MODIFICATION
B -- Federal Highway Administration, Office of Operations, Program Activities
- Notice Date
- 1/9/2015
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical 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
- FHWA15-S-0001
- Archive Date
- 2/4/2015
- Point of Contact
- Robert M. McNamara, Phone: 2023664087, Joseph A. Fusari, Phone: 202-366-4244
- E-Mail Address
-
robert.m.mcnamara@dot.gov, Joseph.Fusari@dot.gov
(robert.m.mcnamara@dot.gov, Joseph.Fusari@dot.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The following is an amendment to the original sources sought, issued January 6, 2015. Several edits have been made, particulalrly under Section 2 Objectives. This section now describes in a general way the types of work products which should be expected to be delivered should a contract(s) be awarded as a result of a future solicitation. The remaining changes are primarily minor edits. The revised version follows: This sources sought is issued solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any further contract actions, i.e., solicitation and/ or contract. Respondents are advised that the United States Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in responding to this sources sought. Not responding does not preclude participation in any future RFP that may be issued. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S Government to form a binding contract. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) / Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is conducting market research to determine if there are any small business concerns capable of performing the FHWA Office of Operations (HOP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract activities, deliverables, and other tasks required by the IDIQ. Contractors will need to show the ability to perform the objectives identified herein, both individually and concurrently. 1 Scope The contractor shall provide support to the U.S. DOT by working with the HOP on various task orders in the following program areas: • Accelerating Implementation of Operations & ITS Technologies and Strategies The goal of accelerating the implementation of operations and integrated Information Technology Services technologies and strategies is to ensure effective and successful development, implementation, and use of technologies & strategies by transportation agencies in managing their transportation facilities. A major element of accelerating deployment is the active engagement of FHWA division offices in identifying workshops, peer exchanges, and other resources that have been and may be successful in implementing operations strategies in transportation agencies. • Operations and Freight Performance Measurement and Management Performance measurement is the use of evidence to determine progress toward specific defined organizational objectives. This includes both quantitative evidence (e.g., travel time measurements) and qualitative evidence (e.g., customer satisfaction and customer perceptions). Operations performance programs measure progress toward meeting the objectives of transportation system management and operations. Although the specific objectives of management and operations activities vary among organizations, most relate to the overall goals of transportation mobility, productivity, and safety. The HOP is leading numerous activities to advance the implementation and practice of operations performance measurement at the Federal, State, and local level. Freight-specific performance measures help to identify needed transportation improvements and monitor their effectiveness for goods movement, and they also serve as indicators of economic health and traffic congestion.   • Organizing and Planning for Operations To meet the challenge of reducing congestion and improving operations, transportation agencies require tools to evaluate their current organizational capabilities, and plans for when & how to successfully implement process improvements. Evaluating capabilities and making essential improvements to traffic operations and business processes moves an agency closer to organizational excellence, enabling them to successfully plan and execute operations programs that effectively manage transportation and reduce congestion. Planning for operations was developed to promote multimodal planning practices that support 21st century transportation system management and operations. In order to link 21st Century operational services into the transportation planning and programming process, transportation planners and operators should have a common understanding of the mobility, safety, and efficiency benefits of linking planning and operations. Planning for Operations includes three important aspects: • Regional transportation operations collaboration and coordination activity that facilitates Regional Transportation Systems Management and Operations, • Management and operations considerations within the context of the ongoing regional transportation planning and investment process, and • The opportunities for linkage between regional operations collaboration and regional planning. Linking planning and operations is vital to improving transportation decisionmaking and the overall effectiveness of transportation systems. Coordination between planners and operators helps ensure that regional transportation investment decisions reflect full consideration of all available strategies and approaches to meet regional goals and objectives. • Traffic Analysis Tools Through the FHWA Traffic Analysis Tools Program, our partners and customers will expand their use of analysis