1. Accelerating the Adoption of Innovation
Highways for LIFE
Accelerating the Adoption of Innovation
AASHTO Subcommittee on Design
June 14, 2006 – Orlando, FL

2. Highways for LIFE Long lasting Innovative Fast construction
Efficient and Safe
In answering this challenge FHWA proposed a pilot program - Highways for LIFE - to build highways and bridges safer, faster and better – LIFE is an acronym for Long Lasting, Innovative Fast Construction of Efficient and Safe Highway Infrastructure. As proposed, the pilot program would involve incentives for construction projects, partnerships with industry, and extensive technology transfer, education, training and communication initiatives. Together, the program elements are intended to greatly accelerate the advancement of proven innovations into routine practice – to bring about a Leap forward in highway construction practices.

3. Why Long Lasting?
70% increase in freight tonnage to between 1998 and 2020
90% of urban Interstates expected to approach/exceed capacity by 2020
Aging Interstate system…1/3 in fair or poor condition

4. Why Innovations? “Taking advantage of innovations
that are already out there is the key”
DOT Secretary Norm Mineta,

5. Why Faster? Our customers have told us: We take too long
to do our job!
Get in, stay in, get out, stay out!

6. Price Trend Federal-Aid
Why Efficient?
Price Trend Federal-Aid
Highway Construction
1987 Base Year = 100

7. Why Safe? 43,220 deaths 2.89 million injuries 6.3 million crashes
Fatality rate 1.48 deaths/hmvm
$230.6 billion or $820/person

8. Highways for LIFE We must have all three! Long lasting Innovative
Fast Construction > Faster
Efficient and Safe > Less Cost
> Better
He then went on to assert that we must have all three – and he’s right
We must have all three!

9. Highway Paradigm versus
“I can build it faster, but it will cost more and the quality may suffer.” or
“I can get you better quality, but it will cost more and may take longer.”
versus

10. Private Industry Paradigm
Better
Faster and
at Lower Cost
Examples: computers, televisions, automobiles

11. Highways for LIFE
“To widely demonstrate a dramatic improvement in the American driving experience”
Improve safety
Reduce construction congestion
Speed construction
Improve quality
Save money
Three goals support the Highways for LIFE vision – Improve safety, reduce construction-related congestion and improve quality.

12. What Are We Trying to Do? Change the culture
FHWA
STA’s, Local Governments
Industry
Users
Create new business models
More innovation and creativity
More flexibility
Better performance
Create new expectations
Owners
Builders

13. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Projects
Technology Partnerships
Technology Transfer
Information Dissemination
Stakeholder Input and Involvement
Monitoring and Evaluation
$15 M in 2006, $20 M in

14. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Projects
Max. of $5M/project and/or waive match
Max. of 15 funded projects/yr
Performance Goals for
Safety
Construction Congestion
Quality
Time
Cost Effectiveness

15. Highways for LIFE Projects > > Performance Goals
Safety, Construction Congestion, Time, Quality, Cost Effectiveness
Highway motorist/user focused, “Customer Satisfaction”
All Performance Goals apply
“What” not “how”
“Best” not “average” performance
Stakeholder input
Leadership, stakeholder involvement, and performance goals are the foundation of the Highways for LIFE approach.
We at the Federal Highway Administration recognize that we have a key leadership role to play. Our success will be determined, in part, by how many of us embrace that role, and step up to the plate. We also recognize that we cannot do it alone.
Stakeholder involvement is absolutely critical. FHWA doesn’t build highways. And we don’t have all the answers. The state highway agencies, highway construction contractors, highway users, suppliers – all the folks who have a stake in highway construction must to have a voice at the table if we are going to succeed. To quote Mary Peters “Highways for LIFE is something we want to do WITH highway stakeholders, not TO them.”
The performance goals element of the Highways for LIFE approach reflects a continuation of the shift that we’ve been making over the past several decades away from specifying HOW to do things, toward specifying WHAT the end result is supposed to be. It also reflects a more fundamental shift to thinking about what we build from the perspective of the user, and not just from the perspective of highway professionals. How can we change our approach to highway construction to better respond to the wants and needs of our neighbors?

16. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Technology Partnerships
Proven success
Highway industry, other industries or
Internationally
Adapt for routine highway use
Incentive funding

17. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Stakeholder Input and Involvement
States, Industry, Highway Users
Inform and Involve
Help determine “How”
Form partnerships
Support in the implementation
Build Projects
Sustain the change

18. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Technology Transfer
Market innovations
Introduce and deliver innovations
Training and technical assistance
Vanguard Technologies
Road Safety Audits
Prefabricated Bridge Elements
Making Work Zones Work Better

19. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Monitoring and Evaluation
Gather information on program elements
Improve performance
Document results and benefits
Justify the investment

20. Highways for LIFE SAFETEA-LU
Information Dissemination
States, Industry, Public, FHWA
Highways for LIFE
Program
Projects
Success stories
Innovations
Benefits

21. www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl The Future is Now Highways for LIFE
What kinds of successes are we talking about? Take a look at the article on page 35 of the May/June 2004 issue of Public Roads that is in your handout package. This article provides a brief overview of several dozen successes identified by FHWA division offices almost a year ago. And if you would like to share this information without giving away your copy of Public Roads, you can find it on the web.
Over the next few months, we’ll be looking for – and publicizing - more successes.

22. We can build better, faster and lower cost highways
Highways for LIFE
We can build better, faster
and lower cost highways
Leap… not creep
The bottom line is that all of us have a role to play in leading the highway community to accelerate the pace at which we adopt innovations for the betterment of our highway infrastructure. Let’s work together to bring about a leap forward so that the excellence that has been demonstrated becomes the norm, not the exception.