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TRB Transportation Research E-Newsletter*
February 26, 2013
* Please note that the appearance of the newsletter on TRB's website is different than that distributed to a subscriber's e-mail system; however, the content is the same. Subscribing to the TRB E-Newsletter is free. The opinions expressed in reports highlighted in TRB's Transportation Research E-Newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Transportation Research Board.
TRB News
TRB Webinar: Renewable Energy Guide for Highway Maintenance Facilities
February 21, 2013
TRB will conduct a webinar on February 27, 2013 from 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. ET that will highlight TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program report: Renewable Energy Guide for Highway Maintenance Facilities, which provides information on renewable energy technologies and strategies for individuals involved in planning and developing maintenance facilities. Participants must register in advance of the webinar, and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor employees. A certificate for 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDH) will be provided to attendees who register and attend the webinar as an individual. This webinar is approved for Certification Maintenance credits by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
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TRB Webinar: Automated Enforcement for Speeding and Red Light Running
February 21, 2013
TRB will conduct a webinar on March 25, 2013, from 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. ET that will highlight TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program report: Automated Enforcement for Speeding and Red Light Running, which provides an assessment of automated speeding and red light enforcement activity in the United States and develops guidelines for current and future programs. Participants must register in advance of the webinar, and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor employees. A certificate for 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDH) will be provided to attendees who register and attend the webinar as an individual.
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TRB Webinar: Using the New Roadside Analysis Program, Version 3 (RSAPv3) to Design Roadsides
February 21, 2013
TRB will conduct a webinar on March 27, 2013 from 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. ET that will show participants how to use the Roadside Safety Analysis Program (RSAP). Participants must register in advance of the webinar and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor employees. A certificate for 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDH) will be provided to attendees who register and attend the webinar as an individual.
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International Symposium of Climatic Effects on Pavements and Geotechnical Infrastructure*
February 20, 2013
TRB is cosponsoring the International Symposium of Climatic Effects on Pavements and Geotechnical Infrastructure on August 4-7, 2013, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The symposium will focus on the effects of climatic factors on expansive soils, engineering behavior of transportation construction materials, properties of frozen and unfrozen materials, soil-pavement or structure interaction, pavement performance, scouring and erosion, and mitigation techniques.
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GeoShanghai International Conference 2014*
February 20, 2013
TRB is cosponsoring the GeoShanghai International Conference 2014 on May 26-28, 2014, in Shanghai, China. The conference is designed to highlight recent developments and advances, and explore future challenges related to geotechnical engineering.
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TRB International Transportation Finance Conference
February 20, 2013
TRB is sponsoring the TRB International Transportation Finance Conference in July 2014 in Irvine, California. The conference will focus on the latest research and practice in transportation finance, with an emphasis on innovative ideas from around the world. The goal is to share new ideas and practices to facilitate improved financing of transportation projects in anticipation of the extension of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act or new federal surface transportation legislation.
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14th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium–Sized Communities: Tools of the Trade
February 20, 2013
TRB is sponsoring the 14th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium–Sized Communities: Tools of the Trade in July 2014 in Burlington, Vermont. The conference will focus on economical, ready-to-use, and practical tools and techniques designed to help transportation professionals in planning and programming multi-modal transportation facilities in small- and medium-sized communities. The conference will also discuss future research and implementation needs related to transportation planning for small- and medium-sized communities.
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RFI: TCRP 2013 Synthesis Study Topics Sought
February 21, 2013
TRB is seeking potential synthesis study topics as part of the upcoming activities of the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP). Topics may be submitted at any time; however, the deadline for the upcoming submission cycle is March 15, 2013. All proposed new topics must be submitted online through the TRB Synthesis Topic Submittal website.
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RFI: TCRP FY 2014 Research Problem Statements Sought
February 21, 2013
TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program has issued a request for problem statements identifying research needed for TCRP’s FY 2014 program. Research problem statements for the TCRP FY 2014 program are due June 15, 2013. These submittals form the basis for selection of the annual TCRP research program. The TCRP undertakes applied research and technical activities focusing on the needs of transit operating agencies. Research is conducted in all areas of public transportation, including operations, policy, planning, service configuration, engineering of vehicles and facilities, maintenance, human resources, and administration.
