Proposals Due 4 p.m. March 2, 2018

Office of Traffic Safety

Minnesota Department of Public Safety

Informal Idea Solicitation for Federal 2019Behavioral Traffic Safety Projects

Background:

The Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety receives funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop, implement, and coordinate projects likely to decrease the number of traffic deaths and serious injuries on Minnesota roads by changing behavior -- increasing seat belt use; decreasing impaired driving, speeding or distracted driving; or improving the safety of motorcyclists and pedestrians.

The OTS is most concerned with receiving as many good ideas as possible; we are less concerned with the format than with the content. You can choose to simply send in your idea in a couple of paragraphs. Or you can complete the form that is the last page of this document. Just sketch the idea out and estimate costs; please don’t spend a great deal of time on this.

Each year the OTS submits to the NHTSA a Highway Safety Plan covering the work to be conducted with the funds received. The plan covers the federal fiscal year which begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. Projects included in the plan must be data driven -- sizeable problems are identified and proven strategies used to address them. Crash data can be found on the OTS website at -- look at the top left hand column for Minnesota Crash Facts and Impaired Driving Facts publications, County Specific Facts, and Maps of Deaths and Injuries and the top left hand column for links to additional information. The strategies to address the identified problems must have either been

1)evaluated and found effective (from five to three stars in the Countermeasures That Work publication from the NHTSA which can be found at

Countermeasures That Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure Guide for State Highway Safety Offices

or

2)be well-thought through, creative, and new strategies likely to work.

This informal solicitation process is being undertaken to provide OTS with ideas for behavioral traffic safety projectsfrom outside the office and the NHTSA. OTS is not able to fund engineering solutions. This process is repeated annually; if you don’t submit an idea through this process it will likely not be considered until the 2020 solicitation is published. The informal solicitation is not an avenue to propose changes to or extensions of federal year 2018 projects. If an idea received passes the OTS review, the process does not guarantee that the idea originator would receive a grant or contract to implement it if doing so would be in conflict with the state’s open and competitive process for awarding grants and contracts. Projects are to begin Oct. 1, 2018 and end Sept. 30, 2019and new projects are usually one year in length; although longer projects may be considered. Shorter projects within the time period will be considered.

Instructions if you prefer to use a form

There is a limit of three pages with normal type face (for example times new roman 12 point) and margins (at least one inch on top, bottom, left and right); shorter is preferred.

Explanations if you want to use the form to submit your idea:

  • Proposer: Basic information on proposing organization or individual
  • Problem Identification: Discuss what problem you have identified and how many people are killed and seriously injured on Minnesota roadways (or whatever segment your project would reach) as a result of it.
  • Target Market: Discuss who you would want and need to reach with your strategies. Include a description of the geographic area if it is limited.
  • Proposed Project Description: Discuss the strategies and tasks to implement(what they are and who would implement each) and their relationship (if any) to Countermeasures That Work.
  • Estimate of Funding Needed: Provide an estimatedtotal dollar amount; provide for more than one year only if project cannot be completed in one year.
  • Explanation of Funding: Discuss how much of the funding will be used for what types of costs such as salaries, equipment, contracts or grants to others (including what those others would do), printing, phone, e-mail, postage and so on.

Any grants or contracts written as a result of the ideas received will require negotiations between the OTS and the contractor or grantee related to the target audience, budget and strategies, as well as two additional sections: the objectives of the program and an evaluation plan to measure its success.

Projects are generally expected to be for less than $150,000; however, consideration will be given to projects with a higher budget if justified by the scope of the problem and of the project and the potential impact on the number of deaths and serious injuries.

DUE DATE:by e-mail 4 p.m., Friday, March 2, 2018 to .

E-Mail questions by 4 p.m. Feb. 16and completed idea proposalsby 4 p.m., Friday, March 2, 2018to: Susie Palmer at . This is an informal solicitation to gather a large number of ideas; for that reason OTS has chosen to make it as generic and all encompassing as possible.

A link to answers to general questions receivedwill be posted on the OTS website in a final version on Wednesday, February 21 on our homepage at:

Federal 2019 Office of Traffic Safety Project Idea Solicitation
Project Title:
Agency/Organization: / Contact Name:
Contact Telephone: / Contact E-Mail:

Proposing Organization:

Problem Identification:

Target Market (including area covered):

Project Description:

Funding Needed: Year 1 ______

(If required to complete:Year 2 ______Year 3)______

Explanation of Funding and Uses of Funding:

Send questions and completed idea proposals to: