Humboldt County Association of Governments staff reported Oct. 16 that HCOG is the lead applicant on a Caltrans Strategic Partnerships for Transit planning grant that includes nine partner jurisdictions and tribal governments. The grant will fund a large, multi‑jurisdictional comprehensive transit planning project focused on coordinating land use and transit planning across the region.

Staff said the partnership includes HCOG, the Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA), the Trinidad Rancheria, the Yurok Tribe, Humboldt County Planning and Building, and the cities of Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka and Trinidad. Staff reported that seven proposals were received and a five‑member scoring committee recommended the DKS team, which includes Jarrett Walker & Associates and GHD; staff noted two members of the GHD team are from the local Eureka office.

The PAC moved and seconded a recommendation to select the DKS team; the committee voted unanimously to forward the contract recommendation to the HCOG board (staff noted item 3 in the staff report was a typographical error and the committee was not asking agencies to present proposals). HCOG staff said the city of Eureka declined to receive direct reimbursement and is providing match; nearly all subapplicants will receive some reimbursed staff time through the grant. The project’s three major goals described in the staff report are strengthening working relationships among jurisdictions and tribal partners, improving local land‑use/transit coordination, and developing a robust, region‑wide transit plan and toolkit.

Ending: The PAC recommendation to select the DKS/Jarrett Walker/GHD team will be transmitted to the HCOG board for contracting and grant administration steps.