In order to establish a fair and consistant research program that adequately reflects the vision and direction of ODOT Senior Management, the Planning & Research Division purposes to re-establish a Research Council.  The Council's membership would consist of the Chief Engineer, Deputy Director, Assistant Director - Preconstruction, Assistant Director - Operations and the Planning & Research Division Engineer.

Based on the research priorities established, the ODOT and FHWA membership of existing task forces and committees would be used to the maximum extent possible to prioritize research problem statements originated by the Department, and proposals received from the University Research Community, either unsolicited or in response to an ODOT Request for Proposal (RFP), and provide prioritization for use by the ODOT Representatives on the Oklahoma Transportation Executive Committee.  These Task Forces include:

If no appropriate established task force or committee exists, then the appropriate Division Engineers/Managers would be solicited for input into the objective rating and ranking of problem statements/proposals.

The research funded by the Department includes in-house special studies, University research (Problem Statement solicitations and open RFP's), Oklahoma Transportation Center for Research, Pooled Fund Studies, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.

The Planning & Research Division proposes to request Research Problem Staatements once per year from all Divisions and Senior Staff.  These problem statements would then be reviewed and prioritized by the appropriate Task Force, Committee, or Divisions.  The top Problem Statements would be placed on the Planning & Research Division's web site and distributed to the OTC Universities for direct response to ODOT's RFP's and/or inclusion in OTC's RFP process.  ODOT will distribute proposals received in response to ODOT's or OTC's RFP, for rating to the appropriate ODOT Staff.  ODOT will consult with Research Stakeholders (internal and external) when setting the schedule for ODOT's RFP process.

The Research program identifies research needs, arranges for the conduct of, and secures appropriate funding for research projects with specific objectives and prescribed time frames. Through applied research, development and technology transfer activities, the Research program provides the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) with knowledge, processes and products that will contribute to improved transportation facilities.

The Research program consists of selected research projects originated by ODOT, academic, industry, and other governmental personnel who believe there is a problem or need and that a research project will provide the necessary information to resolve the problem. Research projects are selected with the aim of providing a targeted response to the most crucial concerns of the Department.

The Research program conducts work through in-house research, contracted research and collaborative research. Although much research is conducted in-house by Department researchers, some projects are conducted for ODOT under contract by universities, other governmental agencies or private organizations when the necessary personnel, expertise or equipment are not available in-house. Collaborative research offers the Department the ability to further leverage ODOT funds and include partners such as the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), and other state DOTs.

Whether conducted in-house or by outside entities, ODOT research & development technology transfer is accomplished through research projects with well-defined objectives and with durations generally from one to five years.  Normally, the end product of a research project is a published final report. Research results are implemented through specifications, standard plans, test methods, computer programs, manual changes, or policy and procedure memorandums either before or after completion of a research project.  Additional implementation plans may be necessary to encourage full implementation, that is, to make the results part of ODOT’s standard operational tools.

The active research, investigative and pooled fund projects comprise the research work program for state fiscal year 2005, which runs from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005.  Active projects are those approved prior to fiscal year 2005 and any other additional projects approved during this fiscal year.  Proposed projects are usually those expected to start during fiscal year 2005 but have not been approved yet.  Completed projects are those that have been completed prior to or during fiscal year 2004.

Planning activities comprise the ongoing short and long-term work programs of data collection, analysis, development and presentation for the state planning program for the fiscal year 2005, which runs from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005.  A major portion of the planning program has an emphasis in presentation of planning's finished mapping products utilizing Oracle, GeoMedia, Microstation, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Access, WS-FTP and Macromedia.