R --Development of Improved Display Interfaces for Railroad Operations

NA The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) plans to procure on a non-competitive basis with the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics – Age Lab, Cambridge, MA, to assist in the development of Improved Display Interfaces for railroad operations. The Railroad Traffic Planner application, which was developed by MIT with the Volpe Center, has been designed to assist railroad planners who have little time and limited monetary resources available for creating and modifying train schedules. Previous work on this task focused on identifying and incorporating the functions necessary for a traffic planner to plan schedules, address track outages and scheduled maintenance as well as unscheduled events. The first prototype focused on passenger operations where train movement s are tightly scheduled. A second prototype was adapted for freight operations, which are more loosely scheduled. A version integrating features from both operations, which are more loosely scheduled. A version integrating features from both was then created, so that traffic planners from both types of railroads can make optimal use of the tool. Another goal has been to distribute the Railroad Traffic Planner to additional railroads to evaluate its effectiveness in more settings. The contractor will be required to support the Federal Railroad Administration in implementing the system at two railroad cites. The contractor will also be required to provide “help desk” support to resolve issues identified by the railroads. This procurement will be conducted under Simplified Acquisition proc edures in accordance with FAR Part 13. Small business firms classified under NAICS Code 541990, Business Size Standard $6M, that are interested in proposing on this requirement must respond in writing no later than 15 days from the date of this publication that they have a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of the demonstration prototype software used for improved display interfaces for railroad operations. The contractor must possess the rights to the Railroad Traffic Planner application software previously developed by MIT. This proposed action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority in FAR Part 6.302. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed purchase order based upon responses received to this notice would normally be considered, solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The RFQ issuance will be on or about July 15, 2004. Small business firms will be required to submit a maximum of three but not less than two pages of documentation in support of the above for evaluation prior to receiving a solicitation. No telephone requests will be accepted – only written requests for this solicitation will be accepted, however, we will accept requests via facsimile at (617) 494-3024, ATTN: Karen Marino, DTS-853.