Amendment No A0004.pdf

OMB Approval 2700-0042

1. CONTRACT ID CODE PAGE OF PAGES

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1 4

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

A0004 2/10/2021 N/A

6. ISSUED BY CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)

CODE

U.S. DOT/OST-R/Volpe Center 55 Broadway, RVP-31 Cambridge, MA 02142-1001

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No. Street, county, State and ZIP: Code) () 9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

6913G621R200003

TO ALL POTENTIAL OFFERORS

X 9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

12/23/2020

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

CODE FACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

X The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers X is extended, is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning one (1) copy of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or

(c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATA SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and data specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

N/A

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

() A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET

FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor [ x ] is not, [ ] is required to sign this document and return ____ copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

This amendment provides the Government’s response to additional Offerors’ submitted clarifications after the original clarification due date of February 15, 2021.

The proposal due date will be extended from March 5, 2021 to March 12, 2021, 12pm ET.

Please acknowledge receipt of this Amendment with the submission of your proposal.

Except at provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

BY _____________________________________________

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

RFP No. 6913G621FR200003 Amendment No. A00004

Question 1:

We ask the Government to confirm that the labor category requirements for the Middle Staff and Junior Staff labor categories are correct. Assuming that the Middle Staff labor category should be more senior than the Junior Staff labor category, it appears to us that the requirements may be reversed. For example, all descriptions of the Junior Staff labor category require at least a Master's degree, whereas the Middle Staff labor category can be met with only a Bachelor's degree in some of the bullet items. Another example of this is in the NDS researcher/experiment-design bullet. The NDS bullet in the Middle Staff labor category requires a bachelor's degree and 2 years of experience. But in the Junior Staff category, the NDS bullet requires a Master's degree plus 5 years of experience. Based on these requirements, it appears likely that the direct labor rate associated with the Junior Staff labor category will be higher than the Middle Staff labor category. We recommend that the Government re-evaluate these labor category requirements. Due to the complexity of the analysis associated with labor category requirements and direct labor rates, we request that the Government grant an extension to the proposal deadline once a confirmed set of labor category requirements is provided to potential bidders, even if the current requirements are confirmed as-is.

Answer 1:

The current qualifications for Middle Staff and Junior Staff in the RFP are incorrect. Middle and Junior Staff qualifications is corrected as follows:

Remove:

Middle Staff- • Simulator scenario programmers: B.S. in any field and enrollment in at least one course in computer programming at the undergraduate level or above; has at least two years’ experience programming simulator scenarios

• NDS researchers: B.S. in any field and at least one undergraduate course in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, transportation engineering, or electrical engineering at the undergraduate level or above; has at least two years’ experience with naturalistic driving studies

• Doctoral students – Simulator scenario programmers: enrolled in a Ph.D. granting program and doing research in transportation human factors; at least one course in computer programming at the undergraduate level of above; has at least two years’ experience programming simulator scenarios

• Doctoral students – NDS researchers: enrolled in a Ph.D. granting program and doing research in transportation human factors; at least one undergraduate course in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, transportation engineering, or electrical engineering at the undergraduate level or above; has at least two years’ experience with naturalistic driving studies

• Bachelor’s students – Simulator scenario programmers: BS in any field and enrollment in at least one course in computer programming at the undergraduate level or above; at least one year’s experience programming simulator scenarios

• Bachelor’s students NDS researchers: enrolled in BS in any field at least one undergraduate course in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, transportation engineering, or electrical engineering at the undergraduate level or above; at least one year’s experience programming simulator scenarios

Junior Staff- • Simulator-experimental design: M.S. or above in any area of engineering or science where the design of experiments with human participants is covered, has at least five years’ experience designing experiments on simulators and supervising construction of simulator scenarios and/or building simulator scenarios (can be combination of undergraduate, graduate and workplace experience)

• NDS-experimental design: M.S. or above in any area of engineering or science where the design of experiments with human participants is covered, has at least five years’ experience designing experiments for naturalistic driving studies and collecting data from such studies (can be combination of undergraduate, graduate and workplace experience)

• Data analysts: M.S. in statistics or at least four courses at the graduate level in statistics, has at least 5 years’ experience analyzing transportation human factors data and at least 2 years’ experience with R

• Assistant professor: Ph.D. in engineering psychology, cognitive science or any related field, rank of Assistant Professor, at least 5 peer reviewed publications

• Post-doctoral: Ph.D. in engineering psychology, cognitive science or any related field, rank of Assistant Professor, at least two peer reviewed publications

Replace with:

Middle Staff- • Simulator-experimental design: M.S. or above in any area of engineering or science where the design of experiments with human participants is covered, has at least five years’ experience designing experiments on simulators and supervising construction of simulator scenarios and/or building simulator scenarios (can be combination of undergraduate, graduate and workplace experience)

• NDS-experimental design: M.S. or above in any area of engineering or science where the design of experiments with human participants is covered, has at least five years’ experience designing experiments for naturalistic driving studies and collecting data from such studies (can be combination of undergraduate, graduate and workplace experience)

• Data analysts: M.S. in statistics or at least four courses at the graduate level in statistics, has at least 5 years’ experience analyzing transportation human factors data and at least 2 years’ experience with R

• Assistant professor: Ph.D. in engineering psychology, cognitive science or any related field, rank of Assistant Professor, at least 5 peer reviewed publications

• Post-doctoral: Ph.D. in engineering psychology, cognitive science or any related field, rank of Assistant Professor, at least two peer reviewed publications

Junior Staff- • Simulator scenario programmers: B.S. in any field and enrollment in at least one course in computer programming at the undergraduate level or above; has at least two years’ experience programming simulator scenarios

• NDS researchers: B.S. in any field and at least one undergraduate course in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, transportation engineering, or electrical engineering at the undergraduate level or above; has at least two years’ experience with naturalistic driving studies

• Doctoral students – Simulator scenario programmers: enrolled in a Ph.D. granting program and doing research in transportation human factors; at least one course in computer programming at the undergraduate level of above; has at least two years’ experience programming simulator scenarios

• Doctoral students – NDS researchers: enrolled in a Ph.D. granting program and doing research in transportation human factors; at least one undergraduate course in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, transportation engineering, or electrical engineering at the undergraduate level or above; has at least two years’ experience with naturalistic driving studies

• Bachelor’s students – Simulator scenario programmers: BS in any field and enrollment in at least one course in computer programming at the undergraduate level or above; at least one year’s experience programming simulator scenarios

• Bachelor’s students NDS researchers: enrolled in BS in any field at least one undergraduate course in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, transportation engineering, or electrical engineering at the undergraduate level or above; at least one year’s experience programming simulator scenarios

Question 2:

We noticed a possible error in the RFP with regard to labor category qualifications. The table in Attachment J.13 (THFRAT LABOR CATEGORY QUALIFICATIONS) shows that Junior staff are required to have M.S. or Ph.D degrees, while Middle staff may have B.S. degrees or be doctoral students. Were the qualifications for Middle and Junior staff reversed?

Answer 2:

Please see Answer 1