PAYDAYS_BAA_4-25.pdf

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT

SOLICITATION NO.: DTFH61-13-R-00020

“PAY-AS-YOU-DRIVE-AND-YOU-SAVE (PAYDAYS)

INSURANCE ACTUARIAL STUDY”

April 25, 2013

General Information

Contracting Officer: Daniel Confer, HAAM/FHWA Phone Number: (202) 366-0730 E-mail Address: Daniel.Confer@dot.gov

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DATES

The FHWA anticipates that the proposal, evaluation and award process for this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will proceed generally in accordance with the following schedule:

BAA Opens (FBO publication): April 25, 2013

Proposal Due Date: June 10, 2013 at 3:00 pm EST

Anticipated Award Date: Within 12 months of due date

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: Electronic transmissions of the proposal (5MB or less per email) shall be sent to the Contracting Officer, Daniel.Confer@dot.gov no later than 3:00 p.m., EST, on June 10, 2013. Proposals received after this date and time will not be considered.

Proposals responding to this BAA must be valid for 12 months, and may be funded at any time during that period.

I. INTRODUCTION:

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) advertises the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) intention to sponsor research in the area of pay-as-you-drive-and-you-save (PAYDAYS) car insurance actuarial analysis, in order to, pursuant to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Public Law 109-59, Section 5502, Surface Transportation Congestion Relief Solutions Research Initiative, curtail congestion by encouraging reductions in driving through promoting the availability of PAYDAYS car insurance in the marketplace.

Prior to advertising this BAA, FHWA issued a Request for Information (RFI), seeking comments on the draft topic area descriptions that FHWA was contemplating including in a BAA. RFI # DTFH61-13-RI-00002 was issued on November 29, 2012 and responses were due by January 14, 2013. The RFI outlined the public policy benefits of PAYDAYS insurance and included for comment a related draft BAA for $300,000 intended to advance the offering of such insurance in the United States (U.S.). The purpose of the RFI was to ascertain input from knowledgeable parties, including potential contracting sources, about the appropriateness, wisdom, public policy ramifications, and efficiency of the proposed BAA, and also elicit feedback on the ways to advance PAYDAYS insurance offerings in the U.S. Five responses to the RFI were received by deadline, four of which recommended moving forward with the BAA.

This BAA incorporates, where appropriate, comments received from the RFI.

FHWA is strongly promoting creativity and innovation in this BAA and is interested in developing and identifying new, different and improved methods and techniques in the area of PAYDAYS car insurance actuarial analysis to inform and support the competitive insurance marketplace. FHWA is open to a wide variety of research approaches to meet some or all of the goals noted in this solicitation. Regardless of the approach taken, it is essential that the methodology proposed be useful and useable by insurance companies, insurance regulators, state and local transportation agencies, and members of the public seeking to advance PAYDAYS insurance in the marketplace. Priority consideration will be given to proposals that demonstrate a high potential for successfully advancing the objectives described herein, and in accordance with the evaluation criteria.

II. BACKGROUND:

PAYDAYS car insurance, where premiums are based directly on mileage or hours of driving, is a fairly new approach to insurance pricing that reduces congestion and the need to expand roadways, saves most consumers money, and improves both safety and the environment. Currently, insurance companies are experimenting with offering some PAYDAYS pricing in the marketplace. Cutting edge actuarial research, especially if the results were made public, may lead to broader market penetration of PAYDAYS insurance and may result in greater consumer, economic and societal benefits.

Under PAYDAYS insurance pricing, drivers are assessed individualized per-mile (or per-minute-of-driving) premiums, enabling them to share in the savings that insurance companies experience when their reduced driving leads to fewer claims. Traditional rating factors (e.g., residential location, years of driving experience, and driving record) and the amount and types of coverage a driver selects are incorporated into per-mile or per-minute rates. Over the past few years, motorists have been driving less (according to FHWA’s Highway Statistics 2010, which provides annual vehicle-miles traveled figures from 1900 to 2010) due to a combination of unstable gas prices and the economy, likely reducing insurance claims; however, consumers may not be saving money on their insurance premiums as a result of this. PAYDAYS insurance enables drivers to control a larger part of their driving costs, saving on insurance premiums if they drive less.

By converting fixed insurance costs to per-mile charges, PAYDAYS insurance encourages voluntary reductions in driving, above and beyond those caused by unstable gas prices and the economy. The Brookings Institution estimates that PAYDAYS insurance would spur an 8% reduction in driving and related greenhouse gases, yielding $50-60 billion in net social benefits.

