The Federal Investment in Highway Research, 2006-2009 Strengths and Weaknesses - Special Report 295 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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2 Highway Research Programs in the United States
2 Highway Research Programs in the United States
Pages 15-27
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From page 15... ...
; however, many other programs fund highway-related research, including several federal agencies, each of the states, University Transportation Centers (UTCs) (generally through USDOT funding)
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From page 16... ...
STRDD, with budgeted funding averaging about $156 million annually under SAFETEA-LU, is one of the main programs of interest in this report.1 This category includes Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, Operations, Highway Safety, Policy, and Exploratory Advanced Research. Most of the highway research analyzed in this report is managed through FHWA's Office of Research, Development, and Technology (RD&T)
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From page 17... ...
To avoid confusion in this table, SHRP 2 is listed separately, even though in FY 2006 and 2007 it was a component of Title V Corporate Activities. office also manages the Turner–Fairbank Highway Research Center, a federally owned and operated highway research facility in McLean, Virginia.
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From page 18... ...
As described in Chapter 4, about 70 percent of UTC research projects are highway research. NHTSA NHTSA is the USDOT agency responsible for regulating the safety of motor vehicles; conducting and reporting on crash tests; issuing motor vehicle recalls; establishing corporate average fuel economy standards; and collecting data on highway crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
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From page 19... ...
The largest commercial aircraft impose loadings on runways that are an order of magnitude greater than those imposed on highways by heavy trucks. Hence pavement design for airports differs from that for highways.
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Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory includes the development and application of mechanistic–empirical design models for pavement subgrade design, research on seasonally frozen ground and frost heave, and design of Air Force runways.3 The Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory includes a large-scale and sophisticated Concrete Research Facility and a Pavement Materials Laboratory that support physical, chemical, and mechanical characterizations of pavements and construction materials.4 STATE PROGRAMS Each state department of transportation (DOT) has a research program.
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From page 21... ...
In fact, however, states share resources to study topics of collective interest, while at the same time having major differences in many areas that necessitate individual programs. Pavement design itself is highly dependent on local soil conditions, moisture levels, temperature ranges, and sources of local aggregate.
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From page 22... ...
States use their SP&R funds in a variety of ways, but in general, the following uses are characteristic: • To conduct state-specific research, development, and deployment projects; • To support the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) ; • To support pooled-fund projects with other states and FHWA; • To provide matching funds for universities participating in the UTC Program; • To provide support for the standing committee structure, conferences, and workshops of the Transportation Research Board (TRB)
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From page 23... ...
Associations such as the American Trucking Associations, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the Portland Cement Institute, and the American Institute of Steel Construction conduct research in their fields. Association research tends to be driven by considerations of cost-efficiency, safety, and productivity and addresses issues affecting business operations or output.
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Private companies undertake research on such subjects as roadside safety equipment, traffic control devices, and flexible pipes. Limited data indicate that annual spending by private companies for research on highway-related topics is between $50 million and $100 million (TRB 2001)
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State programs allow state DOTs to focus on topics of specific concern and are flexible enough to allow for sharing of resources across all states and among groups of states with common interests. The SP&R Program, funded through Title I, provides a foundation that links the states with the federal programs and provides a vehicle for implementing innovations.
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From page 26... ...
The roughly $673 million invested by the public sector annually in highway RD&T pales in comparison with the nearly $300 billion in societal costs (such as costs resulting from injuries and deaths due to crashes, including medical expenses and lost wages, and from the value of time wasted in congestion) borne each year by the citizens of the United States.
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From page 27... ...
2005. Identifying Trends in Federal Transportation Research Funding: The Complex Task of Assembling Comprehensive Data.
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