FY 2023 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Transit Worker and Rider Safety (TWRS) Best Practices Research Project, 76663-76668 [2022-27197]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 240 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76663-76668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27197]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


FY 2023 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Transit Worker and Rider 
Safety (TWRS) Best Practices Research Project

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the 
opportunity to apply for up to $500,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2021 funds 
for a single cooperative agreement for a research project to help 
transit agencies address operator and rider assaults. The goals of this 
research project are to identify public safety risks for transit 
vehicle operators and riders, determine the most effective mitigation 
strategies to minimize those risks, and promote the implementation of 
those strategies.

DATES: Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through the 
Grants.gov ``APPLY'' function by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on February 
13, 2023. The funding opportunity ID is FTA-2023-005-TRI-TWRS. Mail and 
fax submissions will not be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Chen, FTA Office of Research, 
Demonstration, and Innovation, 202-366-0462, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

A. Program Description
B. Federal Award Information
C. Eligibility Information
D. Application and Submission Information
E. Application Review Information
F. Federal Award Administration Information
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
H. Other Information

A. Program Description

    According to the National Transit Database (NTD), the number of 
transit worker and rider assault incidents have been trending upward. 
The data shows a roughly five-fold increase in transit assault 
incidents reported from 2009 (319 reported incidents) to 2019 (1539 
reported incidents). To address this issue and help reduce assaults on 
transit systems across the nation, FTA will competitively award up to 
$500,000 in Public Transportation Innovation Program funds (49 U.S.C. 
5312) for a research cooperative agreement to improve the safety of 
transit vehicle operators and riders. This notice of funding 
opportunity (NOFO) (Federal Assistance Listing: 20.530) aligns with the 
U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) strategic goals and FTA's 
focus to improve and enhance the safety of America's public 
transportation systems.
    The Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices Research Project 
will be carried out in two phases.
    Phase I: Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices Report.
    Phase II: Transit Worker and Rider Safety Pilot Demonstration 
Project.
    This notice provides funding only for Phase I. In Phase I, the 
selected applicant will conduct research in the following areas: (1) 
identifying key issues and trends in operator and rider assaults by 
evaluating available data on operator and rider assaults from various 
sources, including the NTD; (2) assessing assault data quality and 
accuracy reported to the NTD; (3) documenting and assessing mitigation 
strategies and solutions for the issues and trends identified; (4) 
developing outreach materials and tools that can be used by the 
industry to effectively implement the identified mitigation measures; 
and (5) proposing a bold and innovative pilot demonstration project 
that can showcase the utility of those mitigation strategies and 
promote the adoption of those solutions. FTA may, at its discretion, 
implement the proposed pilot demonstration project for a Phase II. The 
decision will be made after the completion of Phase I of this research 
project.
    Because this notice provides funding only for Phase I, applicants 
should submit proposals to address only Phase I. Eligibility for Phase 
II is subject to the availability of future funding, the quality of the 
materials developed in Phase I, and the merit of the proposed pilot 
demonstration project developed in Phase I.
    This research effort builds upon FTA's prior safety efforts such as 
the Bus Compartment Redesign Program launched on October 8, 2020 
(https://www.transit.dot.gov/research-innovation/redesign-transit-bus-operator-compartment-improve-safety-operational-efficiency), and the 
request for information on Transit Worker Safety released in the 
Federal Register on September 24, 2021 (https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/news/federal-transit-administration-announces-request-information-transit-worker-safety).

