Over the past sixteen years, and in partnership with TRB and FHWA, AASHTO and its member organizations have dedicated energy, time and funding resources to deliver many accomplishments in the transportation security, emergency management, and infrastructure protection areas of transportation operations. During this period AASHTO member organizations and others have funded more than 80 NCHRP research projects investigating how best to prepare for, prevent, mitigate, respond to, or recover from weather-related and human-caused disasters, emergencies, and security incidents. Significant institutional, organizational and technical issues are emerging as the transportation community enters the evolving fields of resilience and security. This emerging landscape warrants the strategic focus of AASHTO and its member DOTs as reflected in the AASHTO current and emerging committee and program structures.
Three significant drivers are providing impetus to this initiative:
1. The sunsetting of SCOTSEM’s 4th Generation Strategic Directions (2014-2018) in 2018. This plan established a foundation in resilience by:
- Placing a renewed emphasis on system users’ safety and on protecting transportation investments in an all-hazards context;
- Revising its mission focus on getting “research on the ground,” education and outreach;
- Partnering with other AASHTO groups that form the nucleus of the transportation system maintenance and operations community.
NCHRP Projects 20-59(14)C and 20-59(51)C provided implementation support for this Plan and its six goals. An update of the Plan will be necessary and critical in 2018.
2. The AASHTO Committees restructuring initiative is likely to expand the mission and scope of security and resilience activities. Indications are that the new committee structure will consolidate the Association’s current committee structure and mission, expand the membership focused on security and resilience and also trigger the need for a new strategic direction.
3. NCHRP Projects 20-59(54), 20-59(55), and 20-59(117) are focused on preparing for and conducting a National Summit and Peer Exchange on Transportation Resilience, scheduled for late 2018. While specific recommendations from this activity are not known yet, many of them will likely affect various committee activities. These impacts will create the need to adjust work plan initiatives, research agendas, training opportunities and other activities, requiring implementation support to rapidly respond to these new opportunities and imperatives.
Both AASHTO and the larger DOT community are entering another period of transition and must continue to sponsor new knowledge transfer, research, and outreach initiatives to advance the state-of-the-practice used by the professional community to deliver timely resilience, security, emergency management and all-hazards protection awareness, information, training, and “on-the-ground” experience to their peers and their customers.
The research objectives were:: 1) assist SCOTSEM (or its successor Committee) in developing a new Strategic Plan covering the period 2019-2023; 2) continue providing support services to assist in accomplishing strategic goals as articulated in a new Strategic Directions Plan; and 3) provide support for post-Summit initiatives. The scope of these services encompasses the following three tasks, plus project management activities.
TASK 1: 2019-2023 Security and Resilience Strategic Plan Development
The research team will facilitate the development of a Strategic Plan for the assigned AASHTO Committee(s). The Plan will include updated Values, Vision, and Mission Statements reflecting the new challenges facing the Committee; and new goals with outcome-oriented performance measures and new initiatives encompassing awareness, knowledge and skill-building, stakeholder outreach, and other activities intended to achieve its goals.
TASK 2: Strategic Directions Implementation
The research teamwill work with and provide technical and strategic support to AASHTO as it pertains to the Committee’s mission and 2018 work program. The research team will provide advice and support to the Committee’s Leadership Team and will coordinate with the other AASHTO and TRB initiatives that may influence or be influenced by the Committee. The research team will assist AASHTO staff to:
- Facilitate Research Deployment/Dissemination - The research team will assist with the development of documents outlining activities for dissemination of research results into practice and AASHTO policy.
- Coordinate/Integrate Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement - The research team will assist with stakeholder outreach activities in order to raise the visibility of resilience and security topics within AASHTO, TRB and the DOT community.
TASK 3: Transportation Resilience Post-Summit Support
The research team will synthesize the outcomes of the National Summit on Transportation Resilience and assess the impact and opportunities for SCOTSEM (or its successor). Additional support activities may include but are not limited to:
- Preparing informational products (e.g., infographics, brochures, fact sheets) on significant topics raised during the Summit
- Recommending changes to the Strategic Plan, Work Plan, or Research Plan reflecting post-Summit impacts
Status: Completed. Materials delivered to the AASHTO Committee on Transportation Systems Security and Resilience (CTSSR) are also available here:
TASK 1: 2019-2023 Security and Resilience Strategic Plan Development
TASK 2: Strategic Directions Implementation
TASK 3: Transportation Resilience Post-Summit Support
