USDOT preparing to issue solicitation for Phase 1 of Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment program

23 December 2014

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is preparing to issue (on or before 15 January 2015) a solicitation for a full and open competition to procure services for the Connected Vehicle (CV) Pilot Deployment program, Phase 1: Concept Development. Accordingly, USDOT has issued the synopsis notice (DTFH6115R00003) for Phase 1.

USDOT will conduct the CV Pilot Deployment program will be conducted under three phases: Phase 1: Concept Development Phase; Phase 2: Design/Build/Test; and Phase 3: Maintain and Operate. USDOT intends to enter into contracts for performance of Phase 1 only. Only awardees of Phase 1 Contracts will be eligible for Phase 2 and 3 Cooperative Agreements. The anticipated period of performance for the Phase 1 contracts is no more than 12 months.

<!——>

The connected vehicle research program is a multi-modal initiative to enable safe, interoperable networked wireless communications among vehicles, the infrastructure, and travelers’ personal communications devices. Connected vehicle research is being sponsored by the USDOT and others to leverage the potentially transformative capabilities of wireless technology to make surface transportation safer, smarter, and greener.

A considerable body of research work is now in hand to support pilot deployments, including systems engineering documentation and prototyping for more than two dozen connected vehicle applications. Concurrent federal research efforts have developed critical cross-cutting technologies and other enabling capabilities required to integrate and deploy applications.

For example, in 2012-2013, the connected vehicle research program conducted the Safety Pilot Model Deployment in Ann Arbor, Michigan to assess the potential of V2V (and other) safety applications to reduce crashes and improve roadway system safety. (Earlier post.)

Building on this body of connected vehicle research work, the Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment Program is looking for operational deployments of connected vehicle applications that synergistically capture and utilize new forms of connected vehicle and mobile device data to improve multimodal surface transportation system performance and enable enhanced performance-based systems management.

Improved performance should relate to one or more of the following:

• improved safety, mobility, or public agency efficiency; or
• reduced environmental impact.

Connected vehicle applications support improved decision-making by both system users (travelers) and system managers. The intent is to deploy site-tailored collections of applications that address specific local needs while laying a foundation for additional local/regional deployment, and to provide transferable lessons learned for other prospective deployers across the nation.

… pilot deployments are expected to become part of a permanent connected vehicle capability that is fully integrated into routine operational practice in the pilot site – and create a foundation for expanded and enhanced deployments. The CV Pilots program seeks institutional and financial models that enable long-term sustainment of successful elements of pilot deployments without dedicated federal funding.

The overall objective of the Phase 1 is to set the stage for a connected vehicle pilot deployment that has an observable measurable near-term impact, deployed on-time and within budget. More specific objectives of Phase 1 are to develop fully an innovative and synergistic connected vehicle pilot deployment concept; to build partnerships among stakeholders; and to prepare a comprehensive pilot deployment plan that reduces technical, institutional and financial risk.