U.S.–China Aviation Workshop participants, including Mr. Ned Keeler and Mr. Norman Rosenberg of the Volpe Center.

Richard Bair of the Volpe Center receives the David J. Hurley Memorial Award from Neil Planzer, Chairman, 2007 ATCA Board of Directors (photo by Jack Kies of Metron Aviation.)

The ongoing safe transport of hazardous materials by railroad tank cars is a key concern of the Federal Railroad Administration. The Volpe Center conducts research to support FRA/industry efforts in resolving problems related to metal fatigue and fracture in the current rail tank car fleet, the structural behavior of rail tank cars under potential collision and derailment scenarios, and improving the standards and procedures for future rail car designs.

The Volpe Center continued its research into full-scale tank car impact tests with the final report, Analysis of Accelerations Measured During Full-Scale Tank Car Impact Tests (DOT-VNTSC-FRA-07-03; DOT/FRA/ORD-07/08), written by Mr. Matthew Lyons of the Structures and Dynamics Division with Dr. William Riddell (formerly of the Volpe Center, now of Rowan University) and Mr. Kevin Koch of Transportation Technology Center, Inc.

Under most conditions, structural damage to railroad tank cars accumulates slowly and is managed by periodic inspections. However, in rare cases, tank cars can be subjected to extreme force that leads to sudden fractures. Many of the largest coupler force events encountered by tank cars are induced by rail yard impacts. In order to identify and quantify these events, the Volpe Center performed tank car impact tests to measure the resulting coupler forces and further evaluated a system to remotely monitor couple forces on tank cars. The response to the impacts was measured via accelerometers mounted at various locations on the tank car. The first series of tests considered only an unloaded tank car in a single impact configuration. This recently released final report presents the results of a series of tests conducted when the tank car was full, which more closely simulated in-service conditions.

The tests described in this report resulted from a cooperative effort; the Tank Car Operating Environmental Task Force was established by the Association of American Railroads (AAR)–Chemical Manufacturers Association–Railway Progress Institute (RPI) liaison team to oversee this project. The analysis for this report was performed as part of the Tank Car Structural Integrity Program sponsored by the Office of Research and Development of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The project was funded by RPI, AAR, and FRA. Results of this research may be used to modify tank car standards, design specifications, and operating practices.

• The report is available at *http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/Research/ord0708.pdf

(Added 09/19/07)

In support of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Research and Development, the Volpe Center performed an evaluation of the four-quadrant gate/obstruction detection system. The study’s objectives were to assess the system’s safety benefits regarding driver behavior, operational performance, and user acceptance. Results of the investigation were extremely favorable across all categories of measure. The report—written by Mr. Adrian Hellman and Ms. Anya Carroll of the Rail and Transit Systems Division and Ms. Debra Chappell of the Federal Highway Administration—summarizes the data collected at one four-quadrant gate site over a three-year period.

The chosen location (School Street in Groton, Connecticut) was a high-risk crossing along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Two treatment solutions that had been recommended by the DOT and FRA, closure of the intersection or the more costly installation of a grade separation, were disputed by the local communities. The agreed-upon solution was the demonstration of an enhanced grade crossing system employing four-quadrant gates with obstruction detection.

Key facets of this technology are the four-quadrant gates, detection of motor vehicles and other metal objects stalled on the highway-rail crossing, and integration of the obstruction detection system (ODS) with the Amtrak nine-aspect cab signal system.

Volpe Center compared the four-quadrant gate and pre-existing, dual-gate crossing systems by assessing video data. Investigation showed that the four-quadrant gate technology increased driver safety, with the proof being the 100 percent reduction in the riskier, Type II driver violations (cars crossing after the gates fully deploy) compared with the same violations at the pre-existing, dual-gate crossing system. The four-quadrant gate system also decreased the frequency of Type I violations (cars crossing after the warning lights flash but before the gates fully deploy). Analysis of the operational performance of the School Street four-quadrant gate system indicates that the technology performed as designed and required few post-installation modifications. Lastly, Amtrak engineers who operated trains through the crossing provided positive user acceptance, stating that the four-quadrant gate system reduced their anxiety level and did not impact their train-handling capability.