tools and innovative analysis approaches that consider a system-level approach and will enhance mobility. They will gain insight on recommended/best practices and lessons learned in operational analysis. They will gain a high level of confidence in utilizing the analysis tools for their local needs. The Traffic Analysis Tools Program attempts to strike a balance between efforts to develop new, improved tools in support of traffic operations analysis and efforts to facilitate the deployment and use of existing tools. The FHWA has established two tracks under the Traffic Analysis Tools Program: the deployment track and the development track. The deployment track concentrates on the needs and concerns of the traffic analysis stakeholder community. The development track focuses on enhancing and developing models that are easier to use, more robust in their application, and more reliable in their results. • Traffic Control (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)) The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) defines the standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all public streets, highways, bikeways, and private roads open to public travel. The MUTCD is published by the FHWA under 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 655, Subpart F. The MUTCD, which has been administered by the FHWA since 1971, is a compilation of national standards for all traffic control devices, including road markings, highway signs, and traffic signals. It is updated periodically to accommodate the nation's changing transportation needs and address new safety technologies, traffic control tools and traffic management techniques. • Active Transportation and Demand Management Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) is the dynamic management, control, and influence of travel demand, traffic demand, and traffic flow of transportation facilities. Through the use of available tools and assets, traffic flow is managed and traveler behavior is influenced in real-time to achieve operational objectives, such as preventing or delaying breakdown conditions, improving safety, promoting sustainable travel modes, reducing emissions, or maximizing system efficiency. Through ATDM, regions attain the capability to monitor, control, and influence travel, traffic, and facility demand of the entire transportation system and over a traveler's entire trip chain. This notion of dynamically managing across the trip chain is the ultimate vision of ATDM. The ATDM program is intended to support agencies and regions considering moving towards an active management approach. Through customized workshops, tools, guidance documents, resources, and peer exchanges, the program can assist with technical support to implement ATDM strategies. Importantly, ATDM is not an exclusive program restricted to specific agencies. Every agency that is considering moving towards active and dynamic capabilities can benefit from the ATDM program's efforts. • Arterial Management / Traffic Signal Operations Arterial roadways are a crucial link in the national transportation system that provides regional mobility and access to land use that is vital to our economy and quality of life. Arterials account for more than one million lane miles of roadway, connecting local and collector roads to the national highway systems. Over 3000 State and local agencies are responsible for the management and operation of the estimated 311,000 traffic signals that are spread across urban, suburban and rural communities throughout the United States. The objective of the Arterial Management Program is to advance management practices and operations strategies that promote the safe and efficient use of arterial roadway capacity to reduce congestion. • Congestion Pricing Congestion pricing (or value pricing) is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste associated with traffic congestion. Congestion pricing recognizes that trips have different values at different times and places and for different individuals. Faced with premium charges during periods of peak demand, road users are encouraged to eliminate lower-valued trips, take them at a different time, or choose alternative routes or transport modes where available. In cases where congestion pricing is applied to specific traffic lanes rather than to an entire highway facility, users have the option of choosing to pay to use congestion-free priced lanes or continue to travel on general purpose lanes without paying a toll. There is a consensus among economists that congestion pricing represents the single most viable and sustainable approach to reducing traffic congestion. The Congestion Pricing program provides information and resources to help equip State agencies and practitioners with an understanding and tools to implement congestion pricing projects and incorporate pricing into transportation planning. • Real-Time Transportation Information Real-Time Transportation Information focuses on information for all sorts of travel on the nation's surface transportation networks - how the information is collected, how it's processed, how it's provided to consumers, and how it may be used by transportation system operators to improve travel for everyone. Additionally, real-time transportation system information is shared to improve the security of the surface transportation system, to address congestion problems, to support improved response to weather events and surface transportation incidents, and to facilitate national & regional traveler information. • Road Weather Management Adverse weather conditions have a major impact on