What's New in Public Transportation

To improve your transportation research, TRIS is currently testing a new media-type for datasets in TRID . This new feature will allow TRIS to index datasets as unique outputs from projects with links to both ROSA P and the site where the dataset is published, while also referencing the final report supported by the dataset if appropriate. This new feature supports the U.S. Department of Transp...

For sponsors and those who registered for the 2021 TRB Annual Meeting, held in January, content from the conference is available online. To access it, please make sure you are logged into MyTRB, then click on the Online Program .  Multimedia content can be located by clicking on "More Details" under individual events. Content includes recordings for nearly all the sessions and workshops, a...

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/...

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/...

Safety technologies and programs aimed at reducing or eliminating risky driving behaviors may prevent a large number of crashes. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Transit IDEA Final Report 88: Evaluation of an Automatic, Individual Computer-Based Driver Education and Training Program analyzes a software program that uses onboard safety monitoring data to monito...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has issued a request for proposals to produce a primer on insurance issues for transit agencies that may operate bus, rail, paratransit, and other types of transit service. The primer will include best practices regarding the types of insurance that a public transit agency should purchase to ensure it is properly protected, including how to dete...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to identify and address legal issues related to resilience planning at the federal, state, and local levels. Proposals are due June 3, 2021 at 5:00 PM Eastern.

Join the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for a conversation about the social cost of carbon in the United States. Register for Climate Conversations: The Cost of Carbon , which will be April 15 from 3-4 p.m. EST. The social cost of carbon is a metric used for incorporating the economic impacts of carbon emissions into federal decision-making. Justin Worland (TIME) will...

Numerical Investigations of Virus Transport Aboard a Commuter Bus , released by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University

The September–October 2020 issue of TRB's magazine is now available in full online. Issue 330 includes the cover story, “Recycled Material Web Map,” and features articles on topics including incorporating resiliency into freight mobility, living with transformational technologies, and pollution-reducing highway barriers. TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovativ...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has issued a request for proposals to assist in conducting an Insight Event to understand how air quality inside transit vehicles might contribute to the spread of infections. Proposals are due June 3, 2021 at 5:00 PM Eastern.

It is crucial that executive management and emergency response planners at state transportation agencies (DOTs) work together. TRB will host a webinar on Thursday, May 6, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 PM Eastern that will provide guidance for DOT senior executives about how to embed resilience into transportation planning. Presenters will share ways they have minimized the impact of and avoided potentia...

Construction of Pedestrian Infrastructure along Transit Corridors , released by the Illinois Center for Transportation at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The latest podcast episode from Monash University features TRB Volunteer Brendon Hemily.

Amy Benedick, a senior study director at Westat, discusses current legislation about distracted driving, ways it can be enforced, and measures to educate the public. Listen to the podcast here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Reauthorizing Highway and Transit Funding Programs , released by the Congressional Research Service

Today, transit agencies gather and manage more data than ever. However, data processing, exploration, the development of performance metrics, and communicating decisions are often fragmented and scattered across many departments. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Synthesis 153: The Transit Analyst Toolbox: Analysis and Approaches for Reporting, Communicating, and Examining Tra...

The world is transforming its energy system from one dominated by fossil fuel combustion to one with net-zero emissions of carbon dioxide. Research overwhelmingly shows that this energy transition is critical to mitigating climate change, protecting human health, and revitalizing the economy. Achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the United States by 2050 is feasible and would not only help a...

The next episode of a webinar series on equity and the Black experience in transportation will be held on April 7. TRB Director of Technical Activities Ann Brach will moderate the event, which is hosted by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). Speakers Bradley Mims, Federal Aviation Administration Deputy Administrator and Warren Whitlock Federal Highway Administration’s Offic...

Transit reliability is critical to the operation and attractiveness of public transportation services. TRB is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 from 1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern that will clarify what factors determine bus reliability. Presenters will discuss relevant definitions, measurement tools, and strategies to improve reliability. They will also present a structure for an overall ...

How to Save the Subway Fare with Cannabis , released by the Rudin Center for Transportation at New York University

The January-February 2021 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on the challenges of truck size and weight—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 "Way of the Future: Airports at the Horizon of 2040 and 2070," by Gaël Le Bris; "Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supp...

On March 25, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about transportation priorities.

This is part of a series of blogs about funding transportation. The first discussed emergency funding while the disease was still in its earliest stages. A third part discusses the American Jobs Plan proposed in March 2021. Much of the transportation industry has struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic; however, vaccines are becoming increasingly available. Now is the time to increase emphasis...

Convened by Transportation Research Board, the 18th TRB Conference on Transportation Planning Applications (AppCon 2021) will be held in a virtual format June 21-24, 2021. AppCon attracts professionals from the academic, public, and private sectors to explore practical applications of transportation planning advances. The conference will include instructive and insightful presentation of the a...

Transportation Research Record (TRR) will be publishing a special, open-access issue featuring research relating to COVID-19 and transportation. Submissions will be accepted through April 30, 2021. We invite papers that address all aspects of pandemic-related effects on transportation, including: The COVID-19 pandemic and use of various travel modes The COVID-19 pandemic, telecommuting, and ac...

The availability of transportation influences the ability of individuals to access health care, whether in urban, suburban, or rural areas. TRB is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 from 1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern that will provide information to assist communities in improving transportation access to health care services. The webinar is geared toward providers of transportation services...

The spring of 2020 marked a change in how almost everyone conducted their personal and professional lives, both within science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global scientific conferences and individual laboratories and required people to find space in their homes from which to work. It blurred the boundaries between work ...

Transportation Research Record (TRR) is celebrating Women’s History Month by launching a special collection on Gender Issues in Transportation. The collection will include influential papers previously published in TRR and feature an introduction and analysis by TRR Associate Editor and inaugural Editor Board member Sandi Rosenbloom. You can preview the collection now. The full collection will...

In the latest episode of TRB's Transportation Explorers podcast, Norm Augustine, chair of TRB’s 2019 Future of the Interstate report, provides updates on how those recommendations could fit into President Biden’s infrastructure plans. Listen to the podcast here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. It is now available on all major podcast providers.