Disruptive stats-RFA-SOW 5312017final.pdf

Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity BTS-2017-01

Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity (NOFO)

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Attn: Paula Robinson

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

TITLE: Transportation Disruption and Disaster Statistics (TDADS).

ACTION: NOFO for operations in support of the TDADS Program in cooperation with the

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

SUMMARY: BTS requires support from a multi-state coalition of State Departments of

Transportation and other transportation agencies to develop a consistent national

TDADS program. BTS will initiate a Cooperative Agreement, with a State transportation department, metropolitan planning organization, or institution of higher education on behalf of a multi-state coalition, in support of the TDADS Program.

The TDADS Program is envisioned as a national system that contains data, statistics, dashboards, tools and visualizations for use in the analysis and understating of multimodal interstate and inter-regional transportation system disruptions.

NOFO NO: BTS-2017-01

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number:

20.200 Highway Research & Development

KEY DATES:

NOFO Issued June 8, 2017

Application due August 8, 2017

Question Due Date/Time July 10, 2017 4pm ET

Submit questions and/or applications to the address above, or applications may be submitted by email to: paula.robinson@dot.gov.

Applications should include a reference to Request for Application BTS-2017-01 in the SUBJECT line of your email.

CONTENTS:

ARTICLE I. STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY AND ELIGIBILITY

ARTICLE II. BACKGROUND AND GOALS

ARTICLE III. STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES

ARTICLE IV. GENERAL REQUIRMENTS

ARTICLE V. LEVEL OF SUPPORT/PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

ARTICLE VI. TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR AWARD

ARTICLE VII. APPLICATION CONTENT

ARTICLE VIII. APPLICATION PROCEDURES/APPLICATION PACKAGE

ARTICLE IX. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

Note: The BTS uses www.grants.gov for receipt of all applications. Applicants must register and use the system to submit applications electronically. Applicants are encouraged to register in advance of the submission deadline and to register to receive notifications of updates/amendments to this Notice. Approval of user registrations for the site may take multiple weeks. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to monitor for any updates to this Notice.

ARTICLE I.

STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY AND ELIGIBILITY

49 U.S.C. Section 6311 authorizes the Secretary to make grants, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, public and nonprofit private entities (including State transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations, and institutions of higher education) for (1) investigation of the subjects described in section 6302(b)(3)(B)(vi); (2) research and development of new methods of data collection, standardization, management, integration, dissemination, interpretation, and analysis; (3) demonstration programs by States, local governments, and metropolitan planning organizations to coordinate data collection, reporting, management, storage, and archiving to simplify data comparisons across jurisdictions; (4) development of electronic clearinghouses of transportation data and related information, as part of the Library; and (5) development and improvement of methods for sharing geographic data, in support of the database under section 6309 and the National Spatial Data Infrastructure developed under Executive Order

12906 (59 Fed. Reg. 17671) (or a successor Executive Order).

Eligible recipients of a Cooperative Agreement from this NOFO include State transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations, and institutions of higher education.

SEC. 6002 (c) of the FAST Act authorizes funds appropriated to be available for obligation in the same manner as if those funds were apportioned under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, except that the Federal share of the cost of a project or activity carried out using those funds shall be

80 percent, unless otherwise expressly provided by this Act or otherwise determined by the

Secretary; and remain available until expended.

This NOFO has a 20 percent non-federal cost share.

ARTICLE II.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

A. BACKGROUND

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is the Principal Federal Statistical Agency that provides objective, comprehensive, and relevant information on the extent and use of the Nation’s transportation system, how well the system performs, and the effects of the system on society and the environment. BTS collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical and geospatial information on the factors contributing to the demand for transportation; on the extent, use, condition, performance, and safety of the transportation system; and on the economic, environmental, and social consequences of transportation. The BTS Director is the senior advisor to the Secretary on data and statistics, and represents DOT statistical programs with other federal agencies. BTS promotes improvements in data quality, accuracy, and timeliness for statistical programs throughout DOT; assists public access to DOT research reports and databases; and operates the National Transportation Library. All BTS products are available at www.bts.gov.

