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Volpe Center Highlights - July/August 2003
Papers & Presentations
Director's Notes |
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility and Economic Growth
Human and Natural Environment |
Organizational Excellence |
Homeland Security
Awards |
Papers and Presentations
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As part of the Volpe Center's ongoing support to the DOT's ITS Standards Program, the Planning and Policy Analysis Division recently published a report summarizing the Program's progress over the past 36 months. The report, "ITS Standards Program 2002 Update," produced by a Volpe team led by Mr. Gerry Flood of the Division, is available on the ITS Standards Web site at http://www.standards.its.dot.gov/ and on the U.S. DOT's ITS Electronic Document Library at www.its.dot.gov/itsweb/welcome.htm. In May 2003, the Volpe Center submitted the final report, "Cape Cod National Seashore Alternative Transportation Systems Long-Range Planning Study." The Volpe team, led by Mr. Terrence Sheehan of the Service and Operations Assessment Division, collaborated with the National Park Service (NPS) Cape Cod National Seashore and with various regional stakeholders to develop this 25-year plan for alternative transportation to, from, and within the NPS Cape Cod National Seashore. This planning effort builds on current plans and proposals, and also focuses on needed partnering opportunities, and operational and capital improvements to improve mobility in and around Outer Cape Cod. Dr. Andrew Kish, Structures and Dynamics Division, presented "Effects of Track Maintenance on Track Buckling Potential" at the specialist technical session of the International Heavy Haul Association (IHHA) Conference held May 4-9, 2003, in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Kish's paper dealt with results of a joint Volpe/Amtrak test under the Federal Railroad Administration's Track Systems Research Program to evaluate the influences of certain railroad track maintenance practices on potential risks associated with high temperature-induced forces causing track instability events, possibly leading to catastrophic derailments. In support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program, Ms. Nicole Rossbach and Mr. Jose Mantilla of the Environmental Engineering Division, and Mr. Kevin Green of the Transportation Strategic Planning and Analysis Office, reviewed the outlook for light-duty diesel engines and hybrid electric vehicles. Ms. Rossbach and Mr. Green presented the group's findings at the Government/Industry Meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers, held May 12-14, 2003, in Washington, D.C. At the 13th Annual Meeting of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 19-22, 2003, Ms. Margaret Petrella of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division presented a paper comparing customer response to online Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) in Seattle and Los Angeles. Ms. Jane Lappin, also of the Division, spoke on the subject of customer response to ATIS and organized a panel of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) associate administrators, with senior transportation managers from the United Kingdom and Japan, to address the future direction of the transportation research agenda. Mr. Seamus McGovern, of Volpe's Airport Surface Division, and Mr. Kam Chin, from the Volpe Center for Navigation, attended the 3rd Integrated Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference & Workshop. The event, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center, was held May 19-22, 2003, in Annapolis, Maryland. Messrs. McGovern and Chin presented the technical paper, "Development of a Vehicle Independent Surveillance Data Collection System," for publication in the proceedings journal. Dr. Faris Bandak, of the Vehicle Crashworthiness Division, serves on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Research & Technology Organization (RTO) Human Effects Panel that sponsored an international conference on "Personal Protection: Biomechanical Issues and Associated Physio-Pathological Risks," held in Koblenz, Germany, May 19-23, 2003.Dr. Bandak served as one of the Technical Evaluators responsible for evaluating the proceedings and making recommendations to NATO RTO on the effectiveness of the research from a military mission perspective. Dr. Qing Zhou, of EG&G Technical Services, presented a paper, "Development and Validation of the Head-Neck Finite Element Model of THOR - A Tool for the Study of Neck Injuries Related to Head Supported Mass." Dr. Hailing Yu, of EG&G Technical Services, was the lead author on this paper that was co-authored by Mr. George Neat, Vehicle Crashworthiness Division Chief, Mr. Frank DiMasi and Dr. Bandak, also of the Division, and Drs. Marisol Medri and Qing Zhou of EG&G Technical Services. On June 17, 2003, in support of several Volpe Center security initiatives, Mr. Michael Dinning, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Environmental Protection and Systems Modernization, participated in the Annual Security Conference of the National Defense Industrial Association in Washington, D.C. He presented "Dual Benefits of a Systems Approach to Transportation Security." Mr. Eric Boeker, of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, presented the paper "Development of a Multi-Modal Noise Model" at the 2003 Noise-Con Conference held in Cleveland, Ohio during June 22-25, 2003. Mr. Gregg Fleming, Division Chief, co-authored the paper. The Volpe Center is supporting the development of a variety of computer models pertaining to aircraft noise and highway noise. Mr. Jonathan Koopmann, Accident Prevention Division, presented a paper titled "Characterizing