Chair's Plenary Session

Join us Wednesday, January 10, from 1:30 PM to 3 PM at the TRB Annual Meeting's Chair’s Plenary Session, which will include presentation of TRB’s most prestigious awards and a fireside chat on mental wellness of transportation construction workers and transportation professionals at large. Speakers are (pictured left to right):

• Sharareh Kermanshachi, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Sociate Dean of Research, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg
• Travis J. McCarthy, Senior Vice President - Transportation Group Southwest Regional Manager, Sundt Construction
• Peter Tateishi, Chief Executive Officer, Associated General Contractors of California
• Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, Chair, TRB Executive Committee and Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Transportation
• Carol Lewis, Vice Chair, TRB Executive Committee and Professor, Texas Southern University

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New Attendee Engagement

Attend the New Attendee Engagement Session on Sunday, January 7 if this will be your first TRB Annual Meeting, or even if you've experienced it before. Learn how to navigate the meeting and ways to get involved with TRB to enhance your professional development. Become a "friend" of TRB's technical committees to network or get involved in committee projects.

Last Chance to Reserve a Hotel Room 

There’s only one more week to reserve a hotel room in the TRB room block. Take advantage of the discounted rate negotiated by TRB and make your hotel reservation at the end of the registration process.

Thank You Patrons

The Transportation Research Board thanks its 2024 Annual Meeting Patrons for their support for transportation research and innovation. These Patrons aid TRB in its mission to mobilize expertise, experience, and knowledge to anticipate and solve complex transportation-related challenges. Learn more about the TRB Annual Meeting Patrons.

Academies Provides Advice on How USDOT Competitive Grants Program Can Further Consider Equity

There has been a recently large increase in competitive federal grant programs for transportation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has considerable control over how the programs are structured and the funds awarded to states and other applicants. With this, USDOT has asked TRB and the National Academies to review the ways USDOT can emphasize and promote equity within the competitive grants process.

Phase one of a three-part study was released this morning. Elevating Equity in Transportation Decision Making: Recommendations for Federal Competitive Grant Programs (TRB Special Report 348) notes that equity needs to be pursued across all facets of USDOT’s competitive grant programs, from goal setting and project evaluations to ensuring that all eligible participants have the capacity to apply for grants and to implement them successfully.

Although questions of equity—of what is fair and just—will always be a part of transportation decision making, recent decades have seen a surge in research, advocacy, and policy making aimed at making surface transportation systems in the United States more equitable. Because the federal government does not currently build, own, operate, or even plan most transportation infrastructure and services directly, creating more fair and just surface transportation systems requires incentivizing other governments, agencies, and organizations to make decisions with these aims in mind.

"Evaluating Airport Terminals from the Users’ Perspective: Are Service, Experience, Liking, and Satisfaction Equivalent?" (TRB's Transportation Research Record). In the era of globalization and the deregulation of the air transportation industry, public and private stakeholders have been increasingly interested in making airports attractive for passengers and airlines. This paper seeks to further understand what is meant by terminology frequently used in satisfaction surveys — namely satisfaction, liking, quality of service, and experience.