• The final report, Evaluation of the School Street Four-Quadrant Gate/In-Cab Signaling Grade Crossing System (DOT-VNTSC-FRA-03-04; DOT/FRA/ORD-07/09), is available at:
  *http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/Research/ord0709.pdf

(Added 08/27/07)

The Volpe Center recently delivered a final report to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which offers an overview of global research on intrusion and obstacle detection. Written by Mr. Marco daSilva of the Advanced Safety Technology Division and Mr. William Baron of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division, the report builds on published literature to provide an updated review of the state-of-the-art technology, including synopses of the off-the-shelf systems currently available, and recommends potential technology concepts for future field testing.

Several types of non-track, circuit-based intrusion and obstacle detection system prototypes have been field tested in recent years. These systems incorporate technologies such as magnetic, infrared, ultrasonic, and acoustic sensors, as well as radar and video detection. Some approaches to detection were developed specifically for the railroad environment, mainly infrastructure-based and for active-cooperation use. Others were developed for other applications, such as perimeter security, military reconnaissance, and vehicle detection on roadways.

Application of such detection capabilities are essential for railroad rail rights of way (ROW) and crossings, to improve the safety of rail passengers and road users, protect the general population and environment from the risks associated with hazmat shipments, and aid in the relief of congestion by reducing the number of incidents and delays due to those incidents.

Novel approaches to detection involving existing and emerging technologies continue to appear. Most of the systems described in this report show promise, but many of them have not been properly tested and evaluated. The report recommends that future research evaluate technologies that are ready for use in obstacle detection applications and identify technologies that require further refinement before they can be relied upon to ensure public safety.

This report builds on Volpe Center’s previous work in the area. In 1998, the Volpe Center conducted a workshop for the FRA on Intruder and Obstacle Detection Systems (IODS), which helped provide a basis for defining IODS requirements. A suite of possible alternative detection technology systems were then field-tested, and those results were published in 2003.

The report is listed below and can be downloaded from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Research Publications at:

• State-of-the-Art Technologies for Intrusion and Obstacle Detection for Railroad Operations. DOT-VNTSC-FRA-07-04; DOT/FRA/ORD-07/06
  *http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/Research/ord0706.pdf

(Added 08/22/07)

Dr.Wassim Najm, Mr. John D. Smith, and Mr. Mikio Yanagisawa of the Volpe Center’s Advanced Safety Technology Division recently published a report, titled “Pre-Crash Scenario Typology for Crash Avoidance Research,” in support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Vehicle Safety Research. A number of crash typologies have been developed over the years in support of vehicle safety research. Crash typologies provide an understanding of distinct crash types and scenarios and explain why they occur. They serve as a tool to identify intervention opportunities, set research priorities and direction in technology development, and evaluate the effectiveness of selected crash countermeasure systems.

The report defines a new pre-crash scenario typology for crash avoidance research based on the 2004 General Estimates System (GES) crash database, which consists of pre-crash scenarios depicting vehicle movements and dynamics as well as the critical event immediately prior to a crash. This typology establishes a common vehicle safety research foundation for public and private organizations, which will allow researchers to determine which traffic safety issues should be of first priority to investigate and to develop concomitant crash avoidance systems. Its main objectives are to identify all common pre-crash scenarios of all police-reported crashes involving at least one light vehicle; quantify their severity in terms of frequency of occurrence, economic cost, and functional years lost; portray each scenario by crash contributing factors and circumstances in terms of the driving environment, driver, and vehicle; and provide nationally representative crash statistics that can be annually updated using national crash databases such as GES.

The report is available at:

• *http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-12/Pre-Crash Scenario Typolog - Final PDF Version 5-2-07.pdf

(Added 08/02/07)

The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) is concerned that truck drivers' exposure to high levels of air pollutants and mobile air toxics for potentially long periods of time, may lead to resulting acute and/or long term cognitive impairments.

In support of the FMCSA, the Volpe Center recently published a final technical report titled, Emissions Impact on Driver Safety (FMCSA-RRA-07-012 / DOT-VNTSC-FMCSA-07-02). The report presents a compilation of existing information addressing whether exposure to diesel exhaust at levels found in cabs affects driver safety performance by affecting driver sleep, alertness, reaction time, fatigue levels, or judgment-making abilities. The report also presents results of expert interviews conducted to obtain insight into the problem and a review of the environmental and medical literature, and identifies challenges for future research.

The report is authored by Dr. Michelle Yeh and Mr. John K. Pollard of the Human Factors Division, with support from Mr. Paul Zebe of the Environmental Engineering Division.

The report is available from the Volpe Center Technical Reference Center and will be posted on the FMCSA website.

