AV Sources Sought Notification.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

Automated Vehicle Demonstration in Washington D.C.

693JJ3-26-SS-0005

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE; BEING RELEASED PURSUANT TO

FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 10: MARKET RESEARCH.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is conducting market research to determine which organizations are interested and capable of performing the required services outlined in this notice.

This notice 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 cost incurred in responding to this Sources Sought Notice. Not responding to this Sources Sought Notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation 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.

An overview of the scope and objectives and the response instructions are provided below.

1 Scope

This is a non-personal services contract to provide a safe Demonstration and Showcase of an Automated Shuttle Bus coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary celebration (America250) in Washington, District of Columbia (DC). The Government will not exercise any supervision or control over the contract providers performing the services herein. Such service providers must be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government as defined in this Statement of Work (SOW).

2 Objectives

To assess current real-world technology maturity and encourage further progress within the automated transit vehicle industry segment, this project aims to demonstrate and showcase state-of-the-art L3/4 (SAE J3016 Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles, Levels 3 and 4) automated transit shuttle technology in a challenging and dynamic real-world roadway environment, while informing research needs by gathering supporting data. With the events around America250 and the presence of U.S. DOT Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the demonstration and showcase will support both a detailed understanding by U.S. DOT staff to inform research program planning as well as broad public and stakeholder awareness of industry implementation. Therefore, the Offeror‘s automated shuttle in this project must reflect technology and implementation that is ready for safe demonstration on public roads, and distinct from existing robotaxi-style automated ride-hailing vehicle operations, which are typically oriented to personal transportation and already widely visible to the public. While the project includes on-road testing, only technologies/implementations that have been adequately tested with the capabilities to safely demonstrate a typical shuttle route will be used for this demonstration project, as this effort is not intended to be a technology development project or comprehensive testing program. The automated shuttle is expected to showcase the rider capacity, boarding and alighting throughput and functionality at designated stops, rider on-board information, and other service characteristics suited to Washington, D.C. transit routes, and operate safely and smoothly under normal operating conditions, including not impeding traffic or causing disruptions to other road users.

Given the relevant public service approval processes and constraints to meet the America250 celebration timeline, provision of transit service to riders from the general public will not be part of this effort. Rather, an automated shuttle driving on a single representative route will be the focus of this demonstration, preferably enabling efficient U.S. DOT staff participation and rides from U.S. DOT-invited guests. Some public passengers may be invited mainly for them to experience the AV Shuttle demonstration and provide feedback. It is clearly not to provide transportation services to general public. In addition to providing shuttle demonstrations on the designated route that will be visible to the public, this project also aims to conduct two high-profile (one-day) showcase events to VIPs and the public in July and August 2026, as well as a limited number of ad-hoc invited stakeholder events. For these two events, the Offeror must obtain appropriate event permits as needed from the responsible agencies such as the National Mall and Memorial Parks Permit office.

The overall desired results of this project are to demonstrate consistent, reliable, safe automated shuttle performance on the designated route and provide adequate supporting data and observation rides to U.S. DOT, and visibility to stakeholders and the public. The demonstration trips should be frequent and without incident, with the following characteristics:

Automated Shuttle Vehicle: The automated shuttle vehicle must comply (or have a documented exemption) with federal requirements including Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and FHWA’s Buy America regulation. As long as these conditions are met, there are no additional requirements in terms of size, capacity, type, design, inside configuration, etc. of the proposed shuttle.

Demonstration Route: The Contractor shall propose a route for testing and demonstration of an AV shuttle that is suited to successful demonstration within the desired timeframe in DC. Representative shuttle stop locations along the chosen route must be included.

Evaluation of the feasibility of the proposed route should be conducted with the appropriate agencies such as DDOT, National Park Services (NPS), and others to obtain necessary approval and permits.

