What's New in Vehicles and Equipment

TRB and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) are jointly sponsoring the 14th National Light Rail & Streetcar Conference on April 7-9, 2019 in Jersey City, New Jersey. The theme of this conference is "Resurgence and Renewal." The conference features at least two primary tracks, one dedicated to planning and the other dedicated to technical design and operations. An internati...

The Accident Research Centre at Monash University in Australia has released a report that characterizes motorcycle-related road trauma. This report identifies factors affecting crash risk and injury outcomes for motorcyclists related to motorcycle type and other attributes including engine capacity and power to weight ratio. The goal of the report is to guide effective safety interventions and ...

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released the latest issue of its Research and Technology (R&T) Now news update. Each issue reports on research, technology, and development activities taking place within the U.S. Department of Transportation. This edition features information about: New federal guidance for automated vehicles Wildlife monitoring technologies Cooperative Au...

The Future of Transport in the United Kingdom (UK) has released a report that investigates the feasibility of investing in Electric Road Systems (ERS), which are technologies that allow vehicles to charge while in motion. This report includes a cost-benefit analysis for ERS uptake and provides recommendations for road administrators.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration's has released the latest edition of its Public Roads magazine. The magazine highlights developments in federal highway policies, programs, and research and technology. This edition features information about: Information exchange on freight policy Self-diagnosing bridges Renewable roadsides Connected vehicles in Wyoming

TRB's Conference Proceedings 56: Socioeconomic Impacts of Automated and Connected Vehicles summarizes a symposium held in June 26–27, 2018, in Brussels, Belgium. Hosted by the European Commission and TRB, it was the sixth annual symposium sponsored by the European Commission and the United States. The goals of these symposia are to promote common understanding, efficiencies, and trans-Atlantic ...

TRB has released Critical Issues in Transportation 2019 . In this report, which is updated periodically by the TRB Executive Committee, a series of challenging questions are posed to explore issues and opportunities that may arise 10 to 20 years into the future. These questions, 63 in all, have been organized into 12 topic areas and provide a way to frame future areas of research, policy analys...

Visit the TRB Annual Meeting Online (AMOnline) to locate papers, presentation slides, and posters from the 2017, 2018, and 2019 TRB Annual Meetings. This portal allows users to find all available papers and visual aids by session, presentation or paper number, author, subject area, and more. TRB is not providing the Compendium of Papers in advance of the meeting. Please use this online resource...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has released a request for proposals to develop guidance for the practical and cost effective use of stiffening mechanisms to locally reduce the deflection for 31-in. Midwest Guardrail System installations or equivalent guardrail. Proposals are due February 19, 2019.

The Atlas Center has released a report that identifies older adults’ attitudes and opinions regarding partial to fully automated vehicles. The purpose of this report is to review the empirical literature on what older adults think about automated vehicles.

The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota has released a report that illustrates a lane-departure detection method that compares a vehicle’s trajectory to a reference road direction. The goal of this report is to develop a lane-departure system that does not rely upon digital maps. Lane-departure warning systems and advance curve-warning systems use digital maps, whic...

The Iowa Department of Transportation has released a report that predicts electric vehicle growth in Iowa and the predicted impact on the state Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) that would occur, since these vehicles do not pay a state fuel tax. This report assesses potential funding mechanisms to develop recommendations that account for the impact of electric vehicles in Iowa. The goal of these recomme...

The National Transport Commission in Australia has released a report that evaluates options for the safety assurance of automated driving systems (ADSs). This report outlines four potential options, all of which have different levels of government oversight. The goal of this report is to develop a flexible and responsive regulatory environment for the commercial deployment of automated vehicles...

The National Transport Commission in Australia has released a report that summarizes the factors that may cause driver distraction, the behaviors induced by those factors, and their potential impacts on road safety. This report reviews the Australian Road Rules in relation to driver distraction and analyzes the key issues to consider prior to developing potential solutions to driver distractions.

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has released a request for proposals to develop guidelines for the use and placement of the 31-in. MGS adjacent to curbs under MASH TL-3 impact conditions. Proposals are due January 30, 2019.

Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) is hosting an event on January 9, 2019 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM with TRB Executive Director, Neil Pedersen, and TRB staff officers who will describe ways to effectively navigate the TRB Annual Meeting. Register in advance. The event will take place at the Keck Center of the National Academies, 500 Fifth Street NW, Washington, D.C. 

TRB is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and follows the NASEM guidelines in preventing discrimination, harassment, and bullying of participants at NASEM events, including TRB meetings and conferences. We encourage you to review this statement, as we strive to maintain a professional and cordial environment for anyone associated with TRB activities.

The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University has released a report that examines various aspects of driver behavior, as well as the impacts of these behaviors on crash risk. This report leverages data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) to analyze how drivers adapt their speed on roadways with different posted limits, in speed...

TRB has entered into a partnership with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). With funding from AAMVA, TRB will be managing a project on how current technological and social trends are likely to evolve over time and how they will affect the future operation of Motor Vehicle Departments. AAMVA’s mission is to serve North American motor vehicle and law enforcement agen...

The next TRB E-Newsletter will be sent on January 2, 2019.

The International Transport Forum has released a report that presents a statistical portrait of passenger car, light commercial, and heavy-duty vehicle fleets in the European Union (EU) from 2001 to 2017. This report highlights vehicle technologies, fuel consumption, and emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.

The Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin has released a report that identifies issues of high mast illumination poles (HMIPs) with pre-existing cracks. It also predicts their remaining service life. HMIPs are used to provide lighting along highways and at interchanges. However, pre-existing cracks may significantly reduce the fatigue life of galvanized HMIPs.

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has released a report that identifies how to optimize Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to mitigate a wide range of crash types. ADAS use cameras, radar, and other sensors to identify and avoid other vehicles. This is one part of a series of reports revolving around optimizing large vehicles.

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has released a report that describes vehicle downsizing as a way to improve maneuverability and safety in urban environments. Vehicle downsizing is a policy that replaces existing vehicles with the smallest appropriate vehicles, potentially offering improved direct vision of other road users. This is one part of a series of repor...

IAM RoadSmart has released a report that examines the attitudes and concerns of drivers in the United Kingdom. This report focuses on several driving attitudes and behaviors, including: Perceived threats to personal safety while driving Respondent driver behavior Support for potential new regulations and laws governing driver behavior Perceived police prioritization of aspects of bad driving

TRB's first committee meeting for the Mobility as a Service Study on December 17, 2018 will provide an opportunity for members of the public to inform the research process of this study. Register in advance to join the meeting remotely from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET. Questions from the audience will be answered during specified parts of the program. Speakers include representatives from the U.S. Fe...

TRB's first committee meeting for the Mobility as a Service Study on December 17, 2018 will provide an opportunity for members of the public to inform the research process of this study. Register in advance to join the meeting remotely from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET. Questions from the audience will be answered during specified parts of the program. Speakers include the TRB staff and committee re...

The International Transport Forum has released a report that examines the economic and social basis for regulating ride-hailing and car-, bike-, and scooter-sharing. The goal of this report is to ensure that new regulatory frameworks are developed that maximize welfare and provide a level playing field between competing services within the same market.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has released a report that validates the performance of inductive loop signature technology with ground truth vehicle classification data in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Using loop signatures may obtain important transportation data, such as travel time, density, partial dynamic origin/destination demand, lane change, and vehicle classification d...

TRB Special Report 329: Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future explores pending and future federal investment and policy decisions concerning the federal Interstate Highway System. Congress asked the committee to make recommendations on the “features, standards, capacity needs, application of technologies, and intergovernmental roles to up...