What's New in History

The Standing Technical Committee on Effects of Information and Communication Technology is using centennial anniversary of the Transportation Research Board as an opportunity to reflect upon how ICT solutions have rapidly emerged as an integral element of everyday life, interacting in an essential manner with mobility and the activity patterns that engender it, and the opportunities and challen...

A common goal from the Standing Technical Committee on Design and Rehabilitation of Asphalt Pavements' inception in 1939 was to move the state-of-practice of pavement engineering towards the state-of-the-art, and continually support the move towards the implementation and adoption of improved methods for designing and predicting the performance of flexible pavements. Many issues facing the indu...

In a video submitted in response to TRB's "Tell Us 'Our' Story" centennial activity, Carlos Braceras, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation notes that “We are going to see tremendous technology changes and certainly the context of our communities is going to change, but the reason that TRB has been successful over the last 100 years will stay the same. As the Greek philosopher A...

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) is seeking a Supervisory Librarian (Managing Director of the National Transportation Library). This position is part of OST-R’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The NTL, established under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, is responsible for collaborating with federal and other transportation librarie...

TRB standing committees will be reviewing submissions for the 2021 TRB Annual Meeting and potential publication in Transportation Research Record (TRR). We welcome submissions on all modes of transportation and relevant transportation-related research. Because of committee restructuring, individual committees will not be issuing Calls for Paper this year. However, in addition to the general cal...

The TRB Technical Activities Division’s Standing Committee on Public Involvement in Transportation is holding its 14th annual John and Jane Q. Public Communications Contest. TRB seeks best practices in successfully communicating with John and Jane Q. Public during disruptive, crisis situations that affect the transportation industry. The John and Jane Q. Public Communications contest recog...

The cover of the new Transportation Research Board’s (TRB’s) 1974 Annual Report celebrated its rebirth with the letters “HRB” fading into the growing bolder “TRB.” Yet, inside, the report—typically full of photos—was surprisingly plain and even perfunctory. William N. Carey, Jr., TRB’s executive director, explained why in the equally plain Annual Report for 1975. The high inflation and oil cris...

Since the passage of the Federal-Aid Road Act in 1916, all levels of government have been using transportation surveys to determine both existing and future transportation needs. Travel surveys have been and continue to be the basis for transportation investment decisions. With the advent of Big Data, changing dynamics of travel and time use, transformational mobility alternatives (e.g., transp...

Beginning with the first Planning Applications Conference in April 1987, transportation planners, engineers, and researchers from the public sector, private sector, and academia have gathered every two years to showcase practice-ready planning applications at every level of the transportation planning process. After the success of the first conference, the Conference Steering Committee was invi...

Winnie Okello, Senior Civil Engineer, told TRB that her "vision for TRB 100 years from now is that we will have transitioned to better more efficient and accessible modes of transportation. Modes that also take into consideration the complex utility needs of its users. The more technologically advanced society becomes the greater the desire for community and human connection; I hope we as trans...

Even before the advent of Intelligent Transportation Systems, the Standing Technical Committee on Highway Traffic Monitoring was identifying best practices, gaps, and research needs related to traffic monitoring programs. Initially established as a Weigh-in-Motion Task Force in 1985, it transitioned to a standing committee in 1988. The mission of the Highway Traffic Monitoring Committee is to p...

The original name of the Standing Technical Committee on Urban Freight Transportation was the Urban Goods Movement Committee when it was formed in 1975. Freight transportation planning in urban areas was not common at that time except in a few large urban areas. In the 1980s  the committee experienced an increased participation by the private sector in committee activities.  Also in t...

Create or update your MyTRB profile  now if you will be a credited author of a paper submitted for presentation or for inclusion in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board . Having up-to-date profile information in the MyTRB system will ensure that you’ll have a smooth paper-submission process. If you are the designated corresponding author for a pa...

The TRB Centennial Book is available for purchase in ebook or print format. In The Transportation Research Board, 1920–2020: Everyone Interested Is Invited , author Sarah Jo Peterson tells the story of how people and institutions created and have continued to shape TRB. In a compelling narrative accompanied by more than 150 images exploring the history of transportation and research, she argues...

