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Highway Capacity Manual
Request for Proposal (RFP) and Information 

Issuance Date

The RFP issuance date is April 30, 2024. 

Deadline

The proposal deadline is May 31, 2024 at midnight ET. Upload the proposal PDF or Word file to Dropbox  

Bidder's Conference

An optional Bidder's Conference will be held virtually via Zoom on May 9, 2024 at 2:00pm ET.

Restrictions

[Removed 5/6]: Proposals will be rejected if any of the proposed team members are employed by organizations currently represented on the TRB Standing Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service.

[Modified 5/6]: All organizations are welcome to submit proposals. Once a contract is executed, any members of the TRB Standing Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service employed by parties to the executed contract must step down from the Standing Committee. See committee roster. Proposers may not contact committee members directly; this roster is provided solely for the purpose of avoiding potential conflicts of interest. Proposers may not contact anyone at Kittelson & Associates, Inc. for questions. All questions must be directed to Cynthia Jones. 

RFP PDF

Click here to download the PDF. Future versions and dates will be listed here. 

  • Version 202400506-2 posted on May 6, 2024
    1. Added Copyright heading and information on page 6 of RFP.
    2. All are welcome to submit proposals. Revised language in Evaluation heading on page 8 of RFP.
    3. Added Section IV – Specimen Agreement Clauses beginning on page 20 of RFP.
  • Version 20240430-1 posted on April 30, 2024

Questions

Questions were gathered both during the bidder’s conference on 5/9, and by email up to May 14, 2024. All questions and responses are posted below on this page as of May 16, 2024. Questions and answers that start with (mm:ss) reference that time within the bidder's conference video.

Q#1: (16:30) Will existing users in the current HCMvolume4.org be migrated into the new platform?

  • A: (16:45) users should get migrated so those who have existing access and have registered can maintain access.
  • A: (17:31) However, if that is a concern we can send an email to existing users announcing the new site and asking them to re-register; that is what happened when they transitioned from HCM 2010.org to HCMvolume4.org

Q#2: (16:30) How many existing users are there in the current HCMvolume4.org site today?

  • A: (17:00) At this time, there are approximately 18,400 registered users on the site. 

Q#3: (18:04) Appreciating that the committee cannot predict the future, is there any guidance on the anticipated effort in Task 3 for edits and chapter updates per year?

  • A: (18:20) That is difficult to predict. We know at this point that there are two completed NCHRP projects that created methods for the HCM, but that did NOT create draft chapter materials (Projects NCHRP 15-66 Arterial Weaving and 08-135 Reliability of Two-Lane Highways). Both had HCM content, but neither of them produced chapters. This contractor selected for this RFP is not expected to create chapter content, but to take chapters that exist and usher them through the committee review and editorial process. There is a need for another mechanism, such as implementation grant, to actually create the chapters. Over the next two years, there is not likely to be a need for chapter review.
  • A: (19:21) Historically the committee is also open to methods that come from other sources (e.g., State DOTs, pooled fund studies), so there is that possibility for additional content. It is difficult to predict, but the likelihood of new chapter for the first two years is small.
  • A: (19:55) Regarding the errata and interpretations that is dependent on what is submitted by the users, maybe ten per year.

Q#4: (20:37) How close should the chapter review website functionality be compared to Kittelson’s functionality?

  • A: (22:13) The chapter review website is owned by Kittelson. The new contractor is expected to provide similar functionality: users are able to upload documents, to post questions and answers.

Q#5: (22:55) Once a certain errata is approved, is the contractor required to just post it on the website, or should they also send email blasts to all existing users?

  • A: (23:07) It is nice to keep users informed, based on the user subscription to opt-in to discussion forum, new chapters, etc. The committee may also share announcements to committee members and friends.

In addition, the hcmvolume4.org website has an opt-in subscription for the discussion forum (see screenshot below), and subscribed users should get notified on new threads if subscribed.

Q#6: (email) If a committee member must step down from the standing committee due to their organization's executed contract, does that mean they are no longer a member forever?  Or at least they would need to be reappointed at some point in the future?

  • A. The member could be reappointed in the future:
    • at a time when their organization does not have this agreement related to this committee
    • if they have not served three terms (full or partial) on this committee

Q#7: (email) We would like to confirm our understanding that the hcmvolume4.org website, as presented by Bastian during the bidder’s call, will be transferred “as is” from TRB to the contractor. Therefore, the contractor is not authorized to use a different platform or make any modifications to the website, either on its interface or the backend codes. Is our understanding correct?

  • A: The hcmvolume4.org site will be transferred as is. However, the new contractor may propose using a different platform, including modifications to the interface and/or backend codes. The hcmvolume4.org site functionality must remain although there can be changes to the tools used.

Q#8: (email) Bastian has mentioned a few IT details of the current hcmvolume4.org website. For example: it has a SMTP server for sending emails. Is it possible to provide more technical details, if available?

  • A: (21:30) The hcmvolume4.org site is a Ruby on Rails 6.1 app.  The database is hosted on MySQL 5.7 (Azure Cloud).  The current contractor uses a hosted SMTP server for sending emails.  The documents (e.g., PDF files of chapters and other resources) are hosted on Azure Blob Storage. The contractor currently pays for the hcmvolume4.org domain on a monthly basis. Once the new contractor has set up an account for the website, the current contractor can work with them to migrate the site and domain name to it.

Q#9: (email) Can you confirm that all source codes from the HCMvolume4.org website will be transferred to the contractor?

  • A: Yes.

Q#10: (email) Is the contractor also expected to host the older HCM6th Ed and HCM2010 websites?

Q#11: (email) Is the HCM chapter review website (Task 3) expected to be transferred from Kittelson to the contractor, including source codes? Or is the contractor required to develop a brand new platform?

  • A: No, the source code for the chapter review website will not be transferred. The new contractor is required to propose and develop their own process and/or website that mirrors the functionality of the existing site.

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