0 - RFP DTFH6121R00004 DRAFT.pdf

DRAFT DTFH6121R00004

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP). THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT

MAKE AN AWARD AS A RESULT OF THIS NOTICE AND/OR THE INTERESTED OFFEROR’S

RESPONSE. This is a DRAFT RFP issued for information and planning purposes only in accordance with FAR 15.201.

The objective of this draft solicitation is to identify and resolve concerns regarding the acquisition strategy, including, but not limited to, the proposed contract terms and conditions; the statement of work; the suitability of the proposal instructions and evaluation criteria; and any other industry concerns or questions. This DRAFT RFP does not constitute a formal request for proposals (RFP), nor does the issuance restrict the Government’s acquisition approach. This draft RFP is subject to change.

The Government welcomes questions, comments, and feedback on this draft solicitation. Any response will remain internal and will only be seen/used by FHWA. Comments will be reviewed by the CO and Program Office only, and may be used to resolve issues in the draft RFP, and develop a final version of this document. Responders are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this notice. Response to this notice is strictly voluntary and will not affect any potential vendor’s ability to submit a proposal if an RFP is released. The Government will not make an award on the basis of this notice and any response. The Government will not advise offerors about their potential to be viable competitors.

Any response to this draft solicitation is due no later than 4:00pm ET on March 22, 2021.

Responses shall be submitted via email to: ryan.buck@dot.gov; tamiko.aikens@dot.gov; and HCFA-32SRI@dot.gov mailto:ryan.buck@dot.gov mailto:tamiko.aikens@dot.gov mailto:HCFA-32SRI@dot.gov

SECTION B - Supplies or Services/Prices

B.1 ID/IQ MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM CONTRACT AMOUNTS

During the term of the contract, the Government shall place orders totaling a minimum of

$100,000. The maximum amount of all task orders issued against all contracts awarded as a result of this acquisition shall not exceed a ceiling of $200,000,000.

The task orders placed under the contract will be Firm-Fixed Price (FFP), Time-and-Materials

(T&M), Cost-Reimbursable (CR) or a combination of those three types, based on a determination by the Contracting Officer (CO) at the task order level.

B.2 SCHEDULE OF RATES

Labor skill sets and rate ceilings governing this contract shall conform to the descriptions found in Attachment No. J.1 and shall be listed in the Microsoft Excel format found at Attachment No.

J.2 and apply for each of the described categories for each of the contract years. The unit of issue

(rates) is the fully burdened fixed price hourly rate. These rates include Contractor employee labor, subcontractor employee labor and consultant labor and include all proportional overhead, fringe, profit/fee, General and Administrative Expense (G&A), etc.

The maximum amount of the contract listed in Section B.1 includes travel and materials. Travel and materials will be reimbursed at cost. Inclusion of indirect burden amounts or fee on material costs, including travel expenses, is not allowable.

SECTION C - Description/Specifications

C.1 BACKGROUND

The United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has long led efforts to research, develop, and evaluate transportation technologies. The U.S. DOT has strongly supported adopting and using new and innovative technologies—known as intelligent transportation systems (ITS). The ITS Joint Program Office (JPO)1 and modal partners have been a crucial component of this effort by fostering pioneering research and development in technology

(RD&T) and evaluating each generation of ITS2. These efforts have enhanced the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of surface transportation for almost three decades. This work helps save lives, improve access and mobility, and increase economic productivity.

The ITS JPO collaborates across modal administrations to coordinate and plan the U.S. DOT’s multimodal ITS technology research program, working toward improving transportation safety, mobility, and efficiency and enhancing productivity through the integration of innovative technologies into the nation’s transportation system.

The U.S. DOT also cooperates and collaborates with other federal agencies, public-sector entities, private-sector organizations, and international partners to support the implementation of

ITS across the United States and around the world. To accomplish its mission, the ITS JPO coordinates the ITS Program and initiatives among the U.S. DOT modal administrations—

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

(FMCSA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), Maritime Administration (MARAD), Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R), and St. Lawrence Seaway Development

Corporation (SLSDC).

In addition, the ITS JPO closely collaborates with current industry and academic leaders in technology and innovation. This work supports the targeted identification and evaluation of ITS investments and fosters the coordination of the ITS portfolio across the transportation system.

The ITS Program’s success depends on coordination among all these entities and most notably

1 The ITS Program was created in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) Public

Law 102-240 (December 18, 1991). ISTEA established a federal program to research, develop, and operationally test ITS and promote ITS implementation. Subsequent surface transportation laws have supported the continued operations of the ITS JPO for nearly three decades. The ITS JPO currently is authorized under the 2015 Fixing

America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act . Under the FAST Act, the FHWA is charged with carrying out the provisions in Title 23, United States Code, Sections 512-518. The law allocates $100 million for each of fiscal years

2016 through 2020.

