State RD&T Management Process
State Research, Development, and
Technology (RD&T) Management Process
Each State department of transportation (DOT) must develop, establish,
and implement a management process that ensures effective use of
available Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) planning and research
funds for RD&T activities on a Statewide basis. States may tailor
their management processes to meet State and local needs; however,
their process must comply with certain minimum requirements.
Specifically, the management process must include:
(1) An interactive process to identify and prioritize RD&T
activities for inclusion in an RD&T work program.
(2) Use of all FHWA planning and research funds set aside for RD&T
activities, either internally or for participation in transportation
pooled fund studies or other cooperative RD&T programs, to the
maximum extent possible.
(3) Procedures for tracking program activities, schedules, accomplishments,
and fiscal commitments.
(4) Support and use of the Transportation
Research Information Service (TRIS) database for developing
programs, reporting active RD&T activities, and inputting final
report information.
(5) A process
to enter new research into the Research in Progress (RiP) database.
(6) Use of TRIS
and the RiP
databases to search for duplicative or complementary research conducted
previously.
(7) Procedures to determine the effectiveness of the State DOT's
management process in implementing the RD&T program, determine
the utilization of the State DOT's RD&T outputs, and facilitate
peer exchanges of its RD&T program on
a periodic basis.
(8) Procedures for documenting RD&T activities by preparing
final reports. At a minimum, the documentation must include the
data collected, analyses performed, conclusions, and recommendations.
The State DOT must actively implement appropriate research findings
and should document benefits.
(9) Participation in peer exchanges
of its RD&T management process and of other State DOT programs
on a periodic basis.
The State DOT must develop documentation that describes its management
process, including the procedures for selecting and implementing
RD&T activities, and submit this documentation to the FHWA Division
office for certification. State DOTs also must submit significant
changes in the management process to FHWA for certification. The
management process certification should be included
in the State RD&T work program.
The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has published
a "Guide
for Developing a State Transportation Research Manual" that
provides useful information for developing a management plan.
