request for expressions of interest autonomous …

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE AND UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS 1 Introduction The City of Chula Vista seeks to build relationships and form partnerships with parties interested in the research and development of autonomous vehicle (AV) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including the software and hardware technology and infrastructure and related services to support AV and UAS operations. Interested parties are invited to prepare an Expression of Interest (EOI) package addressing the items listed under the Submission Guidelines section of this document. While there will be no award of contract based on responses to this RFEI, the city intends to work with selected respondents to refine the EOI into a detailed, formal use case proposal that leverages available public resources. Selected respondents may also be pre-qualified to co-author state and federal grant applications with the goal of obtaining grant funding for Chula Vista projects. Responding to this RFEI in no way obligates the respondent or the City of Chula Vista to enter into any agreement. Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be accepted on an ongoing basis. 2 About the City of Chula Vista With 268,000 residents covering 52 square miles in the southwestern edge of California, Chula Vista is the second- largest city in San Diego County and the 14th-largest city in the state by population. Situated between Downtown San Diego and the international border with Mexico, the city benefits from a diverse, well-educated population and a robust transportation network. With traditional grid-patterned streets on the city’s historical west side and master-planned smart growth communities in the city’s newer east side, along with multiple state and interstate highways and bus and transit lines, Chula Vista offers a unique variety of environments to test and deploy emerging transportation services and supporting infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Transportation has designated the entire city as an AV Proving Grounds, which clears the way for the city and industry partners to foster innovations to safely transform personal and commercial mobility and expand capacity. For more information and the latest updates on Chula Vista’s smart city activities, visit chulavistaca.gov/smartcity. Chula Vista City Hall Last Updated: 1/23/19 1

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Page 1: REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST AUTONOMOUS …

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE AND UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS

1 IntroductionThe City of Chula Vista seeks to build relationships and form partnerships with parties interested in the research and development of autonomous vehicle (AV) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including the software and hardware technology and infrastructure and related services to support AV and UAS operations.

Interested parties are invited to prepare an Expression of Interest (EOI) package addressing the items listed under the Submission Guidelines section of this document. While there will be no award of contract based on responses to this RFEI, the city intends to work with selected respondents to refine the EOI into a detailed, formal use case proposal that leverages available public resources. Selected respondents may also be pre-qualified to co-author state and federal grant applications with the goal of obtaining grant funding for Chula Vista projects. Responding to this RFEI in no way obligates the respondent or the City of Chula Vista to enter into any agreement.

Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be accepted on an ongoing basis.

2 About the City of Chula VistaWith 268,000 residents covering 52 square miles in the southwestern edge of California, Chula Vista is the second-largest city in San Diego County and the 14th-largest city in the state by population. Situated between Downtown San Diego and the international border with Mexico, the city benefits from a diverse, well-educated population and a robust transportation network.

With traditional grid-patterned streets on the city’s historical west side and master-planned smart growth communities in the city’s newer east side, along with multiple state and interstate highways and bus and transit lines, Chula Vista offers a unique variety of environments to test and deploy emerging transportation services and supporting infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Transportation has designated the entire city as an AV Proving Grounds, which clears the way for the city and industry partners to foster innovations to safely transform personal and commercial mobility and expand capacity.

For more information and the latest updates on Chula Vista’s smart city activities, visit chulavistaca.gov/smartcity.

Chula Vista City Hall

Last Updated: 1/23/19

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The city’s proximity to the national headquarters of major technology companies — such as Qualcomm, ESET, ViaSat, Kyocera, Maxwell Technologies and Cubic — provides a rich variety of local business partnership opportunities. Similarly, the proximity to major U.S. Navy and Marine Corps military installations and related enterprises, such as Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), offers unique public-private opportunities. Numerous local colleges, universities and research institutions — such as UC San Diego, San Diego State University, the University of San Diego, Point Loma Nazarene University and National University — provide a pipeline of local talent to support new business in Chula Vista.

City staff has a positive reputation in the local business community for being nimble, flexible and forward-thinking when it comes to new approaches to business, technology and development. This reputation is enhanced by staff’s commitment to openness and transparency and willingness to work with businesses and organizations willing to invest in the city. Chula Vista has a strong, strategic commitment to technological innovation and is a nationally recognized leader in the smart city movement. The city adopted a Smart City Strategic Action Plan in 2017, which outlines the city’s goals, objectives and initiatives related to technology and data integration, including AV and UAS applications. In 2017, the city also adopted a Traffic Signal Communications Master Plan, a comprehensive multi-year strategy for the deployment of an advanced traffic control network capable of integrating autonomous vehicle technology. Chula Vista is the only city in the country with federal designations spanning the entire jurisdiction for research and development in both AV and UAS.

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3 ObjectiveThe City of Chula Vista is interested in leveraging its strategic vision and unique physical assets to develop economic opportunities for residents and businesses. City leaders want to further develop Chula Vista’s economic identity as a place where technological innovation is developed, tested, validated, deployed and refined. City staff is open to a broad range of possible relationships, partnerships and pilot programs in which the city becomes a collaboratory focused on innovation and growth, especially in the AV and UAS industries. Through this RFEI process, the city seeks to identify partners interested in testing or deploying AV and UAS technology and supporting infrastructure in Chula Vista. The opportunity in Chula Vista is unique in that all public rights of way in the city are accessible for the testing and deployment of emerging AV and UAS technologies.

