|
|
ABOUT SHRP 2
The second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) was authorized by Congress to address some of the most pressing needs related to the nation’s highway system: the high toll taken by highway deaths and injuries, aging infrastructure that must be rehabilitated with minimum disruption to users, and congestion stemming both from inadequate physical capacity and from events that reduce the effective capacity of a highway facility. These needs define the four research focus areas in SHRP 2:
- The Safety area is conducting the largest ever naturalistic driving study to better understand the interaction among various factors involved in highway crashes—driver, vehicle, and infrastructure—so that better safety countermeasures can be developed and applied to save lives.
- The Renewal area is developing technologies and institutional solutions to support systematic rehabilitation of highway infrastructure in a way that is rapid, presents minimal disruption to users, and results in long-lasting facilities.
- The Reliability area is developing basic analytical techniques, design procedures, and institutional approaches to address the events—such as crashes, work zones, special events, and inclement weather—that result in the unpredictable congestion that makes travel times unreliable.
- The Capacity area is developing a web-based tool to provide more accurate data and collaborative decision-making in the development of new highway capacity in order to expedite the provision of that capacity while simultaneously addressing economic, community, and environmental objectives associated with new construction.
SHRP 2 is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Highway Administration and the America Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Overview
What
America's highway system includes more than 3.9 million miles of highways, arterials, and local roads and streets. These roads, which carry more than 90% of passenger trips and account for some 84% of freight value, are critical to meeting the mobility and economic needs of local communities, regions, and the nation. In addition to commercial and private vehicles, the roadways accommodate buses, bicycles, and pedestrians and provide vital links to all other modes of transportation. To address these challenges, Congress established the second Strategic Highway Research Program.
Focus
SHRP 2 will focus on applied research in the following areas, which were identified by experts who began planning for the program in 1999. The focus areas were selected on the basis of their importance to the nation’s economic system and quality of life and because strategically targeted research in these areas promises to yield high payoffs.
| Area |
Focus |
| Safety |
Prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior
|
| Renewal |
Address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disruption and produce long-lived facilities
|
| Reliability |
Reduce congestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation
|
| Capacity |
Integrate mobility, economic, environmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of transportation capacity
|
Why
Developments in research and technology—such as advanced materials, new data collection technologies, communications technology, and human factors science—offer an opportunity to improve the safety and reliability of the nation’s highway system. In establishing SHRP 2, Congress recognized that breakthrough resolution of some significant problems requires concentrated resources over a short time frame. SHRP 2’s intense, large-scale focus, requiring the integration of multiple fields of research and technology, is fundamentally different from the broad, mission-oriented, discipline-based research programs that have been the mainstay of the highway industry for half a century.
Philosophy
The first Strategic Highway Research Program (1988 to 1993) improved winter highway maintenance practices and revolutionized asphalt pavement design by producing the Superpave® system. SHRP 2 adheres to the principal features of the SHRP model—a focused, time-constrained, management-driven program designed to complement existing research programs. The SHRP 2 approach is also based on a decidedly customer-oriented view of highway needs. SHRP 2 has the following characteristics:
- It addresses highway needs from a systems perspective;
- It is open to research in nontraditional highway-related areas; and
- It explicitly acknowledges the interdependence of highway research and technology programs.
Products
Through targeted, short-term, results-oriented research, SHRP 2 will develop recommended procedures, practices, and applications to advance our nation’s highway system in the program’s key focus areas. With SHRP as a model, many SHRP 2 products could be adopted as standards, guides, or recommended practices at the local, state, or federal level.
Management
SHRP 2 will be managed by the Transportation Research Board on behalf of the National Research Council. The program will provide for competitive, merit-based selection of research contractors; independent research project oversight; and dissemination of research results. The SHRP 2 Oversight Committee has responsibility for all aspects of the program’s research activities. Additional technical advisory committees will be established as necessary to bring experience, expertise, and counsel from academic, government, and other interested parties to SHRP 2. The program will be conducted in close cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Duration and Budget
SHRP 2 was authorized in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Section 5210 (Public Law 109-59) through federal fiscal year 2009. Continuing resolutions extended the lifespan of the program through March 2015. Funding for the program has been authorized at $232.5 million.
Additional Information and Keeping Informed
Updates on SHRP 2 activities will be highlighted on our website and in TRB’s weekly Transportation Research E-Newsletter. To subscribe to the E-Newsletter, complete the form on this page.
|
|