Licenses to Operate NUCARS software
Closed Pre-Solicitation Posted
- Solicitation number
- 6913G625Q300016
- Agency
-
Immediate Office of the Secretary of Transportation
Department of Transportation
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 541519 Other Computer Related Services
- Place of performance
- Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The U.S. Department of Transportation's John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center is seeking to renew two licenses for NUCARS software through January 31, 2026. This specialized simulation software is critical for rail dynamics studies and is the only package sufficiently validated to predict the nonlinear dynamic response of North American Railroads to specified track conditions. The Volpe Center intends to award a sole source purchase order to Transportation Technology Center, Inc. DBA MxV Rail Software Products, as NUCARS is a proprietary software owned by the Association of American Railroads. The procurement falls under NAICS code 541519 for Other Computer Related Services, with a small business size standard of $30.0 million. The pre-solicitation notice was posted on February 4, 2025, with a response deadline of February 7, 2025.
The procurement does not have a specific small business set-aside designation. The contract is for two software licenses with a validity period through the end of January 2026. MxV Rail Software Products is the sole identified provider, with market research conducted in December 2024 confirming no viable alternative software exists that can seamlessly integrate with the government's existing vehicle models. Extensive conversion to alternative software would require hundreds of labor hours and potentially tens of thousands of dollars, making the sole source justification compelling. The software license is classified under PSC category 7A21 for Business Application Software (Perpetual License Software), indicating a comprehensive and long-term software usage right for the federal agency's specific transportation research needs.
Notice text
The U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) Cambridge, MA, is supporting Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and has a requirement for the renewal of two licenses to operate NUCARS software through January 31, 2026. NUCARS is the only simulation package that has been sufficiently validated to predict the nonlinear dynamic response of North American Railroads to specified track conditions. It is also a proprietary software of Association of American Railroads (AAR) which is a requirement for rail dynamics studies. NUCARS software is required to access the results from decades of past simulation work performed by Volpe Center engineers. Therefore, The Volpe Center intends to award a sole source purchase order to Transportation Technology Center, Inc. DBA MxV Rail Software Products. The
NAICS code for this procurement is 541519; the small business size standard is $30.0M.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| V3332106 - Sole Source Pre Solicitation.pdf |
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