(Added 07/25/07)

Since November 2006, the Volpe Center (for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)), Dow Chemical Company, Union Pacific Railroad, and the Union Tank Car Company have been collaborating on a high priority, fast-track effort to improve the safety of railroad tank cars carrying hazardous materials ( HAZMAT). The objective of this joint government/industry effort-called the Next-Generation Rail Tank Car (NGRTC) Project-is to design a rail tank car that will meet or exceed performance requirements while improving safety and security. This includes full-scale impact tests to evaluate the crashworthiness of rail tank cars under accident loading conditions. The results from the tests will be used to support a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) developed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the FRA in the creation of the new regulations and by the NGRTC project team as it continues to construct a new tank car design. The FRA signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in January 2007 with the sponsors of the NGRTC project, to share research information.

On April 26, 2007, a full-scale shell-impact test was conducted on a rail tank car donated by Dow at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado. In this context, shell impact means that the rail tank car is impacted at the side by another rail car. The test was conducted at an impact speed of 14 miles per hour, and resulted in a 9-inch deep dent.

On July 11, another full-scale shell impact test on a railroad tank car designed to carry chlorine was successfully completed at the TTC. This second test resulted in rupture of the tank car shell.

Detailed data will be analyzed by the FRA, Volpe Center staff, and contractors, not only to improve tank cars but also to verify and validate analysis tools under development for the project. With the assistance of this ongoing research, FRA, in conjunction with PHMSA, is working to develop new hazardous material tank car safety standards. The target date for a prototype next-generation tank car is April 2008, with the first cars entering service in 2010.

The Volpe Center team was led by Dr. David Jeong and included Mr. Michael Carolan, Ms. Karina Jacobsen, Mr. Jeffrey Gordon, Mr. Mathew Lyons, Mr. Philip Mallon, Dr. Benjamin Perlman, Ms. Michelle Priante, Mr. Brandon Talamini, Mr. Yim Tang, and Mr. David Tyrell, all of the Structures and Dynamics Division and Dr. Hailing Yu of Case LLC a Volpe Center contractor.

(Added 07/24/07)

On May 17 th the Volpe Center was presented with an Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer for the Development of Crash Energy Management Passenger Rail Equipment for Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) at the FLC (Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer) annual meeting in Arlington, Texas. The award is presented by the Federal Laboratory Consortium to federal laboratories that have developed innovative technology and successfully transferred this technology to the public domain. The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is the nationwide network of over 200 federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace. This is the first time that a project from RITA has received this award and the first such award for the Department of Transportation in over a decade.

The Volpe Center team leader for this project is David Tyrell, Structures and Dynamics Division. The Volpe team members are: Ms. Kristine Severson-Green, Dr. Benjamin Perlman, Ms. Karina Jacobsen, Mr. Daniel Parent, Ms. Michelle Priante, Mr. Michael Carolan, all of the Structures and Dynamics Division. Federal Railroad Administration team members are: Ms. Jo Strang, Mr. Grady Cothen, Mr. Eloy Martinez (formerly of the Volpe Center), Dr. Thomas Tsai, Mr. Gunars Spons, Mr. Charlie Bielitz, and Ms. Cindy Gross.

Since 1989 the Volpe Center has been performing in-depth studies to determine effective strategies for improved structural crashworthiness and occupant protection. Cab car-led passenger trains present a particularly challenging situation because the lead car traditionally bears the brunt of a crash. One solution that better preserves occupied spaces in the trains is Crash Energy Management (CEM). The CEM design uses zones of controlled crush; collision energy is absorbed by a series of components and distributed to unoccupied areas of the train rather than decimating the first car, as is characteristic of current equipment. A CEM Working Group was formed, including government engineers and participants from the rail industry, and a detailed technical specification was developed in just over four months. A full-scale crash test in Pueblo, Colorado, in March 2006 was pronounced "nearly perfect." In May 2006 Metrolink, the Los Angeles commuter railroad, awarded a contract to Rotem, part of the Hyundai group of companies, to produce equipment incorporating the CEM technology. The Volpe Center continues to work with Metrolink to ensure that the supplier meets the requirements. New equipment with the CEM features is expected to be in service in 2009.

