Request for Proposal (RFP) Creation for Road Weather Services that Include MDSS Capabilities

1. Request for Proposal (RFP) Creationfor Road Weather Services that IncludeMDSS Capabilities Bill Mahoney & Kevin Petty National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) MDSS Stakeholder Meeting Falls Church, VA August 2006

2. Overview To aid the preparation of RFPs for road weather services that include MDSS capabilities, NCAR prepared a functional specification document last fall and updated it for this meeting

3. Document Caveats • The FRD Template provides functional requirements and is not meant to dictate system or product design. • The document is organized to make it easy for users to cut and paste items that are desired for their specific tender.

4. Document Scope The document does not cover: • Organization-specific requirements • contract terms • pricing guidance • proposal submission rules and dates • Legal issues • Bonus items

5. Document Scope - Requirements • Candidate functional requirements for MDSS products and services are provided covering: • Weather detection & prediction products • Road condition detection & prediction products • Generation of treatment recommendations • System alert functions • Display functions • Archiving

6. Functional Requirement - Sample General Requirements: • x.x The MDSS (“System”) shall detect, diagnose, forecast, and display surface transportation weather phenomena, road condition information, and winter maintenance treatment recommendations (described herein) for supporting winter road maintenance operations (e.g., snow plowing, deicing, anti-icing, etc.). • x.x The System shall include the capability to selectively archive data and display archived data and products. • x.x The System shall include the capability to routinely monitor System status. • x.x The System shall be designed in accordance with standard commercial practices for software development. • x.x The System shall be designed to make reasonable allowance for expansion of computing power.

7. Functional Requirement - Sample Specific Requirements: • x.x The System shall provide treatment recommendation predictions out to no less than 24 hours into the future. • x.x The winter maintenance rules of practice used in the System shall be based on the Manual of Practice for Effective Anti-Icing Program and the NCHRP report #526 - Snow & Ice Control: Guidelines for Materials and Methods, and be configurable, to reflect local DOT practices. • x.x Treatment recommendations shall include the following for each user defined route: • a) Recommended initial treatment start time • b) Recommended subsequent treatment start time • c) Recommended treatment type (e.g., chemical, abrasives, plow) • d) Recommended chemical type based on available chemicals as identified by • the user (NaCl, MgCl2, CaCl2, etc.) and configured in the System • e) Recommended material rate (e.g., amount per lane mile) • f) Recommended pre-treatment type (solid or liquid), where applicable

8. Appendix B:Technical Considerations for Evaluating MDSS Services Discusses pros and cons of various options and solutions and provides recommendations that could be used for evaluating tender responses. Covers: • Weather Forecasting Capabilities • Road Temperature Forecasting Capabilities • “Rules of Practice” Methods • Generation of Treatment Recommendations

9. Appendix C:Questions to Ask or Look for in Tender Responses A series of questions with “desired” answers are posed to help users evaluate tender responses. Covers: • Weather forecasting capabilities • Road temperature prediction capabilities • Rules of practice capabilities • Generation of treatment recommendation methods and techniques • System alert functionality

10. Appendix D:Guidance for Determining Evaluation Criteria Discusses issues and provides guidance on how to set weights in the tender response scoring process. Suggested weights provided separately for: • Weather forecasting capabilities • Road temperature prediction capabilities • Rules of practice capabilities

11. Next Steps • Solicit feedback from DOTs, Aurora Board and others • Augment document based on feedback • Possibly add section that provides some basic guidance on establishing performance measures. • Post updates on web sites: • NCAR MDSS Site • FHWA MDSS Site • Aurora Board Site • Others (SICOP?)