COE on New Mobility and Automted Vehicles - Informational Webinar_final.pptx

Welcome to Today’s Webinar

Notice of Funding Opportunity Number 693JJ323NF00008 “Center of Excellence on New Mobility and Automated Vehicles” April 17, 2023 Time: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET

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This webinar is brought to you by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)

Angela Jones, Office of Acquisitions and Grants Management, FHWA Carl Andersen, Office of Safety and Operations Research and Development, FHWA Presenters

Agenda Center of Excellence (COE) NOFO Overview COE Application Process Development & Submittal Review and Evaluation Award Timeline Final Questions

All questions and answers will be posted to the NOFO site as soon as practical, including any questions we are not able to respond to today.

COE on New mobility and automated Vehicles Notice of funding opportunity

Carl Andersen, Office of Safety and Operations Research and Development

Legislative Authority The authority to issue this opportunity is granted under FHWA’s Technology and Innovation Deployment Program (TIDP) under section 503(c)(6)(B) of Title 23, United States Code1:

(B) Establishment—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021, the Secretary shall establish a Center of Excellence to collect, conduct, and fund research on the impacts of new mobility and highly automated vehicles on land use, urban design, transportation, real estate, equity, and municipal budgets.

1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-I/part-170

Formerly known as the Rural Technical Assistance Program, the LTAP was first authorized in 1982, when it was included in the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriation Act (Public Law 97-102). Congress directed that the funding be used for technical assistance to meet the growing demands placed on rural roads from increased urban sprawl and the increased size and weight of trucks carrying goods from farm to market.

In 1991, the TTAP was formally established by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) (Public Law 102-240; Dec 18, 1991). The TTAP is the Tribal component of the LTAP and was designated to provide technical assistance to Tribal governments. This technical assistance was geared toward building capacity within the Tribes to manage their highway assets. The Tribal road inventory currently consists of approximately 49,200 miles of BIA and Tribally-owned public roads; 87,600 miles of State, county, and local government public roads; and 10,600 miles of proposed roads.

Over time, the LTAP expanded to include 51 LTAP Centers—1 in each State and 1 serving Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands—and 7TTAP Centers that were established through cooperative agreements. The TTAP Centers were geographically dispersed, some of which were housed at universities as provided by law. In 2017, the FHWA’s HIT Team (formerly the Center for Local Aid Support) contracted a two-year pilot to assess a centralized, national-scale TTAP Center model. As part of this pilot, listening sessions were conducted to assess the viability of a centralized program at a national scale. The FHWA concluded that one centralized TTAP Center did not meet the needs of the Tribal stakeholders. This was reiterated in the summer of 2020, when FHWA formally solicited feedback via a Federal Register notice to inform the next phase of the TTAP, where alternative TTAP Center delivery models were presented.

Feedback from this notice and lessons learned from the national scale pilot led FHWA to advance a hybrid delivery model with both national scale services and a return to regional TTAP Centers. The intent of this hybrid model is to maximize capacity, eliminate redundancies, increase efficiency, and deliver value to the Tribes and the Government. As part of the market research phase, the HIT Team outreached with other FHWA Tribal transportation program offices, the BIA, and national Tribal groups on the consideration of TTAP services, roles, and responsibilities under this hybrid regional model.

Program Funding The FHWA anticipates Federal funding up to a total amount of $1,500,000 per year may be made available for this Agreement, subject to the availability of fund, for a total potential share of $7,500,000 for this opportunity.

The planned award type is a cost reimbursement Cooperative Agreement with an 80/20 funding match.

The period of performance will consist of one 24-month Base period, with up to three (3) 12-month Option periods. The total potential period of performance if all option periods are exercised, is 60 months

Goals of the COE The COE shall seek to develop an understanding of how new mobility and automated vehicles may impact the evolving transportation system when deployed at scale.

The COE will collect, fund, and conduct research on how behaviors of emergent new technologies aggregate over time with increased market penetration and geographic scale.

In concert with FHWA, the COE shall publish and release research results and tools that empower state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and commercial operators to work together to make informed decisions that will achieve their shared desired outcomes and promote the USDOT’s goals

Specific Topics for the COE The COE will evaluate system-level impacts of New Mobility and Automated Vehicles on:

Land use, real estate, and urban design;

Transportation system optimization, including:

System-level efficiencies;

Travel demand and associated energy use;

System resilience, security, and reliability;

Commercial and freight operational models; and Mode switching and transfers.

Equitable access to mobility and job participation; and Municipal budgets and cost-effective allocation of public resources.

Governance of the COE The Recipient shall conduct outreach to relevant Stakeholders and, in consultation with the FHWA, assemble a Steering Committee (SC) comprised of approximately 5-10 individuals representing diverse perspectives.

The FHWA will chair the SC.

