TRB Volunteer Profile: Jim Kruse

Jim Kruse, director of the Center for Ports and Waterways at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, is a featured volunteer in the TR News. Mr. Kruse administers research involving waterborne freight transportation and its multimodal connections—work that covers a range of ever-changing topics, from economic analyses of ports and waterways to statistical evaluations of vessel traffic to innovative intelligent transportation systems.

His current research involves determining the best use of automated identification service data in assessing the performance of marine activities at ports. Among other projects, he has recently assessed the impact of the expanded Panama Canal on ports in the Gulf of Mexico and has conducted a peer review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Category 3 Commercial Marine Bunker Fuel Demand Update."

At TRB, Mr. Kruse was an establishing member of the Task Force on Marine Environmental Issues, which became a full committee in 2008. He now serves as Chair of the Marine Group and as a representative on the TRB Technical Activities Council.

Mr. Kruse's expertise in marine transportation was recognized by the National Academies when he was called to serve on the Committee on Reinvesting in Inland Waterways: What Policy Makers Need to Know, which released its report in 2015. He has also served as principal investigator on three National Cooperative Freight Research Program projects related to marine transportation issues.

The TR News is a bimonthly publication of TRB that features articles on innovative and timely research and development activities in all modes of transportation.