DoT: FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research Program

Sponsor: Department of Transportation (DoT)

The program scope is intentionally ambitious and broad to address the wide spectrum of topics and objectives that the funded investigations will strategically support. Advanced research in a wide spectrum of science and technology areas is intended. All research is intended to have the common objective of addressing the technology and knowledge gaps described below. This program is intended to spur innovation and focus on high risk and high pay-off research and development projects. Incremental advances and demonstrations or evaluations of existing technologies are not within the scope of this program. The following focus areas are of particular strategic interest and relevance to the FHWA and proposals in all of these areas are highly encouraged.

TRANSPORTATION POLICY:

This focus area is to understand the complex socio-economic interdependencies of surface transportation systems and the policies that create, maintain and operate these systems. This research is also intended to develop the ability to model, analyze and plan surface transportation solutions over different spatial and time scales.

The innovations expected to result from this advanced research program, if successful, should provide policy makers with forecasting tools that can be used to predict possible transportation outcomes based on financial decisions, condition and performance of the existing transportation system and future transportation trends.

Proposals are encouraged that explore the interdependent relationships between surface transportation systems, innovative financial mechanisms used to fund major infrastructure projects, advanced modeling systems and tools that could be used to analyze and predict future impacts of various transportation scenarios. Proposals addressing the following specific topics are also highly encouraged.

1. Analytical Approaches to Multimodal Investment Analysis

2. Emerging Issues in Innovative Finance

3. Alternative Futures to Freight Mobility

4. Integration of Transportation Data from Multiple Sources

5. Travel Demand Response to Travel Pricing

6. Geospatial Data Acquisition for Highway System Performance Monitoring

7. Advanced Approaches for Identifying Fuel Tax Evasion Practices

HIGHWAY SAFETY:

Proposals dealing with the following areas are highly encouraged.

1. Enhanced understanding of the importance of the visibility of the roadway. This could include improved understanding of various levels of roadway lighting, as well as minimum levels of sign and pavement markings visibility to the driver, both at night or daytime.

2. Innovative technologies to detect the presence of pedestrians or other vulnerable road users either at designated/typical crossing locations, or at mid-block/unexpected areas; determine the potential conflict of the user and a highway vehicle; and development of methods to warn the parties in time to avoid a crash.

3. In concert with the States, vehicle manufactures and other in the private sector, create the parameters for a long-term ground traffic control system that would individually monitor all drivers and vehicles, their roadways, and environmental conditions; assess the likelihood of a crash or vehicle conflict on a real-time basis; utilize a communications system to warn of potential conflicts; and eventually have the capacity to take control of vehicles in unsafe circumstances that could not be prevented, but for such assumption of vehicle control.

4. Enhanced understanding of the relationship between the vehicle (all types) and the roadway, especially with regards to maximizing the friction capacity between the vehicle and road surface to improve vehicle control.

PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT:

Proposals addressing the following needs are highly encouraged.

1. Improve the data collected, systemize the data for easier use, and reduce the cost of the data collection for both the 20+ year planning activity and the 5 year programming.

2. Improve both the environmental data collected and reduce the cost of environmental data collection.

3. Develop an early prediction system that would indicate the potential for a reversal in the trend of increasing traffic based on technological change.

TRAFFIC CONGESTION:

Proposals addressing the following specific topics are also highly encouraged.

1. Research that addresses the gaps in understanding and knowledge of Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) and that develop new mobility concepts, validate driver behavior and acceptance, and assess the feasibility and mobility benefits through simulation studies based upon VII.

2. Research to investigate the adaptation of state-of-the-practice of heuristic methods used to solve complex optimization problems in other domains, such as such as military science, computer science, and enterprise integration with the objective of applying these heuristic methods to the domain of intelligent transportation systems (ITS).

3. Innovative approaches to generate origin-destination (O-D) tables. Of particular interest is the possible identification and adaptation of algorithms and computational methods used in other domains in order to identify an estimation model that can provide highly accurate O-D table data in real-time.

4. Research to investigate if advanced materials can be developed and incorporated into pavements to support network radio communication services. This communication innovation could reduce the costs of communication for traffic management and other public purposes. This technology could also enable new applications such as automated and pervasive system condition and performance monitoring that would not be possible otherwise.

5. Research in effective data fusion, data mining, and non-parametric approaches for assessing highway conditions and performance that will overcome the existing gaps in data quality.

HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE FOCUS AREA:

Proposals addressing the following needs are highly encouraged.

1. FHWA is interested in innovative or alternative materials that have the potential to reduce or eliminate shortcomings of existing materials; may enable broader use of innovative pavement and structural elements which have not found wide use for economic reasons, despite superior technical performance, and which may encourage the development of entirely new types of structures and pavements.

2. Improved performance of pavements and structures can occur in part through improved quality control of materials and construction. Several breakthrough technology innovations in real-time quality control have been incorporated over the years into automated concrete and hot mix asphalt plants. There is both a need and the potential for more such real-time quality control innovations throughout all elements (mix transport, placement, lay down, consolidation, curing, etc.) of the construction process. Developing and implementing the innovations should result in savings gained from a better performing, more cost-effective constructed product and the use of fewer quality control and quality assurance personnel to measure and monitor quality.

3. The design and analysis of pavements and structures needs to be based on fundamental engineering to enable the optimized use of resources and contracting methods. Innovative technologies and advanced computing power should be applied to enhance the understanding of the relationships between materials and construction to performance and provide the ability to predict the expected performance of structures and pavements.

4. Develop innovative ideas, techniques and tools for the collection, integration, analysis and interpretation of infrastructure management system data for efficient management of infrastructure assets and effective communication with owners and stakeholders.

CROSS-CUTTING EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH:

It is recognized that there might be research topics and ideas that while not specifically addressing the topics listed above, should be considered. There are also research topics that are more fundamental or enabling in character and as such cut across the focus areas identified above. In fact, although presented within a specific focus area, several of the ideas presented above do cut across focus areas. In keeping with the Congressional intent of the Exploratory Advanced Research Program, the Federal Highway Administration is interested in any proposals for longer-term, high risk research that could bring about dramatic breakthroughs for improving the durability, efficiency, environmental impact, productivity and safety (including bicycle and pedestrian safety) aspects of highways and intermodal transportation systems. In submitting proposal, the Offerors are reminded that the intent of this program is to fund applied research that, while high risk and perhaps long term, is undertaken with a specific problem or need in mind. Basic research is not within the scope of this program.

Deadline: This BAA is open for one year from the date of the FedBizOps announcement (through January 18, 2008).

For further information, please visit: http://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOT/FHWA/OAM/DTFH61-07-R-00117/Combine%20Synopsis_Solicitation.html