Extreme weather events and a changing climate increasingly boost costs to transportation agencies and to the traveling public. While Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are taking into account changing climate and extreme weather when making infrastructure decisions, they typically are not using a formal set of tools or cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) to address climate resilience because they may be too time-consuming and expensive to conduct routinely. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Progra...

The fixed-base operator (FBO) industry provides aeronautical services to a wide spectrum of aircraft operators at airports. The term FBO is defined by the FAA as “a business granted the right by the airport sponsor to operate on an airport and provide aeronautical services . . .” The most basic FBO offers its customers self-service fueling, as well as a set of core services such as use of hangars, ground services, and, sometimes, aircraft maintenance. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP S...

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 that TRB can be best understood as an infrastructure—one that people purposely designed and devotedly maintained.

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 Highway Research Program's NCHRP LRD 82: Potential Liability Associated with Unstable Slope Management Programs ...

As the frequency of commercial space operations and number of licensed launch sites in the United States continue to grow rapidly, accurately assessing the impacts of propulsion noise and sonic booms on surrounding communities will become even more critical. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Web-Only Document 47: Commercial Space Operations Noise and Sonic Boom Measurements develops a well-documented, high-fidelity database of acoustic measurements acquired using a consistent data colle...

The findings of this survey report show that providing light beyond the limits of the roadway travel lanes benefits drivers’ visual performance and that the spectral content of light-emitting diode (LED) sources should be a design consideration. The study also found that, at present, there are no health impacts from properly designed roadway lighting. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's  NCHRP Research Report 940: Solid-State Roadway Lighting Design Guide: Volume 2: Research Over...

The lighting industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. The optical system design of legacy high-intensity discharge (HID) luminaires was restricted to the lamp, refractor, and reflector design, which had limits in the distribution of the light, controls, and adaptability. Roadway luminaires have moved beyond this design methodology to include the vast possibilities presented by solid-state lighting (SSL). At present, in the form of light emitting diodes (LED), SSL uses lower energy, reduces...

Current legislation and subsequent asset management rules require state departments of transportation (DOTs) to conduct statewide evaluations of roads, highways, and bridges that have required repair and reconstruction activities two or more times since 1997 due to emergency events as declared by the president of the United States or by a state’s governor. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 556: Asset Management Approaches to Identifying and Evaluating Assets Damaged ...

The increasing incidence of wildfires, especially in the western half of the United States, poses many challenges to communities. Along with needs related to aspects of the environment, rebuilding communities, public health, and emergency preparedness, addressing transportation and infrastructure-related issues is key to helping to prevent future wildfires, fighting them while they are happening, and rebuilding communities and people’s lives after the fires. This is the subject of a feature in TR News ma...

Issue Number 326 of TR News magazine is available in full to subscribers. Here is a sample from the issue: a feature article on the trap that drivers could fall into by believing that autonomous vehicles are more capable than they really are. As with traditional driving instruction, a solid understanding of the concepts of automation is important—not just knowing which buttons to press.