Other research estimates a crash-reduction rate of 1.4 times the reduced mileage (accounting for multiple-vehicle crashes that would not occur if one vehicle were off the road). Included in its broad national benefits, reductions in driving of 8% and in crashes of 11.2% (i.e., 1.4 x 8%) would provide huge nationwide improvements to transportation operations. (Congestion reductions have been shown in many instances to be disproportionately greater than reductions in traffic. For example, the Oct. 22, 2008 INRIX report, “The Impact of Fuel Prices on Consumer Behavior and Traffic Congestion,” concluded that the price spikes led to a 26% reduction of peak-hour congestion, resulting from a much smaller reduction in vehicle-miles traveled.) Additional benefits include FHWA models estimating typical infrastructure improvements savings of 3 to 5¢ for every mile not driven. Finally, the Brookings Institution projects that 64% of households would save an average of 28% on their insurance premiums, or about $270 per car or $496 per household annually for the households that do save.

A key barrier companies may face in offering PAYDAYS insurance is in figuring out how to price it in a way that is actuarially accurate. This is harder to do than commonly thought, since insurance companies typically do not have accurate information about their customers’ driving mileages. A number of companies have tried, with some success, to get such data on their own, but are hindered by the amount of data needed, and thereby limited in their related pricing acumen. Additionally, the data they obtain and analysis they perform are not disseminated throughout the industry.

An additional barrier companies face in offering PAYDAYS insurance is that, while the resulting initial costs and reduced premium revenues may be fairly transparent, the claims’ reduction benefits from customers who take advantage of the new opportunity to save money by reducing their risk exposure are likely much less well understood.

III. OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this BAA is to support research to help automotive insurance companies overcome analytical and knowledge barriers to offering PAYDAYS insurance. Federally supported actuarial research that produces publicly-available, high-quality results, where such results are shared with insurance companies, state insurance commissions, and consumer group, would likely facilitate companies to begin offering PAYDAYS insurance. Additionally, helping companies quantify the reduced loss costs resulting from offering PAYDAYS insurance could encourage an expansion of

PAYDAYS insurance offerings both by one or more companies participating in such an exercise, and by other companies that learn of the results. The range of public policy benefits, including congestion reduction, caused by PAYDAYS insurance that was described in the previous section is expected to be realized as a result of the work performed under this BAA.

IV. TOPIC AREAS:

FHWA is initiating proposals for sponsored research in the specific topic areas discussed immediately below. FHWA will also consider other innovative proposals dealing with PAYDAYS insurance actuarial research.

NOTE: FHWA may make single or multiple awards for each of the topics described below, NOT make an award under a particular topic area or make an award(s) in another innovative area.

TOPIC 1: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDITY TESTING OF NEW PRICING MODELS

FOR PAYDAYS INSURANCE

Some states have collected reliable mileage data from annual vehicle inspections, and there are additional public and/or commercial sources of such data. There have also been a few private and public efforts to collect additional vehicle usage and driver behavior data, sometimes using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and at other times using alternatives such as pulling and retrieving data from vehicles’ onboard diagnostic devices (OBD) using OBD-II data ports. One particularly interesting source of public data that is currently being collected is from the Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS). The NDS can be found on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website under the following link:

http://www.trb.org/StrategicHighwayResearchProgram2SHRP2/Public/Pages/The_SHRP_2_Na turalistic_Driving%20Study_472.aspx. Some states also collect vehicle claims’ data, while some firms may also collect claims’ data.

The FHWA desires to sponsor research to analyze vehicle use and/or driver behavior data to further knowledge about driving exposure factors that are closely linked to crash risk, which in turn could help provide the actuarial foundation for advanced forms of PAYDAYS insurance pricing. The primary research goal is to use existing and emerging sources of data to determine quantitatively the relationship among driving-related exposure variables and crash and insurance claims’ risk. The hope would be for insurance companies and actuarial firms to voluntarily use this new information to develop advanced PAYDAYS insurance premium structures that improve upon traditional insurance and early PAYDAYS insurance pricing models in assessing and charging for the risk of a particular driver filing an insurance claim in the future. Examples of factors that may be researched and later found to be important for PAYDAYS insurance pricing include but are not limited to mileage or the amount of time a vehicle is in operation, plus time of day, place, and manner (likely described using multiple data elements) in which the vehicle is being operated, and hard braking or bad-weather driving.

