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500 Fifth Street, NW Phone: 202 334 2934 Washington, DC 20001 www.TRB.org April 30, 2013 The Honorable Ray LaHood Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 Dear Secretary LaHood: Section 508 of the 2012 surface transportation authorization statute, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), calls for the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) to develop a 5-year strategic plan for federal transportation research, development, and technology (RD&T). The law requires the plan to describe the primary purposes, topics, expected outcomes, and anticipated funding of RD&T. It also calls for the plan to integrate the RD&T programs of all U.S. DOT modal administrations, to reflect input from a wide range of stakeholders, and to consider research conducted outside the U.S. DOT to avoid duplication of efforts. Finally, the law calls for the National Research Council (NRC) to review the plan. On February 19 and 20, 2013, NRC, under the auspices of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), convened the Committee on the Review of the U.S. DOT Strategic Plan for Research, Development, and Technology, a 13-member committee of experts in transportation engineering, economics, system operations and administration, and research management. Senior officials from the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) provided a draft of the plan, entitled the RD&T Strategic Plan for 2013â2018, and briefed the committee on its development. Research managers from the departmentâs modal administrations participated in these briefings and provided additional information about strategic plans within each administration. The committee then met in closed session to establish its findings and begin preparing this review, which was completed through correspondence. The roster of committee members and a list of presentations made by the individuals who briefed the committee are included as attachments to this letter report. On behalf of NRC and the committee, I wish to thank the many U.S. DOT officials who participated in the briefings; they provided the committee members with valuable insights. Kevin Womack, Associate Administrator, Office of Research, Development and Technology, RITA, asked the committee for its assessment and provided an overview of the strategic planning process. He was extremely forthcoming in his discussions, and the committee appreciated his candor and receptiveness to committee comments. I would also like to thank the department for the opportunity to review a draft of the plan; the committee appreciates the chance to make substantive comments that can positively influence the shape of the final plan and believes that both the U.S. DOT and the committee benefited from reviewing the plan at an early stage. This letter report presents the results of the committeeâs review and is offered with the intention of aiding current and future strategic planning for RD&T by the U.S. DOT. The committee would like to emphasize that it did not evaluate the topical focus of the modal administration strategic plans or research programs; rather, it focused on reviewing the U.S. DOT strategic plan along with the strategic planning process and performance
