U.S. DOT FY 2026 Phase I Pre-Solicitation Q&A
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229 results found
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Phase I Desired Outcomes specify “a proof-of-concept report describing a prototype AI-powered traveler support system”
Phase I Desired Outcomes specify “a proof-of-concept report describing a prototype AI-powered traveler support system.” Does the Phase I evaluation require a functional software prototype with running code, or is an architecture design with a limited demonstration using archived GTFS data sufficient to constitute the “prototype” described in the report?
1 vote -
Would DOT consider a topic on hardware-level cargo authentication technology for trailers and rail containers?
Would DOT consider a topic on hardware-level cargo authentication technology for trailers and rail containers? Cargo theft is a multi-hundred million dollar problem in the US and the CORCA bill identified a gap in physical security at the asset level. More advanced authentication locks that operate 100% offline have no current representation in the SBIR portfolio.
1 vote -
Temporary work-zone congestion
Does topic 26-FH1 consider temporary work-zone congestion caused by roadway maintenance or robotic maintenance operations to be an acceptable Phase I use case for demonstrating Edge-AI/V2X congestion prediction and mitigation?
1 vote -
mobile autonomous aerial sensing platform
Would a mobile autonomous aerial sensing platform be considered an acceptable emerging data source if the proposed system’s main deliverable is an Edge-AI/V2X congestion advisory architecture that detects work-zone or incident-related congestion and delivers location-specific advisories to affected road users and traffic management operators?
1 vote -
For the Desired Outcome “Commercial and Implementation Readiness Assessment"
For the Desired Outcome “Commercial and Implementation Readiness Assessment”, what constitutes the minimum acceptable evidence of a commercialisation pathway — a Letter of Interest from a single state DOT or logistics partner, or are commitments from multiple stakeholders expected at Phase I?
1 vote -
For Technical Parameter TP-4 (federated learning)
For Technical Parameter TP-4 (federated learning): does Phase I require a live multi-party FL deployment involving distinct legal entities sharing model updates, or is a simulated federation — two data partitions on the same infrastructure representing separate jurisdictions — sufficient as a Phase I architecture demonstration?
1 vote -
Technical Parameter TP-1 requires deploying “low-power edge AI devices at strategic freight bottlenecks.
Technical Parameter TP-1 requires deploying “low-power edge AI devices at strategic freight bottlenecks.” For Phase I, is a benchtop hardware prototype or hardware-in-the-loop simulation of the edge device sufficient to demonstrate technical feasibility, or does Phase I require actual field deployment at a freight interchange?
1 vote -
For Technical Parameter TP-3 (synthetic data generation), does the DOT expect the generator to produce freight-domain-specific
For Technical Parameter TP-3 (synthetic data generation), does the DOT expect the generator to produce freight-domain-specific synthetic trajectories and delay events, or is general-purpose tabular synthetic data augmentation acceptable as a Phase I implementation of this capability?
1 vote -
26-FT1, Complete Trip Scope
For Topic 26-FT1, should the Complete Trip scope include pedestrian network segments before, between, and after transit use, including sidewalks, crossings, curb ramps, station access, stop access, and transfer paths?
1 vote -
1 vote
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External or Internal Surface Temperature
Does the solicitation require the coating to indicate temperature thresholds corresponding to internal package temperatures, or is external surface temperature indication sufficient for compliance purposes?"
1 vote -
For the Freight Corridor Predictive Intelligence topic, is preference given to solutions that provide dual functionality — simultaneously mo
For the Freight Corridor Predictive Intelligence topic, is preference given to solutions that provide dual functionality — simultaneously monitoring both commercial vehicle health and the structural integrity of the weigh station platform itself using the same sensor array?
1 vote -
Is IRB-approved human-subjects testing required, or is lighter-touch evaluation ok?
For the human factors testing, is the program expecting IRB-approved human-subjects testing, or is a lighter-touch evaluation (heuristic review or expert walk-through) acceptable?
1 vote -
Must multi-agent coordination be demonstrated, or is single-agent with extensibility enough?
On the multi-agent coordination requirement, how much of that needs to be shown at this stage? A small demo with two adjacent edge nodes coordinating is a different scope than a single-agent demo with multi-agent extensibility just documented, so we'd like to scope it right.
1 vote -
Preferred archived data sources, or is sourcing offeror-driven?
For archived data, is there a preferred source (NPMRDS, RITIS, state DOT data lakes, the Work Zone Data Exchange), or is that really up to the offeror?
1 vote -
What CV *********** rate should the benefits analysis assume?
What connected-vehicle *********** rate should the benefits analysis assume? The topic asks for a with-vs-without-advisory comparison, and the result swings a lot depending on whether we're modeling at 5%, 10%, or 20% ***********.
1 vote -
Is CARMA / Saxton Lab integration expected for the HIL demo?
For the HIL setup, does the program want to see integration with CARMA / the Saxton Lab, or is it fine to use our own HIL environment? Trying to figure out if CARMA integration is something that actually matters competitively here.
1 vote -
C-V2X as baseline given 5.9 GHz reallocation, or is DSRC still acceptable?
With the 5.9 GHz reallocation and the move to C-V2X, should we be treating C-V2X (PC5/Uu) as the baseline for the HIL demo, or is DSRC still on the table?
1 vote -
Data integration plan — strategy document or working ingest pipelines?
Is this more of a strategy document, or do you want to see working ingest pipelines for at least some of the data sources by the end?
1 vote -
Digital twin expectation — microsimulation, generative AI, or existing platform integration?
For the digital twin piece — are you thinking more along the lines of physics-based microsimulation (Aimsun, SUMO, Vissim), or a generative AI model trained on real corridor traces? And is the program open to building on top of an existing digital-twin platform, or would you rather see something built from scratch?
1 vote