BAA_No._DTFH6115R00031.pdf

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT

No. DTFH6115R00031

“Research Utilizing the SHRP2 Safety Data to Support Highway Safety”

June 24, 2015

GENERAL INFORMATION

Primary Point of Contact: Hector R. Santamaria, Contract Specialist

(202) 493-2402 Hector.Santamaria@dot.gov

Secondary Point of Contact: Sarah Berman, Contracting Officer

(202) 366-4233 Sarah.Berman@dot.gov

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DATES

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

BAA Opens (FBO publication) June 24, 2015

Proposals Due 2:00 pm (ET) August 3, 2015

Anticipated Contract Awards Date September 2015

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: Electronic transmissions of the proposal shall be sent to the Contract Specialist, Hector.Santamaria@dot.gov, no later than 2:00 p.m. (ET) on August 3, 2015.

mailto:Hector.Santamaria@dot.gov mailto:Sarah.Berman@dot.gov

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) hereby request proposals/applications to result in the award of approximately five (5) contracts/cooperative agreements for “Research Utilizing the SHRP2 Safety Data to Support Highway Safety.”

NOTE: This announcement constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). A formal Request for Proposals or other solicitation regarding this announcement will not be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded.

INTRODUCTION

This BAA will support the implementation of the results of the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) as authorized in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) Section 52003, Public Law 112-141 in the FHWA’s Office of Safety Research and Development (HRDS). The mission of HRDS is to help reduce highway crashes and related fatalities and injuries by developing and implementing safety innovations in a nationally coordinated safety research and development program.

This is coordinated through research teams with focus areas in safety data and analysis, roadway and roadside design, and human factors. Ultimately, the work conducted through this office seeks to advance toward the vision of zero deaths on the nation’s roadways through the development, evaluation, and deployment of life saving countermeasures; advancing the use of scientific methods and data-driven decisions;

fostering a safety culture; and promoting an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to safety.

The most comprehensive database ever gathered on driver behavior was developed through SHRP2. The Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) conducted through the SHRP2 program includes data from over 3,400 volunteer participants, from six sites across the U.S. Each participant’s vehicle was heavily instrumented with cameras and sensors. This data was collected continuously from all trips taken by each participant over 1-2 years resulting in a dataset that includes 2 petabytes of data covering 4.3 million trips.

The SHRP2 NDS data is complemented by the Roadway Information Database (RID), containing detailed roadway data collected on approximately 12,500 centerline miles of highways in and around the study sites plus additional information on approximately 200,000 centerline miles acquired from state inventories, including crash histories, traffic and weather conditions, work zones, and active safety campaigns in the study areas.

The NDS and RID data sets are geo-spatially linked and, as a result, provide state departments of transportation, researchers, and others with a uniquely powerful data resource to study driver performance, roadway design, and the interactions between them.

Accessibility to these data provides an unprecedented opportunity to construct an in-depth understanding of how drivers interact with their vehicles, the roadway and, ultimately, support the identification and development of safety improvements.

It is now possible to employ new analytical methods and tools given the level of detail, accessibility, complexity, and integration that is possible with the SHRP2 Safety data.

However, in some cases it requires a change in thinking to completely understand the possibilities with these new data sources. In order to realize the full potential of the data, researchers may need to revisit the way that they currently conduct highway safety research. This includes problem identification, testing of new analytical methods, and the exploration of proof-of-concept approaches that will eventually lead to real-world safety improvements. In addition, the size of the dataset provides unique challenges associated with access, computing power, and sample size selection. Furthermore, due to the nature of the data collected through this effort, personally identifiable information (PII) of the participants (video showing their faces, GPS data that indicates their travel patterns, etc.)

must be protected. As a result, researchers are required to access PII data at approved secure data enclaves.

PROGRAM SCOPE

This BAA aims to address highway safety challenges by funding research using the SHRP2 NDS and RID data to support the vision and goals of the FHWA HRDS. This BAA will utilize a phased approach with Phase I constituting a preliminary examination of the data and insight into its application for solving a roadway safety problem. Award selections for Phase II will be based on the success of Phase I. Research in the second phase shall define and undertake innovative approaches that ultimately provide advancements in the study of road crashes and/or implementable solutions to real-world problems. Though the overall program scope is intentionally broad, this BAA is intended to address specific technology and knowledge gaps in highway safety. The program shall ultimately lead to final deliverables that have direct value to highway safety practitioners at the State and local level.

OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION

Phase I shall be largely exploratory in nature. This phase may include an exploration of the data to support the proposed research question; testing analytical methods on a sample dataset; or revising the data needs to support the analysis. In addition, this phase shall include a complete review that establishes a firm foundation for the in-depth research to occur in Phase II. At the end of Phase I, the Offeror shall provide a technical and cost proposal for Phase II. If exercised, Phase II shall focus on an in-depth investigation of the SHRP2 safety data that leads to advancements in the study of or response to real-world highway safety problems. This includes gaining access to the necessary data, including visits to a secure data enclave to view and analyze PII data as appropriate. The project shall ultimately lead to a final deliverable(s) that has direct value to highway safety practitioners at the State and local level. Appropriate documentation shall be included to support findings and implementation procedures, as necessary.

NOTE: 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.

AWARD INFORMATION

FUNDING

Funding is available in the total amount of $500,000 for all Phase I awards under this

BAA.

The Government expects the maximum amount of federal share for each Phase I award to be $100,000. The final amount of each award may vary based on the proposed and approved work plan of each award. It is anticipated that no single proposal or organization will receive all of the available funds.

NOTE: Proposal/application preparation costs are not an allowable charge under the resulting contract/cooperative agreement.

NUMBER/TYPE OF AWARD

The Government anticipates awarding approximately five (5) contracts/cooperative agreements as a result of this solicitation.

The FHWA may award either contracts or cooperative agreements as a result of this BAA. The Contracting Officer (CO) is responsible for determining whether a contract or cooperative agreement will be awarded. Three factors affect the decision to award a contract or cooperative agreement. The three factors are:

o Legislative authority o Principal purpose o Degree of federal involvement

Cooperative agreements differ from contracts in several key ways:

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

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.

Contracts require “deliverables” that the CO or Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) must inspect and accept; cooperative agreements do not include deliverables, but may require other submissions described in the award document.

COST SHARING

Pursuant to 23 U.S.C § 502(c)(3)(a), all applications submitted for cooperative agreement consideration shall include a minimum 20 percent cost share of total program cost. For proposals submitted for contract consideration, the Government encourages, but does not require, cost sharing.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

This BAA is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to make any awards. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit proposals/applications.

CONTENT AND FORM OF PROPOSAL/APPLICATION SUBMISSION

The application as a whole must follow the format and limitations stated below:

• Proposals must be prepared on 8½ x 11 inch paper.

• Margins (Top, Bottom, Right and Left) no smaller than 1" (headers and footers are allowed in the margins) in all pages.

• Arial size 11 font shall be used for all text, including in tables and graphs.

• Applications shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Word

2010, MS Excel 2010, or in text searchable PDF format, as applicable.

• Applications must be subdivided into volumes as follows: Volume 1- Technical

Application (limited to 25 pages) and Volume 2- Budget. Volumes shall be submitted in separate electronic files. The 25 page limit for the Technical Proposal does not include the Cover page and Table of Contents. Volume 2- Budget does not have a page limit.

• A page is defined as one side of an 8 ½ by 11 inch paper. Therefore, a piece of paper with printing on both sides is considered two pages.

The application as whole must contain the following content in this order:

I. Volume 1 – Technical Proposal as described below - 25 pages maximum

• Part I Technical and Management Approach (counts towards page limit)

• Part II Staffing Approach (counts towards page limit; resumes are not counted towards page limit and can be an Attachment to Volume I)

• Part III Experience (counts towards page limit)

II. Volume 2 – Cost Proposal as described below - no page limit

• Part I – Cost Information and Other Financial Information

• Part II – Application Forms

Volume 1

NOTE: In the event a technical volume exceeds the page limitation, the Government will evaluate only the first pages identified within the limitation above.

Volume 1 Part I-Technical and Management Approach must contain:

(a) Cover Page: This must include the solicitation number, proposal title, project duration, proposed award type, type of business (large business, small disadvantaged business, other small business, other educational, or other nonprofit), the name(s) and title(s) of the person(s) who actually writes the proposal and his/her relationship to the offering organization.