The BTS Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) develops geospatial information and visualization tools, conducts spatial and network analyses, develops performance measures related to the transportation network and geographic accessibility provided by the network, prepares maps for

BTS publications, coordinates the transportation layer of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and publishes the National Transportation Atlas Database. OSAV assists other BTS offices with estimates of transportation activity and with visualization of statistical patterns and trends. OSAV employs high quality cartography and innovative web applications to produce relevant, high quality, timely, comparable, complete, and accessible geospatial products and statistical visualizations.

Under statutory authority, the BTS Director must ensure that the statistics noted above are designed to support transportation decision-making by the Federal Government, State and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations; transportation-related associations, the private sector, and the public. To ensure that all transportation statistical collection, analysis, and dissemination are carried out in a coordinated manner, under 49 U.S.C. Section 6306 the BTS Director may:

use the services, equipment, records, personnel, information, and facilities of other Federal agencies, or State, local, and private agencies and instrumentalities, subject to the conditions that the applicable agency or instrumentality consents to that use and with or without reimbursement for such use;

enter into agreements with the agencies and instrumentalities listed above for purposes of data collection and analysis;

confer and cooperate with foreign governments, international organizations, and State, municipal, and other local agencies;

encourage replication, coordination, and sharing of information among transportation agencies regarding information systems, information policy, and data.

An area of growing interest to the transportation community concerns disruptions to the transportation system and the resiliency of the system. Disruptions to the transportation system significantly affect the nation’s economic performance and the public’s quality of life. Disruptions may be caused by reoccurring congestion or by non-reoccurring events. These non-reoccurring events such as crashes, vehicle breakdowns, work zones, adverse weather, disasters and special events cause disruptions and temporary capacity losses, often worsening the conditions on already congested transportation networks. The impacts of these disruptions and temporary capacity losses include delay, reduced mobility, and reduced reliability of the transportation system. They can also cause the re-routing or rescheduling of trips.

BTS has a particular interest in ensuring that the collection, analysis, and dissemination of long distance interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruption, resiliency and disaster statistics is carried out in a coordinated multimodal manner that supports transportation decision-making across the nation.

Recent technological advances have allowed both transportation infrastructure and vehicles/vessels/crafts to be equipped with sensors and detectors that provide a near continuous stream of real time data regarding the performance and disruptions to the transportation system.

Archiving these operationally based real time sensor and detector data can allow for the analysis and development of transportation system disruption, resiliency and disaster statistics across modes.

The TDADS is intended to take a multimodal approach to the analysis and development of transportation system disruption, resiliency and disaster statistics by building on prior work, including but not limited to: (1) Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Temporary Losses of Highway

Capacity and Impacts on Performance study that provided an initial attempt to provide nationwide estimates of the capacity losses and delay caused by temporary capacity-reducing events, and (2)

The I-95 Corridor Coalition’s Vehicle Probe Project Suite that makes use of 3rd party probe data fused with other agency transportation data in a true “big data” analytics platform to allow agencies to support operations, undertake planning activities, perform analysis and research activities, and develop performance measurement reports. It is envisioned that operationally related real time data feeds from aircraft, intercity rail, vehicles and highways will ultimately be brought together in a standard way and archived to create a composite data set. This composite data set along with tools to analyze and visualize the data will be made available to agencies and the public.

OBJECTIVES

BTS requires support from a multi-state coalition of State Departments of Transportation and other transportation agencies to develop a consistent national TDADS program. BTS will initiate a

Cooperative Agreement, with a State transportation department, metropolitan planning organization, or institution of higher education on behalf of a multi-state coalition, in support of the TDADS

Program. The TDADS Program is envisioned as a national system that contains data, statistics, dashboards, tools and visualizations for use in the analysis and understating of multimodal interstate and inter-regional transportation system disruptions.

The objectives of a Cooperative Agreement resulting from this NOFO will be to (1) provide a method for BTS, States, MPOs and other transportation agencies to collectively compile and archive operational related data into a data system that can support the goal of standardization of transportation system disruption, resiliency and disaster statistics nationally, and from state to state, and (2) to provide BTS, States, MPOs, other transportation agencies, and the public with data, statistics and tools to analyze transportation system disruptions from a multimodal approach (air, intercity rail, highway). In doing so, these entities are provided enriched data, visualizations and statistical tools that permit them to perform in-depth analysis used for transportation planning and programming functions.