2 What Is ITS? ITS improves transportation by integrating advanced information and communications-based technologies (ICT) into transportation infrastructure and vehicles. ITS refers to a system of technologies and operational advancements that, when combined and managed, improve the capabilities of the overall transportation system.

among the modal administrations within the U.S. DOT. The ITS JPO’s research leverages multimodal technology, applications, and data, delivering crosscutting communications and technology transfer activities that support the U.S. DOT’s ITS portfolio objectives. As research initiatives move from development and testing into technology transfer and implementation support phases, the modal administrations play a critical role in executing long-term deployment, operations, and maintenance support. Modal administrations also conduct independent ITS research on mode-specific issues.

C.1.1 ITS JPO Vision and Mission

The ITS JPO’s vision is to accelerate the use of ITS to transform the way society moves. The

ITS JPO’s purpose is to spur the development and use of ITS to move people and goods more safely and efficiently.

The ITS JPO envisions a future in which citizens and communities can enjoy safe and seamlessly integrated transportation services, and where on-demand and real-time user and data needs are met by a wirelessly interconnected transportation ecosystem. The ITS JPO aims to help build an ecosystem that offers intelligent feedback loops for continual system improvements.

Technological advances in hardware and software development, the rapid march toward the

Internet of Things, and evolutionary leaps in connectivity of devices, networks, and services present new opportunities to modernize transportation. The merging of digital and physical systems and the explosion in both the volume and types of data and intelligence from users, networks, and devices have yielded both opportunities and risks. The ways in which institutions and technology are managed often cannot adapt to the pace of technological change. Innovation demands acknowledging the impacts of disruption and building the ability to adapt quickly to ever-shifting paradigms.

Building on its success in researching and implementing ITS policies and technologies, the ITS

JPO has a distinctive vantage point from which to encourage efforts to adapt emerging and future technologies to improve transportation.

Improving safety and mobility for all transportation users means that the ITS JPO engages in a rigorous and comprehensive set of processes to adapt and “translate” ITS technologies and advancements into productive applications for the entire transportation system. These activities include:

• Partnering across modal administrations to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of next-generation ITS under real-world conditions

• Leading crosscutting efforts within the U.S. DOT that encourage the use of innovative

ITS

• Investigating methods to safeguard and defend ITS implementations and transportation infrastructure against likely risks

• Working with industry sectors to help identify, assess, and develop prospective technologies and approaches for transportation use

• Investing in and incubating emerging technologies for further development

• Facilitating adoption across the entire nation through technology transfer to industry and providing training and guidelines for deployers.

The ITS Program is technology neutral. Specific ITS technologies are evaluated for their ability to perform effectively to solve real-world transportation challenges. The ITS JPO continually assesses the feasibility, maturity, and benefits of ITS and shepherds transportation solutions from inception to implementation. In 2020 through 2025, the ITS JPO will capitalize on past investments in key research areas including automation, connectivity, and data access and exchanges and continue to augment such efforts by focusing on new emerging technologies that show promise.

The ITS JPO focuses on ITS as a system. This system includes all components of transportation infrastructure, vehicles, back offices, services, and other tools and mechanisms that serve all transportation users, including underserved communities and groups, private-sector vendors of technology equipment and applications, and operators and implementers of ITS (e.g., state, local, and tribal governments). Engaging with diverse agency, public, and industry representatives ensures that the ITS JPO does not restrict its efforts to specific technologies, but instead aligns its work to the wider objectives of improving mobility and safety for all users.

Perhaps the most important responsibility of the ITS JPO is its role in facilitating collaboration and coordination among many disparate public and private sector groups in technology and transportation to improve our transportation systems. Technology is becoming more integrated across all industry sectors; connectivity between all modes of transportation is increasing. The

ITS JPO strives to examine the system as a whole to bring innovations that will improve transportation.

In order to achieve its mission and vision, the ITS JPO uses five general strategies:3

• Identify and assess technologies;

• Coordinate and lead ITS R&D;

• Demonstrate value;

• Support implementation; and

• Maintain ITS technologies

C.1.2 ITS JPO Program Areas

The ITS JPO’s current program areas for the years 2020 through 2025 are as follows:

• Emerging and Enabling Technologies;

o GOAL: The ITS JPO will coordinate and conduct investigations and exploratory research into emerging technologies across government, academia, and the private sector. This research will provide the U.S. DOT with a significant understanding

3 For additional information on the mission, vision, and research program of the ITS JPO, please review and refer to the ITS JPO Strategic Plan 2020-2025. This document is available at:

https://www.its.dot.gov/stratplan2020/index.htm https://www.its.dot.gov/stratplan2020/index.htm of the potential benefits and disruptions these technologies could represent to the transportation system.

