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TRB Transportation Research E-Newsletter*
March 5, 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
Public Transportation Senior Program Officer Position Available in TRB's Technical Activities Division
February 28, 2013
TRB’s Technical Activities Division has an opening for a Senior Program Officer (SPO) to work in the area of public transportation. Specifically, the SPO will work in the areas of transit management, performance, capacity, and quality of service; public transportation planning, development, marketing, and fare policy; bus, rail transit, and paratransit services; public transportation for rural areas, intercity, major activity centers, and intermodal transfer facilities; emerging and innovative public transport and technologies; and transportation demand management.
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2013 Joint Rail Conference: Next Generation Rail--Meeting Challenges of the Future*
March 4, 2013
TRB is cosponsoring the 2013 Joint Rail Conference: Next Generation Rail--Meeting Challenges of the Future, April 15-18, 2013, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The purpose of this conference is to promote the dissemination of information and discussion of technological advances relevant to railroad operational and engineering issues and other matters. Topics to be discussed include railroad infrastructure, rail equipment, signal and train control engineering, planning and development, safety and security, energy efficiency and sustainability, and urban passenger rail transport. Early bird registration ends March 30, 2013.
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2013 International Highway Technology Summit--IHTS Delivering Innovative Approaches and Best Practices*
March 4, 2013
TRB is cosponsoring the 2013 International Highway Technology Summit--IHTS Delivering Innovative Approaches and Best Practices on April 16-18, 2013 in Beijing, China. The conference will include four tracks that will address highway engineering, bridge and tunnel structures engineering, traffic engineering, and environment and sustainability. The focus of the conference will be on inspection, maintenance, and management of bridges and tunnels; pavement technology; road environment and safety; and intelligent transportation systems. The conference will include two days of invited keynote presentations, technical sessions, and a one day study tour.
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Adapting Freight Models and Traditional Freight Data Programs for Performance Measurement Workshop
March 4, 2013
TRB is sponsoring the Adapting Freight Models and Traditional Freight Data Programs for Performance Measurement Workshop on April 30 - May 1, 2013, in Washington, D.C. The workshop will explore the adequacy of freight data and modeling for supporting performance measurement in public and private sector decision making by examining the use of information from the Freight Analysis Framework, other existing freight models, and traditional freight data programs as means to provide key measures for the national freight system. Performance measures likely to be address at the conference include capacity, throughput, reliability, and cost of the freight transportation system at national, multi-state corridor, and statewide scales. A revised preliminary program is now available. Advance registration expires April 1, 2013.
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Seventh National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways (7NSC)*
February 28, 2013
TRB is cosponsoring the Seventh National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways (7NSC) on May 20-22, 2013, in Oakland, California. The conference is designed to increase awareness of seismic and geological hazards and to mitigate the risk of bridge and highway damage and failure through peer exchange and knowledge transfer. The conference will include presentations on studies of the performance of highway structures and damage resulting from recent earthquakes in China, Chile, New Zealand, and Japan. Registration is now open and the technical program for the meeting is now available.
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RFI: Graduate Research Award Program on Public-Sector Aviation Issues Announcement: 2013/2014
February 27, 2013
TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program is accepting applications for its Graduate Research Award Program on Public-Sector Aviation Issues for the 2013/2014 academic year. The program, sponsored by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and administered by ACRP, is designed to encourage applied research on airport and related aviation system issues and to foster the next generation of aviation community leaders. Applications must be received no later than May 30, 2013.
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RFP: Regulations Affecting the Exercise of First Amendment Activities at Airports
February 28, 2013
TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has issued a request for proposals to explore the various ordinances and regulatory and statutory means used by airports to regulate first amendment conduct related to areas such as civic, religious, labor, and fundraising activities. Proposals are due April 12, 2013.
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RFP: Freight Transportation Data Architecture: Data Element Dictionary
March 1, 2013
TRB’s National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) has issued a request for proposals to produce a searchable and sustainable web-based freight data element dictionary for transportation analysis to be hosted at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Proposals are due April 19, 2013.
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Recently Released TRB Publications
Structures 2012
March 2, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2313 discusses 21 papers on topics including general structures; steel bridges; concrete bridges; field testing and nondestructive evaluation of transportation structures; tunnels and underground structures; culverts and hydraulic structures; structural fiber-reinforced polymers; and critical transportation infrastructure protection.
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Long-Term Bridge Performance Committee Letter Report: February 19, 2013
March 1, 2013
On February 19, 2013, TRB’s Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Committee sent its third letter report to Victor Mendez, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The committee provides advice and assistance on the conduct of the LTBP program, which is designed to collect research-quality data on a large representative sample of in-service U.S. highway bridges and to analyze these data to improve understanding of the mechanisms and timing of bridge deterioration due to the effects of age, materials, traffic, and .
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Pavement Management 2012, Volume 3
February 28, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2306 contains 22 papers that explore pavement rehabilitation; strength and deformation characteristics of pavement sections; and surface properties–vehicle interaction.
