On behalf of the TRB Executive Committee, the thousands of volunteers involved in TRB committees and research panels, and the TRB staff, we are pleased to report on the work done in 2020, the 100th year of the Transportation Research Board. The past year has been one of unprecedented challenges, but also one of major accomplishments as evidenced in our
2020 Annual Report. This year has demonstrated more than ever the value of TRB as a trusted source for timely and relevant information when transportation decision makers and professionals are faced with difficult challenges.
TRB officially celebrated its 100th anniversary in November with a
webinar exploring the future of transportation. TRB’s mission—to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research—is as pertinent today as it was in 1920. Throughout the year, TRB’s volunteers and friends helped “
Tell Us ‘Our’ Story" on a monthly basis. You shared your stories, which are our stories, and they serve as testament to the important role TRB plays.
TRB’s Centennial year began with the largest Annual Meeting in TRB’s history. More than 14,000 participants came to Washington, D.C. from across the United States and around the globe. All U.S. state departments of transportation were represented, as well as many federal, state, local, and foreign governmental agencies; private-sector companies; and academic and research institutions from around the world.
An official recounting of TRB’s history was published in the centennial book,
The Transportation Research Board, 1920–2020: Everyone Interested Is Invited. More than 5,300 books were distributed during the 2020 TRB Annual Meeting and copies remain available for purchase.
Critical updates
Two topics became top priorities for TRB to address during 2020: (1) the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on transportation and (2) social and racial equity issues in transportation. TRB has been identifying priority policy and research issues for each of these topics for the transportation community to address. Special updates on COVID-19 and equity will be released soon as part of the Critical Issues publication series. Within TRB, a number of activities took place or are planned related to both COVID-19 and social and racial equity. Some of these activities are described in the annual report.
Two new standing committees also are addressing ongoing research related to COVID-19 and social equity: the
Standing Committee on Transportation and Public Health and the
Standing Committee on Equity in Transportation.
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic brought unimagined challenges to the transportation industry. COVID-19 has had a profound impact on both the transportation system and the transportation community. In achieving our mission, TRB’s first priority is, and always will be, the safety and health of our thousands of volunteers and dedicated staff. As a result, TRB meetings, workshops, and other convening activities were quickly converted to a virtual format or, in the case of some larger conferences, delayed until 2021. TRB adapted to its new environment and its work continued unabated.
Implementing the plan
TRB’s current five-year
strategic plan adopted in June 2019, contains six goals:
- Information Exchange
- Research
- Advice
- Collaboration
- Workforce Development
- Communication
In 2020, progress was made in a variety of ways.
Exchanging evolving information and resources
Much of TRB’s work examines data over significant periods of time with review and analysis. Events in 2020 led the industry to seek out best practices that may have changed by the day as situations evolved. To meet these shifting needs, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are rapidly mobilizing critical expertise to inform government response and recovery efforts with evidence-based guidance, and are facilitating collaboration across research disciplines and between the public and private sectors.
COVID-19 Transportation Resources pulls together key pandemic findings specifically geared toward the transportation industry.
Americans are calling for action to address long-standing social and racial inequity issues in the midst of a global pandemic that is disproportionately impacting minorities and other vulnerable communities the hardest. Collaborative research can shed light on the factors that drive systemic racial inequities with the goal of based on evidence. A range of studies, webinars, and other activities at the National Academies have explored this research, some of which are highlighted in
Resources on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Researching both timely and persistent issues
TRB research is particularly focused on innovative and implementable practices and technologies. TRB has issued an urgent and directed call for
Research Needs Statements Specific to Transportation and Pandemics. At the same time, TRB continues to administer research into the ongoing day-to-day issues facing transportation.
TRB’s most-downloaded publications in 2020 reveals the country’s focus on future improvements to transportation service levels and on the environment. Top downloaded reports are:
·
Analysis of Recent Public Transit Ridership Trends
·
Zero Emission Vehicles: Forecasting Fleet Scenarios and their Emissions Implications
·
Guidebook for Deploying Zero-Emission Transit Buses
·
Incorporating the Costs and Benefits of Adaptation Measures in Preparation for Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change—Guidebook
Advising and informing policy
Formal policy advice comes through TRB’s consensus studies. As part of the National Academies, TRB study committees provide formal advice to the federal government through consensus studies like
Leveraging Unmanned Systems for Coast Guard Missions. Each study committee produces a report with evidence-based conclusions and recommendation that are subject to the National Academies’ rigorous report review process.