• Data Access and Exchanges o GOAL: ITS research will develop mechanisms for jurisdictions to have ubiquitous, consistent, trusted access to ITS data to support accelerated integration of automation, artificial intelligence applications, and transportation service data with other essential public services. Transportation institutions and

ITS deployments will adopt innovative, accessible, and secure IT best practices.

• Cybersecurity for ITS;

o GOAL: ITS will be cyber-resilient. The vulnerabilities that ITS deployments create in the transportation system will be continually and systematically assessed at all levels so that risks associated with malfunction or malfeasance are mitigated to an acceptable level and resiliency plans exist and are in use.

• Automation;

o GOAL: ITS research will advance the safe, interoperable, and efficient integration of automation technologies into the transportation system.

• Complete Trip (ITS4US) o GOAL: ITS research will create new technology and deployment configurations that eliminate “transportation deserts” and create access to effective “complete trips” for consumers.

• Accelerating ITS Deployment4 o GOAL: ITS research will facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technologies into regular practice and help bring the next generation of ITS into interoperable deployment. ITS research will provide foundational information to reduce uncertainty for market investors and minimize industry risk.

▪ ITS Evaluation

▪ ITS Professional Capacity Building

▪ ITS Architecture and Standards

▪ ITS Communications

For more detail on these programs, please refer to the ITS JPO Strategic Plan 2020-2025, the link to which was provided above).

The ITS JPO administers a $100+ million annual budget for ITS Research and Development, which includes related supporting activities. To manage this program, the ITS JPO has a staff of program managers, each having multiple responsibilities working across the various transportation modes developing applications of ITS technology that will be deployed across the nation.

C.2 CONTRACT SCOPE

The scope of this contract is limited to providing technical support services in the program areas identified below in sections C.3 and C.4

4 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (01/14/2019), Public Law No: 115-435) focuses on improving government’s capacity to generate and use evidence/data. See: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4174/text.

C.3 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this contract is to provide subject matter expertise, skills and capabilities, and contextual experience to assist in delivering the ITS Program in the following program areas:

ITS-Specific Expertise:

• Emerging and Enabling Technologies

• Data Access and Exchanges

• Cybersecurity for ITS

• Automation;

• Complete Trip (ITS4US)

• Accelerating ITS Deployment o ITS Evaluation o ITS Professional Capacity Building o ITS Architecture and Standards o ITS Communications

Knowledge, Skills and Capabilities in the following broad areas:

• Program and Project Management Support

• Data Management and Support

• Technical Analysis Support

• Systems Engineering Support

• Policy, Institutional, Regulatory and Legal Support;

• Business Planning and Financial Services Support

• Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Telecommunications Spectrum Support; and

• Communications and Outreach Support.

Contextual Experience in the following broad areas:

• International

• US Government Legislative and Executive Branches

• Regional, State and Local/Tribal Governments;

• Innovative Research Identification and Delivery

• Technology Transfer and Training (T3)

• Requirements Development Support

• Program management, Startup and Transition.

C.4 DETAILED REQUIREMENT

C.4.1 Task Order Specific Requirements

The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supervision, and other items and services necessary to provide technical and programmatic support services, on a task order basis, in support of the mission of the ITS JPO. The Contractor shall analyze technical, programmatic, and administrative issues and provide technical support as required by the ITS JPO, other operating USDOT Administrations, and other stakeholders who partner in the JPO’s mission and vision.

The Contractor shall also be required to conduct special studies on policy and technical matters, research and evaluations related to and in support of the ITS JPO’s program activities that raise awareness and understanding of ITS technologies and services, including (but not limited to) development and use of technical tools, including models and computer aided instruction;

develop and apply modeling, data analysis and other analytical techniques, technology transfer and technical assistance, including development and delivery of training, to state and local transportation professionals; and for program assessment including project evaluation, performance measurement and process improvement.

In addition, the Contractor shall be required to work with ITS JPO partners and stakeholders to support and coordinate programs and activities. However, all decision-making and program management authority shall remain with the Government.

The Contractor shall provide various products and deliverables on a task order basis in support of the ITS JPO’s program activities and USDOT’s mission.

The following descriptions define the broad work areas anticipated in the contract and describe the associated qualifications required. Although some work areas reflect areas of continuing activity, many are short term and will change with the activity in the ITS program and shifting

JPO and USDOT priorities.