To help inform insurance companies and state insurance commissioners about the relative actuarial value of using different types of data for setting premiums, FHWA is offering to sponsor research using a variety of types of data to demonstrate the actuarial benefits of PAYDAYS insurance pricing. This may subsequently and voluntarily be used by insurance companies and actuarial firms to develop new PAYDAYS insurance pricing models improving upon the "fit" of preexisting insurance pricing models in pricing driving to reflect claims’ risk.

(The term “fit” is used here to describe the statistical power of the pricing model—using whatever factors are included in the model--to predict claims.) A related issue worthy of study is whether some types of data that may be less sensitive than others for consumers or regulators (typically related to privacy concerns) could be used in lieu of more sensitive data without substantially diminishing the "fit" of the premium-setting model (e.g., Could driver behavior data be used in lieu of GPS data to suggest road type and related risk? Alternatively, could GPS data be used in lieu of garaging locations to reduce the weight of “territory” in premium setting, which when weighted heavily often disadvantages residents of predominantly-minority urban neighborhoods no matter where they may do most of their driving?). Offerors are encouraged to include the latest information available about consumer acceptance and regulator acceptance for, and cost of, collecting different forms of data in the marketplace. Proposals shall be as explicit as possible as to the hypothesis that will be tested and the sources of data that will be used (and the plans to gather such data) to test the hypothesis. Offerors shall provide the best information available about the known quality of such data, outline a plan for gathering and analyzing the data, and note whether the intent is to use such data in conjunction with or as a replacement for other (specified) commonly used data in the industry. Data related challenges that may occur shall be explicitly identified and how the Offeror anticipates overcoming such challenges shall be discussed.

Proposals that compare the actuarial “fit” of PAYDAYS insurance pricing protocols (if developed under this effort) with traditional insurance pricing are especially encouraged. The information and products developed from this effort are expected to be used not only to help insurance companies price PAYDAYS insurance (whether directly or by providing supplemental information that companies may use about the reduced loss costs resulting from PAYDAYS insurance), but also to provide the needed analytical support to facilitate state regulatory approval of such insurance.

The successful Offeror(s) under this topic area should have relevant experience in analyzing vehicle use and driver behavior data, ideally for the purpose of developing insurance pricing models. Proposals are encouraged from but not limited to researchers and/or actuarial firms that have previously investigated insurance pricing and those with experience researching driver behavior and safety for other purposes, where the experience gained is germane to this solicitation.

Funds Available: The FHWA anticipates that proposal awards in this topic area would range between $0 and $300,000 in Federal funding depending on the number of proposals awarded and the complexity of component elements of the research. The total award amount across the two topic areas is anticipated to be $300,000.

TOPIC 2: ASSESSMENTS OF EXISTING PAYDAYS INSURANCE OFFERINGS ON

REDUCED CLAIMS

The FHWA desires to sponsor research that would deploy genuine PAYDAYS insurance pricing (with the goal that the majority of the premium is usage based and that the pricing is sufficiently transparent that an insured would know the specific effects of driving exposure/behavior changes on his or her premiums), but where the pricing models are developed outside of this effort. For such proposals, the Offeror may conduct one or more before-after tests whereby a new pricing treatment and related communication’s protocols are deployed, and changes in driver behavior and claims’ risk are monitored, documented, analyzed for statistical significance, and subsequently made publicly available. The goal of proposals of this nature is to demonstrate the savings in reduced claims that result from PAYDAYS insurance pricing.

The successful Offeror(s) may be implementing or about to implement PAYDAYS insurance or similar financial incentives to reduce driving exposure or risk, or work closely with a company implementing such insurance or related incentives. In addition to having relevant implementation experience, Offeror(s) should have knowledge of behavioral economics, and specifically how issues such as the framing of economic options affect consumer choice and behavioral response. Finally, Offeror(s) should have experience and knowledge in experimental design and statistical analysis.

Funds Available: The FHWA anticipates that proposal awards in this topic area would range between $0 and $300,000 in Federal funding depending on the number of proposals awarded and the complexity of component elements of the research. The total award amount across the two topic areas is anticipated to be $300,000.

Note: Future Topic Areas

The FHWA continues to investigate other research areas for potential breakthrough opportunities. The FHWA welcomes questions or thoughts about opportunities and other areas of focus that could lead to transformational changes in highway research.

V. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

Offerors may propose a period of performance of 12 - 36 months with a maximum period of performance of 36 months. If an Offeror proposes a period of performance exceeding 12 months, each additional year of performance shall be proposed as an option year. The FHWA anticipates that proposals funded in FY2013 would have an approximate award date beginning September 2013.

VI. AWARD TYPE:

The FHWA may award either contracts or cooperative agreements as a result of this BAA. The Contracting Officer will make the final determination whether a contract or cooperative will be awarded. Three factors affect the decision to award a procurement contract or assistance award, and if an assistance award, a grant or cooperative agreement. The three factors are:

o Legislative authority;

o Principal purpose; and o Degree of Federal involvement.

Assistance agreements differ from contracts in several key ways:

The primary goal of a procurement contract is to procure goods or services for the use of or to directly benefit the Federal awarding agency; the primary goal of an assistance agreement is to further a public purpose.

Procurement contracts allow for the vendor/supplier to make a profit, while assistance agreements are cost-reimbursable agreements in that the only permissible charges are actual costs that are directly related to the project and an amount of indirect costs based on an agreed-upon rate.

Procurement contracts require “deliverables” that the Contracting Officer (CO)/ Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) must test and accept; assistance agreements do not include deliverables, but may require other submissions (e.g. reports) described in the award document.

A 50% non-Federal cost share as defined at 49CFR§19.23 is required for all assistance agreement proposals awarded under this BAA in accordance with Section 5502 of SAFETEA- LU as prescribed in Public Law 109-59 Title V Research. The FHWA encourages leveraging Federal funds with other public or private resources.

NOTE: A non-Federal cost share is not required for contract proposals.

As discussed in detail below, FHWA’s Office of Operations seeks to award contracts and/or assistance agreements to one or more partners to gather and analyze vehicle mileage and other driving-related data, alongside claims’ data, to design one or more PAYDAYS insurance pricing protocols to be made publicly available. Alternatively or additionally, FHWA seeks to award contracts and/or assistance agreements to one or more partners implementing PAYDAYS insurance to determine the driver-exposure reductions and claims’-reduction benefits, and thus the actuarially-justified premium savings, resulting from such insurance offerings.

VII. ELIGIBILITY:

All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the FHWA. All responsible sources include but are not limited to large and small businesses & historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions of Higher Education

(MIHE).

VIII. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS:

The studies proposed under this announcement are broad to invite innovation and to provide the FHWA the flexibility to fund more than one research proposal in order to best address the objectives of this BAA. The selected proposal or proposals may follow any of a number of acceptable research approaches and the research scope is subject to negotiation. Offeror's research effort shall include, but need not be limited to, the following components:

1. A thorough review of the literature and previous research which establishes the state of knowledge and experience relative to the proposed research and development effort, and the relationship of the proposed work with previous research, if any.

2. A detailed discussion and critical evaluation of how the methods, techniques or technologies developed and the data collected could be used.

3. A demonstration and critical evaluation of any methods, techniques or technologies developed.

An Offeror’s proposal may recommend modification of the above areas and may include additional areas and/or tasks for study. The technical proposal submitted shall contain sufficient discussion to justify and support any alternative approach. The specific contract deliverables or assistance agreement requirements will depend upon the scope and objectives of the negotiated contract or assistance agreement. At a minimum, the Offerors shall prepare to submit a final report and a technical summary that documents the research conducted and related results in each task identified in the proposal. Additional deliverables such as interim reports, documentation, and public presentations may be required. Specific deliverables requirements will be identified in the negotiated statement of work.

IX. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:

Offerors are required to follow the guidance contained herein. The following sections provide information on proposal format, the submission process, evaluation and funding processes, and other general information. Proposals not meeting the format described in this BAA will not be reviewed.

All administrative correspondence or questions on this BAA should be directed to the Contracting Officer and should be submitted by June 3, 2013 to the following email address:

Daniel.Confer@dot.gov.

X. GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE PROPOSAL PROCESS:

Proposals will be evaluated by FHWA against the evaluation criteria outlined below. The FHWA may make more than one award for each of the topics listed in the BAA.

Offerors may submit more than one proposal; however each one must be in response to a single topic in the BAA. The topic of the proposal must be clearly identified in the proposal title on the cover page.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Awards under this program may be subject to the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, depending on the type of final products or reports to be delivered under each award. The Act requires that all electronic products prepared for the Federal Government be accessible to persons with disabilities, including those with vision, hearing, cognitive, and mobility impairments. Proposers can view Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm) and the Federal IT Accessibility Initiative (Home Page) (http://section508.gov/) for detailed information.

