RFP_Questions&Answers.pdf

DTFR53-17-R-00002 Answers to Solicitation Questions

Technical Assistance for Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E)

1. In FRA Solicitation DTFR53-12-R-00101 for the previous RDT&E program, FRA specified 12,000 hours annually during the three-year base period (36,000hours total) with a maximum funding of $6,000,000 and 10,000 hours annually during the two-year base period with a maximum funding of $4,000,000.

Please confirm that the specified hours for the base and option periods (72,000 and 40,000, respectively) and maximum funding for the base and option periods ($6,000,000 and $4,000,000) for DTFR53-17-R-00002 are as intended.

Answer: There was an inadvertent error in the RFP. FRA estimates that approximately 24,000 labor hours will be required over the three-year base period and an additional 16,000 labor hours for the two-year option period. This is an estimate only. Actual hours may be more or less than these levels.

2. Please confirm that FRA is intentionally decreasing the number of required annual hours from the base period to the option period.

Answer: see #1 above.

3. Please clarify if travel costs are to be included within the maximum funding ceiling of $6,000,000 for the base period and $4,000,000 in the option period.

Answer: ALL costs are to be included in the maximum funding ceilings of $6,000,000 for the Base Period and $4,000,000 for the Option Period.

4. Please provide guidance on how offerors are to estimate travel costs and material costs within the IDIQ costing. Are offerors to use percentages of estimated labor costs for travel and material costs?

If so, please clarify what percentages should be employed.

Answer: Appropriate Material and Travel costs shall be proposed for individual task orders under the IDIQ contract. For the solicitation, offerors shall propose any and all costs, including material and travel costs, that it deems necessary to accomplish the Start-up Task Orders.

5. Please confirm that travel costs include Offerors indirect burdens and are exclusive of fee. Not sure I totally understand this question. I believe that travel costs are reimbursed at “cost”…not o/h or fee. Please advise?

Answer: To the extent authorized by the FAR for allowable costs and consistent with the Offeror’s estimating system, proposed Travel costs may include indirect burden; however, FRA will not pay profit/fee on travel costs.

6. Please resolve apparent conflict between NAICS code provided in Section B (541712) and Section K.1 (541330).

Answer: The correct NAICS code is 541715 – Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology).

7. Please clarify which set of instructions offerors should use for submitting Past Performance surveys

– those specified in Section L11 (sealed by past customers and included with original copy of Volume II) or those specified in Section L14 (completed forms emailed to RDTE.17R0002@dot.gov).

Answer: Part III of Past Performance Surveys shall be submitted electronically to RDTE.17R0002@dot.gov) or mailed to the address in L.3.

8. Will offerors be afforded the opportunity to choo.se the form of the Startup Tasks’ cost proposal (i.e. CPFF or FFP)?

Answer: Proposals should be CPFF.

9. Please clarify which delivery method should be used for Monthly Progress Reports – those specified in Section C.6.1 (3 copies) or those specified in Section G2 (electronic copy).

Answer: Monthly Progress Reports shall be submitted electronically.

10. In Section C.3.7 FRA requires “clerical services necessary to produce required contract documentation and maintain contract records and files.” There is no labor category identified for this nature of work in Section C.2. Will FRA be providing an updated list of labor categories, % Utilization Rates and anticipated annual hours?

Answer: The Direct Labor Categories list was provided as a guide and is not exhaustive. Offerors should include any and all Direct Labor it deems necessary to accomplish the work.

11. Will FRA be granting an extension due date due to the fact that they have replaced one of the startup task orders on December 15, 2017?

Answer: No.

12. SF33 Form shows a period of performance for the Base period of 02/21/2018 to 02/20/2021 and for the Option Period 1 of 02/21/2021 to 02/20/2023. This conflicts with the CLIN table in Section B that shows Base period of 11/01/2017 to 10/31/2020 and for the Option Period 1 of 11/01/2020 to 10/31/2022. Please advise which we should

Answer: The POP is 02/21/2018 to 02/20/2021 for the Base Period and 02/21/2021 to 02/20/2023 for the Option Period.

13. Section B (pg 3) Please advise if the Labor category table should be populated with fully burdened labor rates.

Answer: Unburdened rates.

14. Section G.4 (pg 12) Indirect Rate cost Ceilings are all TBD. Does the government plan to populate this with a ceiling rate? The categories are Cost Center, Period, Rate, and Base, can you please clarify? Information here.

