Sources Sought_PARTS II 5 FEB 2026.pdf

Solicitation Number:

TBD

Notice Type:

Sources Sought

1.0 Background

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), Cambridge, MA, is conducting market research to identify Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) for the continued Partnership for Analysis and Research in Traffic Safety (PARTS) research between the Volpe Center, USDOT, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), to serve as the trusted third party responsible to maintain and execute research per the PARTS Governance board. This Sources Sought Notice does not constitute a solicitation and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government will not pay for any effort expended in responding to this notice.

2.0 Description

The FFRDC will be responsible for supporting the Government in the following areas:

Task 1: Partnership and Project Management

A. The Contractor shall develop an updated Project Work Plan (PWP) for completing the contract with detailed intermediate steps that describes the planned execution of the research topics selected to begin in CY2026. The PWP update shall include information on the research questions, data sources, and anticipated outcomes and publications.

B. The Contractor shall act as the steward of the governance rules and enforce them as appropriate to maintain the effective and efficient operation of PARTS activities and retain the trust and cooperation of all participants. The Contractor shall collaborate with all partners to identify updates and amend the existing Cooperative Agreement and Governance Agreement, as needed, to support the objectives of the PARTS activities with a focus on current priorities including, but not limited to, driver privacy and data hashing.

C. The Contractor shall update the PARTS Governance Agreement based on the work conducted in CY2026, and work with the partners to manage the scope of the agreement to permit the execution of this contract. This may include the management of a governance board and other working groups.

D. The Contractor shall update the cooperative agreements between itself and the OEM Participants, as needed, to align with the updated PARTS Governance Agreement, as well as making any necessary changes to perform the work in this contract. This may include the formation and management of an ad hoc working group, as needed.

E. The Contractor shall work with the government and OEM participants to identify potential future participants for PARTS project beyond the current partnership, as needed. These potential Participants shall be organizations that would contribute to further understanding the safety performance of ADAS and other motor vehicle technologies. For identified potential future participants that meet these criteria, the Contractor shall and work seek with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and OEM participants to initiate a dialogue with the identified organizations.

F. If accepted by PARTS, the Contractor shall work to onboard the new participant, minimizing the burden on current participants. Onboarding includes the development of new cooperative agreements with the future participants, and assistance in incorporating these participants into the PARTS governance structure. For interested organizations, the Contractor shall develop new cooperative agreements with the future participants and assist in incorporating these participants into the PARTS governance agreement structure.

G. The Contractor shall provide monthly progress briefings to the government. The progress briefing shall include an outline of activities completed and in progress, costs, and project risks.

H. The Contractor shall document the work completed in CY2026 into a Partnership Management and Research Data Summary that describes the issues raised and resolved that directly impact the expanded research scope in Task 2.

Deliverable: Updated PARTS Project Work Plan & research backlog, Summary of PARTS Partnership Cooperative Agreements updates, Partnership Management and Research Data Summary

Task 2: Data Ingestion, Management, Analysis and Research The Contractor shall extend the technical research approach developed and executed in PARTS Phase IV to complete new research collaboratively identified and prioritized by the partnership. To do so, the contractor shall:

A. The Contractor shall receive new data from the government and incorporate the data.

B. The Contractor shall receive new vehicle data from non-government partners and incorporate the data into a merged data structure, data to be ingested shall be jointly agreed upon by partners.

C. The Contractor shall complete the new research analyses documented in the updated work plan in partnership with all self-selected partners.

D. The Contractor shall develop comprehensive draft report(s) of the analytical work performed and results. The Contractor shall share the draft report(s) to the government and other partners for review and edits. The COR shall provide feedback on the draft.

E. The Contractor shall incorporate the edits provided by all partners into the draft report(s) and produce final version(s) describing the work performed. The following portions of the report are intended to be made public: aggregate results, areas for further research identified, lessons learned, and opportunities related to future PARTS analyses. The public parts of the final report shall acknowledge "This publication was supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation under Contract [contract number]."

Deliverable: 2026 Publishable Research Part 1, 2026 Publishable Research Part 2, and 2026 Publishable Research Part 3

Task 3: 2026 Communications The contractor shall prepare, review, publish and/or present materials that cover the new research to begin in CY2026 and address related PARTS topics. To do so:

A. The Contractor shall convene four or more all-hands meetings between all PARTS participants, future participants, and associated organizations. Meetings shall be hosted by the Contractor, or at a participant’s site.

