V3272200 GSA SSJ Final 6-5-23 Redacted.pdf

V220T.12 (01/15)

Procurement Request No. V3272200

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 (V327)

GSA SCHEDULE LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

A. Description of Supplies/Services. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations (HOFM) implements national highway freight programs; advances freight research and analysis; assists transportation professionals in improving freight planning practices; and fosters strategic partnerships among different stakeholders. Volpe provides technical support to HOFM in many areas including stewardship and analysis of the Critical Rural and Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CRFC/CUFC) and National Highway Freight Network (NHFN).

The required Freight Research and Analysis Support described in the Statement of Work (SOW) is estimated to cost $204,000 for 12 months of support.

B. Market Research. Mead and Hunt have been a steady support to HOFM, supporting a variety of NHFN efforts since 2018. They are the sole resource who worked with HOFM to develop the CRFC/CUFC dataset; this corridor information did not exist before Mead and Hunt created it. They also developed the non-Primary Highway Freight System (PHFS) Interstate dataset, a subset from the PHFS congressionally-designated interstate data. No other consultant besides Mead and Hunt have been involved in the development and management of these elements of the NHFN. They have the following expertise and experience in working with HOFM on aspects pertaining to the NHFN:

Developed original CRFC/CUFC dataset from source documents (Excel tables, PDF’s, shapefiles, etc.)

Migrated the Critical corridors and Non-PHFS Interstate from 2016 HPMS data to 2017 HPMS Used the ARNOLD network to update newer CRFC/CUFC.

Updated the CRFC/CUFC datasets (as shapefiles) biannually (2x yearly) in January and July, since 2018.

Reviewed newly submitted critical corridors and integrated them into the NHFN shapefiles.

Provided recommendations on best practices for states submitting their critical corridor data.

Developed the Non-PHFS Interstate shapefile Worked with states to correct NHFN route discrepancies Produced statistics for the C&P report including NHFN mileage, pavement conditions, bridges and fatalities along the NHFN.

Produced different NHFN statistics upon request Developed the initial Freight Visualization tool. Developed a secondary tool which includes bottleneck data.

Performed data updates on on these tools as new data was submitted or data was edited.

Developed static maps of the National Freight Network.

Participated in stakeholder workshop to plan for integration and sharing of freight data sets.

Mead and Hunt’s construction management, engineering consulting, project management, and planning services are available on GSA eBuy under GSA contract number GS-00F-230DA.

C. Supporting Rationale.

(1) Sole Source: Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

(i) In accordance with FAR 8.405-6 1(a)(1)(i)(B) Limiting Sources only Mead and Hunt has a background of creating, developing, analyzing, mapping, and maintaining, the non-PHFS, CRFC, and CUFC of the NHFN.

(ii) To recruit, introduce, train, and ramp up another consultant for NHFN support to HOFM would require up to 12 months of down time before the required update could begin. This training effort would add more than 12 months and approximately $200,000 to the cost of HOFM’s NHFN support.

(iii) Not contracting with Mead and Hunt to provide NHFN support to HOFM would risk losing the US and international community’s trust in the validity and quality of the data and information provided annually. This is because any replacement for Mead and Hunt would be considered completely inexperienced, as Mead and Hunt has been the continuous contract support for HOFM since 2018, when the non-PHFS and CRFC/CUFCs were developed.