B. Federal Award Information

    This Notice makes available up to $500,000 in Public Transportation 
Innovation Program (49 U.S.C. 5312) funds for a single award to improve 
transit vehicle operator and rider safety. Only proposals from eligible 
recipients for eligible activities will be considered for funding. FTA 
seeks a project that can begin implementation within three months after 
award of the Cooperative Agreement. The maximum period of performance 
allowed for the work covered by the award should not exceed 24 months 
from the date of award. FTA will extend the period of performance if 
Phase II is approved and funded. Pre-award authority is subject to FTA 
approval and is only available for costs incurred after the 
announcement of a project selection on FTA's website.
    The project selected under this competition is for research and 
development and, as such, FTA Research Circular 6100.1E (available at 
https://www.fta.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/research-technical-assistance-and-training-program) guidance will apply 
in administering the program. The applicant whose proposal is selected 
for funding will receive a cooperative agreement award with FTA to be 
administered according to Circular 6100.1E. FTA will have substantial 
involvement in the administration of the cooperative agreement. FTA's 
role includes the right to participate in decisions to redirect and 
reprioritize project activities, goals, and deliverables.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants under this notice include the following:
     Providers of public transportation, including public 
transportation agencies, state or local government DOTs, and Federally 
recognized Native American tribes;
     Private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, 
consultants, research consortia, and industry organizations;
     State, city, or local government entities, including 
multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and organizations such as 
Metropolitan Planning Organizations; or
     Institutions of higher education including large research 
universities, and technical and community colleges, particularly those 
with Minority Serving Institution status.
    On the application form, eligible applicants are encouraged to 
identify one or more project partners with a substantial interest and 
involvement in the project to participate in the implementation of the 
project. If an application that involves such a partnership is selected 
for funding, the competitive selection process will be deemed to 
satisfy the requirement for a

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competitive procurement under 49 U.S.C. 5325(a) for the named entities. 
Applicants are advised that any changes to the proposed partnership 
will require FTA written approval, must be consistent with the scope of 
the approved project, and may necessitate a competitive procurement.
    The applicant must be able to carry out the proposed agreement and 
procurements, if needed, with project partners in compliance with all 
applicable Federal, state, and local laws.
    To be considered eligible, applicants must be able to demonstrate 
the requisite legal, financial, and technical capabilities to receive 
and administer Federal funds under this program.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

    The maximum Federal share of project costs under this program is 
limited to 80 percent. Applicants may seek a lower Federal 
contribution. The applicant must provide the non-Federal share of the 
net project cost in cash or in-kind, and must document in its 
application the source of the non-Federal match. Eligible sources of 
non-Federal match are detailed in FTA Circular 6100.1E.

3. Eligible Projects

    This notice solicits applications for a project to analyze the 
available safety data from the NTD and other available datasets for 
current trends and safety issues with operator and rider assaults, 
including an assessment of data quality and accuracy reported to the 
NTD. A critical component of this project is close collaboration across 
industry stakeholders to identify and document current best practices, 
mitigation strategies used and their effectiveness. This research will 
inform the development of outreach materials and tools (virtual or 
physical) that can be used by transit agencies to implement risk 
mitigation strategies to reduce operator and rider assaults. As part of 
the project, FTA requires the project team to propose a pilot 
demonstration project, which FTA may approve for implementation in a 
Phase II, to showcase a comprehensive risk mitigation approach that 
could be implemented by transit operators to effectively reduce 
operator and rider assault incidents using information and lessons 
gathered from the research conducted in Phase I.
    Applicants are encouraged to note the application of Safe Systems 
Approach strategies as appropriate. For more information on the DOT's 
Safe Systems Approach, please visit: What is a Safe System Approach? 
[verbar] US Department of Transportation (https://www.transportation.gov/NRSS/SafeSystem).
    This effort seeks to harness Federal, local, and private sector 
investments to improve safety for transit workers and riders. As such, 
FTA seeks applications for a project that improves the current state of 
practice or builds on existing successful programs and partnership 
efforts.
    Software products developed under this project will be subject to 
the provisions of FTA's Master Agreement, the latest version of which 
is available at https://www.transit.dot.gov/grantee-resources/sample-fta-agreements/ and may be disseminated to public transit agencies for 
their use. Software developed under this program should be 
interoperable, adaptable, and secure. Further, the applicants should 
consider how the development effort could support the development or 
use of open standards, specifications, or protocols if the project 
involves software development.
    It is FTA's intent to advance safety innovations that are of 
national significance and can provide benefit to transit agencies, 
cities, and communities across the United States. As such, applicants 
should consider how to structure development efforts to ensure research 
outputs are broadly relevant and can lead to adoption or use by other 
transit agencies or transportation providers.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address To Request Application

    Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. 
General information for submitting applications through Grants.gov can 
be found at www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply. A complete proposal 
submission consists of two forms: the SF-424 Application for Federal 
Assistance (available at Grants.gov) and the supplemental form for the 
FY 2023 TWRS NOFO (downloaded from Grants.gov or the FTA website at 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/TWRS. Failure to submit the 
information as requested can delay review or disqualify the 
application.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

a. Proposal Submission
    A complete proposal submission consists of two forms: (1) the SF-
424 Application for Federal Assistance; and (2) the supplemental form 
for the FY 2023 Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practice Research 
NOFO. The supplemental form and any supporting documents must be 
attached to the ``Attachments'' section of the SF-424. The application 
must include responses to all sections of the SF-424 Application for 
Federal Assistance and the supplemental form, unless indicated as 
optional. The information on the supplemental form will be used to 
determine applicant and project eligibility for the program, and to 
evaluate the proposal against the selection criteria described in 
Section E of this notice.
    FTA will accept only one supplemental form per SF-424 submission. 
Applicants may attach additional supporting information to the SF-424 
submission, including but not limited to letters of support from key 
stakeholders, project budgets, visual aids, excerpts from relevant 
planning documents, or project narratives. Any supporting documentation 
must be described and referenced by file name in the appropriate 
response section of the supplemental form, or else it may not be 
reviewed.
    Information such as applicant name, Federal amount requested, local 
match amount, and description of areas served may be requested in 
varying degrees of detail on both the SF-424 and supplemental form. 
Applicants must complete all fields unless stated otherwise on the 
forms. If information is copied into the supplemental form from another 
source, applicants should verify that pasted text is fully captured on 
the supplemental form and has not been truncated by the character 
limits built into the form. Applicants should use both the ``Check 
Package for Errors'' and the ``Validate Form'' validation buttons on 
both forms to check all required fields on the forms and ensure that 
the Federal and local amounts specified are consistent.
b. Application Content
    The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance and the supplemental 
form will prompt applicants for the required information, including:

    1. Applicant name.
    2. Unique Entity ID (provided by SAM).
    3. Key contact information (including name, address, email 
address, and phone).
    4. Congressional district(s) where the project will take place.
    5. Project information (including title, an executive summary, 
and type).
    6. Information on areas served by the project including current 
state of public transportation and state of mobility in the area 
served if the application includes transit agencies as part of the 
project team.
    7. A detailed description of the project and how it will (a) 
analyze the available datasets on operator and rider assaults for 
trends and issues, (b) an assessment of assault data

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quality and accuracy reported to the NTD, (c) document and assess 
mitigation strategies and solutions and their effectiveness; (d) 
develop outreach materials and tools that can be used by the transit 
industry to implement mitigation strategies and solutions; (e) 
propose a pilot demonstration project to showcase and promote those 
solutions.
    8. A description of the project implementation strategy.
    9. A description of the approach to data and data access, 
including how the project will support the USDOT's public data 
access requirements.
    10. Information on any project partners, their role, and 
anticipated contributions.
    11. A description of the technical, legal, and financial 
capacity of the applicant and partners.
    12. A detailed project budget, specifying Federal and local 
share.
    13. A detailed project timeline.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

