NOI to award a sole source contract - caliper corporation

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to award a sole source contract to Caliper Corporation for TransCAD Standard Software License.

The overall purpose of this request is to purchase one user license and 4 one-year annual maintenance agreement options for the TransCAD software product. TransCAD combines GIS and transportation modeling capabilities in a single integrated platform and enables visualization and editing of an entire transit network.  Additional capabilities include ability to evaluate trips generated in individual zones, the distribution of trips between zones, and likelihood of diversion between transportation models. This is useful for evaluating the effects of changes to the transportation network on transportation demand.

The travel forecasting software industry is dominated by a few major vendors typified by software access rights that are highly proprietary in nature; subsequently and there arere are no alternative options for software maintenance support that can be provided by other companies or organizations. 

 This particular software product (TransCAD) is directly compatible with the RailFlow software program that is used by FRA to analyze critical data products, such as the Cargo Waybill. Other products lack the ability to conduct network mapping of large-scale data sets and tabulations of freight and passenger flow data. Maintenance agreements are typically renewed on an annual basis and will enable FRA to have access to software updates and avoid another software procurement at a later date.

Other advantages of TransCAD include the ability for multiple uses o have access to the software in different locations.  These capabilities will enable FRA to verify information submitted by project sponsors to better inform operational and design decisions for major capital investments.

The proposed contract action, for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with single source, is under the authority of FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii)) and 41 U.S.C 1901

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals; however, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. Interested parties with the capability of meeting the proposed requirements are requested to provide an email to the FRA point of contact, Akwasi Kankam at akwasi.kankam@dot.gov no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, Friday, June 07, 2024 expressing interest and outlining their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort.  Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.