Stakeholders are defined as potential end users of the research, analysis, tools, and other work products generated by the COE.

The SC will be responsible for evaluating the COE’s research progress, monitoring the quality of its outputs, and ensuring that the COE activities align with the requirements of the cooperative agreement.

Eligibility This competition is open to all eligible parties and their partnering organizations. Eligible parties include, but are not limited to, institutions of higher education, public research entities (e.g., UARCs, FFRDCs, national laboratories, etc.), and private research entities

Degree of Federal Involvement The FHWA anticipates substantial Federal involvement between it and the Recipient during the course of this project.

The anticipated Federal involvement will include:

Participation in the SC;

Technical assistance and guidance to the Recipient;

Close monitoring of performance;

Review and selection of appropriate research topics;

Review and comment on draft and final documents, as appropriate;

Involvement in technical decisions; and Participation in status meetings including kick off meeting, monthly conference calls, and annual technical and budget reviews.

Federal involvement is not expected to include responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Mobility COE or its associated research projects.

Additional Information This is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity. This is not a follow-on notice.

Applicants must identify at least two partnering organizations and the associated roles and responsibilities of each partner organization in order to fully cover the breadth of research topics.

As an amendment to 23 U.S. Code §503(c), the COE shall continue to exist until such time as this requirement is removed. However, the period of performance for the proposed Cooperative Agreement shall not exceed 60 months and the FHWA may opt to meet this requirement using a different organizational structure in the future.

Questions?

APPLICATION development & submittal process (Section D) Angela Jones, Office of Acquisition and Grants Management

Application Package Application Submittal Process

Page 41 of NOFO

Application Package The application package must consist of the following in this order:

APPLICATION FORMS1:

SF-424: Applicants may leave fields 5a, 5b, 6, 7, and 13 blank on the form. A number of separate PDF flat files must be attached in Item 15 to provide required project information that is not included in the body of the SF-424.

SF-424A

SF-424B

SFLLL: The form must be completed and submitted even if no lobbying to report. If no lobbying to report insert none or n/a in the relevant blocks.

1 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html

Application Package Required attachments to Item 15 of the SF-424:

Volume 1 – Technical Application: maximum of 10,000 words, with minimum 12-point font, double spaced, each Part can be included as a separate attachment Part I – Technical and Management Approach;

Part III – Experience; and Part III – Staffing Approach Volume 2 – Budget Application.

Cost Information and Other Financial Information

Application Development Overview

Technical

Budget Application I - Cost Information and Other Financial Information No limits

Table D.1- Applicants shall submit an application consisting of the following standard forms and application volumes. The Technical and Budget Applications must be added as Attachments to Item 15 of the SF-424. Note that these must be attached as pdf flat files.

Note that this table is corrected to show what the text in the NOFO describes. Table D.1 in the NOFO will be revised in a future amendment.

Volume I. Technical Application Part I – TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT APPROACH: A detailed technical and management plan describing in detail how you would proceed if awarded this Agreement. Discuss and describe the ability of the proposed project to meet the purpose and objectives of this program, and the manner in which they will be addressed by your project. Objectives include understanding how, when deployed at scale, new mobility and automated vehicles may impact:

Volume I. Technical Application Part II – EXPERIENCE: A summary of the Applicant’s experience relevant to this project, listing projects of similar size and complexity over the past five years, and show which of the named key staff were involved in those projects. List the following information for a minimum of three specific past projects in which the Applicant participated as project leader and/or member of project team:

For any projects which did not/do not successfully achieve its goals, a brief explanation of the reason(s) for such shortcomings and any demonstrated corrective actions taken to avoid recurrence

NOTE: In determining relevancy, consideration should be given, but not limited to, such things as product/service similarity, size and complexity, Agreement type, division of company proposing, recency of accomplishments, and sub-recipient interaction.

NOTE: Prior to award, FHWA may contact past sponsors or customers to support the agency’s risk assessment of the application.

NOTE: If an Applicant does not have a history of relevant experience, or if past performance information is not available, the Applicant’s experience will be considered to be neutral.

Volume I. Technical Application Part III – STAFFING APPROACH: Provide a project organizational chart identifying proposed staff members assigned to the project. The chart must be supported with narrative text to include the title and a brief description of each position’s responsibilities, as well as the proposed level of effort and allocation of time (% in relation to their other duties) for each position on a yearly basis and in summary format. The level of effort may be displayed (single spaced) in a table format.

The hours indicated must be consistent with the information presented in Volume II, Parts I and II, as part of the detailed budget plan.

Provide brief (2 pages maximum) tailored resumes for the proposed Program Manager, Principal Investigator, and other key personnel to include name, experience, education, and proposed role in project.

Remember that resumes are not included in the page limitation for applications.

Part II – Cost Information and Other Financial Information: Provide a SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Projects, and a separate detailed budget plan for each year.

