ATTENTION PROPOSERS: A Research Project Statement for TCRP Project F-34 was originally released on July 1, 2024, but no proposals were received, and no award was made. The purpose of this Research Project Statement is to re-announce this project. This Research Project Statement differs slightly from the original statement.  This solicitation is open to all qualified proposers.

BACKGROUND

All vehicle operators in the United States who operate vehicles designed with 16 or more seats (including the driver’s seat) are required to meet the training and licensing requirements established by the U.S. Commercial Vehicle Safety Act (1986) and acquire a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Public transportation operators' responsibilities differ from long-distance professional drivers, such as truck and tour bus drivers. Trained and licensed public transportation vehicle operators are required to safely negotiate mixed traffic at a reasonable speed, deal with unforeseen obstacles, assist riders (including people with disabilities), respond to inquiries and emergencies, and maintain order on buses. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is responsible for the CDL Program, which establishes national standards for training, testing, licensing, and disqualifying commercial drivers and ensures that only qualified drivers are eligible to receive and retain a CDL (FMCSA 2022). In February 2022, a new FMCSA requirement called Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT) went into effect, which sets a baseline training requirement for obtaining a CDL. CDL testing and licensing are administered by states, which must meet federal requirements and may add requirements, resulting in differences in testing and licensing requirements among states. 

Current FMCSA requirements for obtaining a CDL B license (i.e., the class of license required for vehicles larger than 26,001 lbs.), including ELDT, do not distinguish between the job requirements of truck drivers and public transportation vehicle operators; some job requirements for truck drivers may not be relevant to public transportation vehicle operators. 

The public transportation industry is currently facing the following challenges regarding vehicle operator licensing: 

• Public transportation agencies often pay to train new vehicle operators who leave their positions with transit agencies to become truck drivers with better salaries and benefits after they obtain their CDL.
• Some potential bus operators seek other full-time employment during the wait time for CDL-related training and testing. 
• Some trainees may not pass the CDL test because of limitations in English language proficiency.
• Some trainees do not obtain a CDL because they do not pass elements of the physical exam.
• Some public transportation providers have difficulty attracting qualified trainers for CDL licensing of vehicle operators.
• Paratransit and rural transit services may acquire smaller vehicles to avoid CDL requirements to expand the pool of prospective vehicle operators; however, this may increase capital and operating costs.
• Other factors, including state-specific requirements, may limit the availability of public transportation vehicle operators, such as age (for interstate operators) and prior criminal record.

Research is needed to address these and other related matters affecting public transportation services in the United States. 

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this project is to examine the positive and negative impacts of commercial licensing requirements for U.S. public transportation providers. This project should address the current CDL testing requirements and identify the key challenges public transportation agencies face. The key audiences for this project are state departments of transportation and U.S. public transportation providers in urbanized areas of all sizes, rural areas, and Tribal communities. The public transportation services addressed in this project include publicly available fixed route and demand response services.

RESEARCH PLAN 

The TCRP is seeking the insights of proposers on how best to achieve the research objective. Proposers are expected to describe research plans that can realistically be accomplished within the constraints of available funds and contract time. Proposals must present the proposers' current thinking in sufficient detail to demonstrate their understanding of the issues and the soundness of their approach to meet the research objective. Task descriptions are intended to provide a framework for conducting the research. 

The research plan will describe appropriate deliverables that include the following (which also represent key project milestones): 

• An amplified research plan that responds to comments made by the project panel during the contractor selection meeting.
• An interim report and panel meeting. The interim report should include the analyses and results of completed tasks, a plan for the remaining tasks, and a detailed outline of the final research product(s). The panel meeting will be virtual (e.g., Zoom) and will take place after the panel review of the interim report. The interim report should be submitted, and the panel meeting should occur after the expenditure of about 40 to 50 percent of the project budget.
• Final deliverables. The final deliverables should fully address this project’s objective.
• A technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products” (see Special Note L).
• A slide deck that presents the research findings and conclusions that may be used in webinars. 

Note: The research plan may include additional deliverables and panel meetings via teleconferences. 

Note: The research plan shall include a schedule for the completion of the research that includes 1 month for panel review of the interim report and 3 months for panel review and contractor revision of the final research product(s).

SPECIAL NOTES

A. TCRP is an applied research program that carries out objective, problem solving research for the public transportation industry.   TCRP research reports do not recommend changes in policy to the federal government and do not lobby.

B. Proposals should demonstrate knowledge of relevant literature and completed and ongoing research relevant to this research project.

C. The Information and Instructions for Preparing Proposals for the Transportation Research Board’s Cooperative Research Programs were revised in May 2023. Please take note of the new and revised text which is highlighted in yellow. 

D. Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF file with a maximum file size of 10 MB. The PDF must be formatted for standard 8 ½” X 11” paper, and the entire proposal must not exceed 60 pages (according to the page count displayed in the PDF). Proposals that do not meet these requirements will be rejected. For other requirements, refer to chapter V of the instructions.

