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  NCHRP Research Report 963/TCRP Research Report 225: A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies , which was created to improve transpo...

The accurate characterization of the in situ aging of asphalt pavement materials over the service life of the pavement is of utmost importance to the implementation of mechanistic empirical (ME) pavement design and analysis methods. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's pre-publication draft of NCHRP   Research Report 973: Long-Term Aging of Asphalt Mixtures for Performance Testing and Prediction: Phase III Results refines the aging procedure developed in the original NCHRP Researc...

Run-off-road traffic crashes account for almost one-third of the deaths and serious injuries each year on U.S. highways. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 296: Guidelines for Cost-Effective Safety Treatments of Roadside Ditches provides new proposed design guidance for the configuration of ditches adjacent to the roadway. A supplemental PowerPoint Summary is available.

Light emitting diode (LED) technology has revolutionized the lighting industry. The dimming and instant-on capabilities of these light sources along with their high efficiency have allowed lighting designers to overcome some of the limitations of previous technologies, particularly in roadway lighting environments. However, concerns related to the health and environmental impacts of LEDs have been raised. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 968: LED Roadway Light...

Effective transportation asset management (TAM) depends on having good data about the assets under management, their descriptions, current condition and history, functional performance, and the activities conducted to develop, maintain, improve, and rehabilitate them during the course of their service lives. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 956: Guidebook for Data and Information Systems for Transportation Asset Management presents a structured approach for as...

Transportation officials recognize that a reliable and sustainable transportation system is needed to fulfill their agency’s mission and goals. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's pre-publication draft of NCHRP Research Report 970: Mainstreaming System Resilience Concepts into Transportation Agencies: A Guide provides transportation officials with a self-assessment tool to assess the current status of an agency’s efforts to improve the resilience of the transportation system through t...

Over the last decade, state departments of transportation (DOTs) have begun to use vehicle probe and cellular GPS data for a variety of purposes, including real-time traffic and incident monitoring, highway condition, and travel demand management. DOTs are also using vehicle probe and cellular GPS data to inform system planning and investment decisions. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 561: Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transport...

Digital terrain models (DTMs) are three-dimensional (3D) models of the ground surface showing natural features such as ridges and breaklines. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 560: Practices for Construction-Ready Digital Terrain Models documents processes and strategies used by state departments of transportation (DOTs) for the use and transfer of DTMs from design into the construction phase of highway projects.

Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies have become more common in the United States as state departments of transportation grapple with increasing congestion and fewer dollars available to add capacity to keep pace. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 286: Principles and Guidance for Presenting Active Traffic Management Information to Drivers develops and details principles and guidance for presenting drivers with dynamic information that can be frequently ...

Asphalt binders experience aging that occurs in two distinct stages under quite different conditions: (1) short-term during construction (plant mixing, storage, placement, and compaction) and (2) long-term during the service life of the pavement. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's pre-publication of NCHRP Research Report 967: Asphalt Binder Aging Methods to Accurately Reflect Mixture Aging documents research conducted to improve laboratory binder conditioning methods to accurately si...