    Each applicant is required to: (1) be registered in SAM before 
submitting an application; (2) provide a valid unique entity identifier 
(UEI) in its application; and (3) continue to maintain an active SAM 
registration with current information at all times during which the 
applicant has an active Federal award or an application or plan under 
consideration by FTA. FTA may not make an award until the applicant has 
complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM 
requirements. If an applicant has not fully complied with the 
requirements by the time FTA is ready to make an award, FTA may 
determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award and 
use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another 
applicant. These requirements do not apply if the applicant has an 
exception approved by FTA or the U.S. Office of Management and Budget 
under 2 CFR 25.110(c) or (d). Applicants should reference 2 CFR 
200.113, for more information. SAM registration takes approximately 3-5 
business days, but FTA recommends allowing ample time, up to several 
weeks, for completion of all steps. For additional information on 
obtaining a unique entity identifier, please visit https://www.sam.gov.

4. Submission Dates and Times

    Project proposals must be submitted electronically through 
Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 13, 2023. Grants.gov 
attaches a time stamp to each application at the time of submission. 
Proposals submitted after the deadline will only be considered under 
extraordinary circumstances not under the applicant's control. Mail and 
fax submissions will not be accepted.
    FTA urges applicants to submit applications at least 72 hours prior 
to the due date to allow time to receive the validation messages and to 
correct any problems that may have caused a rejection notification. 
Grants.gov scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the 
Grants.gov website. Deadlines will not be extended due to scheduled 
website maintenance.
    Within 48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the 
applicant should receive an email message from Grants.gov with 
confirmation of successful transmission to Grants.gov. If a notice of 
failed validation or incomplete materials is received, the applicant 
must address the reason for the failed validation, as described in the 
email notice, and resubmit before the submission deadline. If making a 
resubmission for any reason, include all original attachments 
regardless of which attachments were updated and check the box on the 
supplemental form indicating this is a resubmission.
    Applicants are encouraged to begin the process of registration on 
the Grants.gov site well in advance of the submission deadline. 
Registration is a multi-step process, which may take several weeks to 
complete before an application can be submitted. Registered applicants 
may still be required to take steps to keep their registration up to 
date before submissions can be made successfully: (1) registration in 
SAM must be renewed annually, and (2) persons making submissions on 
behalf of the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) must be 
authorized in Grants.gov by the AOR to make submission.

5. Funding Restrictions

    Funds available under this NOFO cannot be used to reimburse 
applicants for otherwise eligible expenses incurred prior to FTA 
issuing pre-award authority for selected projects.
    Refer to Section C.3., Eligible Projects, for information on 
activities that are allowable. Allowable direct and indirect expenses 
must be consistent with the Governmentwide Uniform Administrative 
Requirements and Cost Principles (2 CFR part 200) and FTA Circular 
5010.1E.

6. Other Submission Requirements

    All applications must be submitted via the Grants.gov website. FTA 
does not accept applications on paper, by fax machine, email, or other 
means. For information on application submission requirements, please 
see Section D.1., Address to Request Application. If the applicant 
encounters system problems or technical difficulties using the 
Grants.gov website, the applicant should address those technical issues 
to Grants.gov.

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

    Proposals will be evaluated primarily on the responses provided in 
the supplemental form. Additional information may be provided to 
support the responses; however, any additional documentation must be 
directly referenced on the supplemental form, including the file name 
where the additional information can be found. FTA will evaluate 
proposals based on the criteria described in this notice.
a. Proposal Team Subject Matter Expertise
    FTA will evaluate the experience of the project team and any named 
project partners in the application. Applicants should clearly 
demonstrate the knowledge and expertise of the team in the subject 
matter of this NOFO, specifically in the areas of transit operations, 
transit safety, data analysis, the NTD and other relevant data sources, 
Safe Systems Approaches, development of outreach and marketing 
materials on best practices, involvement with knowledge transfer 
activities and leading research demonstration projects. Applicants are 
advised to submit information on any partner's qualifications and 
experience as part of the application. Entities who will be involved in 
the project but not named in the application will be required to be 
selected through a competitive procurement.
b. Project Implementation Strategy
    Proposals will be evaluated based on the extent to which the 
applicant's proposed implementation plans, including all necessary 
project milestones and the overall project timeline, are reasonable and 
complete. FTA will consider the risks to project implementation, and 
the extent to which the project implementation strategy addresses these 
risks, including the capacity to implement the project within three 
months after award of the Cooperative Agreement; ability to complete 
the project, Phase I, within 24 months of award; and capacity to lead 
Phase II of the research project if it is approved. FTA will also 
consider if the project's implementation addresses how the project will 
support DOT's data collection, sharing policies and meeting the data 
management plan requirement (see below).