Front row, left to right: Ms. Michelle Priante, Ms. Karina Jacobsen, Dr. Benjamin Perlman. Back row, left to right: Mr. David Tyrell, Mr. Michael Carolan, Mr. Eloy Martinez, Ms. Kristine Severson, Mr. Daniel Parent

(Added 06/04/07)

Many automobile accidents could be avoided if drivers were warned of impending crashes before they occurred. Industry and government are working together to develop technologies and systems that can automatically detect imminent crashes and thus help to reduce the number of car accidents. The Volpe Center is playing a key role in conducting an independent evaluation of integrated safety systems for motor vehicles, in support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This research activity represents a part of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) initiative in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program. The goal of IVBSS is to accelerate the deployment of integrated crash warning systems for passenger cars and heavy commercial trucks to prevent rear-end, lane change, and run-off-road crashes. In a recently published final report , Center researchers recommend crash imminent test scenarios for integrated vehicle-based safety systems designed to warn the driver of an impending rear-end, lane change, or run-off-road crash. The recommendations are based on analyzing the statistics about these types of crashes.

The report is authored by Dr. Wassim Najm and Mr. John Smith of the Advanced Safety Technology Division.

The report is listed below and can be downloaded from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Crash Avoidance Publications at:

*http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-12/pubs_rev.html

• Development of Crash Imminent Test Scenarios for Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems - April 2007, DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-07-01; DOT-HS 810 757. (PDF, 902 KB)

(Added 05/30/07)

Recently, several Volpe Center staff members presented papers in the technical sessions at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition in Pueblo, Colorado. The papers reflect Volpe Center expertise in the areas of rail equipment crash energy management gage widening and metal fatigue of railroad joint bars. The papers are listed below and will be available in the conference proceedings. For more information, please contact the individual authors at the Volpe Center.

(Full text for the following documents will be available at http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sdd/pubs.html)

• "Performance Efficiency of a Crash Energy Management System" by Mr. Michael Carolan, Mr. David Tyrell, and Dr. A. Benjamin Perlman of the Structures and Dynamics Division, (JRCICE2007-40064)

• "Crash Energy Management Crush Zone Designs: Features, Functions and Forms" by Ms. Michelle Priante of the Structures and Dynamics Division, and Mr. Eloy Martinez of the Federal Railroad Administration (JRCICE2007-40051)

• "Implications of the Redefined Gage Widening Projection Parameter for the Deployable Spent Axle Gage Restraint Measurement System" by Mr. Theodore Sussmann, and Mr. John Choros of the Structures and Dynamics Division, and Ms. Sung Lee of FRA's Office of Research and Development (JRCICE2007-40098)

• "Estimation of the Fatigue Life of Railroad Joint Bars" by Mr. Brandon Talamini, Mr. Jeff Gordon, and Mr. David Jeong of the Structures and Dynamics Division, (JRCICE2007-40065)
  http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sdd/docs/integrity/jrcice2007-40065.pdf

(Added 05/30/07)

On April 26 the Volpe Center's Federal Women's Program sponsored its annual "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day."® Volpe Center Director Dr. Curt Tompkins welcomed 26 children of Center employees. The theme for the day's activities was transportation safety.

Mr. Michael Carolan and Mr. Philip Mallon of the Structures and Dynamics Division explained the advantage of building a crash zone on railroad cars that can absorb the force of an impact. The children then fashioned their own crash protection containers for an egg.

Dr. Bruce Wilson and Mr. John Guglielmi of the Advanced Safety Technology Division discussed automobile crash avoidance techniques. The children watched Vince and Larry crash dummy commercials; played the interactive CD, "Safer Journey," (produced for the Federal Highway Administration) in which a child must make various decisions about how to move about his neighborhood; and maneuvered remote-control cars through a crash-avoidance course.

The children also visited the nearby MIT Earth Day Fair, where they saw various hands-on exhibits illustrating environmental stewardship.

Volpe Center Director Dr. Curt Tompkins with Volpe employees' daughters and sons.

(Added 05/11/07)

The U.S. Federal Transit Administration has released a report that explores policy options necessary to increase the use of alternative fuels in public transit vehicles such as buses, fixed guideway vehicles, and ferries. The report entitled "Alternative Fuels Study: A Report to Congress on Policy Options for Increasing the Use of Alternative Fuels in Transit Vehicles" was submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs by Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters in December 2006.

This report details environmental benefits, existing barriers, current incentives, and policy recommendations related to increasing alternative fuels use in public transportation nationwide. It calls for a number of legislative initiatives to create incentives for transit agencies to replace diesel fuel with alternative fuels such as natural gas, biodiesel, electricity, propane, hydrogen, and others.

The final report was based on a draft written by Mr. Greg Ayres with support from Mr. Kevin Green and Mr. Neil Meltzer, all of the Advanced Safety Technology Division, and additional analysis by Dr. Don Pickrell of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division.