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA): Offerors are advised that any activities involving information collection (i.e., surveys, questionnaires, etc.) from 10 or more non- Federal entities, including States, are subject to PRA requirements and may require the FHWA to coordinate an OMB Information Collection Clearance, a process that generally takes six months.

XI. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS:

All proposals should be submitted in Microsoft® Word processing program or text searchable Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF).

Proposals shall consist of two separate volumes:

Volume I – Technical Proposal and Management Approach Volume II – Cost Proposal and Business Information

The proposals shall be prepared in the following format: 8.5 x 11 inches, one and one-half line spacing or double spaced, in at least 10 point type.

Volume I

Volume I should be between 10 – 40 pages in length with 40 pages being the maximum. The contents of any appendices shall, unless explicitly indicated otherwise below, count against the 40-page limit and shall be limited to figures and other content that directly support items discussed in the text of the proposal. Proposals with Volume I in excess of 40 pages may not be reviewed. Proposals with less than the maximum number of allowed pages will not be penalized. Offerors are encouraged to submit concise, but descriptive, proposals.

Volume I of the proposal shall include the following sections, each starting on a new page:

(a) Cover Page: This must include the BAA number, proposal title, project duration, type of business or organization (large business, small disadvantaged business, other small business, HBCU or MIHE, other educational, or other nonprofit), complete list of subcontractors, technical and administrative points of contact including addresses, telephone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and facsimile machine numbers. The cover page does not count against the page limit for Volume I.

(b) Executive Summary: The summary should include: (1) a description of the proposed project and how the proposed effort will meet the objectives of the BAA, (2) a description of the significant innovative ideas proposed, (3) a comparison of these innovative ideas with current approaches and the current state of the art, (4) the expected impact of the research if successful,

(5) a brief description of the research approach and the key anticipated milestones, (6) the process and metrics recommended for measuring the impact of the research and the systems and products developed from it, and (7) a summary of the anticipated program deliverables.

(c) Innovative Claims (optional): Provide a summary of significant innovative technical claims.

Identify any innovative technologies and technical ideas to be pursued and the expected impact on the state of the art if the proposed efforts are successful.

(d) Vision: Describe the proposed end product(s) and how the proposed effort will meet the objectives described in the topic’s description in the BAA. Describe the impact and relevance of this proposed research or system development effort on highway programs and activities, where appropriate.

(e) Technical Rationale: The technical rationale section must include technical arguments to substantiate the technical quality and merit of the claims made in Sections (b), (c), and (d), provide a summary description of the technical approach, consistent with Sections (f) and (g), and also provide a comparison with other ongoing research indicating both advantages and disadvantages of the proposed effort/approach. Describe and order the two or three most challenging technical areas and activities related to the proposed research or system development. Indicate approaches for mitigating technical and schedule risk should the proposed research produce weaker than anticipated results. Describe any parallel or alternative development approaches or systems, and the rationale for their use if they are being considered as back-ups. Indicate the potential impact of these alternatives on the performance goals and objectives described for the topic in the BAA.

(f) Statement of Work (SOW): This section must detail the relevant background information, the objective(s) of the proposed effort, the overall planned scope of the effort, and the technical approach for accomplishing the proposed effort. A chart of the proposed Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) must be provided to describe both the high level tasks and the subtasks at a level of detail sufficient to ensure that individual subtasks are clearly identified and allocated to a single project group or functional group within the proposing organization or to a single clearly identified subcontractor. For each task and subtask, provide a description of the proposed effort, significant timing constraints associated with the specific task and subtask to be performed (such as, "this task y can only be initiated after successful completion of task x"), the anticipated duration in both calendar time (weeks or months) and in resource time (person-hours and person-weeks or months), the planned specific utilization of personnel from specific project groups, functional groups and subcontractors, and also the anticipated results, products, or deliverables associated with the completion of each tasks and subtasks.

(g) Schedule, Milestones, and Evaluation Metrics: This section must provide a summary of the schedule, milestones, and associated evaluation metrics for the proposed effort. A Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) format shall be utilized in which the technical tasks and subtasks from the SOW, described in section (f) above, shall be listed along the vertical axis of the schedule chart and time, with planned program phases (indicated by time increments) identified along the horizontal axis of the schedule chart. All significant experiments, simulations, field demonstrations, and other tests to be performed should be identified. Each milestone on the chart(s) shall be numbered. There shall be a separate table listing each of these milestones, the planned date of completion, the planned evaluation metrics, and the criteria for successful completion of the milestone.

