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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Highway Safety Research Agenda: Infrastructure and Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22533.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Highway Safety Research Agenda: Infrastructure and Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22533.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

N A T I O N A L C O O P E R A T I V E H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M NCHRP REPORT 756 Highway Safety Research Agenda: Infrastructure and Operations Charles Zegeer Raghavan Srinivasan Daniel Carter University of north Carolina highway safety researCh Center Chapel Hill, NC Forrest Council Frank Gross Mike Sawyer vanasse hangen BrUstlin, inC. Vienna, VA Ezra Hauer Toronto, Ontario, Canada James Bonneson texas transportation institUte College Station, TX Geni Bahar navigats inC. Toronto, Ontario, Canada Subscriber Categories Highways • Research • Safety and Human Factors TRANSPORTAT ION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2013 www.TRB.org Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP REPORT 756 Project 17-48 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 978-0-309-28352-6 Library of Congress Control Number 2013948693 © 2013 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The members of the technical panel selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report was reviewed by the technical panel and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the sponsors of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transporta- tion Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individu- als interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research reported herein was performed under NCHRP Project 17-48. The University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC) was the contractor for this study. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB); NAVIGATS, Inc.; and Texas Transportation Institute were subcontractors; and Jim Bonneson and Ezra Hauer were project consultants. Charles Zegeer was the Principal Investigator. The other authors of the report are Raghavan Srinivasan and Daniel Carter from HSRC; Forrest Council, Frank Gross, and Mike Sawyer from VHB, Inc.; and consultants Ezra Hauer, Jim Bonneson, and Geni Bahar. The authors wish to express sincere thanks to the individual members of the project panel who provided extremely helpful feedback for the many documents they were asked to review. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the help and support of members of selected state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) who provided valuable input for this project. CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 756 Christopher W. Jenks, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Crawford F. Jencks, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs Christopher J. Hedges, Senior Program Officer Danna Powell, Senior Program Assistant Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications Natassja Linzau, Editor NCHRP PROJECT 17-48 PANEL Field of Traffic—Area of Safety Priscilla A. Tobias, Illinois DOT, Springfield, IL (Chair) Leanna Depue, Missouri DOT, Jefferson City, MO Robert E. Hull, Utah DOT, Salt Lake City, UT Ronald Lipps, Frederick, MD Timothy R. Neuman, CH2M Hill, Chicago, IL Jeanne Scherer, California DOT, Sacramento, CA Hadi Shirazi, Louisiana DOTD, Baton Rouge, LA Dean L. Sicking, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Daniel S. Turner, University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa, AL Thomas M. Welch, SAIC, Fairfield Bay, AR Ray Krammes, FHWA Liaison

F O R E W O R D By Christopher J. Hedges Staff Officer Transportation Research Board This report develops a proposed agenda of prioritized safety research needs in the area of highway infrastructure and operations. It was developed to provide options to the U.S. transportation community on how to direct research to the areas where it can provide the most benefit. The agenda is based on a prioritization methodology developed by the research team, which can be applied on a recurring basis to update the agenda over time. Both the agenda and the methodology documented in this report will provide valuable input to all those involved in the conduct and management of highway safety research at all levels of government, the private sector, and academia. In the year 2000, an ad hoc group was formed that shared an interest in ensuring that research and technology (R&T) programs address the needs of the highway community and the public. The group was known as the National Highway R&T Partnership; it was initiated by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Transportation Research Board (TRB). It com- prised a dedicated group of top experts, involving hundreds of individuals and input from more than 170 organizations. The group had two main goals: to identify highway R&T needs to assist research funding agencies as they develop their research programs, and to demonstrate the value of a partnership approach to carrying out national R&T efforts. The group was broken down into five working groups, of which one represented highway safety research needs. One of the safety working group’s key recommendations was to iden- tify the most pressing research needs in the field of highway operations and infrastructure. In 2005, FHWA and the state departments of transportation focused on this goal and through the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) provided funding for a TRB Policy Study. This study convened an expert committee to conduct an independent review of the pro- cesses used to establish research priorities and coordination. The result was TRB Special Report 292: Safety Research on Highway Infrastructure and Operations: Improving Priorities, Coordina- tion, and Quality. This report made recommendations for a process and administrative structure needed to establish research priorities on a national level. Implementation of these recommendations was the objective of NCHRP Project 17-48, Highway Infrastructure and Operations Safety Research Needs. A research team led by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center developed a methodology for prioritizing research needs, implemented the procedure to develop a ranked agenda of the most pressing current needs, and made recommendations for the long-term imple- mentation of the research agenda. The team developed a ranking methodology based on a wide range of factors, including costs and potential benefits, stakeholder input, feasibility, urgency, risk, and alignment with national strategic goals and plans. The methodology is

included as a spreadsheet tool on the CD-ROM accompanying this report. A wide range of background and supporting materials are also provided on the CD-ROM, including a user guide for the prioritization tool. The report itself includes a list of specific priori- tized research topics divided into two categories: (1) applied research that lends itself to the development of new Crash Modification Factors (CMFs) and (2) fundamental and applied research for which CMFs are not appropriate. Appendices A-O and R, which contain addi- tional documentation from the research effort, are not published herein. These materials are available for download from the TRB website at the following URL: http://apps.trb.org/ cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2727.

