Overview | NCFRP

The National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) was authorized in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The NCFRP is sponsored by the US Department of Transportation's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R), formerly Research and Innovative Technology Administration, and managed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, acting through its Transportation Research Board (TRB), with program governance provided by an Oversight Committee including a representative cross section of freight stakeholders. A contract to begin work on the NCFRP has been executed between OST-R and the Academies and became effective on September 6, 2006.

NEED AND PURPOSE

America's freight transportation system makes critical contributions to the nation's economy, security, and quality of life. More than $660 billion (about 6.4 percent of the US Gross Domestic Product) is spent annually to move freight, and the cost and volume of goods movement are crucial to the productivity of the entire US economy.

The freight transportation system in the United States is a complex, decentralized, and dynamic network of private and public entities, involving all modes of transportation--trucking rail, waterways, air, and pipelines. In recent years, the demand for freight transportation service has been increasing fueled by growth in international trade, and bottlenecks or congestion points in the system are exposing the inadequacies of current infrastructure and operations to meet growing demand. US domestic freight, measured by ton mileage, is expected to grow by some 50 percent in the next 20 years. Strategic operational and investment decisions by governments at all levels will be necessary to maintain freight system performance, and will in turn require sound technical guidance based on research.

The National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) will carry out applied research on problems facing the freight industry that are not being adequately addressed by existing research programs. SAFETEA-LU, in authorizing the NCFRP, called for development of a national research agenda addressing freight transportation and for implementation of a multi-year strategic plan to achieve it. The act also states that "the national research agenda shall ... include research in the following areas:

(1) Techniques for estimating and quantifying public benefits derived from freight transportation projects,
(2) Alternative approaches to calculating the contribution of truck and rail traffic to congestion on specific highway segments,
(3) The feasibility of consolidating origins and destinations for freight movement,
(4) Methods for incorporating estimates of international trade into landside transportation planning,
(5) The use of technology applications to increase capacity of highway lanes dedicated to truck-only traffic,
(6) Development of physical and policy alternatives for separating car and truck traffic,
(7) Ways to synchronize infrastructure improvements with freight transportation demand,
(8) The effects of changing patterns of freight movement on transportation planning decisions relating to rest areas,
(9) Other research areas to identify and address emerging and future research needs related to freight transportation by all modes."

The NCFRP will cover a broad range of issues related to the objective of improving the efficiency, reliability, safety, and security of the nation's freight transportation system.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

The primary participants in the NCFRP are (a) the NCFRP Oversight Committee, appointed by the Academies, and composed of a representative cross section of public and private sector freight stakeholders, including shippers, carriers, US DOT, other federal agencies, state transportation departments, local governments, nonprofit entities, and academia; (b) the Transportation Research Board (TRB) as program manager and secretariat for the Oversight Committee; and (c) the US DOT's OST-R as program sponsor. The NCFRP will benefit from the cooperation and participation of public and private sector freight professionals; federal, state, and local government officials; and research organizations. Each of these participants has different interests and responsibilities, and each is an important part of this cooperative research effort.

SELECTION OF RESEARCH

The NCFRP Oversight Committee formulates the research program by identifying the highest priority projects and defining funding levels and expected products. Research problem statements, recommending research needs for consideration by the Oversight Committee, will be solicited periodically but may be submitted to TRB at any time.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

The NCFRP is managed using procedures modeled after those used by TRB in managing the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and other cooperative research programs. Day-to-day program management includes the following tasks:

Assisting the Oversight Committee in identifying and prioritizing research needs;
Appointing and coordinating expert technical panels to guide research projects;
Developing and distributing Requests for Proposals (RFPs);
Processing and evaluating proposals to select the best qualified research agencies;
Executing contracts with the selected researchers;
Guiding the research;
Reviewing research reports;
Publishing and disseminating research reports; and
Promoting the application of research results.

PROJECT PANELS

Each project is assigned to a panel, appointed by the Transportation Research Board, which provides technical guidance and counsel throughout the life of the project. Panels include experienced practitioners and research specialists; heavy emphasis is placed on including members representing the intended users of the research products. The panels prepare requests for proposals and select contractors based on evaluation of the proposals received; they guide the projects and review the reports. As in other TRB activities, NCFRP project panel members serve voluntarily without compensation.

SELECTION OF CONTRACTORS

The process for selecting NCFRP researchers has been used by TRB in managing cooperative research programs for more than 40 years. This open process allows all potential research agencies to compete on the basis of technical merit, and ensures that all proposers are treated fairly and that the program has access to the best talent available for each project. NCFRP RFPs will be available on the World Wide Web until the deadline for proposal submission. Each RFP will be announced by e-mail. In order to keep abreast of new project statements, please sign up to be notified whenever a new project statement is posted.

Proposals, submitted by potential research contractors in response to NCFRP requests for proposals, are evaluated by the project panels. The evaluation considers the following: (1) the proposer's demonstrated understanding of the problem; (2) the merit of the proposed research approach and experiment design; (3) experience, qualifications, and objectivity of the research team in the same or closely related areas; (4) the plan for promoting application of results; (5) the proposer's plan for participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises--small firms owned and controlled by minorities or women; and (6) the adequacy of the facilities.

Selected agencies perform research under contract to the Academies, guided by the Procedural Manual for Contractors Conducting Research in the Transportation Research Board's Cooperative Research Programs. Guidance for the preparation of final reports for submission to the NCFRP can be found in Chapter 5 of the Procedural Manual.

FUNDING

SAFETEA-LU authorized $3.75 million per year for the NCFRP in Fiscal Years 2006 through 2009. NCFRP funding is determined by the annual federal appropriation process. The total available in FY 2009 is approximately $2.5 million.

PRODUCTS

The NCFRP will produce a series of research reports and other products. Primary emphasis will be placed on disseminating NCFRP results to the intended end-users of the research: freight shippers and carriers, service providers, suppliers, and public sector officials. Relevant industry associations will play key roles in making research information available through their committee structures. The NCFRP may arrange for workshops, training aids, field visits, and other activities to ensure that results are implemented by practitioners.

RESEARCH NEEDS

Problem statements, describing research needs, may be submitted to NCFRP by anyone at any time. If you have a research need that you would like to submit for consideration, we request that you describe it in accordance with the Problem Statement Outline and submit it electronically by e-mail to NCFRP@NAS.EDU.

If sent electronically, our preference is for you to include the statement in Microsoft Word format as an attachment to an e-mail message. The problem statement may also be submitted in the text of an e-mail message. Please note that problem statements need not be lengthy; 1-2 pages should be sufficient to describe the research topic in the requested format. Paper copies of problem statements also may be submitted by US Mail to Christopher Hedges at the address below or by facsimile to his attention at (202) 334-2006.

CONTACT

To submit a research problem statement or to request further information on NCFRP, write or call:

Christopher Hedges, Director, CRP
National Cooperative Freight Research Program
Transportation Research Board
500 Fifth Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 334-3089
(202) 334-2006 FAX
chedges@nas.edu

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