4 Overview of Facilities and Opportunity Areas

San Diego Regional Proving GroundIn 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation designated Chula Vista and the broader San Diego region as one of 10 Autonomous Vehicle Proving Grounds in the U.S., and one of only two in the state of California. The region was recognized for its ability to demonstrate safety planning, willingness to share information with industry and government partners, and commitment to compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and policies.

Over the past 18 months, the city has worked with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) the region’s transportation planning agency and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to establish the San Diego Regional Proving Ground (RPG), intended to be a real-world laboratory for validating autonomous vehicle technology. The RPG includes all local streets and roads in Chula Vista, state Route 125 and Interstate 15.

The San Diego RPG is driven by a consortium of industry affiliates and academic partners. While autonomous vehicles can be tested and deployed anywhere in the state of California with appropriate permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), San Diego RPG affiliates have streamlined access to local agency officials and receive expedited permitting for select City of Chula Vista and Caltrans road closures and equipment installations.

One major project of the San Diego RPG is the Chula Vista Mobility Hub, which will explore the concept of combining multiple modes of transportation — bicycles, autonomous vehicles, bus transit, electric vehicle charging, on-demand rideshare, etc. — in a central location. Planning for the Chula Vista Mobility Hub project is underway, with an in-depth workshop planned for Winter 2019.

Autonomous Vehicle

2Last Updated: 1/23/19

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UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP)In 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration designated Chula Vista and the broader San Diego region as one of 10 sites for the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP), which is designed to accelerate safe UAS integration and help the FAA craft enabling rules that allow complex, low-altitude operations.

One of the five local airspaces designated by the FAA as part of this pilot program is the International Border Airspace, which includes the entire City of Chula Vista as well as a portion of the City of San Diego reaching south toward the U.S.-Mexico border. Within this airspace, UAS testing qualifies for streamlined and expedited FAA waiver from typical standards, such as beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations, night operations, and operations over human beings. Technology to be tested includes detect-and-avoid, identification and tracking, unmanned traffic management, and cybersecurity.

Missions conducted within the local UAS IPP will be focused on two concepts of operations (CONOPS):● Smart City, International Commerce & Public Safety—including the integration of UAS data feeds with on-the-ground infrastructure for analysis of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and parking availability; explorations of unmanned traffic management, remote identification and vehicle-to-vehicle communications; rapid deployment to crimes in progress, fires, traffic collisions and natural disasters, as well as routine inspection of infrastructure and detection of gunshots

● Medical & Package Delivery—including the transportation of patient blood and pathology specimens over fixed routes; as well as movement of high-value, low-weight goods between businesses and homes

The more than 20 partners participating in the UAS IPP include Qualcomm, AT&T, GE, Airmap, Uber, Intel, CAPE, Matternet, ENVI, Verdego Aero, AUVSI, Infragard San Diego, the City of San Diego, the Port of San Diego, San Diego Regional Economic Development Council, UC San Diego Health System, Palomar College and Coleman University.

The City of San Diego’s Office of Homeland Security is the lead coordinator for all local UAS IPP activities for the San Diego region. Participants in the IPP have access to streamlined and expedited waivers and exemptions through the FAA..........................................................................................................................

University SiteThis 375-acre site is owned by the city and has been designated by the City Council as the site of a future higher education institution. In the meantime, a portion of the site is being used by private sector companies to test UAS applications and is one asset contributing to the overall success of the region’s UAS Integration Pilot Program. Some

portions of the site are within controlled airspace while others are outside of controlled airspace. The entire site is currently unimproved vacant land with natural topographical variation.

Unmanned aerial system

3Last Updated: 1/23/19

Mobility HubSANDAG is developing a Mobility Hub Concept of Operations for Western Chula Vista that will leverage technology and new transportation services to expand personal mobility and improve access to transit. Mobility hubs seek to integrate shared, electric, connected, and autonomous transportation services including connected vehicles and infrastructure; share (and autonomous) services like micro-transit and on-demand rideshare; electric vehicle infrastructure; micro mobility services (like bikeshare, scootershare, and neighborhood electric vehicles) and other supporting amenities like package delivery and mobile services. .........................................................................................................................

Fiber-optic and DSRCThe city recently signed master license agreements with major cellular infrastructure providers, granting the city exclusive dedicated access to multiple fiber strands along key corridors.in the summer of 2019, the city will build additional fiber-optic cable along Broadway, a major north-south corridor that connects the city’s northern and southern borders. The new fiber-optic cable will integrate with the city’s adaptive traffic control systems and will also enable the installation of Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) radios along this corridor.

UAS testing at the University Site

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Maxwell Fleet Maintenance Center (Available Staging Facility)This former city vehicle maintenance center at 1800 Maxwell Road (off Main Street near Interstate 805) includes 17,000 square feet of bay space with a crane and lifts. The lease value of this property is $1.30 per square foot, gross. .........................................................................................................................

