Request for Proposals: Transportation Equity Needs and Barriers Assessment

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) seeks qualified consultants or professionals to serve as project manager for the Transportation Equity Needs and Barriers Assessment. The selected consultant will coordinate robust stakeholder engagement and synthesize key transportation needs and barriers to inform future state clean transportation programming.

The consultant will be responsible for ongoing management and reporting, partnering with and compensating community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide input on transportation needs and barriers, and facilitating robust outreach and engagement to residents of Burdened Areas. Engagement activities will include surveys, interviews, focus groups, attendance at community events, and other methods to collect feedback on key transportation needs and barriers. The consultant must also synthesize collected information to identify and prioritize key transportation needs and barriers that should be addressed by the state.

Key dates include: RFP release on April 13, 2026; informational webinar on April 16, 2026 at 2pm EST; questions due April 29, 2026; questions and answers posted May 6, 2026; proposal submission deadline May 22, 2026; interviews of top applicants scheduled for late May/early June 2026; and notification of award expected mid-June 2026. MassCEC will release a separate Request for Information (RFI) in May 2026 to solicit responses from CBOs interested in partnering on the Initiative.

The total budget allocation is $300,000, intended to cover both consultant costs and CBO compensation. The budget must be distributed by the lead consultant to contracted CBOs, with MassCEC estimating at least six CBOs will require contractual relationships. Applicants are welcome to propose potential engagement goals and metrics. Geographic spread across all six regions of Massachusetts with engagement of a wide range of Burdened Areas is a primary goal.