Research Peer Exchange Summary Report: Best Practices in SPR Part B Fundamentals, Staff Development, and Research Program Engagement

US Transportation Collection2021PDFTech ReportNorth Dakota. Dept. of TransportationSouth Dakota. Department of TransportationNebraska. Department of TransportationTexas A&M Transportation InstituteNorth Dakota. Dept. of TransportationSouth Dakota. Dept. of TransportationNebraska. Department of TransportationUnited StatesBest practicesPersonnel developmentResearchState departments of transportationPeer exchangeThe transportation research programs at the North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska Departments of Transportations (DOTs) hosted a peer exchange to discuss the fundamentals of State Planning and Research (SPR) Part B funding and how DOTs can best encourage and implement staff development and research program engagement. The peer exchange was conducted virtually November 3\u20135, 2020, using Microsoft Teams. The virtual nature of the peer exchange allowed for additional participants from the DOTs. The North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska DOTs planned the sessions to discuss best practices related to SPR funding, staff development, and research program engagement. This report documents the discussions, outcomes, and takeaways from the peer exchange sessions. The peer exchange participants included staff members from research programs in the DOTs of California (Caltrans), Nebraska (NDOT), North Dakota (NDDOT), Rhode Island (RIDOT), South Dakota (SDDOT), Tennessee (TDOT), Vermont (VTrans), Washington (WSDOT), and Wisconsin (WisDOT). Other guest participants included the North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska Divisions of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), as well as Skip Paul (Louisiana Transportation Research Center [LTRC], retired).121