Technology Transfer Principles and Practice Santiago Navarro (OST-R) and Alex Epstein, Ph.D. (Volpe Center) AASHTO RAC Annual Meeting July 26, 2016 U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Research and Technology John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Technology Transfer Principles Understand adopter needs Understand the technology Address barriers to adoption Communicate value

Technology Transfer Principles

Technology Transfer Practice Truck Side Guards for Safety and Fuel Savings The Technology and the T2 Experience

Understand adopter needs There are two types of adopter needs. Functional – Reduce fatal crashes, reduce liability, improve public image Decisional – Funding or mandate to invest in side guards, convincing management/officials, labor buy-in, availability of U.S. suppliers

Understand the technology Front Rear Volpe researched existing international standards, added its own research, and developed a consistent best practice set of minimum specifications and performance requirements for U.S. side guards that anyone can manufacture and install.

Understand the technology Washington, DC San Francisco Volpe also rolled up its sleeves and worked directly with major U.S. cities on implementing the technology. At the beginning it was truck by truck. There are many different ways that our partner cities and private truck fleets have adapted and adopted the Volpe specification to their own needs. Since it’s not a regulation (like an FMVSS), there is flexibility in how to install this safety technology for minimal impact on O&M and innovating the design. Know where to draw the line and allow exemptions or a bit of slack for some vehicle types. Portland, OR Boston, MA Cambridge, MA New York City

Addressing barriers to adoption Barriers to adoption have included: Liability aversion due to lack of a regulatory standard in U.S. But the Volpe specification and technical report does provide a national voluntary standard. Implicitly admitting that there existed a safety issue AND a known solution. Once you upgrade safety of one truck, and people ask why you didn’t do them all, or why you didn’t do it sooner. For more exotic vehicles, O&M Deployed Deployment TBD Deployed separately

Communicate value Sideguards Sideskirts Decrease bike/ped fatalities & serious injuries Road spray suppression Environmental & fuel savings at higher speeds Decrease bike/ped fatalities and serious injuries Environmental & fuel savings at higher speeds We’ve used many ways to communicate value to the adopter. Easy-to-use website with all side guard resources Infographics, two-pager, YouTube video, and full technical reports Met with city fleet managers (NYC, Boston, SF) Presented at IIHS, TRB, FLC and other conferences together with early adopters Trucking industry magazine pieces (with early adopters) Targeted outreach to potential municipality and state adopters Free consultations with interested MPOs, private truck fleets, and large logistics customers such as hospitals Sideguards Sideskirts

Communicate value Let’s take a look at how we communicate the safety value specifically.

Questions? Alexander Epstein Santiago Navarro alexander.epstein@dot.gov 617.494.2539 Santiago Navarro santiago.navarro@dot.gov 202.366.0849 www.volpe.dot.gov/our-work/truck-side-guards-resource-page http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/57000/57400/57403/Transportation_TechTransfer_Primer.pdf