(h) Deliverables and Products: This section must consist of two subsections: Deliverables and Products. The deliverables subsection must describe and enumerate the anticipated deliverables for the proposed effort, both preliminary and final. The products subsection must describe and enumerate any additional anticipated results or products, including transferable knowledge expected, if applicable. This section should address specific innovative approaches the Offeror will take to facilitate knowledge transition and provide a clear description of how results will be made sharable to others. Any restrictions on software, other data, or hardware developed under proposals that would affect this practice should be clearly identified in this section. The Government expects to obtain no less than Government Purpose License Rights to all software delivered as a part of these funded efforts. All software deliveries, preliminary and final, shall include as a minimum, well-documented source code in electronic readable format, overall software architecture documentation, overall and individual module interface documentation, and a users’ operations manual. If applicable, all hardware deliveries shall include all documentation necessary to reproduce (assemble) and operate the delivered hardware system(s).

(i) Proprietary Claims: This section must provide a summary of any proprietary claims to results, software, hardware, prototypes, or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the research, results, software, hardware, prototype, or system proposed for development under this BAA. Any claims made in other parts of the proposal, such as in sections (c) and (h) above, which would impact the claims in this section must be identified through cross-reference in this section. As mentioned in section (h) above, the government expects to obtain no less than Government Purpose License Rights to all software delivered as a part of these funded efforts.

If there are no proprietary claims, then this section shall consist of a statement to that effect.

(j) Management Plan: This section must describe the overall approach to management of this effort, including a brief discussion of the proposed organization and the use of personnel and other resources. Provide a description of how the proposed effort, as described in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), will be executed. Refer to significant tasks and subtasks identified in the SOW (section (f) above) and to the Schedule, Milestones, and Evaluation Metrics (section

(g) above) and provide a rationale for allocation of resources to proposed project groups, functional groups, and subcontractors. Indicate planned government research and facility interfaces, if applicable, and planning, scheduling and control practices. This section should also describe the partnership structure between the entity proposing work and other public and private sector entities funding or otherwise substantially participating in the work.

Note: The Management Plan and Technology Transfer plan (section (k), next) should provide some discussion on how we will know the work is successful. Project evaluations will be conducted at key mid-point milestones or at completion to document accomplishments.

(k) Knowledge and System Transition Plan: The knowledge and system transition plan should describe the plans and capabilities to accomplish such transition. It should describe the anticipated stage of development anticipated at the completion of the proposed effort, describing how the research is anticipated to result in an increased understanding/expansion of the knowledge base for the topic, and the anticipated overall approach to advancing the knowledge further, either through further applied research, commercialization, or other mechanisms.

(l) Facilities: This section should include a description of the facilities that would be used for the proposed effort.

(m) Experience: This section should include a description of relevant capabilities, work, and significant accomplishments in areas associated with the proposed research area or in closely related areas. Associate the described relevant experience to the specific project group or functional group in the proposing organization or to the specific proposed subcontractor(s).

(n) Key Personnel: This section should include a list of key personnel, with title and identification of association to a specific project or functional group within the proposing organization or to a specific proposed subcontractor. Indicate the proposed amount of effort (person-hours) to be expended by each person during the proposed program, including for option years, but with such information indicated separately for each option year. Resumes shall be provided for all key personnel. Resumes shall not exceed two pages, and are not included in the total page limitation for this part of the proposal.

(o) Qualifications: This section should include a concise summary of the relevant qualifications of all key personnel proposed along with other major sources of support for them (limited to no more than two pages per key person). If necessary, the Government will request additional resume and qualification related information. As with the subsection immediately above, materials furnished in response to this subsection will not be included in the page limit.

(p) Subcontracts/Consultants: If subcontractors and/or individual consultants will be used in carrying out the requirements of this project, the following minimum information concerning the subcontractor shall be furnished:

a. Name and address of the subcontractor or consultant.

b. Statement of work and work plan (schedule) for the portion of work to be conducted by the subcontractor or consultant.

c. Names and positions of personnel who will work on the project.

d. A signed letter of commitment or other statement from each proposed consultant and/or subcontractor indicating that each has been approached on the matter of participation in this contract/task order and is willing and able to do so in the terms indicated.

