V3201012_SSJ_for_Posting.pdf

Procurement Request No. V3201012

V220T.12 (01/15)

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

VOLPE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS CENTER (VOLPE CENTER)

Office of Policy, Planning and Environment (V320)

SOLE SOURCE SAP JUSTIFICATION

A. Description of Supplies/Services.

The Volpe Center requires the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) to convene a Conference on Road Traffic Safety Needs of Developing Nations in December 2016 and develop a Conference Report per the requirements described in the Statement of Work (SOW).

The Conference Report will include, at a minimum, the following analyses:

1. Data on motorcycle crashes in Southeast Asia, including any available information and data on the number of riders, crashes, deaths. Demographic information on riders and contributing factors (e.g., alcohol involvement) will also be included.

2. Detailed information on the laws and policies in place related to two-wheeled motorized vehicles and their operation.

3. Discuss how this information may translate to Developing Nations as a whole.

4. Discussion of the shortcomings or gaps in the laws and policies.

5. Consider the best legal and policy framework to address risks.

6. Identification of parts of the WP.1 conventions or consolidated resolutions that might address some of these shortcomings.

7. Identification of the necessary legal structures that are met by neither current national legislation nor

WP.1 documents (gaps).

B. Market Research.

In December 2013, the U.S. Government signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) in India, and this MOC was extended in March 2015. Under this agreement, the U.S. and IRTE have regularly exchanged data and expertise on many modes of transportation safety and alcohol countermeasures in Southeast Asia. In November 2014, the Volpe Center was asked to help develop a White Paper on Motorcycle Safety Law and Policy and other studies, and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Volpe Center technical initiator met in Washington, DC, to discuss sources of data on motorcycle crashes and demographic information on riders and contributing factors. The IRTE’s database on motorcycle crashes was cited in that discussion as the only responsible source; no other known database can provide reliable data that can be used in the formulation of the required White Paper and other studies. In January 2015, an internet search by the Volpe Center technical initiator found no reliable alternative to the IRTE data on motorcycle crashes and demographic information on riders and contributing factors in the developing nations of India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Viet Nam, and Cambodia, to be used in writing the CR required in the SOW. These internet searches resulted in data from individual countries, most of it quite old (1980s), and none for all of these required countries.

In March 2016, IRTE presented a Consolidated Resolution focused on the unique motorcycle safety needs of developing nations to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Working Party 1 (WP.1). Following the positive feedback of that meeting and a thorough inspection of the data presented, the Volpe Center, OST, and NHTSA have elected to request that IRTE convene the Conference described in the SOW in December 2016 for a possible application to transportation safety in other developing nations.

The Volpe Center technical initiator has concluded that IRTE is the sole source for a reliable dataset on motorcycle crashes and demographic information on riders and contributing factors in the sample developing countries to be used in writing the Conference Report required in the SOW.

Procurement Request No. V3201012

V220T.12 (01/15)

C. Supporting Rationale.

The IRTE is the only source for a reliable dataset on motorcycle crashes and demographic information on riders and contributing factors in the sample developing countries for the reasons specified below.

(1) Sole Source:.

(i) IRTE has the only single dataset with motorcycle crash data on developing countries, a sample of which includes

India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Viet Nam, is required for the CR. The transportation data experts at IRTE have the technical capability to collect the appropriate data from all of the sample countries.

(ii) The motorcycle crash dataset must be reliable if it is to be useful to the Volpe Center, OST, and NHTSA. Other than IRTE, available datasets are limited to one country and are out of date by years or even decades. The transportation data experts at IRTE have the expertise to ascertain whether the data they are collecting is reliable.

(iii) It has taken IRTE years to refine its data collection techniques and data analysis expertise to the point where its dataset with motorcycle crash data on sample developing countries is a unique, valuable tool for transportation policy and solutions. If the Volpe Center does not contract with IRTE to gain access to its motorcycle crash dataset, an insightful Study will not be feasible, as much of its background data and trends analysis would be based on faulty information. Educating another entity such as a Government agency or an academic or private institute would take years and cost millions of dollars in time, facilities, and travel.

(2) Brand Name: N/A.

(3) Unusual and Compelling Urgency: N/A.