Foreword

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Hydrogen Roadmap is the guiding document for the DOT Hydrogen Safety Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (RDD&D) programs.  It outlines the roles and activities of each participating operating administration and their parallel efforts within the DOT.  The Roadmap also serves as an outreach document for communication, coordination, and collaboration with other Federal agencies, industry, the public, and Congress.

The Roadmap began as an initiative of the DOT Hydrogen Working Group.  It was developed with input from senior staff of all the participating DOT operating administrations: the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Secretary’s Policy Office.  The Department of Energy’s recommendations were also solicited, and are included.

The Roadmap delineates four major topic areas:

• Safety Codes, Standards, and Regulations;
• Infrastructure Development and Deployment;
• Safety Education, Outreach, and Training; and
• Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Development, Demonstration, and Deployment.

Describing the current and projected DOT activities supporting the President’s National Hydrogen Initiative, the Roadmap illustrates the paths and timeframes necessary to enable a successful hydrogen infrastructure for the transportation enterprise.  It also responds to the internal need to coordinate and share information among the various DOT operating administrations, and to provide other Federal agencies with an understanding of DOT’s hydrogen program roles and funding requirements.  Finally, the Roadmap provides a concise and consistent document for future program direction.

As a “living document,” this Roadmap will be updated with critical interim addenda as necessary.  The solicitation of private sector views is an important part of this process.

Dr. Ashok Kaveeshwar
Administrator
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation

October 2005