A Cooperative Agreement resulting from the NOFO will assist a coalition of states and other transportation agencies both technically and financially.

BTS will support the recipient’s efforts to:

Provide for the collection and/or compilation of specific probe and detector data on all interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruption and disaster incidents that occur within each jurisdiction;

Produce basic statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions, resiliency and disaster incidents within specified time frames;

Produce advanced statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions, resiliency, and disaster incidents within a specified time frame and;

Encourage the use of the TDADS data by members of the transportation community and the public as an important resource for decision making and policy development.

ARTICLE III.

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Under a Cooperative Agreement resulting from this NOFO, BTS will:

1. Assign a qualified individual, designated as the Agreement Officer’s Representative –

(AOR), to provide liaison and coordination between BTS and the Recipient.

2. Assist the Recipient in the planning and management of the Transportation Disruptions and

Disaster Statistics (TDADS) Program and to coordinate activities between the Recipient and

BTS.

3. Provide the Recipient with data access, general technical and financial assistance relative to the TDADS.

4. Work with the recipient to define the data requirements for the composite multimodal

TDADS dataset.

5. When requested by the Recipient, respond to specific Recipient requests.

B. As a condition of this a Cooperative Agreement resulting from this NOFO, the Recipient shall:

1. Work toward identifying all interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disaster incidents.

2. Collect, compile, and interpret multimodal (air, rail, highway) interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disaster incidents data from vehicle and infrastructure probes, detectors and other agency and private sources and transform into a composite multimodal TDADS data set within specified time frames;

3. Develop multimodal statistics, data dashboards, interactive maps and visualizations of transportation system disruptions caused by weather, special events, work zones, crashes, vehicle breakdowns and disasters within specified time frames;. Calculate statistics and provide data tools that allow analysis and comparison by mode, geography, corridor, city pair, facility, and time period.

4. Revise, correct, and/or update data as soon as they become available.

5. Participate in BTS-approved meetings and training.

6. Promote the use and adoption of TDADS.

7. Ensure compliance with BTS statistical and quality control procedures, (i.e., timeliness, accuracy/consistency and completeness). (In this regard, the recipient shall establish and maintain coordination and cooperation with all appropriate state and local agencies and companies).

8. To ensure data currency, the recipient agrees to reporting basic statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions, resiliency and disasters incidents on a monthly basis, while working toward reporting information on a near real time basis; and to report on basic statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions, resiliency and disasters incidents during a holiday period or special event within one day of the end of that holiday period or special event. The Recipient also agrees to produce on a quarterly basis advanced statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disasters incidents, and work toward production of these on a more frequent basis if determined they provide additional value.

9. Request necessary information not directly available.

10. Matching collected data between various sources for validation purposes.

11. Analyzing coding conflicts and resolving discrepancies.

12. Updating and/or correcting data elements as additional information is received or errors identified.

13. Store the data.

14. Provide BTS access to the raw data, the final composite TDADS dataset and allow BTS public use of multimodal statistics, data dashboards, interactive maps and visualizations of transportation system disruptions.

15. Assist with obtaining TDADS data to support various BTS efforts.

ARTICLE IV.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The success of the TDADS program and the value the program provides to the Recipient depends, to a great deal, on the adherence to uniform standards .Without such standards, the Recipient’s ability to make fair comparisons would not be possible. For these reasons, and as condition of participation, the Recipient agrees to the following General Requirements:

1. DATA REPORTING

The recipient should provide basic data, statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disasters incidents on a monthly basis; and to report on basic information on statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disasters incidents during a holiday period within one day of the end of that holiday period. The

Recipient should produce on a quarterly basis advanced statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disasters incidents.

The Recipient may need to work closely with other federal, state and local agencies and the private sector in order to access required information. This may require that the Recipient develop memorandums of understanding or other agreements with other state agencies.

