The September–October 2020 issue of TRB's magazine is now available in full online. Themed “Embracing the Future,” the issue celebrates TRB’s centennial with articles forecasting the future of transportation. Authors present outlooks that are multimodal, creative, diverse, inclusive, and thought-provoking, offering a pause point for transportation researchers, policy makers, and practitioners as t...

The year 2020’s raging coronavirus pandemic and reckoning with long-standing racial injustice led to widespread disruption and suffering, social unrest, and renewed calls for an accounting of our fragmented public health system and troubled history of racial inequity. The crises of 2020 transcend transportation yet also raise fundamental questions for it along with other sectors of our society and...

The 2020 Annual Report summarizes TRB’s accomplishments in each of its major program areas and how TRB has served the nation and the global transportation professional community throughout 2020. TRB provides leadership in transportation improvements and innovation through trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange, research, and advice regarding all modes of transportation...

In the airport industry, potential applications for blockchain include security and identification, flight data management, safety and maintenance, baggage and cargo tracking, regulatory compliance, and more. Promising blockchain applications specific to COVID-19 include passenger health verification and contact tracing, facilitating a contactless passenger experience, and tracking the movement of...

The importance of safety cannot be overstated and requires continued shifts in the approach to safety management within the public transportation industry. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's  TCRP Research Report 218: Characteristics and Elements of Nonpunitive Employee Safety Reporting Systems for Public Transportation compiles the best practices used in nonpunitive employee safe...

Transit workers experience more health and safety problems than the general workforce, primarily as a result of a combination of physical demands, environmental factors, and stresses related to their jobs. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Research Report 217: Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line focuses on the prevalenc...

Understanding pandemics, their impacts to transportation, and potential effective response has become more important, not only for the response to COVID-19, but also if, as the World Health Organization warns, we are now “living in a time of viruses.” TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Program have jointly issued this pre-publication draft of NCHRP...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has proven a formidable adversary worldwide, with tremendous impact on the United States. The transportation system is an essential element of our response to this pandemic but has also been significantly impacted across all modes, both passenger and goods movement. This environment is where research is needed most. TRB's Transportation Research Circular E-C267: Summary of T...

Understanding pandemics, their impacts to transportation, and potential effective response has become more important, not only for the response to COVID-19, but also if, as the World Health Organization warns, we are now “living in a time of viruses.” TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Program have jointly issued this pre-publication draft of NCHRP...

Across the country, state transportation agencies of various modes have been required to incorporate performance measures (PMs) into their core business functions. With this trend developing nationwide, the TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 223: Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies develops PMs for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASA...

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 to...

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: Improving ...

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 National...

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 for M...

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: Using...

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 cat...

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 on...

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 Issues r...

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 on...

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 the...

Managers of airports of all sizes face a perennial dilemma: how to efficiently train operations personnel to meet Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 139 requirements and ensure a safe and secure airport environment. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Synthesis 112: Airport Operations Training at Small Airports focuses on airport operations employees and aims to better under...

TRB hosted the Transportation Resilience 2019: 2nd International Conference on Transportation Resilience to Natural Hazards and Extreme Weather Events (TR2019) at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., November 13–15, 2019. The primary purpose of TR2019 program was to present advancements made in transportation systems resilience to natural hazards, climate change, and impa...

The Alabama Department of Transportation (DOT) incorporated post-construction stormwater management design into the overall roadway design process. The Texas DOT developed the approval process for products used in the construction of a roadway to promote vegetation. And the Virginia DOT improved the management of data associated with stormwater infrastructure best management practices to effective...

The July-August 2020 issue of TR News —with a focus on stormwater—is available in hard copy and digital copy for subscribers. For those who are not subscribers, the table of contents is available. Feature articles in the issue include "Integrating Stormwater Infrastructure into State Department of Transportation Processes," "Transportation Perspective on Virginia’s Nonpoint Source Nutrient Credit ...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and equity issues will be included soon in   Critical Issues in Transportation 2019 . In this report, which is updated periodically by the TRB Executive Committee, a series of challenging questions are posed to explore issues and opportunities that may arise 10 to 20 years into the future. These questions, 63 in all, have been organized into 12 topic areas ...

Careers in science, engineering, and medicine offer opportunities to advance knowledge, contribute to the well-being of communities, and support the security, prosperity, and health in the United States. But many women do not pursue or persist in these careers, or advance to leadership positions - not because they lack the talent or aspirations, but because they face barriers, including: implicit ...

Issue 326 of TRB's magazine dives into details from the TRB 99th Annual Meeting, which had a record crowd of nearly 14,000 attendees gathered January 12–16, 2020, in Washington, D.C. The March–April 2020 TR News features photo highlights from the Annual Meeting along with more coverage of the conference. TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-a...

Airport employees face a variety of stressors in their daily work lives, and there are numerous and varied approaches that airports are currently taking to focus on employee well-being. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Synthesis 113: Airport Workforce Programs Supporting Employee Well-Being details the most commonly used well-being program offerings at airports. Benefits of thes...

The May–June 2020 issue of TR News is a special edition illuminating the many hidden aspects of tunnels as well as the benefits of tunnel technology to modern transportation systems. Articles highlight the contribution of tunnels to the economy and how transportation operators use the best technology to keep tunnels efficient and safe.

Many airports are already taking active steps to address and unlock the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. These programs provide benefits to the airport and surrounding communities, but there has not been a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis for diversity contracting programs and their impact on the workforce. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 217: G...