Original Scope: Continuing innovation in the practices of U.S. transportation agencies has brought substantial benefits to the nation. Many new and emerging technologies, offering improved performance/effectiveness, are continually being developed and deployed within DOTs. These new technologies may come through rigorous research, be gleaned from information exchange among practitioners or may have evolved within agencies over time. The value of innovation is well recognized within the highway community.
To help DOTs focus on innovation there is a need to better understand how to create an environment to support innovation, how to systemically institutionalize innovation within organizations, how to use technology in the evolving work environment, and how to sustain innovation over time.
The objective of this scan is to examine organizations that have successfully designed and implemented programs and/or initiatives that support a culture of innovation. The results of this scan would be used by AASHTO, FHWA and state DOTs and others in the transportation community who are interested in accelerating innovation within their organizations and building cultures that embraces it.
Implementation and Impact
To help share the highlights of the scan and its work to help DOTs create environments that support innovation, scan members presented an informational poster to thousands of transportation professionals during the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, DC. Click here to view the scan poster.
Scan chair, Dara Wheeler, provided provided perspectives on the scan outcomes:
Scan Members
- Dara Wheeler, Caltrans, Scan Chair
- Todd May, Indiana DOT
- Tyson Rupnow, Louisiana DOTD
- Katie Walker, Minnesota DOT
- Cameron Kergaye, Utah DOT
- Amanda Gilman-Bogie, Vermont AOT
- Shante Hastings, Delaware DOT
- Alyson Tamer, North Carolina DOT
- Anne Freeman, Washington State DOT
- Linda Su, Iowa DOT
- Glenn Page, AASHTO
- Jeffrey Zaharewicz, FHWA
- Dale Peabody, SME
Workshop Participants
- Caltrans
- FHWA
- Idaho Transportation Department
- Indiana DOT
- Minnesota DOT
- Missouri DOT
- New Jersey DOT
- Pennsylvania DOT
- Texas DOT
- Utah DOT
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