Volpe Center Highlights
Mobility
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility |
Human and Natural Environment |
Economic Growth and Trade |
National Security |
Published and Presented
Ensure that the transportation system is accessible, integrated and efficient, and offers flexibility of choices. |
Volpe Center Leadership At Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting
As in years past, the Volpe Center once again played key roles in the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Annual Meeting, recently convened in Washington, D.C. Significant examples of the Center's active participation include chairing a panel session entitled "Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Field Demonstrations: What Can We Learn from the International Experience?;" serving as a panelist for the session entitled "Role of Urban Freight Movement in ISTEA Congestion and Intermodal Management Systems;" providing an overview of the Center's flight and rail simulators; demonstrating prototype electronic aviation charting systems developed at the Center; presiding over a session titled "IVHS: A Passenger on the Information Highway;" giving a presentation based on a paper titled "Advanced Braking Systems;" and chairing a session titled "Safety Issues Related to High-Speed Ground Transportation Systems," which also included a Center presentation of a paper titled, "Evaluation of Selected Crashworthiness Strategies."
Participation in Institute of Navigation Meeting
On January 19, 1995, Ms. Karen Van Dyke, of the Department's Center for Navigation (which is operated by the Volpe Center), presented a paper at the 1995 National Technical Meeting of the Institute of Navigation (ION), held at Anaheim, CA. The paper titled "Fault Detection and Exclusion Performance Using GPS and GLONASS." In addition, Ms. Van Dyke co-chaired the session on "Airborne Applications" and, separately, served as one of the two elected air navigation representatives on the ION Council.
Intelligent Transportation Systems Research (FHWA)
The Volpe Center is engaged in providing analytical support to the FHWA in its effort to define and understand the impact of nontechnical issues or constraints (institutional issues) that impede the deployment of Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) products and services. One phase of this work is the review of ITS operational tests and deployments using a case study approach. The SmarTraveler operational test in the Boston Metropolitan Area was selected by the FHWA as the ninth subject of a case study. SmarTraveler is an advanced traveler information system that provides Boston-area commuters with up-to-the-minute, location-specific traffic and transit information. It is a partnership of the FHWA, the Massachusetts Department Transportation, and SmartRoutes Systems, Inc. Volpe Center analysts found the major issues encountered by the project participants to be initiating and developing the partnership and working within the existing procurement and contracting processes. These and other findings are documented in the report, "ITS Institutional and Legal Issues Program - Review of the SmarTraveler Operational Test." This report, the tenth in a series, was recently approved for printing and distribution and will be available through the National Technical Information Service.
Technical Support Provided to the Deputy Secretary
The Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis at the Volpe Center, working with Noah Rifkin, Director of the Office of Technology Deployment, recently prepared materials for Deputy Secretary Mort Downey for his presentation to the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Meeting. Accomplishments in the areas of Science and Technology by the Department over the past year were highlighted. These included: support for the administration's research and technology initiatives, such as the Technology Reinvestment Program (TRP) in its efforts to stimulate development and deployment of dual use technologies; transportation related TRP awards, especially those managed by DOT; key DOT roles in the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV); DOT's lead in the National Science and Technology Council's Coordinating Committee on Transportation R&D; and a wide variety of priority areas for transportation R&D within the department.