B-299241, Shirlington Limousine & Transport, Inc., March 13, 2007

B-299241 Mar 13, 2007 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Shirlington Limousine & Transport, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. HSHQDC-07-R-00009, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for agency-wide transportation services. Shirlington asserts that the solicitation is unduly restrictive of competition because it requires the secured storage facility to be accessed by an electronic access control system, that the contractor supply sedans, and that all shuttle buses be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Shirlington also asserts that the solicitation, issued as a small business set-aside, instead should have been set aside for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business concerns. We deny the protest. View Decision B-299241, Shirlington Limousine & Transport, Inc., March 13, 2007 Decision Matter of: Shirlington Limousine & Transport, Inc. File: B-299241 Date: March 13, 2007 David J. Taylor, Esq., Spriggs & Hollingsworth, for the protester. Rose J. Anderson, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, and Lara H. Hudson, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Kenneth Kilgour, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that solicitation requirements that secured storage facility contain an electronic access control system, that the contractor supply sedans, and that all shuttle buses be equipped with wheel chair lifts are unduly restrictive of competition is denied where the record establishes that requirement was reasonably designed to ensure that the government's needs would be met. 2. Protest challenging agency decision not to set aside procurement for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses is denied where the decision was based on sufficient facts to establish reasonableness of agency's conclusion that there was not a reasonable expectation that offers would be received from two or more HUBZone business concerns. DECISION Shirlington Limousine & Transport, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. HSHQDC-07-R-00009, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for agency-wide transportation services. Shirlington asserts that the solicitation is unduly restrictive of competition because it requires the secured storage facility to be accessed by an electronic access control system, that the contractor supply sedans, and that all shuttle buses be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Shirlington also asserts that the solicitation, issued as a small business set-aside, instead should have been set aside for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business concerns. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND In June 2006, DHS decided to revise the way in which it procured transportation services with the goal of improving the quality of service and promoting the more efficient use of resources. The existing DHS transportation contract has a total value of $21.8 million over 5 years, and the agency estimate for the new solicitation is $41 million over 5 years. Agency Report (AR), Tab 11, Affidavit of Director of the Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), at 2. Under the existing contract, Shirlington operates shuttle buses that transport agency employees between various agency offices and provides executive sedan service to transport authorized staff to and from any location in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Shirlington provides the shuttle buses, and the government provides the sedans. From the record, it appears that the higher cost of the contract stems primarily from the shift of responsibility for the sedans and the storage facility from the government to the contractor. On June 23, the agency issued a request for information (RFI) on the FedBizOpps website to determine the level of interest in a DHS-wide transportation services contract. The RFI stated that the –[c]ontractor is responsible for maintaining a cleared facility for parking the sedans and buses.— AR, Tab 3, RFI, at 1-2. Interested firms were asked to submit a capability package that identified the following: core services; corporate experience, including relevant contracts; type of business; current security clearance level for overnight parking of vehicles; and drivers with suitability determinations. The agency received responses from 11 small businesses, all of which were located in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, and four of which claimed to be HUBZone-certified. On October 10, the agency issued an amendment to the RFI informing interested parties that the agency would require the contractor to have a Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO)-cleared facility at the time of contract award. AR, Tab 5, RFP amend. 1, at 1.