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Volpe Center Highlights - September/October 2002

Safety

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

Supporting the Technical Pipeline Safety Committee (RSPA)

One of RSPA's strategic goals is to protect the public and the environment from risks caused by the transport of hazardous materials in pipelines. RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is developing a proposed gas pipeline integrity management rule, which will be the culmination of a seven-year investigation of ways to improve the safety, security, and reliability of natural gas transmission lines in a cost-effective manner. This rule also will address the trend of increasing population density in formerly rural areas containing pipelines; associated construction can increase threats of damage to pipelines.

RSPA's pipeline integrity management rules will help ensure the highest level of safety while enabling the pipeline infrastructure to serve the vital energy needs of the economy.

On July 18, 2002, Dr. Piyali Talukdar of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division participated in a meeting of the Technical Pipeline Safety Advisory Committee sponsored by OPS. The Committee provides DOT with a peer review of proposed pipeline safety regulations to ensure the technical feasibility, reasonableness, cost effectiveness, and practicability of regulations promulgated by OPS. Dr. Talukdar presented a brief overview of the energy impact statement she recently developed for the proposed OPS rule. Addressing the Committee, RSPA Administrator Ellen G. Engleman indicated the importance she places on the proposed pipeline integrity management rules and thanked all the committee members and the public for working with OPS. The Volpe Center also performed a peer review of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America's consumer cost-effects study of the proposed regulation.

Supporting Telecommunications Infrastructure Modernization (FAA)

The number and complexity of systems in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that rely on telecommunications is rapidly increasing. In addition, the agency must upgrade or replace discrete systems as leases expire and FAA-owned systems become obsolete. In 1996, the FAA initiated a plan to replace its leased and owned telecommunications assets beginning in 2002. The FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) Program was created to develop and provide fully integrated service support to FAA telecommunications customers, meeting the agency's future communications requirements in an integrated, comprehensive, and cost-effective manner. For more than two years, the Volpe Center has provided technical analyses, database development, and engineering support to the FTI Program. Volpe's role is a natural extension of nearly two decades of support to FAA's telecommunications business processes.

Since 1983, the FAA's Telecommunications Information Management System (TIMS) has been the foundation of ordering, tracking, and paying for telecommunications services. Developed and operated by the Volpe Center, TIMS automates the non-real-time management of acquisition, inventory, and billing processes associated with the FAA's telecommunications assets. It allows FAA personnel to collect, organize, and report telecommunications equipment information using a suite of desktop tools that access an integrated database.

Air traffic control is one of the many critical FAA systems that depend on telecommunications.

The Volpe Center's TIMS team worked with the FTI Program office to support solicitation of bids and selection of a contractor to implement the FTI. Volpe's activities included participating on the FTI engineering team in preparation of the solicitation and in evaluation of proposals, and developing requirements and prototype software for changes to TIMS that will support the FTI telecommunications business processes.

Recently, Harris Corporation was awarded the 15-year contract worth up to $3.5 billion to supply telecommunications services to the FAA. Harris, acting as FTI systems integrator and prime contractor, is leading a team of telecommunications companies consisting of BellSouth Corporation; Qwest Communications International, Inc.; SBC Communications, Inc.; Sprint; and Verizon Communications as well as Raytheon Technical Services Company. The Harris team will consolidate the Leased Inter-facility National Air Space Communications System, Data Multiplexing Network, Bandwidth Manager, and the National Aviation Data Interchange Network into an integrated telecommunications infrastructure. Under FAA direction, the team will replace more than 35,000 circuits, upgrade switching and routing services, improve network monitoring and control, implement a state-of-the-art security system, and provide network-engineering services.

TIMS staff will now begin working with the FAA and the Harris Corporation to specify detailed requirements and interfaces between TIMS and the contractor's business systems. In addition, TIMS will play a major role in the transition of the FAA's current telecommunication services and circuit accounts to the new contractor.

Volpe Staff Member Provides Expert Testimony on Rail Structural Integrity (NTSB)

On July 15, 2002, Dr. David Jeong of the Vehicle Crashworthiness Division testified as an expert witness in a public hearing convened by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The purpose of the hearing was to examine the safety issues surrounding the train derailment that occurred on January 18, 2002, in Minot, North Dakota, and subsequent release of anhydrous ammonia, a hazardous material that is used as a farm fertilizer. Dr. Jeong's testimony focused on certain aspects of the Volpe Center's research on rail integrity that were relevant to the NTSB investigation of the derailment.

Railroad rails are joined together either by welding or by joint bars that are bolted into the rail ends. This photo shows intact and broken joint bars. (Photo courtesy of NTSB)

Volpe's research supports the Federal Railroad Administration's Track Systems Research Program. The Program develops engineering analysis tools and conducts analytical and experimental investigations to assess the likelihood that track defects will cause a train derailment. Results of these studies promote railroad safety and economic efficiency by enabling track engineers to target inspection and maintenance resources based on actual track performance. Specifically, the Program looks at rail integrity, track structural mechanics, track inspection tools, and vehicle-track interaction. Railroad rails are joined together either by welding or by joint bars that are bolted into the rail ends. The Minot derailment involved broken or fractured joint bars, and Dr. Jeong's testimony focused on the analysis of dynamic impact loads and the fatigue life of joint bars.

Analyzing Driver Distraction (NHTSA)

As part of the Volpe Center's ongoing technical support to the DOT's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) program, Drs. David Yang and Lawrence Barr of the Accident Prevention Division recently completed an analysis of the eye-glance behavior and driving performance of drivers during distracting events. The primary purpose of the IVI program is to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced crash avoidance systems. This Volpe study provides a better understanding of the relationship between driver distraction and driver behavior. Results from this study will contribute to the development of countermeasures that will minimize driving distraction and reduce the number and severity of vehicle crashes.

A technical memorandum co-authored by Drs. Yang and Barr, titled "Phase II Results: Eye Glance Behavior and Driving Performance during Distracting Events," was submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May 2002. The study examined the relationship of driver distraction to eye-glance behavior and driver performance of truck drivers. The Volpe team analyzed existing naturalistic driving databases containing video clips of truck drivers. Although based on a limited set of data, results from the eye-glance analysis provide a better understanding of the relationship between different types of distraction activities and eye-glance behavior.

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