In a video submitted in response to TRB's "Tell Us 'Our' Story" centennial activity, Michael Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments notes that TRB's centennial is an opportunity to "celebrate the accomplishments of TRB...and help us understand where we should go and how we should get there in the next 100 years."  Thank you Michael! Michael's video i...

TRB is committed to holding its 100th Annual Meeting in January 2021. We are closely monitoring the evolving situation related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and its potential impacts on the meeting. We are evaluating how to hold the meeting in a way that continues the important convening value and ensures the health and safety of everyone involved in the event, including whethe...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is hosting a virtual workshop on June 23, 2020, titled “COVID-19 and Black Communities.” To register for this event, please visit the registration page . To learn more information, including the agenda, please visit the web page . The workshop will also be recorded for those unable to join live. Members of the Roundtable on Black Me...

Although the Standing Technical Committee on Engineering Geology was established in 1970, it evolved from an earlier Committee on Landslide Investigations established in 1951. AFP10 has an extensive record of activities concerning the application of geological science principles to assess the influence of earth materials on civil engineering works for transportation infrastructure and the evalu...

The Standing Technical Committee on Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems, formally recognized as a committee by TRB is interested in the design, collection, analysis, and reporting of transportation supply and demand data and the information systems needed to support the application of that data in urban and metropolitan transportation planning efforts. A challenge for the urban tr...

Next steps for practitioners to take. Impacts on managed lanes. Security planning. Travel behavior and telework trends. Those are just a handful of the resources now available on the COVID-19 transportation resources website available from TRB and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

According to Dr. Susan Shaheen, Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Co-Director, Transportation Sustainability Research Center, UC Berkeley, "Transportation is arguably experiencing its most transformative evolution since the introduction of the automobile. Concerns about climate change, the global pandemic, an economic recession, and social equity are converging with dramatic te...

TRB turns 100 on November 11, 2020. You are invited to join your colleagues listed below who have contributed to the TRB Century Club to support activities that will mark the anniversary; promote the value of transportation research; and celebrate the achievements of TRB’s volunteers, sponsors, affiliates, and staff. Details on the Century Club and a link to contribute is available at https://...

The American Association of State Highway Officials, the Bureau of Public Roads, and the National Academy of Sciences signed the three-party agreement officially creating the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) on June 19, 1962. The states funded NCHRP through dedicating 4.5 percent of their federal aid designated by law for planning and research—also known as the 1½ percent f...

A video created as part of TRB’s Centennial celebration has been named the winner of three 2020 Telly Awards, which annually showcase the best work created within television and across all types of video production. The video, titled Your Future in Transportation , highlights the excitement, challenges, and fulfillment that those who select transportation as their career can expect to enjoy. Fo...

Concrete bridges were included in the focus areas of the first bridge committee, the Committee on Bridges, established in 1949 in the Department of Highway Design of the Highway Research Board. The Committee on Bridges held its first meeting in May 1950 in Washington, D.C. At that meeting the committee developed plans for a session on highway structures for the January 1951 HRB Annual Meeting. ...

The Committee on Transportation Demand Management (TDM) defines TDM as the application of infrastructure, information, financial, vehicle, technology, and support strategies and policies to influence travel behavior in one of three ways: reduce vehicle trips, distribute where and when travel occurs, or eliminate the travel need. The primary driving force (pun intended) for demand management has...

According to Dr. Geraldine Knatz, Professor of the Practice of Policy and Engineering, University of Southern California, "100 Years from now at TRB's 200th year anniversary, people will look back and wonder about the vehicles people own and think "how inefficient." Single owner vehicles will be replaced by a transportation system that will be fast, efficient, clean, accessible to all and on-de...

Dear Transportation Colleagues, Like many of you, I am deeply troubled and heartbroken by the brutal killing of George Floyd by police officers who were sworn to protect the lives of their fellow citizens. His death has sparked protests and demonstrations across the nation and the world. I relate to and empathize with the hundreds of thousands of people who are protesting peacefully about endu...

The TRB 100th Annual Meeting is scheduled for January 24 to 28, 2021, in Washington, D.C. The paper submission site is now open starting and all are due August 1, 2020.

The Standing Technical Committee on Transportation Asset Management is actively engaged in activities to advance the state of the art and state of the practice in transportation asset management. Since transportation asset management is, by its nature, a collaborative process, the committee works across all modes of transportation in partnership with other TRB committees, the American Associati...