E. The Information and Instructions for Preparing Proposals for the Transportation Research Board’s Cooperative Research Programs have been modified to include a revised policy and instructions for disclosing Investigator Conflict of Interest. For more information, refer to chapter IV of the instructions. A detailed definition and examples can be found in the CRP Conflict of Interest Policy for Contractors. The proposer recommended by the project panel will be required to submit an Investigator Conflict of Interest and Disclosure Form as a prerequisite for contract negotiations.

F. Proposals will be rejected if any of the proposed research team members work for organizations represented on the project panel. The panel roster for this project can be found at https://www.mytrb.org/OnlineDirectory/Committee/Details/7020. Proposers may not contact panel members directly; this roster is provided solely for the purpose of avoiding potential conflicts of interest. 

G. Proprietary Products - If any proprietary products are to be used or tested in the project, please refer to Item 6 in the Information and Instructions for Preparing Proposals.

H. Proposals are evaluated by the TCRP staff and project panels consisting of individuals collectively knowledgeable in the problem area. The project panel will recommend their first choice proposal considering the following factors: (1) the proposer's demonstrated understanding of the problem; (2) the merit of the proposed research approach and experiment design; (3) the experience, qualifications, and objectivity of the research team in the same or closely related problem area; (4) the plan for ensuring application of results; (5) how the proposer approaches inclusion and diversity in the composition of their team and research approach, including participation by certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises; and, if relevant, (6) the adequacy of the facilities. A recommendation by the project panel is not a guarantee of a contract. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS - the contracting authority for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) will conduct an internal due diligence review and risk assessment of the panel’s recommended proposal before contract negotiations continue. 

Note: The proposer's approach to inclusion and diversity as well as participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises should be incorporated in Item 11 of the proposal.

I. Copyrights - All data, written materials, computer software, graphic and photographic images, and other information prepared under the contract and the copyrights therein shall be owned by the National Academy of Sciences. The contractor and subcontractors will be able to publish this material for non-commercial purposes, for internal use, or to further academic research or studies with permission from TRB Cooperative Research Programs. The contractor and subcontractors will not be allowed to sell the project material without prior approval by the National Academy of Sciences. By signing a contract with the National Academy of Sciences, contractors accept legal responsibility for any copyright infringement that may exist in work done for TRB. Contractors are therefore responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for use of copyrighted material in TRB's Cooperative Research Programs publications. For guidance on TRB's policies on using copyrighted material please consult Section 5.4, "Use of Copyrighted Material," in the Procedural Manual for Contractors.

J. The text of the final deliverable is expected to be publication ready when it is submitted. It is strongly recommended that the research team include the expertise of a technical editor as early in the project timeline as possible. See Appendix F of the Procedural Manual for Contractors Conducting Research in the Transportation Research Board’s Cooperative Research Program for technical editing standards expected in final deliverables.

K. Proposals should include a task-by-task breakdown of labor hours for each staff member as shown in Figure 4 in the Information and Instructions for Preparing Proposals. Proposals also should include a breakdown of all costs (e.g., wages, indirect costs, travel, materials, and total) for each task using Figures 5 and 6 in the brochure. Please note that TRB Cooperative Research Program subawards (selected proposers are considered subawards to the National Academy of Sciences, the parent organization of TRB) must comply with 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. These requirements include a provision that proposers without a "federally" Negotiated Indirect Costs Rate Agreement (NICRA) shall be subject to a maximum allowable indirect rate of 10% of Modified Total Direct Costs. Modified Total Direct Costs include all salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $25,000 of each lower tier subaward and subcontract. Modified Total Direct Costs exclude equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs and the portion of each lower tier subaward and subcontract in excess of $25,000.

L. The required technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products” should (a) provide recommendations on how to best put the research findings/products into practice; (b) identify possible institutions that might take leadership in applying the research findings/products; (c) identify issues affecting potential implementation of the findings/products and recommend possible actions to address these issues; and (d) recommend methods of identifying and measuring the impacts associated with implementation of the findings/products. Implementation of these recommendations is not part of the research project and, if warranted, details of these actions will be developed and implemented in future efforts.

M. If the team proposes a Principal Investigator who is not an employee of the Prime Contractor, or if the Prime Contractor is proposed to conduct less than 50% of the total effort (by time or budget), then section five of the proposal should include: (1) a justification of why this approach is appropriate, and (2) a description of how the Prime Contractor will ensure adequate communication and coordination with their Subcontractors throughout the project.

N. All budget information should be suitable for printing on 8½″ x 11″ paper. If a budget page cannot fit on a single 8½″ x 11″ page, it should be split over multiple pages. Proposers must use the Excel templates provided in the Information and Instructions for Preparing Proposals for the Transportation Research Board’s Cooperative Research Programs. 

O. The National Academies have an ethical and legal obligation to provide proper attribution whenever material from other sources is included in its reports, online postings, and other publications and products. TRB will review all Cooperative Research Programs draft final deliverables using the software iThenticate for potential plagiarism. If plagiarized text appears in the draft final deliverable, the research team will be required to make revisions and the opportunity to submit future proposals may be affected.