Federal Highway Administration

Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program. Its role had previously been performed by the Office of Road Inquiry, Office of Public Roads and the Bureau of Public Roads.
History
Background
With the coming of the bicycle in the 1890s, interest grew regarding the improvement of streets and roads in America. The traditional method of putting the burden on maintaining roads on local landowners was increasingly inadequate. In 1893, the federal Office of Road Inquiry (ORI) was founded; in 1905, it was renamed the Office of Public Roads (OPR) and made a division of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Demands grew for local and state government to take charge. With the coming of the automobile, urgent efforts were made to upgrade and modernize dirt roads designed for horse-drawn wagon traffic. In 1910, the American Association for Highway Improvement was organized. Funding came from automobile registration, and taxes on motor fuels, as well as state aid. By 1914, there were 2.4 million miles of rural dirt rural roads; 100,000 miles had been improved with grading and gravel, and 3,000 miles were given high-quality surfacing. The rapidly increasing speed of automobiles, and especially trucks, made maintenance and repair high-priority items.
In 1915, OPR's name was changed to the Bureau of Public Roads. The following year, federal aid was first made available to improve post roads and promote general commerce: $75 million over five years, issued through the BPR in cooperation with the state highway departments.
In 1939, BPR was renamed to the Public Roads Administration (PRA) and shifted to the Federal Works Agency. After the FWA was abolished in 1949, the organization was once again named the Bureau of Public Roads; it was placed under the Department of Commerce.
From 1917 through 1941, 261,000 miles of highways were built with $3.17 billion in federal aid and $2.14 billion in state and local funds.
Creation
The Federal Highway Administration was created on October 15, 1966, along with the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety and the National Highway Safety Bureau (now known as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), as part of the new U.S. Department of Transportation. The FHWA took over the functions of the Bureau of Public Roads the following year.
Functions
The FHWA's role in the Federal-aid Highway Program is to oversee federal funds to build and maintain the National Highway System (primarily Interstate highways, U.S. highways and most state highways). This funding mostly comes from the federal gasoline tax and mostly goes to state departments of transportation. The FHWA oversees projects using these funds to ensure that federal requirements for project eligibility, contract administration and construction standards are adhered to.
Under the Federal Lands Highway Program (sometimes called "direct fed"), the FHWA provides highway design and construction services for various federal land-management agencies, such as the Forest Service and the National Park Service.
In addition to these programs, the FHWA performs and sponsors research in the areas of roadway safety, congestion, highway materials and construction methods, and provides funding to local technical assistance program centers to disseminate research results to local highway agencies.
The FHWA also publishes the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is used by most highway agencies in the United States. The MUTCD provides such standards as the size, color and height of traffic signs, traffic signals and road surface markings.
Programs
Long-Term Pavement Performance Program
Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) is a program supported by the FHWA to collect and analyse road data. The LTPP program was initiated by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Research Council (NRC) in the early 1980s. The FHWA with the cooperation of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) sponsored the program. As a result of this program, the FHWA has collected a huge database of road performance. The FHWA and the ASCE hold an annual contest known as LTPP International Data Analysis Contest, which is based on challenging researchers to answer a question based on the LTPP data.
Every day counts initiative
In 2011, FHWA launched the Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative, intended to find innovative technology and methods to decrease travel time, speed up road projects, reduce costs, increase safety, protect the environment. Five steps were scheduled from 2012 to 2020.
Among the approaches promoted by the EDC effort are: adaptive traffic control to reduce fuel consumption and improve travel time reliability; alternative intersection design; several money savings and anti-corruption steps such as independent reviewing of construction plans before contractors are paid; and time-saving strategies such as rapid bridge replacement.
Organization
The Federal Highway Administration is overseen by an administrator appointed by the President of the United States by and with the consent of the United States Senate. The administrator works under the direction of the Secretary of Transportation and Deputy Secretary of Transportation. The internal organization of the FHWA is as follows:
Administrator
Executive Director
Office of Infrastructure
Office of Research, Development, and Technology
Public Roads magazine
Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty
Office of Policy and Government Affairs
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Office of Administration
Office of Operations
Office of Safety
Office of Federal Lands Highway
Office of Chief Counsel
Office of Civil Rights
Office of Public Affairs
Administrators
Deputy administrators
D. Grant Mickle October 27, 1961 – January 20, 1964
Lowell K. Bridwell (acting) January 20, 1964 – March 23, 1967
Ralph Bartelsmeyer August 10, 1970 – January 25, 1974
Joseph R. Coupal Jr September 30, 1974 – 1977
Karl S. Bowers June 5, 1977 – August 3, 1978
John S. Hassell, Jr. August 31, 1978 – July 11, 1980
Alinda Burke August 8, 1980 – ?
Lester P. Lamm September 17, 1982 – 1986
Robert E. Farris August 8, 1986 - June 8, 1988
Eugene R. McCormick June 30, 1989 - ?
Gloria J. Jeff December 19, 1997 – January 3, 1999
Dr Walter Sutton Jr (acting) January 3, 1999 – May 3, 2000 May 3, 2000 – January 2001
J. Richard Capka August 5, 2002 – May 31, 2006
Kerry O'Hare November 10, 2008 – January 20, 2009
Gregory G. Nadeau July 8, 2009 – July 30, 2014
Brandye Hendrickson July 24, 2017 – October 9, 2019
Mala Parker October 10, 2019 – January 20, 2021
Stephanie Pollack January 27, 2021 – February 1, 2023
Andrew Rogers February 27, 2023 – Current
Executive directors
Lester P. Lamm, August 8, 1973 – ?
Thomas D. Everett, October 22, 2018 – June 30, 2022
Mayela Sosa (Acting), June 30, 2022 - October 20, 2022
Gloria M. Shepherd, October 20, 2022 - Current
See also
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Highway Gothic
Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
Intelligent Transportation Systems
National Transportation Communications for Intelligent Transportation System Protocol (NTCIP)
Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations
U.S. Department of Transportation
Notes
References
External links
Federal Highway Administration in the Federal Register
Payment to the Highway Trust Fund account on USAspending.gov
Highway Infrastructure Programs account on USAspending.gov
Records of the Federal Highway Administration (Record Group 406) in the National Archives
United States Department of Transportation agencies
Government agencies established in 1967