From Research to Reality: Assessing the Results of the Strategic Highway Research Program

In 1995, shortly after the 5-year Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) concluded and during the early stages of the national program to encourage the implementation of SHRP products, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) SHRP Committee suggested that a benefits-versus-costs study of SHRP be undertaken. The committee members felt that an objective assessment of the project and the products was needed, to determine if the investment had been a wise one. This report summarizes the results of that study, which was conducted during 1996 and 1997. The overarching conclusion of the study: the economic and safety benefits of SHRP clearly outweigh the research and implementation costs. As a result, SHRP products have been dubbed RoadSavers, as they save money, time, and lives on the Nation’s highways.