QA_Document_Solicitation_No._DTFT6017R0001_Amendment_000001.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 33 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- DTFT6017R00001
About this file
Governments response to Vendor questions submitted
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| NTD_Preproposal_Conference_Transcript_-_DTFT6017R00001_Amendment_0001.pdf | ||
| NTD_RFP_DTFT6017R00001_Amendment_000001.pdf | ||
| National_Transit_Database_Validation_Services_Final.pptx | PPTX presentation | |
| Conference_Agenda.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J_2_-_RESUME_TEMPLATE.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment_J-1_Pricing_Matrix.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| NTD_RFP_DTFT6017R00001.pdf |
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Sheet1
| FTA RFP/Solicitation No. DTFT6017R0001 |
| National Transit Database (NTD) Validation Services |
| Noted Section Reference | Questions | Government Responses | |
| 1 | p. 89, Sub-Factor A.2 Key Personnel and Staffing - 25 points maximum, section/terminology in question: Offerors should include a proposed work breakdown structure for accomplishing the proposed work plan and resumes for key staff members. Key personnel staffing resumes and proposed work break down should not exceed 15 pages. | Section M includes a requirement for a work breakdown structure within Volume 2: Key Personnel and Staffing. How will the work breakdown structure be evaluated or used in the evaluation? | The Work Breakdown Structure will be used to assist the Government with determining whether proposed staffing are considered potentially reasonable to meet the requirements and scope of work. |
| 2 | p. 11, Paragraph Refernce: CLIN/OBJECTIVE 001: HELP DESK AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 11/2017 - 11/2018, Text in question: FTA requires a contractor to provide technical assistance and help desk services to transit systems reporting to the NTD. All help desk communication must be recorded using the FTA provided tracking and change management tool. | What are the mean duration and the median duration of a help desk call? As it pertains to CLIN/OBJECTIVE 001: HELP DESK AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 11/2017 - 11/2018 | NTD does not currently track the mean duration of a help desk call. The program does track resolution time. Nearly 99% of all help desk calls received over the past 4 years have been resolved in under 10 minutes. |
| 3 | p. 11, Paragraph Reference: CLIN/OBJECTIVE 001: HELP DESK AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 11/2017 - 11/2018, Technical assistance has the objective of ensuring that from the hours of 8am to 7pm EST on weekdays (excluding Federal holidays)… | What is the average number of help desk calls the NTD program receives each week? | NTD receives approximately 25 help desk calls and between 10-15 emails per week. This does not include inquiries that are handled directly through assigned validation analyts. |
| 4 | p. 83, L.2.2, *NOTE: The Government strongly recommends that you provide more than the submission requirement minimum for evaluation in sponse to this RFP/Solicitation. | To what does this note refer? (What does the Government strongly recommend providing more than the minimum of?) | On page 82 of the Solicitation, there is a section entitled "Submission Requirements" at the end of the page. With this note, we are referring to the information noted that starts on page 82 and goes on to page 83 in terms of informaiton that must be provided as at minimum. |
| 5 | “Report errors or bugs experienced in the online reporting system” – Does the FTA have a legacy bug / issue tracking application in use? If so, will the new contractor have access to it and be required to use it? | The new contractor will be required to use the FTA's change management system to record system bugs. The tool currently used by the FTA for this purpose is JIRA. FTA reserves the right to migrate to new reporting system at their discretion. | |
| 6 | “1-2 dozen new transit systems to the NTD each year and processed approximately 20 requests for new APC certification” - Has an online application process already been established? Is it desired? | FTA does not currently have an online application process for new users and APC certifications. Final certification information is stored in the NTD database. Creation of an online tool is not specified within the scope of this solicitation but Offerors may include this as an innovation in their proposal. | |
| 7 | “demonstrated eligibility for NTD reporting” – Will eligibility criteria be provided by FTA upon award or are they available to review as part of the proposal process? | Additional documentation of internal NTD program processes and procedures will be provided after final award. At this time, bidders may reference our policy manual (and other related publicly available program documentation) on the NTD website: www.transit.dot.gov/ntd to understand eligibility and reporting requirements. | |
| 8 | “The FTA anticipates that additional 200-300 checks will be added for report year 2017” - Built by the service provider, FTA project team, both? | The validation checks will be built by the IT team supporting the NTD database tool. This team is separate from the Validation Services team. The winning offeror will be involved in review and testing of these checks as part of the requirements stated in CLIN 0012: User Acceptance Testing and System Requirements Documentation. | |
| 9 | FTA requires an annual summary of the year’s validation efforts, and their impacts on the data included in the apportionment data files.” - Are prior year's summaries published or available for review? | Prior year summaries are internal program documents that will be made available to the winning offeror. Current documentation is provided in the form of three memos: 1) an Adjustment Memo that is approximately 20-25 pages in length detailing data adjustments made to the apportionment data to bring it in line with standing policy; 2) a Rural Reporter Memo that is appoximately 10 pages in length showing changes to each states reported vehicle revenue miles over the prior year including causes for major changes/variation; 3) an Apportionment Memorandum that is approximately 275-300 pages in length. This memo lists the NTD ID, agency name, agency acronym, report due date, report closeout date, reporter type, UZAs served, and modes operated for each urban agency that reported to the NTD in that report year. In addition, the document presents specific information related to an agency when applicable, including: |
• If the agency is a new reporter, and why;
• Any data waivers, sampling waivers, or IAS-FD waivers;
• Any special adjustments that were made in the apportionment;
• Any data items that were marked “Questionable”;
• If the agency had a B-30 relationship with another NTD reporter;
• If any modes were added or discontinued;
• Any changes in Fixed Guideway or High Intensity Directional Route Miles; and
• Changes in service with the potential to have a large impact on amounts apportioned to a UZA.
