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From page 17... ... 17 2 Federal Highway Research, Development, and Technology in Support of Innovation The federalist and public-sector nature of the national highway system has led to the unique structure of programs funding highway research, development, and technology (RD&T) transfer in the United States. Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... 18 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION RD&T programs encourage innovation in a market that is dominated by public-sector agencies and decision makers. The public sector has a set of disincentives for innovation that are almost completely distinct from those of the private sector, which in turn leads to a set of RD&T programs and activities to overcome these barriers that contrast sharply with the nature of the R&D programs funded through other federal agencies. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 19 building, and maintaining highway assets. This assistance subsequently broadened to safety and environmental protection, but remained largely targeted to state departments of transportation (DOTs) Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... 20 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION the once sharp demarcations between vehicle and infrastructure technology and between public and private sector roles in the highway system. One consequence of this enlarged scope is that highway users, including commercial operators and private motorists, are the direct consumers of some of the innovations that FHWA is developing today, in particular, services provided by connected and automated vehicles. Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 21 research.1 Applied research builds on this new knowledge to develop applications (services, products, models, etc.) intended to solve particular problems. Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... 22 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION Innovation in the Private Sector Innovation builds on knowledge or understanding, but in a competitive marketplace, private companies have disincentives to invest in the development of knowledge if that investment would benefit their competitors as much as themselves. Technological innovation in the private sector often begins with a considerable dependence on public investments in basic or precompetitive research. Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 23 Innovation in the Public Highway Sector Innovation occurs in the public sector, but it requires a different approach than in the private sector because of lack of a profit incentive and many barriers to innovation. Barriers to Innovation This section addresses the most prominent barriers to innovation in the public sector: • Risk aversion; • The "low bid" contracting process; • Limits on use of proprietary or patented projects; • Litigation risk; • Lack of evidence for long-term (multi-decade) Read the entire page →
From page 24... ... 24 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION from the private sector, is dominated by requirements for competitive bidding. These requirements were put in place for good reasons -- to ensure that the public receives the best value for its funds and to avoid graft -- and these goals are simply and readily accomplished by awarding contracts to the lowest bidder. Read the entire page →
From page 25... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 25 incentives to litigate about the procurement process and thereby tie public agencies' hands for lengthy periods of legal proceedings. Long-lived assets An underappreciated barrier to innovation in the public highway sector is the long-lived nature of major assets such as highway pavement structures, bridge substructures, bridge decks, culverts, and roadside sign supports and other appurtenances. Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... 26 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION technology transfer effort is required to reach these tens of thousands of customers. Public-Sector RD&T Activities to Overcome Barriers As illustrated in Figure 2-2, innovation in the public highway sector follows steps similar to those employed in the private sector, but lacks the driving force of the profit incentive. Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 27 a promising innovation all the way from concept to broad application by states and local governments.9 Moreover, considerable resources are required for the technology transfer process. A carefully developed estimate for Congress of the cost of supporting implementation of the innovations from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHPR 2) Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... 28 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION Innovation Stages and RD&T Definitions Characterizing and classifying RD&T activities in the chapters that follow depends on having a consistent set of definitions. The innovation life cycle has always been difficult to define because of the serendipity of discovery, the often unexpected connections that innovations are built on, and the directions taken before they are deployed. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 29 Because highway transportation is an applied field that draws on many disciplines, basic research is rarely funded by FHWA or other federal highway RD&T programs. Highway RD&T is usually classified into three categories: applied research, development, and technology transfer (or deployment) Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... 30 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION for successful applications in other fields that could be applied in transportation. Early-stage applied research is seeking applications and is therefore across the border between basic and applied research, but it would not include deep analysis about, or testing of, any particular application. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 31 Technology readiness level (TRL) Major federal funders of R&D, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... 32 VITAL FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHWAY INNOVATION TRL definitions are helpful in assessing whether technological innovations that involve hardware and/or software are sufficiently developed for deployment. TRLs may not apply as well to innovations that are less dependent on hardware, such as improved physical designs, safety countermeasures, or improved planning models and processes, but the general principles behind TRLs can still be applied in developing such innovations and determining whether they are ready for promotion through technology transfer. Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... FEDERAL HIGHWAY RD&T IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION 33 applied research, development, testing, technology transfer, and evaluation. These stages overlap and interrelate. Read the entire page →

From page 17...

... 17 2 Federal Highway Research, Development, and Technology in Support of Innovation The federalist and public-sector nature of the national highway system has led to the unique structure of programs funding highway research, development, and technology (RD&T) transfer in the United States.