TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 63: Measurement of Gaseous HAP Emissions from Idling Aircraft as a Function of Engine and Ambient Conditions is designed to help improve the assessment of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emissions at airports based on specific aircraft operating parameters and changes in ambient conditions.

Roundabouts have seen unprecedented growth across the United States, from just a handful a decade ago to more than 2,000 and counting. National guidance had to keep pace with the needs of states and communities planning and implementing roundabouts, and NCHRP took a lead role.

In regions across the nation, bridge engineers know that the next major seismic event is coming—maybe tomorrow, maybe centuries from now. DOTs have the critical charge of designing for earthquakes and protecting the lives of travelers.

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2252 contains 19 papers that explore economic and environmental optimization of vehicle fleets, driver response to energy information feedback, California's low-carbon fuel standard, feebates and fuel economy standards, energy use for transport in 27 European Union countries through 2030, and a comparison of...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 60: Guidelines for Integrating Alternative Jet Fuel into the Airport Setting identifies the types and characteristics of alternative jet fuels; summarizes potential benefits; addresses legal, financial, environmental, and logistical considerations and opportunities; and aids in evaluating the feasibility of alternative jet fuel production...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2242 consists of 15 papers that explore evaluation of sustainable transportation, sustainability assessments by transportation agencies, quantifying the economic domain of transportation sustainability, sustainable transportation planning, sustainable road transport in the European Union, measuring the perfo...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 56: Handbook for Considering Practical Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Strategies for Airports is designed to assist airport operators in identifying, evaluating, prioritizing, and implementing practical, low-cost strategies to reduce and manage greenhouse gas emissions. AirportGEAR, an interactive decision support tool developed as a c...

The National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council have released a report that examines the causes of the blowout of the Macondo well that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The report provides a series of recommendations, for both the oil and gas industry and government regulators, intended to reduce the likelihood and impact of any future losses of well contr...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2233 consists of 21 papers that explore integrated bus information systems, the effects of operational efficiency on pollutant emissions, corridor-level air quality analysis of freight movement, comparison of greenhouse gas and criterion pollutant emissions, and operating variables on particle number emissio...

The National Research Council has released a report that evaluates the economic and environmental consequences of increasing biofuels production as a result of the Renewable Fuels Standard, as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act (RFS2). The report describes biofuels produced in 2010 and those projected to be produced and consumed by 2022, reviews model projections and other esti...

TRB Conference Proceedings on the Web 4: Offshore Wind Energy Projects: Summary of a Workshop summarizes a March 2010 workshop held in Washington, D.C., that examined the processes use by the former Minerals Management Service (MMS) for selecting and managing certified verification agents (CVAs) and for identifying appropriate standards for assuring good engineering judgment and practice; for r...

TRB Special Report 307: Policy Options for Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation examines the potential for policies to yield major changes in transportation energy use and emissions trends by policy measures targeting cars and light trucks, medium and heavy trucks, and commercial airliners. These three modes are by far the largest users of energy by U.S...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 28: Investigating Safety Impacts of Energy Technologies on Airports and Aviation explores physical, visual, and communications systems interference impacts from energy technologies on airports and aviation safety. The energy technologies that are the focus of this report include the following: • solar photovoltaic panels and farms, • c...

TRB Special Report 305: Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines: Oversight of Design, Fabrication, and Installation explores the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approach to overseeing the development and safe operation of wind turbines on the outer continental shelf, with a focus on structural safety. The committee...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 146: Guidebook for Evaluating Fuel Choices for Post-2010 Transit Bus Procurements is designed to help those considering the deployment of, or conversion to, alternative fuel buses. The guidebook and life-cycle emissions model spreadsheet (FuelCost2) are intended to aide individuals who, while being quite knowledgeable about the transit in...

TRB has released an interim report of the committee examining methods for assessing the effectiveness of an operator’s Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) program on any given offshore drilling or production facility. The letter report presents nine methods for evaluating the effectiveness of an operator’s (i.e., lessee’s) SEMS program, presents the benefits and disadvantages of ...

TRB Transportation Research E-Circular E-C152: Adapting Transportation to the Impacts of Climate Change: State of the Practice 2011 focuses on transportation adaptation practices that can be implemented to yield potential benefits now and in the longer term. The document highlights what climate change adaptation means for the transportation industry. E-C152 was produced under the auspices ...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 46: Handbook for Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Alternative Aviation Turbine Engine Fuels at Airports consists of the Alternative Fuel Investigation Tool (AFIT), a handbook on the use of AFIT, and a report on its development. AFIT is an analytical model designed to help airport operators and fuel suppliers evaluate the costs associat...

The Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, part of the National Academies’ Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), has released a report that builds on the four previous America's Climate Choices study reports and reaffirms that the preponderance of scientific evidence points to human activities as the most likely cause for most of the global warming that has occurred during the las...

TRB’s Committee on Environmental Issues in Transportation Law has released the latest issue of its newsletter.  The newsletter is designed to keep lawyers and transportation officials abreast of the latest developments in environmental issues in transportation law.  The opinions expressed in the Natural Lawyer are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Tr...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 48: Impact of Jet Fuel Price Uncertainty on Airport Planning and Development is designed to help airport operators and planners measure the impact of changes in jet fuel price on supply and demand for air service at commercial service airports. The report includes background research;  a computer model, available online and in CD ROM...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2191 contains 22 papers that explore the effect of wide-based single tires on truck fuel efficiency; miles per gallon illusions and corporate average fuel economy distortions; freight transport, energy use, and emissions trends in Spain; diesel truck activity and fuel economy based on electronic control modu...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Web-Only Document 51: Guiding the Selection and Application of Wayside Energy Storage Technologies for Rail Transit and Electric Utilities is designed to help identify and implement effective wayside energy storage systems for rail transit.  Energy storage applications addressed in the report include braking energy recapture, power quality ...

The National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council have released the interim report of the Committee on the Analysis of Causes of the Deepwater Horizon Explosion, Fire, and Oil Spill to Identify Measures to Prevent Similar Accidents in the Future. The interim report includes the committee’s preliminary findings and observations on various actions and decisions including well ...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 21: Airport Energy Efficiency and Cost Reduction explores energy efficiency improvements being implemented at airports across the country that are low cost and short payback.

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 95: Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes, Chapter 19 – Employer and Institutional TDM Strategies pair-uses wise comparisons to explore the relative importance of particular categories of TDM strategies, such as support versus incentives, as well as the particular strategies themselves, such as transit subsidy versus a high-o...

The Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, part of the National Academies’ Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS), has release a report that suggests that the FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) and Fuel Partnership should continue to include fuel cells and other hydrogen technologies in its research and development portfolio. The FreedomCAR program is a research coll...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 84: Current Practices in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Savings from Transit explores the role of transit agencies in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and examines the current practice of a sample of transit agencies.

The Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, part of the National Academies’ Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS), has released a report that explores the potential fuel savings and costs to consumers of available technology combinations for three types of engines: spark-ignition gasoline, compression-ignition diesel, and hybrid. According to the committee that produced the re...

The Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, part of the National Academies' Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), has released a report that explores strategies to contribute to the global effort of limiting future climate change by reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and by enhancing greenhouse gas “sinks,” such as forests. The report identifies strategies that appear to be feasible...