ADVANCED VEHICLE AND HIGHWAY TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Recent advances in technology suggest that new opportunities may exist to apply new equipment to longstanding and growing problems in highway transportation, such as those identified in connection with the 2020 Transportation Consensus Program. Intensified foreign research and development in this area have raised concern that the United States may be left behind in the international race to devise standards and technical guidelines that could affect the competitive position of U.S. firms. Advanced automotive and highway technology are touted as important contributors to solutions of critical transportation problems, including urban congestion and associated economic costs, urban road-building costs, selected safety problems, and long distance and urban goods movement efficiency. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has identified five critical issues which might be addressed by advanced automotive and highway technology: (1) motorist information systems, (2) highway navigation and route guidance systems, (3) traffic control systems, (4) vehicle location and identification, and (5) automatic vehicle control. Among those active in in matters relating to advanced highway technology in the United States is the Transportation Research Board (TRB), although not in any comprehensive or predetermined way. The TRB has committees on new transportation systems and technology, communications, freeway operations, traffic flow theory and characteristics, vehicle user characteristics, traffic signal systems, simulation and measurement of driving, and user information systems, as well as a Task Force concerned with advanced technology applications. Also, the TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program has a project underway on alternative technologies for relieving urban congestion. These topics have also surfaced at recent TRB Annual Meetings. The TRB can take two kinds of steps to improve its position with regard to advanced highway technology: (1) internally, improve the way in which traditional TRB activities respond to advances in technology; and (2) take a more active and proactive role, with a central position in the field and performance of tasks for which it is particularly suited.