(b) Executive Summary: The executive summary shall include: (1) a description of the proposed research 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 technical approach and any key technology and milestones (6) 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 research and how the proposed effort will meet the objectives. Describe the impact and relevance of this proposed research, the value it presents to the FHWA Safety program, and the applicability to State and local safety practitioners.

(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.

(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 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) and in resource time (person-hours and person-weeks), 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 and Milestone: This section must provide a summary of the schedule and milestones. This shall address the technical tasks and subtasks from the SOW, described in section (f) above and shall include the planned date of completion and the criteria for successful completion of the milestone.

(h) Deliverables: This section must describe and enumerate the anticipated deliverables for the proposed effort, both draft and final.

(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 in a cross-reference table in this section. The government expects to obtain no less than Government Purpose License Rights to any software delivered as a part of these funded efforts. If there are no proprietary claims 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 and Milestones (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, 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, including State Departments of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Universities, Foundations, etc.

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

(l) Bibliography: This section should include a bibliography (approximately 1 page) of relevant technical papers and research notes which support the technical concepts and innovative ideas described in this proposal.

Volume I Part II- Staffing Approach must contain:

(m) 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.

Resumes shall be provided for all key personnel. Resumes shall not exceed one page, and are not included in the total page limitation for this part of the proposal.

(n) 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 one page per key person). If necessary, the government will request additional resume and qualification related information.

(o) Other Proposals: Offeror shall also indicate the percentage of time that proposed staff members for the prime and subcontractors are committed to other contracts/activities during the period of performance.

Volume I Part III- Experience must contain:

(p) Experience: This section should include a description of relevant capabilities, work, and significant accomplishments in areas associated with 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).

Volume II

Volume II shall provide a detailed budget plan for the Phase I period of performance.

Spreadsheets can be formatted similarly to the format in DOT Form 4220.44, located at:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/aaa/pdfs/frm4220_44.pdf.

It shall include a fully detailed cost break-down 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.

The detailed budget plan will consist of addressing each of the following items:

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

a. Labor Rates- Direct labor by labor categories to include hours, rates and escalation. Anticipated promotions for any personnel must be included with the escalation calculation. The annual direct labor escalations rate and its basis should be clearly stated with the proposal. Discuss your proposed rate as compared to historical experience and include when and how escalation will be calculated/implemented.

b. Indirect Rates- Discuss your proposed rates for all years. Identify all the various specific indirect rates including what they are (pool and base), and what they are based on (e.g.; labor overhead based on direct labor dollars) and how they are applied/calculated. Provide dollar values as well as percentages.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/aaa/pdfs/frm4220_44.pdf

Please also provide any audit information to support these rates (for example, a copy of signed Department of Health of Human Services rate agreement).

c. Other Direct Costs- Applicants must provide a breakout and justification of Other Direct Costs by Category (travel, equipment, etc.)

d. Subcontractors- If subcontractors/subrecipients (lower tiered organizations and/or individual consultants) will be used in carrying out this project, the following minimum information concerning such, must be furnished:

i. Name and address of the organization or consultant.

ii. Organization’s DUNS number.

iii. Description of the portion of work to be conducted by the organization or consultant.

iv. Cost details for that portion of work.

v. Offeror’s cost/price analysis of each sub-recipient/contractor(s) showing how their price is fair and reasonable; and Applicant’s cost/price analysis of each sub-recipient/contractor(s) showing how their price is fair and reasonable (this includes any sub-recipient/contractor(s) that will be included in the Federal share or the non-Federal share); and

vi. Letter of commitment from each sub-recipient/contractor(s)

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.

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

2. Other Business Information

NOTE: The requirements outlined below will vary depending on whether a contract or cooperative agreement is anticipated.

a. Small Business Subcontracting Plan- Proposals for contract awards that are received from other than small businesses and that exceed $650,000 must include a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 19.7. The Subcontracting Plan does not count against the page limit for Volume II. See attachment 1.

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

i. Business Size

ii. Federal Tax Identification Number (TIN)

iii. Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS)

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

c. Standard Form LLL - Submit a completed Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of

Lobbying Activities, included as Attachment J.2.

d. Terminated Contracts - List 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.

e. Audits/Systems- A statement to indicate whether a Federal or State organization has audited or reviewed the Applicant’s accounting system, purchasing system, and/or property control system. If such systems have been reviewed, provide summary information of the audit/review results to include as applicable summary letter or agreement, date of audit/review, Federal or State point of contact for such review.

f. 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 (available at www.grants.gov or http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm).

