The Midwest Regional University Transportation Center (MRUTC) is soliciting the academic research community within USDOT Region 5 for pre-proposals that reflect the focus and vision of the MRUTC. Proposals must combine the concepts of asset management and optimization analyses for improved transportation decision-making. For Grant Year 8 (GY8), we expect to be able to award approximately $600,000 worth of research. Over the life of the Center, an average project cost is approximately $70,000 in awarded funds with a $1:$1 match. Please be aware that all research awarded through this call will start no earlier than January 1, 2007 and will end absolutely no later than July 1, 2008.
The Center’s focus and theme is:
Optimization of Transportation Investment and Operations,
emphasizing education, research, and technology transfer of asset optimization and management techniques for transportation facilities.
Pre-proposals will be accepted in any of the following broad categories of the MRUTC’s Strategic Plan:
1) Education:
This area focuses on establishing standardized courses in asset management for engineering students at the undergraduate & graduate level. Development of such courses would help ensure that students are prepared to work in the changing environment currently facing engineers. The future vision for development of engineering and policy professionals is that these programs include course offerings featuring infrastructure asset management issues.
2) System Management and Monitoring:
This area focuses on establishing the framework
within which agencies are able to optimize system preservation and operations
investments by integrating information from modal asset inventories across
operational functions; such as planning, design, construction, and operations to
meet multiple system objectives (service, conditions, safety, cost,
social-economic, and emergency considerations).
Examples may include:
-- Projects that maximize system preservation the inspect-ability,
rehab-ability, repair-ability or maintain-ability of transportation
infrastructure.
-- Projects that model deterioration or measure the impact of system use and
investment on infrastructure condition.
-- Projects that help decision-makers identify the right treatment, at the right
place and at the right time.
-- Projects that improve the analytical or decision-making capabilities of
management systems.
3) Valuation and Investment:
Research in this area will focus on achieving two goals. First, research efforts need to include the development of an analytical framework and integrated measurement system that identifies, quantifies and monitors system performance not only in terms of structural and functional compliance with design expectations, but also in terms of compliance with customer expectations.
Second, efforts in this area will develop
procedures to accurately measure the costs (past and future) of establishing,
maintaining and improving transportation systems in such a way that they
continue to meet customer needs.
Examples may include:
-- Projects that improve, promote and support the use of management systems,
economic evaluation tools and tradeoff analysis methods.
-- Projects that assess the economic and performance tradeoffs among alternative
maintenance and construction practices.
-- Projects that assess lifecycle or maintenance costs of transportation
infrastructure.
-- Projects that relate to application of performance measures, development of
common measures of performance and decision-making tools for transportation
systems performance.
4) Multi-modal Systems:
Multi-modal system planning and programming addresses the tradeoffs decision-making processes between modes, long-term investment strategies, and financial considerations in transportation investment, sequencing modal projects, and reconciling operational conflicts between modes.
Key areas include developing system level methodologies for improved decision-making processes relative to:
Deadline and Mailing Information:
Pre-proposals must be received by 5 p.m. CST, Wednesday, November 1, 2006.
An electronic copy, including all supporting documentation compiled into a single pdf file with the PIs last name and academic institution in the file name, must be emailed to:
Greg Waidley
Research and Education Coordinator
Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
gwaidley@engr.wisc.edu
Decisions regarding potential research awards will be sent to proposers Monday, December 11, 2006.
Questions regarding this Call for Pre-Proposals may be directed to Greg Waidley, Research & Education Coordinator, at 608/262-2013 or Jason Bittner, Deputy Director, 608/262-7246.
Criteria for Consideration
Partnerships are Encouraged - Priority will be given to research proposals submitted by universities in partnership with state departments of transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, and/or private industry.
Matching Funds - Budget estimates must include identification of all funding sources. Due to our situation as a University Transportation Center, projects without sources of matching funds may not be approved. Proposals including supporting match funds through partnerships with State transportation agencies, other public sector agencies, and/or private industry are strongly encouraged. Proposals with in-kind or soft match dollars will be considered.
Educational Focus - Proposals must reflect strong consideration for educational missions of academic institutions. Private research institutes will not be permitted to submit proposals except in partnerships with academic institutions.
The pre-proposal should be brief, and it should include the following:
1) Cover Page – project title, principal investigator’s name and contact information (title, address, department, university, telephone, fax and email).
2) Body of pre-proposal – no more than two single spaced pages (8 ½” X 11”) that provide:
a. A brief statement of the problem to be solved and project objectives;
b. A statement of how the project advances the MRUTC theme;
c. A description of the project approach, work plan, and project personnel;
d. A statement of how the project promotes MRUTC’s educational focus;
e. A description of cooperative features and/or partnerships
i. Describe partnerships with state DOT, FHWA, private industry and/or other academic institutions
ii. Letters of intent or support are not required for pre-proposals
3) Proposed budget with a description of matching funds and schedule
a. Budget – provide a summary tabulation using the budget template available at http://www.mrutc.org/research/budget&timeline.doc
Matching Funds – The MRUTC encourages researchers to partner with their State transportation agencies, other public sector agencies and/or private sector interests. Budget estimates must also include identification of all matching fund sources. Pre-proposals that include hard match dollars will be given higher priority than proposals with soft match dollars.
b. Project Schedule – Project may start as early as January 1, 2007 and absolutely must be completed by July 1, 2008.
4) Additional documentation
a. PI’s biographical information (only the lead PI) is limited to one page.
b. Equipment and facilities (limited to one page).
c. Inclusion of additional relevant information is discouraged, but if the PI determines that it is necessary, it is limited to a single page.
Other Information
Researchers will be required to meet at least twice with the Advisory Committee sponsoring this research or MRUTC Staff. In practice, these meetings have been conducted by teleconference. A preliminary report on the status of the project will be due three months after the start of the project. Brief quarterly reports will also be required, electronic submittal is acceptable.
One hundred (100) paper copies (one unbound for duplication) of the final report should be submitted, in addition to an electronic version provided in Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF format. Please budget accordingly for printing and shipping. A standard template for the cover page and other necessary disclaimer language will be provided to researchers to aid in their preparation of a final draft. In addition, researchers will have to prepare an electronic presentation of their materials suitable for delivery to a State DOT management team in an executive briefing environment.
Researchers should be prepared for and open to editorial suggestions from the Advisory Committee selected to oversee the project and Center staff on final and interim reports. It is expected that researchers will thoroughly edit and revise reports as needed prior to submission. Researchers should aim to provide a final report useful to an audience of state, local, or federal transportation officials. Researchers are encouraged to prepare presentations and reports for conferences and other venues.
All research awarded through this Call for Pre-Proposals will also require a poster to be prepared (30”x40” maximum) for display during a MRUTC-sponsored reception at the TRB Annual Meetings in January 2007 or January 2008 (if applicable).