School Bus Driver In-service Curriculum

Action Code: Sources Sought Classification Code: AJ71 Solicitation: 693JJ918RQ000305 Agency/Office: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Location: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration HQ NAICS Code: 541720, Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities, $20.5M. Point of Contract: Vincent Lynch, Contracting Officer, ph(202) 366-9568 Title: School Bus Driver In-service Curriculum Description(s): The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is issuing this Sources Sought Notice to identify potential qualified Small Business (SB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), 8(a) Certified SDB, HUBZone SB, SDVOSB, or WOSB concerns that may be interested in and capable of performing the work described herein to research enhancing its existing curriculum offered as an in-service for existing school bus drivers. NHTSA welcomes all qualified Small Business concerns, with the appropriate NAICS Code and past experience to submit their Corporate Capability Statements that demonstrate their ability to successfully accomplish the goals of the project as listed in the attached draft SOW. NHTSA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses to this notice or otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made; no formal evaluation of the information received will be conducted by NHTSA. NHTSA may; however later on issue a Request for Proposals (RFP). However, should such a requirement fail to materialize, no basis for claims against NHTSA shall arise as a result of a response to this notice. Background: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs. The agency develops, promotes, and implements effective educational, engineering, and enforcement programs with the goal of ending vehicle crash tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with vehicle use and highway travel. NHTSA conducts extensive research, development, testing, crash investigation, data collection, and analysis activities to provide the scientific basis needed to support the Agency's motor vehicle and traffic safety goals. In addition to supporting internal NHTSA efforts, NHTSA-sponsored research provides high-quality publicly-accessible data that serves as the basis for countless other research endeavors. Students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely when taking a bus instead of traveling by car. That's because school buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road; they're designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in preventing crashes and injuries; and in every State, stop-arm laws protect children from other motorists. Unfortunately, injuries and fatalities occur more often outside or near a bus due to other motorists failing to heed the stop-arm warning. Between 2006 and 2015, there have been 1,313 people killed in school-transportation-related crashes-an average of 131 fatalities per year. Occupants of school transportation vehicles accounted for 9 percent of the fatalities, and nonoccupants (pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.) accounted for 20 percent of the fatalities. A school-transportation-related crash is a crash that involves, either directly or indirectly, a school bus body vehicle, or a non-school bus functioning as a school bus, transporting children to or from school or school-related activities. From 2006 to 2015 almost two-thirds (64%) of the school-age pedestrians fatally injured in crashes were struck by school buses or vehicles functioning as school buses, while 36 percent were struck by vehicles of other body types. NHTSA is committed to improving the safety of students in and around school buses. As part of that effort, NHTSA is interested in significantly enhancing its existing curriculum offered as an in-service for existing school bus drivers. In the eight years since the curriculum was initially developed, more information is known about specific safety issues within the pupil transportation industry, including the addition of seat belts for school bus passengers. Additionally, NHTSA is overhauling its approach to adult learning initiatives and seeks to improve the delivery of the curriculum in ways that build proficiency and recollection among bus driver students. Objective: The objective of the project is to assess current Stop-Arm Violation initiatives at the state and local level, enhance the Best Practices guide, and to test the comprehensive implementation of those best practices in one community. Capabilities: The objective of the project is to assess the current and emerging needs for the existing School Bus Driver In-Service Safety Series curriculum through a Subject Matter Expert panel, incorporate the latest industry-standard adult learning concepts to improve student recollection and proficiency, and incorporate delivery metrics to improve utilization analytics. Format of Corporate Capabilities Statement: Any interested qualified Small Business firms, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), 8(a) Certified SDB, HUBZone SB, SDVOSB, or WOSB concerns should submit their Corporate Capability Statement, which demonstrates the firm's ability and past experience in no more than 10 pages to perform the key requirements described above to the identified NHTSA point of contact listed herein. Any proprietary information should be marked as such. All respondents are asked to certify the type and size of their business organization is in-line with the requirements of this Sources Sought Notice, and must be received no later than 5 calendar days from the date of publication of this notice.