the Capability of a Rear-End Crash Avoidance System," at the Society of Automotive Engineers Future Transportation Technology Conference, held in Costa Mesa, California, June 23-25, 2003. The paper discusses the methodology used to characterize the performance of a vehicle equipped with a radar-based system that helps drivers avoid rear-end collisions. Dr. Eugene Gilbo, of the Automation Applications Division, participated in the 5th USA/Europe Air Traffic Management (ATM) R&D Seminar held in Budapest, Hungary, June 23-27, 2003. The seminar was jointly organized and sponsored by the FAA and Eurocontrol. Dr. Gilbo presented a paper titled, "Arrival/Departure Capacity Tradeoff Optimization: a Case Study at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)." The paper describes the results of the first onsite testing and evaluation of the prototype Arrival/Departure Tradeoff Tool, developed at the Volpe Center as part of ongoing research and development for the Federal Aviation Administration. The tool and its optimization technique provide a decision support to ATM specialists for optimizing utilization of airport capacity and selecting the best arrival/departure strategies during periods of congestion at airports. The Volpe Center's Accident Prevention Division, in conjunction with the NHTSA's Office of Advanced Safety Research, has published four reports that address crash-problem definition and analysis. This work supports the U.S. DOT's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI), which develops and deploys effective crash-avoidance systems on light vehicles, heavy trucks, transit buses, and specialty vehicles. "Analysis of Light Vehicle Crashes and Pre-Crash Scenarios Based on the 2000 General Estimates System," was published in February 2003 and authored by Messrs. Wassim G. Najm, Basav Sen of EG&G Technical Services, Inc., (a Volpe contractor), and John D. Smith, and Ms. Brittany N. Campbell. The study divided the more than 6 million light-vehicle crashes reported in 2000 into nine major crash types that, in turn, were separated into 56 specific and dominant pre-crash scenarios denoting vehicle movements and critical events immediately prior to a crash. The other three reports, co-authored by these same authors along with Mr. Marco P. daSilva of the Accident Prevention Division, separately analyzed pedestrian, pedalcyclist, and lane-change crashes to enable the development of concepts, functional requirements, performance guidelines, and test procedures, as well as the safety assessment of potential crash-avoidance systems. In June, as part of the Volpe Center's ongoing technical support to the IVI program, Dr. David Yang of the Accident Prevention Division published a report titled "2003 Status Report on Transit Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Studies." This report provides an overview of studies in the transit IVI area. The FTA will use this report to introduce advanced transit vehicle technologies to transit agencies. Co-authors are Mr. Brian Cronin, FTA; Mr. Neil Meltzer, Accident Prevention Division; and Ms. Margaret Zirker, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., (a Volpe contractor). Under the DOT IVI program, the Volpe Center is evaluating the effectiveness of a Drowsy Driver Warning System (DDWS) for NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Data to evaluate the DDWS will be collected in a field operational test (FOT). The Center was requested to recommend an experimental design for the FOT and to solicit external reviews. Drs. Stephen Popkin, Bruce Wilson, and Heidi Howarth researched experimental designs used in previous IVI FOTs, developed design assessment criteria, assessed six design options, identified a strong candidate experimental design, and summarized their findings in a technical information exchange document. Mr. Robert Hoaglund, CPP of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division gave a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the National Cargo Security Council held June 9-10, 2003, in Nashville, Tennessee. His presentation, "The Development of a Security Action Plan for Cargo Security and Antiterrorism," described the risk analysis approach to operations, physical, and information systems security in a maritime port environment. Preliminary best security practices from the forthcoming International Cargo Industry Best Security Practices Report concluded the presentation. Mr. Hoaglund is supporting the Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office (CTTSO)/Technology Support Working Group (TSWG) and other government agencies by conducting several foreign and domestic supply chain and port security surveys concerning counter-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. At the invitation of Knowledge Platform VERDI in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Mr. William Lyons of Volpe's Planning and Policy Analysis Division gave a presentation on May 20, 2003, on "Capacity Building for Transportation Planning in the United States." Platform VERDI is an organization of Dutch local and regional transportation authorities sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Transport. Mr. Lyons was working on assignment at the Dutch Ministry's Transport Research Centre under its collaborative agreement with the Volpe Center. The agreement provides for exchanges of staff between the two national transportation research centers to provide technical assistance on priority topics of mutual interest. The two centers collaborate on a broad range of topics, including capacity building for transportation planning, operator fatigue and alertness, and public-private roles in funding and operating national passenger railroads.
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