BACKGROUND
The NCHRP U.S. Domestic Scan Program accelerates innovation among state departments of transportation (DOTs) by encouraging the spread of new ideas and effective technology transfers among and within agencies. Initiated in 2007 as NCHRP Project 20-68, the program helps DOT staff learn from peers about innovative practices beneficial to other agencies. Participants are expected to apply insights gained within their own agencies and present what they have learned to others, further disseminating new practices.
Each scan is conducted by a small team of knowledgeable professionals—typically state transportation agency staff supported by a subject-matter expert (SME)—who exchange information with peers and develop a report on leading practices. Since the program’s inception, 54 scans have been completed or are ongoing. Completed scan team reports are available on the project web page (https://www.trb.org/NCHRP/USDomesticScanProgram.aspx). The scan process, from topic selection to report completion, takes approximately 3 years.
The program includes three types of scans. Type 1 scans involve visits by a team of eight to 10 participants to host sites with innovative practices. Each scan might require one or two trips of about 1 week. Type 2 scans bring representatives from innovator agencies to central locations to meet with the scan team, reducing travel time. Type 3 scans supplement a desk scan with a symposium or workshop, bringing together practitioner innovators and the scan team to discuss relevant experiences. The NCHRP Project 20-68 panel specifies the appropriate scan type for each topic.
A scan entails four key steps: (1) identifying useful innovations, (2) assessing the experience of early adopters to evaluate potential benefits and obstacles, (3) documenting the results to share with others, and (4) progressive diffusion of information through dissemination activities tailored for each scan, which can accelerate innovation at DOTs and may include support for scan participants to advise peers on adopting new ideas.
Scan team participants are identified by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in cooperation with NCHRP’s scan contractor. Each scan team, supported by the contractor, produces a report and other materials to disseminate scan results. The contractor engages an SME to prepare a “desk scan” that surveys where innovative practices are being applied and provides a basis for planning the scan team’s activities. The SME typically prepares draft and scan reports using materials from scan team members. The contractor organizes and executes all scan activities, monitors the program’s accomplishments, and reports periodically on its status and plans. Scan team members are expected to encourage dissemination and adoption of good ideas, with contractor support, even after the scan report is completed.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to plan and manage the execution of scans under the NCHRP U.S. Domestic Scan Program. Achieving this requires understanding various scan topics, how state transportation agencies develop and adopt advances in practice, the practical challenges of forming and supporting scan teams, preparing high-quality reports and documentation, and supporting participants in disseminating what they have learned.
RESEARCH PLAN
NCHRP 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 with 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 meeting the research objective.
The research plan shall include at least the following deliverable products and milestones:
1. Establishment and maintenance of a logistics team and other arrangements needed to administer domestic scans, including:
- Regular reporting on the domestic scan program’s progress
- Revision and reformatting of selected scan topic proposals received from NCHRP for inclusion in the program prospectus, working with NCHRP to ensure consistency of scan descriptions and reporting
- Participation as requested in periodic meetings of the NCHRP Project 20-68 panel; these meetings typically include an annual 2-day in-person meeting and quarterly 1-hour web meetings.
2. Planning, execution, and documentation of scans and ensuring scan consistency from one topic to another in terms of levels of effort, time schedules for scan development, scan budgets, report content and format, scan team composition, and scan dissemination activities, including:
- Establishment of scan teams based on nominations from AASHTO committees/councils, state DOTs, and NCHRP
- Selection, recruitment, and oversight of SMEs, based on recommendations from scan team members, AASHTO committees/councils, and NCHRP
- Arranging logistics for scan team travel, including meals and incidentals (M&I) and other costs
- Preparation of draft and final scan scoping materials, desk scan reports, and summary and full scan team reports
Note: NCHRP approval is required for SME selections and scan scoping and reporting documents.
3. Planning, execution, and documentation of scan dissemination activities, including evaluation and monitoring of these activities. Dissemination activities should occur no more than 18–24 months after completion of a scan.
Notes:
This project will require knowledge and experience in (a) transportation and transportation agency management, (b) travel and meeting planning and logistics, and (c) technology transfer.
While the program’s funding is provided on an annual basis, the contractor will be engaged for a 3-year term, extendable for a second 3-year term. For budgeting purposes, proposers should assume the annual 2-day in-person meeting will be held at be held at a TRB facility (the Keck Center in Washington, DC, or the Beckman Center in Irvine, CA) in November. Travel costs for NCHRP panel members to attend the annual in-person meeting are paid by NCHRP and should not be included in proposers’ budgets.
The U.S. Domestic Scan Program receives an average of 10–15 proposals a year. Proposers should assume that 3–5 new topics of different scan types will be selected annually, and that scan durations and expenses will not be significantly increased during the period of the contract. Proposers should present an estimate of labor requirements and costs for a typical scan to demonstrate their understanding of the issues likely to be involved with scan execution and their overall approach to scan planning.
All travel and other expenses associated with program management and with planning, execution, and documentation of scans and dissemination activities are the responsibility of the selected contractor unless explicitly noted otherwise in this request. The contractor will be responsible for all reservations and ticketing for travelers, contracting for overnight accommodations, and other scan logistics, and for reimbursing scan participants for expenses they may incur.
NCHRP expects that scan reports, summaries, and slide presentations will be delivered in electronic form, for example as PDF or Microsoft PowerPoint files, suitable for posting on the NCHRP website and use by scan team members. All documents and presentations should be formatted to facilitate print reproduction, but costs of printing these documents are not part of this request.
Past practice has been that the SME receives an honorarium; the proposed amount is $20,000, payable based on completed scan tasks. Proposers should indicate their current thinking on the feasibility of the proposed amount and how they will manage and budget this aspect of the program.
Proposers should present their current thinking on management procedures to be applied in this work, including provision of a website or other strategy to support scan team communications (see www.domesticscan.org).
Background documents describing the history and initial activities of the Domestic Scan Program may be viewed online:
SPECIAL NOTES
A. 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.
B. 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 1/2” 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.
C. 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.
D. 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/3394. Proposers may not contact panel members directly; this roster is provided solely for the purpose of avoiding potential conflicts of interest.
E. 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.
F. Proposals are evaluated by the NCHRP 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.
G. 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.
H. 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.
I. 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.
J. The required technical memorandum, limited to 4 pages, titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products” should follow the layout and terminology used in the NCHRP Frameworks for Moving Research into Practice (https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP20-44_ActiveImplementation-TRNews.pdf) and provide (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.
K. 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.
L. All budget information should be suitable for printing on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper. If a budget page cannot fit on a single 8 1/2″ 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.
M. 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.
