COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Since the early 1990s, scientists and engineers at Battelle have worked with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to improve the safety of American motorists. Two recent contract wins allow Battelle to continue to help the FHWA operate our nation’s highways, manage traffic and highway operations, and reduce crashes.
Two indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (known as ID/IQ contracts) agreements currently serve as the foundation for the collaboration. One, with the FHWA’s Office of Operations, is a continuation of a contract that Battelle has held for the past 15 years and now has been renewed. The new, five-year, $132 million award allows Battelle to bid on projects including research on connected vehicles, work zones, congestion management, freight, commercial vehicles, weather, and other topics that affect traffic management and operations.
The second ID/IQ is a brand new contract mechanism with the FHWA’s Office of Safety Research and Development. This five-year, $50 million contract allows Battelle to bid on projects related to human factors, roadway geometry, and data analysis with a primary focus on research that supports highway design. “The focus will be on crash reduction – why do crashes happen and what can we do about them?” said John Campbell, Battelle’s Program Manager for both ID/IQs. “We’ll be examining traditional safety issues such as sign design & location, roadway characteristics, and driver distraction, as well as new safety issues introduced by connected vehicles and automated vehicles. We’ll be focused on research and countermeasure development for long-term safety issues, crashes that take people’s lives.”
For both contracts, Battelle is the prime contractor, leading large teams of university researchers, small and large businesses, and independent consultants. Both contracts will require expertise in analytical and empirical activities such as surveys, technology scans, literature reviews, task and operations analyses, focus groups, modelling, on-road studies, laboratory studies, and analyses of existing data sets.
The science of managing efficient operations and designing safe highways has advanced to the point that many of today’s incidents and crashes involve very complex interactions between road users, vehicles, and the built highway environment. Developing effective solutions requires a multi-disciplinary, multi-organizational approach. “One common feature across both ID/IQs will be a continual collaboration between research teams, FHWA staff, and state departments of transportation,” said Campbell.
About Battelle
Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.
