Framing Surface Transportation Research for the Nation’s Future (2013) / Chapter Skim
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6 Recommendations
6 Recommendations
Pages 113-147
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From page 113... ...
This research endeavor needs to address the individual components of the systems, notably infrastructure, vehicles, fuels, and users, and the interactions among them. It also needs to provide key players in the nation's surface transportation enterprise (policy makers, public officials, equipment manufacturers, service providers, planners, engineers, and others)
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From page 114... ...
In contrast to its competitors, the United States lacks a cohesive national framework linking surface transportation research activities to societal goals.2 It relies instead on a fragmented and ad hoc array of diverse and largely uncoordinated research initiatives, often with no clear linkage to overall social, economic, and environmental goals. In other words, the United States lacks the centralized transportation policy making that characterizes many of its competitors (see Chapter 4)
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From page 115... ...
surface transportation research identified in Chapter 3, namely, the robust portfolio of applied research and the role played by research in educating future transportation professionals. In the remainder of this chapter, the committee presents its recommendations for creating the proposed new national research framework for surface transportation.
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BUILD AND IMPLEMENT A NEW NATIONAL RESEARCH FRAMEWORK In the committee's judgment, there is no silver bullet that could rapidly transform the current fragmented and ad hoc national research framework for surface transportation into a more cohesive alternative. Rather, a series of steps over a period of years will be needed, both to fully engage a broad spectrum of interested groups and to implement strategies for making more effective use of the nation's extensive research capabilities.
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From page 117... ...
The resulting leadership group should • Secure funding to support the initiative; • Promote the advantages of a more cohesive research framework to the public, private, academic, and nonprofit sectors; and • Appoint a convener for a national summit, which would use the framework concept to explore effective strategies for addressing major challenges in surface transportation research. Leadership The committee recognizes that an initiative aimed at building and implementing a new national framework for surface transportation research faces many obstacles, particularly in the current budget-constrained
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. For the proposed new framework initiative for the United States, the committee recommends an approach similar to that used to launch the ITS program, while recognizing that building a surface transportation research framework in its entirety will be a more challenging endeavor than addressing ITS alone.
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It would market the potential advantages of a cohesive research framework to these sectors and raise funds for a national surface transportation summit analogous to the 1990 IVHS workshop. And like the Mobility 2000 group, this leadership group would disband once its work was done.
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The summit's starting point would be to review the major research challenges that need to be addressed if surface transportation is to continue supporting progress toward societal goals for economic development, sustainability, and quality of life. The summit's overarching objective would be to foster the blend of diverse interests, the informal working relationships, and the commitment to common objectives that characterized the launch of the IVHS initiative (TTI 1990)
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From page 121... ...
In the case of disaster reduction, for example, the summit could survey opportunities to leverage and build on the disparate set of ongoing activities in support of a cohesive value-added research initiative targeting national goals (see Box 6-1)
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By sharing ideas and lessons learned, working together to identify research areas of common interest, and looking for poten tial synergies, these (and other) organizations could bring new per spectives to their individual research activities and add value to the overall research endeavor targeting disaster reduction.
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To help ensure the desired openness to new ideas and opportunities, the convening organization should have experience in bringing people together from different sectors and disciplines to further national research objectives. In other words, it should be able to reach out to the traditional surface transportation research community and beyond to engage summit participants with a broad range of expertise and experience.
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From page 124... ...
This report would explore ways of implementing a new national surface transpor tation research framework, discuss means of funding the framework initiative, and consider opportunities to leverage existing research. Two important questions need to be answered if the proposed new national research framework is to become a reality: • Which group or organization should take the lead in furthering the framework initiative after the summit?
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Lead Organization At this preliminary stage, the committee considers it prudent to leave options open for the organizational structure of the entity tasked with developing and implementing the new transportation research framework. This would allow the research community itself to determine the most suitable option commensurate with its needs and available funding.
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However, if the surface transportation research community is to compete effectively for scarce public and private funds, it needs to demonstrate its ability to address transportation challenges in a more holistic manner, as reflected in the proposed new national research framework. In the committee's view, greater leveraging of current research activities could be a favorable approach for supporting the proposed framework initiative.
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From page 127... ...
