B -- Technical Support for Transportation Communications Systems Analysis

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Research, Development, and Technology (RD&T) Office of Operations, R&D has a requirement for technical support and assistance in its ongoing assessment of telecommunication systems and technologies that support various aspects of surface transportation. Technical support is needed to assist FHWA in decisions that will ultimately determine where additional telecommunications resources will be needed to improve the safety and efficiency of the nation's transportation infrastructure. A wide array of communications system approaches and technologies will be examined to determine their utility in supporting the transportation communications systems requirements. This will include the development of representative systems design for promising candidate communication systems, the identification of test and evaluation needs to verify system performance, and the fabrication and test of system prototypes under realistic field settings. Continued development of the Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) standards will be a significant part of this effort. In addition to DSRC, technical assistance to support FHWA in reviewing and assessing other communication technologies that support the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative will be needed. In some instances the technical support will take the form of performing theoretical studies. In others instances, there may be the need to implement specific hardware and software to support testing by other organizations or an end-to-end test for evaluation purposes. There will also be the need to evaluate communication standards that have been under development for the last several years. This effort is a follow-on to an existing contract, the Technical Support of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Communication Systems, Contract No. DTFH61-99-C-00018. The initial focus of this previous effort was to examine communication systems that could support transportation by providing information to travelers, infrastructure managers, and others as needed. The Government anticipates awarding a contract with a 36-month base period of performance with two one-year options. NO FURTHER SOLICITATION INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. This solicitation will be available electronically through the electronic posting system (www.eps.gov). No written, telephonic, facsimile or e-mail requests for the solicitation package will be accepted. Since this solicitation will only be available electronically, it is the responsibility of interested parties to monitor the EPS website for any solicitation amendments. All responsible sources may submit a proposal that shall be considered by FHWA.