Research Funding

Transportation Research Funding

Funding for Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA's) research and technology (R&T) program is provided under legislation specified in Titles I and V of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Title V of SAFETEA-LU and its extensions provides the authorization for FHWA to use funds from the Highway Trust Fund to conduct R&T activities, which include the Surface Transportation Research, Development, and Deployment program (STRDD). The annual authorization for the STRDD program totaled $196.4 million from fiscal year (FY) 2005 through FY 2010. This amount includes $14 million for FHWA’s Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) program, which focuses on long-term, high-risk research with the potential for dramatic breakthroughs in surface transportation.

The SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008 provided funding from Title I of SAFETEA-LU (the Federal-aid Highway Program) for the Future Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) beginning in FY 2008. In FY 2006–2007, funding for SHRP 2 was provided from the Title V funds available from STRDD. Authorized funding for the SHRP 2 program amounts to approximately $52 million annually.

In addition, SAFETEA-LU requires all States to set aside funds for the State Planning and Research Program (SP&R). Out of seven federal aid formula program allocations from Title I of SAFETEA-LU, the States must set aside two percent for planning and research purposes. At least 25 percent of these funds must be used for research purposes (the remaining 75 percent can be used for planning or for research activities). States use these funds to conduct research aimed at solving specific transportation issues that arise at the State level, or they can leverage these funds with those from other States by applying them toward Transportation Pooled Fund projects. In FY 2010, the portion of the SP&R funds dedicated to research amounted to approximately $180 million.