Performance-Based and Evidence-Based Approach to Research Implementation at the Georgia Department of Transportation

Abstract

This paper discusses the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT’s) performance-based and evidence-based approach to research implementation. Transportation agencies in the United States spend hundreds of millions of dollars on research, development, and technology transfer annually. From a performance-based standpoint, agencies will realize higher returns on investment and higher impacts of their research programs as research is implemented more effectively and efficiently. From an evidence-based standpoint, requesting evidence of research implementation as implementation deliverables from the outset of the project requires the project research team and other staff to think through and incorporate in the project plan explicit ways in which the research will be implemented. GDOT’s performance-based approach to research program management treats research implementation as part of an overall asset management business process. This process integrates technical, human, organizational, and external resources to encourage, track, and monitor research implementation activities toward achieving agency strategic objectives, using an evidence-based approach. The paper discusses the adoption of a performance-based and evidence-based process, and a research implementation management tool, and their application in the development of the fiscal year 2018 Annual Research Implementation Report as well as its impact within and beyond the agency. This paper is potentially useful to transportation practitioners and agencies that want to adopt a performance-based and evidence-based approach to augment return on research investment.