NRN SSN 041025.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

for

National Road Network (NRN) Product Specification Development for FHWA Office of Highway Policy Information

1. SUBMITTAL INFORMATION

ISSUE DATE: 4/10/2025

DUE DATE FOR RESPONSES: 5/9/2025/10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SUBMIT RESPONSES TO: Carolyn.Lethert@dot.gov and Josephine.Helms@dot.gov

See below Section 5 entitled “REQUESTED CONTENT OF RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT” for submittal content instructions.

2. INTRODUCTION

Potential Sources Sought. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is conducting a market survey to identify potential sources for an anticipated contract or cooperative agreement for “National Road Network Product Specifications Development” to support establishing and implementing the FHWA Office of Highway Policy Information. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information for planning purposes regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources to perform the work.

Pursuant to 48 C.F.R. Part 10, the Government is conducting market research to:

• Determine what Commercial sources exist that are capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements listed below in Section 4,

• Determine the capabilities of potential contractors,

• Determine the size and status of potential sources, and

• Determine the level of competition and possible acquisition strategies (i.e., 8(a), set-aside or full and open).

This SSN is issued solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes 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 cost incurred in responding to this SSN request. Not responding to this SSN does not preclude participation in any future Request for Proposals (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.

mailto:Carolyn.Lethert@dot.gov mailto:Josephine.Helms@dot.gov

3. BACKGROUND

The purpose for this SSN is to conduct market research to identify potential offerors having an interest in performing the work, and the resources required to accomplish the work described herein. Consideration will be given to small business concerns, including the sub-categories of Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), 8(a), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) and woman-owned as well as identifying Best in Class and Spend Under Management solutions as identified in OMB Memorandum M-19-13 and subsequent memos. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement.

This document contains a draft scope of work (Section 4 below). Your firm’s response regarding your firm’s experience and capabilities will be used to determine the availability of potential businesses, both large and small, and their capabilities in meeting the Government’s requirement.

Through this SSN notice, FHWA is seeking not only to identify potential sources for an anticipated contract but also to solicit feedback on the draft Scope of Work (SOW) itself, including on the content of the tasks and deliverables and reasonableness of the schedule that is described below:

FHWA established the National Road Network (NRN) Pilot with the goal of developing a national spatial network of all roads that has a consistent data standard with both intrastate and interstate connectivity. FHWA is currently working with ten pilot States to research and address the challenges of achieving these goals. Each pilot State received grants and have identified specific challenges in creating a national network.

• In December 2019, Congress provided FHWA with an appropriation to create a national-level geo-spatial data set using data already collected under Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). Congressional guidance directed FHWA to ensure that this dataset support interagency use and address three areas of interest to Congress:

o connectivity of the networks at interstate and intrastate borders o spatial representation of multi-carriageway roadways including attribution o spatial accuracy of the network

• In 2025, FHWA intends to create a product specification and conceptual model NRN product using the research conducted in the pilot States and business requirements provided in the congressional authorization. This conceptual model will address how the NRN can be updated and maintained as future HPMS data are received. Shortly after the NRN conceptual model is developed and accepted, FHWA will apply the conceptual model to an NRN including all States, District of Columbia and territories through automated processes and procedures via a future contract.

• State DOTs provide spatial data to the All Road Network of Linear Referenced Data (ARNOLD) database. The database represents all public roads within their respective States through the HPMS, which geolocates mileage, usage, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/M-19-13.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/M-19-13.pdf performance, and condition data.

• ARNOLD provides the ability to map and visualize data critical for policy decision makers and provides a tool to evaluate health, safety, and status of the nation’s highways. This data is an important asset to transportation research and broader economic communities at-large.

• ARNOLD does face challenges. As State DOTs provide data independently, inconsistent connectivity between neighboring States limits data use for interstate analysis, emergency management and relief, and freight flow. Another challenge is inconsistent State reporting standards regarding the extent (limiting local data) and complexity (divided facility representation) of data.

• NRN Pilot meeting materials, project details, and a project plan are posted on the NRN website: https://datahub.transportation.gov/stories/s/wkw2-rxsq

4. DRAFT PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF WORK

The objective of this contract is to define a product specification and data structure to represent the National Road Network (NRN). The deliverables from this project will be documentation that defines a spatial framework to geolocate features and attributes to support safety analysis, planning applications, freight analysis, conditions, emergency response, asset management and project locations related to all public roads in the United States.

TASK AREAS

Task 1 – Meetings & Coordination

FHWA will facilitate the scheduling of meetings for the NRN Team members and Contractor throughout the entire project. The meetings will be held via Microsoft (MS) Teams with coordination via email. The Contractor will take notes during all meetings and collect, distribute, and maintain these notes for the team in MS Word or Excel, if necessary for data, charts, etc. in an easily accessible electronic format.