Study committees also review U.S. Department of Transportation research programs, with reports like
Review of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Research and Development Program. Additionally, TRB provides useful information that informs policy discussions at all levels of government through workshops and research reports.
In May, TRB’s Insight Event,
Flight Plan to Recovery: Preparing Airports and their Business Partners for the Return of the Flying Public convened experts to offer insights on a range of issues affecting the airline industry. The event covered public safety, passenger emotions and sense of safety and security, and financial stability along with mitigation strategies to enable recovery in the post-lockdown environment. Providing a platform to share this information helped inform airport operators across the country as they made operational and policy decisions in response to the pandemic.
The TRB Executive Committee cosponsored a scenario planning study,
Public Transit and Shared Mobility COVID-19 Recovery in concert with the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies. The study offers policy options based on possible future scenarios across three timeframes—within 12 months, one to three years, and four to six years—to assist in addressing the business recovery of public transit and shared mobility services along with increasing mobility for all, particularly those in marginalized communities.
Strengthening collaborative relationships
The transportation industry is complex and is made up of a wide range of actors. TRB partners with U.S. and international organizations to ensure its advice, research, and collaboration is including all voices.
Throughout the year, TRB implemented a “strategic alignment” of its standing committees’ structure to ensure that the talent of TRB’s thousands of volunteers can focus on 21st century critical and emerging transportation issues within an organization that is flexible enough to respond to rapidly-changing circumstances.
To share perspectives on all the biggest issues surrounding automated vehicles and shared mobility, TRB offers the
Forum on Preparing for Automated Vehicles and Shared Mobility Systems. Forum members offered two public events: one focused on
scenario planning, and one focused on expected impact in
technology deployment from COVID-19.
COVID-19 Impacts on Global Shipping was the topic of shared conversation during TRB’s Marine Board spring meeting bringing together experts in economics, private industry, and port management.
TRB and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration convened their experts and representatives from the industry at large to better contextualize the factors that will
influence changes in travel demand in the near-to-midterm future, identify critical questions that support understanding, including longer-term developments, and consider how the trends may affect mode demand. Traditional travel demand looked at 20 years in the future. With the changes we’ve seen in 2020, there is less certainty in 5-year predictions than were used in developing the 20-year predictions.
Preparing the workforce
TRB offers webinars for professional development. In March, an
introductory webinar that clarified lessons learned from other major disruptions has been watched by over 2,000 people. Subsequent rapid-response webinars took a look at more nuanced issues, including the
supply chain and overall
traffic trends and
effects on asset management.
TRB’s new blogs bring together the wide range of resources available on topics that are shaping the future of transportation. A series of posts explored TRB’s offerings on
building socioeconomic equity, transportation
accessibility for people with disabilities, and improving
workplace diversity and inclusion.
Students starting careers in transportation research find opportunities through TRB. The
Minority Student Fellows Program welcomed another outstanding class to the 2020 TRB Annual Meeting. The TCRP and
ACRP Ambassadors programs allowed professionals a chance to really promote the organization. Graduate level aviation students present and publish work in
Transportation Research Record (TRR) through close work with advisors in the
ACRP Graduate Research Awards program.
Instead of a traditional aviation textbook, Kim Kenville at the University of North Dakota uses the ACRP
Guidebook for Managing Small Airports in her classes. “This publication is just so consumable, useable, and the information is in chunks that fit perfectly into hourly type lectures. (The) students ... can learn more and find things easily," Kenville said.
Emmett Municipal Airport, outside of Boise, Idaho, “took every bit of advice” from ACRP’s
Combining Mixed-Use Flight Operations Safely at Airports. The resulting success has led airport management to consult other ACRP reports, particularly pavement guidelines for small airports.
