The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) is a roadway-based data system that provides quality data on a large number of crash, roadway, and traffic variables. It is comprised of data already being collected by States and one urban center (California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington, and Charlotte North Carolina) for managing the highway system and studying highway safety.  HSIS can be used to analyze a large number of safety problems, ranging from the more basic "problem identification" issues to identifying the size and extent of a safety problem to modeling efforts that attempt to predict future crashes from roadway characteristics and traffic factors.  HSIS is used in support of the FHWA safety research program and provides input to program policy decisions. HSIS is also available to professionals conducting research under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, universities, and others studying highway safety.

The FHWA Research & Technology (R&T) evaluation program was initiated in 2013 to assess and communicate the value and effectiveness of FHWA R&T investment. The objective of the R&T evaluation program is to document the impact of the projects, demonstrate accountability to funders and policymakers, and identify lessons learned and best practices that can be applied to future projects/programs, thus completing the innovation lifecycle.  The Transportation Research Board (TRB), in collaboration with the FHWA, is overseeing the TRB/FHWA Program Evaluation (TFPE) to evaluate such programs. 

The objective of this research is to develop and execute an evaluation plan for the FHWA’s HSIS to answer these fundamental questions:

• Efficiency: Are the HSIS activities conducted with an appropriate use of resources, such as budget and staff time (e.g., research and implementation approach, funding level)?
• Implementation: Is the HSIS being applied and/or adopted by the users? If yes, how is it being applied or adopted?
• Effectiveness: Is HSIS achieving the goals and objectives it was intended to accomplish (e.g., impact)? What data sets will be used to measure effectiveness?
• Cost-effectiveness: Does the value or benefit of achieving the HSIS goals and objectives exceed the cost of producing them (e.g., return on investment and cost-benefit ratio)?
• Attribution: Is HSIS addressing FHWA’s strategic goals?