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Long-Term Pavement Performance Committee Letter Report: February 12, 2013
March 1, 2013
On February 12, 2013, TRB’s Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Committee sent its 31st letter report to Victor Mendez, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and Frederick G. "Bud" Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The committee's reports are aimed at supporting the further success of the LTPP program, securing the future of the LTPP database, and facilitating the fulfillment of the program’s promise of better roads through the development and utilization of LTPP's products.
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SHRP 2 Project Brief: Meeting the Challenges of Rapid Renewal Projects
February 27, 2013
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has released a project brief that summarizes SHRP 2 Renewal projects that are designed to help transportation agencies deal with the unique challenges that rapid highway renewal techniques present. The brief describes tools that agencies can use to mitigate worker and manager fatigue, develop and apply performance specifications, manage risk and complex projects, and sequence related projects.
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Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics 2012, Volume 1
March 5, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2315 consists of 20 papers that explore routing strategies; car-following model calibration; second-order model and capacity drop at merges; trajectory measurement errors; multistate travel time reliability models; congestion probability and traffic volatility; speed modeling and travel time estimation; Newell's three-detector method; time-variant travel time distributions and reliability metrics; Gipps' car-following model; multianticipative piecewise-linear car-following model; sensor placement for vision-based traffic monitoring; traffic state estimation from aggregated measurements with signal reconstruction techniques; temporal stability of freeway macroscopic traffic stream models; travel time variability in vehicular traffic networks; networkwide flow–density relations in a freeway network; estimating queue dynamics at signalized intersections from probe vehicle data; probe data sampling guidelines for characterizing arterial travel time; road capacity and travel times with bus lanes and intermittent priority activation; and presignals used to increase bus- and car-carrying capacity at intersections.
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TR News July-August 2012: Adapting to Climate Change: Building a Network of Solutions
February 28, 2013
TRB policy is to release the full PDF version of a TR News four months after its release in print format. The full PDF version July-August 2012 is now available. The July-August 2012 TR News present an array of climate change adaptation initiatives--the rationales, strategies, progress, and goals--including key facts that transportation leaders and professionals should know about climate change and transportation.
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Safety Management, Emergency Management Systems, Operator Education, School Transportation, and Older Drivers 2012
March 4, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2318 contains 16 papers concerned with tools for road safety management; states' practices in road safety analysis; pricing for traffic safety; the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program; integrating safety and planning at the individual level; macroscopic patterns of urbanization and traffic safety; estimating the highway collision rate with consideration of traffic flow; traffic safety and urban form; ranking unsignalized rural intersections for safety improvement; icy-curve warning systems; emergency vehicle collisions; novice drivers’ compliance with road rules; a Web-based parent support program to improve teens' practice driving; parental attitudes on children's active school commuting; "Your Speed" signs in school zones; and immobility levels and mobility preferences of the elderly.
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TRB Security, Emergency Management, and Infrastructure Protection Research Status Report
March 3, 2013
Since September 11, 2001, 125 security-, emergency management-, and infrastructure protection-related planning and implementation projects have been initiated through the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Ninety-two of these projects have been completed; 15 projects are in progress; and 18 projects have contracts pending or are currently in development. This report, updated monthly, provides information on about $17.5 million worth of completed and ongoing TRB security research.
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Federal Research News
State Research News
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Impacts to Montana State Highways Due to Bakken Oil Development
February 27, 2013
The Montana Department of Transportation has released a report that details a truck traffic forecasting model with specific attention to truck movements for oil development in the Bakken formation in eastern Montana and western North Dakota.
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University Research News
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Go! – February 2013
February 27, 2013
The Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University has released the latest issue of Go! magazine. Go! is an online magazine for teens and young adults that explores the world of transportation and careers they can find there.
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International Research News
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The Costs of Congestion Reappraised
February 27, 2013
The New Zealand Transport Agency has released a report that details improved approaches to assessing urban traffic congestion costs and provides estimates of congestion costs in Auckland, New Zealand.
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The Design of Stabilised Pavements in New Zealand
February 27, 2013
The New Zealand Transport Agency has released a report that discusses ways to improve the sustainability of New Zealand roads after carrying out a combination of Accelerated Pavement Tests by using stabilizing aggregates as an alternative to premium aggregates.
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Pavement Design Manual for Low Volume Sealed Roads in Malawi
February 27, 2013
The Malawi Road Authority has released a design manual that describes the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer approach to the design of low volume sealed roads. The report is available for without a fee after logging on to the site.
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In the Know
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Are Highways Crumbling? State and U.S. Highway Performance Trends, 1989–2008
February 27, 2013
The Reason Foundation has released a report that discusses the condition of the United States’ roads and bridges based on data from the Highway Performance Monitoring System, the National Bridge Inventory, the Fatal Accident Reporting System, and the Texas Transportation Institute’s reports on urban congestion.
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MOVE Magazine: Winter 2013
February 27, 2013
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has released the latest issue of its newsletter designed to disseminate industry news and information on technological developments relevant to the motor vehicle community.
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