Summarize the information for all years for all activities.

The format of the budget plan is at the discretion of the recipient, but spreadsheets may be formatted similarly to the format in DOT Form 4220.44, located at: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/cfo/pdf/frm4220_44.pdf

Volume II. Budget Application

Part II – Cost Information and Other Financial Information: The detailed budget plan must include each of the following items/sub-items:

Detailed Excel® (or compatible) workbook containing spreadsheets/tabs (formatted to be printed out) and supporting information clearly delineating and supporting all estimated costs, with columns for Federal Share, Cost Share (if applicable) and Total Costs (per year and in summary form) as follows:

Personnel Labor Rates;

Indirect Rates;

Other Direct Costs;

Contractor/subrecipients information;

Provide detail and support for cost share as part of overall project budget; and Clearly delineate cost share match versus Federal share.

Part II – Cost Information and Other Financial Information:

The detailed budget plan must include each of the following items/sub-items (continued):

Identify any exceptions to the anticipated award terms and conditions as contained in Section F, Federal Award Administration Information. Identify any preexisting intellectual property that you anticipate using during award performance, and your position on its data rights during and after the award period of performance.

The use of a Unique Entity Identified (UEI) is required on all applications for Federal grants or cooperative agreements. Please provide your organization’s UEI number in your budget application.

A statement to indicate whether your organization has previously completed an A-133 Single Audit and, if so, the date that the last A-133 Single Audit was completed.

Part II – Cost Information and Other Financial Information:

The detailed budget plan must include each of the following items/sub-items (continued):

A statement regarding Conflicts of Interest.

A statement to indicate whether a Federal or State organization has audited or reviewed the Applicant’s accounting system, purchasing system, and/or property control system.

Terminated Contracts - List any contract/agreement that was terminated for convenience of the Government within the past 3 years, and any contract/agreement that was terminated for default within the past 5 years. Briefly explain the circumstances in each instance.

The Applicant must disclose in writing any actual or potential personal or organizational conflict of interest in its application that describes in a concise manner all past, present or planned organizational, contractual or other interest(s), which may affect the Applicant’s ability to perform the proposed agreement in an impartial and objective manner. Actual or potential conflicts of interest may include but are not limited to any past, present or planned contractual, financial, or other relationships, obligations, commitments or responsibilities, which may bias the Applicant or affect the Applicant’s ability to perform the agreement in an impartial and objective manner

The AO will review the statement(s) and may require additional relevant information from the Applicant. All such information, and any other relevant information known to DOT, will be used to determine whether an award to the Applicant may create an actual or potential conflict of interest. If any such conflict of interest is found to exist, the AO may (a) disqualify the Applicant, or (b) determine that it is otherwise in the best interest of the United States to contract with the Applicant and include appropriate provisions to mitigate or avoid such conflict in the agreement pursuant to 2 CFR 200.112

Part II – Cost Information and Other Financial Information:

The detailed budget plan must include each of the following items/sub-items (continued):

Describe how your organization will obtain the necessary resources to fund and fulfill the proposed cost share, as applicable.

The Applicant is directed to review Title 2 CFR §1701 dated September 14, 2010, and Appendix A thereto, and acknowledge in its application that it understands the requirement, has the necessary processes and systems in place, and is prepared to fully comply with the reporting described in the term if it receives funding resulting from this Notice.

1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-I/part-170

The Applicant must disclose in writing any actual or potential personal or organizational conflict of interest in its application that describes in a concise manner all past, present or planned organizational, contractual or other interest(s), which may affect the Applicant’s ability to perform the proposed agreement in an impartial and objective manner. Actual or potential conflicts of interest may include but are not limited to any past, present or planned contractual, financial, or other relationships, obligations, commitments or responsibilities, which may bias the Applicant or affect the Applicant’s ability to perform the agreement in an impartial and objective manner

The AO will review the statement(s) and may require additional relevant information from the Applicant. All such information, and any other relevant information known to DOT, will be used to determine whether an award to the Applicant may create an actual or potential conflict of interest. If any such conflict of interest is found to exist, the AO may (a) disqualify the Applicant, or (b) determine that it is otherwise in the best interest of the United States to contract with the Applicant and include appropriate provisions to mitigate or avoid such conflict in the agreement pursuant to 2 CFR 200.112

Part II – Cost Information and Other Financial Information:

The detailed budget plan must include each of the following items/sub-items (continued):

Disclose any violations of Federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations. Failure to make required disclosures can result in any of the remedies described in 2 CFR 200.3391 entitled Remedies for Noncompliance, including suspension or debarment. (See also 2 CFR Part 1802 and 31 U.S.C. 33213).

If a nonprofit or not-for-profit status, please provide evidence of this status preferably from the Internal Revenue Service.