New ways to communicate TRB’s story
One of the most visible changes to TRB in 2020, especially as we moved to an increasingly online world, is the update to TRB’s website. The new website shows off a modern design, but also highlights the clear connections to the National Academies. Other new features include a blog and an events calendar integrating other offerings from the National Academies. Our Global Affiliates’ logos are featured on the homepage. In March, TRB surveyed weekly newsletter subscribers, finding insights into TRB’s community in preparation for future updates to make communications even more engaging.
The COVID-19 pandemic had an immense impact on transportation in 2020. Early on, TRB research was highlighted in an article by
The Washington Post citing the importance of planning as detailed in the Airport Cooperative Research Program’s
Airport Roles in Reducing Transmission of Communicable Diseases. As the pandemic progressed, articles in
The Washington Post, POLITICO,
Transport Topics, WAMU, and
Government Technology noted TRB research in topics ranging from public transit subsidies, to airplane safety, to changing travel behavior.
Public transit ridership began declining before COVID-19.
The New York Times examined the topic and noted an
active TRB project analyzing the causes and responses. The findings may be applicable to the post-pandemic world while remaining relevant in the long term.
TRB’s
Committee for a Study on the Feasibility of Wheelchair Restraint Systems in Passenger Aircraft continued to hold public panel sessions while conducting their research. An in-depth review of travel accessibility for people with disabilities by
USA Today reported on the panel’s work. The final research is expected this year.
Looking forward
As we enter the Transportation Research Board’s second century, we hope that you will contribute to advances in transportation through actively participating in TRB’s convening, research, and advising activities; taking advantage of the numerous resources that TRB makes available to the transportation professional community; and learning from the brightest and best who make TRB the premier transportation research organization that it is.
Some of the biggest challenges of 2020 were already on TRB’s radar with research in the works. Research that was started before the pandemic may now point to new directions in understanding current
micromobility practice and policies in the U.S. Transit employees who operate vehicles are essential and are vulnerable to COVID-19. Consequently, the new guide for
bus operator workforce management will address recruitment, training, retention, and reward of these important employees.
Questions of systemic equity are not new to public transit services and, as the pandemic disproportionately affected people of color and those in blue collar essential services positions, equity is becoming a central focus in transportation. A
playbook for addressing inclusion in mobility for traditionally and underserved populations is underway. Forthcoming TRB syntheses will assess the equity impacts of
bus network redesigns and look into the coordination of public transit with investments in
affordable housing policies.
TRB’s
Critical Issues in Transportation 2019 reflect the issues the Executive Committee charged TRB’s programs and committees to focus on. Transportation issues change quickly and have already developed since publication. Mobility technology and services evolve regularly, the population is shifting locations and behaviors in response to the pandemic, and the changing economy requires new ways of thinking about finance. In response to the focus on COVID-19’s impact on transportation, as well as on social and racial equity issues in transportation, TRB will be issuing addenda to the 2019 critical issue document addressing these two topic areas.
Because the need for knowledge hasn’t changed,
TRB’s 100th Annual Meeting (TRBAM) will be conducted as a virtual event over a series of dates throughout January 2021. The TRB Annual Meeting is the preeminent global event for transportation researchers, educators, practitioners, and students to connect and learn about the latest developments in transportation policy, research, and innovation.
As TRB turns to its next 100 years, this professional community of friends and volunteers--whether in-person or virtually--will continue leading impartial research, facilitating objective dialogues, and fostering innovative strategies. We have seen firsthand the need for continued leadership from TRB in an ever-evolving environment.
Thank you for all that you do for TRB!
Carlos Braceras
TRB Executive Committee Chair
Executive Director of the Utah Department of Transportation
Susan Shaheen
TRB Executive Committee Vice Chair
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Co-Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at University of California, Berkeley
Neil Pedersen
TRB Executive Director
TRB publications cited in this article:
TRB events cited in this article:
TRB programs cited in this article:
TRB Standing Committees cited in this article:
TRB resources cited in this article:
Forthcoming research:
External links:
Contact:
Beth Ewoldsen, Content Strategist
Transportation Research Board
202-334-2353;
bewoldsen@nas.edu
Published January 4, 2021
This Summary Last Modified On: 1/5/2021