Research Needs For Highway Transportation

The analysis of the research needs of highway transportation has been prepared by the Committee on Research of the Highway Division for ultimate use in a combined report of civil engineering research needs. The over-all civil engineering report is being prepared by Colorado State University. The primary reason for the study was to obtain a basis for funding. The systems approach was utilized, wherein each component is represented in terms of its ultimate performance within some larger system. The efforts of research should be concerned with improvement of the planning processes, system operations, physical performance, and management procedures. Allocation of research funds assumes 12,000 professional staff and $30,000 per year per professional (with support staff) for a total requirement of $360,000,000 per year. The proposed level of expenditure is considerably less than could be effectively utilized to optimize the role of highway transportation in helping to fulfill society's need for transportation.