JOFOC_693JJ319D000062_FE.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Headquarters, Office of Acquisition and Grants Management, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., Washington, DC 20590.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved

This Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) is to issue a non-competitive modification to increase the ceiling under the single-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) vehicle supporting the entitled, “Non-Personal Services Contract to Support the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office

(ITS JPO)”.

The proposed modification to increase the ceiling is necessary to have enough capacity and time to continue these services. Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA) shall continue providing support services under the established contract.

The sole vendor, ITSA, was awarded the single-award ID/IQ contract on September 24, 2019, with a total ceiling of $5,000,000 for a five-year ordering period to support the ITS JPO. The contract number is 693JJ319D000062. The current ID/IQ has 9 task orders that involve trade shows, meeting planning, professional capacity building (training), a mobility-on-demand industry committee, and a college guest speaker program.

In August, 2022 USDOT hosted a national summit on the future of Vehicle-to- Everything (V2X) Deployment including connected and automated vehicles, smart intersections, personal communications devices, and smart communities. Following this summit, USDOT decided to develop and implement a national plan for V2X deployment.

USDOT will solicit stakeholder comments about the plan during the second V2X public meeting on April 28, 2023 in Dallas.

ITS JPO plans to issue a task order(s) to ITSA to help gauge stakeholder input for the plan, which will result in an increase of needed ITS research and stakeholder support services. The initial ceiling of $5,000,000 is significantly lower than what is needed to successfully provide the services FHWA needs for its new emphasis on V2X.

For several reasons, the ITSA ID/IQ needs a higher ceiling to assist with this new industry challenge. Specifically, the additional ceiling for the contract will be used for the following initiatives:

1. In-person meetings - When the ID/IQ was developed, ITS JPO communicated with stakeholders primarily through webinars. The national summit in August included more than 800 attendees in person and online and demonstrated that ITS JPO will need to have more hybrid meetings in Washington, DC and elsewhere.

The next V2X summit is scheduled for Dallas in April, 2023. These meetings are significantly more expensive to plan and manage than webinars.

2. Expanded event planning – FHWA envisions an expanded role for ITSA in the planning of V2X meeting and events. Future task orders are needed to allow for increased responsibilities, including event planning, identifying industry speakers, conducting research, and supporting industry training.

3. Increased exposure for ITS4US and ITS4Equity – ITS JPO’s premiere research project, ITS4US, is entering its second year and ITS JPO plans to issue a task order to ITSA to assist with an upgrade in our stakeholder outreach.

Traditionally, USDOT has used a “shared booth” model for trade shows where anyone from the Department can staff and distribute materials from the USDOT booth. With the burgeoning interest in ITS4US and the new ITS4Equity program, this program now requires separate booth space at shows like Transportation Research Board (TRB), Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), and the ITSA Conference and Expo. In addition, ITS JPO plans to support outreach related to SMART grants and other ITS-Related funding opportunities at trade shows like Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and South by Southwest (SXSW). These shows will significantly increase the cost of task orders related to trade shows in 2024 and 2025 from those originally anticipated.

After deobligating several inactive task orders on the ID/IQ there is $711,000 in available ceiling on the contract. There is a pending meeting planning and trade show task order that is priced at scheduled to be issued immediately following approval of the ceiling increase.

The last date to order for the ID/IQ is September 26, 2024 and this ceiling increase will allow ITS JPO to accommodate planned events or meetings between now and then.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value)

This JOFOC does not contemplate any additions or revisions to the current scope of work. The Contractor shall continue to provide the established services listed below. The Contractor has provided these services on a sole source basis to FHWA for more than a decade, the Contractor’s member-base is ITS JPO’s key stakeholder group, and the Contractor continues to provide intelligence about industry trends and insights that are valued by ITS JPO.

ITSA provides the following services for ITS JPO:

• Meeting planning

• Training

The following facts further demonstrate ITSA’s unique qualifications to conduct the scope of work under the contract:

1. The public and private organizations that would benefit from the products of this contract are part of ITSA’s membership and include those responsible for managing, planning, designing, implementing, operating, and maintaining transportation systems.

2. One of the primary strengths of ITSA is its ability to draw upon volunteer resources to blend experience from the public and private sectors. Transportation professionals donate their time to serve on ITSA-sponsored forums, committees, and other groups that will play a part in the success of the tasks of this contract.

3. ITSA has 25 State chapters that provide a venue to reach the grass-roots deployers of

ITS technology and to provide access to thousands of transportation professionals.

ITSA is the only organization in the United States that unites the transportation and electronics industries. Among its members are the electronics industries, automotive industries, public transportation agencies, and organizations of the transportation community such as Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and American Public Transit Association (APTA). This unique blending of talents and experience has proven invaluable in the conduct of the program. ITSA has provided advice and has convened stakeholders to help shape the program as well as provide guidance in the implementation of key elements of the program.

There is no other resource available, outside of ITSA, to provide the unique blending of stakeholders and technical talent that can meet the USDOT requirements essential to the conduct of the ITS program.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized

In accordance with FAR 5.201 the proposed contract action of FHWA’s intent to sole source was posted to the Government Point of Entry (GPE), www.SAM.gov from April 7, 2023 to April 17, 2023, 1:30pm (EST). No inquiries or interest were expressed in response to the posting. The posting can be viewed at:

https://sam.gov/opp/414097224e714b89be39249edff9050c/view.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable

Rates and established performance periods remain unchanged under the established ID/IQ ordering procedures where FHWA determined them to be fair and reasonable. Any additional ID/IQ orders will be issued in accordance with the established ID/IQ rates listed in the ID/IQ.

8. Description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted

Market research consisted of posting the intent to sole source to the GPE and allowing any interested sources to respond. No interest was received. The proposed ceiling increase of the ID/IQ will have no effect on rates, performance periods, or the contract’s scope outside of the ceiling increase. The last date to order is September 26, 2024 and performance under an order may run until September 26, 2025. The recompete for this effort is expected to begin in fiscal year 2024.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition

ITSA has established the only specialized committee that works in partnership with USDOT on the nationwide deployment of V2X technology. USDOT meets with ITSA’s V2X/Connected Transportation committee regularly. The committee drafts comments to help USDOT develop policy guidance and issues policy statements in support of national V2X deployment. The ITSA V2X/Connected Transportation committee includes other industry leaders including the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the American Association of State Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Alliance of Automative Innovation (AAI) and private sector firms.

10. Listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

None

11. Statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

None.

12. Certification

I certify that the information provided in this justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Approvals Signature Page

Based upon the preceding information, I hereby recommend approval of this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition.

Michael L. Pina, Contracting Officer’s Representative Date

ITS JPO

Christina Royle, Contract Specialist Date Office of Acquisition and Grants Management

James Mikell, Contracting Officer Date Office of Acquisition and Grants Management

Attorney Advisor Date Office of Chief Counsel

Attached Seperately