Building Momentum for Change: Creating a Strategic Forum for Innovation in Highway Infrastructure Creating a Strategic Forum for Innovation in Highway Infrastructure -- Special Report 249 (1996) / Chapter Skim
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SPECIAL REPORT 249 E LUIILDNG IV\AOM EN LIM 1tLJ1 CREATING A STRATEGIC FORUM FOR INNOVATION IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE 1r1flsportitOr) Research Board N.rir,a Rcsart h CounrI
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/ TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 1996 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chairman: James W van Loben Sels, Director, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento Vice Chairman: David N
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SPECIAL REPORT 249 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANCE CREATING A STRATEGIC FORUM FOR INNOVATION IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF APPROACHES FOR INCREASING PR I VA TE -SE C TOR IN VOL VEMENT IN THE HIGHWAY INNOVATION PROCESS Transportation Research Board National Research Council National Academy Press Washington, D
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TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD SPECIAL REPORT 249 Subscriber Categories IA planning and administration 11A highway and facility design 11113 materials and construction Transportation Research Board publications are available by ordering directly from TRB. They may also be obtained on a regular basis through organizational or individual affiliation with TRB; affiliates or library subscribers are eligible for substantial discounts.
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COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF APPROACHES FOR INCREASING PRIVATE-SECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN THE HIGHWAY INNOVATION PROCESS LOWELL B JACKSON, Chairman, Northport, Michigan GARY R
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PREFACE Te provision of highway infrastructure in the United States is a joint public- and private-sector enterprise. As owners and operators of the highway system, hundreds of state and local highway agencies and toll authorities are the primary customers of thousands of private firms that supply materials, products, and services for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the system.
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vi BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE numerous innovations that promise to enhance pavement designs and materials, bridge durability, and highway winter maintenance operations. Since completion of SHRP, some of the same impediments to innovation routinely encountered by private industry have hindered implementation of SHRP products and methods despite an aggressive and publicly funded deployment campaign.
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PREFACE Vii highway marketplace so that it would naturally encourage and enable innovation, recognizing that even a modest increase in overall incentives and opportunities for innovation are likely to yield tremendous benefits. The recommendations in this report are aimed at building support and momentum for such change.
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viii BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Director of Reports and Editorial Services. Naomi Kassabian was the editor for the report.
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CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . NEW CHALLENGES REQUIRING INNOVATION ..................................6 Vital National Asset 6 Public Ownership and Operation by Thousands of Agencies 7 Emerging Challenges 8 2 CREATING A MARKET FOR INNOVATION ...............................................II Benefits of Innovation I I Impediments to Innovation 14 Overcoming Innovation Impediments 15 Summary 16 3 ACCELERATING CHANGE: STRATEGIC FORUM FOR INNOVATION IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE ....................................
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Te provision of highway infrastructure in the United States is a joint public- and private-sector enterprise. The nearly 6.5 million km (4 million miles)
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BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE projects. These projects will require innovative design and construclion concepts to avoid the recurrence of past mistakes that produced defective structures and premature failures.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 ACCELERATING CHANGE: STRATEGIC FORUM FOR INNOVATION IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE To accelerate the pace of innovation in highway technology, the committee urges formation of the Strategic Forum for Innovation in Highway Infrastructure, whose central mission would be to identify and effect positive hange in the fundamental opportunities and incentives for innovation in products and services for the highway system. By eliciting the active involvement of visionary leaders in the highway community, drawn primarily from the ranks of top highway designers, suppliers, and builders as well as highway owners, technologists, researchers, and users, the Forum should provide a strong and continuing voice for changes in policies, practices, regulations, and other institutional factors that influence the market for innovation in highway technology.
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4 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE least initially, under the auspices of an existing independent organization that will provide a neutral setting for the public and private sec- - tors of the highway community. LAUNCHING THE FORUM Early establishment of an institutional home for the Forum and initiation of activities are strongly urged.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY LINKS WITH OTHER INITIATIVES Many of the same barriers to innovation that are present in the highway program are found in other public-sector programs. In April 1996, Vice President Albert Gore and Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña announced a plan to restructure the procurement practices of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
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NEW CHALLENGES REQUIRING INNOVATION Te highway system in the United States is expansive and intricate, consisting of nearly 6.5 million km (4 million miles) of roads and streets, tunnels, bridges, and other structures that are owned, financed, and administered by various federal, state, county, and municipal agencies and toll authorities.
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NEW CHALLENGES REQUIRING INNOVATION 7 During the decade of the 1990s alone, nearly $1 trillion will have been invested in the highway system by federal, state, and local governments. The tens of billions of public dollars spent each year on highway infrastructure is dwarfed by the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by users of the system and by the many benefits derived from this use.
