Construction of load-carrying geosynthetic-reinforced bridge abutments are surging worldwide. The design directly supports the load of bridge girders without the need of deep foundation. TRB is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern that will provide an overview, comparison, and discussion of methodologies used in the design of such bridge abutments. They have the potential of alleviating the “bump at the bridge,” expediting construction, and requiring comparatively smal...

TRB released a straight-to-recording series in April that presents highlights and findings of the NCHRP Domestic Scan 16-02 on Landscape Design Practices for Roadside Water Management . This scan investigated how transportation agencies are applying principles and practices of green infrastructure (GI) for roadside water management to mitigate adverse impacts of flooding, drought, and temperature extremes affecting their infrastructure. The videos are available on-demand at no charge. Presenters: Garrett...

Collaborative Infrastructure Procurement in Sweden and the Netherlands , released by the International Transport Forum

The Federal Highway Administration's “Buy America Act” requires federally funded highway projects to use only steel, iron, and manufactured products produced in the United States. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP LRD 80: Buy America Requirements for Federal Highway Projects summarizes the intent and application of the provision. It also summarizes the procedure that FHWA has implemented for granting waivers and the impact that court interpretation of such waivers has had on t...

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Legal Research Digest 16: Procurement of Airport Development and Planning Contracts provides guidance on how to determine which requirements apply to any given procurement process. The report also includes an overview of the consequences for noncompliance with procurement laws or regulations in order to help airports better understand the inherent risks associated with various funding sources.

TRB’s Conference Proceedings on the Web 24: Challenges to Implementing Successful Land Use Strategies at Airports is a compilation of the presentations and a summary of the ensuing discussions at an ACRP Insight Event held April 10-11, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The event brought together airport representatives and community planners to discuss effective strategies for improving their ability to partner on land use issues in the vicinity of airports. ACRP Insight Events convene airport industry leaders a...

TRB’s Conference Proceedings on the Web 24: Challenges to Implementing Successful Land Use Strategies at Airports is a compilation of the presentations and a summary of the ensuing discussions at an ACRP Insight Event held April 10-11, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The event brought together airport representatives and community planners to discuss effective strategies for improving their ability to partner on land use issues in the vicinity of airports. ACRP Insight Events convene airport industry leaders a...

Fostering Multimodal Connectivity Newsletter for April 2020 , released by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration

The Effects of Left-Turn Traffic-Calming Treatments on Conflicts and Speeds in Washington, D.C. , released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Guide to Traffic Management: Set , released by Austroads

Coincidental to TRB's 1982 promotion to a stand-alone unit within the NRC and its acceptance of the responsibility to oversee consensus studies, Congress was working on an update to surface transportation legislation. The timing meant that TRB was not going to be able to ease into its new responsibilities. To learn the whole story, check out the latest release in the TRB History Highlights series. As part of the Centennial Celebration, TRB has initiated the History Highlights series that will regularly r...

Research problem statements are now being accepted for the FY 2021 Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP). To submit a problem statement, first review and follow  the format in this outline . Problem statements may be submitted electronically . Previously submitted proposals may be resubmitted. The deadline for consideration is June 19, 2020.   TCRP is managed by TRB and sponsored by the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA). TCRP works in partnership with the American Public Transport...

This episode originally aired on April 24, 2020. Ohio’s unemployment rate has reached 11.6% due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 10th worst in the nation. Laid-off workers should be on the lookout for scams and schemes trying to swindle away unemployment benefits and federal stimulus checks.

This episode originally aired on April 24, 2020. Ohio’s unemployment rate has reached 11.6% due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 10th worst in the nation. Laid-off workers should be on the lookout for scams and schemes trying to swindle away unemployment benefits and federal stimulus checks.

As all aspects of transportation deal with the unfolding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are research needs, gaps, and potential ways to leverage innovation revealing themselves across all modes, systems, and disciplines in transportation. In keeping with the mission of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange and research, TRB is issuing an urgent and directed call for Research Needs Statements sp...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has issued a request for proposals to develop a comprehensive, evidenced-based guide for bus operator workforce management from pre-employment through retirement. The guide should present both best practices and innovative practices that enhance and sustain public transit and support bus operators who provide fixed-route, flexible-route, and on-demand services. Proposals are due August 11, 2020 at 5:00 PM Eastern.

Within the academic aviation world, good textbooks can be hard to come by. Not only do few aviation textbook publishers exist, but the aviation industry is constantly changing. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's latest Impacts on Practice brief, ACRP in the Classroom: Reimagining the Textbook at the University of North Dakota Department of Aviation , details how Dr. Kim Kenville uses ACRP Research Report 16, Second Edition: Guidebook for Managing Small Airports , in her classes. “This publica...

How do transportation agencies apply principles of green infrastructure (GI) to roadside water management? TRB is hosting a webinar on Monday, May 18, 2020 from 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern that aims to answer this question. Presenters will identify how GI may be used to mitigate impacts of flooding, drought, and temperature extremes that affect infrastructure. This webinar draws on research from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Domestic Scan Program 16-02: Leading Landscape Design Pr...

