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1998 FHWA
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Meeting the Challenge | Who Guides the R&T Program | Organization of This Report
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is entrusted with
the responsibility of providing the leadership, expertise, resources, and information to
continually improve the quality of our Nation's highway system and its intermodal
connections. Improvements through research and the application of technology are designed
to increase the mobility, safety, and productivity of our highway system while also
protecting our human and natural environments and ensuring that our roadways are
responsive to national security needs.
There is both an art and a science to meeting these responsibilities. When working with a diverse group of stakeholders, customers, and partners, it is an art to provide clear leadership that reflects a common vision of the current transportation needs of the Nation. There is the science of discovering better tools, techniques, and applications of existing or new knowledge to create the improvements needed to keep pace with the increasing demands placed upon our highway system by heavier loads, increased traffic, and economic growth.
To support FHWA in its mission, the Research and Technology (R&T) Program fosters the innovative scientific research needed to create the new methods, materials, and tools to continue to provide Americans with the best transportation system in the world. Building roads and bridges that will last longer and shortening the amount of time it takes to construct new roads or to improve existing structures requires an investment in research. Our Nation's ability to continue to successfully compete in the global marketplace while maintaining safety depends on how well we in the transportation community can pool both our intellectual and financial resources while working together to foster common goals and realize shared accomplishments. Also, to safeguard public health and the environment, we must advance the technology and methods used to detect abuse of regulations and to lessen emissions from surface transportation.
As Francis B. Francois, Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), recently pointed out, "If we could do it now, we wouldn't need research."
Fiscal Year (FY) 1998 has seen the R&T administration tap the spirit of innovation that captures the curiosity and creative genius of R&T Program scientists and apply that mindset toward designing new ways of working with customers, stakeholders, and partners. In response to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), in which decision-making power moves from Washington, DC, to the States and localities, FHWA's leadership role is increasingly more important to:
*Attempt to bring all new funding recipients into a cohesive group with common goals.
* Promote a national transportation agenda.
* Avoid duplication of efforts and misuse of Federal funds.
* Work to ensure that we continue to have the best transportation system in the world.
Although our mission has remained the same, in 1998 we set out to find new ways to perform that mission and fulfill the tasks set before us in the future. For example, we implemented the road-mapping process in which we begin with a specific outcome and determine what is needed to accomplish that outcome. This "reverse engineering" or "backward planning" process enables us to define how funds are used and to develop an understanding of our priorities and responsibilities. These outcome-focused road-maps provide us with another tool that we use to guide us toward successfully attaining our goals.
We have also come to find strength in our professional diversity--FHWA's innovative products and practices touch every part of the transportation spectrum--and in our record of excellence in delivering the expertise required to produce innovation.
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Although the restructuring of FHWA in FY 1999 will result in some changes, the following describes the R&T management structure during the period represented in this report.
The Research and Technology Executive Board (RTEB) provides policy direction for the R&T Program; agrees on R&T Program priorities; and reviews our progress in meeting goals, accomplishments, priorities, and milestones for the R&T Program. The RTEB is chaired by the FHWA's Executive Director, Anthony Kane, and its members include FHWA's six Associate Administrators, three Regional Administrators, and the Director of the Joint Program Office for Intelligent Transportation Systems, as listed on the inside front cover of this publication. Eight Research and Technology Coordinating Groups (RTCG's) operate under the direction of the RTEB to identify the transportation problems or issues that R&T development can help resolve; determine our role in resolving the problem or issue; formulate their portion of the R&T Program budget, including information on goals, products and milestones, anticipated accomplishments, and major new initiatives; and report to the RTEB on their plans, products, and achievements.
The Research and Technology Coordinating Committee (RTCC) is a special committee convened by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) at our request, which assists us in identifying gaps in research; in considering ways to increase State, local, and private sector participation in highway research; in addressing issues related to the implementation of research results; in identifying areas of duplication; and in providing a mechanism for gathering research needs. We also actively seek input to our program from expert groups such as the Intelligent Transportation Society of America and the National Motor Carrier Advisory Committee. These groups provide information on R&T activities in specific areas, monitor research progress, and recommend applications of research findings.
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This publication provides a brief glimpse at some of the year's most exciting advances, discoveries, and initiatives in Federal research and technology. These highlights of our R&T program are the projects that will not only change our Nation's highways, bridges, and structures but will also impact the lives of the traveling public, commercial drivers, and the highway engineering community. To emphasize how our successes correspond to FHWA's mission, we have chosen to display this year's highlights in five sections that align with FHWA's five strategic goals: (1) mobility, (2) safety, (3) productivity, (4) human and natural environment, and (5) national security. Although much of our work corresponds to several goals simultaneously, each project is listed under the goal it advances the most.
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