The federal government, after all, is a major sponsor of surface transportation research, as noted in Chapter 3, and federal research programs have "a unique and critical role to play in overcoming the challenges that face [the] nation's transportation system" (RITA 2012, 7)
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In the committee's judgment, establishing stronger working relationships among federal departments that conduct research related to surface transportation could lead to a more coordinated and cohesive research endeavor, consistent with the proposed new research framework. Such an approach could also result in more effective use of resources.
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is responsible for coordinating the U.S. DOT's research programs; • Task the RITA Administrator with coordinating transportation research both within the U.S.
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The Office of the Secretary's budget for surface transportation research is very modest, as indicated in Table 3-1, and has frequently been a target for cost and staff reductions during past appropriations. A further complication with establishing a new senior executive position within the Office of the Secretary is that such positions are subject to a cap set by the Office of Personnel Management.
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From page 131... ...
DOT could be a valuable step toward enhancing the department's research culture and capacity, thereby strengthening its ability to take an active role in furthering the proposed new research framework.6 The appointment of a distinguished transportation professional to a position within the Office of the Secretary could help ensure that the chief scientist had the stature and background needed to communicate effectively with counterparts in other government agencies, with the President's science advisor, with the scientific and professional communities, with academia, and with the private sector. One advantage of a limited-term appointment would be the reduced likelihood of the chief scientist being assigned numerous day-to-day responsibilities that would detract from his or her ability to address big-picture issues.
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DOT, however, the chief scientist position has had a somewhat uneven history because of organizational and political changes.7 Thus, the Secretary would need to consider the lessons learned from past experience when assessing the pros and cons of reestablishing the chief scientist position. The chief scientist could, of course, be called on to pursue critical issues across all modes, and not just in the area of surface transportation.
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DOT could leverage these departments' research investments in a variety of areas, such as human performance and behavior; information and communication systems; advanced materials and structural technologies; sensing and measurement technologies; and social, economic, and institutional policy issues for the benefit of the nation's surface transportation system (FTAG 2001)
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As noted in Chapter 4, such engagement with other research organizations helps improve research quality and build overall research capacity. Recommendation 6: A broad and robust program of basic and advanced research that encompasses the many disciplines relevant to surface transportation should be established.
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Over the years the UTC program has grown considerably (see Chapter 3) , but this growth has not led to an increase in support for basic research, and several expert committees have expressed concern about the program's applied research bias.
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The committee has identified a need for such an initiative: a wideranging and sustained program of research, exploring potentially highpayoff opportunities, to enhance U.S. surface transportation in support of societal goals.
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The committee acknowledges, however, the significant challenges in establishing and sustaining this kind of program, such as finding adequate funding. Also, in the committee's view, there is no clear institutional home for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, basic and advanced research program pertaining to surface transportation.
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funds research projects on a competitive basis, with some of this funding devoted to basic research. In neither case, however, is the research tied in particular to surface transportation, although ANR's sustainable energy area includes programs that address transportation and mobility.
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database,12 which serves as a clearinghouse for UTC projects and also allows other researchers and practitioners to search for related information. In addition, centers are required to include their research products in the Transportation Research International Documentation (TRID)
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DOT databases of potential value to researchers include the National Bridge Inventory,18 the Freight Analysis Framework,19 and the National Transit Database.20 RAISE AWARENESS OF SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH Transportation's role as a driver of economic growth and a key determinant of quality of life is widely acknowledged both by the United States and its competitors. However, the role of research in improving transportation frequently goes unrecognized in the United States outside of the confines of the transportation research community itself.
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Although Americans often care deeply about many of the benefits that transportation research can provide, they may not see research as a means of achieving these benefits. In Asia and Europe, on the other hand, transportation research is often given greater prominence as a means of achieving societal goals.
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Consistent with the responsibilities of the U.S. DOT and OSTP, therefore, the committee considers it incumbent on the two organizations to work together to increase the visibility of surface transportation research and its priority on the national agenda.
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In the committee's judgment, a similar (and collaborative) effort by members of the surface transportation research community could help draw attention to the role its research has played over time in furthering the nation's economic and societal goals.
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Toward that end, a new research framework would offer opportunities to leverage the research conducted by individual organizations and add value to the overall national research endeavor. By encouraging transportation research organizations and the broader research community to work together in support of societal goals, the framework has the potential to make surface transportation research more productive, to address problems that have been neglected because of the current fragmented approach, and to explore crosscutting systems-level solutions to a variety of problems.
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surface transportation research more productive.
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2001. Special Report 261: The Federal Role in Highway Research and Technology.
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Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/ sr/sr292.pdf.
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