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RFI: ACRP FY 2014 Research Problem Statements Sought
February 21, 2013
Research problem statements are now being accepted for the FY 2014 Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). These submittals, which are used to identify potential research needs and form the basis for selection of the annual ACRP research program, are not proposals to conduct research.
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RFP: Alternative IT Delivery Methods and Best Practices for Small Airports
February 21, 2013
TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has issued a request for proposals to provide guidance for medium, small, and non-hub airports with limited budgets and resources on evaluating alternative information technology (IT) delivery methods and types of provider options, and associated best practices. Proposals are due April 8, 2013.
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RFP: Legal Aspects of Rail Programs
February 21, 2013
TRB’s National Cooperative Rail Research Program (NCRRP) has issued a request for proposals to provide a compilation, review, and summary of railroad law resources, examine issues that emerge when public entities acquire a real property interest in rail lines; and explore rail industry related buy America(n) requirements. Proposals are due April 11, 2013.
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Recently Released TRB Publications
Evaluation of Methodologies for Visual Impact Assessments
February 21, 2013
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 741: Evaluation of Methodologies for Visual Impact Assessments evaluates visual impact assessment (VIA) procedures, methods, and practices that satisfy or exceed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other requirements. The report documents VIA methodologies and approaches used in the United States and other countries, describes the decision making framework used to select specific VIA techniques for a given project, includes VIA best practice case studies from state departments of transportation, and highlights promising new developments in the field.
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Roadside Safety Design and Devices: International Workshop
February 22, 2013
TRB Transportation Research Circular E-C172: Roadside Safety Design and Devices: International Workshop is a record of a meeting hosted by the International Research Subcommittee of the Roadside Safety Design Committee in Milan, Italy, on July 17, 2012. The focus of the meeting included assessment practices, safety systems, best practices, and other road safety products and issues.
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Planning 2012
February 20, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2307 summarizes 15 papers concerned with aspects of transportation planning including road investments to support oil and gas production and distribution; a new approach in community-based transportation planning; transportation-induced agglomeration effects and productivity; potential high-speed rail routes from a megaregion perspective; and the role of metropolitan planning organizations in transportation planning for megaregions.
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The Effect of Public-Private Partnerships and Non-Traditional Procurement Processes on Highway Planning, Environmental Review, and Collaborative Decision Making
February 25, 2013
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Capacity Project C12 has released a prepublication, non-edited draft version of a report titled The Effect of Public-Private Partnerships and Non-Traditional Procurement Processes on Highway Planning, Environmental Review, and Collaborative Decision Making that explores the different points in the overall project development process when public-private partnership involvement can be introduced. The report also explores other types of non-traditional contracting arrangements and their impact on the project development process as set forth in the Transportation for Communities - Advancing Projects through Partnerships (TCAPP) Decision Guide.
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Environmental Justice, Social Factors, and Gender-Related Issues in Transportation 2012
February 24, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2320 contains 13 papers concerned with environmental justice, social factors and gender-related issues in transportation including the impact of environmental justice on transportation; spatial analysis of income disparities in pedestrian safety; activity-based travel models and transportation equity analyses; automobile ownership and travel by the poor; and poverty, employment, earnings, job search, and commuting behavior of persons with disabilities and African-Americans.
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Travel Behavior 2012, Volume 1
February 26, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2322 contains 14 papers that address aspects of travel behavior including composition of vehicle occupancy for work trips; hybrid choice sets in semicompensatory models; integrating walkability with planning practices; the influence of environmentalism and variety on mode choice; behavioral insights models; activity duration, time-of-day, and planning time horizons of the elderly and baby boomers; value of life cycles in trip-making behavior; network route-choice evolution in a real-world experiment; modeling turning points in travel behavior; dynamic analysis of tourists' choices; car drivers' compliance with route advice; vehicle miles traveled in two-vehicle households; link-based route choice considering risk aversion, disappointment, and regret; and university student travel demand.
