Post COVID-19, State DOTs Make Progress on Telework

State departments of transportation are increasingly formalizing and standardizing decision-making about employee flexible work arrangements (FWAs) so that they are implemented more consistently and equitably.

Telecommuting, Remote Work, and Hybrid Schedules: Managing the Shift to a Flexible Work Future (NCHRP Research Report 1072), released this week, details how state DOTs are:

• working to formalize and standardize their FWA policies and procedures to ensure consistent decision-making and behavior
• providing managers with training on how to manage employees remotely and feel more comfortable with FWAs, and
• developing a process for determining measures of productivity for all types of jobs and creating benchmarks by which to measure in- and out-of-office employees.

For more on this topic, be sure to also read TRB's blog post, Telework Transportation Research in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Connect with Thousands of Transportation Professionals

Act now to secure your exhibit space at the 2024 TRB Annual Meeting. Don't miss this opportunity to demonstrate your organization's support for transportation research and innovation, and to showcase your products and services.

Awarding ACRP University Design Competition Winners

Graduate student teams from Purdue University and a team of undergraduate students from Pennsylvania State University are the winners of TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. Join us in-person (RSVP required) or online on August 8 from 1 - 3 PM EST to honor the students and their advisors. Winning projects are titled Accessible Air Travel Information Systems, Active Runway Indication System, RunwAI, and Implementing Airside Bioswales for Stormwater Management.

"Highlights" Brief Published on Recycled Infrastructure Plastics

In case you missed TRB's latest consensus study, Recycled Plastics in Infrastructure: Current Practices, Understanding, and Opportunities, we have released a 4-page Report Highlights. It highlights 10 key recommendations from the report and notes that both the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "can help promote and sustain a broad-based, coordinated government response."

Preparing Transportation Agencies for Connected and Automated Vehicles in Work Zones (NCHRP Research Report 1051), More widespread adoption and use of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) and supporting technologies could improve work zone safety. However, the full impacts of CAVs on work zones are not yet known.