Midwest Roadside Safety Facility

What Midwest Roadside Safety Facility does

Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) is a research organization within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, that conducts safety performance evaluations of highway features and crash testing of roadside appurtenances. Founded in 1974, MwRSF operates an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited crash test laboratory and runs full-scale crash testing, component testing (static and dynamic), and finite element analysis using LS-DYNA software to model vehicle impacts with roadside hardware. Its core product portfolio includes the Midwest Guardrail System (MGS), the F-shape Temporary Concrete Barrier (TCB), the SAFER Barrier (a patented energy-absorbing system deployed at racetracks including Indianapolis Motor Speedway), and the next-generation RESTORE Barrier (MASH TL-4, restorable and reusable, reported to reduce peak lateral acceleration by up to 47% versus rigid barriers). Supporting platforms include the MASH Hardware Clearinghouse, the Research Hub database, and the Pooled Fund Q&A system.

MwRSF serves primarily state Departments of Transportation through the Midwest Pooled Fund Program — a cooperative, multi-state funding model with 48+ member states — supplemented by direct project work for individual state DOTs (e.g., Nebraska, Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey) and federal transportation agencies such as FHWA. The organization also licenses or supplies its SAFER Barrier to motorsports customers including Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway. Revenue mechanics are dominated by government-sponsored research grants and pooled fund contributions; non-proprietary test reports are made available for free download from the Research Hub. As a unit embedded in a public state university, MwRSF has no venture or private equity ownership, no disclosed revenue, and no public pricing for services.

Name

Midwest Roadside Safety Facility

Legal name

Midwest Roadside Safety Facility

Website

https://mwrsf.unl.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln research organization that conducts ISO/IEC 17025-accredited crash testing, finite element analysis, and safety performance evaluation of roadside hardware, serving U.S. state Departments of Transportation through the Midwest Pooled Fund Program and select motorsports customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Roadside Safety Testing Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Road Safety Barriers & Crash Attenuation Systems (Guardrails, Median Barriers, End Treatments) (TLAJAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Road & Highway Authorities (Planning, Construction, Maintenance) (BPAIALAA), Bridge Operations, Inspection & Maintenance (TLAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Roadside safety research
• Crash testing services
• Highway barrier design
• Finite element analysis
• MASH compliance testing

Headquarters

HQ city

Lincoln

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Research Grants and Pooled Fund Program: MwRSF operates as part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, funded primarily through government research grants and the Midwest Pooled Fund Program where state DOTs collectively fund research initiatives. Research reports are available for free download from the Research Hub database.
2. Testing and Consulting Services: Provides compliance testing, design, redesign, failure analysis, and component testing of roadway and roadside appurtenances for state transportation agencies

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) conducts safety performance evaluations of roadside appurtenances through full-scale crash testing, finite element analysis, and computer simulation. The organization designs, develops, and refines new roadside safety hardware such as barriers, guardrails, and end terminals, and delivers its findings to state Departments of Transportation under the Midwest Pooled Fund Program and through free public research reports.

Product overview

MwRSF is a research organization within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln offering a portfolio of crash-tested roadside safety products and testing services. The core product suite includes the SAFER Barrier (energy-absorbing system for racetracks), RESTORE Barrier (MASH TL-4 hybrid steel/concrete barrier), Midwest Guardrail System (MGS), and Temporary Concrete Barrier System. Supporting platforms include the MASH Hardware Clearinghouse (crash test database), Research Hub (technical reports portal), and Pooled Fund Q&A system. Services encompass full-scale crash testing, finite element analysis using LS-DYNA, and design/consulting for highway safety hardware. All testing is conducted to MASH, NCHRP 350, and European EN 1317 standards under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SAFER Barrier: Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier System designed to absorb and reduce kinetic energy during impact of accidents, first installed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002
• RESTORE Barrier
• MASH Hardware Clearinghouse
• Midwest Guardrail System (MGS)

Products and services

• SAFER Barrier

Quantifiable outcome

• RESTORE Barrier reduced peak lateral acceleration by up to 47% compared to rigid concrete barriers in passenger vehicle crash tests
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Indianapolis Motor Speedway / Indy Racing LeaguemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002Installation of SAFER Barrier system at Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning in 2002, significantly reducing driver injuries in motorsports incidents.
• University of Nebraska-LincolncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMwRSF is an official research organization of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, operating within the university's research infrastructure and utilizing campus facilities and resources for highway safety research.
• State Departments of Transportation (Pooled Fund Program)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-state collaborative research program where member state DOTs jointly fund and participate in roadside safety research initiatives. Includes 48+ state transportation agencies.
• Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)majorTechnology or IntegrationCollaborative research partner in highway safety testing and development. TTI conducted parallel MASH testing on various barrier systems including single-slope barriers.
• Pocono RacewayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementation of SAFER Barrier system at Pocono Raceway for motorsports safety.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center: The FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center is a federal government highway safety research laboratory that conducts crash testing and roadside hardware evaluation. It is the federal counterpart to MwRSF and a frequent collaborator.
• Valtir (formerly Trinity Highway): Valtir is a leading U.S. manufacturer of highway safety products (guardrails, barriers, crash cushions). As a manufacturer-customer that contracts testing and consulting from MwRSF, it is a key ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Element Materials Testing: Element is a global testing, inspection, and certification firm that provides crash, materials, and component testing services across multiple industries. While broader than MwRSF, its transportation safety testing practice is directly comparable.
• Applus+ IDIADA: Applus+ IDIADA is a large international vehicle engineering and testing services provider with crash test facilities in Europe. It competes with MwRSF on global highway hardware certification (EN 1317) and broader automotive crash testing work.
• TÜV SÜD Auto Service: TÜV SÜD provides global testing and certification services including vehicle, barrier, and infrastructure safety testing. Its accredited crash testing capability is functionally comparable to MwRSF's ISO/IEC 17025-accredited facility, especially for EN 1317 work.

Direct peers

• Texas Transportation Institute (TTI): TTI is the most direct peer to MwRSF, conducting parallel MASH crash testing, barrier system development, and roadside safety research as part of the Texas A&M University System. The two organizations collaborate on shared pooled fund work and serve overlapping state DOT customers.
• Humanetics Innovative Solutions: Humanetics is a global supplier of crash test dummies, instrumentation, and safety testing services. While more product-focused, its crash testing services and barrier-related work directly overlap with MwRSF's testing and consulting offerings.
• Calspan Corporation: Calspan operates a full-scale crash test facility providing vehicle safety testing, barrier evaluation, and crashworthiness services to government and automotive clients — directly comparable to MwRSF's crash testing and component testing capabilities.
• Transportation Research Center (TRC Inc.): TRC is a large independent vehicle testing facility in Ohio providing crash, durability, and vehicle dynamics testing. It shares MwRSF's full-scale crash testing service model and serves automotive OEMs and government clients with comparable MASH and FMVSS testing.

Regional players

• Safe Roads Now / Saferoad (Saferoad Group): Saferoad Group is a European-based provider of road safety infrastructure including barriers, crash cushions, and end terminals. While primarily a manufacturer rather than a test lab, its products are crash-tested to standards (EN 1317, MASH) that overlap with MwRSF's testing scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/midwestroadsidesafety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/midwest-roadside-safety-facility

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Midwest Roadside Safety Facility