RFP Document.pdf

South Dakota Department of Transportation

Request for Proposals Project SD2025-03

Title: Modernizing Traffic Data Collection and Software

Problem Description: The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) faces critical challenges in modernizing its traffic data collection and management systems. SDDOT’s loop-based traffic monitoring system is aging, expensive to maintain, and unable to support modern analytics or emerging detection technologies. The existing software, developed decades ago, lacks modern data integration and analysis capabilities, creating inefficiencies and limiting the usefulness of collected data.

SDDOT’s traffic data is fragmented across multiple systems with inconsistent formats and limited accessibility, resulting in data silos and redundant collection efforts. These limitations hinder statewide planning, corridor analysis, operational decision-making, and prevent data-driven opportunities for innovation.

To address these challenges, this research will evaluate and recommend modern sensor technologies (for example radar, lidar, video) and software solutions for centralized, vendor-neutral data management. It will define strategies for interoperability using standards such as, but not limited to, the Universal Traffic Data Format (UTDF) and Traffic Monitoring Guide (TMG) file formats, describe data governance best practices, and outline requirements for a shared data warehouse accessible to SDDOT and local agencies. These actions will ensure that data is standardized and secure while preparing for future statewide modeling and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) integration.

In parallel, SDDOT is pursuing an Active Traffic Management System (ATMS) with a deadline of January 2027. The ATMS will operate roadside devices and collect real-time traffic data for use across multiple state systems. Close coordination with the ATMS effort is required to prevent duplicative sensor deployments and ensure shared use of detection infrastructure and data.

For purposes of this Project Statement:

The term “framework” refers to a coordinated structure of standards, requirements, and practices that guides how data is collected, managed, integrated, and used across SDDOT.

This project will establish the foundational data collection, integration, and governance framework, including recommendations and decisions that support traffic modeling without rework. The project will also ensure that the data framework supports real-time operational needs, including integration with ITS/ATMS, variable speed limits, incident management, and other emerging applications. This framework supports scalability, minimizes redundant work, and positions SDDOT for long-term modeling and innovation.

The end goal of this project is to create a modern, integrated, and accessible traffic data framework that supports real-time traffic operations, advanced traffic modeling, long-term statewide travel demand forecasting, and continued data-driven innovation for SDDOT – while ensuring SDDOT continues to meet all Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) traffic submittal requirements.

Importance: Modernizing traffic data systems are essential to provide accurate, timely, and accessibility information for planning, design, and operations. Without intervention, SDDOT risks disruptions due to the failure of legacy systems and continued inefficiencies caused by fragmented data practices.

Improved data systems will enable better decision-making, reduce deployment and maintenance costs, and support compliance with FHWA guidelines.

Centralized, interoperable data management will improve agency collaboration, support ITS integration, and establish a foundation for future statewide traffic modeling. By adopting modern technologies and implementing best practices for data governance, this project will define a sustainable framework that keeps South Dakota’s transportation network responsive to current and future demands.

Research Objectives:

1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of SDDOT’s current traffic monitoring program and identify improvement needs for modernization. Assess SDDOT’s existing system(s) and internal processes, data practices, sensor assets, identify gaps, inefficiencies, locations, and automation opportunities.

2. Develop an understanding of South Dakota’s local agencies and other state highway agencies traffic monitoring programs, technologies, processes, and data practices. Identify best practices, challenges, and opportunities relevant to SDDOT.

3. Evaluate modern sensor technologies, software platforms, and data processes needed to support current and future traffic monitoring, modeling, and operational needs. Ensure alignment with FHWA and TMG requirements and coordinate with ATMS development to avoid duplication and ensure interoperability.

4. Recommend improvements to SDDOT’s traffic monitoring program, including modernized equipment, optimized permanent monitoring locations, streamlined workflows, software upgrades, and opportunities to automate manual processes.

5. Develop a centralized, vendor-neutral data management framework, including data standards, governance practices, and functional and technical requirements for a shared statewide data warehouse that integrates with ITS/ATMS and supports both SDDOT and local agencies.

Research Tasks:

1. Meet with the project’s technical panel to review and confirm project scope, schedule, work plan, and coordination expectations. Confirm how the ongoing ATMS specification effort’s planned detection devices, data feeds, and system architecture relate to this project to avoid duplicated deployments and ensure data interoperability for real-time operations.

2. Conduct a literature review on traffic monitoring technologies, traffic modeling data needs, operational benefits from traffic data collection, data warehouse techniques from multiple sources, data access, data security, data governance, and the use of crowdsourced data. The review should include literature from National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) reports and syntheses, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guidelines, and FHWA guidelines and requirements including the current TMG.