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c. Technical, Legal, and Financial Capacity
    Applicants must demonstrate the financial organizational capacity 
and managerial experience to successfully oversee and implement this 
proposed project. Applicants with outstanding legal, technical, or 
financial compliance issues from an FTA compliance review or FTA grant-
related Single Audit finding must disclose and explain how corrective 
actions will mitigate negative impacts on the proposed project. FTA may 
review relevant oversight assessments and records to determine whether 
there are any outstanding legal, technical, or financial issues with 
the applicant that would affect the outcome of the proposed project.
d. Planning and Partnerships
    Applicants must identify all project partners and their specific 
roles. FTA will evaluate the extent to which the project contains 
strong, cohesive partnerships and the collaboration necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed project. Applications should 
describe how project partners plan to work collaboratively and should 
show evidence of strong commitment and cooperation among project 
partners through letters of support or agreements among the partners. 
For proposed projects that will require formal coordination, approvals, 
or permits from government agencies or project partners, the applicant 
must demonstrate coordination with these organizations and their 
support for the project, such as through letters of support.
e. Local Financial Commitment
    Applicants must identify the source of the non-Federal cost share 
and describe whether such funds are currently available for the project 
or will need to be secured if the project is selected for funding. FTA 
will consider the availability of the non-Federal cost share as 
evidence of the applicant's financial commitment to the project. 
Additional consideration may be given to those projects with a higher 
non-Federal share of costs and for which non-Federal funds have already 
been made available or reserved. Applicants should submit evidence of 
the availability of funds for the project, for example, by including a 
board resolution, letter of support from the State, a budget document 
highlighting the line item or section committing funds to the proposed 
project, or other documentation of the source of non-Federal funds.

2. Review and Selection Process

    A technical evaluation committee will evaluate proposals based on 
the published evaluation criteria. Members of the technical evaluation 
committee may request additional information from applicants, if 
necessary. Based on the findings of the technical evaluation committee, 
FTA will determine the final selection of a single project, or none, 
for final award.
    Prior to making an award, FTA is required to review and consider 
any information about the applicant in the Federal Awardee Performance 
and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) accessible through SAM. An 
applicant may review and comment on any information about itself that a 
Federal awarding agency previously entered. FTA will consider any 
comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in 
FAPIIS, in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business 
ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing 
the review of risk posed by applicants as described in the Office of 
Management and Budget's Uniform Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR 
200.206).

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

    FTA will announce the final project selection on the FTA website.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

