What's New in Planning and Forecasting

The International Transport Forum has released a report that provides an overview of Transport for London’s suite of connectivity tools and methodologies. Connectivity, or accessibility indicators, describes the extent to which users are able to access the transportation system and travel freely between locations to access jobs and services.

The Victoria Transport Policy Institute in British Columbia, Canada has released a report that evaluates the International Housing Affordability Survey (IHAS), which rates regional housing affordability. The IHAS uses the results to plan urban expansion, and this report assesses the IHAS’ methods, challenges, and recommendations.

Register and make hotel reservations today for the TRB 98th Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2019, in Washington, D.C. Registration is required for all Annual Meeting attendees, including session speakers, poster presenters, and those who attend the exhibit hall, career fair, or any workshops. Full Registration also includes full access to: *Annual Meeting Interactive Program (available in Novem...

The Victoria Transport Policy Institute in British Columbia, Canada, has released a report that explores why and how to implement more multimodal planning in rural areas and small towns. Current trends are increasing demand for non-auto travel options in rural communities, including aging populations, rising poverty, growing health and safety concerns, and growing tourist industries.

TRB's second annual Careers in Motion Networking Fair takes place on January 13, 2019 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, during the 2019 TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The event provides an opportunity for prospective employers from a wide range of sectors and modes to meet with transportation professionals interested in working for their organizatio...

The International Transport Forum has released a paper that summarizes current challenges facing accessibility planning and research. This report identifies the varying definitions of accessibility throughout Europe, discusses different implementation plans, and addresses to what extent accessibility is implemented in long-term planning.

The International Transport Forum has released a paper that defines an inaccessibility index which can reveal the diversity of people and their unmet needs. This paper seeks to acknowledge gaps in current accessibility planning by highlighting unmet needs related to specific activities and exploring activity characteristics such as travel time.

The Upper Great Plains Institute at North Dakota State University has released a report that develops a strategic plan for deploying battery electric buses (BEBs). The recent advancements of BEBs make them a viable replacement for diesel buses, but challenges remain concerning deploying BEBs and their required infrastructure.

Raquelle (Kelly) Myers, staff attorney with the National Indian Justice Center (NIJC), is a featured volunteer in the TR News . Ms. Myers’ areas of interest are federal Indian law, family law, and tribal transportation programs. At NIJC, she aids the organization’s mission to improve the justice systems, health, and welfare in tribal communities, focusing on tribal transportation issues. While ...

The International Transport Forum has released a report that summarizes different perspectives and approaches to measuring accessibility, reviews the strengths and weaknesses of different accessibility indicators, and describes the use of accessibility indicators in the Dutch policy and planning practice. Accessibility is a critical component of physical planning and spatial modelling, as it pr...

The Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University has released a report that explores how growth and transit investment have been linked in the past, and how they can be linked today and for future planning. This report maintains that there is a need to accommodate transit capacity issues as New York City considers future zoning changes.

TRB turns 100 on November 11, 2020. To commemorate this milestone, TRB has a yearlong celebration planned that will begin in January 2020 to recognize and honor the extraordinary record of achievements accomplished by TRB’s volunteers, sponsors, affiliates, friends, and staff. Please support TRB's upcoming centennial anniversary activities by contributing to the Century Club (individuals) or Ce...

TRB will conduct a webinar on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET that will discuss the challenges transportation agencies have with attracting, developing, training, developing and retaining the planning workforce for the twenty-first century. This webinar will highlight case studies two agencies used to develop their future planning workforce. Presenters will demonstrate appro...

The Institute of Transport Studies at Monash University has released the latest issue of its bimonthly newsletter, which is designed to highlight recently added items to the World Transit Research database. This edition features research on planning, ridership, economics, and more.

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to provide guidance for transportation planners, engineers, and orientation and mobility specialists that will allow for consistency in the design, installation, and usability of tactile walking surface indicators in multimodal transportation in the United States. Proposals are due October 17, 2018.

Mary E. Peters is the 2019 recipient of the Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation. Ms. Peters is former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. She is currently principal of Mary Peters Consulting Group, LLC. The Award will be presented during the Annual Meeting's Cha...

TRB is sponsoring the 17th National Transportation Planning Applications Conference on June 2-5, 2019, in Portland, Oregon. The conference focuses on providing opportunities to showcase new transportation planning techniques and methods emphasizing practical, innovative, and timely technical and policy approaches to transportation planning.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that analyzes the impacts of connected vehicle (CV) technology on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) planning processes and implementation. This report investigates the need for new or enhanced tools, techniques, and data to support ITS planning and operations activities with regards to CV technology.

The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics in Australia has released a report that summarizes past Bureau transportation forecasts, including those in road traffic, vehicle numbers, passenger travel, freight, airports, ports, congestion, and emissions. The goal of this report is to identify major types of errors in past forecasts and draw relevant lessons for future forecast...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 246: Volume 1: TRAQS User Guide provides guidance for using the TRansportation Air Quality System (TRAQS). TRAQS is an open source software designed to conduct mobile air quality assessments for three primary purposes: Project-Level Conformity (Hot-Spot Analyses) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) General Transp...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 246: Volume 2: TRAQS: A Combined Interface for Project-Level Air Quality Analysis documents the development of TRAQS (TRansportation Air Quality System), a Graphical User Interface-based software application that simplifies project-level air quality analysis of mobile source emissions. TRAQS integrates the “modeling c...

TRB released a series of recordings in August 2018 about the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Insight Event : Challenges to Successful Land Use Strategies at Airports , which took place April 10-11, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The event brought together airport and community planners to discuss effective strategies for improving the ability of airports and community planners to partner...

TRB conducted a webinar on Thursday, September 6, 2018 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET that examined the impacts of technologies such as connected/autonomous vehicles and ridesharing services on transportation revenues. As these technologies change the way people travel, they are displacing traditional revenue streams for transportation programs. This webinar addressed the current and anticipated im...

Titles, dates, times, and brief descriptions are now available for the 100+ specialty workshops at the TRB 98th Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2019, in Washington, D.C. Annual Meeting registration is required for all workshop attendees. The Human Factors workshops, which are those with titles beginning with “HR,” have limited attendance and require a separate registration and fee. Mark your cal...

Austroads has released a report that describes key issues and considerations related to the implementation process of road tunnels in the context of a safe system, general planning, structural design, drainage, geology and the environment. It is the first in a series of guides to road tunnels. The report is available for no fee after logging onto the site.

TRB conducted a webinar on Monday, August 20, 2018, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET that discusses the Observation Method for Scour (OMS) tool. Bridge scour is the number one cause of bridge failures in the United States. OMS addresses uncertainties in bridge design associated with bridge scour predictions by relying significantly on past observations at the bridge. This webinar presented bridge sco...

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that provides an update of the original community impact assessment from 1996. The intent of this report is to ensure that it reflects current laws and regulations and incorporates technological advancements and expanded techniques available to transportation practitioners. Community impact refers to the effects a transportation acti...

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that provides information about preparing a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Performance Plan for Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). MPOs and state departments of transportations are required to carry out CMAQ plans as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) federal law.

TRB has released a new video highlighting the 2018 Automated Vehicles Symposium, held in San Francisco California July 9-12, 2018. Plan to attend the 2019 symposium, scheduled for July 15-18, 2019, in Orlando, Florida.

The 2018 TRB Annual Meeting hosted its first Strategic War Game, and a new video has been released to summarize this year's event. War games are fast-paced simulations involving teams that represent a market or customer, a set of competitors, and a series of other uncontrollable factors or entities. At this year’s TRB Annual Meeting, eight teams worked in an interactive environment to develop p...