JA16-019_WMATA_JA_12.30.15_Redacted_v1_(3).pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6 Justification & Approval (J&A), Supporting Procurements under FAR Part 12, FAR Subpart 13.501, and FAR Part 15

Purchase Request Number: To Be Determined ( TBD) Contract Number: TBD Task/Delivery Order Number: Not Applicable (NA) Procurement Title:

Program Contracting Office: Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization-National Capital Region (DITCO-NCR) Estimated Value: $ Statutory Authority: 10U.S.C. 2304(c)(l)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Justification for OTFAOC Number:

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Procuring Activity Competition Advocate, hereby approve the use of other than full and open competition of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the statutory authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(l ) and in accordance with FAR 6.302-1.

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

Requiring Agency:

Contracting Office:

Defense Information Systems Agency Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization -

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S): This J&A supports the action to issue a sole source award to the incumbent, The

, to support the mission requirements of The Mass Transit Subsidy Benefits program. For mass transit in the Washington DC area, the required source is the program. is a web-based program and the sole program for transferring benefits from employers to employees utilizing mass transit in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The uses this program to ensure that funds are available for the active participants each month.

requires federal agencies to use , as the primary means of providing transit benefits. The benefit is for commuting between the participant's residence and workplace.

Program-

The current contract, , is a . This action will be issued as a blanket purchase agreement for a 1-year base period and two 1-year option periods. is the transit authority for the NCR and

. The expected cost of this action will not exceed $ over the three-year contract period. This contract is required for the Mass Transit Subsidy Program, an entitlement program for federal employees.

This contract will also provide DISA the ability to eliminate third party costs associated with our participation in the SmartBenefits® program. In the past, had the Department award and manage this program. By utilizing services to procure and acquire SmartBenefits® DISA was paying a seven percent fee in addition to the costs for the SmartBenefits®.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: The is the required program for the Department of Defense National Capital Region Mass Transit Benefits subsidy program. is the required source and the only organization with the qualifications and capabilities to perform the master database functions that are required for operating the program. There are no other organizations that are either eligible or capable of performing the master database function that provides.

The current contract was awarded as a BOA on 12 January . The base period of performance was 12 January through 11 January and three 12 month option periods. The last option was exercised 12 January and expires on 11 January .

The ceiling for the cmTent contract is $ . However, the volume of purchases for the current agreement to date is $ . The ceiling on the current contract provided the flexibility to add additional participants if the need arose (new employees /participants, etc.).

as part of their program.

DISA has elected not to participate in the parking program in the past years. On 18 December , the parity between parking and mass transit benefits was reinstated permanently under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, , Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, Division Q which automatically includes parking benefits in the transit benefits program beginning in .

The cost of this procurement is based on the size of the DISA workforce that is eligible and elects to participate in the program. At the present time there are active mass transit benefit participants. This number fluctuates based on the time of year, locations from which and to which employees commute, eligibility of employees and the future participation by new employees. The participant level will be established at employees. This covers the possible fluctuation in participants throughout the year. The maximum allowable benefit per participant for mass transit was $130 per month; however the limits have been increased to $255 with permanent parity between parking and mass transit monthly limits for . The authorized transit benefit maximum is determined by Congress and that amount is specifically defined in Title 26 U.S. Code, § 132 (t)(2). If the authorized amount is changed, the contract ceiling will be adjusted to cover the cost of those changes (whether an increase or decrease of cost occurs).

Program-

The contract ceiling capacity is determines as follows:

Contract Year Base Year Option I Option 2

Period 12 Jan to 1 1 Jan

12 Jan to 11 Jan

12 Jan to 1 1 Jan

Participants Cost per Month per Participant $ $ $

Cost per Year per Participant

Annual Cost $ $ $

Cumulative Total $ $ $

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, 10 U.S.C.2304(c) (1).

5. DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRACTOR'S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

(a) Description of events.

For mass transit in the Washington DC area, the required source is the program. is a web-based program, and the sole program for transferring benefits from employers to employees utilizing mass transit in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The is the required source for the Mass Transit and the only organization authorized to manage the database of the program. There are no other organizations that are either eligible or that have the authorization, access, or capabilities to perform the master functions connected to the program. is the only organization who can electronically transfer electronic payments to transit providers. The program is provided by for commuters in the National Capital Region.

(b) Justification.

(1) Minimum Government requirements. The was

The program offers electronic auto load and reloadable capabilities for employers to assign value to cards for the employees authorized to participate in the mass transit program. There are no other organizations that are either eligible or capable of performing functions for the Program.

(2) Proposed sole source contractor. established a including the states of Virginia and Maryland. , not only manages the used in the program as well. The Program allows the employers to allocate the dollar value of employees' monthly commuting benefit directly to

Program reusable and rechargeable plastic cards that can be used for rail and bus travel throughout the regions. is the only organization with the capability to provide program participants with the required access to use commuting established throughout the

NCR.

(3) Discussion regarding cause of the sole source situation. is the only organization with the capability to provide DISA employees with access to the

Program that is that largely supports commuters within the NCR.

(4) Demonstration of unique source. The Program is , including the extensive real estate involved in the support of its operations. There are no other organizations that are either eligible or capable of performing the master database and transit functions that are connected to the services provided by for commuters in the NCR.

