Summary of Projects Funded By The Federal Highway Administration for The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence From July 2006 to June 2014

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Background

Section 5309 of Public Law 109-59 (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users) directed the Secretary of Transportation to "Establish the Center for Excellence in Surface Transportation Safety at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)" and provide the sum of $750,000 per year for the establishment of the Center.⁽¹⁾ Furthermore, Public Law 109-59 offered the authority to award a cooperative agreement for this effort. VTTI worked with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to develop this agreement and formed the National Surface Transportation Safety Center of Excellence (NSTSCE) in 2006. Its objective was to develop and disseminate advanced transportation safety techniques and innovations in both rural areas and urban communities. A multiyear strategic plan was developed, focusing on the following four surface transportation safety research areas:

• Safety devices and techniques that enhance driver performance.
• Advanced pavement delineation and lighting systems.
• Techniques to address age-related driver issues.
• Techniques to address fatigued driver issues.

Research Focus Areas

Research areas were assigned a subject-matter expert (SME) who then developed projects that supported the strategic plan within each of the four focuses. To further facilitate this research, a stakeholder committee formed and was composed of organizations interested in improving surface transportation safety. FHWA chaired the original stakeholder committee, which included representatives from General Motors®, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and VTTI. Each stakeholder provided $200,000 of funding annually for use on NSTSCE projects. In subsequent years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Travelers® Insurance joined as stakeholders.

Each SME developed a list of possible projects, a scope of work to be accomplished within each project, and a budget. The individual projects were described in a document with the following headings and information:

• Project title: The formal title.
  
  
• Lead researchers: The project's principal investigator (PI) and often other key researchers.
  
  
• Opportunity: A brief description of the project's benefits.
  
  
• Approach: A brief description of how the project would be conducted.
  
  
• Period of performance: An estimate of the timeline, occasionally with specific dates when necessary (e.g., to leverage another project effort).
  
  
• Probability of achieving results: An estimate of the likelihood of project success. The stakeholders wanted a mixture of projects that were low risk that could be easily achieved and projects that were high risk but had the potential of high reward.
  
  
• Deliverables: Something produced from the project's efforts, such as a presentation highlighting the study and results, a new tool, a conference presentation, a final report, a Web site, etc.
  
  
• Budget: A rough cost estimate.
  
  
• Strategic benefit: A brief description of the importance to the NSTSCE program and transportation safety.
  
  
• References: A list of any relevant references that should be considered.

A compiled document of these two-page proposals was distributed to stakeholders prior to their annual fall meeting, where the SMEs or their designees presented each proposal and answered questions. The stakeholders concluded each meeting with a closed session, which included voting on the proposals and developing feedback for the SMEs, which resulted in that year's research portfolio implemented by the SMEs. The annual spring stakeholders meeting, designed to be interactive with questions and feedback, focused mostly on project status and progress. Occasionally, new projects were recommended to the stakeholders at the spring meeting, although these recommendation were fewer.

The reporting requirements mandated that FHWA funding be accounted for separately from the other funding sources. As a result, funding sources were tracked for FHWA projects. Initially, these projects were often created using a single source of funds. However, when changes were recommended for a project that required additional funding, other funds were used in some cases. Also, in some cases, the funds coming from multiple sources were allocated at the beginning of the project for logistical reasons. In all cases, the amount provided by FHWA to each project was tracked.

FHWA Funded Projects

FHWA remained a member of the NSTSCE stakeholders committee until June 2014; during the span of its membership, FHWA funds contributed to 58 projects. The remaining four stakeholders continue to support NSTSCE.

An early requirement for the program was an outreach and marketing project for NSTSCE lasting from July 2006 to April 2010. The given budget of $245,405 was used specifically to provide outreach and marketing for NSTSCE that was approved by the stakeholders, including attempts to recruit other stakeholders who were supportive of the NSTSCE mission. From that point forward, specific outreach activities were proposed as projects along with those in the other four research areas. In 2012, NSTSCE added another SME who focused entirely on outreach.

This report details 58 projects, ranging from developing tools that could be used to support data collection to specific naturalistic data analysis activities designed to answer particular research questions. Some of the projects were intermediate steps, while others were full projects with final reports. Final reports can be found at http://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/5529 and will remain accessible to FHWA.

The projects presented in this report are grouped in chapters corresponding to their research area. The information for each project is organized as in table 1. Note that the funding shown is only the FHWA funding that was devoted to the project; in some cases, this was the only funding provided, and in other cases, funding from additional sources was required.

*VTTI received special permission from Virginia Tech to waive overhead on the FHWA NSTSCE funding to maximize its focus on research activities.