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TRB Transportation Research E-Newsletter*
March 26, 2013
* Please note that the appearance of the newsletter on TRB's website is different than that distributed to a subscriber's e-mail system; however, the content is the same. Subscribing to the TRB E-Newsletter is free. The opinions expressed in reports highlighted in TRB's Transportation Research E-Newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Transportation Research Board.
TRB News
TRB Transportation Research E-Newsletter Distribution Change Coming in April
March 22, 2013
In April, TRB will change the service that it uses to deliver the Transportation Research E-Newsletter to your e-mail inbox. By partnering with a new system, GovDelivery, TRB expects to improve the E-Newsletter’s delivery efficiency and expand its subscriber base. The use of GovDelivery also opens up potentially new e-mail notification options to TRB’s electronic communications portfolio. To help ensure that the E-Newsletter transition to GovDelivery goes as smooth as possible, please ask your e-mail administrator to white list e-mail coming into your system from TRBNews@updates.nas.edu. If you do not use an agency or corporate e-mail system, then you are encouraged to add TRBNews@updates.nas.edu to the safe senders list in your personal junk e-mail or spam folder. If you have questions related to the E-Newsletter’s transition to GovDelivery, please e-mail Russell Houston of TRB at RHouston@nas.edu.
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2013 Joint Rail Conference: Next Generation Rail--Meeting Challenges of the Future*
March 20, 2013
TRB is cosponsoring the 2013 Joint Rail Conference: Next Generation Rail--Meeting Challenges of the Future, April 15-18, 2013, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The purpose of this conference is to promote the dissemination of information and discussion of technological advances relevant to railroad operational and engineering issues and other matters. Topics to be discussed include railroad infrastructure, rail equipment, signal and train control engineering, planning and development, safety and security, energy efficiency and sustainability, and urban passenger rail transport. Early bird registration ends March 30, 2013.
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TRB Webinar: Environmental Planning for Airport Winter Operations
March 22, 2013
TRB will conduct a webinar on April 25, 2013 from 2:00 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. ET that will feature research conducted by TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) about environmental planning aspects for deicing materials and the collection and monitoring of storm water management systems. Participants must register in advance of the webinar, and there is no fee associated with this webinar. This webinar will provide 1.5 Continuing Education Units for Accredited Airport Executives. Persons who register and attend the webinar as an individual may receive 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) for Professional Engineers. This webinar is pending approval by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) for 1.5 Continuing Maintenance (CM) credits. Airport planners and designers face special operational challenges during winter storm events, such as the use of deicing materials for ice and snow removal from aircraft and airfield surfaces while minimizing the environmental impacts of storm water runoff that may contain toxins.
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TRB Webinar: Promising Practices for Concrete Paving for Young Engineers
March 22, 2013
TRB will conduct a webinar on April 30, 2013 from 2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. ET that will provide an overview of basic, promising practices for concrete paving, and the effects these practices may have on long term pavement performance. Participants must register in advance of the webinar, and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor employees. A certificate for 2 Professional Development Hours (PDH) will be provided to attendees who register and attend the webinar as an individual.
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Adapting Freight Models and Traditional Freight Data Programs for Performance Measurement Workshop
March 23, 2013
TRB is sponsoring the Adapting Freight Models and Traditional Freight Data Programs for Performance Measurement Workshop on April 30 - May 1, 2013, in Washington, D.C. The workshop will explore the adequacy of freight data and modeling for supporting performance measurement in public and private sector decision making by examining the use of information from the Freight Analysis Framework, other existing freight models, and traditional freight data programs as means to provide key measures for the national freight system. Performance measures likely to be address at the conference include capacity, throughput, reliability, and cost of the freight transportation system at national, multi-state corridor, and statewide scales. A revised preliminary program is now available. Advance registration expires April 1, 2013.
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52nd Annual Workshop on Transportation Law
March 21, 2013
TRB is sponsoring the 52nd Annual Workshop on Transportation Law on July 21-24, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee. The workshop is designed to bring together lawyers from federal, state, and local agencies and the private sector who work in all areas of transportation law. Attendees will have the opportunity to share ideas and learn from the experiences of their colleagues. Save the date, additional information on the workshop will be available online shortly.
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Workshop on the Future of Road Vehicle Automation - 2013
March 23, 2013
TRB is sponsoring the Workshop on the Future of Road Vehicle Automation on July 16-19, 2013, in Palo Alto, California. The workshop will focus on road vehicle automation state of the art as well as continue a discussion that began during a half day workshop at the 2013 TRB 92nd Annual Meeting on the potential roles for the U.S. Department of Transportation and state departments of transportation in vehicle automation activities.
