VTTI SHRP 2 Sole Source Justification_FE.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION - RFQ 693JJ320P000022

For purchases made under FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures (Under $250,000)

Name and Location of the organization making the purchase:

Federal Highway Administration Office of Acquisition and Grants Management 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590

Describe supplies and/or services being procured:

The Contractor shall provide baseline operation and management of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) data and SHRP 2 Roadway Information Database (RID) – together referred to herein as the SHRP 2 Safety Data.

Manage the SHRP 2 Safety Data Hosting Environment: The Contractor shall manage and maintain all SHRP 2 Safety Data, including the Naturalistic Driving Study Data, the Roadway Information Database, Dataverse, and InSight. The Contractor shall manage requests for Data Use Licenses. The Contractor shall maintain the middleware and other data management tools that streamline access to the data for data requestors.

Under the Purchase Order, VTTI shall perform the following tasks to meet the objectives of the order:

a) Operate and maintain the SHRP 2 Safety Data;

b) Manage and administer requests for Data Use Licenses;

c) Maintain the middleware and other data management tools that streamline access to the data for data requestors; and

d) Provide monthly progress reports of activities performed under tasks a-c listed above, due by email by the 10th of the month following the month being reported upon.

Name of Required Source:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Transportation Institute Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) 3500 Transportation Research Plaza Blacksburg, VA 24060

Rationale supporting the sole source acquisition (Authority under FAR 13.106-1(b))

FHWA has determined that only one source is currently capable of providing baseline operation and management of the SHRP 2 Safety Data, for the following rationale:

Background: SHRP 2 was authorized by Congress under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA- LU), Section 5210 (Public Law 109-59) to address highly pressing needs related to the nation’s highway system, including the reduction of highway deaths and injuries. The SHRP 2 Safety Data – which includes the world’s largest NDS database – were collected and made available to the research community by Spring 2015. To prepare for the management of such a large database, FHWA, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences (TRB), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated June 26, 2014, to provide a framework for the conduct of implementation and oversight of the SHRP 2 Safety Data for an initial Phase I period. Following the MOU, on August 4, 2014, FHWA awarded Cooperative Agreement No. DTFH6114H00017 to TRB to fund “Phase I of SHRP 2 Safety Data Implementation and Oversight.” The objective of the Phase I agreement was to make SHRP 2 Safety Data available to qualified users during the Phase I timeframe, and to gain experience that could support decisions about implementation and oversight of these data in a transition to Phase II. Under the Phase I agreement, TRB entered into a subaward with VTTI for Phase I data management and data access activities. The subaward to VTTI to maintain the repository of the SHRP 2 Safety Data expires on May 15, 2020. FHWA has identified the need to continue the maintenance of the repository of the SHRP 2 Safety Data to enable continued access and use by researchers in the future.

Rationale: This planned purchase order is a continuation and implementation of the work performed by VTTI under Phase I. The planned continuation of the work will support continuation of data management and data access activities currently performed by VTTI.

Accordingly, it would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity of work being conducted if the follow-on activities were competed as they represent a continuation of the initiative performed by VTTI since 2015.

VTTI demonstrates a unique capability to maintain the SHRP 2 Safety Data. VTTI currently maintains the repository of the SHRP 2 Safety Data under Phase I – data management, secure data access including restricted access to PII, database enhancements, and user support. VTTI, as the repository and manager of the SHRP2 Safety Data under Phase I is uniquely qualified to continue to maintain operations of the SHRP2 Safety Data under this purchase order.

The VTTI repository of the SHRP 2 Safety Data is highly specialized to accommodate the scale: 2 Petabyte (2,000 Terabytes) of video, including PII, and another 1.5 Petabytes of database tables, indexes, and metadata are supported through various commercial off the shelf, VTTI proprietary, and open source tools. The hosting environment at VTTI includes the IBM DB2 platform and associated hardware, in which VTTI invested over $3 million over the course of Phase I. As the proposed work under the planned purchase order is a continuation of the Phase I work previously conducted by VTTI, and due to VTTI’s unique capabilities and experience with operating the SHRP2 Safety Data, the FHWA is justified in awarding a purchase order on a sole source basis to VTTI.

Contracting Officer Determination:

Per FAR 13.106-1(b), Soliciting from a single source, for purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, I hereby determine that the circumstances of the subject contract action deem only one source reasonably available at the current time, as supported through FHWA’s market research described above. Only one source, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Transportation Institute, has the current capabilities available to meet the technical and schedule needs of the SHRP2 Data program. Therefore, the FHWA intends to solicit from only one source, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Transportation Institute, for the subject planned purchase order.

SIGNED:

_______________________________________________ ______5/7/2020____ Sarah Tarpgaard, Contracting Officer Date US Department of Transportation / Federal Highway Administration Office of Acquisition and Grants Management (HCFA-32) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590