United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2002-05-24 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:GAO-02-573 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-573 P0b002ee180382fde f:d02573 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-573 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-573 GAO-02-573 Best practices Federal aid for transportation Internal controls Program evaluation Research program management Transportation research Funds management DOT University Transportation Centers Program Other Written Product A03396 The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has received hundreds of millions of dollars for its surface transportation research and technology program during the past decade. For example, in 1998 the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, included over $447 million for fiscal year 2002 for FHWA's transportation research and technology efforts for six-year period of 1998 through 2003. FHWA's research and technology program is complex because each of the program offices within the agency are responsible for identifying research needs, formulating strategies to address transportation problems, and setting goals that support the agency's strategic goals. One business unit at FHWA's research laboratory provides support for administering the overall program and conducts some of the research. The agency's leadership team provides periodic oversight of the overall program. FHWA's processes for managing the research and technology program, and in particular for developing research agendas and evaluating research outcomes against intended results, do not always align with the best practices for similar federal research and technology programs. FHWA acknowledges that its approach for developing research agenda and involving external stakeholders in determining the direction of the program's research lacks a consistent, transparent, and systematic process. Instead, most external stakeholder involvement is ad hoc through technical committees and professional societies. The agency primarily uses a "success story" approach to evaluate its research outcomes. While this approach shows some benefits, it cannot be used as the primary method to evaluate the outcomes of the research because these stories represent only a fraction of the program's completed research projects. As a result of its relatively varied processes, it is unclear whether the organization is selecting research projects that have the highest potential value, or what is the extent to which these projects have achieved their objectives. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-573/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-573.htm GAO-02-573 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-573 Other Written Product GAO-02-573; Highway Research: Systematic Selection and Evaluation Processes Needed for Research Program; Best practices Federal aid for transportation Internal controls Program evaluation Research program management Transportation research Funds management DOT University Transportation Centers Program Public Law 106-554