C O N T E N T S 1 Executive Summary 5 Chapter 1 Introduction 8 Chapter 2 Developing the Prioritization Methodology 8 Background on Prioritization Methodologies in Use for Assessing Research Needs 8 Overarching Issues Observed in Previous Prioritization Methods 8 Specific Processes Observed 10 Perceived Weaknesses of Previous Prioritization Methods 10 Rating Crash Modification Factor (CMF) Research Topics 10 Summary of Value of Research (VOR) Method 12 Implementation of the VOR Method 14 Pilot Testing the VOR Method 18 Rating Fundamental and Non-CMF Applied Research Topics 18 Research Prioritization Methodology 24 Pilot Test of Prioritization Method 24 Summary and Conclusions on Recommended Prioritization Methods 27 Chapter 3 Implementing the Prioritization Procedure 27 Defining the Method for Identifying Potential Research Topics 27 Identification of Research Topics to be Prioritized 28 Prioritizing CMF Research Topics 28 Prescreening CMF Topics 29 Estimating the Value of Conducting Research to Develop CMFs 33 Prioritizing Fundamental Research and Non-CMF Applied Research Topics 33 Estimated Relative Utility Index (RUI) 37 Lessons Learned 38 Chapter 4 Plan for Long-Term Implementation of a National Research Agenda 38 Alternative Institutional Structures to Ensure Expert Advice for a Dynamic and Continuing Agenda 38 Goals and Basic Criteria for Best Structure 44 Summary 45 Encouraging Coordination of National Agenda Research Funding 45 National Focal Point 45 Presentation of the National Agenda 45 Continual Tracking of National Agenda Project Funding 46 Selling Unfunded National Agenda Projects 47 Evaluating the Quality of Research Conducted for the National Agenda Projects 47 Access to Publications and Ongoing Research 48 Quality of Applied Research (CMF-Related) Proposals 48 Quality of Fundamental and Applied Research (Non-CMF) Proposals

50 Quality of Applied (CMF-Related) Research 51 Quality of Fundamental and Applied (Non-CMF) Research 52 Inclusion of Research Quality Evaluations in the National Agenda Process 53 Monitoring Progress of the National Agenda 54 Formation and Duties of a National-Level SAC 54 National-Level SAC Membership 55 National-Level SAC Duties 55 SAC/National Agenda Meeting 55 Transportation Agency Partners 56 Summary 57 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Next Steps 59 Bibliography P-1 Appendix P Results for Applied-CMF Research Prioritization Q-1 Appendix Q Results of Fundamental Research and Applied Non-CMF Prioritization Note: Many of the photographs, figures, and tables in this report have been converted from color to grayscale for printing. The electronic version of the report (posted on the Web at www.trb.org) retains the color versions.

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 756: Highway Safety Research Agenda: Infrastructure and Operations develops a proposed agenda of prioritized safety research needs in the area of highway infrastructure and operations.

The report provides options to the U.S. transportation community on how to direct research to the areas where it can provide the most benefit. The agenda is based on a prioritization methodology developed by the research team which can be applied on a recurring basis to update the agenda over time. Both the agenda and the methodology documented in this report will assist government officials, private sector employees, and academics with managing highway safety research.

In addition to the report, 16 unpublished appendices (Appendices A-O and R) have been made available electronically.

NCHRP Report 756 has an associated CD-ROM 127: Safety Research Prioritization Worksheet (SRPW). The CD-ROM is also available for download from TRB’s website as an ISO image. Links to the ISO image and instructions for burning a CD-ROM from an ISO image are provided below.

Help on Burning an .ISO CD-ROM Image

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CD-ROM Disclaimer - This software is offered as is, without warranty or promise of support of any kind either expressed or implied. Under no circumstance will the National Academy of Sciences or the Transportation Research Board (collectively "TRB") be liable for any loss or damage caused by the installation or operation of this product. TRB makes no representation or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, including without limitation, the warranty of merchantability or the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and shall not in any case be liable for any consequential or special damages.

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