Since 2003, the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has been facilitating surveys of state DOTs to gather and understand best practices, policies, specifications, and other information of interest from peers at other state DOTs. RAC members submit survey requests via the RAC listserv and use their network of contacts in their agencies to distribute surveys to the correct audience and collect meaningful responses. Results collected from these surveys are posted to a RAC survey database and displayed on a RAC survey results web page. The RAC survey capability has been valuable, but it has been limited to use within RAC. Other AASHTO committees and individual state departments of transportation (DOTs) routinely conduct surveys and share survey results in a variety of ways. There is no centralized platform available for sharing the results of these surveys.

The purpose of this research project was to conduct a scoping study for creating a platform for managing surveys and survey data for AASHTO committees and state DOTs. Potential benefits of a common survey platform include reducing duplication of survey efforts and expanded awareness across state DOTs of peer agency activities.