C.4.1.1 Products/Deliverables

The type of products/deliverables submitted under this contract may consist of, but are not limited to the following:

• White papers, technical reports and memoranda

• Technical reports

• Models/tools/analyses

• Presentations

• Workshops/seminars/meetings/conferences

• Prototypes

• Case studies

• Handbooks

• Instructor guides

• Best Practices documents

• Videos

• One page flyers

• Briefs

• Articles

• Brochures/fact sheets

• Marketing materials

• Website development and management/web-specific content/wireframes

• Software/computer code

• Literature reviews

• Program management reports and analyses

• Roadmaps and schedules

• Systems engineering documents including Concept of Operations (ConOps)

• Documents for briefings and data calls

• Communications, training and outreach materials (including videos/PowerPoints)

• Webinars, conferences and workshops (logistics and technical materials);

• Surveys

• Databases

• Talking points

• Strategic planning materials

• Program review support materials

• Regulatory and legal documents

• Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) documents

• Requirements Analysis documents

• Needs/Gap analysis documents

• Economic and financial analysis documents

• Charters

• Business intelligence tools (including industry analysis documents and technology scouting documents)

• Technology assessment and diffusion analysis documents

• Technology analysis and assessment documents

• Meeting minutes/transcripts

• others as appropriate to ensure technical support in the six program areas identified above

The following are examples of what may be included to develop the products/ deliverables. This list is not intended to be comprehensive, and shall not be constituted as the only product approaches:

• Research

• Surveys

• Data/Analysis/Planning

• Prototyping/Pilots/field testing

• Evaluations

• Technical Subject Matter Experts/Expertise

• Interviews/Focus Groups

• Stakeholder/Outreach Sessions and Supporting Materials

• Transcripts/Closed Captioning/Minutes

• Meeting management/logistics

• Graphic/Design

• Spreadsheets

• Complex systems analysis/engineering

• Outreach/Marketing

• Software Development

• Peer Exchanges/training/instruction

• Performance Measurement

• Development of Strategies/Practices/Goals

• Administrative Assistance

• Data call responses

• Quick turnaround requests

• Event attendance

• Presentations

• Meeting facilitation

• others as appropriate to ensure technical support in the six program areas identified above

C.4.2 General Subject Matter Expertise

The Contractor’s subject matter expertise must span the breadth of ITS to encompass the current needs of the JPO and all of its stakeholders, both inside and outside of the USDOT, while also providing targeted expertise to address the emerging needs of the USDOT in its research efforts.

The Contractor shall provide multi-modal technical assistance and support to the ITS JPO, its

Modal Administration partners through the Department of Transportation, and its stakeholders in the public, private, and academic sectors. This support encompasses the technical support for pursuing ITS research and development that contributes towards deployment.

C.4.2.1 Emerging and Enabling Technologies

Technical assistance in this area shall support the activities described in the 2020-2025 ITS

Strategic Plan in the section entitled “Emerging and Enabling Technologies”, as well as the U.S.

DOT’s departmental priorities, including but not limited to socio-economic and racial equity, climate change, and economic recovery.

As noted in the U.S. DOT RD&T Strategic Plan5, the Department seeks to advance the adoption and use of emerging practices and technologies for transportation, particularly where they play a key role in providing public benefit to Americans.

Emerging and Enabling Technologies is a new program area focused on identifying and assessing next-generation technologies. By formalizing these activities into a program, the ITS

JPO and modal partners have a mechanism to determine opportunities and risks for introducing

5 https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/USDOT-RD%26T-Strategic-Plan-Final-011117.pdf https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/USDOT-RD%26T-Strategic-Plan-Final-011117.pdf promising innovative or disruptive technologies to transportation.

Activities include:

• Identifying and assessing the potential of emerging technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, passenger drones, or Hyperloop) for adoption or adaptation to the transportation system;

• Exploring and developing institutional models and best practices that support system flexibility so that state and local agencies can adopt and use next-generation technologies

• Developing roadmaps to track rapidly evolving innovations such as new communications technologies (e.g., 5G);

• Researching and developing ITS technologies and systems that would support the efforts at addressing climate change, as well as creating equitable access to transportation technologies and services and improving mobility options for all travelers.

Planned activities include, but are not limited to:

• Identification of research needs and opportunities by exploring federal, state and local, private-sector, and academic research on technologies;

• Researching and testing communications technology to support transportation connectivity to enable cooperative ITS and connected and automated transportation;

• Investigating future spectrum use models that support transportation safety and system efficiency;

• Developing new institutional models to help accelerate equitable adoption of technology innovations;

• Transferring technologies from exploratory research to development and deployment, whenever appropriate.

C.4.2.2 Automation

Strategic Plan entitled “Automation”

Automation has the potential to transform safety, mobility, energy, and environmental efficiency;

increase productivity; and facilitate freight movement within our nation’s transportation system.

The ITS JPO’s automation research is a component of the U.S. DOT’s vision of supporting the safe, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective integration of automation into the broader multimodal transportation system.

As discussed in Automated Vehicles 3.0: Preparing for the Future of Transportation,6 the public and private sectors must work in partnership to improve the safety, security, and accessibility of automation technologies and address the concerns of the general public. The document describes important roles for the U.S. DOT modal administrations as well as roles for state legislatures;

state highway safety officials; IOOs; state commercial vehicle enforcement agencies; public

6 https://www.transportation.gov/av/3/preparing-future-transportation-automated-vehicles-3 https://www.transportation.gov/av/3/preparing-future-transportation-automated-vehicles-3 transit; state, local, and tribal governments; transit operators; freight operators; the private sector;

academia; and the public.

