A transportation research program, where research projects are conducted primarily by the Land Grant Universities of the New England states. This study was preceded by TPF-5(222), TPF-5(201), TPF-5(168), SPR-3(089), SPR-3(029), and SPR-3(009). Other State DOTs may participate in individual research projects by providing funds and a project technical committee member to represent their agency. The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a research cooperative between the state DOTs of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The NETC is a valuable regional partnership for the identification, prosecution and dissemination of shared transportation research initiatives. The NETC represents: ?Financial leveraging opportunities and regional partnerships. ?Stronger partnerships between university faculty and state DOTs. ?User-defined, diverse research topics. ?Opportunities for research dissemination and training to practitioners in the field. Now in its third decade, the NETC was developed to help New England states meet their special research needs by pooling resources and expertise. The NETC is now a well-established successful multistate partnership.

To pool the financial, professional and academic resources of the region and to use them to research and develop improved methods of dealing with common problems in the planning, design, construction, maintenance, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and operation of transportation systems in the participating states. The program is intended to supplement, not to replace, ongoing state and federal research activities and other national programs such as the Cooperative Research Programs of the National Academies.

To conduct various NETC research projects, which address primarily the priority needs of the New England States, as determined annually. The NETC Lead State shall hire a coordinator for a four year term to provide research program management administrative duties such as coordinating the annual problem statement submittal process, organizing meetings to conduct NETC business, managing the research portfolio and conducting technology transfer leading to implementation of research results. Annually the NETC Coordinator shall solicit problem statements from the member states. The problem statements are sponsored by one or more of the member state DOT's. A preliminary literature review is conducted prior to submittal to ensure the research has not already been done elsewhere. The problem statements shall be compiled by the NETC Coordinator and presented to the Advisory Committee. From the problem statements submitted, the Advisory Committee DOT members will select those considered to have the highest priority for funding within the amount of funds available and recommend them to the NETC Policy Committee for development of scope by the Technical Committees and subsequently for RFP solicitation by the lead state.

Active Study URL: http://www.uvm.edu/trc/netc/