UNDP Jobs - 34748- International Technical Advisor for Feasibility St

International Technical Advisor for Feasibility Study Almaty LRT (Light Rail Transit)

Location :

Home-based with 3 missions to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-Feb-2013

Application Deadline :

21-Jan-13 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

22 man days ( February - April 2013)

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Introduction:

The UNDP has initiated the “City of Almaty Sustainable Transport” Project (“CAST”) with support of the Global Environment Facility (“GEF”). Objective of the CAST project is to reduce the growth of the transport-related greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions in the City of Almaty, while simultaneously improving urban environmental conditions.

The project will support achievement of GEF-4 Strategic objective-CC 5: Promoting Sustainable Innovative Systems for Urban Transport. The global objectives of CAST will be to facilitate GHG reductions through a modal shift to low-GHG intensive transport modes these modal transport shifts. As a consequence, urban mobility will improve through the use of efficient transport modes of lower carbon intensity.

The Almaty LRT Project:

The City of Almaty (the “Akimat”) has made a decision to implement a new Light Rail Transit (“LRT”) system in the city. The project has been advanced on a technical level, with technical cooperation grant support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD”), by means of full Feasibility Study, completed in mid-2010 by the consultant Worley Parsons from Singapore (C19009/SITC-2009-01-01), as well as a Financial Options study, also supported by the EBRD. While the complete project would encompass 4 lines over 130 km to connect the Almaty region with the city centre, LRT Phase 1 has been designed as around 15 km fast tram in the centre of Almaty over Tole-Bi Avenue. The estimated cost for Line I is USD 300 million, which includes all LRT infrastructure and rolling stock, as well as the needs for land, roadway improvements, and a new depot. Following tender award and financial close, construction of Almaty LRT Line I will be carried out during 2014-2017. The project is intended to be implemented on the basis of Public Private Partnership (“PPP”). The winning bidder will be selected in an open international tender by the Akimat, under a Design, Build, Finance, and Operate Transfer (“DBFOT”) concession.

The route alignment of LRT Line 1 (~15 km) complements the existing metro line, and will directly link to the metro in the north-eastern section of the LRT line, providing a key node for passenger interchange, a fact that should boost the utility of both new public transport modes. The LRT shall be coordinated with the existing Almaty Electrotrans (the municipal surface electric transport operator) services of CNG bus and trolleybus in that the integrated ticketing system under development during 2013-2014 will incorporate the LRT service, augmenting the usefulness of public transport in Almaty in general.

The LRT project is part of the City of Almaty Sustainable Urban Transport Strategy 2012-2022 which is currently under preparation by consultants appointed by CAST Project. A fully updated Transport Demand Model that include the LRT Lines will become available in March 2012.

The City of Almaty (the “Akimat”) is in the process of selecting a local consultant (the “local consultant”) from Kazakhstan to prepare of an updated feasibility study which will be submitted to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for review, state expertise and obtaining financial support. Local consultant will start work in February 2012 based on state national license for projecting works.

The UNDP and the Akimat have agreed that the local consultant will be supported by an international expert on LRT systems.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this assignment is to provide international expertise on LRT systems to the selected local consultant in order to ensure that the proposed Almaty LRT system is based on international best practice standards (technical and operational).

Scope of work

The Consultant will carry out the following tasks:

provide expertise in the field of LRT systems to the selected local consultant who is in charge of preparing an updated feasibility study;
ensure that the feasibility study is based on international best practice standards for LRT systems;
review and comment on the functional and technical specifications for the LRT system;
review and comment on cost estimates for the LRT project;
ensure that the route LRT alignment complements the existing metro line and will directly link to the metro in the north-eastern section of the LRT and is consistent with the Mass Rapid Transit base network of the Sustainable Urban Transport Strategy;
provide advice on any specific issues for LRT project at request of the local consultant or the Akimat to the extent reasonable and feasible.

Competencies

Up-to-date practical knowledge of international best practices of LRT systems;
Good interpersonal, facilitation and presentation skills;
Ability to work under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Technical degree in disciplines related to urban transportation and/or rail systems.

Experience:

Minimum of 6 years of relevant experience in the field of LRT Systems (planning, technical, operations, costing).
Number of similar consultancy assignments undertaken in the previous three years.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English language; knowledge of Russian language is an advantage.

Interested individual consultants must submit proposal, including the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Signed UNDP P11 (CV) form, including past work experience in similar projects and at least two contact details of referees;
Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the individual contractor (ic) assignment (incl. breakdown of cost in USD) ;
Cover letter to UNDP with short description of similar consultancy assignments and other relevant information

NOTE:

For complete information about this vacancy, including detailed tasks and responsibilities, full and detailed description of the evaluation procedure which will be applied, as well as templates of P11 and Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the individual contractor (ic) assignment (incl. breakdown of cost in USD), please refer to the Terms of Reference and the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice published at the UNDP Kazakhstan website, section: Vacancies, subsection: Individual Contracts. Please follow the application instructions described therein. The link http://www.undp.kz/en/jobs/179.jsp.