The Apportionment Memorandum also includes an appendix with tables that summarize several aspects of the Report Year data, including:
• Deactivations;
• Failures to report;
• Reporting waivers;
• UZA anomalies; and
• STIC factor changes.
| 10 | “Sample datasets will be provided via the Government’s website at a later date.” – This statement is made in multiple locations within the solicitation. Will these be provided prior to the proposal due date? How will the government inform solicitors when the sample data sets are published (or will the government inform solicitors)? | Sample data products are available on the NTD website: www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/ntd-data. Offerors should focus on 2015 data sets, data tables and annual and monthly timeseries products. In addition to the data products shown here, approximately 9-10 separate data sets are also created from the NTD to feed the annual formula apportionment. These are considered internal program documentation and will be made available to the winning offeror. | |
| 11 | Are samples of past annual review artifacts available for offerors’ examination? | Past annual review artifacts will be made available to the winning offeror. These have taken the form of a powerpoint presentation providing an overview of validation activites, including performance against contractual timelines. This meeting also highlights policy changes or considerations proposed by the contractor for the coming report year. | |
| 12 | Should offerors propose a total not-to-exceed amount from which all special projects will be funded where the sum of task billings will be equal-to or less-than the total not-to-exceed? | This is correct. Offerors should recommend a "not to exceed' amount for the base year and each option year. This amount will fund special projects authroized by the FTA to be billed hourly up to the "not to exceed"amount. | |
| 13 | Will transition support be provided (required) during the three months prior to the commencement of the base year or during the first three months of the contract period? Three months prior to 1 November 2017, i.e. August, September, October 2017? | Three months of transition support will be provided prior to the commencement of the base year. | |
| 14 | Page 89, Sub-Factor A.2 Key Personnel and Staffing states that Project Manager, Advisor, and Subject Matter Expert are considered 'key personnel' for this project. However, the TAR Clause 1252.237-73 Key Personnel (APR 2005) on page 65 states that 'key personnel' on this contract are Project Manager and Subject Matter Expert. Could you please confirm the 'key personnel' designations for this contract? | The key personnel for this requirement are the Project Manager, Advisor and Subject Matter Expert. The clarification regarding whom is considered "key" will be addressed via an amendment to the solicitation. | |
| 15 | Page 12 states that "approximately 1000 automated validation checks are built into the reporting system. The FTA anticipates that additional 200-300 checks will be added for report year 2017." Is data validation output limited to the medium of the current Platform as a Service mentioned on page 52? | The reporting system will incorporate a number of automated validation checks as stated in the solicitation. The contractor will have access to raw data and may incorporate any number of additional validation checks to improve data quality. Offerors are encouraged to include innovative approaches to validation and data quality in their offer. Please note that this solicitation does not include scope to build (or fund) a custom platform or system. | |
| 16 | Page 55, H-24 Information Technology indicates that the validation services contractor will develop and maintain a database on the FTA server and furnish SQL interfaces. Does FTA intend to have the Validation Services contractor serve as a database administrator for a database separate from the current NTD system? Further, how does FTA envision database administration activities fitting into the available CLINs? | FTA will provide a separate data set to the contractor that is refreshed regularly. The contractor will leverage this data set, which is external to Production, to assist in data analysis and building data products. The FTA does not intend to have the Validation Services contractor serve as a database administrator for this database, which is separate from the current Production NTD system. The contractor only needs to propose personnel they feel are sufficient to support the requirements of the PWS in their data validation efforts. The current contractor is provided a nightly copy of the data entered into the NTD system. | |
| 17 | Page 84 states that "Pages shall be numbered consecutively." Would you like us to number pages in each volume separately? Or, does the consecutive page numbering apply across all volumes? | For each volume submission, there should be a page number on each page. | |
| 18 | I am hoping to find out if there is an incumbent contractor currently performing these services. If so, could I please find out the contractor name and contract number | The current incumbent is Boyd Caton Group. | |
| 19 | Would it be possible to set aside this requirement for Small Business HUBZone companies. Our firm and many others, can fulfill the requirements of this program. | The Government has reviewed your request. A determination has not been made to set this aside for Small Business HUBZone companies. | |
| 20 | Would it be possible to include NAICS Code 518210 which would allow more participation? | The Government has reviewed your request. We did not determine this NAICS to be in line with the specific services we are seeking to procure. | |
| 21 | p. 93, Section Reference: Sub-Factor B.1 Relevancy to the requirement- 15 points, Proposals will be evaluated on the relevance and quality of the past performance of the offeror from the last five (5) years as it relates to the probability of successful accomplishment of work in accordance with the PWS. | What scale will the Government use to evaluate past performance? | Information regarding how past performance will be evaluated appears on pages 93-94 of the posted solicitation. More information concerning rating can be found on page 96 of the posted solicitation. |
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