Demonstration duration: June-August 2026 – Overall target is 250 total hours of demonstration over these three months, covering the below range of conditions:

o Expected Washington, D.C. environmental conditions: Daylight, dawn/dusk, Night, operable under typical spring/summer DC weather including high heat, rain, thunderstorms.

o Demonstration days: Weekdays (~85% days) and Weekends (~15% days) o Demonstration hours: all time periods represented (early morning, morning peak, mid-day, evening peak, evening/night); continuous trips (back-to-back round trips of >3 hours) o Demonstration on-board staff: Current District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) regulations require on-board personnel that can monitor and take control if necessary.

o Showcase events: Two one-day events (separate from demonstration hours), early July 2026 and late July 2026 (exact location TBD)

To increase the likelihood of successful demonstrations, an allowance for a period of configuration/testing time during the spring is included within the project prior to demonstrations. U.S. DOT will review progress, testing results, and the Contractor must demonstrate readiness in order to proceed to the demonstration phase. U.S. DOT will formally inform the Contractor of a decision whether or not to conduct the demonstration phase.

3 Instructions for Sources Sought Notice Capability Statement Responses:

Responses must be submitted electronically to the e-mail addresses below:

EMAIL: Rochelle.Infante@dot.gov and HCFA-23SRI@dot.gov

SUBJECT LINE: Automated Vehicle Demonstration in Washington, D.C. Sources

Sought Response (company name)

Respondents should submit their responses no later than 2:00 pm Local Time (Washington, DC) January 21, 2026.

Format requirements are:

(1) An Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file formatted to print on 8.5”x11” size paper.

(2) Not more than 5 pages in length.

(3) The total page count of 5 pages includes ALL information provided including the cover letter, table of contents and acronym list.

(4) Size 11 font or larger shall be used with the exception of tables and other graphics.

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

Proprietary information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice 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 submission should contain:

(1) Company/Organization name

(2) Primary Point of Contact

(3) Phone Number and Email Address

(4) UEI Number

(5) NAICS Code(s)

(6) Business Size (small or large in relation to NAICS code(s) listed above).

(7) Socioeconomic Business Status: 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small

Business (SDVOSB), or Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB).

(8) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS/MAS) and OASIS+ Contract Number(s), as applicable

(9) Prior/current experience performing efforts of similar scope and technical nature within the last three years, including contract number, federal customers, indication of whether as a prime or subcontractor, contract amount, Government point of contact with current telephone number and email, and a brief description of how the referenced requirement relates to the services described herein. This experience should be from the development, testing, demonstration, and operations of an actual automated vehicle shuttle services on public roads without any significant safety related issues or incidents.

Scope Feedback: If desired, Sources Sought Notice respondents may also provide feedback on the overall intent and scope of this requirement.

Commerciality Feedback: The Government desires to make a determination regarding the commerciality of this requirement. Considering the definition of commercial services below from the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), does your firm consider this requirement to be commercial or non-commercial? Please explain why.

Commercial service means—

(1) Installation services, maintenance services, repair services, training services, and other services if—

(i) Such services are procured for support of a commercial product, as defined in this section regardless of whether such services are provided by the same source or at the same time as the commercial product; and

(ii) The source of such services provides similar services at the same time to the general public under terms and conditions similar to those offered to the Government;

(2) Services, including construction, of a type offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace based on established catalog or market prices for specific tasks performed or specific outcomes to be achieved and under standard commercial terms and conditions. For purposes of these services—

(i) Catalog price means a price included in a catalog, price list, schedule, or other form that the manufacturer or vendor regularly maintains, customers can inspect, and states prices at which sales are currently, or were last, made to a significant number of buyers constituting the general public; and

(ii) Market prices means current prices that are established in the course of ordinary trade between buyers and sellers free to bargain and that can be substantiated through competition or from sources independent of the offerors; or

(3) A service referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) of this definition, even though the service is transferred between or among separate divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of a contractor.

4 Clarification of Sources Sought Notice Responses

To fully comprehend the information contained within a response to this Sources Sought Notice, 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.