Decision Support Systems for Managing and Applying ITS Research

This study is presented in three related papers. The first develops a structure for making decisions regarding Caltrans/PATH research. It describes a research cycle in which real world needs and opportunities fed into a process by which research priorities are set, proposals invited, and projects are selected. These research projects ultimately provide information that can be used for further research or for implementation. Implementation changes society and technology and leads to new needs and opportunities, which in turn feed into the research process. The second paper develops and describes the process by which proposals are evaluated. The third paper describes how the products of research and implementation have been analyzed, summarized, and presented to researchers, potential implementers, and other decision makers via the Internet, thus supporting their decisions regarding further research and implementation and thereby moving research results into practice.