Recognizing the strong recent interest throughout the United States to consider and implement fare-free transit, decision-making tools are needed to help public transit practitioners evaluate fare-free transit. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's  TCRP Research Report 237: Fare-Free Transit Evaluation Framework  presents a framework that can be used by public transit practitioners to evaluate the potential benefits, costs, and trade-offs of implementing fare-free transit. Supplementa...

TRB's Transit Research Analysis Committee (TRAC) has delivered a letter report to Mary Leary, Acting Associate Administrator for Research, Demonstration, and Innovation (RD&I) at the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The March 14, 2023 letter report provides feedback to FTA on its innovation initiatives that are a focus of the administration’s research plan. TRAC is an interdisciplinary committee of experts from industry, academia, and the private and public sectors. Based on these reviews, TRAC ...

Transportation agencies currently have to meet federal regulations that require the incorporation of risk and resilience into their activities, including MAP-21, FHWA 5520, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. However, guidelines for analytical risk assessment methods to support risk-based processes is lagging. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 1014: Developing a Highway Framework to Conduct an All-Hazards Risk and Resilience Analysis presents a rese...

Roads and traffic are primary causes of habitat and genetic fragmentation, wildlife mortality, and reduced resilience to climate change. This topic is explored in the the November-December 2022 edition (Issue 342) of  TR News , TRB's magazine. TR News  is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-art research practice in all modes of transportation. It also includes brief news items of interest to the transportation community and  research pays off a...

Palo Alto, Calif.’s 2012 Bicycle + Pedestrian Transportation Plan has an unrealized goal to double bike commute trips, and technology could be a part of achieving that goal. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Transit IDEA Final Report 99: Bike Love details the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association's implemention of a “Bike Love” mobile app that provides daily incentives for verifiable active mode first-mile commute trips to transit and active mode commutes from ...

The January-February 2023 issue of  TR News  features a compelling mix of articles. Authors examine transportation’s environmental, health, and social effects on Native American tribes and communities; how transit agencies make effective use of social media; and the factors to be considered when installing lighting at isolated rural intersections. The issue is available in hard copy and digital for subscribers. The cover and table of contents are available digitally for all. This is Issue 343. ...

In the absence of comprehensive guidelines related to standards for surface apron and ramp markings, airports have worked with their specific stakeholder groups (such as airlines and ground crews) to develop unique apron and ramp marking practices that meet their operational needs. Consequently, variations are seen in apron and ramp markings at airports across the United States. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Synthesis 122: Airfield Apron and Ramp Surface Markings  documents air...

With increased traffic, multilane highways, and complex highway interchanges, highway signs play an ever more important role in the safe operation of the nation’s transportation network. A detailed understanding of stresses during the service life of sign support structures is crucial for their safe and economic design. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 1012: Wind Drag Coefficients for Highway Signs and Support Structures develops comprehensive methods for esti...

Bulk specific gravity is measured routinely during mixture design and quality assurance processes for asphalt mixtures. Due to a variety of factors, there can be large measurement variability that may require repeated measurements. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's NCHRP IDEA Final Report for Project 229: Laboratory Dielectric Measurement System (LDMS) for Asphalt Mixture Bulk Specific Gravity Determination seeks to establish both the reliability and standardizing proced...

Transit mega projects are unique, expensive, and often funded by a mix of federal grants and state and local funding. Federal agencies have specific legal requirements, including specific legal provisions to include in contracts and intergovernmental agreements, and provide valuable advice for managing and coordinating such projects. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Legal Research Digest 60: Transit Mega Projects: Legal Issues includes lessons learned (successful and unsuccessful) from...