The recipient must assure that all equipment and other material supplied by BTS in support of this effort are safe, secure and undamaged at all times.

1. DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN PROCEDURES MANUAL

To ensure consistency in the method by which the Recipient collects, acquires and compiles TDADS data, and develops statistics and dashboards, the Recipient agrees to establish and maintain a

TDADS procedures manual. Updated procedures shall be forwarded in an electronic format to the

AOR.

In addition, the Recipient should maintain a current point of contact list for agencies that supply data.

2. RECORD KEEPING AND SECURITY

Due to the potentially sensitive nature of unprocessed TDADS data, the Recipient must agree to protect data against intentional or un-intentional release of information.

Agencies must be assured that the data they provide will be at least as secure at the destination as at the source (i.e., FISMA-compliant).

3. RELEASE OF DATA

TDADS data, multimodal statistics, data dashboards, interactive maps and visualizations of transportation system disruptions are made available to the public by BTS for review and analysis after all conditions of quality control and privacy are met.

TDADS data and statistics may be provided to any participating agency by the recipient and the recipient may distribute the data and statistics to any organization provided that the distribution adheres to state or organization policy and requirements.

There are monthly and quarterly scheduled releases of the TDADS products.

4. SPECIAL REQUESTS

From time to time, the BTS AOR may request that the recipient provide information pertaining to one or more FARS cases. The recipient agrees to cooperate with the BTS AOR at the time of these requests.

5. FORM AGREEMENTS WITH DATA OWNERS

To obtain critical TDADS related data, the Recipient may need to request and receive approval for access to data held by other federal, state or local agencies and the private sector. Standard Terms of

Use will be applied to the greatest extent possible.

6. QUALITY CONTROL

The quality of the TDADS data is critical to the usefulness of the data to the Recipient. It serves as the foundation for all TDADS products. So that uniform Quality Control measures are enacted, TDADS program includes the following three objectives:

A. TIMELINESS

The metric used to determine timeliness is time between disruption or disaster occurrence and entry in the TDADS program. After Holiday Periods, the Recipient’s goal is create basic statistics within one day following the end of that period.

B. ACCURACY AND CONSISTENCY

There are internal and external aspects to the accuracy of the data. Internal accuracy means that the data are valid and satisfy internal consistency checks and that there are no duplicate records for the same event. External accuracy means that the data are coded properly as determined by external sources or audits. For some data elements, accuracy can be tested by matching with external sources. Accuracy is measured by the degree to which coded information is correctly transcribed and entered. Monitoring for accuracy includes cross checks and range checks to identify entry errors and comparison of data elements.

Consistency is measured by assessing the correctness of the interpretation of disruptions and development of statistics. The Recipient must correct errors and assure the highest standards of quality in the final data.

C. COMPLETENESS

Completeness is measured by the degree to which data and statistics are provided for the disruptions and disasters identified.

ARTICLE V.

LEVEL OF SUPPORT/PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

1. FUNDING

BTS anticipates total Federal funding in the amount of $700,000 will be made available for the award subject to availability. BTS anticipates this funding will be split between a base year amount of $300,000 and four option years with an amount of $100,000 for each option year.

NOTE: Application preparation costs are not allowable as direct charges under this Agreement.

2. NUMBER OF AWARDS ANTICIPATED

BTS anticipates making one Cooperative Agreement award as a result of this NOFO. BTS reserves the right to make more or less than one award.

3. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The anticipated period of performance of a Cooperative Agreement awarded under this announcement will be for a period of up to five (5) years, which will include one (1) base year and four (4) option years commencing from the effective date of the Agreement.

4. DEGREE OF FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT

The BTS anticipates substantial Federal involvement between the BTS and the Recipient during the course of this cooperative agreement. The BTS AOR will participate in the planning and management of this agreement and will participate in the participant’s activities as appropriate.

ARTICLE VI.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE AWARD

1. During the effective period of the Cooperative Agreement awarded as a result of this invitation, the Agreement shall be subject to the OMB Guidance for Grants and Agreements 2 CFR; the cost principles of OMB Circulars A-87, A-21, or A-122, or FAR 31.2 as applicable to the recipients.

