State Planning and Research Program

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU) requires that States set aside 2 percent of the apportionments they receive from the Interstate Maintenance, National Highway System, Surface Transportation, Highway Bridge, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, and Equity Bonus programs for State planning and research activities. Of this amount, States must allocate 25 percent for research, development, and technology. These activities involve research on new areas of knowledge; adapting findings to practical applications by developing new technologies; and the transfer of these technologies, including the process of dissemination, demonstration, training, and adoption of innovations by users.

The State Planning and Research (SP&R) Program is intended to solve problems identified by the States. State departments of transportation are encouraged to develop, establish, and implement research, development, and technology (RD&T) programs that anticipate and address transportation concerns before they become critical problems. Each State must develop, establish, and implement a program that ensures effective use of available SP&R funds for RD&T activities on a statewide basis, and each State is permitted to tailor its RD&T program to meet local needs. High priority is given to applied research on State or regional problems, transfer of technology from researcher to user, and research for setting standards and specifications. Major RD&T areas include infrastructure renewal (including pavement, structures, and asset management); activities relating to safety, operations, and management; environmental and real estate planning; and policy analysis and systems monitoring.

State departments of transportation are encouraged to include development and technology transfer programs to share the results of their own research efforts and promote the use of new technology. To promote effective use of available resources, State departments of transportation also are encouraged to cooperate with other States, the Federal Highway Administration, and other appropriate agencies to achieve RD&T objectives established at the national level and to develop a technology transfer program to promote and use those results. States are encouraged to pool their funds in cooperative research efforts as a means of addressing national and regional issues and as a means of leveraging funds. This includes contributing to cooperative RD&T programs such as the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the Transportation Research Board, and transportation pooled fund studies.

• State Planning and Research (SP&R) Guide