Recycling is a concept that most of society supports as a practice that can benefit the environment and overall well-being, as well as reduce the needs and costs associated with raw materials. However, the conversation needs to shift from just recycling to responsible recycling. This is the focus of a feature article in the November-December 2020 issue of TRB's magazine, TR News (Issue 330). TR Ne...

British–Hungarian Nobel Prize physicist Dennis Gabor wrote: “The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented." Considering in a reasonable and logical way what the implications of new technologies may be and acting on our conclusions is how the future is invented. This is the focus of a feature article in the November-December 2020 issue of TRB's magazine, TR News (Issue 330). TR News&...

Issue 328 of TRB's magazine, TR News , is dedicated to water and the role of transportation agencies in the stewardship of this vital resource, particularly as the way humans use water is changing dramatically. Authors explore the evolution of stormwater regulation; how departments of transportation manage water in planning, design, construction, and operations; and more. TR News  is TRB's bi...

Issue 327 of TRB's magazine is a special edition illuminating the many hidden aspects of tunnels as well as the benefits of tunnel technology to modern transportation systems. Articles highlight the contribution of tunnels to the economy and how transportation operators use the best technology to keep tunnels efficient and safe. TR News  is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles o...

State highway agency equipment fleet assets are vital to the delivery of agency programs, projects, and services. Measuring, monitoring, and reporting on asset utilization levels are necessary for the management of the equipment fleet and meeting the highway agency’s business needs. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 957: Utilization Measurement and Manag...

Pavement recycling is a technology that can restore the service life of pavement structures and stretch available funding for pavement rehabilitation. In general, pavement recycling techniques remix the existing pavement material and reuse it in the final pavement in the form of a stabilized layer. Limitations to further widespread implementation of pavement recycling processes have been reported ...

The November-December 2020 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on the development of a Recycled Material Web Map—is available in hard copy and digital copy for subscribers. For those who are not subscribers, the table of contents is available. Other feature articles in the issue include "Living with Transformational Technologies and Other Surprises," "Asphalt Recycling: History of Recycled Mate...

The September–October 2020 issue of TRB's magazine is now available in full online. Themed “Embracing the Future,” the issue celebrates TRB’s centennial with articles forecasting the future of transportation. Authors present outlooks that are multimodal, creative, diverse, inclusive, and thought-provoking, offering a pause point for transportation researchers, policy makers, and practitioners as t...

The year 2020’s raging coronavirus pandemic and reckoning with long-standing racial injustice led to widespread disruption and suffering, social unrest, and renewed calls for an accounting of our fragmented public health system and troubled history of racial inequity. The crises of 2020 transcend transportation yet also raise fundamental questions for it along with other sectors of our society and...

The 2020 Annual Report summarizes TRB’s accomplishments in each of its major program areas and how TRB has served the nation and the global transportation professional community throughout 2020. TRB provides leadership in transportation improvements and innovation through trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange, research, and advice regarding all modes of transportation...

One critical need for monitoring and improving transportation rail safety is early-stage pre-catastrophic-failure detection of rail breakage, or emerging faults under trains. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final Report 36: Onboard High-Bandwidth Fiber-Optic Sensing System for Broken Rail Detection details the development of an innovative onboar...

Many transportation departments have significant practical experience with bridge preservation and have developed conclusions regarding the effectiveness of bridge preservation actions based on those experiences. However, limited efforts have been made to identify, measure, evaluate, and document the short- and long-term performance of specific bridge preservation actions. The TRB National Coopera...

The occurrence of rail defects, broken rails, and broken rail derailments is consistent with the rate of development found in other studies that look at larger populations of rail defects. Likewise, the larger and more heavily used transit systems develop increased levels of defects, which is again consistent with what is seen in the railroad industry at large. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research...

Third rail systems provide traction power to electrified rail systems in many parts of the world, including the United States, and encounter problems such as failures that need to be investigated and remediated. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Synthesis 150: Third Rail Insulator Failures: Current State of the Practice  documents the present practices and lessons learned, c...

