The Florida Department of Transportation announced today that it has received a single proposal from Brightline in response to the Department’s advertisement for Request for Proposals (RFP). The RFP for the leasing of rights of way owned by the Department and Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) to provide intercity passenger rail service between Orlando and Tampa was formally advertised on June 22, 2018.
Per section 1.67 of the RFP, the Department and CFX have appointed an evaluation committee to review proposal(s) and make recommendations to the Project Selection Committee. The evaluation committee (otherwise known as the Technical Review Committee) includes: the Department’s Freight and Rail Planning Administrator (Holly Cohen); the Department’s Director of Right of Way (Jim Spalla); and the Central Florida Expressway Authority, Director of Engineering, (Glenn Pressimone).
The proposal(s) will be reviewed by the Technical Review Committee to ensure the submission meets the requirements outlined in the RFP. Information on proposal evaluation can be found in section 1.14 of the RFP.
Per Section 1.14 of the RFP, the proposal(s) and the Technical Review Committee evaluations will be provided to the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee consists of: the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Engineering and Operations (Brian Blanchard); the Department’s Turnpike Executive Director (Paul Wai); and the Central Florida Expressway Authority Director (Laura Kelley). The Selection Committee will meet on November 28, 2018, at 3:00 p.m. EST.
CFX and the Department’s decision will be posted on the Department’s Procurement website, at fdot.gov/procurement/passengerrail.shtm on November 28, 2018 by 4:00 p.m. EST.