2. If the Recipient is unable to comply with the requirements as specified above the entity will be granted probation status. The probation status must be cleared prior to renewal of the agreement, or renewal of annual funding if granted. If the recipient has not complied by the time the 5-year

Cooperative Agreement expires, the Cooperative Agreement will not be renewed.

3. Prior to award, each Applicant shall comply with the certification requirements under listed under Article VII – Application Content. Some certification requirements may be electronically available for download at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/index.html.

4. Both current and potential federal government vendors are required to register in SAM.gov in order to be awarded grants, cooperative agreements and contracts by the federal government.

Vendors are required to complete a one-time registration to provide basic information relevant to procurement and financial transactions. Vendors must update or renew their registration annually to maintain an active status.

ARTICLE VII.

APPLICATION CONTENT

The following documents shall be submitted by the applicant:

1. SF 424 - Application for Federal Assistance

2. SF 424A - Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs

3. SF 424B - Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

4. SF LLL - Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

5. Certificate Regarding Lobbying

6. Supplemental Budget Information – (SF 424A support)

7. Technical Work Plan (NTE 20 pages)

ARTICLE VIII.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES/APPLICATION PACKAGE

Please reference BTS’s Notice of Funds Availability Number BTS-2017-01 in your Application

Package.

1. BUDGET INFORMATION

The Estimated Budget Application should include the following information:

a. One original hardcopy of Standard Form (SF) 424 (Rev. 9-2003, including 424A and 424B), “Application for Federal Assistance,” with the required information filled in and certified assurances signed. These forms are available at www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/grants/index.html.

b. Each Applicant should clearly set forth its proposed costs by submitting a spreadsheet or spreadsheets. Please submit 1 (one) spreadsheet for each proposed budget year in Excel format. The Estimated Budget should identify and display the following information as applicable:

Labor rates. The direct labor rates by person/labor category, showing the number of proposed hours for each particular person/labor category, and also showing the starting un-loaded hourly pay rates for each person/labor category and any pay “escalations” that are being proposed.

Non-federal contributed amounts. The amount of the budget that is to be paid with funds identified from non-federal sources. Applicants shall ensure that all proposed non-federal contributions are reasonable, allowable, and allocable costs according to the cost principles stated in OMB Circular A-102 or any other applicable OMB Circular. The minimum non-federal cost share under this NOFO is 20 percent.

Indirect cost percentage and amounts. The indirect cost percentage rates and dollar amounts for items such as overhead, fringe benefits, general and administrative (G&A) and/or facilities & administration (F&A). Applicants shall provide support for each particular indirect cost element that is contained in their application including copies of any negotiated rate agreements. This information shall be stated as a percentage rate and a total dollar amount.

Travel costs. The travel costs by person-trip for any proposed travel, including the point of origin, outbound destination, purpose of the trip, estimated number of days, and the estimated travel costs for each trip, showing air fare, lodging and food and incidental per diem costs.

Other direct costs. Any proposed other direct costs that are not already included as part of another cost category (such as overhead). The term “other direct costs” typically includes the following: (1) photocopying; (2) postage; (3) long distance telephone calls;

(4) facsimile; (fax) transmissions; (5) overnight shipping (6) materials; (7) equipment, including computer equipment or computer software, where not included as part of another cost category.

Fee. No fee may be proposed for the applicant or any applicant partner. However, fees may be proposed for vendors and/or subcontractors.

c. Non-Federal Funding (to include In-Kind Contribution)

An applicant shall identify non-federal funding sources in its cost application. Since activities may be performed with a variety of financial resources, applicants need to fully identify all project costs and their funding sources in the proposed budget. The proposed budget must identify all funding sources in sufficient detail to demonstrate that the overall objectives of the project will be met. The level of cost-securing proposed by the Recipient will be considered when comparing the overall financial value of the project to the level of federal funding invested.

This should include costs and associated costs to provide computers, computer equipment

(including software), phones, fax machines, copiers and printers, and office furniture. Any costs associated with the leasing equipment will not be reimbursed. These items should be included as in-kind expenses provided at the expense of the state agency. The minimum non-federal cost share under this NOFO is 20 percent.

d. Additional Cost Information

The Government reserves the right to request, at any time after the receipt of applications and before award, additional cost or price information necessary to perform an analysis.

