Ongoing Research

Managers and staff at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are responsible for research and technology (R&T), particularly in functional areas that develop and set the research and technology (R&T) agenda for that subject, focus, or program area. These functional areas reflect Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA's) mission, support strategic goals, and engage internal and external stakeholders. The R&T Leadership Team agrees on functional area agendas. From there, an R&T network develops and deploys a portfolio of R&T innovations.

Click one of the following research areas for more information about ongoing research.

Infrastructure
Operations
Safety
Policy
Federal Lands Highway Program

For a comprehensive overview of current research and technology development activities being conducted at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), visit the research section of the FHWA's Web site. For a listing of TFHRC research activities, visit the Project Overview page of the TFHRC Web site.

The FHWA sponsors the Transportation Pooled Fund Program for interested States, FHWA, and other organizations to establish a partnership when significant or widespread interest is shown in solving transportation-related problems. Partners may pool funds and other resources to solve these problems using research, planning, and technology-transfer activities. More information can be found at  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/partnership/pooledfund/ or at http://www.pooledfund.org/.

Infrastructure Research

Context Sensitive Design

The Context Sensitive Design (CSD)/Thinking Beyond the Pavement Web site introduces CSD, which is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders in developing a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources while maintaining safety and mobility. CSD is an approach that considers the total context within which a transportation improvement project will exist.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/context/index.cfm

Surface Utility Engineering

For many years, the inability to obtain reliable underground utility information has been a troublesome problem for highway designers in the United States. Now, there is a solution--subsurface utility engineering.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/sueindex.cfm

Pedestrian and Accessible Design

The Office of Program Administration is concerned with the design of the pedestrian environment in the public right-of-way for individuals with disabilities. Curb cut ramps for wheelchair users have been required at pedestrian crossings on Federal-aid projects for many years. U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) have adopted the Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) as standards. These accessibility standards currently only apply to buildings and sites.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/pedestrians.cfm

Material Technology Research

FHWA is constantly looking for new materials and methods to improve the quality of the Nation's highway system. The Agency's efforts involve in-house and contract-sponsored research on areas such as bridge coatings, asphalt concrete and asphalt binders, portland cement concrete, high-performance materials for bridge construction, and waste and byproduct materials

Pavements Research

Improving pavement performance is a complex and ongoing challenge. The pavement research teams in the Office of Infrastructure Research and Development (R&D) are working to address this challenge through a combination of staff and contractor R&D. Staff research is conducted in the laboratories of the TFHRC. Contract research is conducted by a broad array of consultants, academic institutions, and private industry research organizations.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov//research/topics/infrastructure/pavements/

Asset Management

The mission of FHWA's Office of Asset Management is to provide leadership and expertise in the systematic management of highway infrastructure assets. The office has three primary responsibilities:

• Provide national leadership in asset management principles for highway program administration.
• Develop asset management policies for pavement, bridge, and system preservation.
• Partner with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), additional FHWA offices, and others to conduct nationwide programs.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/asstmgmt/

Bridge Technology and Asset Management

The National Bridge Inventory shows that more than 480,000 bridges and 110,000 tunnels and culverts serve U.S. highways. The average age of existing bridges is 42 years. In the coming decades, new bridges will replace many of these spans, but in the meantime, bridge owners need cost-efficient ways to maintain and preserve the existing bridges until they are rebuilt.

Future stewardship and preservation will require new research and technology, and innovative tools, strategies, and management practices. The transportation community also must provide breakthroughs in technologies for repairing and rehabilitating bridges quickly to minimize the duration and public impact of work zones. Other research needs include technologies for detecting the conditions of bridge decks at highway speeds and methodologies to assess the conditions of concrete decks with overlays. Finally, improved modeling for life cycle cost analyses could lead to cost-effective strategies and techniques for preventive maintenance that extend and optimize service life.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/topics/infrastructure/bridges/index.cfm

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Operations Research

Creating a Foundation for 21st Century Operations

As the Nation moves further into the 21st century, realizing the social and economic benefits of good system performance means operating the transportation system better by having various aspects work in harmony with one other. This can be accomplished through the development of a foundation for 21st century operations that consists of the diligent application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies, better planning for operations, and performance measures to chart success. TFHRC's Operations and ITS research team conducts research on the application of cutting-edge technologies to move people and goods faster and more safely.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/creating_foundation.htm
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/

Reducing Non-Recurring Congestion

Nonrecurring congestion includes the development and deployment of strategies designed to mitigate traffic congestion due to nonrecurring causes such as crashes, disabled vehicles, work zones, adverse weather events, and planned special events. Approximately half of congestion is nonrecurring congestion, which is caused by temporary disruptions that take part of the roadway out of use.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/reduce-non-cong.htm
http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/

Reducing Recurring Congestion

Recurring congestion includes the development and deployment of traffic control and travel demand management strategies designed to mitigate congestion on highway facilities during peak travel periods. Roughly half of the congestion experienced in the United States happens virtually every day or is "recurring." This type of congestion happens when there are simply more vehicles than roadway.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/reduce-recur-cong.htm

