SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Market Research for Transportation Planning
- Notice Date
- 3/17/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Acquisition Management, HAAM, Mail Stop E65-101, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- DTFH61-09-R-00009
- Point of Contact
- Robert G Prior,, Phone: 2023664247, Melissa Hogan,, Phone: (202) 366-9771
- E-Mail Address
-
bob.prior@dot.gov, melissa.hogan@dot.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- MARKET RESEARCH for Transportation Planning DTFH61-09-R-00009 Pursuant to 48 C.F.R. Part 10, the Government is conducting market research to: •Determine if sources exist that are capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements listed below, •Determine the capabilities of potential contractors, including an estimate of prices, •Determine the size and status of potential sources, and •Determine the level of competition (i.e. 8(a), set-aside or full and open) The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), on behalf of the Department of Transportation (DOT), intends to establish multiple, 5-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts for transportation planning expertise to assist DOT with respect to the technical support requirements described herein. BACKGROUND The FHWA Office of Acquisition Management contemplates awards of multiple five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts in support of its Office of Planning, Environment and Realty. The purpose for this announcement is to conduct market research to identify potential offerors having an interest in, and the resources to support this requirement. Consideration will be given to identifying small business concerns, including the sub-categories of SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a), SDB and woman-owned. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement. Work will be performed under those contracts through the issuance of competitively awarded Task Orders that may either be firm fixed price (FFP) or cost-plus-fixed- fee (CPFF). Competition for each Task Order will be restricted to those holding an ID/IQ contract. The use of multiple award contracts will allow FHWA to take continuous advantage of the competitive forces of the commercial marketplace which will result in lower prices, better quality, and improved contractor performance in satisfying FHWA requirements. This document is being published in order to gather information on potential sources and to identify sources capable of proposing. Please send responses to Sarah Sun at Sarah.Sun@dot.gov or fax 202-493-2198. In the event of a fax response, please also provide an E-Mail notification that a fax has been sent. This document contains a list of specific technical requirements necessary for successful performance of our task orders in support of our program. Your responses regarding these requirements addressing your experience and capabilities will be used to determine the availability of potential businesses both big and small and their current capabilities. Contractors are encouraged to respond to each requirement. ID/IQ CONTRACT SCOPE OF WORK SUMMARY Overview The ID/IQ contract holders will be expected to provide a series of services, as needed within specified task areas: congestion, safety planning, security planning, freight planning, state, metropolitan, rural, and tribal planning capacity building, national/international planning, tools to support planning and environment, and program management and outreach. Examples of experience and expertise required to successfully accomplish potential task orders include, but are not limited to, research conducted, data collection and analysis in the subject area, technical assistance on the issues and modeling and model development. Task Orders Issued Will Likely Include Activities Such As: Potential activities in the areas of congestion include: 1.Developing and deploying improved and/or new tools, techniques, and procedures; 2.Developing and delivering training, workshops, and technical assistance; 3.Facilitating communication among and between transportation planning agencies/practitioners and State, regional, and local operators of transportation systems; 4.Identifying analytical needs; and 5.Collecting and disseminating noteworthy practices for strengthening the state-of-the-practice and addressing Federal program requirements. Potential activities in safety planning include: 1.Identifying analytical needs for improved safety planning; and 2.Developing tools, techniques, training and procedures for improved safety planning. 3.White papers on topics such as linkage of safety planning, operations and NEPA, and safety performance measures. Potential activities in security planning include: 1.Collecting and disseminating noteworthy practices for strengthening the state-of-the-practice; 2.Developing and delivering training, workshops, and technical assistance; and 3.Facilitating communication among and between the transportation planning communities and appropriate security entities. Potential activities in freight planning include: 1.Identifying analytical needs; 2.Conducting basic research; 3.Collecting and disseminating noteworthy practices for strengthening the state-of-the-practice; 4.Developing tools, techniques, and procedures; 5.Maintaining and expanding the FHWA Freight Planning website; 6.Developing and delivering training, workshops, and technical assistance; and 7.Facilitating communication among and between the public and private sectors. Potential activities in state, metropolitan, rural and tribal planning capacity building include: 1.Documenting and deploying exemplary public participation practices; 2.Delivering training and technical assistance; 3.Developing improved tools, techniques and procedures for incorporating visualization in planning and for increasing public involvement in the transportation planning process; 4.Providing incentives for exemplary practice; and 5.Improving data collection, monitoring, and analysis tools that assess the needs of, and analyze the potential impacts on minority, low-income and other populations. 