Predicting the future of the construction market is always a challenging task - regardless of whether it is over the next one or 20 years - since it involves several uncertainties. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 283: Improving Mid-Term, Intermediate, and Long-Range Cost Forecasting for State Transportation Agencies documents the research that led...

Because transportation investment programs have extended time horizons, state departments of transportation (DOTs) must forecast costs well into the future. This poses a serious challenge: the longer the time horizon, the more uncertainty and risk that forecasted costs will vary from actual, future costs. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 953: Improvi...

The Office of Research, Development, and Technology (RD&T) of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has excelled in engaging, maintaining communication with, and using inputs from a broad range of stakeholder groups. That is among the findings in TRB Special Report 334: Review of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Research and Development Program . FRA's RD&T requested this Natio...

The amount of data surrounding the application of emerging technologies is expanding, producing “big data” at magnitudes not previously seen. While a few agencies have found some success with individual projects, most are uncertain on how to handle this level of big data at an organizational level. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 282: Framework fo...

With the advent and increasing prevalence of driverless train operation, dispatch centers are becoming more central to reliable and safe transportation worldwide. Dispatchers are, however, highly susceptible to the detrimental effects of sleepiness and related impairment of work performance. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final Report 40: Us...

A report from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General

Around the United States and Canada, both transit agencies and the unions representing operators have recognized the serious impact of limited restroom access and begun to negotiate ways to address this problem. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Research Report 216: Improving the Safety, Health, and Productivity of Transit Operators Through Adequate Restroom Access presents a ...

This report summarizes an event focused on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic response and its impact on the operational and economic recovery of airports. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's Conference Proceedings on the Web 27: Flight Plan to Recovery: Preparing Airports for the Return of the Traveling Public includes presentations from airport industry leaders who discussed current and...

With the airport industry's introduction and early adoption of safety management systems (SMS), safety processes are taking on a more proactive way of doing the business while continuously improving safety. This shift in approach will drive safety research in the near and long-term future. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Web-Only Document 50: Research Roadmap on Safety Issue...

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted transportation agencies across the U.S. in a variety of ways. On July 15, 2020, TRB's Transportation Asset Management Committee hosted a webinar that featured executives and CEOs from state, regional, and transit agencies. Transportation Research Circular E-C266: Transportation Asset Management in a COVID-19 World captures the details of the discussion on how ...