|
|
Rail Research at TRB
 The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. This page highlights recently released TRB reports, meeting announcements, requests for proposals, and other announcements related to railroads. In addition, it includes links to selected railroad research-related activities taking place at the federal and state levels, and within the academic and international transportation communities. Finally, this page also highlights and provides links to TRB railroads-related programs and activities, which are the source of most of TRB’s railroad-related research products. |
|
What's New
|
TRB Railroad-Related Programs and Activities
|
|
 2013 TRB 92nd Annual Meeting and Transportation Research Record Call for PapersMay 18, 2012 TRB standing committees have issued calls for papers for the TRB 92nd Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2013, in Washington, D.C, and the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). While papers addressing any relevant aspect of transportation research will be considered, some committees are soliciting papers in specific subject areas to help potential... |
|
NCFRP FY 2012 Projects: Oversight Panel Nominee SolicitationMay 4, 2012 TRB's National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) is soliciting nominations of individuals to serve on oversight panels for new projects being established under NCFRP's fiscal year 2012 program. Nominees should have expertise directly relevant to the proposed project topic. The nomination of women and members of minority groups is encouraged. Panels for the new research projects are s... |
|
 Guidance on Pedestrian Crossing Safety at or Near Passenger StationsApril 30, 2012 The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration has released a report that provides implementation guidance to railroads on strategies and methods to prevent pedestrian accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities at or near passenger stations, in accordance to the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. |
 Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now!April 30, 2012 TRB’s Conference Proceedings 48: Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now summarizes a May, 2010 conference that focused on developments in innovative funding techniques and options for securing continued revenue to support national infrastructure and mobility needs. Views presented in Conference Proceedings 48 reflect the opinions of the individua... |
 Derailments Decrease at a C3RS Site at MidtermApril 23, 2012 The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released a research results report that explores efforts made to implement the Confidential Close-Call Reporting System (C3RS), the impact C3RS has on safety and safety culture, and factors that could help sustain C3RS over time. The Confidential Close-Call Reporting System includes voluntary confidential reporting of close-call events by employees ... |
 A National Authority on RoundaboutsApril 17, 2012 Roundabouts have seen unprecedented growth across the United States, from just a handful a decade ago to more than 2,000 and counting. National guidance had to keep pace with the needs of states and communities planning and implementing roundabouts, and NCHRP took a lead role. |
 Practices and Procedures for Site-Specific Evaluations of Earthquake Ground MotionsApril 17, 2012 TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 428: Practices and Procedures for Site-Specific Evaluations of Earthquake Ground Motions identifies and describes current practice and available methods for evaluating the influence of local ground conditions on earthquake design ground motions on a site-specific basis. The report focuses on evaluating the response of soil de... |
Hearing on Shale Gas Development and Related Transportation, Pipeline, and Rail NeedsApril 16, 2012 On April 11, 2012, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a field hearing in West Virginia that explored shale gas development, and the transportation, pipeline, and rail needs to assist the American manufacturing sector. Witness statements are available online. |
|
|
|
Technical Activities Standing Committees
TRB's Technical Activities Division provides a forum for transportation professionals in all modes and functions to identify research needs and to share information on research and issues of interest. The Division's staff of specialists in each mode and discipline work with a network of volunteers to carry out activities on behalf of TRB sponsors and the transportation community, including the TRB Annual Meeting, conferences and workshops, publications, visits to each state, and responses to inquiries. This network includes members and friends of over 200 standing committees, supplemented by designated TRB representatives in each state, over 150 universities, and 35 transit agencies. |
Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2)
Congress established the SHRP 2 in 2006 to investigate the underlying causes of highway crashes and congestion in a short-term program of focused research. To carry out that investigation, SHRP 2 targets goals in four interrelated focus areas--Safety, Renewal, Reliability, and Capacity.
|
Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program
TRB's Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program is designed to provide an opportunity to investigate new and unproven concepts or to evaluate novel applications of technologies that have been tried, tested or used for safety systems practice.
|
Research in Progress in this Subject Area
TRB's Research in Progress (RiP) Database now contains more than 11,900 current or recently completed transportation research projects. Most of the RiP records are projects funded by federal and state departments of transportation. University transportation research is also included. The RiP Database also serves as a clearinghouse of University Transportation Centers ongoing research.
|
Research Needs in this Subject Area
An important function of TRB is to stimulate research that addresses concerns, issues, or problems facing the transportation community. In support of this function, TRB Technical Activities standing committees identify, develop, and disseminate research need statements (RNS) for use by practitioners, researchers, and others.
|
Research Completed in this Subject Area
TRB's TRID is integrated database that combines the records from TRB's Transportation Research Information Services ( TRIS) Database and the OECD's Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation ( ITRD) Database. TRID provides access to over 900,000 records of transportation research worldwide. |
|
|
|