6.Developing tools, techniques, procedures; providing incentives for exemplary practice; 7.Delivering training and technical assistance; 8.Conducting a peer exchange program on planning issues; in coordination with HEPP’S TPCB program; 9.Developing training materials and identifying notable practices for use by tribal governments. 10.Documenting and deploying interdisciplinary/interagency approaches for addressing human and natural environment; issues and interests in transportation planning processes; integrated planning; and performance based planning. Potential activities in national/international planning include: 1.Developing and testing architecture for border transportation information flows; 2.Developing binational innovative financing mechanisms for border-related improvement; 3.Identifying and assessing infrastructure needs and analyzing their impact on the binational transportation system; 4.Developing binational Geographical Information Systems tools and applications to enhance binational planning, assessing methods to improve and speed information exchange and environmental assessment; 5.Exploring development of enhanced modeling techniques to improve border and bi-national decision-making; and 6.Developing binational border transportation performance measures. 7.Updating the digital mapping of the NHS components (which is the basis for a number of different research papers); 8.Developing material to support the research related work of the National Development Organization and the New England Transportation Institute pursuant to section of Title V of SAFETEA-LU; 9.Updating databases used for research; 10.Creating content for research related websites; 11.Providing information for TRB economic development committee activities (e.g., national research meetings) and 12.Providing information for research related activities of other organizations such as the NCHRP and the Delta Regional Authority. Potential activities in tools to support planning and environment include: 1.Basic research on time of day and freight needs in the modeling process; 2.Developing transportation, land use and air quality analysis tools, techniques and procedures; 3.Supporting deployment of research products and modifying research products based on applications experience; 4.Supporting peer reviews of model applications and identifying where research products can enhance model application; 5.Conducting outreach to make agencies aware of innovative modeling techniques and modeling issues in general; 6.Supporting regional and national peer exchanges; and 7.Identifying analytic needs to be addressed by the research program. 8.Developing advanced travel forecasting methods including activity and tour based demand models; regional traffic simulation or DTA methods and linkages between time dependent network models and advanced demand models. 9.Mining applications of geospatial technology and assessing their effectiveness for transportation; 10.Identifying emerging geospatial technology that will be implemented in the next 5 years; 11.Identifying effective business models and public-private partnerships to support enhanced GIS in transportation; 12.Developing focus areas for future initiatives to enhance transportation decision-making and the uses of geospatial technologies; and 13.Conducting collaborative workshops and training; and working with committees of TRB, AASHTO, and other stakeholders. Potential activities in program management and outreach include: program support; website; workshops; peer reviews; scans; training; technical assistance; presentations; publications; conferences; and symposia. It is critically important that there is timely, quality performance of these task orders. Thus we need to make informed acquisition decisions that will yield the best contractors. Such decisions will be strongly influenced by your responses, therefore we require something more than: “Trust me, we can perform.” Hence we strongly encourage you to make the effort to address how you are capable of performing the above activities, and also to address the following technical support requirements that will be a part of the upcoming RFP and resulting contract. We do not require or expect you to respond to each of these elements as you would in your proposal, but we need a level of confidence that those responding to this market research truly have the experience, skills and abilities to perform the work we will require over the next 5 years. TECHNICAL SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS Skills Required 1)Contractor must have the ability to deliver a completed research product, with full quality control and appropriate fact checking as well as experience in presenting objective assessments within a sometimes politically charged environment. The contractor also must have expertise in the principles and practice of the social, economic, and environmental analysis and the planning and project development processes. Prospective sources should describe at least one successful example recently completed. 2)Contractors must have an understanding of the statewide and metropolitan transportation planning process, (i.e. long range plan, transportation improvement program, and a public participation plan), consultation requirements, procedures and best practices, etc. Prospective sources should provide examples of successful statewide and metropolitan transportation planning processes recently completed. 3)Contractors must have an understanding of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analytic procedures for the estimation of air quality and the linkages between Mobile source emissions models and travel demand forecasting models. Prospective sources should provide examples of using EPA emissions models recently completed. 4)Contractors must understand freight forecasting models, their relationship to passenger travel demand forecasting models and issues involved with integrating passenger travel demand forecasting models with freight forecasting models. Prospective sources should provide examples that proposed staff has an understanding of freight modeling issues. 