(q) Letter of Support: A signed letter of support from potential end user(s) if applicable.

(r) Other Proposals: This section must include a summary list of all current and pending proposals being executed or proposed to be executed with the support of personnel proposed in this effort. This list should be ordered by the size of the effort (from largest to smallest) and should include start and end dates, total project cost, and the average amount of time (person-hours per month) planned or currently being expended on each effort. The list should be organized by names of the key personnel and other significant senior personnel. If the summary list is greater than 2 pages long, indicate at the bottom of the second page the number of additional current and pending proposals and the total project cost associated with these remaining efforts. If required, a request for the complete list will be made.

(s) Bibliography: This section should include a bibliography of relevant technical papers and research notes which support the technical concepts and innovative ideas described in this proposal.

Volume II

Volume II of the proposal does not have a page limit and shall include a Cover Page. If necessary, the government will request additional cost back-up information, as appropriate.

All proposers shall include in the cost proposal the following mandatory business information regarding your business or institution:

a. Business Size

b. Federal Tax Identification Number (TIN)

c. Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) Number

d. Name and contact information (mail address, telephone, and email address) of your authorized business representative/point of contact

e. The Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) 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. (See Attachment 2, Section XIV).

A fully detailed cost break-down is required showing costs by each major cost category, including (as applicable) direct labor, fringe benefits, subcontract costs, other direct costs (travel, equipment, etc.), and indirect costs for the initial phase of the proposed effort.

Provide a separate and also fully detailed cost break-down for each optional future phase proposed. (i.e. any work beyond the first 12 months)

The cost detail shall include:

Direct Labor:

o Personnel by name or labor category o Number of hours proposed (commercial organizations) or percent of effort

(organizations subject to OMB Circulars) o Hourly unburdened labor rate (commercial organizations) or salary rate and basis (9- or 12-month basis) (organizations subject to OMB Circulars) o Fringe Benefits Rates applied (if applicable)

Other Direct Costs. Other Direct Costs shall be supported by explanation of estimating factors and other relevant supporting details. For example, travel costs shall be supported by detail on the estimated trips, number of travelers, and associated costs for airfare, per diem, other transportation, etc. A similar level of detail shall be provided for any meeting costs, equipment, duplication/printing charges, and other direct costs.

Indirect Costs. Discuss your proposed rates for all years. Identify the various specific indirect rates and what they are based on (e.g., labor overhead based on direct labor dollars) and how they are applied/calculated. State any differing rate proposals (for example if there is a different proposed rate when applied to travel or material purchases than when applied to subcontractor costs). Offerors must provide dollar values as well as percentages. Provide official rate approval letters if applicable.

Subcontractor Costs. Should be fully detailed, and the information used by the proposer to analyze the price of the subcontract shall be provided. An SF1411 is not required for this submission of your proposal.

Cost Sharing. Details of any cost sharing to be undertaken by the Offeror shall also be included in the cost section. Describe the type of funds (cash, in-kind, etc.) and its contribution and relationship in enhancing the proposed effort.

Volume II must also include a separate breakdown of costs by major task area. Use the same task or subtask numbers as described in the SOW submitted as part of your Technical proposal in Volume I.

If necessary, the government will request additional cost back-up information, as appropriate.

NOTE: Offerors are encouraged to propose more than one option for level of effort/funding with corresponding scopes of work for each.

Past Performance

Submit 3 Completed Past Performance Questionnaires

In the original of the Volume II proposal, include a minimum of three completed Past Performance Questionnaires by the Offeror’s customers (See Attachment 1, Section XIV).

NOTE: Provide a written justification if the Offeror cannot meet the requirements for the Past Performance Questionnaire.

1. The completed questionnaires must be submitted by current (within the last three years) customers (both commercial and Government) involving similar or related services.

2. The completed questionnaires shall be from independent sources.

3. Offerors must submit each completed customer questionnaire in a separate envelope that has been sealed by the customer for confidentiality.

4. Offerors may submit additional Questionnaires evaluating performance of major subcontractors.

5. The Government may contact the customer point of contact (POC) for verification. POC telephone number and e-mail address must be accurate and current.

6. Failure to provide complete information regarding previous similar and/or related contracts may result in eventual disqualification. The CO will consider such performance information along with other factors in determining whether the Offeror is to be considered responsible, as defined in FAR 9.101. The Offeror is responsible for ensuring the questionnaires are completed in a timely manner and are submitted with its proposal.