the safety and operation of our Nation's roads, from signalized arterials to Interstate highways. Weather affects driver behavior, vehicle performance, pavement friction, and roadway infrastructure. Weather events and their impacts on roads can be viewed as predictable, non-recurring incidents that affect safety, mobility and productivity. The Road Weather Management Program, within the FHWA Office of Operations, seeks to better understand the impacts of weather on roadways, and promote strategies and tools to mitigate those impacts. Envisioned is a system that provides "Anytime, Anywhere Road Weather Information" for road users and road operating agencies, as well as a robust, competitive market for road weather services. • Traffic Incident and Events Management Traffic Incident Management (TIM) consists of a planned and coordinated multi-disciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents so that traffic flow may be restored as safely and quickly as possible. Effective TIM reduces the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improves the safety of motorists, crash victims and emergency responders. The TIM Program of the FHWA is part of a larger all-hazards program called Emergency Transportation Operations (ETO). Effective TIM is a coordinated process that involves a number of public and private sector partners, including: Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, Transportation, Public Safety Communications, Emergency Management, Towing and Recovery, Hazardous Materials Contractors, and Traffic Information Media. • Work Zone Mobility and Safety The FHWA Work Zone Management Program is working to "make work zones work better" by providing transportation practitioners with high-quality products, tools, and information that can be of value in planning, designing, and implementing safer, more efficient, and less congested work zones. These resources include: • Comprehensive information and guidance for implementing the Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule (23 CFR 630 Subpart J). • Peer-to-Peer Program that provides State and Local transportation agencies easy access to knowledgeable peers across a range of work zone issues, at no cost to these agencies. • Work zone training courses, to help practitioners plan, design, and implement safe and effective work zones. • Publications and studies on a variety of work zone topics, including work zone ITS, traffic analysis tools for work zones, contracting methods, construction strategies, public information and outreach for work zones, and others. • Commercial Vehicle Size and Weight The Freight Office, in coordination with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) oversees the U.S. DOT's commercial vehicle size and weight activities. The Freight Office ensures the federal regulations governing commercial vehicle size and weight are appropriately enforced by the states, primarily through making sure each state has a commercial vehicle size and weight program. The office also works to implement initiatives that promote improved oversize commercial vehicle movements, such as Pilot Car Escort Vehicle training workshops. • Freight Data and Analysis The Freight Office conducts much of the freight transportation data analysis conducted by the DOT. The analysis includes the creation and maintenance of the Freight Analysis Framework (FAF), which spatially maps freight transportation flows within the U.S. and entering the U.S. It also includes analysis on freight transportation performance measures, to evaluate freight flow efficiency on the U.S. transportation network. Finally, the Freight Office examines commercial truck parking data, and works with public and private sector providers to improve truck parking information availability. • Freight Operations and Technology The Freight Office conducts various activities that work to enhance freight transportation efficiency through improved transportation operations. These activities include the implementation and promotion of the Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS), which utilizes both private shipper and carrier freight shipment information and public sector traveler information to optimize freight flows and minimize the number of empty truck movements. They also include various technologies used to support commercial vehicle size and weight enforcement, including weigh-in-motion and the Pavement Damage Assessment Tool (PaveDAT). • Freight Professional Development The Freight Office conducts various activities with its field offices and indirectly with state Departments of Transportation (State-DOT) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) to improve public sector freight transportation planning. These activities include promoting and supporting the creation of state freight plans and state freight advisory committees as encouraged in MAP-21, overseeing the Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) program, organizing and holding monthly webinars focused on current and on-going freight issues as part of the Talking Freight webinar series, creating, promoting, and teaching various courses designed to educate professionals about freight transportation needs and issues, and conducting State-DOT and MPO program assessments. The activities also include conducting regular meetings with FHWA field office staff to discuss key freight-related legislation and State-DOT and MPO freight planning needs, and maintaining the internal Freight Discipline SharePoint site to share important freight-related information within the agency. Finally, the Freight Professional Development