Regular invoicing (monthly or quarterly) is required. Irregular invoicing could result in a reduction of available funding for subsequent years.

Given that an award may be made without negotiations and without any discussion, each

Applicant shall document and support the proposed costs so thoroughly that no additional information is needed by BTS

2. TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The Technical Application shall include the following information:

Project Description

a. A description of the Applicant’s plans and ability to meet the requirements of this agreement.

The technical work plan shall give detail as to how each of the General Requirements listed under Article III and IV will be accomplished.

b. An explanation of whether there have been or could be any conditions that may enhance or, more importantly, jeopardize the program. Specifically, the applicant must identify any barriers that exist that would limit the success of the program and of carrying out any of the responsibilities noted in III and IV and provide a plan to mitigate or remove the barriers.

Personnel Qualifications / Organization

a. A description of how the proposed project will be managed that specifically identifies the project manager and other personnel considered critical to the successful completion of the project, including a brief description of their qualifications and respective organizational responsibilities.

IX. APPLICATION REVIRE PROCEDURES INFORMATION

1. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The Government will evaluate applications on three factors as specified herein and listed in descending order of importance; Technical, Cost and Past Performance.

a. Technical: BTS will evaluate and rank the applications against the following two technical evaluation criteria related to the recipient’s responsiveness to the Objectives and Purpose of the TDADS:

i. Proposed Scope, Strategy and Approach

Work toward identifying all interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disaster incidents.

Collecting, compiling, and interpreting multimodal (air, rail, highway) interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions and disaster incidents data from vehicle and infrastructure probes, detectors and other agency and private sources and transforming into a composite multimodal TDADS data set within specified time frames;

Developing multimodal statistics, data dashboards, interactive maps and visualizations of transportation system disruptions caused by weather, special events, work zones, crashes, vehicle breakdowns and disasters within specified time frames;

Calculating statistics and provide data tools that allow analysis and comparison by mode, geography, corridor, city pair, facility, and time period;

Reporting basic and advanced statistical information, interactive maps, dashboards and visualizations on interstate or inter-regional transportation system disruptions, resiliency and disasters incidents.

ii. Team Soundness, Experience and Qualifications

Strength and size of multi-state coalition;

Demonstrated technical competence and qualifications to perform work in the area transportation disruption and disaster statistics;

Demonstrated knowledge and relevant experience of the Program Manager, staff, and sub-recipients in completing the proposed tasks.

b. Cost: Funding availability will also be considered in the ultimate award decision. The budget application will be analyzed to assess cost reasonableness and conformance to the NOFO, applicable cost principles for both the Federal share and non-Federal cost share.

Applicants must demonstrate the ability to meet the non-Federal cost share requirement.

c. Past Performance: The Government will evaluate the relevant merits of each applicant’s past performance based on its reputation and record with its current and/or former customers with respect to quality, timeliness and cost control. Past performance will be reviewed to assure that the applicant has relevant and successful experience, and will be considered in the ultimate award decision. In evaluating past performance, the Government may consider both written information provided in the application, as well as any other information available to the Government through outside sources. In the event an applicant does not have a record of relevant past performance, the applicant’s past performance will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably.

2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

The Government will accept the application(s) that is (are) considered the most advantageous to the Government using the criteria cited above.

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

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

3. ANTICIPATED ANNOUNCEMENT AND AWARD DATES

BTS anticipates, but does not guarantee making award(s) on or about July 30, 2017.

4. AWARD NOTICES

If your application is selected for award, you will be notified and sent an award document for signature. Applicants not selected for award will be notified in writing by BTS.

Only the AO can commit the Government. The award document, signed by the AO, is the authorizing document.

Notice that an organization has been selected as a Recipient does not constitute approval of the application as submitted. Before the actual award, BTS will enter into negotiations concerning such items as program components, staffing and funding levels, and administrative systems. If the negotiations do not result in an acceptable submittal, the BTS reserves the right to terminate the negotiation and decline to fund the applicant.