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Volpe Center Highlights - November/December 2002

Papers and Presentations

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility and Economic Growth
Human and Natural Environment | Organizational Excellence | Homeland Security
Awards | Papers and Presentations

• The Volpe Center co-sponsored, with the American Society of Civil Engineers, the 7th International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technology in Transportation, held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 5 through 7, 2002. Center Director Richard R. John was a keynote speaker, and Mr. Gary Ritter of the Service and Operations Assessment Division, was a chief organizer and host of the event. Several Volpe staff members presented at the conference.

  • Dr. Aviva Brecher, Office of Environmental Preservation and Systems Modernization, organized, chaired, and moderated the session "Remote Sensing." The Volpe Center supports RSPA in shaping and advancing the R&D agenda of the DOT/NASA program on transportation applications of remote sensing technologies.

  • Mr. Michael Buonapane, Technology Applications and Deployment Division, presented the paper "Modular Causeway Systems - Hitting the Beach with the U.S. Army." The Center's support to the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office, Combat Service and Combat Service Support, Program Manager - Force Projection includes engineering support to Modular Causeway Systems.

  • Mr. William Chernicoff, Advanced Vehicle Technologies Division, moderated the session "Delay, Timing and Control" and presented the paper "Strategy for Implementation of Alternate Fuel Vehicles." In cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, the Center supports the National Park Service program,aimed at developing alternative transportation systems for the National Parks.

  • Mr. Mark Gentile, Technology Applications and Deployment Division, presented the paper "Halon Alternative, A Shipboard Retrofit Experience." The Center's support to the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office, Combat Service and Combat Service Support, Program Manager - Force Projection includes retrofitting environmentally safe fire-suppression systems on watercraft.

Volpe's environmental management support to the FAA's Air Tour Management Program includes noise monitoring in National Parks. (Photo courtesy of Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division)

• Ms. Cynthia Lee, Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, presented the paper "Development of Aircraft Noise Impact Criteria in the National Parks." The Center assists the Federal Aviation Administration by providing environmental management support to the FAA's Air Tour Management Plan Program.

• Mr. Arthur Flores of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division participated in the 16th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, held in Montreal, Canada, on August 5 and 6, 2002. He presented the paper "Breath Alcohol Concentration and Breath Temperature." The Volpe Center supports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Traffic Records, by conducting studies of techniques for measuring alcohol on breath and in blood. The studies include evaluation of breath-alcohol testing procedures and practices of state law-enforcement agencies.

• Dr. James Hallock, Chief of the Aviation Safety Division, co-authored an article that appears in the July-August 2002 issue of the Journal of Aircraft (Vol. 39, No. 4) published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The article is titled "Wake Turbulence Limits on Paired Approaches to Parallel Runways." Aircraft wake turbulence considerations currently restrict the use of parallel runways less than 2,500 feet apart. The article shows that wake turbulence is not a factor if there are appropriate limits on allowed longitudinal aircraft pair spacing and/or allowed crosswinds. The tradeoffs are assessed by modeling and by examining wake data collected by the Volpe Center at O'Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth airports.

• The Volpe Center supports the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Biological Defense Initiative (BDI). The project team, consisting of Mr. Walter Gazda, of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division, and Mr. Paul Zebe and Ms. Nicole Rossbach, both of the Environmental Engineering Division, submitted two reports to DTRA on August 30, 2002. "DOT Technology Resources for the BDI" describes DOT activities of potential interest to the BDI, including implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems for surveillance and freight management, as well as Operation Safe Commerce, a public-private partnership to create a prototype of a secure international trade corridor. "Preliminary Identification of Required Additions to Transportation Data (Draft)" describes DOT data on transportation infrastructure, networks, and flows.

• During August 19-22, 2002, Ms. Cynthia Lee and Dr. Judith Rochat of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division participated in the 2002 International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering in Dearborn, Michigan. Ms. Lee presented the paper "General Health Effects of Transportation Noise" (co-authored with Division Chief Gregg Fleming). Dr. Rochat chaired the panel "Tire/Road Noise" and presented the paper "Long-Term, Multiple Pavement Type, Tire/Road Noise Study."

In Portland, Oregon potential riders can use the Internet to see the locations of streetcars and plan travel accordingly.

• On September 17, 2002, at the request of his Federal Transit Administration (FTA) sponsor, Mr. Robert Casey of the Service and Operations Assessment Division attended the e-Safety Congress in Lyon, France. Mr. Casey presented the paper "Enhanced Safety Through Advanced Transit Traveler Information," developed for the FTA. Several examples of real-time information provided by transit agencies in the United States were included in the presentation (see illustration). The meeting was sponsored by ERTICO, a public-private partnership for the implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems and services in Europe.

• In December 2002, Ms. Beth Deysher and Mr. Jon Ohman from the Motor Carrier Safety Assessment Division, with assistance from Mr. Leon Parkin of EG&G Technical Services, Inc. (a Volpe contractor), completed a Report to Congress, "Implementation of the Revised Civil Penalties Resulting from Violations of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations," for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The analysis used FMCSA enforcement data to assess implementation by the FMCSA of selected revised penalties placed on carriers for violating FMCSA safety regulations.

• Volpe Center staff participated in the 2002 Environmental Railroad Conference in Urbana, Illinois, from October 8 through 10, 2002. Dr. Amishi Joshi presented the paper "Environmental Review of the U.S. Maglev Program," which was co-authored by Dr. Paul Valihura. The paper informs the railroad community about the Maglev project and describes the associated potential environmental impacts. The Volpe Center supports the Federal Railroad Administration's Magnetic Levitation Transportation Technology Deployment Program in all aspects of environmental compliance.

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