5)Contractors must have extensive experience in basic and advanced travel demand forecasting methods. Basic model experience should include traditional trip based static assignment methods. Advanced models should include trip and tour based demand models and simulation and Dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) technologies for network analysis. The experience must be both at the sub-area (one small area out of a region) and corridor level as well as the regional level. Prospective sources should provide examples of using basic as well as advanced forecasting methods including staff assigned, project location, and your familiarity with such modeling software as: Cube, TRANSCAD, VISUM, EMME/2, or other modeling software used. Describe the experience of proposed staff on travel forecasting. 6)Contractors must have an expertise conducting corridor and economic development studies and research. This experience must include the estimation and evaluation of local/State, regional, and national-level impacts from highway-related economic development. Prospective sources should provide successful examples of corridor studies performed and the measures of economic impacts considered. 7)Contractor must have an understanding of border transportation analysis and bi-national planning issues with Canada and Mexico. Prospective sources should demonstrate an understanding of border transportation analysis and bi-national planning with Canada and Mexico. At a minimum include an example one of the following: economic impact studies, joint planning studies, long range plans, livable communities studies, air quality analysis, traffic operation studies, system performance studies, benefit/cost studies and others. 8)Contractor must have an understanding of the available technical tools used in support of the planning process, e.g. Geographic Information System, Visualization, Simulation, Data analysis tools, web based tools/applications, Management of Data, data collection, remote sensing and others. Prospective sources should demonstrate an understanding of Geographic Information System, Visualization, Simulation, Data analysis tools, web based tools/applications, Management of Data, data collection and remote sensing. 9)Stakeholder involvement is a key element in determining target audience needs and identifying the roles and responsibilities in the transportation planning process. The contractor must have the ability to work with the appropriate stakeholder(s) to support the varying efforts as required. Such stakeholders may include, but are not limited to: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO), National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), National Association of Counties (NACO), American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP), University Transportation Centers (UTC) and public agencies. Prospective sources should describe successful projects with AASHTO, AMPO, NARC, TRB, NADO, NACO, APTA, CTAA, STPP, LTAP, TTAP, and UTC or similar groups as well as past experience working with the above mentioned or similar groups. 10)Contractor must have expertise in meeting and conference planning in both small and large meetings. The contractor must have experience in a large variety of venues including, peer exchanges, workshops, conferences and other types of meetings. Prospective sources should provide examples of successful meeting planning and facilitation. 11)The contractor is expected to have computer expertise and government publication requirement expertise. Prospective sources should provide a description or experience related to advanced computer expertise and government publications. 12)Due to the amount of work to be carried out under these contracts, the contractor must have the ability to work on varying tasks consecutively and/or simultaneously to ensure proposed schedules are met. Prospective sources should provide a description of the ability to work on simultaneous tasks and successfully meet project deadlines. 13)The contractor must have the ability to successfully write and edit publicized technical deliverables in at least three of the areas listed above. Prospective sources should provide examples of publicized materials previously developed by proposed staff. Please complete the following questionnaire: Place an X beside each requirement your firm would be able to satisfy. 1.Would your firm be able to support the delivery of: More than 10 tasks orders per year 5– 10 task orders per year Less than 5 task orders per year Materials developed in compliance with Section 508 2.Based on your firm’s experience please provide rough fully burdened rates for the following services: ITEM UNITPRICE Item 1: Senior level transportation/simulation modelers rate Hourly $ Item 2: Mid level transportation/simulation Hourly$ modelers rate Item 3: Junior level transportation/simulation Hourly$ modelers rate Item 4: Senior GIS Specialist rate Hourly$ Item 5: Mid level GIS Specialist rateHourly$ Item 6: Junior level GIS Specialist rateHourly$ Item 7: Senior level transportation planner rateHourly $ Item 8: Mid level transportation planner rateHourly$ Item 9: Junior level transportation planner rateHourly$ Item 10: Support Personnel Hourly$ Small business?Small disadvantage business? Woman-owned business?HUBZone business? 8 (a) business?SDVOB business? Large?Non Profit? NOTE: PARTICIPATION IN THE MARKET RESEARCH IN NO WAY INFLUENCES THE SOURCE SELECTION FOR THESE SERVICES. Subsequently, a solicitation will be published in FedBizOpps.gov. Please return the completed form no later than March 31, 2009 to Sarah.Sun@dot.gov or Fax (202-493-2198). Thank you for participating in DOT’s market research.
- Web Link
-
FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=c9b7933018472dcd7fb6dfd36d59f784&tab=core&_cview=1)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Nationwide, United States
- Record
- SN01771472-W 20090319/090317221112-c9b7933018472dcd7fb6dfd36d59f784 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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