The ITS JPO’s role is to facilitate multimodal automation research and collaboration in safety, infrastructure interoperability, and policy analysis. Responding effectively to automation requires a cross-modal effort, as the expertise on various aspects of automation resides in many parts of the U.S. DOT. Crosscutting tools such as evaluation methods, data access and exchanges, and development of other decision-making tools support these three areas. Finally, addressing cybersecurity concerns is a key role for automation and for ITS generally.

Planned activities to advance automation include (but are not limited to);

• Make Human Factors research results on interactions between users/humans and automated technologies publicly available to deployers and policymakers

• Identify, research, and document needs related to infrastructure readiness to support automated vehicle testing, deployment, and integration for knowledge transfer

• Effectively document and communicate the safety implications of truck platooning through testing and real world assessment

• Identify and document new roles for automation technology to address transportation challenges in accessibility, mobility, and availability of transportation (for instance, in underserved communities)

• Use real-world demonstrations of cooperative automation to illustrate system performance benefits and spur public- and private-sector long-term investment, adoption, and use of these technologies

C.4.2.3 Data Access and Exchanges

Strategic Plan entitled “Data Access and Exchanges”

The ITS Data Access and Exchanges program area focuses on enabling access to core transportation data across the ITS ecosystem. Access to harmonized data across the nation is essential to the integration of automated vehicles, which are highly data-dependent. This research seeks to foster the adoption of modern technology best practices essential to trusted data exchanges. As vehicles and travelers cross jurisdictional boundaries, exchanges are a key component of data access and are crucial for the next generation of interoperable transportation.

ITS data is a critical tool for public agencies, academic centers, and private companies who are creating new ITS innovations and services. Consistent and timely access to this data increases the return on federal investment in ITS research and demonstration projects and informs future investment decisions, which speeds deployment and produces widespread benefits.

The ITS JPO is positioned to work across the U.S. DOT modes and OST offices to develop and coordinate research, including:

• Helping to eliminate data silos and establish interoperable interfaces between infrastructure owners and operators (IOOs), original equipment manufacturers, and data brokers on key elements such as digital maps or system-wide operational data

• Facilitating consensus definitions on what constitutes core data

• Researching scalable solutions for trusted data exchange across jurisdictional boundaries

• Providing technical assistance and funding to IOOs to help them conform to data best practices in collaboration with their Chief Information Officers.

Planned activities to advance Data Access and Exchanges includes (but is not limited to):

• Define timely and consistent data access protocols for important areas such as work zone data

• Make ITS evaluation data available in a timely and consistent manner to support testing and certification by vendors

• Enable data access across jurisdictional boundaries in a trusted and efficient manner;

establish scalable mechanisms to update data and specifications in real time

• Provide guidelines and demonstrated examples for resolving key institutional adoption barriers such as privacy and cybersecurity

C.4.2.4 Cybersecurity

Strategic Plan entitled “Cybersecurity”

The Cybersecurity for ITS program area was developed in response to the urgent need to protect

ITS from cyberattacks. Securing transportation’s critical assets and infrastructure against cyber threats is a shared responsibility of both the public and private sectors. Executive Order 13800

(issued May 11, 2017) makes federal agencies accountable for managing cybersecurity risks to their ecosystem and further encourages them to work with all entities to adopt the National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework.7

The ITS JPO is positioned to work across the U.S. DOT modes to develop and coordinate research that addresses cyber vulnerabilities from an integrated, multimodal perspective. This role includes defining shared priorities, developing related policies, identifying and addressing cross-modal cyber issues, and sharing best practices and information. The ITS JPO also offers leadership, information, and resources to state and local agencies that cross modal boundaries and ensure risk management across the transportation system.

Planned activities to advance cybersecurity for ITS include (but are not limited to):

• Develop an ITS-specific NIST Cybersecurity Framework companion resource to guide decision-making and identify and mobilize organizational resources

• Create a system for sharing lessons learned from cyber incidents and implement processes to rapidly share threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigation strategies throughout the

7 https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework transportation sector

• Pursue artificial intelligence strategies to detect and mitigate attacks to help lessen the impacts on critical infrastructure

• Develop plans for contingencies to allow for continued operation during a cyber-attack

• Increase the number of workers skilled in ITS, information systems, and cybersecurity employed by industry

C.4.2.5 Complete Trip-ITS4US

Strategic Plan entitled “Complete Trip”

Complete Trip – ITS4US (Intelligent Transportation Systems for Underserved) Deployment

Program is a new research area, co-led by FTA, FHWA, and ITS JPO. It addresses the persistent and serious lack of transportation access or availability for Americans facing economic constraints, living in remote areas, living with disabilities, or seniors. The Complete Trip –

ITS4US vision will leverage ITS and facilitate public-private partnerships to allow for a traveler-centric approach that improves mobility options for all travelers, including travelers with disabilities, travelers from rural areas, and lower-income travelers.

