Research does not receive the attention or support in the highway field that it does in other sectors. Nonetheless, U.S. highway research, a collection of loosely connected, relatively independent programs, has produced innovations that have improved virtually every aspect of highway transportation. The role of the federal government has been and continues to be crucial, affecting not only federal research but also research undertaken or sponsored by state departments of transportation and many universities. Before federal highway programs were reauthorized by the U.S. Congress in 2005, Transportation Research Board committees recommended a number of changes to federal highway research programs, including greater focus on long-term research, a new strategic highway research program, a new environmentalresearch program, and a reduction in congressional earmarks and designations. With respect to these recommendations the results were mixed. The federal program now has a larger budget and includes several of the recommended initiatives. The scale and operational details of the programs are at variance with the recommendations in some respects, and the levels of congressional earmarks and designations increased. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Abstract