An important operational characteristic of an airport is the length of its longest runway. The longest runway determines the types of aircraft that can use the airport and dictates the operational limitations at the airport. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Web-Only Document 54: Development of a Small Aircraft Runway Length Analysis Tool provides a user-friendly computer tool to...

Dynamic curbside management has been the purview of cities, with much of the relevant research and guidance directed toward local transportation agencies. However, state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and other regional agencies can be important partners for these local entities because, in many cases, roadways and other curb zone elements are part of the regio...

The November-December 2021 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on collaboration and innovation at the MnROAD Research Facility—is available in full online. Other feature articles in the issue include Airport Cooperative Research Program guidance on best design practices for service animal relief areas, worship spaces, lactation areas, and more; developing the transportation workforce; and infra...

Many technical and institutional issues related to estimating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) lie across a wide spectrum of the activities undertaken by state departments of transportation (DOTs). The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 308: Methods for State DOTs to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Transportation Sector documents the re...

The September-October 2021 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on what the transportation industry learned from 9/11—is available in full online.  Other feature articles in the issue focus on how, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), transportation has broadened its role to include response and operations—from traffic incident management as a multiagency function to av...

The 2021 Annual Report summarizes TRB’s accomplishments in each of its major program areas and how TRB has served the nation and the global transportation professional community throughout the year. TRB provides leadership in transportation improvements and innovation through trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange, research, and advice regarding all modes of transporta...

Understanding and communicating consistently reliable crash prediction results are critical to credible analysis and to overcome barriers for some transportation agencies or professionals utilizing these models. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 303: Understanding and Communicating Reliability of Crash Prediction Models provides guidance on being able ...

The July-August 2021 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on research needs for the marine transportation system of the future—is available in full online.  Other feature articles in the issue include members of the Marine Board and TRB’s Marine Group standing committees investigating critically important topics for innovation and research in, and transformation of, the marine transportatio...

The accurate characterization of the in situ aging of asphalt pavement materials over the service life of the pavement is of utmost importance to the implementation of mechanistic empirical (ME) pavement design and analysis methods. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's  NCHRP   Research Report 973: Long-Term Aging of Asphalt Mixtures for Performance Testing and Predict...

The March - April 2021 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on TRB's 100th Annual Meeting—is available in full online.  Other articles in the issue explore mobility and human trafficking, near-road air quality, and how to make safer roadway crossings for small wildlife. This is Issue 332. To subscribe to TR News, sign up through MyTRB.org. Subscription rates include postage. Subscribe based...

Significant progress has been made over the last decade in integrating resilience criteria into transportation decision-making. A compelling case remains for investing in making transportation projects more resilient in the face of increasing and intensifying storms, floods, droughts, and other natural hazards that are combining with sea-level rise, new temperature and precipitation norms, and oth...

The May - June 2021 issue of TR News —with a cover feature on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the transportation profession—is available in full online. Other articles in the issue highlight TRB’s initiatives addressing DE&I, along with programs within the larger transportation community, from the federal government to states to universities. This is Issue 333. To subscribe to T...

A workshop, "Revised Contraction Scour Analysis," is presented in this training manual. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 294: Revised Clear-Water and Live-Bed Contraction Scour Analysis Training Manual adheres to the guidance promulgated by the National Highway Institute and the International Association of Continuing Education and Training for adult ...

Racism has been overt in transportation. For example, the segregation of races on intercity trains led to the infamous 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” Supreme Court doctrine that stood for more than half a century. While many discriminatory policies have been reversed by the courts and in constitutional amendments, their impacts on society have not been fully remedied and persist. TRB...

Prior to 1976, federal highway funds could only be used for the construction of new highways or the reconstruction of existing highways. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1976 allowed the use of federal aid for resurfacing, restoration, and rehabilitation (3R) projects on federal-aid highways. However, in 1976 there were no standards for 3R improvements. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research ...

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has not been transported to any significant degree by freight railroads in the United States. When the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 was enacted, it directed the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to convene a committee of i...

The use of post-tensioning in concrete structures has allowed for the construction of economical long-span bridges. However, very limited information is available to guide bridge owners on how to maintain existing structures or, more specifically, to repair degraded post-tensioned structures. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 562: Repair and Maintenance of Pos...

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/TCR...

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/TCR...

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 innovative a...

Issue 328 of TRB's magazine, TR News , is dedicated to water and the role of transportation agencies in the stewardship of this vital resource, particularly as the way humans use water is changing dramatically. Authors explore the evolution of stormwater regulation; how departments of transportation manage water in planning, design, construction, and operations; and more. TR News  is TRB's bi...

Issue 327 of TRB's magazine is a special edition illuminating the many hidden aspects of tunnels as well as the benefits of tunnel technology to modern transportation systems. Articles highlight the contribution of tunnels to the economy and how transportation operators use the best technology to keep tunnels efficient and safe. TR News  is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles o...

State highway agency equipment fleet assets are vital to the delivery of agency programs, projects, and services. Measuring, monitoring, and reporting on asset utilization levels are necessary for the management of the equipment fleet and meeting the highway agency’s business needs. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 957: Utilization Measurement and Manag...

Pavement recycling is a technology that can restore the service life of pavement structures and stretch available funding for pavement rehabilitation. In general, pavement recycling techniques remix the existing pavement material and reuse it in the final pavement in the form of a stabilized layer. Limitations to further widespread implementation of pavement recycling processes have been reported ...

The September–October 2020 issue of TRB's magazine is now available in full online. Themed “Embracing the Future,” the issue celebrates TRB’s centennial with articles forecasting the future of transportation. Authors present outlooks that are multimodal, creative, diverse, inclusive, and thought-provoking, offering a pause point for transportation researchers, policy makers, and practitioners as t...

The year 2020’s raging coronavirus pandemic and reckoning with long-standing racial injustice led to widespread disruption and suffering, social unrest, and renewed calls for an accounting of our fragmented public health system and troubled history of racial inequity. The crises of 2020 transcend transportation yet also raise fundamental questions for it along with other sectors of our society and...

The 2020 Annual Report summarizes TRB’s accomplishments in each of its major program areas and how TRB has served the nation and the global transportation professional community throughout 2020. TRB provides leadership in transportation improvements and innovation through trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange, research, and advice regarding all modes of transportation...

One critical need for monitoring and improving transportation rail safety is early-stage pre-catastrophic-failure detection of rail breakage, or emerging faults under trains. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final Report 36: Onboard High-Bandwidth Fiber-Optic Sensing System for Broken Rail Detection details the development of an innovative onboar...

Many transportation departments have significant practical experience with bridge preservation and have developed conclusions regarding the effectiveness of bridge preservation actions based on those experiences. However, limited efforts have been made to identify, measure, evaluate, and document the short- and long-term performance of specific bridge preservation actions. The TRB National Coopera...

The occurrence of rail defects, broken rails, and broken rail derailments is consistent with the rate of development found in other studies that look at larger populations of rail defects. Likewise, the larger and more heavily used transit systems develop increased levels of defects, which is again consistent with what is seen in the railroad industry at large. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research...