The Contractor shall participate in a kick-off meeting via MS Teams with the NRN Team and Contracting staff within ten business days of the contract’s effective date. During this meeting, the parties shall identify and introduce key staff members, review the tasks and requirements, address any questions or concerns, and review the timeline for the work to be performed.

The Contractor agrees to attend progress meetings, as requested by FHWA, to review and discuss the Contractor’s performance and any difficulties being encountered in the successful execution of the tasks. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. The Contractor shall provide monthly reports documenting all activities undertaken and any issues that may have arisen during the reporting period. The FHWA will use the monthly reports to determine whether there is a need for a progress meeting.

Deliverables

1. Meetings

a. Meetings notes should be disseminated to the NRN Team no later than three business days after a meeting.

2. Kick-off Meeting https://datahub.transportation.gov/stories/s/wkw2-rxsq

a. The Contractor will document the kick-off meeting and disseminate these notes to the NRN Team seven business days after the kick-off meeting.

3. Monthly Reports

a. These monthly reports shall be due for each month of the performance period, and due no later than the tenth business day of the following month. These should be sent to the NRN Team lead and the Task Order Contracting Officer Representative (TOCOR).

Task 2 – NRN Specification Requirements Documentation

The contractor shall review the provided business stake holder requirements in terms of scope, extent, content of what the NRN must possess. The following is a general list of the known business requirements. However, adjustments may be made during clarification sessions with the NRN Team.

General:

a. Scope: Roads in the United States, Territories, and the District of Columbia

b. Extent: All public roads, including local roads

c. Representation:

i. Facility and divided facility (dual carriageway)

ii. Intersection and interchange model.

d. Measures:

i. Length

ii. Lane-length

iii. Vehicle distance traveled

e. Source: Annual acquisition of data through State DOT Data Partners and other available sources. HPMS is the primary source for this effort.

f. Connectivity: Topologically connected both interstate and intrastate

g. Referencing: Linear referencing system support

h. Update: Incremental update process.

i. Purpose: The NRN is an analysis and planning network. Not to be used for real time navigation.

Business use cases:

The NRN will support the following as the system of record for the:

i. National Highway System (NHS)

ii. Strategic Highway System (STRAHNAT)

iii. National Network (NN)

iv. National Highway Freight Network (NHFN)

j. Pavement Condition and Ride Quality

k. Emergency planning and response

l. Safety analysis

m. Freight movement and analysis

n. Asset management, including structures and ferry boats

o. Project locations

Deliverables

1. The contractor shall organize and manage working sessions with the NRN team for the purpose of clarifying and refining the technical requirements.

2. The contractor shall provide documentation with the business/technical requirements.

3. The Contractor shall demonstrate the final business/technical specification.

a. The report shall outline the technical requirements, cross walked with the business requirement.

Task 3- Identify Sources

HPMS has been identified as a primary source for the NRN. There are some potential attributes or features that may be appropriate to go beyond HPMS, for example ferry boats, bridges, road names, etc. These sources need to be identified and then explore the feasibility and limitations on their use. Sources may need licensing agreements or memorandum of understanding between federal agencies. Once identified and evaluated, properly document metadata and point of contacts for the potential source.

Deliverables

1. The contractor shall provide a report with the identified data sources and the point of contact for the source.

2. The contractor shall provide the input to the metadata for the identified source. The metadata should include any limitation on the release or use of the data.

Task 4 –Create Product Specification and Conceptual Model of the NRN

The contractor shall develop a specification for the NRN based on the business/technical requirements established in Task 2. This shall be done in coordination and collaboration with FHWA throughout the process. FHWA has been working with ten NRN pilot State DOTs in the Southeast Region of the U.S. (DE, MD, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, and MS). Data from the HPMS is readily available. Other potential sources may need to be acquired as noted in task 3.

The specification should outline the details of the data structure of the NRN. This will include the geometry and non-geometric attributes that make up the network product.

This task will include a working conceptual model with data from the pilot states.

The task will conclude with a demonstration to the NRN Team and other stakeholders showing how the conceptual model addresses the business/technical requirements defined in Task 2.

Deliverables

1. The contractor shall provide a documented NRN specification.

2. The Contractor shall develop a working conceptual model, including pilot states data from HPMS.

3. The contractor shall demonstrate the conceptual model to the NRN Team.

Task 5 – Validation and enhancement

The specification shall define the validity of the data. Criteria will need to be established for a quality data review. For example, determining “dirty” geometry, missing and invalid data and unconnected routes where expected. There needs to be opportunities within the criteria where automated “fixes” can be applied, where appropriate and possible. For example, a rule could be identified to snap unconnected routes together that are not within a specified tolerance.

