Every Day Counts

Every Day Counts
Name	Every Day Counts
Established	2010
Founder	Federal Highway Administration
Type	Transportation innovation program
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Region	United States

Every Day Counts is a United States federal initiative launched to accelerate the deployment of proven innovations in highway engineering, construction, project delivery, and asset management. The program brings together agencies, industry, and academic institutions to pilot techniques intended to shorten project delivery, reduce congestion, and improve safety by promoting practices already demonstrated by practitioners and researchers. Operating under the auspices of the Federal Highway Administration, the initiative coordinates with state departments such as the California Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Transportation, and regional partners including metropolitan planning organizations and university research centers.

Overview

Every Day Counts seeks to bridge the gap between research and practice by packaging technical approaches for rapid adoption by transportation agencies such as the New York State Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Transportation. The program emphasizes tools and methods that have been piloted in contexts like the I-35W Mississippi River bridge reconstruction and the Big Dig-era innovations in utility coordination. Core themes include expedited project delivery, innovative contracting drawn from examples like the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement procurement, and deployment of materials and designs tested by organizations such as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Transportation Research Board. Participants include contractors from the Associated General Contractors of America, consultants tied to firms that worked on projects such as Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project, and labor organizations that participated in major corridor programs.

History

The program was initiated in response to perceived delays in translating research findings from entities like the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and the University Transportation Centers into practice. Announced by the Federal Highway Administration in 2010, it followed earlier efforts to disseminate innovation through conferences organized by the Transportation Research Board and workshops hosted by the American Public Works Association. Early demonstrations drew on case studies from the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement and accelerated bridge construction pilots used in states including Iowa and Missouri. Subsequent rounds of Every Day Counts were informed by evaluation frameworks from the National Academy of Sciences and collaboration models employed during the response to events like Hurricane Katrina and the Northridge earthquake recovery.

Program Components

Every Day Counts organizes its agenda into cycles emphasizing select innovations such as prefabricated bridge elements and systems, performance-based practical design, and geotechnical advancements. Elements have included accelerated bridge construction techniques validated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) bridge research programs, alternative project delivery models like design-build contracts used on projects such as the Port of Miami Tunnel, and digital tools for asset management inspired by work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Pennsylvania State University. The program also promotes safety countermeasures that reflect findings from the Highway Safety Manual and traffic management strategies akin to those implemented during major events at venues like Madison Square Garden and around Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Implementation and Partnerships

Implementation relies on partnerships among federal agencies, state transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations, industry associations such as the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, and research institutions including University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. Pilot projects have been executed in coordination with local authorities like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) and port agencies such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Funding and technical assistance mechanisms mirror collaborative models used by the U.S. Department of Transportation and leverage training programs run by the National Highway Institute. Professional societies including Institute of Transportation Engineers and standards bodies like ASTM International have contributed to specification and monitoring protocols.

Impact and Outcomes

Reported outcomes include shortened project timelines on demonstration projects, wider adoption of prefabricated elements in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and increased use of innovative contracting that drew from precedents like the Central Artery/Tunnel Project procurement reforms. Evaluations by organizations such as the Government Accountability Office and academic assessments published through the Transportation Research Board indicate variable but measurable gains in efficiency, with some projects realizing cost savings and reduced traffic impacts. The program has also influenced curricula at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and workforce training offered by unions that participated in major infrastructure programs.

Criticisms and Challenges

Critics, including analysts from think tanks like the Brookings Institution and reviewers at the National Academy of Sciences, have noted uneven uptake across states and concerns about the scalability of pilot successes. Implementation barriers cited include procurement law constraints at state levels such as those in California and New York, varying capacities among departments exemplified by differences between the Wyoming Department of Transportation and larger agencies, and challenges in measuring long-term lifecycle benefits versus short-term outcomes. Labor groups and public-interest organizations have sometimes raised questions about transparency and the effects of alternative contracting models on prevailing wage standards.

Related Initiatives

Comparable or complementary initiatives include the Every Day Counts-style technology transfer approaches used in programs by the Federal Transit Administration, innovation programs at the Environmental Protection Agency concerning materials, and international knowledge transfer efforts led by entities such as the International Transport Forum. Other domestic efforts with intersecting goals include the Highway Safety Improvement Program and asset-management frameworks promoted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Category:Transportation in the United States