Research Admin Offices:

• ROADS

Opportunity Type:

• Grant

Value:

Proposed projects should not exceed $50,000 per year in RSRPP funding, including overhead costs, and should take a maximum of three years to complete.

Disciplines:

• DeGroote School of Business
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Science

Sponsors:

• Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO)

Deadlines:

Additional Dates:

• ROADS - NOI - ASAP -
• ROADS - Draft Application (Content Review) - January 22, 2025
• ROADS - Draft Application (Admin Review) - February 3, 2025
• Sponsor - Final Application - February 7, 2025

Description:

Each year, the RSRPP funds researchers across Ontario to study key road safety challenges and develop novel and actionable ways to make Ontario’s roads safer.

Selected partners must conduct applied road safety research using methodologies that the Ministry of Transportation cannot perform internally. This includes research that leverages any form of specialized equipment or resources such as proprietary data sources, survey studies, simulator testing, or clinical expertise, as examples. Only studies that cannot be performed by MTO personnel are eligible for program funding.

Projects must target outcomes that are applicable to provincial road safety policies, programs, or operations to ensure that study results can be quickly and effectively implemented into the transportation system. The RSRPP does not provide funding for basic research or projects intended to generate future revenue such as intellectual property development and commercialization.

RSRPP does not fund projects related to infrastructure engineering.

Additional Program Information:

Research Topic Eligibility:
Proposed topics must address a current road safety issue or opportunity affecting Ontario’s transportation system. The following research questions and topics are examples identified by MTO as areas of interest with an immediate research need:

• How can the province safeguard against risks facing road users, maintenance systems, and design standards resulting from the growing number of heavy, electric vehicles? (E.g., pedestrian injury risk, guardrail design, battery corrosion from winter salt, etc.)

• What functions and features of personal mobility devices are necessary to accommodate the mobility needs of people with disabilities and how do these needs vary by disability group?

• How does driver attention and response time change as drivers become more experienced with autonomous driving features (SAE Level 2 and above) and how are these measures affected by varying road conditions?

• Safety assessment of standing passengers on intercommunity public transit and motorcoach buses, including injury types, contributing factors, and evidence-based approaches to address these risks (e.g., proper standing capacity limits, safety equipment, road speed thresholds, design interventions, etc.).

Eligibility:

RSRPP funding is open and competitive for the following types of organizations in Ontario: hospital research institutes, colleges of applied arts and technology, publicly assisted universities (including their affiliated colleges, research centres, institutes, and hospitals), and non-profit organizations.

The proposed study’s Principal Investigator (PI) must be a full- or part-time employee or faculty member of an eligible organization. Professionals that do not work for the eligible institution may still be listed as a Co-PI if their credentials support the study’s methodology.

Contact:

For more information or how to apply, contact Ryan Heyden, Senior Advisor, ROADS.