Deliverables

1. Establish and document review and validation criteria to be used as basis for developing an automated validation engine.

Task 6 – Update Procedures

The NRN is to be updated on an annual basis as new ARNOLD/HPMS data are received through the HPMS. The specifications need the capability to accept those temporal changes though an incremental/transactional process. The update procedure should have an automated process that works with the database structure to receive these changes.

Deliverables

1. The contractor shall provide a workflow that describes the annual update procedures for the NRN through an incremental/transactional process.

2. The contractor shall demonstrate to the NRN Team the feasibility of the workflow with pilot data.

Task 7 – Final Report & Products

Completion of Task 2 through 6 will have documented the business/technical requirements and NRN specifications. This documentation shall be compiled into a single report detailing the NRN specifications.

Deliverables

1. The contractor shall compile all documentation resulting from Tasks 2 through 6 into a single report, that includes:

a. Data specification

b. Validation criteria

c. Update procedures

2. NRN conceptual model will include example data from the pilot states.

Task 8 - External Presentations (optional)

FHWA will likely promote the NRN conceptual model at professional conferences including the AASHTO GIS-T Symposium and Transportation Research Board (TRB). There may be opportunities for the contractor to assist in developing and presenting at these events.

Deliverables

1. Assist FHWA in developing presentations regarding the NRN specification and conceptual model.

2. Assist FHWA in presenting the NRN specification and conceptual model at professional events.

5. SKILLS AND EXPERTISE REQUIRED

• The contractor will be expected to possess demonstrated knowledge and expertise to fulfil the tasks described in Section 4 above.

6. REQUESTED CONTENT OF RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES

SOUGHT

Interested parties who consider their firms qualified to perform the above-listed services are invited to submit responses to this SSN as follows:

• Format requirements are: Electronic responses only. No hard copy submissions will be accepted. 8.5”x11” size pages, with 1” margins on all sides and prepared in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Submissions shall include a cover page as described below. Not more than five pages in length, including all items submitted (not including cover page, table of contents, and acronym list). Font size should be 12 point or larger, Times New Roman. Charts and graphics must be in Microsoft Vision, or PDF format. Proprietary information submitted in response to this SSN will be protected from unauthorized disclosure as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as long as it is marked accordingly. All proprietary markings should be clearly delineated. The respondent must 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 response to this SSN must include:

Cover Page: The cover page does not count towards the page limit. The cover page should contain at a minimum the following information:

a. Company name

b. Primary Point of Contact, including phone number and email address

c. SAM.GOV Unique Entity ID (UEI)

d. NAICS Code – a statement on whether your firm believes 541370 is an appropriate

NAICS for these services as well as a list of any other NAICS codes that you think could be applicable.

e. General Services Administration (GSA) Contract Number and SIN, if applicable.

f. GSA OASIS Contract Number, if applicable.

g. Other Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts available for DOT use, if applicable

h. Recommend a contract type, i.e. Firm-Fixed Price, Time-and-Materials and why.

i. Business Size: Identify all applicable classifications for your organization under NAICS

541370 as well as any other NAICS identified for this work. Please note if certain classifications only apply to certain contract vehicles.

j. Identify all applicable classifications for your organization, such as:

- Small Business?

- Woman-owned business?

- 8(a) business?

- Large business Small disadvantaged business?

- HUBZone business?

- SDVOB business?

- Other?

SSN Response: To support the Government’s review of the Contractor’s technical ability, the following questions should be directly addressed with regard to both the responding business entity and proposed personnel:

a. What experience do you have related to the scope of work as detailed in section 4 above?

b. How will you ensure that you can provide staff with the experience described in Section 5?

c. Provide resumes or Bios for all proposed staff. Resumes or Bios are limited to 2 pages per person and do not count towards the page limit.

Note: Responses may include links or web addresses that demonstrate evidence of your technical expertise (i.e., final reports, technical journals, peer reviewed papers, etc.).

Questions: As a part of this SSN, you may submit any questions or comments on the Section 4 Draft Scope of Work. This will not count towards the page limit if the questions are submitted in a separately labeled document. FHWA reserves the right not to provide responses to these questions and comments but will use these questions and comments in continuing to define its requirement.

The proposed NAICS code for this requirement is 541370, Surveying and Mapping (Except Geophysical) Services.

7. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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. FHWA reserves the right to seek additional information from respondents identified with unique solutions that are determined to be beneficial to FHWA.