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

ii. SF424A

iii. 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.

iv. SF424B

QUESTIONS

All questions concerning this BAA shall be submitted electronically to Hector Santamaria, Contract Specialist, at Hector.Santamaria@DOT.gov, with a cc to Sarah Berman via email at Sarah.Berman@DOT.gov, no later than 2:00 PM (ET) July 15, 2015, in order for responses to all reasonable questions to be conveyed in a timely manner.

Offerors shall direct all communications to the attention of the Contract Specialist.

Format for Questions: Each prospective Offeror e-mailing questions to the Contract Specialist should attempt to state each question in such a way that the Offeror would have no objection to the FHWA’s publishing that precise question (and its answer) in a formal http://www.grants.gov/ http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm mailto:Joseph.Fusari@dot.gov mailto:Sarah.Berman@DOT.gov

Amendment to the BAA, on www.FBO.gov. That is, each prospective Offeror shall not word questions in such a way that the publication of that question (and its answer) would divulge any information that the prospective Offeror considers to be proprietary or confidential.

This BAA is being transmitted electronically. Offerors are reminded that if you download copies of this or any other solicitation you will not automatically receive amendments to those solicitations. It is your responsibility to check back frequently to the download source to see if any amendments have been issued to the solicitation. All amendments will be posted to and downloadable from www.fbo.gov.

SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

The proposal/application must be received electronically by 2:00pm (ET) on Monday, August 3, 2015. The proposal must be submitted to the Contract Specialist at Hector.Santamaria@dot.gov.

A late proposal/application will neither be reviewed nor considered unless the Contracting Officer (CO) determines that doing so is in the FHWA’s best interest. Early submission is encouraged.

http://www.fbo.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/

PROPOSAL/APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Proposals for Phase I will be evaluated against the following criteria:

Scientific and Technical Merit Overall scientific and technical merit of the proposal, including the potential to result in increased understanding/knowledge in the field of highway safety research. Overall capabilities, including the qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed principal investigator, team leader, and key personnel who are critical in achieving the proposal objective; the Offeror's qualifications, capabilities, and experience in related technical areas; the Offeror's facilities and demonstrated ability for achieving the proposal objectives; and overall capability to manage the effort. Special consideration shall be given to multi-disciplinary teams that leverage non-traditional traffic safety disciplines.

Value to highway safety The value through advancements in research that would promote solutions that lead to significant innovations and present direct value to State and local practitioners. Special consideration shall be given to proposals that show support of the research approach and an interest in implementation of applicable research products from a State DOT(s). This may include a letter of support from a State Department of Transportation (DOT), an agreement to play an active role in the research process, or a plan for implementation following the successful development of research products.

Cost Relative cost will be considered in the award decision. The cost proposal will be analyzed to assess cost reasonableness and conformance to applicable cost principles. This evaluation factor will not be rated.

Required cost share will be reviewed to assess conformance with applicable cost principles. However, additional cost share proposed will not beneficially or adversely affect an application evaluation.

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

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

The Government will accept the application(s) that is (are) the highest technically rated using the technical criteria cited above and offer significant value to the highway safety program. The selection decision will be subject to the results of a cost analysis and funding availability.

Agency personnel from the FHWA Office of Acquisition and Grants Management will evaluate the cost criteria listed above.

Funding availability will also be considered in the award decision.

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 either contracts, grants, or other instruments determined to be of benefit to the government in achieving the goals of this program.

The Contracting Officer (CO) is the official responsible for final award selections.

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

FEDERAL AWARD NOTICES

If a proposal is selected for award, the Offeror will be notified and sent an award document for signature. Applicants not selected for award will be notified in writing by the Government. Only the CO can commit the Government.

Notice that an organization has been selected for an award does not constitute award.

Before the actual award, the Government may enter into negotiations concerning such items as program components, staffing and funding levels, administrative systems, and terms and conditions of the resulting contract/cooperative agreement. If the negotiations do not result in an acceptable submittal, the Government reserves the right to terminate the negotiation and decline to fund the proposal.