Volume II. Budget Application 1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200 2 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-I/part-180 3 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/3321

The Applicant must disclose in writing any actual or potential personal or organizational conflict of interest in its application that describes in a concise manner all past, present or planned organizational, contractual or other interest(s), which may affect the Applicant’s ability to perform the proposed agreement in an impartial and objective manner. Actual or potential conflicts of interest may include but are not limited to any past, present or planned contractual, financial, or other relationships, obligations, commitments or responsibilities, which may bias the Applicant or affect the Applicant’s ability to perform the agreement in an impartial and objective manner

The AO will review the statement(s) and may require additional relevant information from the Applicant. All such information, and any other relevant information known to DOT, will be used to determine whether an award to the Applicant may create an actual or potential conflict of interest. If any such conflict of interest is found to exist, the AO may (a) disqualify the Applicant, or (b) determine that it is otherwise in the best interest of the United States to contract with the Applicant and include appropriate provisions to mitigate or avoid such conflict in the agreement pursuant to 2 CFR 200.112

Applicants are required to:

Be registered in SAM1 before submitting an application;

Provide a valid unique entity identifier in the application; and Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award.

Applications must be received electronically through Grants.Gov2 by the application due date/time listed on page 1 of the NOFO.

A late application will not be reviewed or considered unless the AO determines that doing so is in the FHWA’s best interest.

Application Submittal Process 1 https://sam.gov/content/home 2 https://www.grants.gov/

The applicant is required to:

be registered in SAM before submitting its application;

provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application; and continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information while it has an active Federal award, application, or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency.

To submit an application through Grants.gov, applicants must:

Obtain a SAM UEI:

Register with the SAM at www.sam.gov;

Create a Grants.gov username and password; and The E-business Point of Contact (POC) at the applicant’s organization must respond to the registration email from Grants.gov and login to authorize the POC as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). Please note that there can only be one AOR per organization.

Please note that the Grants.gov registration process usually takes 2–4 weeks to complete and late applications that are the result of failure to register or comply with Grants.gov applicant requirements in a timely manner will not be considered. For information and instruction on each of these processes, please see instructions at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs.html. If interested parties experience difficulties at any point during the registration or application process, please call the Grants.gov Customer Service Support Hotline at 800-518–4726, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday.

APPLICATION REVIEW & Evaluation

Carl Andersen, Office of Safety and Operations Research and Development Application Review Criteria Review and Selection Process

Application Review Criteria The Government will evaluate applications on following criteria:

Merit, and Cost If applicable, the degree of cost share and leveraging of non-federal funds will be considered in the award decision.

After evaluation of the criteria and degree of cost share, above preferences, the government may take into account the following key Departmental objectives:

Supporting economic vitality at the national and regional level;

Utilizing alternative funding sources and innovative financing models to attract non-Federal sources of infrastructure investment;

Accounting for the life-cycle costs of the project to promote the state of good repair;

Using innovative approaches to improve safety and expedite project delivery; and Holding grant recipients accountable for their performance and achieving specific, measurable outcomes identified by grant applicants.

FHWA will utilize the following merit review process to evaluate applications:

A panel of agency experts will evaluate all eligible technical applications using the merit criteria.

The panel will individually evaluate the technical applications.

The panel will then collectively assign an adjectival rating to each eligible technical application using the following merit ratings: Exceptional, Satisfactory, Marginal, and Unsatisfactory.

Agency personnel from the FHWA Office of Acquisition and Grants Management will evaluate the cost criteria and conduct a risk assessment of the Applicant. The NOFO describes the Risk Assessment process.

TTAP Center Mission: Serve as a go-to local resource for Tribal transportation training, technical assistance, and technology transfer needs and opportunities to effectively carry out the TTAP Vision.

Taken from page 65 of NOFO.

The Government will accept the application that is considered the most advantageous to the Government using the evaluation criteria, and subject to the results of an Applicant risk assessment. Applications selected for possible award will undergo the risk assessment prior to award.

The Government reserves the right to not make an award to an Applicant based on the results of the risk assessment.

The Agreement Officer is the official responsible for final award selection.

The Government is not obligated to make any award as a result of this notice.

AWARDS Timeline

Angela Jones, Office of Acquisition & Grants Management

Timeline and Award Schedule Submission Deadline: Applications Due by Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time through https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347296

FHWA anticipates but does not guarantee making an award by September 2023.

Reporting Requirements Include:

Quarterly Progress Reports Annual Budget Review & Program Plans Annual Property Reports Additional submissions per Section A5 of the NOFO

Questions Questions may be forwarded to:

Angela.Jones@dot.gov Carl.Andersen@dot.gov

Will be posted to Grants.gov:

Recorded presentation and transcript Questions & Answers https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347296

Thank you for joining today’s webinar!

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