Demand-responsive transportation (DRT) can produce benefits — fewer empty seats, lower cost per passenger, less delay for customers — to both passengers and transportation service providers, particularly the public and private nonprofit agencies that finance DRT services with public funds. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Research Report 210: Development of Transactional Data Specifications for Demand-Responsive Transportation presents a transactional data specification for DRT to faci...

Sixty-eight percent of the states who responded to a survey indicated their agency has a documented process for as-built development. They said handwritten notes were the most commonly used method to capture as-built data (86%), followed by electronic notes (76%), and then photographs (33%). Some states use more than one option to capture as-built data. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 548: Development and Use of As-Built Plans by State Departments of Transportation...

TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Research Report 155: Guidebook for Advanced Computerized Maintenance Management System Integration at Airports explores the use of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to manage a variety of assets across a number of different airport systems. This report develops guidance on the steps necessary to implement a CMMS, factors for consideration in prioritizing which systems should be included in the CMMS using a phased approach, and the steps ...

“Pavement condition data” are essential inputs to the process of managing airport pavements and ensuring safe operations. The technology available today to collect pavement condition data is considerably different from that available even 20 years ago, and new technologies are being developed and introduced into practice at a rapid pace. ACRP Research Report 203: Guidelines for Collecting, Applying, and Maintaining Pavement Condition Data at Airports provides guidance on the collection, use, maintenance,...

Airports must maintain a safe and efficient facility while considering environmental impacts. Though traditional environmental challenges such as noise and water quality remain, several new themes are emerging, including energy management, sustainability, resiliency, and wildlife management. Airports will need guidelines and practices to help them address these pressing issues, and the first step in the process is to identify knowledge gaps and research needs. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program...

The first edition of this report, in 2009, provided a comprehensive industry reference for the management of airport deicing runoff. The second edition has been wholly updated to reflect the latest industry practices. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 14: Deicing Planning Guidelines and Practices for Stormwater Management Systems, second edition , explores a wide array of practices designed to provide for the practical, cost-effective control of runoff from aircraft and ...

Most U.S. state departments of transportation (DOTs) are collecting weigh-in-motion data with a wide variety of sensor types and using them in a variety of applications. Many agencies use WIM data to aid in pavement design, although most are not currently using a Pavement ME (mechanistic-empirical) Design application. WIM for bridge and asset management purposes is used much less often. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 546: Use of Weigh-in-Motion Data for Pavement, ...

Although general aviation airports have historically been funded by federal, state, and local entities, the private sector is increasingly playing a larger role. This involvement has ranged on a continuum from service and management contracts to singular projects at airports that involve leasing mechanisms to long-term leases and the whole-scale private development of general aviation airports. In an era of declining resources and increasingly scrutinized public expenditures, private-sector involvement i...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has issued a request for proposals to develop a comprehensive, evidenced-based guide for bus operator workforce management from pre-employment through retirement. The guide should present both best practices and innovative practices that enhance and sustain public transit and support bus operators who provide fixed-route, flexible-route, and on-demand services. Proposals are due August 11, 2020 at 5:00 PM Eastern.

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 39: Recommended Guidelines for the Collection and Use of Geospatially Referenced Data for Airfield Pavement Management offers recommended guidelines for the collection and use of geospatially referenced data for airfield pavement management. The guidelines provide a data schema, data collection methods, data quality requirements, and other relevant information required for developing specifications and standards for integrating geospatial data into...

Use of Surface Treatments to Extend Pavement Life: A Case Study on US 301, Sussex County, Virginia , released by the Virginia Department of Transportation

University of California Pavement Research and National Center for Sustainable Transport have postponed the International Symposium on Pavement Life Cycle Assessment from June 3-6, 2020 to January 13-15, 2021 in Sacramento, CA. TRB is pleased to cosponsor this event. The symposium will focus on the implementation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for pavements. The workshop address the implementation of LCA in pavement operations at the network and project levels.

Does your organization know how to measure and verify pavement surface condition data based on mapping sensor technologies? TRB will conduct a webinar on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern to discuss the challenges and solutions from experience on actual projects. In pavement management systems, accurate and precise condition data are essential for making data-driven decisions about maintenance and rehabilitation projects. Some condition data, including surface cracking and other d...

EPA announced the availability of the Guidelines for Human Exposure Assessment (hereafter "Guidelines"). The Guidelines present the current policies and practices of exposure assessors across the Agency and supersede the 1992 Guidelines for Exposure Assessment Edition.

Environmental regulations have long required airports to undertake review of many actions associated with planning and development. More recently, airports have embraced sustainability as a means for ensuring the long-term viability and community benefits of their facilities. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 209: Integrating Sustainability Planning and the Environmental Review Process is designed for airport industry practitioners who are interested in gaining a better ...