The ITS JPO plays a role in leading research to understand how technology can enable people to travel independently, regardless of their individual abilities from the start of a trip to the end.

Planned activities to advance Complete Trip-ITS4US include (but are not limited to):

• Work with the multimodal Mobility Innovation Working Group within the U.S. DOT, other federal agencies (Labor, Health and Human Services, and others), and stakeholders to conduct a needs assessment and develop a research roadmap and plan to enable a coalition to develop and deploy technology solutions for underserved communities

• Identify high-impact technologies that can benefit multiple underserved communities for integration into a prototype service deployment

• Integrate service deployment solutions into the ITS architecture reference so that industry-based standards are available to support accelerated deployment

• Evaluate costs and benefits to identify if or where policy solutions are needed to mitigate a lack of private sector investment in the new solutions

C.4.2.6 Accelerating Deployment

Strategic Plan entitled “Accelerating Deployment”

As new ITS technologies and systems evolve into market-ready products, the initiatives associated with Accelerating ITS Deployment focus on transitioning federally funded innovations into adoption and widespread use. Adoption is more likely to happen when:

• Early adopters communicate positive feedback about technology benefits.

• Understanding of the technology extends beyond the initial adopter community.

• The value of the technology is clear and has been realized.

• Limitations of the technology and costs are clearly understood.

• Tactical deployment plans exist and can be shared with additional operators.

• Training for the technology exists and is accessible to future operators.

• Pilot implementation is feasible, which is an indication of the maturity of the technology.

ITS JPO has four programs under Accelerating ITS Deployment:

• ITS Evaluation

• ITS Professional Capacity Building

• ITS Architecture and Standards

• ITS Communications.

By integrating these programs that focus on knowledge and technology transfer into the

Accelerating ITS Deployment program area, the ITS JPO has created a “lab-to-market” capability that supports transitioning federally funded innovations into use. By combining these four activities, each of which is described in more detail below, the ITS JPO is better able to coordinate actions and resources to help accelerate the deployment of ITS

C.4.2.6.1 ITS Evaluation

The ITS Deployment Evaluation Program will transform its data and decision-tool products to support evidence-based policy options and decisions that accelerate national ITS implementation. Evaluation data will demonstrate benefits and return on investments, promote effective planning, increase awareness of the “measures of readiness” needed for deployment, and identify effective interventions to accelerate national deployment of the next generation of

ITS

The ITS JPO has been collecting ITS deployment data since first authorized by Congress in

1996. The databases serve as the industry standard as well as an international resource on the performance of ITS technologies and their evolution. The data represents the only known longitudinal study on the growth and direction of the ITS market from the beginning.

The U.S. DOT measures the effectiveness of ITS through the ITS Evaluation Program. The program helps to determine the effectiveness and benefits of deployed ITS across the nation. It also assesses the value of ITS Program interventions and deployment support activities, even if they are not directly funded by the ITS JPO. The resulting data and analysis support the ITS

Program’s continual refinement of its strategic plan and direction. The ITS Evaluation

Program also actively evaluates the research initiatives of the ITS Program. The program plans to reexamine its role in assessing research effectiveness, particularly with modal partners and across the U.S. DOT. An initial vision is to coordinate across all modes and with the Research

Technical Working Groups to provide integrated and leveraged ITS evaluation guidance, best practices, and analysis capability. This coordinated guidance would support the governmentwide focus on evidence-based policymaking and evaluation in general and the specific ability to provide quantitative and qualitative analysis on the value of ITS deployments and individual technologies.

Planned activities to advance ITS deployment evaluation include (but are not limited to):

• Conduct a program review to revamp key elements of the program, including revisions to the deployment tracking survey and the knowledge databases

• Develop evaluation plans for ITS research initiatives to track the transfer of results into operation for cybersecurity, data exchanges, complete trip, and new emerging technologies

• Explore uses of data visualizations, innovative economic and policy analyses, and new approaches to evidence-based decision-making evaluation

• Provide evidence to decision-makers of the value of ITS deployment nationwide, such as socio-economic benefits, job creation, and efficiency gains

• Develop a common set of best practices or guidance that deployers can use to facilitate their planning and activities, reduce cost and time to deployment, and gather early-stage benefits

C.4.2.6.2 ITS Professional Capacity Building

The learning and knowledge transfer process will be developed to ensure that transportation industry professionals are prepared for each generation of ITS. The ITS PCB Program will provide a multimodal and multidisciplinary program for all levels of current and future transportation professionals to accelerate ITS deployment.