Understanding pandemics, their impacts to transportation, and potential effective response has become more important, not only for the response to COVID-19, but also if, as the World Health Organization warns, we are now “living in a time of viruses.” TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Program have jointly issued this pre-publication draft of NCHRP...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has proven a formidable adversary worldwide, with tremendous impact on the United States. The transportation system is an essential element of our response to this pandemic but has also been significantly impacted across all modes, both passenger and goods movement. This environment is where research is needed most. TRB's Transportation Research Circular E-C267: Summary of T...

Understanding pandemics, their impacts to transportation, and potential effective response has become more important, not only for the response to COVID-19, but also if, as the World Health Organization warns, we are now “living in a time of viruses.” TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Program have jointly issued this pre-publication draft of NCHRP...

Although researchers have developed instrumentation for scour detection around bridge piers, the current state-of-the-art practice relies upon visual inspection by divers. As a potential alternative to the traditional methods, this research explored the possibilities of using non-contact and remote sensing-based laser ranging technique for scour mapping and monitoring. The TRB IDEA (Innovations De...

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted transportation agencies across the U.S. in a variety of ways. On July 15, 2020, TRB's Transportation Asset Management Committee hosted a webinar that featured executives and CEOs from state, regional, and transit agencies. Transportation Research Circular E-C266: Transportation Asset Management in a COVID-19 World captures the details of the discussion on how the...

TRB hosted the Transportation Resilience 2019: 2nd International Conference on Transportation Resilience to Natural Hazards and Extreme Weather Events (TR2019) at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., November 13–15, 2019. The primary purpose of TR2019 program was to present advancements made in transportation systems resilience to natural hazards, climate change, and impa...

The Alabama Department of Transportation (DOT) incorporated post-construction stormwater management design into the overall roadway design process. The Texas DOT developed the approval process for products used in the construction of a roadway to promote vegetation. And the Virginia DOT improved the management of data associated with stormwater infrastructure best management practices to effective...

The July-August 2020 issue of TR News —with a focus on stormwater—is available in hard copy and digital copy for subscribers. For those who are not subscribers, the table of contents is available. Feature articles in the issue include "Integrating Stormwater Infrastructure into State Department of Transportation Processes," "Transportation Perspective on Virginia’s Nonpoint Source Nutrient Credit ...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and equity issues will be included soon in   Critical Issues in Transportation 2019 . In this report, which is updated periodically by the TRB Executive Committee, a series of challenging questions are posed to explore issues and opportunities that may arise 10 to 20 years into the future. These questions, 63 in all, have been organized into 12 topic areas ...

Issue 326 of TRB's magazine dives into details from the TRB 99th Annual Meeting, which had a record crowd of nearly 14,000 attendees gathered January 12–16, 2020, in Washington, D.C. The March–April 2020 TR News features photo highlights from the Annual Meeting along with more coverage of the conference. TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-a...

The May–June 2020 issue of TR News is a special edition illuminating the many hidden aspects of tunnels as well as the benefits of tunnel technology to modern transportation systems. Articles highlight the contribution of tunnels to the economy and how transportation operators use the best technology to keep tunnels efficient and safe.

Pavement warranties have been common in the United States at various points in time, coming back into favor during the 1990s. While there is no national pavement warranty standard, agencies have developed their own specifications with varying criteria. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 553: Performance-Based Pavement Warranty Practices documents highway agency...

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 th...

Slope failures pose serious risks for state transportation agencies and federal agencies that own or maintain roads, highways, and/or adjacent property. Many transportation agencies have adopted unstable slope management programs and standards as part of a larger effort to provide an efficient and effective methodology to prevent or control landslides or rockfalls. The TRB National Cooperative Hig...

Issue Number 326 of TR News magazine is available in full to subscribers. Here is a sample from the issue: a 14-page photo collage of the 99th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting from January 12–16, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Do you see yourself in any of the photos?

The March-April 2020 issue of TR News (#326) - including a cover feature on TRB's "century of progress and foundation for the future" of transportation research - is available in hard copy and digital copy for subscribers. For those who are not subscribers, the table of contents is available. Other feature articles in the issue include ones on whether research processes can keep up, accessible rai...