Novel Surface Transportation Modes

This report summarizes an initial stage investigation into current research and development of alternative modal concepts. The project goals were to gain a better understanding of novel surface transportation concepts that fall outside of the Federal Highway Administration's Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program's regular technology scans; to facilitate interaction and information-sharing among the U.S. Department of Transportation, State and local governments, and private sector innovators; and to explore the role of the public sector in advancing transportation innovation. This report discusses the current state of novel surface transportation modal concepts, identifies opportunities and challenges for these concepts, and presents a set of potential future research needs. The authors of this report have summarized the information from both research on novel modes and the viewpoints shared at the novel modes workshop.