U. S. Department of Transportation Small Business Innovation Research Fiscal Year 2021 Solicitation

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program invites small business concerns to review this pre-solicitation notice for opportunities within its Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) SBIR Phase I solicitation.

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE; NO SUBMISSIONS ARE ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.

The pre-solicitation period for U.S. DOT’s FY21 solicitation is from January 5, 2021 through February 2, 2021 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET). Full descriptions of U.S. DOT’s proposed FY21 Phase I solicitation research topics can be found in Appendix A: U.S. DOT SBIR Proposed FY21 Phase I Research Topics.

During the pre-solicitation period, small businesses must post any technical questions concerning the proposed research topics to the SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum at https://usdot.uservoice.com/forums/932932 (see instructions below). Questions shall be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic's requirements. Please note that all posted questions will be publicly available. Do not share solution ideas or proprietary information. Only clarifying questions should be submitted. Telephone inquiries or meeting requests will not be accepted nor responded to.

Potential offerors should not seek advice or guidance on their solution to any given topic nor submit any materials other than questions(s) regarding the topic. The U.S. DOT shall not respond to requests for advice or guidance on any offeror’s solution to any SBIR topic, and shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions. Potential offerors shall not include in the question(s) any information that they do not wish to be made public. All questions and corresponding answers will be available to the public.

Technical questions regarding the research topics will be accepted only during the pre-solicitation period (January 5, 2021 through February 2, 2021). Technical questions will not be accepted after 5:00 pm ET on February 2, 2021. Only questions received by posting to the forum as cited above prior to the deadline will be answered by the U.S. DOT research topic authors. Answers to all questions from the pre-solicitation period will remain available on the forum when the U.S. DOT FY21 SBIR Phase I solicitation is released on or about February 4, 2021.

How to Use the SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum (https://usdot.uservoice.com/forums/932932):

1. Register (optional): Anyone can view questions and answers without an account, but registration is recommended if you wish to post a question and receive a notification when it is responded to.
2. Search: Browse the existing questions to see if your question has already been addressed. If you see a question you are also interested in, you can add a vote to the question, or leave a comment.
3. Post: If your question has not already been posted, use the “Enter your idea” box at the top of the page to enter your question.
   1. Select the research topic your question is related to from the drop-down menu that appears when you begin typing.
   2. You may add more detail in the Description box (optional). Do NOT attach any files. The U.S. DOT shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions.
   3. Enter your email address (optional).
   4. When finished, select “Post idea.” If you registered, you will be able to track responses to your post.

The U.S. DOT anticipates release of its FY21 Phase I solicitation on or about February 4, 2021. An informational webinar about the solicitation and new program changes is tentatively scheduled for February 11, 2020 at 1:00 pm ET. More information on how to register for this webinar will be available on the U.S. DOT SBIR website and in the solicitation when it is issued.

Upon solicitation release, only small businesses as defined in the Small Business Administration (SBA) SBIR Policy Directive, are eligible to submit offers to the U.S. DOT SBIR FY21 Phase I solicitation. Additionally, all small business offerors must be registered in the following databases: SBA’s Company Registry Database (https://www.sbir.gov/registration) and the System for Award Management (SAM) (https://sam.gov/SAM/).

The proposed FY21 research topics are listed below.

Full descriptions of each research topic are included in Appendix A, which is attached to this notice.

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

• 21-FH1: Device for Assessing Environmental Impact of Post-Consumer Waste Plastic in Highway and Airfield Materials and Pavements
• 21-FH2: In-situ Determination of Pore Solution Resistivity
• 21-FH3: Accelerating Performance Testing Using the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT) Equipment
• 21-FH4: Reference Hardware for Infrastructure GPS Abnormality Detector for Connected and Automated Vehicle Applications

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

• 21-FM1: Automated Vehicles: Deployment of Traffic Warning Devices (Triangles)
• 21-FM2: Readiness Assessment Technology

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

• 21-FR1: Passenger Train Exterior Side Door Safety
• 21-FR2: Wheel Measuring Device

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

• 21-FT1: Robots for Unmanned Disinfection and Decontamination of Transit Assets
• 21-FT2: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Inspect, Repair and Sanitize Transit Vehicles

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

• 21-NH1: Securing Safe Passage when Crossing a Roadway to Board Buses
• 21-NH2: Ignition Interlock Device Data-Integrated Mobile Device App

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)

• 21-PH1: Lithium Ion Battery Packaging