NOTE: In evaluating an Offeror’s past performance, the FHWA reserves: (a) the right to look beyond the Past Performance Questionnaires submitted by the Offeror, and the right to perform its own research into the Offeror’s past performance; and (b) the right to take into account any other information (not provided by the Offeror) which the U. S. Department of Transportation possesses regarding the Offeror’s past performance.

Offerors must identify any contract that was terminated for convenience of the Government within the past 3 years, and any contract that was terminated for default within the past 5 years. Briefly explain the circumstances in each instance.

Special Instructions for Cooperative Agreement Applicants: In addition to the information above, proposals eligible for cooperative agreement awards shall also complete and submit the following forms in Volume II (available at www.grants.gov or http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm).

• SF424 (Note: Applicants may leave 5a, 5b, 6, 7, 13 and blank on the form)

• SF424A

Note: Section A: block 1(a) print title of your project, block 1(b) print 20.205, block 1(c) print $ Total Federal Funds Requested, 1(d) print $ Total Cost Share, and leave blank columns (e), (f), and (g) and rows 2, 3, and 4.

• SF424B

XII. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BASIS FOR AWARD:

Individual proposals will be classified in evaluations as acceptable or unacceptable without regard to other proposals submitted under this BAA. The primary basis for selecting proposals for acceptance shall be technical factors, potential contributions to the overall objectives of this solicitation, proposed cost relative to the benefits, and availability of funds. Proposed cost will be assessed and evaluated to determine realism and reasonableness. Past performance will also be evaluated.

Technical merit will be evaluated based on the following three criteria (listed in descending order of importance):

1. Technical Merit of the Proposed Research: The technical merit of the proposed research, including the completeness, adequacy, implementability, uniqueness, innovativeness of the proposed work plan and how well the proposed research addresses the stated research objectives.

2. Understanding of the Problem: Demonstrated understanding of the issues involved in each study. Particular emphasis will be placed upon a demonstrated understanding of PAYDAYS insurance, driver safety data and analysis, and automotive insurance actuarial research.

3. Organization's Qualifications to Perform Research, including:

(a) Demonstrated availability and qualifications of the necessary staff to complete the proposed work, including qualifications of the Principal Investigator and other members of the research team, and demonstrated successful completion of similar projects;

(b) Technical management approach; and

(c) Demonstrated availability of resources, facilities and equipment necessary to complete the work proposed.

Offerors should address in full each of the above technical criteria and subcriteria. The comprehensiveness and quality of the proposed effort, especially the completeness of the proposed work plan, and past performance will contribute significantly in the selection process.

Innovative solutions, approaches and techniques which address the stated objectives will be considered. The Offeror's ability to identify technical needs and to design a study to meet these needs within budget are essential skills in the accomplishment of the proposed objectives. The FHWA reserves the right to select for award any, all, part or none of the proposals submitted.

Relative cost will be considered in the award decision. The cost proposal will be evaluated to assess realism and reasonableness.

The Government will also, as part of (3) above, evaluate the relevant merits of Offeror’s past performance on the basis of its reputation and record with its former customers. The Government will review the following areas regarding past performance: (1) timeliness; (2) responsiveness to problems or modified tasks; (3) quality of research or services performed; (4) cost control; and (5) relative size and scope of project. In evaluating past performance, the Government will consider both written information provided in Offeror’s proposals, as well as any other information available to the Government through outside sources.

Of the three factors, technical is most important. Cost will be considered second and past performance is less important than cost or technical factors.

XIII. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS:

The Government anticipates that a total of $300,000 will be dedicated to this BAA in FY 2013 for one or multiple awards. Although it is not anticipated, should additional funds for this program become available, the Government reserves the right to fund additional meritorious proposals within the stated proposal validity date. The Government reserves the right to incorporate ideas from successful offers into future contracts or assistance agreements. The Government will not reimburse Offerors for proposal or response preparation costs associated with this BAA.

Research results, including the PAYDAYS insurance pricing protocols that are developed and/or the reduced claims’ risks and loss costs of PAYDAYS insurance that are found, may be made available to the Government and to the public based on the award type determination.

This announcement constitutes the Broad Agency Announcement as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d) (2). A subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP) or other solicitation regarding this announcement will not be issued.

The Government reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. In addition, the Government reserves the right to award contracts, grants, or other instruments determined to be of benefit to the government in achieving the goals of this program.

XIV. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

1. Past Performance Questionnaire – 3 pages

2. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) form – 1 page