Research and Technology Coordinating Committee Letter Report: March 28, 2017 (2017)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

11 Finding 5: The highway sector faces major challenges. A vast infrastructure is in place, but it is inadequate to meet demand in many places and is difficult to maintain in an era when gasoline tax revenues are declining in real terms. The RTCC appreciated FHWA’s presentation concerning how it is beginning to think about the major challenges facing the highway sector and how R&T can address them. Recommendation 4: FHWA should begin planning for an R&T program that can be proposed to Congress by the administration in the next authorization and that will help address the major challenges facing highway transportation. NEXT STEPS The committee appreciated the presentation on the new modal research plans required by the FAST Act and the extent to which the modal administrations are working together. The committee believes that the projected increases in freight demand in coming decades make this area of major importance for USDOT. The committee would like to learn more at the June 2017 meeting about how USDOT is addressing freight and planning for the future. The committee also wants to understand the research that FHWA is planning to address truck size and weight issues that were left unresolved in USDOT’s 2017 report to Congress.11 The committee requests that FHWA respond to the findings and recommendations contained in this letter at the next meeting. We plan to start the upcoming meeting and ones that follow with a recap of the committee’s previous letter report and the responses of the agency. The responses do not need to be conveyed by a formal letter from the administrator. An informal response from R&T staff will meet our needs. CLOSING REMARKS The committee appreciates the opportunity to meet with FHWA staff to discuss how the agency is fostering innovation in the U.S. highway sector at all levels. We thank Michael Trentacoste and the many FHWA and Volpe staff for their well-organized presentations and their efforts to assist the committee in understanding the challenges they face and how they are addressing them. We hope you find this report to be useful as the agency’s R&T programs move forward. Sincerely, Timothy A. Henkel RTCC Chair 11 USDOT. 2017. Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits Study. https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/sw/map21tswstudy/.

12 Attachment 1: Meeting participants Attachment 2: Meeting presentations Attachment 1 PARTICIPANTS (shown in bold font) Research and Technology Coordinating Committee Kevin Chesnik, Applied Research Associates, Madison, Wisconsin Karen K. Dixon, Texas A&M University Transportation Institute, College Station Patricia Gillette, Colorado Motor Carriers Association, Denver Chris T. Hendrickson, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Timothy A. Henkel, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Saint Paul Leslie Jacobson, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, Seattle, Washington Gregory C. Johnson, Maryland Department of Transportation, Baltimore Skip Paul, Director, Louisiana Transportation Research Center, Baton Rouge (retired) Christopher M. Puchalsky, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rosalie Ruegg, Technology Impact Assessment Consulting, Inc., Emerald Isle, North Carolina Stephanie N. Wiggins, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), California James M. Winford, Jr., Prairie Contractors, Inc., Opelousas, Louisiana Theodore Zoli, HNTB Corporation, New York, New York FHWA Staff Bob Arnold Debra Elston Mary Huie Angela Jacobs Jack Jernigan David Kuehn Amy Lucero Carin Michel John Moulden Jonathan Porter Robert Ritter Sydney Stecker Craig Thor Michael Trentacoste Gerald Yakowenko

13 Additional Participants Lee Biernbaum, Economist, Policy, Planning, and Environment, R&T, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center David Epstein, Economist, Policy, Planning, and Environment, R&T, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center John Hillman, Founder, HC Bridge Company Jason Richins, Research Project Manager, Utah Department of Transportation TRB Staff Neil Pedersen Steve Godwin Velvet Basemera-Fitzpatrick

14 Attachment 2 PRESENTATIONS Transforming Transportation Through Innovation, Robert Ritter, FHWA Overview of FHWA Policy on Patented and Proprietary Products and Innovation, Gerald Yakowenko, FHWA Brief History of Bridges and Intellectual Properties, John Hillman, HC Bridge Company Proprietary Products: UDOT’s Perspective, Jason Richins, Utah DOT Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) Program and Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives Program (STSFA), Angela Jacobs, FHWA Evaluating the Success of SHRP 2 Implementation, Carin Michel, FHWA FHWA R&T Evaluation Status Report for the RTCC, David Epstein, John Moulden, Lee Biernbaum, Jack Jernigan, FHWA FHWA Draft R&T Planning Process, Jonathan Porter, FHWA FHWA Research and Technology Annual and Strategic Plans and FY 2017 Budget Delivery, Craig Thor, Jack Jernigan, FHWA FHWA Future Research and Technology Challenges and Opportunities, Jonathan Porter, David Kuehn, FHWA