Broad Agency Announcement for Demonstration Projects and Technology Advancements for Railroad Research and Development Program

The summary for the Broad Agency Announcement for Demonstration Projects and Technology Advancements for Railroad Research and Development Program grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the DOT Federal Railroad Administration, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Broad Agency Announcement for Demonstration Projects and Technology Advancements for Railroad Research and Development Program: This Broad Agency Announcement solicits proposals from private industry, non-profit organizations, states and local governments for projects addressing the adoption and application of new technology in railroad services which are a key focus in the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) research and development program. A negotiated cooperative agreement may result from an accepted proposal/application. Cost-sharing is preferred, but not mandatory. This is an unrestricted solicitation for demonstrations of various technologies or techniques related to the following areas: (1) grade crossing hazard mitigation system; (2) positive train control (PTC); (3) wireless communication system; (4) train tracking system; (5) risk assessment and hazard analysis; (6) PTC/communications enabling projects. The area of advanced train control and dispatching systems, such as PTC, is of particular interest. PTC uses microprocessors, advanced navigation and tracking systems, and wireless technology to interconnect the various segments of railroad operations to virtually eliminate train to train collisions and over-speed derailments, as well as to provide roadway worker protection. Technologies most likely to facilitate the improvement of railroad services are those which will (1) improve safety by reducing human and technology failures; (2) bring about capital cost reductions and economy in producing equipment and facilities; (3) reduce operating costs of rail service by providing more efficient operations; (4) improve the reliability of equipment and infrastructure components by reducing failures and/or reducing false failure detections; (5) enhance the revenue-generating capability of high-speed operations by attracting greater ridership by reducing trip times, upgrading customer service quality, increasing reliability, or improving on time performance; and/or (6) enhance the social benefits and/or environmental aspects of high-speed rail. Parties interested in this solicitation may submit proposals/applications in accordance with the BAA-2007-1 package which can be downloaded or printed from the following Internet website: http://www.fra.dot.gov. Follow the selections of "Research and Development" (upper left of home page menu), "Funds for Research", and "Broad Agency Announcement 2007-1." Further technical program details and specific instructions for submitting proposals are contained in BAA-2007-1 on the website. Offerors/applicants MUST be registered in the Federal Government's "Central Contractor Registration" (CCR), and must be registered in the Federal Government "Online Representations and Certifications Application" (ORCA). Both of these separate registrations can be accomplished through the following website: http://www.bpn.gov. When properly registered in each of these systems, the applicant will receive an automatic acknowledgement confirming successful registration in each system. Without such acknowledgements, the registrations are not complete. BAA-2007-1 is NOT available in paper copy.