3. Review SDDOT current traffic monitoring program, including software technologies data usage and management practices, and existing workflows. Inventory traffic data sources and assess their quality, format, and accessibility. Review permanent traffic monitoring locations (detection signals, automatic traffic recorders (ATRs), weigh-in-motion systems (WIMs), video detection) and document limitations and integration challenges. Identify manual processes within current workflows – including factor development, quality assurance (QA) checks, and data preparation – and note opportunities for automation or modernization. Prepare a list of interviewees and interview questions for approval by the technical panel, then conduct interviews with SDDOT personnel to gather insights on practices, equipment, challenges, opportunities, data sharing, and needs.

4. Prepare a list of interviewees and interview questions for approval by the technical panel, then conduct interviews with Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and county personnel to gather insights on current practices, traffic data sources/equipment, accuracy, challenges, data sharing, opportunities, and needs.

5. Review and interview other state highway agencies’ current traffic monitoring program to identify best practices, traffic data sources/equipment, accuracy, challenges, strengths, data sharing, opportunities, and pitfalls relevant to SDDOT. Prepare a list of states to interview along with interview questions for approval by the technical panel, then conduct interviews.

6. Based on the findings from Tasks 2 through 5, including coordination with ATMS plans, identify gaps in SDDOT traffic data collection, data storage, data formats, sensor coverage, and accessibility.

Document where existing systems or workflows do not meet current or future operations and FHWA reporting needs.

7. Prepare and present for approval by the project’s technical panel a technical memorandum summarizing the combined findings in Task 2 through Task 6.

8. Develop a plan to address the gaps identified in Task 6. The plan must specify required data elements, data storage, data formats, recommended sources, collection frequencies, and QA procedures to support integrated statewide data management.

9. Recommend additional or revised permanent traffic monitoring locations and modern sensors (for example, radar, lidar, video) and identify software technologies (for example, MS-2, Drakewell, High Desert) suitable for centralized, vendor-neutral data management. Recommendations should consider opportunities to use or complement ATMS detection infrastructure.

10. Develop cost estimates and recommend implementation methods for the sensor technologies, monitoring locations, and data management tools identified in previous tasks. Include acquisition and lifecycle costs, staffing and maintenance implications, operational benefits, integration requirements with existing SDDOT and ITS/ATMS systems, and opportunities to automate current manual processes such as factor development and QA workflows. Provide recommendations to support a smooth transition from existing tools to modern, vendor-neutral platforms, and streamline SDDOT’s traffic data processing and management workflows.

11. Prepare and present for approval by the project’s technical panel a technical memorandum summarizing the findings and recommendations of Tasks 8 through 10.

12. Identify data standards such as, but not limited to, the Universal Traffic Data Format (UTDF) and TMG file formats, and prepare technical specifications for centralized, vendor-neutral data management framework.

13. Define data governance best practices for SDDOT’s traffic data management environment. Include cyber security and privacy requirements, data retention schedules, and data access and permissions policies, version control, data lineage documentation, and quality assurance procedures.

14. Specify the functional and technical requirements for a shared statewide data warehouse.

Requirements must address scalability, integration with ITS/ATMS systems, data ingestion workflows, storage and retrieval, backup and recovery, and user access needs for both SDDOT and local agencies.

15. Prepare and present for approval by the project’s technical panel a technical memorandum summarizing the findings in Tasks 12 through 14.

16. In conformance with the Guidelines for Performing Research for the South Dakota Department of Transportation, prepare a final report and executive summary of the literature review, research methodology, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and implementation strategies.

17. Make an executive presentation to the SDDOT Research Review Board at the conclusion of the project.

Potential Implementation: The findings from this research will provide a foundation for modernizing SDDOT’s traffic monitoring program. Initial steps could include adopting recommended sensor technologies and software platforms to replace aging loop systems, improving data accessibility and integration across the Department, and implementing centralized, vendor-neutral data management with interoperability standards such as UTDF and TMG file formats. These actions will enable real-time traffic operations and support compliance with FHWA guidelines.

SDDOT Involvement: SDDOT will actively support the project by providing relevant traffic monitoring data, existing analysis reports, and documentation on current software platforms and data management practices. SDDOT will review technical memoranda and interim deliverables at the conclusion of each milestone, offering feedback to ensure alignment with agency goals and operational needs. Additionally, SDDOT will assist in identifying interviewees, regional data sources, provide input on feasibility and integration considerations to ensure that the research lays a practical foundation for system modernization. SDDOT Legal will be consulted as needed to ensure compliance with applicable privacy, access, and data retention requirements.

Available Funding: $200,000

Duration: 24 months

Anticipated Start Date: October 1, 2026

Terms of Payment: Payment for study services will be made upon SDDOT’s acceptance of key project deliverables. For this study, percentages of total project cost will be paid upon satisfactory completion of the following tasks in Table 1.

