Federal Highway Administration Exploratory Advanced Research

A Vision of A Future Intermodal System: How Research Can Lead to Safe, Mobile, & Sustainable Networks

National Conference on Intermodal Transportation October 12, 2012

PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®

Future Network Vision

Transportation Networks that provide

• Safety, where deaths and serious injuries are rare events;
  
  
• Efficiency, where travel times are assured;
  
  
• Conservation of resources, where infrastructure conditions and system operations minimize the need for new materials and energy

Key Processes

• Focus on high-risk, high payoff research
  
  
• Merit review is used to enhance the quality of research processes and results
  
  
• Research stakeholders are involved throughout
  
  
• Commitment to successful project handoff

Partner Collaboration

• Research stakeholders are involved throughout
  
  
  • From scoping of focus areas through communication of research results
    
    
• Stakeholders include
  
  
  • Academic
    
    
  • Government (federal, state, and local)
    
    
  • Industry (businesses, associations)
    
    
  • International

Breadth with Depth

• All projects begin with initial stage investigations
  
  
  • Reference searches, scanning trips, convening workshops, etc.
    
    
• Assure leverage of the most recent, relevant and advanced research from all fields
  
  
• Not all initial stage investigations lead to (or are expected to lead to) research investments

Focus Areas

• Connected highway and vehicle systems
  
  
• Breakthrough concepts in material science
  
  
• Human behavior and travel choices
  
  
• New technology and advanced policies for energy and resource conservation
  
  
• Technology for assessing performance
  
  Cross cutting
  
  
• Nanoscale research
  
  
• Information sciences

Program Status

• 100+ Initial stage investigations
  
  
  • Video decoding, feature extraction
    
    
  • Adaptive materials
    
    
• Six solicitations resulting in
  
  
  • 50 projects awarded; 37 ongoing
    
    
  • $43M federal, $17M match
    
    
• 7^th closed October 4
  
  
  • Topics: Novel binders, low-powered, wireless sensors

Program Results

EAR Program Payoff

• Pointing the way to new technology, applications
  
  
• Connecting with new partners
  
  
• Growing scientific capacity and pushing disciplinary frontiers
  
  
  • Building tools that accelerate discovery, allow for new measurements, concepts
    
    
• Encouraging original ideas

Thank You

EAR Program website
www.fhwa.dot.gov/advancedresearch