TRB Special Report 244 - Highway Research: Current Programs and Future Directions describes the United States' highway industry and the major highway research and technology (R&T) programs. It then introduces a new framework for classifying highway R&T activities, maps the 1993 expenditures of the major public-sector programs on this framework, and presents suggestions and recommendations for the highway R&T program that reflect the Transportation Research Board's Research and Technology Coordinating Committee's vision of the needs of the highway transportation system for the next century.

Assesses the appropriateness of the original vision and mission of the National Automated Highway System Research Program, the National Automated Highway System Consortium's (NAHSC's) results and the effectiveness of the approach taken by NAHSC in carrying out its charge, and the role of the consortium in future research on intelligent vehicles.