Answer: This information will be completed after negotiations as a part of the final contract. This serves as a notice that the clause may be included in the contract. For each indirect/overhead cost center related to offeror’s business, state the Period (in months or years), the Rate (in percentage %) and the base (in dollars $$). If the final contract shows annual ceilings, then there would be 5 mailto:RDTE.17R0002@dot.gov mailto:RDTE.17R0002@dot.gov sets of data noted above. If the final contract shows a ceiling for the base period and option period, then there would be only 2 sets of data noted above.

15. Section H.5 (pg 13) Travel and Per Diem. Can you please clarify what the NOT-TO-EXCEED dollar amount is? If all travel must be pre-approved in writing, is there a particular procedure in place to do so and if so should we include that cost in the proposal?

Answer: The NTE dollar amount is the maximum amount that the Government will reimburse based on the Government travel regulations and guidelines. For example, if a contractor flies business class, FRA will reimburse based on a coach fare. Submit approval request to the COR.

The travel must be reasonable and necessary to complete the project.

16. Section L.14 (pg 35) Section K.1 and K2: Must be completed and returned. Alternatively, the FRA prefers submission of the Online Certifications and Representations at https://www.sam.gov. If a company has filled this out previously, will it suffice for this bid?

Answer: Yes. If an offeror has a current sam.gov account where it is approved to accept government contracts, then returning Sections K.1 and K.2 is not necessary.

Questions on Attachment J-1 Start-up Task Order – ROLLING STOCK

17. In a Press Release No. FRA 08-17, dated December 4, 2017, it has been stated that the PHMSA and the FRA will rescind the ECP mandate. Is it then safe to assume that FRA’s Final Rule - issued in May, 2015 requiring high-hazard flammable unit trains (HHFUT) traveling at speeds greater than 30 mph to be equipped with ECP brakes by 2021 or 2023 will no longer be a mandatory requirement?

Answer: Yes. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will issue a rulemaking to remove the ECP brake requirements from the Code of Federal Regulations. The Department’s decision is based on the updated regulatory impact analysis (RIA) which concluded that the expected benefits of requiring ECP brakes would not be greater than the expected costs. This is largely because the current projected volume of crude oil shipped by rail is significantly lower than that projected at the time of the May 2015 rulemaking.

18. As Part of cost - benefit analysis, Transportation Research Board had advised FRA to conduct a derailment related safety evaluation test on a tank car unit train fitted with ECP brakes at TTCI facility in order to validate the results of its finite element modeling and simulation studies. Is the above test program on schedule and under Task 3 of the present SOW, is the contractor expected to address the above while proposing technology evaluations/demonstrations support to FRA?

Answer: Yes. The test was completed and offerors may address this issue as this became part of the history of ECP brake implementation in the US and should be part of the discussion. However, this shouldn’t deter the endeavor to implement ECP in the future.

Questions Attachment J-2 Start-up Task Order – TRACK

19. We are assuming that FRA is envisioning a mobile solution, can a mobile rail cart solution also rely on a wayside mounted instrument that would work in coordination with the mobile device?

https://www.sam.gov/

Answer: Yes. We are looking for a device to collect data quickly and accurately.

20. Can you provide any more information on the envisioned ground truth reference? Is the coordinate of track center at each rail-tie to be used as a reference for GPS and other locating methods?

Answer: We will establish the coordinate of the track centerline at each tie location which can be used.

21. For speed, can you provide a ballpark number for the maximum allowable measurement time to characterize the entire track?

Answer: The current track is 500 ft. We expect to measure the ground truth at walking speed.

22. Can the Can the system utilize multiple, heterogeneous sensors/technologies relying on data fusion algorithms to determine the required track measurements, or is FRA looking to focus on a singular type of technology to determine track measurements?

Answer: FRA is looking at a fast, easy, accurate way to measure the ground truth measurement between different configuration.

23. Are rail vehicles (e.g., hi-railer) available for retrofitting with the system the contractor will develop, or would the system design include providing a rail mobility solution?

Answer: No. hi-railer will not be available. For this application, the track length is 500 ft and measurement will be taken at walking speed.

24. Does FRA expect that accuracy of the system would be verified/determined using human (track inspection) and/or other automated track geometry system measurement data?

Answer: Yes. The Contractor should demonstrate and prove the accuracy of the system. FRA will use any available means to verify this.