U.S. Department of Transportation Small Business Innovation Research Fiscal Year 2026 Phase I Solicitation

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), is providing this notice to issue its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Phase I solicitation pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The purpose of this solicitation is to invite U.S. small businesses to submit innovative research offers in response to the solicitation topics, which serve as key research areas for the U.S. DOT. Each small business concern submitting an offer must qualify as a small business in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR); 13 CFR 121.702. The applicable North American Industry Classification System code is 541715 with a size standard of 500 employees. 

In addition to this SAM posting, the U.S. DOT SBIR FY 2026 Phase I solicitation and any documents related to it will be available on the U.S. DOT SBIR program website.  This solicitation is issued through electronic means only; no hard copies will be available. A pre-proposal webinar is being held on June 9, 2026 from 2:00-3:00 pm Eastern Time.  Information on the pre-proposal webinar may be found in the solicitation on page ii and/or from the U.S. DOT SBIR program website. 

Technical questions and answers received on the SBIR FY26 topics that were released during the pre-solicitation period of April 29, 2026, through May 29, 2026, are available at https://usdot.uservoice.com/forums/967226-u-s-dot-fy-2026-phase-i-pre-solicitation-q-a. There are frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) relative to the overall SBIR program on the U.S. DOT SBIR program website. Offerors must go to the website to access the FAQs. 

Topic 26-FH1: Edge AI-V2X Integrated Practical Solutions for Congestion Prevention and Mitigation, has been updated with clarifications on what the topic seeks to develop including more specifics on expected functionalities, desired outcomes, and expectations for the Phase I final report. Additional details are also provided for the Phase II desired outcomes. 

Topic 26-FH2: Automated Mobile Catch-basin Inspection System, has been updated with clarifications in the Topic Description. 

Topic 26-FR1: Mobile High-Power Emergency BESS De-energizer System for Rail Vehicle Propulsion, has provided additional information on the battery energy storage systems (BESS) and additional details on the operational goals for the system to be developed. 

Topic 26-FT1: Person-Centered, Carefree, Complete Trip Planning - Powered by AI, has added detail to clarify the desired outcomes of Phase I. 

Topic 26-OS2: Freight Corridor Predictive Intelligence, has updated the overarching objectives, provided additional details in the technical parameters, and clarified the desired outcomes and expectations for Phase I. 

Topic 26-PH1: Increase End-of-Life Battery Safety and Recovery of Rare Earth Minerals, has added details to clarify the desired outcomes of Phase I.