Cooperative Research Programs Series
Periodicals and Other Documents
|
TRB Weekly
TRB Weekly is a free weekly email newsletter designed to keep you up-to-date on TRB activities and to highlight select transportation research-related activities taking place at the federal and state levels, and within the academic and international transportation communities. Subscribe to have the latest version delivered to your inbox.
Subscribe
Send comments or questions about TRB Weekly to trbnews@nas.edu. TRB highlights external reports and publications that are available online
without a fee and are published within the past 60 days. TRB is not able
to highlight external journal or web articles, events that are not sponsored or
cosponsored by TRB, or promotional materials.
Select from the list below to view this year and last year's TRB Weekly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRB Weekly covers the latest in transportation research.
|
|
|
- More than 60 workshops will be featured on the first and last days of the 2026 TRB Annual Meeting. Workshop details are now available! Lectern and poster sessions will be announced in November.
- Plan now! If your company is sending more than four people to the meeting, increase your organization's visibility and maximize your registration and marketing budget by becoming a patron. Select the patron package that makes sense for you.
|
|
| September Spotlight: Workforce |
|
|
|
The transportation industry has an all-encompassing need for an increasingly qualified workforce. Developing a pipeline of employees to replace retirees and developing the skills and job satisfaction of the existing workforce are crucial to filling these gaps. As our systems become more technologically complex, the future workforce will need higher skill levels, a more diverse base of disciplinary perspectives, and adaptability. To that end, the National Academies released this Transportation Workforce Collection this week.
Among the publications in the Collection:
- Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the 2030 Transportation Workforce: Design, Construction, and Maintenance (2022)
- The Air Traffic Controller Workforce Imperative: Staffing Models and Their Implementation to Ensure Safe and Efficient Airspace Operations (2025)
- Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work (2025)
|
|
|
Construction contract documents for state departments of transportation (DOTs) have begun changing from paper or two-dimensional (2D) plans to 3D models that are contractually binding. This aligns with contractors and inspectors, who are using 3D models directly to support project activities and communicate the design intent. This change is, however, a challenge for state DOTs. NCHRP Research Report 1153: Digital Model–Based Project Development and Delivery: A Guide for Quality Management and NCHRP Web-Only Document 428: Quality Management for Digital Model–Based Project Development and Delivery were released this week from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program. They are designed to assist state DOTs in their review of 3D models that are contractually binding and to advance the use of digital project development and delivery.
|
|
|
TRB's Top Downloaded Publication in August: NCHRP Research Report 1061: Highway and Street Design Vehicles: An Update (released September 1, 2023)
|
|
September 5 – TRB Webinar: Data-Driven Strategies for Efficient Pavement Systems
|
|
September 9 – TRB Webinar: Displaying Good Traffic Safety Messages on Variable Message Signs
|
|
September 13 – TRB Webinar: Find Transportation Research That is Happening Today
|
|
September 22 – TRB Webinar: The Future of Commuter Rail in North America
|
|
October 1 – Join TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program staff and transit leaders for TCRP Day in Washington, D.C. Program highlights, research impacts, a fireside chat with a Federal Transit Administration leader, and a live podcast taping of Transit Unplugged with Paul Comfort will focus on the theme “Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Enhance the Transit Customer Experience.” Register by September 19 to attend in person.
|
|
October 2 - 4 – Register to join the LIT Leadership Summit in Albuquerque, NM. One of the sessions, on "Mental Health and the Transit Employee," will be moderated by TRB Executive Director Victoria Sheehan. TRB has an MOU with LIT to further its mission to empower professionals in the transit industry to achieve leadership roles by advancing opportunities for workforce development, mentorship, networking and education.
|
|
Reports on timely legal issues, compilations of case law, and specific solutions are available via TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program Legal Research Digests. Help shape future digests on a legal topic relevant to you. Submit your problem statement by September 15.
|
|
We need your expertise in snow and ice control operations! Nominate yourself or others to serve on a TRB National Highway Cooperative Research Program project oversight panel by October 1.
|
|
|
The rapid emergence of innovative technologies, including advanced imaging, sensors, artificial intelligence, and high-speed computing and communications are accelerating dramatic shifts in highway engineering, design, and operations. TRB Executive Committee member Ricardo Martinez writes at the Eno Center for Transportation about what these changes mean for traffic deaths and injuries, citing TRB Special Report 354: Tackling the Road Safety Crisis: Saving Lives Through Research and Action.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|