Table 1: Payment of deliverables

Task Percentage of Total Cost 7 30%

11 20% 15 20%

All Tasks 30% Total 100%

General Information: The South Dakota Department of Transportation solicits proposals from colleges, universities, research institutes, foundations, consultants, federal, state, and local agencies, and others with demonstrated capability and experience in the subject area.

The South Dakota Department of Transportation gives public notice of its policy to uphold and assure full compliance with the non-discrimination requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related Nondiscrimination authorities. Title VI and related Nondiscrimination authorities stipulate that no person in the United States of America shall on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, income level or Limited English Proficiency be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Any person who has questions concerning this policy or wishes to file a discrimination complaint should contact the Department’s Civil Rights Office at 605-773-3540.

Proposals must remain valid for at least 120 days after the submission deadline. All submitted proposals become the property of the South Dakota Department of Transportation. SDDOT has the right to use all information presented in any proposal unless it is specifically annotated as being proprietary. SDDOT considers all information contained in proposals to be privileged and reserves the right to maintain its confidentiality.

All proposals must meet accessibility requirements from Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and are required to follow Department of Justice guidelines.

South Dakota state statute requires the winning proposal, with proprietary information redacted, to be posted online along with the corresponding contractual agreement.

SDDOT reserves the right to reject any proposals submitted. SDDOT may negotiate with a selected proposer to address specific weaknesses in the selected proposal prior to contract award.

SDDOT is not responsible for any costs, including proposal preparation, incurred by researchers prior to the execution of a contract.

Certification Relating to Prohibited Entity: For contractors, vendors, suppliers, or subcontractors who enter into a contract with the State of South Dakota by submitting a response to this solicitation or agreeing to contract with the State, the bidder or offeror certifies and agrees that the following information is correct:

The bidder or offeror, in preparing its response or offer or in considering proposals submitted from qualified, potential vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors, or in the solicitation, selection, or commercial treatment of any vendor, supplier, or subcontractor, is not an entity, regardless of its principal place of business, that is ultimately owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a foreign national, a foreign parent entity, or foreign government from China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, or Venezuela, as defined by South Dakota Executive Order 2023-02. It is understood and agreed that, if this certification is false, such false certification will constitute grounds for the State to reject the bid or response submitted by the bidder or offeror on this project and terminate any contract awarded based on the bid or response. The successful bidder or offeror further agrees to provide immediate written notice to the contracting executive branch agency if during the term of the contract it no longer complies with this certification and agrees such noncompliance may be grounds for contract termination.

Restriction of Boycott of Israel: For contractors, vendors, suppliers, or subcontractors with five (5) or more employees who enter into a contract with the State of South Dakota that involves the expenditure of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or more, by submitting a response to this solicitation or agreeing to contract with the State, the bidder or offeror certifies and agrees that the following information is correct:

The bidder or offeror, in preparing its response or offer or in considering proposals submitted from qualified, potential vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors, or in the solicitation, selection, or commercial treatment of any vendor, supplier, or subcontractor, has not refused to transact business activities, has not terminated business activities, and has not taken other similar actions intended to limit its commercial relations, related to the subject matter of the bid or offer, with a person or entity on the basis of Israeli national origin, or residence or incorporation in Israel or its territories, with the specific intent to accomplish a boycott or divestment of Israel in a discriminatory manner. It is understood and agreed that, if this certification is false, such false certification will constitute grounds for the State to reject the bid or response submitted by the bidder or offeror on this project and terminate any contract awarded based on the bid or response. The successful bidder or offeror further agrees to provide immediate written notice to the contracting executive branch agency if during the term of the contract it no longer complies with this certification and agrees such noncompliance may be grounds for contract termination.

Proposal Deadline: Proposals are due to the SDDOT by 5:00 pm CDT on Friday, June 12, 2026. This deadline is firm. Extensions will not be granted.

Proposals must be submitted as an e-mail attachment in Portable Document Format (PDF) not exceeding 14MB. The email must be addressed to andy.vandel@state.sd.us and danny.doorn@state.sd.us.

Proposers should send the e-mail using “Delivery Receipt” and “Read Receipt” options to verify successful delivery.

Proposal Guidelines: Proposals must fulfill the requirements listed in the document entitled RESEARCH PROPOSAL PREPARATION, SUBMISSION, AND EVALUATION and dated April 27, 2026.

Proposal Evaluation: Proposals will be evaluated by a technical panel knowledgeable in the problem area.

Selection will be made in consideration of criteria listed in RESEARCH PROPOSAL PREPARATION, SUBMISSION, AND EVALUATION.

Project Management: Danny Doorn is responsible for the management of this project and can be reached at danny.doorn@state.sd.us to answer inquiries.