The city of Pflugerville is hiring a transportation consulting firm that will develop a transportation plan for the city, including plans for a city bus hub and more.

Following council approval Nov. 25, the city will initiate a $188,000 contract with The Goodman Corp. for the development of a transportation development program.

A significant portion of the $188,000 could be reimbursed with federal funds through Capital Metro.

Assistant City Manager Trey Fletcher said the transportation plan will help the city identify service expansion options, enhance regional connectivity, find funding sources for projects, identify sites for transit-oriented development—which could be a park-and-ride type structure—and evaluate a public-private partnership.

Pflugerville is not part of the Capital Metro service area, and Capital Metro will not be the key implementer of a Pflugerville transportation plan, Fletcher said. Pflugerville could partner with Capital Metro in the process of building transportation infrastructure, he added.

Goodman would also help identify federal funding opportunities. Goodman Corp. President Barry Goodman previously told the council his firm has expertise in securing federal funds for transportation projects. Goodman was a senior legal counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration in Washington D.C.

While the transportation plan is being developed, Goodman said he would like to go out and talk to area developers to see if any would partner with the city to provide a piece of land for a transportation parking terminal facility. That land could be the basis to pursue federal money to build the park-and-ride terminal.

"It will be interesting to see, long term, what comes out of this and how many strings are attached to our transportation alternatives, when we make agreements with the feds and with all the other local groups," City Councilman Wayne Cooper said at the Nov. 25 council meeting. "It's pretty interesting to see how it develops. It is something that we really need to do, though."

The transportation plan will also include plans for a vehicle-for-hire ordinance, which would create regulations for car-hire services such as Uber, Lyft and others. Pflugerville does not have a vehicle-for-hire ordinance.

Goodman said the ordinance would create safety standards for hired vehicles in the community and ensure an "equal competitive spirit" for companies operating in Pflugerville.

The ordinance ensures "safety, access, competitiveness and protects the city's investment in any of these enterprises, should it choose to do so," Goodman said.

Fletcher said the transportation plan would be ready by fall 2015.