Technology Transfer Support & Evaluation of ROI for Ohio's SP&R-B Program
Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) invests approximately $6.4 million dollars annually in research, development and technology transfer activities. Commonly referred to as the State Planning & Research - Part B (SP&R-B) program, it contracts projects that evaluate, analyze, and develop recommendations on process improvements, policy enhancements, specification updates and the appropriate incorporation of best practices and new technologies. A significant goal of research is to provide results that can be successfully implemented. SP&R-B has taken strides to emphasize the importance of useable results throughout the research process. Results of research projects can have a tremendous impact on the department, providing increased knowledge, cost and time savings, process improvements and enhanced safety for both the traveling public and work crews. While the potential benefits of conducting research is evident, capturing the actual return-on-investment (ROI) from individual projects and then presenting the overall value of the entire program can be a time-consuming and tedious task. In 2016, ODOT completed an in-house review of the SP&R-B program to determine the ROI for individual projects that were completed between 2007-2012. Since this effort, anectodical information has been captured as individual projects have demonstrated positive impacts for the department. However, an overall assessment of the program has not been conducted. In 2013, ODOT initiated the Ohio's Research Initiative for Locals (ORIL) program. ORIL is part of the SP&R-B program and is designed to utilize research to provide practice-ready solutions to real-world issues facing Ohio's local transportation system (e.g.: counties, municipalities and townships). To date, ORIL has contracted 19 research projects. An assessment of the impact these projects have made to the local transportation system and accounting of who is utilizing the results has not been performed. Considering that the primary end-users of ORIL projects are local public agencies and not ODOT, determining ROI for the ORIL program may prove to be more complex. The goal of this research project is to provide support to SP&R-B for assessing the ROI from the entire program and provide technology transfer assistance. In addition, this project will develop a repeatable methodology that can be used by ODOT staff for ongoing assessment of SP&R-B at both the individual project level and the overall program level taking into consideration the ORIL program. Additional support with technology transfer activities will help ensure that essential project results are being communicated to all appropriate parties in a manner that aids in acceptance and facilitates implementation.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $265781
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Contract Numbers:
34688
111443
136128
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Sponsor Organizations:
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Ohio Department of Transportation
Research Program
1980 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH United States 43223 -
Project Managers:
Fout, Vicky
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Performing Organizations:
Applied Research Associates, Inc.
100 Trade Centre Drive, Ste 200
Champaign, IL United States 61820-7233 -
Principal Investigators:
Elliott, Kevin
- Start Date: 20201201
- Expected Completion Date: 20230317
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Evaluation and assessment; Methodology; Research projects; Return on investment; Technology transfer
- Identifier Terms: Ohio Department of Transportation
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Research; Transportation (General);
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01759102
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Ohio Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 34688, 111443, 136128
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Nov 25 2020 2:55PM