Data subscription to metrics for GPS location data sensors

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

Definition of the Requirement

The type of data being collected by the Contractor’s platform consists of GPS sensors on rail cars that can communicate their position in motion every ½ hour or more frequently, so the position of the car (or the fact that it is dwelling in a specific area) is known for all parts of a cycle for the car. The data can then be fused with other information for more context about the movement. The collection of this data and making it available on a robust and spatially enabled visualization platform that communicates the measures with analyst’s supplies important third party data on the performance of rail cars. This third party data is a critical part to measuring the performance of the rail system because it can measure the end-to-end performance regardless of borders being involved or the number of rail carriers involved in the movement. A sufficient number of ‘probe cars’ (rail cars with GPS sensors attached) by industry is required in order to provide a picture of performance for key corridors and key rail sectors.

Objective

Transport Canada is seeking a data subscription to metrics based on GPS location data sensor data in near real-time that is fused with other data including from AEI data readers that provide insight from a third party into the performance of the rail network along major corridors including for transborder traffic. The goal is an end-to-end view of performance for the traffic whether the cars are in the United States or Canada as long as the traffic involves Canadian origins or destinations. The view of performance should also include measurements when the car is on a Class II railway’s network or at customer facilities (a full perspective that is beyond a single railway’s perspective but rather a true end-to-end view of performance).