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Traffic Signal Systems 2012
February 22, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2311 explores 18 papers concerned with traffic signal systems including performance measures for adaptive signal control; calibration of platoon dispersion model; impacts of transit priority on signal coordination; prediction of red light running using inductive-loop detectors; modeling of auxiliary through lanes; and predicting distribution of link travel times for urban signalized roads.
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Research Pays Off: Low-Cost and Environment-Friendly Asphalt-Treated Mixtures: Louisiana Tests Designs
February 25, 2013
Asphalt cement materials are costly, and asphalt mixtures have environmental impacts. Alternatives are needed to reduce the cost and to decrease the emissions generated in production and construction without compromising performance. Asphalt-treated mixtures (ATMs) offer one alternative; however, state transportation agencies’ specifications for ATMs adversely affect the economic competitiveness of ATMs and limit their use in pavement construction. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) initiated research to develop a design methodology for ATMs that would be durable, stable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly.
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Composite Pavement Systems Volume 1: HMA/PCC Pavements
February 21, 2013
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Renewal Project R21 has released a prepublication, non-edited draft version of a report titled Composite Pavement Systems Volume 1: HMA/PCC Pavements that investigates the structural and functional performance of surfacing a new portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement layer with a high-quality hot mix asphalt (HMA) layer. The second report in the series, Composite Pavement Systems Volume 2: PCC/PCC Pavements explores the structural and functional performance of placing a relatively thin, high-quality PCC surface atop a thicker PCC layer.
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Composite Pavement Systems Volume 2: PCC/PCC Pavements
February 21, 2013
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Renewal Project R21 has released a prepublication, non-edited draft version of a report titled Composite Pavement Systems Volume 2: PCC/PCC Pavements that investigates the structural and functional performance of placing a relatively thin, high-quality PCC surface atop a thicker PCC layer. The first report in the series, Composite Pavement Systems Volume 1: HMA/PCC Pavements explores the structural and functional performance of surfacing a new portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement layer with a high-quality hot mix asphalt (HMA) layer.
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Using the Existing Pavement In-Place and Achieving Long Life
February 23, 2013
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Renewal Project R23 has released a prepublication, non-edited draft version of a report titled Using the Existing Pavement In-Place and Achieving Long Life that describes a procedure for identifying when existing pavements can be used in place as part of the rehabilitation solution and the methods necessary to incorporate the original material into the new pavement structure while achieving long life.
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Federal Research News
Volpe News: Reducing Highway Noise, Improving Maritime Awareness, Analyzing Runway Incursions, and more
February 20, 2013
Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, has released the latest edition of its newsletter designed to feature events and research produced by the center. Part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Volpe’s mission is to improve the nation's transportation system by anticipating emerging transportation issues and to serve as a center of excellence for informed decision making.
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Review of the Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas Permitting Processes
February 21, 2013
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report that discusses the processes necessary to acquire permits to construct interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines, information available on the time frames of the permitting process, and management practices that may improve the permitting process.
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State Research News
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Pavement Edge Treatment
February 20, 2013
The Washington State Department of Transportation has released a report that explains projects built with four different devices that allow vehicles leaving the roadway to have a gentler slope to navigate when remounting the pavement.
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University Research News
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Predicting Vehicle Sales from GDP in 48 Countries: 2005-2011
February 21, 2013
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has released a report that examines the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and vehicle sales in 48 developed and developing countries during the years of 2005 through 2011.
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CTS Catalyst: February 2013
February 20, 2013
The latest issue of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) Catalyst newsletter is now available. Catalyst provides current information on the latest in transportation-related research and activities from the CTS.
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International Research News
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Guide to Information for Pedestrian Facilities
February 21, 2013
Austroads has released a report that reviews of research and provides guidance for pedestrian facilities, including assessing the quality of the walking environment and determining the level of service provided for pedestrians.
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In the Know
No new general items of interest were highlighted in this week's newsletter.
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