a. Pre-Award Authority
    At the time the project selection is announced, FTA may extend pre-
award authority for the selected project. There is no blanket pre-award 
authority before announcement. FTA will issue specific guidance to the 
recipient regarding pre-award authority at the time of selection. FTA 
does not consider requests for pre-award authority for competitive 
funds until after projects are selected, and additional Federal 
requirements must be met before costs are incurred. For more 
information about FTA's policy on pre-award authority, please see the 
most recent Apportionments, Allocations and Program Information Notice 
at https://www.transit.dot.gov.
b. Cooperative Agreement Requirements
    If selected, the awardee will apply for a cooperative agreement 
through FTA's Transit Award Management System (TrAMS). The successful 
applicant must be prepared to submit a final statement of work and 
complete the application in TrAMS within 60 days of notification of 
selection. The recipient must follow the requirements of FTA Circular 
6100.1E. Technical assistance regarding these requirements is available 
from FTA.
c. Buy America
    All capital procurements must comply with FTA's Buy America 
requirements (49 U.S.C. 5323(j)), which require that all iron, steel, 
and manufactured products be produced in the United States. In 
addition, any award made after May 14, 2022, must comply with the Build 
America, Buy America Act (BABA) (Pub. L. 117-58 Sec. Sec.  70901-52). 
BABA provides that none of the funds provided under an award made 
pursuant to this notice may be used for a project unless all iron, 
steel, manufactured products, and construction materials are produced 
in the United States. FTA's Buy America requirements are consistent 
with BABA requirements for iron, steel, and manufactured products.
d. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
    FTA requires that its recipients receiving planning, capital, or 
operating assistance that will award prime contracts exceeding $250,000 
in FTA funds in a Federal fiscal year comply with the U.S. Department 
of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program 
regulations (49 CFR part 26). If an applicant also receives FTA 
planning, capital, or operating assistance, it should expect to include 
any funds awarded, excluding those to be used for vehicle procurements, 
in setting its overall DBE goal. Note, however, that projects including 
vehicle procurements remain subject to the DBE program regulations.
e. Standard Assurances
    If an applicant receives an award, the applicant must assure that 
it will comply with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations, 
executive orders, directives, FTA circulars, and other Federal 
administrative requirements in carrying out any project supported by 
the FTA award. The applicant acknowledges that it will be under a 
continuing obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the 
agreement issued for its project with FTA. The applicant understands 
that Federal laws, regulations, policies, and administrative practices 
might be modified from time to time and may affect the implementation 
of the project. The most recent Federal requirements will apply to the 
project unless FTA issues a written determination otherwise. The 
applicant must submit the most recent FTA Certifications and Assurances 
before receiving an award if