program includes oversight of the highway and freight-focused portions of the DOT's high visibility Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program. Many, though not all, of the HOP activities are currently related to requirements in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), the current surface transportation reauthorization bill. MAP-21 contains many transportation-related provisions and requirements that are being led or carried out by the FHWA Operations. It is expected the contractor shall provide support to the FHWA Operations on MAP-21-related tasks, or when the successor bill to MAP-21 is enacted, the new, surface transportation reauthorization bill that replaces MAP-21. In addition to the MAP-21 related provisions, the contractor shall provide support to the FHWA Operations on its on-going tasks not tied to the MAP-21 provisions. These tasks include providing staff technical support as needed for the various program areas specified above. The FHWA Operations programs /initiatives have cross-cutting technologies over other DOT Offices such as the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) ITS Joint Program Office. These technologies help to advance intelligent transportation systems by performing comprehensive transportation statistics research, analysis and reporting; and providing education and training in transportation and transportation-related fields. 2 Objectives Potential sources being sought must be capable of the following, as related to each of the program areas described above: 1. Handling a volume of task orders which may reach 10-15 /month; 2. Providing technical support on a short notice for sensitive timelines. This may involve response times of 2-3 days for submission of task order proposals. 3. Developing and providing the following types of products and other deliverables under the contract: white papers, technical reports, analytical tools, workshops/ seminars, case studies, handbooks, instructor guides and guidance documents, videos, technical briefs, articles, brochures, Website Development, and other mechanisms to be determined. 3 Instructions for RFI Responses: Responses must be submitted electronically to the e-mail address below: U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, Office of Acquisition Management ATTN: Joseph Fusari and Robert M. McNamara EMAIL: Joseph.Fusari@dot.gov and Robert.m.mcnamara@dot.gov Respondents should submit their responses no later than January 20, 2015 at 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. Format requirements are: 1. White paper/thesis format on 8.5"x11" size paper and prepared in Microsoft Word. 2. Single-sided and not more than 10 (ten) pages in length. 3. The total page count of 10 pages includes the cover letter, table of contents and acronym list. 4. Font size should be 12 point, 8-lines/inch, Times New Roman. 5. Proprietary information submitted in response to this sources sought will be protected from unauthorized disclosure as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). All proprietary markings should be clearly delineated. The respondent shall identify where data is restricted by proprietary or other rights and mark it accordingly. The services and/or any product solutions should include supporting data/rationale for the offered services, and any product solution(s) if applicable, adequately to determine capability. The cover page shall contain: 1. Company name 2. Primary Point of Contact 3. Phone Number and Email Address 4. DUNS/Cage Code 5. NAICS Code 6. Business Size 7. Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Contract Number and SIN, if applicable. Technical Ability: The respondents' technical ability must describe the services and/or any product solution(s) in part 2they can provide for program areas described in part 1 of this sources sought. The responses should include an overall description of their services and/or any product solution(s) they may have and provide technical data and a demonstrated ability for those areas identified. The descriptions should include schedule information for delivery of services and/or product(s); and the technical rationale for providing these to the FHWA. Interested parties must also describe technical benefits of their proposed services and/or product solution(s) in terms of existing technologies or resources, improvements/enhancements, cost efficiencies of their specific approach, and any other support capabilities that provide service and/or product excellence or uniqueness, such as Performance-Based solutions. Finally, respondents shall include a list of projects of similar size and scope as this potential requirement which they have performed during the past 3 years. Information provided shall include: - Name and number of contract - Name and contact information of agency/company for whom contract was performed - Brief description of project and respondent's role - Link to final reports generated as result of work or attachments in lieu thereof 3.1 Response Contact To fully comprehend the information contained within a response to this sources sought, there may be a need to seek further clarification from respondents. This clarification may be requested in the form of brief verbal communication by telephone, written communication, electronic communication, or a request for a presentation of the response to a specific FHWA group or groups. The FHWA reserves the right to seek additional information from respondents identified with unique solutions that are determined to be beneficial to the Government.
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