The Federal Role
Since 1991 the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has supported TRB’s Research and Technology Coordinating Committee (RTCC), which brings together experts in highway research and stakeholders in highway research programs to provide an ongoing review of the agency’s research program and to suggest priorities for highway research. In its most recent report, the committee examined whether the focus and activities of the federal highway research and technology (R&T) program are appropriate in light of the needs of the nation’s highway system and the roles and activities of other highway R&T programs (Special Report 261: The Federal Role in Highway Research; TRB 2001). The committee’s recommendations for FHWA include a substantial shift in investment toward advanced research, which is longer term and higher risk than applied research; more stakeholder involvement in program direction, priority setting, and merit review; and systematic evaluation of research outcomes. Congress adopted the committee’s recommendations about research processes in the “Basic Principles Governing Research and Technology Investments” that are cited in the research title of the 2005 surface transportation reauthorization legislation. It also adopted the committee’s recommendation about advanced research by authorizing a $70 million program, which is a substantial increase over the $6 million authorized in the preceding legislation.
Since its inception, RTCC has issued a number of reports that provide guidance for the federal highway research program. Topics addressed include the management and conduct of technology transfer (Special Report 256: Managing Technology Transfer: A Strategy for the Federal Highway Administration, TRB, 1999) and opportunities to design and build pavements with much longer performance periods than the current norm (Developing Long-Lasting, Lower-Maintenance Highway Pavement: Research Needs, TRB 1997).