Inactive

Action Code: Sources Sought Classification Code: R410, SUPPORT- PROFESSIONAL: PROGRAM EVALUATION/REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT Solicitation: 693JJ921RQ001063 Agency/Office: National Highway Traffic Safety Admini... Action Code: Sources Sought Classification Code: R410, SUPPORT- PROFESSIONAL: PROGRAM EVALUATION/REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT Solicitation: 693JJ921RQ001063 Agency/Office: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Location: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration HQ NAICS Code: 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services, $16.5 M. Point of Contract: Vincent Lynch, Contracting Officer, ph(202) 366-9568 Title: Older Driver Research Feasibility Study 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 perform studies, research along with efforts to provide training for traffic safety related initiatives and countermeasures. 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 below. 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 (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 preventing tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with vehicle use and highway travel. NHTSA has been directed by Congress to explore the efficacy of smart phone apps as an intervention for older drivers. Congressional staff expressed a particular interest in Road Coach, a smart phone app originally developed to reduce risky driving in teens, based on findings from Older Driver Support System Field Operational Test (Libby, D., Morris, N. L., & Craig, C. M., 2019) that tested effects of the app on a sample of 28 participants with an average age of 69.5. Libby and colleagues reported that RoadCoach use resulted in reduced hard braking events and stop sign violations. Participants’ attitudes toward RoadCoach were generally positive, but some noted that the app's setting for hard braking and stop sign running were too sensitive. While RoadCoach may prove beneficial to older drivers, NHTSA is concerned that an app that provides in-vehicle assistance could pose a distraction to the oldest drivers and that the behaviors the app addresses are not well matched to the behaviors that contribute to crashes among the oldest drivers. This project will document the way that the RoadCoach system used by Libby et al., as well as similar smart phone apps (including those under development by universities), provide support to drivers, including how they determine when to alert the driver to a potentially risky behavior, the information provided to the driver, and the way the information is provided (e.g., visual, auditory). The project will also involve conducting a literature review that explores the kinds of errors most likely to result in crashes among two groups of drivers: those 18-25 (young adult) and those 75 older (older adult). The literature review will be accompanied by an analysis of NHTSA’s Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) data to determine specific driving errors associated with crash contribution among young adult and older adult drivers. These activities will inform a final report that maps RoadCoach’s and the other apps’ features to the errors associated with crashes among young adult and older adult drivers. Objective: The objective is to provide a thorough description of the RoadCoach app's functions, specifically how the system detects and alerts drivers to risky behaviors, identify and describe other driver support smart phone apps (including those under development by universities), conduct a literature review and crash data analysis to identify driving behaviors commonly associated with crashes among young adult, and older adults drivers, and report the findings in a report that discusses the likelihood that each identified system would be effective in reducing risky driving behaviors. Capabilities: The corporate capability statement must address the capabilities necessary to provide specific services to accomplish tasks identified under the Statement of Work (SOW). (see attached) At the time of award the contractor must have all necessary personnel, facilities and equipment to conduct the following: The Contractor shall: 1. Document RoadCoach’s functions through describing specific conditions that trigger the sensors, the information the system provides to the driver, and how the system provides this information in terms of feedback timing and modality. This description shall include the relationship between the conditions that trigger RoadCoach and the behaviors RoadCoach is designed to reduce. 2. Conduct a scan to identify other smart phone apps (including those under development by universities) that claim to improve driver safety. Describe these other smart phone apps, including their functionality and the behaviors they aim to change, and compare and contrast these apps with RoadCoach. 3. Conduct a systematic literature review to explore the kinds of driving errors associated with crashes, particularly crash contribution, among young adult and older adult drivers. Also explore issues related to driver feedback effectiveness based on timing and modality for young adult and older adult drivers. Highlight research literature that explicitly includes studies that sampled participants of different races and ethnicities and socioeconomic status to explore opportunities to increase safety of historically excluded groups. 4. Conduct a crash data analysis of the kinds of driving errors associated with crashes among young adult and older adult drivers. 5. Produce a final report describing findings from the smart phone app scan and review, the literature review, and the crash data analysis. This report shall discuss the extent to which RoadCoach’s and other apps’ designs, including feedback timing and modality, are optimal for each driver age group, and how they could be expected to change drivers’ behavior under conditions associated with elevated crash risk for each age group. This report shall explain whether RoadCoach could be expected to reduce crash risk for young adult and older adult drivers and whether any of the other apps could be expected to reduce crash risk for these two groups. 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 10 calendar days from the date of publication of this notice.