TRB Special Report 299: A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy suggests that federal, state, and local policy makers need informed guidance about the effectiveness, costs, feasibility, and acceptability of transportation strategies to mitigate transportation greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy and to adapt to climate change. The report covers strategies affecting travel and mode choice, models and decision tools, infrastructure investment options, and infrastructure construction, operation, and maintenance. The committee that prepared the report recommends beginning a research and development initiative by making a modest investment of $40 million to $45 million annually in the next surface transportation authorization that would be used to develop the best available guidance quickly on the basis of existing information and then begin to improve that guidance over time as new research is completed.

Three papers commissioned by the committee to assist in the production of SR 299 are available online through the following links:
Adaptation Research Programs and Funding
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Energy Mitigation for the Transportation Sector Recommended Research and Evaluation Program
Discerning the Pathway to Implementation of a National Mileage-Based Charging System 

An article on SR 299 that appeared in the May-June 2010 TR News is available online.
    
    E-Newsletter Type: Recently Released TRB Publications