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8 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE ated locally by about 30,000 county and municipal governments (TRB 1995, 27)
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NEW CHALLENGES REQUIRING INNOVATION is expected to continue to grow at an annual rate of 1 to 3 percent for the foreseeable future (Figure 1-1) (Highway Statistics 1994, Table VM1; DOT 1995, 283-284)
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10 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Cents per Vehicle Mile of Travel (VMT) Total ExpendituresNMT Ja Capital Outlays/VMT 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 93 Year FIGURE 1-2 Trends in highway expenditures per vehicle-mile traveled (adjusted for inflation to 1994 dollars)
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2 CREATING A MARKET FOR INNOVATION Te innovations necessary to meet the growing and changing demands on the highway system in the coming years will likely involve many new technologies and concepts. Other innovations are likely to emerge from using existing products and processes in new ways and borrowing them from other fields.
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2 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE highway program has been the beneficiary of thousands of innovative products, methods, and materials over the years, many of which have had profound and lasting effects. For example, just as construction of the Interstate system was escalating during the 1950s, the slip-form paver was introduced, causing dramatic productivity gains in concrete paving.
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CREATING A MARKET FOR INNOVATION 13 The private sector is a growing source of innovation in highway technology and practices. Broadly defined, the private sector encompasses thousands of individual businesses varying in size from multinational corporations to single-person operations that provide products and services ranging from tunnel and bridge construction to snow removal.
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14 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE IMPEDIMENTS TO INNOVATION Many of the impediments to innovation in highway technology are a consequence of the public sectors role as primary buyer of highway products and services. As owner of the system, the public sector determines not only where and when roads are to be built, but also how they are to be built, the types of materials to be used, designs to be followed, and construction processes to be applied by contractors and suppliers.
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CREATING A MARKET FOR INNOVATION 15 that own and operate segments of the highway system, these varying and often conflicting demands and procedures can be especially costly and burdensome for innovators to navigate. Smaller firms in particular, which are an important source of innovation in highway technology, are most likely to be discouraged by the myriad complex and conflicting procurement rules, regulations, and procedures.
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16 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE identified various long- and short-term actions that could be taken to expand the highway community's awareness and acceptance of innovative contracting techniques and practices (TRB 1991) , spurring Fl-TWA (through Special Experimental Project 14)
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TABLE 2-1 Examples of Ongoing Activities To Foster Highway Innovation Activity Service Method or Process Benefit Financing Institutional Home Highway Innovative Develops nationally Volunteer expert panels Central screening and Entrepreneurs pay for CERF, with Technology Evaluation recognized and develop evaluation evaluation of innovative evaluation plans and oversight by Center (HITEC) impartial evaluation plans; outside laboratory products saves time and subsequent tests; HITEC HITEC Executive plans for unique testing and analysis are expense to innovators, assisting aims to be self-supporting Committee, products for which no overseen by panels; final in gaining product acceptance through fees charged; consisting of standard evaluation HITEC evaluation report and stimulating more FHWA has provided representatives methods exist distributed widely innovation in highway funding to defray from public and technology program start-up costs private sectors, academia, and research institutions National Transportation Evaluates standard NTPEP activities in each Duplication by state agencies in States pool funds for AASHTO, which Product Evaluation Program products for which test AASHTO region testing new standard products evaluations in each organizes (NTPEP)
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ACCELERATING CHANGE: STRATEGIC FORUM FOR INNOVATION IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE Many of the barriers to innovation in highway technology are widespread and deeply rooted. Headway in overcoming them will require a determined and enduring commitment to fundamental changes in the way the highway community conducts business.
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20 BUILDING MOMENTUtI FOR CHANGE in the highway program will be an important function of the Forum. An important function of the Forum will be to inform and convince key decision makers about the importance of creating a highway marketplace that demands and encourages more innovation from the private sector.
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ACCELERATING CHANGE 21 overcoming institutional barriers to highway innovation. To ensure such commitment, Forum members should be appointed formally on the basis of their individual qualifications and commitment to innovation, not as designated representatives of individual organizations or industries.
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22 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Evaluation Center, operated by CERF. Among the advantages of such an affiliation are immediate credibility; in-place staff support, an established national communications network, and a working relationships with many segments of the highway community.
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ACCELERATING CHANGE 23 As users and owners of the highway system, the public stands to achieve substantial benefits from greater innovation and creativity in the highway industry. As such, modest public funding to help finance the Forum is warranted to defray the cost of staff support and other overhead expenses.
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24 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE majority of transportation expenditures at the state and local levels. Drawing attention to the institutional reforms needed to spur innovation in the highway program will be a critical role of the Forum.
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2 LAUNCHING THE FORUM Early establishment of the Strategic Forum for Innovation in Highway Infrastructure is warranted and recommended. Discussed in this chapter are some of the specific actions that can be taken to launch the Forum, as well as several innovation issues the Forum, once initiated, would be well suited to address.
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26 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Step 2 The selected parent organization should appoint the initial Forum membership and leadership with significant and varied input from both the public and private sectors of the highway community. Emphasis should be placed on appointing qualified individuals rather than designating representatives of organizations in order to ensure commitment to the Forum and its mission.
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LAUNCHING THE FORUM 27 areas in which prominent and persistent attention can effect gradual and productive change. In the study committees view, a significant long-term challenge facing the highway community is to reshape the procurement process for highway goods and services to encourage and demand innovation.
