A Report of the Secretary of Transportation Pursuant to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 Section 6009(b), P.L. 102-240

007475453876349619974th ed.PDFResearch PaperDOT-T-97-21Ground transportationTransportation planningResearchShort range planningLong range planningSurface transportation research and developmentIntermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)United StatesUnited States. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Special Programs AdministrationJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.). Office of Strategic Planning and AnalysisNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICYNTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-ECONOMICS AND FINANCENTL-LAWS AND REGULATIONS-Federal LawsVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterSection 6009(b) of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) requires that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) develop an integrated National Surface Transportation Research and Development (R&D) Plan that focuses on the research needed over the next decade. The congressionally mandated objectives of the plan are as follows: (1) To develop a range of technologies needed to produce convenient, safe, and affordable modes of surface transportation to be available for public use beginning in the mid-1990's; and, (2) To maintain a long-term advanced R&D program in order to provide for the next generation of surface transportation systems. These objectives lead directly to the structure of the plan, which focuses on two time periods: (1) A Near-Term section (Section III, Chapters 1-8), which focuses on ongoing or projected programs and their conduct over the next three years; and, (2) A Long-Term section (Section II, Chapters 1-6), which focuses on the directions of DOT's transportation R&D over the next ten years and beyond. In addition, the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) has emphasized the need for strategic planning and mechanisms for performance assessment in Federal executive agency programs. This edition of the plan, which is the fourth to be issued, therefore has begun to examine ways to assess R&D program content and impacts, and for the first time discusses alternative approaches to doing this. Three appendices