Millenia Mixed-Use DevelopmentThis 210-acre master-planned urban village brings together a dense mix of uses, including apartments, condominiums, retail and office. When complete, Millenia will include nearly 3,000 homes and up to 1.5 million square feet of office space with all new development provided with fiber to the premises. The office developments are fully entitled, and the first 500,000 square feet could be available within 18 months. .......................................................................................................................

Bayfront Master Plan The Chula Vista Bayfront spans more than 535 acres of vacant, former industrial land along the San Diego Bay. After years of planning and coordination with the Port of San Diego, agreements are now in place to begin the development of a 275,000-square-foot convention center, a 1,600-room hotel, commercial office buildings, parks, walking trails, a marina and an RV park. The Bayfront will serve as a test bed for smart city applications and advanced energy management technologies.

State Route 125 South Bay ExpresswayThis 10-mile toll road, owned and operated by SANDAG, flows through the eastern portion of the city, connecting southeast San Diego with the international border. The highway has a posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour. It intersects with five local roads and has interchanges with State Routes 54, 905 and 11. Opportunities exist to integrate closed-circuit TV, speed detectors, toll plazas, dynamic messaging signs, traffic signals, etc. with AV and UAS operations. .........................................................................................................................

South Bay RapidThis new bus rapid transit route is under construction and will begin operating later this year. The 26-mile route with 12 stops connects the international border to Downtown San Diego via eastern Chula Vista, Interstate 805 and State Route 94. The route includes a six-mile dedicated transit guideway that will be restricted to transit vehicles with available fiber provided along the entire route. .........................................................................................................................

MTS Trolley and Bus ServiceThe San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) operates public bus and trolley service in the City of Chula Vista. The UC San Diego Blue Line is a light-rail trolley that connects the international border with Downtown San Diego and includes three stops within city limits. The Mid-Coast Trolley project will extend the line north from Downtown San Diego to UC San Diego. Service on the new portion of the route is expected to begin in 2021 and will create a direct light-rail connection between Chula Vista and UC San Diego.

Maxwell Fleet Maintenance Center exterior

Maxwell Fleet Maintenance Center interior

4Last Updated: 1/23/19

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Emergency Services CoordinationThe city’s Police and Fire departments are committed to technology and data innovation. Department staff will be available to work with respondents to develop the most effective emergency response protocols related to AV and UAS operations within the city.

Traffic Management CenterThe city operates a Traffic Management Center using the Transparity TMS that communicates to 250 of the City’s 272 traffic signals. The city is in the process of upgrading its traffic signal network based on a Traffic Signal Communications Master Plan adopted in 2017. The first phase, completed in 2018, upgraded 29 intersections with adaptive traffic control systems capable of integrating with AV and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications. The city has also installed GPS-capable emergency vehicle preemption systems on most traffic signals. Additional projects and phases are currently in the planning stages.

For more information and the latest updates on Chula Vista’s smart city activities, visit chulavistaca.gov/smartcity.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 Submission GuidelinesResponses to this solicitation should be prepared in the format specified below. Responses should be as clear, concise and complete as possible. Responses should be submitted in PDF format. Any questions should be directed to Kevin Pointer, Senior Economic Development Specialist, at [email protected].

Cover LetterInclude a cover letter that identifies the name of your organization and the name and contact information of the primary point of contact. The letter should be signed and dated. The cover letter may also include a summary or any other information you would like for the city to consider.

Section 1 – About Your OrganizationThis is your opportunity to tell the city about your company or non-profit organization. Some questions to consider in preparing this section include:

● What is the history of your company or organization, especially as it relates to AV and UAS?● What are the backgrounds and qualifications of the key staff who would be involved in the proposed project?● What partnerships or relationships do you have with other public entities?● What types of safety protocols and liability precautions do you have in place? ● What financial capacity do you have to support the proposed activities?

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Section 2 – Project ProposalsProvide a detailed scope of the projects, pilots or other research and development activities you would like to explore in the City of Chula Vista. Some questions to consider in preparing this section include:

● What are the details of the testing or deployment scenarios you would like to explore? ● What is the projected schedule and duration of testing or deployment?● What, if any, impacts would the project have on residents and businesses? ● What specific safety protocols would need to be in place? ● Can certificates of insurance with aggregate limits up to $2 million with the City of Chula Vista named as an additional insured be obtained and provided?

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Section 3 – City SupportPlease provide detail about the support and coordination needed from the City of Chula Vista to make the project, program or relationship successful. Some questions to consider in preparing this section include:

● What access would be needed to city facilities? Which facilities and how often? ● What policy support is needed from the city? ● What operational support is needed from the city (for example, road closures or equipment installation)?

What to Expect After Submitting an EOICity staff will take 60 days to review EOIs and plan introductory meetings with respondents having submitted EOIs that are consistent with the city’s goals and objectives. Following introductory meetings, city staff will work with selected respondents to identify relevant resources and develop more detailed project, program and partnership plans. ■

City of Chula Vista adaptive traffic signals

5Last Updated: 1/23/19