The ITS PCB Program was established with the mission to identify and introduce new competencies into the transportation workforce. Over nearly three decades, the program has helped to foster a technology-based workforce that uses and develops systems and applications for real-time operations and management.

Like the ITS Evaluation Program, the ITS PCB Program must change to address both the new transformations in technologies and the significant changes in how people learn and receive information. The current and near-future generations that will enter the transportation workforce were raised in the era of computers and smart phones and expect the delivery of targeted bits of learning, as needed and on demand.

Through cooperation with modal partners, other federal agencies, public-sector entities, academia, private-sector organizations, professional associations, and other partners, the ITS

PCB Program offers a variety of learning opportunities to improve ITS deployments and enable more efficient operations of existing systems. Because the targeted packaging and communication of knowledge is critical, the ITS PCB Program works closely with the ITS

Communications Program to support knowledge and technology transfer. The ITS PCB Program also identifies new needs and gaps in training and education from analyses produced by the ITS

Evaluation Program. In addition, the ITS PCB Program plays a critical role in working with the modes to mainstream ITS into the different disciplines such as Operations, Infrastructure, Safety, or Planning.

Planned activities to advance Professional Capacity Building include (but are not limited to)

• Develop modularized courseware to advance knowledge and technology transfer for connected vehicle technologies and applications on smart phones, social media, and other platforms

• Facilitate roundtable events and discussions that allow experts to inform interested stakeholders

• Expand coordination with other U.S. DOT programs to maintain a multimodal, multidisciplinary focus to transfer knowledge to decision makers

• Develop case studies, best practices, and lessons learned that serve current deployers and academic instructors and professors seeking to incorporate real-world, hands-on experiences into community college and university education

C.4.2.6.3 ITS Architecture and Standards

ITS Architecture and Standards products will be consistently available early in the technology lifecycle to support applied research, pilots, and expedited integration of emerging technologies into the transportation system, while maintaining appropriate backward compatibility so that legacy systems can remain in service as long as beneficial and the system remains fully accessible to all users.

The ITS Architecture and Standards Program must continually keep pace with evolving transportation ICT as well as user needs to enable interoperable, secure, and efficient ITS safety and mobility services. The ITS Architecture and Standards Program must also support in-service technologies throughout their lifecycle. Technological evolution brings both opportunities for additional beneficial services and additional challenges associated with secure, interoperable integration into existing ITS systems. As the ITS ecosystem evolves into an increasingly complex system of systems, the challenge of providing secure, reliable, equitable, and effective

ITS services continue to increase.

The Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT)8 is an interactive, flexible tool that describes a means to develop tailored regional and project architectures to meet local needs while supporting interoperability across key system boundaries.

It provides multiple viewpoints to support needs of a diverse set of stakeholders. It can act as a resource in state and local investment decisions and help identify points of interoperability across system boundaries within the architecture (e.g., between vehicles and infrastructure) as well as with pivotal points of interoperability to support connection to non-ITS systems.

A critical role of the Architecture and Standards Program is to monitor technological evolution both within and outside of ITS and ICT and identify opportunities and challenges that warrant updates to architecture reference and software toolsets. For instance, with each new advancement in telecommunications, a traffic management center might benefit from greater speed of data exchange or broader bandwidth for field devices, but these changes may bring about new risks requiring greater connectivity of ITS systems via public networks. This connectivity can alter and often increases security requirements. The Architecture and Standards Program provides

8 https://www.its.dot.gov/research_archives/arch/arc_it_8.htm and https://local.iteris.com/arc-it/ https://www.its.dot.gov/research_archives/arch/arc_it_8.htm https://local.iteris.com/arc-it/ analysis into how to adapt or adopt ICT standards to address these types of evolving needs and the different approaches of the various state, regional, and municipal applications of the technology.

The program also works to identify cases that warrant ITS-specific standards development and support adaption or creation of voluntary technical standards to meet ITS needs. The analysis and engagement are based on a lifecycle perspective—typically, with each next generation of architecture and standards, industry involvement is greater when the technology is less mature and industry participants are still defining interests. As industry and implementers cooperate more, they contribute increasingly to Architecture and Standards consensus-based products.

The ITS architecture reference, toolsets, and voluntary technical standards are essential to enhance the success of technology deployments. They help plan for the “unknowns,” allow for flexibility and cost-effective designs, and help to manage complexity while mitigating the dynamics of change. The ITS Architecture and Standards Program helps to evolve these critical tools to reflect technological innovations and advancements, while also maintaining the required backward compatibility and interoperability.

