Behavioral Safety Research

Description: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). NHTSA's mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs. The agency develops, promotes and implements educational, engineering and enforcement programs with the goal of ending preventable tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with vehicle use and highway travel. NHTSA's Office of Behavioral Safety Research (OBSR) conducts research on the behaviors and attitudes of drivers, passengers, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists to identify factors involved in crashes or associated with injuries, and develop safety countermeasures. Topics of OBSR research include alcohol-impaired driving, drug-impaired driving, non-use of occupant protection restraints; speeding and unsafe driving behaviors, pedestrian safety, motorcyclist safety, novice drivers, older drivers; driver education and training, enforcement of traffic safety laws, prosecution and judicial services; and emergency medical services. OBSR requires various types of research studies for identifying and understanding safety problems and crash risks associated with human behavior; developing promising countermeasures that reduce injuries and save lives; and evaluating State, local and NHTSA demonstration projects to reduce unsafe actions and eliminate crash-generating situations. Examples of studies conducted by the Office of Behavioral Safety Research can found at: http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/ntlc/nhtsa/index.shtm. In addition, NHTSA's Compendium of Traffic Safety Research Projects 1985-2013[1] provides summaries of OBSR projects that addressed safety concerns such as alcohol-involved driving, drug-involved driving, occupant protection (for example, seat belt use), pedestrian safety, motorcycle safety, driver education and training, and older drivers. The Compendium reveals the range of research methods used by OBSR including laboratory studies, field data collection projects, national surveys of attitudes and perception of road users, and data analyses of observational and archival data. Although great strides have been realized in improving traffic safety, the number of traffic-related injuries and fatalities remains too high. The research undertaken by OBSR supports NHTSA's mission of saving lives and reducing injuries by acquiring the knowledge needed to develop effective countermeasures. The purpose of this Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract will be to provide NHTSA with the capability to deliver behavioral safety research projects by issuing individual Task Orders on a Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), and Time and Materials (T&M) basis, or a combination thereof. The Task Orders will typically involve technical services and support in research design, data collection in experimental and field settings, subject recruitment, data analysis and report preparation. The following research activities exemplify the types of services likely to be procured under this IDIQ Contract: Designing research studies to assess road user behavior and performance Recruiting research subjects such as drivers, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists Obtaining or analyzing traffic-safety data for the purpose of understanding the effect of policy, training, enforcement, on road user behavior and safety Conducting focus groups involving road users and highway safety stakeholders Conducting surveys using questionnaires with the public and/or stakeholders Preparing systematic literature reviews Developing and evaluating curriculum Preparing technical reports and briefings Some data may be available on-site as archival data, such as DWI arrest records. Often this data is relatively easy to obtain and compile, and is available electronically. In other cases, archival data may exist in paper formats, thus requiring conversion to digital formats. Other data will be collected during the task order, for example, in the laboratory (e.g., from drivers using a driving simulator); from focus groups (e.g., of motorcycle riders discussing helmet use); surveys (e.g., an on-line questionnaire of the public's attitudes toward drugged driving laws). This IDIQ will use four Lots to categorize Task Orders for research, as follows: Lot A: Behavioral Safety Data Collection and Analysis; Lot B: Literature Review; Lot C: Curriculum Development and Evaluation; and Lot D: Road Users and Stakeholders Survey Research. Period of Performance: One (1) Base Period of thirty-six (36) months, plus two (2), one (1)- year Option Periods. Award: This acquisition is being offered for full and open competition. The NAICS Code for the anticipated contract is 541712. Contractors must be registered in the Systems for Award Management Database located at http://www.sams.gov. It is the Government's intent to award multiple IDIQ contracts, whereby FFP, CPFF, and T&M, or a combination thereof, Task Orders will be issued. These contracts will be awarded with or without discussions, to the responsible offerors whose proposals, conforming to the solicitation, are most advantageous to the Government based on the evaluation factors contained in the solicitation. It is the Offeror's responsibility to monitor the FedBizOpps Internet site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential Offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Requests for paper copies of the RFP will not be accepted. The estimated date for release of the solicitation is on or about August 8, 2016. The anticipated award date for the resultant contract is expected to be on or about February 2017. [1] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2014, January). Compendium of Traffic Safety Research Projects 1985-2013. Compendium. Report No. DOT HS 811 847. Washington, DC: NHTSA. Available at: http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/CompendiumTrafficSafetyResearchProjects1985-2013.pdf