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it does not have current certifications on file.
f. Data Management Plan
    FTA-funded grant recipients must comply with the DOT Public Access 
Plan. FTA will assess the project's ability to consider, plan, budget 
for, and implement appropriate data management in accordance with 
Public Access (https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559) of data and 
corresponding outputs acquired or generated during the course of the 
project. The proposed data management will be used as an evaluation 
criterion. Such requirements will include, but are not limited to:
     providing at a minimum the data and corresponding outputs 
to: (1) reproduce significant results (whether positive or negative); 
(2) measure the outcomes or objectives of the project, as well as the 
NOFO; and (3) add potential value to future deployments or research and 
to support evidence-based policy or actions;
     developing a data management plan (https://doi.org/10.21949/1520571) (pre-award and post-award), providing relevant 
metadata (in a DCAT-US https://resources.data.gov/resources/dcat-us/) 
file, and, optionally, a discipline appropriate metadata standard 
file), and data documentation (README.txt files, data dictionaries, 
code books, supporting files, imputation tables, etc.);
     defaulting to open access when appropriate (exceptions 
include protecting personally identifiable information (PII), 
Indigenous data sovereignty (https://www.gida-global.org/care), or 
confidential business information (CBI));
     protecting personal identifiable information, intellectual 
property rights, and confidential business information;
     utilizing, when possible, open licenses and protecting 
DOT's non-exclusive copyright to data and corresponding outputs 
(https://doi.org/10.21949/1520564); and
     providing source code or tools necessary to analyze or 
transform the data.
    Projects should implement data management best practices, 
including, but not limited to: implementation of published data 
specifications and standards (formal and informal); increasing data 
discoverability and data sharing; posting data in a timely fashion \1\ 
on publicly accessible resources; and enabling interaction of systems, 
interoperability, and integration of data systems. A data management 
plan will be required as a deliverable within three (3) months of 
project award.
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    \1\ The frequency of posting data will be determined in the 
post-award phase. For example, this might be near-real time, 
monthly, or quarterly depending on specific data set needs.
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    Definition: Data and Corresponding Outputs is defined for the 
purpose of this grant, and as consistent with Federal laws (including 2 
CFR 200.315, as it relates to ``intangible property'') and the DOT 
Public Access Plan (https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559), as the recorded 
factual material commonly accepted in the scientific or technology 
community as necessary to validate findings, as may be textually 
represented in a publication or stored in a digital machine-readable 
format for further computational analysis. This term includes, but is 
not limited to, publications, data, data documentation, source code, 
and computer software documentation. This definition includes at a 
minimum the data required to validate or estimate performance, 
outcomes, or future impacts.
g. External Communications
    The recipient must communicate with the FTA Project Manager prior 
to engaging in any external communications regarding the project. This 
includes any work developing news or magazine stories with media 
organizations, including print, video, online, or otherwise. 
Additionally, the FTA project manager must be notified if project 
information, including results and metrics, will be shared during a 
webinar or other presentation open to the public produced either by the 
recipient itself or another organization. The recipient should consult 
with the FTA Project Manager at the beginning of the agreement to 
discuss and plan any external communications about the project.
h. Software Provisions
    Any software developed as a part of this solicitation will be 
subject to provisions of the version of FTA's Master Agreement in 
effect at the time of award and may be disseminated to public transit 
agencies for their use.
i. FTA Funds Reimbursement
    If selected, awardees must disburse funds from their cooperative 
agreement using DOT's Delphi system. Drawdowns using ECHO are 
prohibited. FTA staff are available to assist awardees with gaining 
access and using the Delphi system.
j. Termination for Failure To Make Reasonable Progress
    After providing written notice to the recipient of a project 
selected for funding, FTA may withdraw its support for the selected 
project (if a cooperative agreement has not yet been awarded) or 
suspend or terminate all or any part of the award if, among other 
reasons, the recipient has failed to make reasonable progress 
implementing the project. In particular, FTA may withdraw its support 
for a project or terminate an award agreement if:
    a. A recipient has not completed its application for funding in 
TrAMS within 60 days of the date FTA announces project selection;
    b. A recipient has not begun its research project within one year 
after funding was awarded in TrAMS;
    c. A recipient has not delivered a project final report to FTA 
within one year of completing its research project.
    The Federal Government may terminate an award at any time for any 
reason described in 2 CFR 200.340 or the FTA Master Agreement.

3. Reporting

    Post-award reporting requirements include the electronic submission 
of Federal Financial Reports and Milestone Progress Reports in FTA's 
electronic grants management system. A successful applicant should 
include any goals, targets, and indicators referenced in their 
application in the Executive Summary of the TrAMS application.
    As part of completing the annual certifications and assurances 
required of FTA grant recipients, a successful applicant must report on 
the suspension or debarment status of itself and its principals. If the 
award recipient's active grants, cooperative agreements, and 
procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceed 
$10,000,000 for any time during the period of performance of an award 
made pursuant to this Notice, the recipient must comply with the 
Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters reporting requirements 
described in Appendix XII to 2 CFR part 200.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

    For further information concerning this notice, please contact Roy 
Chen, in the FTA Office of Infrastructure & Asset Innovation, by phone 
at 202-366-0462, or by email at [email protected]. A TDD is 
available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at 800-877-
8339. In addition, FTA will post answers to questions and requests for 
clarifications, if needed, on FTA's website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/TWRS. To ensure applicants receive 
accurate information about eligibility or the program, applicants are 
encouraged to contact FTA directly, rather than

[[Page 76668]]

through intermediaries or third parties, with questions. FTA staff also 
may conduct briefings on the FY 2023 competitive grants selection and 
award process upon request.
    For issues with Grants.gov, please contact Grants.gov by phone at 
1-800-518-4726 or by email at [email protected].

H. Other Information

    This program is not subject to Executive Order 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-27197 Filed 12-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P