BACKGROUND

The research report titled "AASHTO Council on Active Transportation Research Roadmap" was published in July 2021. This report highlighted the critical need for targeted research to address critical concerns in active transportation safety, policy, and data development.

The transportation industry has undergone significant changes since COVID-19, bringing many new challenges and opportunities. These include rising safety concerns, new legislation, funding sources, and updated guides and standards, such as the Pedestrian Guide and the Bicycle Guide. Furthermore, the embrace of new technologies, innovative safety treatments, and micro-mobility solutions has introduced new complexities and possibilities. Such developments raised the imperative need to update the 2021 Research Roadmap to better align with the industry's evolving landscape.

OBJECTIVES

The general objective of this project is to develop a new Research Roadmap for the AASHTO Council on Active Transportation to address those pressing needs and to reflect current priorities and advancements in the field.

TASKS

These are some of the elements that must be identified and considered in the development of the roadmap:

• Conducting a comprehensive literature review to summarize the completion or initiation of relevant recent research on active transportation topics.
• Identifying the success and lessons learned from developing, applying, adopting, and implementing the 2021 Roadmap.
• Identifying research gaps and prioritizing needed research based on new federal legislation, guides and standards, emerging technologies, and findings from the AASHTO Safety Summit.
• Developing an annotated outline for the proposed change to the 2021 Roadmap aiming to incorporate the new policies and information, address the challenges, and use the opportunities identified from the previous three tasks.
• Proposing a timeline of recommended research activities for the Council to include in the next action plan.
• Identifying collaboration and coordination opportunities with other AASHTO committees on subjects and making recommendations to limit overlap or redundancies.
• Developing the updated Roadmap with innovative recommendations related to actively using completed research to solve priority problems and integrating research findings into practice.

POTENTIAL DELIVERABLES

• A white paper from the literature review that summarizes the completion or initiation of relevant recent research on active transportation topics;
• At least six well-defined and carefully crafted problem statements that address high-priority research gaps identified during the project;
• Information on research in progress that the Council should monitor for future implementation;
• Research-related initiatives by other AASHTO councils and committees where the Council can provide meaningful support, and links between priority research needs and the Council’s strategic plan and suggested items for the Council’s annual action plans for years 2025 through 2027;
• An executive summary of the project activities and essential elements of the roadmap, possibly in graphic form; and
• A framework and continuity plan to support ongoing monitoring and tracking of relevant research and emerging trends and issues by the Council.