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Recently Released TRB Publications
Implementers of Innovation: Findings from the Transportation Research Board 2012 State Partnership Visits Program
March 25, 2013
Each year, TRB’s Technical Activities Division staff visit state departments of transportation, as well as selected universities, transit and other modal agencies, and industry organizations, to determine the issues they are facing and how TRB can help in addressing those issues. In their annual state partnership visits in 2012, TRB senior program officers found that state departments of transportation and other transportation organizations are meeting the challenge of continued economic uncertainties by implementing innovative solutions to transportation problems.
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Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels
March 21, 2013
The Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, part of the National Academies’ Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS), has release a report that finds that by the year 2050, the United States may be able to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for light-duty vehicles -- cars and small trucks -- via a combination of more efficient vehicles; the use of alternative fuels like biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen; and strong government policies to overcome high costs and influence consumer choices. According to the committee that produced the report, while achieving these goals will be difficult, improving technologies driven by strong and effective policies could make deep reductions possible. DEPS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.
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Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics 2012, Driver Behavior; Pedestrian and Simulation Modeling, Volume 2
March 20, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2316 consists of 15 papers that explore gap acceptance behavior; driving behavior in emergency situations; driver anticipation; phase transition models; integrated lane change models; models for pedestrian-vehicle interactions at road crossings; midblock pedestrian crossings; exit choice decisions during pedestrian evacuations of buildings; pedestrian movements in crowded networks; congestion effects on risk by experienced drivers; shared car, bicycle, and pedestrian zones; and numerical analysis for adaptive traffic simulation.
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Intelligent Transportation Systems and Vehicle–Highway Automation 2012
March 22, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2324 consists of 15 papers that explore intervehicle safety warning information systems; travel time prediction; intersection decision support in adverse weather conditions; creation of CityMobil; real-time freeway end-of-queue alerting systems; traffic incident detection; vehicle class-specific route guidance; cooperative adaptive cruise control; dynamic parking guidance; vehicle platoon control; advanced traffic management systems; open road tolling; onboard sensing system for intersection safety; coordination of automated guided vehicles at intersections; and vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle information systems in work zones.
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Highway Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation 2012
March 26, 2013
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2280 consists of 20 papers that explore setting variable speed limits; hard highway shoulder running; computer vision-based safety evaluations; safety intervention models; safety effectiveness of Super 2 highways; crash occurrence, mountainous freeway geometry, weather, and traffic data; real-time safety evaluations; and crash avoidance maneuvers.
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Evaluating Applications of Field Spectroscopy Devices to Fingerprint Commonly Used Construction Materials
March 23, 2013
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R06B-RW-1: Evaluating Applications of Field Spectroscopy Devices to Fingerprint Commonly Used Construction Materials documents evaluation results of practical, portable spectroscopic equipment for in-situ analysis of a wide range of commonly used construction materials. The report also includes proposed American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards of practice for the analysis of titanium content in traffic paints by X-ray fluorescence and identification of chemical admixtures by attenuated total reflectance.
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Airport Cooperative Research Program Brochure
March 24, 2013
TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has produced an updated brochure that explores various aspects of the program and provides information on the different ways individuals can become involved in ACRP. ACRP is an industry-driven, applied research program that develops near-term, practical solutions to problems faced by airport operators.
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Federal Research News
State Research News
University Research News
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Go! – March 2013
March 20, 2013
The Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University has released the latest issue of Go! magazine. Go! is an online magazine for teens and young adults that explores the world of transportation and careers they can find there.
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ITRE Directions: Special Issue 2013
March 20, 2013
The Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) at North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus, Raleigh, North Carolina, has released the latest version of its quarterly newsletter that highlights ITRE’s recent activities, events, programs, and research.
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International Research News
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Accident Prediction Models for Roundabouts
March 22, 2013
Trafitec has released a report that describes roundabout accident models based on accident, traffic, and design data for 375 roundabouts in Denmark. The report is in Danish with a summary in English.
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Communication with Road Users in Winter Conditions
March 20, 2013
The World Road Association has released a report that summarizes survey responses from various countries’ transportation agencies about issues such as road users’ inquiries about changeable road/traffic conditions and foreigners’ interpretation of road and traffic information. This report is available without a fee after logging on to the site.
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Best Practice Study on the Use of ITS Standards in Traffic Management
March 20, 2013
Austroads has released a report that reviews implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems Standards in traffic management and proposes a best practice framework for Australia and New Zealand. This report is available without a fee after logging on to the site.
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Econometric Models for Public Transport Forecasting
March 20, 2013
The New Zealand Transport Agency has released a report that presents findings from an econometric analysis of public transport patronage growth in select New Zealand cities to provide transport planners with up-to-date public transport elasticities.
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In the Know
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