U. S. Department of Transportation Small Business Innovation Research Fiscal Year 2024. 1 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 2024.1 (FY24.1) 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 FY24.1 solicitation is from January 4, 2024, through February 6, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). Full descriptions of U.S. DOT’s proposed FY24.1 Phase I solicitation research topics can be found in Appendix A: U.S. DOT SBIR Proposed FY24.1 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/956960 (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 or responded to. 

Potential offerors should not seek advice or guidance on its solution to any given topic nor submit any materials other than question(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 4, 2024, through February 6, 2024). Technical questions will not be accepted after 5:00 p.m. ET on February 6, 2024. 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 FY24.1 SBIR Phase I solicitation is released on or about February 8, 2024. 

How to Use the SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum (https://usdot.uservoice.com/forums/956960): 

Register: Anyone can view questions but registration is required if you wish to post a question and receive a notification when it is responded to. 

1. To create a new account or to sign in with an existing account, click on “sign in” located at the top-right of the page. 
2. A new pop-up window will open to make a selection. You can use an existing Google or Facebook account to access the site or you may select to create a new account. 
3. If you choose to access UserVoice with an existing Google or Facebook account, you will be required to enter your login credentials for Google or Facebook and agree to terms of service. 
4. If you create a new account, click “Create an Account” underneath the password box.
5. In the next screen, type in the email and click “Verify Email.” 
6. Navigate to your inbox and click the link within the email to verify. The link will be generated by noreply@trymagic.com. That link will be live for 20 minutes. Once that time elapses, you will have to request another one. 
7. Navigate back to UserVoice, and you will need to provide your name, a password, and agree to terms of service and storage permissions. Click “Create Account.”

Search: Browse the existing questions by category to find the topic you are interested in and 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. 

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 posted on the Q&A Forum. 
3. When finished, select “Post idea.” If you registered, you will be able to track responses to your post. Please include only one question or comment per post to help keep the forum organized.

The U.S. DOT anticipates release of its FY24.1 Phase I solicitation on or about February 8, 2024. An informational webinar about the solicitation and any program changes is tentatively scheduled for February 14, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. 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 FY24.1 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 FY24.1 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) 

24-FH1:  Next-Generation Sensing and Communication Technology for Cooperative Driving Automation

24-FH2:  Carbonated Recycled Concrete Aggregate

24-FH3:  Low-cost, Rapid Assessment of Bridge Deck Chloride Content in Concrete

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

24-FM1:  Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Trailer Stability Sensor

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 

24-FR1:  Portable Special Trackwork Measurement System

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

24-FT1:  Electric Vehicle (EV) Battery – Improved Cooling/Heating Management System to Suppress Overheat and Fire

24-FT2:  Cybersecurity – Mitigation of Cybersecurity Failures

24-FT3:  The Reduction of Auxiliaries Power Demand on Electric/Battery Operated Transit Buses

24-FT4:  Reducing Visibility Impairments in Small Transit Vehicles

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 

24-NH1:  Algorithms for Computer Vision Inside and Outside the Vehicle

24-NH2:  Device for Automatic Seat Belt Use Detection, Data Collection, and Driver Feedback

24-NH3:  Evaluating the Performance of Driver Monitoring Systems:  Human Surrogate Design

24-NH4:  Lightweight Universal Docking Interface Geometry (UDIG) Manual Wheelchair Attachment

24-NH5:  Prehospital Post-Crash Care Systems Improvement

24-NH6:  Anchor Design for Universal Docking Interface Geometry (UDIG)

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) 

24-PH1:  Innovative Solutions for Internal Corrosion Control of Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

24-PH2:  Survivability of Hazardous Materials Placards

24-PH3:  Non-Destructive Testing of High-Pressure Cylinders

24-PH4:  Rail Car Coupling Monitoring

24-PH5:  Biodegradable Casting for Fireworks