(5) Procurement discussion. is in the process of planning for the execution of a sole source follow-on procurement for this requirement. The contract is the only solution for DISA to continue with the program in support of employees who commute to and from work using operations. was awarded a sole source contract on 12 January and the current and last option year expires on 11 January . As described herein, competition is not possible in the procurement of the Program for DISA employees.

(6) Impact. It is not possible to pursue full and open competition as this is a required source. Additionally, there is no other organization capable of administering the Program. The is the only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. There is no other alternative than the exception to full and open competition.

6. FEDBIZOPPS ANNOUNCEMENT/POTENTIAL S O U R C E S : A Request for Information (RFI) was posted on FedBizOpps on 04 December . No other sources were identified since the RFI yielded no responses.

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST: The monthly amount needed per person is the current transit benefit subsidy maximum. Congress is responsible for determining the monthly transit benefit subsidy maximum which was initially $65 when the mass transit benefit program was established by Executive Order 13150 in . The monthly maximum was incrementally increased to $100 in , $105 in , $110 in

, $115 in , and then as a result of legislation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in , the maximum increased to $230 and again to $240 in

. After the sunset of the ARRA, in the transit benefit maximum reverted to $125, and then in it was increased to $130. The subsidy maximum for the requirement is currently set to cost $255 per person through the end of the calendar year

. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, , signed on 18 December equalizes the parking and mass transit benefits program, resulting in the increase of the mass transit monthly limit for each participant from $130 to $255. The new will start on January 12, , with the maximum of per person. Any future changes to the subsidy maximum will be determined by Congress. The proposed contract ceiling anticipates a $ per year per participant increase. If the maximum increases more than that, it is anticipated the contract ceiling will be increased to cover this. The costs paid will be set by Congress and are not subject to negotiations. They are in line with the transit benefit subsidy maximum authorized and approved by Congress. The as a whole is authorized by , and is , together with jurisdictions in suburban , northern , and parts of , West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. was created by to be

. is prohibited from , as they are . They are the area and all the NCR and surrounding areas. Based on the foregoing, the contracting officer has determined the costs are fair and reasonable.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: Market research was conducted for the follow-on requirement and the results are that full and open competition is not appropriate for the action. The organization to operate the service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The business that provides the Program as a commercial service to private and federal entities across the NCR. The Program offers electronic payment for the employees authorized to participate in the mass transit program using re-loadable cards. Historically, DISA worked through the to acquire participation, but DISA was by . DISA reduced costs and has saved approximately $ in by for participation in the program.

Although there are other that provide means of transportation, such as the services, they do not provide commuting services that are capable of accommodating commuters throughout the NCR region. The services that are provided are only able to transport commuters to areas, or locations in the tri-state region and programs to pay for the benefits of the areas they serve.

is capable of transporting commuters across the entire tri-state region, via rail and bus commuter locations and those services are largely connected to the program. is the only capable source for meeting the needs of the government's requirement. There is no consolidating or bundling of task orders or other contracts for this follow-on procurement.

9. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS: The is the only responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirements for the follow-on.

10. LISTING OF INTERESTED SOURCES: A RFI notice was posted to FedBizOpps on 4 December and no responses were received. Therefore, no other sources have been identified.

11. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME

BARRIERS THAT LED TO THE EXCEPTION TO FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION:

(a) Procurement History: Contract:

Contractor:

Basis for Award: Sole Source, OTFAOC

Value:

Period of Performance: 12 January to 11 January (base plus four-option years)

Contract:

Contractor:

Basis for Award: Economy Act of 1932(15 U.S.C. 1535) and Administrative Working Capital Fund (49 U.S.C 327) Value:

Period of Performance: 1October to 11January

(b) Market Research will continue to be conducted to examine and monitor the changes within the public transportation industry in the NCR.

(c) In accordance with FAR. 6.302-1(a), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. On 4 December a RFI was posted to FedBizOpps which yielded no responses from potential sources.

Reasonable efforts were made to identify contractors who can fulfill the requirement by posting an RFI. Within 14 days after establishing the this justification will be posted to FedBizOpps. Further, is capable of transporting commuters across the entire tri-state region via rail and bus commuter locations and those services are largely connected to the program. At this time the Government is not aware of another transit authority in the Washington Metropolitan Area that offers a program similar to on a transit network that transports commuters across the Metropolitan Area.

12. REFERENCE TOTHE APPROVED ACQUISITION PLAN (AP): An acquisition plan is not required (DARS 7.103 (S-91) (2) Exceptions).

WMATA SmartBenefits® Program-JA16-019

TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which areincluded in theJ&Aareaccurateandcompletetothebestofmy knowledgeand belief.

NAME: SIGNATURE: See Separate PDF

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Transportation Specialist/Program Manager/MP4

PHONE: DATE:

REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: SIGNATURE: See Separate PDF

TITLE/ORGANIZATION:

PHONE: DATE:

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: SIGNATURE: See Separate PDF

TITLE/ORGANIZATION:

PHONE: DATE:

PROCURING ACTIVITY COMPETITION ADVOCATE APPROVAL: I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Since this justification does not exceed $ , this review serves as approval and my written determination that the aforementioned FAR circumstances apply.

NAME: SIGNATURE:

ORGANIZATION:

PHONE: DATE:

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS JUSTIFICATION ARE TO BE REFERRED TO