B. The Contractor shall prepare and/or present orally two or less briefings to senior USDOT executives.

C. Upon approval by the Governance Board, the Contractor shall provide support for external communications on behalf of PARTS activities.

D. The Contractor shall develop and revise materials for external engagement and consumption.

Deliverable: CY2026 PARTS Communications materials, and PARTS 2026 ADAS Market Penetration Report

Task 4: PARTS Novel Research Development & Execution The contractor shall extend the industry-collaborative work structure and governance model to develop and execute novel research that is not yet sufficiently mature or within scope to be merged to PARTS. As steward of a data-sharing research activity, the contractor shall be responsible for the identification and incorporation of data in collaboration with the government and mutually agreed upon outside organizations. The Contractor shall communicate with the government as needed to execute the agreed upon technical analyses. The contractor shall work at the direction of the government to identify and develop novel research streams. To do so, the contractor shall:

A. Develop a Work Plan for the task describing briefly the requisite intermediate steps.

B. Provide research updates to the government.

C. Receive agreed upon data from the government and non-government partners and incorporate the data into a merged data structure.

D. Complete the analyses established in the analytical plan in collaboration with all relevant parties and document the effort.

Deliverable: Task memorandum describing the research analyses

Task 5: Novel Research Development & Execution - Infrastructure The contractor shall extend the PARTS industry-collaborative work structure and governance model to develop and execute novel research that is focused on data and research specific to roadways infrastructure that may complement PARTS, but will not be merged with other tasks. The contractor shall be responsible for the identification and incorporation of data in collaboration with the government and mutually agreed upon outside organizations. The Contractor shall communicate with the government as needed to execute the agreed upon technical analyses. The contractor shall work at the direction of the government to identify and develop novel research streams. To do so, the contractor shall:

A. Develop a Work Plan for the task describing briefly the requisite intermediate steps.

B. Provide monthly research updates to the government.

C. Receive agreed upon data from the government and non-government partners and incorporate the data into a merged data structure.

D. Complete the analyses established in the analytical plan in collaboration with all relevant parties and document the effort.

E. Prepare publishable documents, or content to be presented at technical meetings, or conferences, and coordinate the publication or content delivery with the government.

Deliverable: Task memorandum summarizing the task work completed

3.0 Submission Instructions

Interested Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) must submit a written Statement of Capabilities of sufficient detail demonstrating their experience and have the ability to provide said services at multiple, simultaneous sites, nationwide as it relates to relevant past performance (previous or current experience for the past five (5) years).

Capability information shall include: Contract number; Customer (Government agency, private industry);

Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) name, telephone and fax numbers; contract value and type of contract; period of performance; and description of product/services. Information provided shall be detailed and shall show technical capabilities, knowledge, and expertise so the Government can assess the ability to provide the services described in each of the above-mentioned work areas.

All the information sought should be conveyed in no more than five (5) pages. Page size is set at 8 X 11 and text should be no smaller than 11-point. Each response must reference the Sources Sought title.

Interested parties must respond to this announcement in writing by February 12, 2026 at 4:00 pm Eastern Time. Telephone requests will not be honored. All responses must be submitted via e-mail to Andrew Josephs at Andrew.Josephs@dot.gov. Electronic attachments to the e-mail should be submitted in Microsoft Office 2007 (or later) productivity application formats, or any format that can be imported by Microsoft Office.

4.0 Information Availability

THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. This notice is for information and planning purposes only, and is a market research tool to determine the availability and adequacy of potential FFRDCs prior to determining the method of acquisition and possible issuance of a Request for Proposal.

The notice does not constitute a solicitation for bids, quotations, and proposals, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to solicit for or award a competitive contract. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of response to this Sources Sought notice. The Government will not pay for any materials provided in response to this synopsis and submittals will not be returned to the sender. Submissions must be disclosable to the public or the submitter should provide a summary statement that can be disclosed to the public with fuller supporting information that is clearly marked as restricted. The Government will use customary means to safeguard proprietary information, but only when such information is (1) clearly marked as proprietary;

(2) is, in fact, information that could not have been obtained from another party or source; and (3) is otherwise deserving of such treatment under standards and processes described in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Executive Order 12600.

For information about the Volpe Center refer to the Volpe Center website at http://www.volpe.dot.gov.

http://www.volpe.dot.gov/