan will be determined by Spring of 2025.