In the past, system architecture and especially standards were most often developed once technologies were nearly mature. However, ITS and ICT technologies are now evolving much more rapidly and the development of system architectures and standards is often needed early in the technology lifecycle to support rapid interoperable implementation of new technologies. The

Architecture and Standards Program uses the results from each ITS research area and pilot demonstration, work by industry and academia globally, the ITS Evaluation Program, and input from key groups to continuously evolve the Architecture and Standards products. Now, highly knowledgeable users with diverse interests participate as their business interests in ITS grow.

The program supports accelerated implementation of new technology innovations by advancing through iterations of the reference architecture, standards, and tools and in parallel with research and development. This process also allows legacy systems that are still functional to operate.

Planned activities to advance ITS Architecture and Standards include (but are not limited to):

• Make a complete and mature set of ITS standards available to support secure, interoperable integration of connected and automated technologies into the transportation system along with advanced ITS infrastructure services

• Identify voluntary technical standards needs and support adaption of suitable ICT standards and development of ITS standards when beneficial

• Evolve ITS architecture reference and toolsets supporting wide-scale, cross-border, interoperable deployments of ITS infrastructure as well as connected and automated vehicle deployments

• Develop additional architecture functionality to support the needs of the transportation planning community

C.4.2.6.4 ITS Communications

ITS Communications initiatives will accelerate deployment through knowledge-sharing opportunities and partnerships to deliver tailored ITS product and capability information to stakeholders throughout the transportation system.

The ITS Communications Program transforms research results, data, and knowledge into information that can be shared with the wider transportation industry and public and private entities. This is a challenging process, as the technologies are complex and highly specialized and the audiences are diverse. This communication function is essential as the transportation enterprise is a crucial element in the daily life, economy, and well-being of American citizens and businesses.

The ITS Communications Program plays a critical role in communicating the value of ITS to the world in a consistent and clear manner. Moving technology into real-world use requires targeting messages that will resonate with the audience and decision-makers, tailoring ITS products to commercial markets, and offering deployers step-by-step guidance to support successful deployments. Effective communication about new ITS innovations establishes public awareness early on; delivers insights into the ITS research areas; and sharpens awareness of the challenges associated with the new technologies.

Additionally, the ITS Program requires new channels and approaches to reach and engage diverse audiences in ITS issues, identify new innovations, and communicate the value of ITS.

The ITS Communications Program plays this role.

Planned activities to advance ITS Communications include (but are not limited to):

• Encourage market-based solutions based on U.S. DOT research and products with effective communications

• Translate ITS research results into clear, step-by-step guides for deployers

• Establish teams with modal partners to promote and mainstream ITS technologies

• Develop simplified and targeted communications materials that explain the benefits of and path to implementation of ITS technologies for state and local transportation professionals

C.4.3 Other Skills and Capabilities

C.4.3.1 Program and Project Management Support

Contractors shall provide technical management support and coordination to ITS JPO and ITS-sponsored research projects and programs as needed. Working closely with the ITS JPO and

USDOT Program Managers, the Contractor shall provide skills and capabilities such as, but not limited to, the following:

• Developing, reviewing, and analyzing technical project plans, technical project schedules, estimates, and other technical documentation

• Developing program and project roadmaps, integrated schedules, and financial/budget monitoring tools.

• Providing program life cycle management and standards support

• Reviewing contract and procurement documents and plans for technical adequacy

• Strategic planning and visioning

• Developing and evaluating technical measures and processes to ensure efficient and effective delivery of programs and projects

• Drafting technical project management presentations and reports

• Developing program and project Operational Concept documents

• Collecting and contributing project management information to ITS JPO tracking systems and information repositories

• Participating in and/or monitoring project meetings; preparing and distributing minutes, notes, or meeting-related analyses

• Facilitation and moderation of meetings and events of many types

• Coordinating and facilitating technical information exchange, coordinating technical project management input, and seeking consensus from project stakeholders via a variety of means and methods, including but not limited to interviews, meetings, and focus groups.

• Other technical project management and general administrative support services, including graphic design/support

C.4.3.2 Data Management Support

Contractors shall provide technical data management support to ITS JPO and ITS-sponsored research programs as needed. Working closely with the ITS JPO and USDOT Program

Managers, the Contractor shall provide skills and capabilities such as but not limited to the following:

• Identifying the characteristics of traditional and emerging data sources relevant to ITS and transportation management, such as data from connected vehicles and travelers and other sources within the Internet of Things, and the implications of those characteristics for data capture and management.

• Designing transportation and related databases and/or providing technical review of others’ designs, including developing requirements and analyzing and recommending design options.

• Developing portions or the entirety of data management systems, including but not limited to data formats, system architecture, interfaces, protocols, and query and analysis tools.

• Cleaning and analyzing large data sets, including data visualization, pattern finding and other big data analytics.

• Supporting the maintenance and operation of data systems.

C.4.3.3 Technical Analysis Support

The Contractor shall provide technical analysis support to ITS JPO and ITS-sponsored research…