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28 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Most performance-based specifications, however, lack developmental work and experience in field use. The advent of procurement systems that use performance-based requirements has been slowed by the absence of established criteria for predicting long-term product performance using short-term measures, the need for suppliers and contractors to receive payment well before long-term performance is determined, and the general difficulties encountered in changing established routines and procedures.
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LAUNCHING THE FORUM 29 projects. In most cases, builders bid on highway construction projects on an 'as-designed' basis.
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30 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Concepts aimed at strengthening the coordination and integration of design and construction hold the potential for innovation improvements in construction products and processes, as well as savings in project time and costs. If the Forum believes the potential benefits derived are of sufficient significance, it could provide a national focus for further development of these concepts and encourage greater public- and private-sector collaboration in creating a more objective and hospitable environment for their use and evaluation.
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COST-PLUS-TIME BIDDING Cost-plus-time bidding, also referred to as the A + B method, involves time, with its associated cost, in the low-bid determination. With this method, each bid submitted consists of two components: The cost of the A component is the traditional bid for the contract items, the dollar amount for all work to be performed under the contract.
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32 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE native contracting techniques still have the advantage of offering objective and quantifiable criteria for contractors to develop bids and for public officials to judge them. The study.
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APPENDIX A KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PREVIOUS STUDIES During the course of its deliberations the committee reviewed reports from a number of recent studies addressing highway innovation issues and impediments. The preponderance of these studies helped convince the committee that rather than another study that urges specific measures to promote innovation, what is needed is a prominent and strategic body that actively and persistently promotes the adoption of promising innovation measures and practices, including many that have been proposed in previous reports.
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34 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE anticipated, more significant contributions from the private sector were viewed as essential to keeping pace with changing demands. The significant contributions by private industry to highway technology are detailed, but the full potential for technological advancement through the private sector has not been realized.
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APPENDIX A 35 issues. A number of short-term and long-term actions were recommended in each of these areas, including the following: Cost-plus-time bidding concepts should be considered for wide implementation, provided there is careful selection of project types and accurate determinations of time valuations; The potential for use of warranties and guarantees should be investigated further; Greater attention should be paid to constructability testing through project design; Research, development, and implementation programs should be established to investigate design-build concepts; A national research program should be undertaken and a procedural guide should be developed to aid in transitioning from method specifications to performance-based specifications; A contact point should be created to publicize the benefits of performance-based specifications and other innovative practices; Performance-based specifications should consider incentive and disincentive provisions to encourage quality; and Periodic forums should be considered in which the highway community can share experiences, enabling communication and cooperation necessary for progress in removing innovation barriers.
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36 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE the study team recommended that U.S. highway agencies emphasize the following: Promotion of quality-oriented research and development, Reduction of regulations that restrict quality improvements, Use of life-cycle costing for projects, Allocation of more funds for preventive maintenance, and Design of quality into highways rather than trying to build it in later.
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APPENDIX A 37 Testing and Product Evaluation: The development of a national product evaluation program was recommended along with the advent of more standard procedures for product evaluation and acceptance. The task force also recommended further evaluation of a joint public- and private-sector activity that would provide a mechanism for collective action and cooperation by individuals and organizations from the public and private sectors who are interested in enhancing innovation opportunities in highway technology.
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STUDY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION LOWELL B JACKSON, Chairman, is recently retired Vice President of Transportation for Greenhorne & OMara, Inc., a transportation design and planning consulting group.
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40 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Valuation of Travel Time Savings and Predictability in Congested Conditions for Highway User-Cost Estimation and the Project Panel on Development of an Innovative Highway User-Cost Estimation Procedure. He is also a former member of the NCTRP Project Panel on Simplified Guidelines for Evaluating Transit Options in Small Urban Areas and a member of the AASHTO Cost Allocation Guide Project Advisory Panel.
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STUDY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 41 including the Committees on High Strength and Specialty Concretes and on Fiber Reinforced Plastic Reinforcing Bars. He is a member of the Prestressed Concrete Institute (ACI)
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42 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE tions, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists, the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the National Society of Professional Engineers. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas.
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STUDY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 43 Construction and Maintenance of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and President of the Industry Division of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and on its Board of Direction. He is Director of the American Road and Transport Builders Association and President of its Transportation Safety Division.
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44 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE ELIZABETH L HOMER is Deputy Administrator of the Maryland State Highway Administration.
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STUDY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 45 Foundations Institute, is a Director of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors, and is Director and Past President of the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania, a chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America.
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46 BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE ics from the University of Maryland and his masters degree in business administration from Duke University.
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STUDY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 47 of the International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction. He is a past member of the Executive Committee of the Building Research Board of the National Research Council and Chairman of the ASCE Technical Council on Research.
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The Transportation Research Board is a unit of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of: Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board's purpose is to stimulate research concerning the nature and performance of transportation systems, to disseminate the information produced by the research, and to encourage the application of appropriate research findings.
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