Improving Day-to-Day Operations

Operations agencies in the 21st century operations often concern themselves with how well the transportation system performs every day. Effective highway-based transportation consists of three components: building the infrastructure, preserving the operating capacity by managing operations on a day-to-day basis, and preserving the infrastructure. "Operations" is an integrated approach to managing the performance of the transportation network to meet the end-to-end travel needs of the customer.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/improving-ops.htm

Improving Global Connectivity by Enhancing Freight Management and Operations

The smooth flow of freight is important to the economy and to maintaining global connectivity. As demand for freight transportation grows, concerns intensify about congestion, safety, and security. Accordingly, the freight program focuses on promoting an efficient, safe, and secure intermodal freight transportation system. The freight program conducts research and analysis on freight flows, develops analytical tools, tests and evaluates new technologies, measures system performance, and examines the relationship between freight transportation and the economy.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/improving-freight.htm

Emergency Transportation Operations

The surface transportation system is vital to the American economy, defense, and quality of life. The need to ensure the function and integrity of the surface transportation system became clear following the events of September 11, 2001. Effective transportation operational strategies both during and after an event (manmade or natural) are key to ensuring safe and continuous movement of people and goods during an emergency.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/mobility_security.htm
http://itre.ncsu.edu/fhwa-erp/allerp.htm

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Safety Research

Intersection Safety

A strategic goal of FHWA is to work closely with all safety partners to heighten driver awareness about highway safety measures. Safety is a shared responsibility, and all drivers need to recognize, understand, and take advantage of the safety features that are built into roadways.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/topics/safety/intersections/

Pedestrian Safety

Although walking is a legitimate mode of transportation, it needs to be improved in every community in the United States. Close to 5,000 pedestrians are killed in traffic every year, people with disabilities cannot travel easily without encountering barriers, and walking as a mode of travel is difficult and uncomfortable.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/topics/safety/pedbike

Bicycle Safety

Bicycles play an increasingly important role in the transportation system. Yet in many communities, bicyclists feel squeezed out of the traffic mix, and many bike riders complain of high stress levels as they travel along the roadway. The source of this stress is well documented. USDOT statistics show that more than 8,000 bicyclists died and 700,000 were injured in motor vehicle-related crashes in the past decade. More than one-third of all bicycle fatalities involve riders between 5 and 20 years of age, and 41 percent of nonfatal injuries occur to children under the age of 15. The need for safe, convenient, and attractive facilities to encourage safe biking is essential.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/topics/safety/pedbike

Road Departure Safety

Of the 42,643 people killed on U.S. highways in 2003, more than 25,000 died when their vehicles left their lanes and crashed. In some cases, the vehicle crossed the centerline and was involved in a head-on crash or opposite direction sideswipe. In others, the vehicle encroached onto the shoulder and beyond to roll over or impact one or more natural or manmade objects, such as utility poles, bridge walls, embankments, guardrails, parked vehicles, or trees.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/projects/safety/comprehensive/IHSDM

Older Drivers

FHWA's Office of Safety is committed to providing for the needs and capabilities of older drivers and pedestrians using the Nation's highways. Research indicates that practitioners will encounter challenges when making decisions concerning the safety needs of older drivers. Problems associated with their vision, fitness and flexibility, attention span, and reaction time when driving and walking must be considered.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/older_users/

Human Centered Systems

Researchers at TFHRC conduct human centered systems work in two major areas: intelligent vehicle-highway systems and highway safety. Researchers examine drivers' capabilities and limitations behind the wheel. Other topics of study include older drivers, traffic management centers, user characteristics, and visibility.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/topics/safety/humanfactors

Highway Safety Information System

Highway engineers and administrators are continually faced with decisions concerning the design and operation of the highway system. An important part of the decisionmaking process is the potential impact on the safety of the highway users. Informed decisionmaking requires an understanding of how safety is affected by the geometric design of the roadway, the selection and placement of roadside hardware, the use of traffic control measures, the size and performance capabilities of the vehicles, and the needs and abilities of the users. This understanding can be developed through sound analysis of information about crashes, roadway geometrics, traffic control devices, traffic volume data, and the location of hardware and obstacles on the roadside. These data must be present in computerized files and easily linked so that data can be rapidly assembled and prepared for analysis.

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Policy Research

Transportation policy research involves studies to support the formulation of transportation policy and legislative initiatives and the preparation of major reports to U.S. Congress on highway policy issues. Transportation policy research also may involve monitoring and forecasting economic, demographic, and personal/commercial travel trends.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/index.htm

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Federal Lands Highway Program

Approximately 30 percent of the land in the United States is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. The 1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act created the Federal Lands Highway Program (FLHP), whose primary purpose is to provide funding for a coordinated program of public roads that serve the transportation needs of the Federal lands that are not a State or local government responsibility.

http://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/

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