Interdisciplinary Transportation Law and Policy Technology Training Development

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology is seeking applicants for a 24-month cooperative agreement under solicitation LAWPOLICY-OSTR24 to develop interdisciplinary training materials that address the evolving legal and policy landscape of advanced transportation technologies, including artificial intelligence, automated vehicles, and supporting digital infrastructure. The selected recipient will design three distinct educational tools: a one-day training course for congressional and staff personnel, a one-hour executive briefing for elected officials and senior policymakers, and a full-semester law school curriculum focused on transportation policy. These materials must be pilot-tested through regional training sessions and made available for future use, with all deliverables including draft and final versions of training content, a knowledge gap analysis report, quarterly progress reports, and a comprehensive evaluation of program outcomes. The project must comply with federal reporting standards under 2 CFR Part 200 and include active participation in quarterly virtual meetings and an annual in-person meeting in Washington, DC. Eligibility is restricted to currently funded University Transportation Centers, and applications must be submitted via Grants.gov by August 28, 2026, with mandatory prerequisites including an active Unique Entity Identifier and SAM.gov registration. Proposals are evaluated on technical merit—including team expertise, clarity of approach, implementation strategy, partnership strength, and feasibility of delivering the required training products—with cost compliance secondary but critical: applicants must provide a minimum 50% non-federal cost match, bringing the total project value to an estimated $1.2 million when fully matched, though the federal award is capped at $600,000. Evaluation is conducted using a trade-off process favoring high-rated technical proposals over cost, with only highly recommended applications considered for award. Additional requirements include certification of compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws, submission of a data management plan for public access, adherence to specified formatting standards (12-point Times New Roman, one-inch margins, 25-page limit for the technical proposal), and identification of key personnel with their time commitments. There are no contract clauses under FAR or DFARS, as this is a grant-funded cooperative agreement, and no physical delivery or shipping terms apply; all deliverables are administrative and digital in nature, with performance occurring nationally and administration centralized through DOT’s OST-R office.