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...

Approximately 1,282 fatalities on U.S. interstate highways in 2020 were due to nighttime road departures. A new ultra-bright retroreflective lane marking tape can save lives as well as offer both a very short payback period and a very substantial benefit/cost ratio over its useful lifetime. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's NCHRP IDEA Final Report for Project 228:...

TR News 336: November-December 2021 examines the history of the MnROAD research facility, redesigning transit for the new mobility future, planning and design of airport terminal restrooms and ancillary spaces, understanding systemic risks of railroad hazmat transport, systems engineering for rural connected vehicle corridors, talent for today and tomorrow, and more.

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 AASHTO Guide for Enterprise Risk Management , published in 2016, defines enterprise risk management as “the formal and systematic effort to control uncertainty and variability on an organization’s strategic objectives by managing risks at all levels of the organization.” The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 986: Implementation of the AASHTO Guide for En...

A January 31, 2022 letter report from TRB's Committee for the Review of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Infrastructure R&D Program's Long-Term Infrastructure Program (LTIP) summarizes recent program progress, strategic issues, and committee recommendations for future actions. The program has produced some useful products and results over the past year and continued to improve user access...

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 aviation security. But in the 20 years since 9/11, natural disasters, technology changes, and pandemics have presented new challenges. In TR News 335: September–October 2021 authors address these challenges,...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has released its annual report. This Annual Report provides a concise list of research published in 2021 and a list of all active projects, projects completed in 2021, and projects that were approved in 2021 but are not yet under contract. The Annual Report also presents detailed information about how NCHRP operates with oversight by the ...

The 2021 Annual Report for the Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program (BTSCRP) is now available. BTSCRP provides practical, ready-to-implement solutions to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce costs of road traffic crashes associated with unsafe behaviors. The BTSCRP Annual Report highlights current and pending projects, sponsors, and other details about the program.

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...

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's IDEA Program Announcement 2022  describes the IDEA programs and how they are administered, provides instructions and documents for submitting proposals for funding, and lists general research topics derived from program goals.

TRB’s Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) program has released the latest issue of its New IDEAs for Highway Systems: Highway IDEA Program Annual Report , which summarizes projects active or completed during the 2021 program year. A project of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), the NCHRP Highway IDEA program seeks proposals with potential to advance the constr...

In TR News 334: July-August 2021, members of the Marine Board and TRB’s Marine Group standing committees investigate critically important topics for innovation and research in—and transformation of—the marine transportation system to help achieve necessary strides in emissions reduction, automation, big data, and resiliency by 2050.

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 1st Edition, in 2010, of the AASHTO Highway Safety Manual revolutionized highway engineering practice by providing crash modification factors and functions, along with methods that use safety performance functions for estimating the number of crashes within a corridor, subsequent to implementing safety countermeasures. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's  NCHRP Researc...

The theme of TR News 333: May–June 2021 is diversity, equity, and inclusion in transportation and its critical role in a just, fair, and equitable society. Authors highlight TRB’s initiatives addressing DE&I, along with programs within the larger transportation community, from the federal government to states to universities.

Although the need for a more effective set of short- and long-term transportation resilience strategies is increasingly obvious and urgent, many knowledge gaps and institutional barriers still exist. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 975: Transportation System Resilience: Research Roadmap and White Papers highlights significant knowledge gaps within AASH...

TR News 332: March - April 2021 highlights TRB's 100th Annual Meeting and includes articles also explore mobility and human trafficking, near-road air quality, how to make safer roadway crossings for small wildlife, the state of TRB, and TRB and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

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...

Light emitting diode (LED) technology has revolutionized the lighting industry. The dimming and instant-on capabilities of these light sources along with their high efficiency have allowed lighting designers to overcome some of the limitations of previous technologies, particularly in roadway lighting environments. However, concerns related to the health and environmental impacts of LEDs have been...

Among the topics explored in TR News 331: January–February 2021 are research trends in Transportation Research Record articles; truck size and weight research challenges; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study on social isolation and loneliness in older adults; future airports, post-hurricane supply chain resilience; Hawaii's Interstate high-tech revamp; and more.

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 ...

Over the past 15 years, the nation’s transportation systems have experienced numerous significant disruptions that have resulted in economic loss and loss of human life. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is a recent example of how unexpected events can affect the performance and role of transportation systems. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 293: Deploying ...

Transportation officials recognize that a reliable and sustainable transportation system is needed to fulfill their agency’s mission and goals. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 970: Mainstreaming System Resilience Concepts into Transportation Agencies: A Guide provides transportation officials with a self-assessment tool to assess the current status of ...

Structural supports for signs, luminaires, and traffic signals and other steel highway structures are generally galvanized to prevent corrosion and provide a long service life. However, recent investigations have revealed incidents of cracking in weldments of galvanized structures that appear to be induced during the galvanizing process. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHR...

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...

Several factors are considered within engineering studies when determining the posted speed limit, including the 85th percentile speed, which is based on the driving behavior of most drivers (85 percent). The 85th percentile speed is believed to represent a safe speed that would minimize crashes. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 966: Posted Speed Limit ...

Nearly all state departments of transportation (DOTs) have some level of oversight over local bridges, and different funding mechanisms and approaches are in use in the states. These are among the key takeaways from a best-practices panel sessions in conjunction with the 12th TRB International Conference on Low-Volume Roads. TRB's Transportation Research Circular E-C272: Technology Exchange on Loc...