Justification _Airbag_Project _Signed.pdf

Control Number: DTFR53-13-009

JUSTIFICATION FOR

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Project Title: Investigate the use of Air Bags for Mitigating Grade Crossing and Trespass Accidents

1. Contracting Agency: United States Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington, DC 20590.

2. Action to be Approved: The FRA intends to negotiate a cost plus fixed fee contract to conduct an advanced research to investigate the use of Locomotive Airbags in order to mitigate the Grade Crossing and Trespass accident, under circumstances other than full and open competition.

3. Description of the Services: The objective of this project is to conduct a two‐year effort to evaluate the feasibility of and conceptually design “airbag” like devices on front of the train that lessen the impact with, and possibly deflect, vehicles at grade crossings, and mitigate occupant and pedestrian injuries. The analyses will be conducted using computational physics‐based computer simulation techniques.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition of these services is contained in 41 U.S.C. § 253(c)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302.1, "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements" [48 C.F.R. 6.302‐1 (1989)]. The Applied Physics Lab (APL) of Johns Hopkins University (JHU), located in Laurel, MD, is a qualified, responsible vendor capable of conducting the specified research.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The FRA’s Office of Research and Development (R&D) is tasked with ensuring that the railroad industry operates safely and efficiently through the development and deployment of new technologies and processes that improve operations throughout the United States. With a primary focus on safety, FRA R&D conducts research to fill critical gaps in the available body of knowledge and facilitates the application of new technologies, science, engineering, and processes in safety monitoring, assurance, and risk reduction. Clearly, there is a need to assemble, integrate, collaborate and leverage a wide range of research efforts in government, academia, and industry to achieve these ambitious goals.

JHU/APL is an experienced Systems Integrator with unique capabilities in managing highly specialized, geographically dispersed teams and directing large‐scale technical programs. Further, JHU/APL possesses a unique domain knowledge that spans occupant kinematics, injury biomechanics, computational modeling and simulation, material science, control system design, fault management, vehicle safety system test and evaluation, dummy and human surrogate testing, and advanced fabrication methods.

JHU/APL’s expertise includes Operational Experience, Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Advanced Robotics and Prosthetics, Communications and Control Systems, Fault Management, Injury Prevention and Occupant Protection, Safety System Design and Evaluation, and Modeling and Simulation. This mix of experience and capability makes the APL the only vendor capable of completing this project.

5. Efforts to Obtain Competition: In accordance with FAR 5.2, the Federal Railroad Administration published a notice of intent to sole source on the Government‐wide point of entry at www.fbo.gov on 11 June 2013. The notice was published for 15 days and no vendors responded with interest in the project.

Control Number: DTFR53-13-009

6. Fair and Reasonable Determination: The contracting officer will conduct the appropriate proposal analysis to determine that the contractor’s proposal is both realistic and fair and reasonable.

7. Market Research: FRA has tried to locate other competitor vendors who might have the same qualification of combined academic, technical and practical expertise in the research area, together with an outstanding record of conducted advanced research projects to Federal Agencies; however, no other organizations could be identified who could complete this project.

Additionally, the program office has attempted to identify other qualified vendors by attending conferences, meetings, and speaking with industry experts. The FRA has been unable to identify other qualified, responsible vendors. Further, a notice of intent to sole source was published on FBO.gov asking for interested parties to submit capability statements. No sources responded to the FBO notice.

8. Other Facts: None.

9. Interested Source: No sources have expressed interest in writing in this project at this time.

10. Actions to Facilitate Competition: The program office and the contracting officer will continue to attempt to identify capable vendors through the publication of notices on www.fbo.gov, the attendance of industry conferences, and through continued market research.

11. Technical/Requirements Certification: I certify that the technical requirements and the technical justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Keith Boyea Date Contracting Officer