The report can be downloaded from the following web link:

*Alternative Fuel Study: A Report to Congress on Policy Options for Increasing the Use of Alternative Fuels in Transit Vehicles (PDF, 398KB)

(Added 05/07/07)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is researching the feasibility of using Event Data Recorders (EDRs) or "Black Boxes" similar to those found on commercial airliners in automobiles. These recorders could provide information to help determine what caused individual accidents and the data could also be collected to help improve overall traffic safety. Crash data recorders with limited capability exist today on many vehicles. More sophisticated equipment is being tested, but has a high cost of more than $10,000 per vehicle.

The Volpe Center has completed a final report for NHTSA -Development of Collision Avoidance Data for Light Vehicles: Near-Crash/Crash Event Data Recorders - that identifies sensors that can be added to motor vehicles on a wide scale in a cost-effective way. The presence of low-cost near-crash/crash event data recorders (EDRs) on thousands of vehicles would enable a more accurate assessment of safety benefits for intelligent vehicle crash avoidance technologies, and would greatly improve the quality of data in national crash databases such as the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) Crashworthiness Data System (CDS) and General Estimates System (GES). The report is authored by Mr. Marco daSilva and Dr. Wassim Najm of the Advanced Safety Technology Division.

The report is listed below and can be downloaded from the provided link:.

Development of Collision Avoidance Data for Light Vehicles: Near-Crash/Crash Event Data Recorders, (PDF, 1.4MB) December 2006, DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-06-03.

(Added 05/01/07)

The 87th American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting took place in San Antonio, Texas from January 13-18, 2007. The 2007 Annual Meeting was organized around the broad theme of "Bridging the Studies of Weather and Climate." The AMS Annual Meeting hosts several other meteorological conferences, and two Volpe Center technical experts presented their papers at these meetings. Their papers are summarized below:

• Evaluation of Wind Algorithms for Reporting Wind Direction for Use in Air Traffic Control Towers by Dr. Thomas A. Seliga of the Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Technologies division and Mr. David A. Hazen of L-3 Communications Titan Group, presented at a joint poster session (between the 16th Conference on Applied Climatology and the 14th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation).

  The session examined the standard International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) systems now in place for measuring wind speed, wind direction, and gust values, which air traffic controllers must rely on. The current standard is to use the most recent 2-minute averages for wind speed and wind direction reports and the most recent 10-minute maximum wind speed to determine the wind gust report. This paper examined methods of evaluating short-term wind direction shift prediction, of comparing average wind directions under differing backward-looking times, of testing the angular range in wind direction associated with occurrences of wind gusts, and of examining properties of wind direction data to determine predictors. The results demonstrate that established algorithms recommended by ICAO and used generally throughout the U.S. are reasonable for the application. The paper did not compare methods of predicting aviation meteorology parameters, even though it is acknowledged that more sophisticated methods will improve predictability as opposed to the "simple" methods now in use.

  The entire paper can be read at *http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/116901.pdf

• Analysis of Weather Events on U.S. Railroads by Mr. Michael A. Rossetti of the Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Technologies division, presented as part of the 23rd Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems (IIPS).

  The ability to reduce the effects of weather on the railroad system would have significant benefits, mostly through the prevention of injuries/fatalities and the reduction in economic damages. Weather data from the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Railroad Accident and Incident Reporting System (RAIRS) for the period 1995-2005 were examined. Historically, the RAIRS database statistics understate or obscure the true impact of weather as a causal factor in railroad incidents and accidents. Unless system delays or outages can be directly traced to an incident, RAIRS data provide little information on how adverse weather may result in service interruptions or shutdowns. By measuring factors such as fatalities, economic damage, and measures of risk, this analysis presents a method for interpreting RAIRS fields to obtain a more accurate representation of weather-related incidents. It discusses ways to incorporate other information to assess how weather influences railroad operations and safety, and the response of railroad companies to an actual or imminent event. It also makes recommendations for improving existing technologies, such as positive train control (PTC) technology, to more accurately reflect the influence of weather and improve future data analysis.

  The paper can be viewed at *http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/118791.pdf

(Added 04/23/07)

The U.S. Congress passed legislation that encourages the development of high-speed passenger rail service in the United States. Under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, Congress established the high-speed rail (HSR) corridor program and identified five HSR corridors, including California, Chicago Hub, Southeast, Northwest, and Florida. And the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which became law in 1998, authorized a total of 11 high-speed rail corridors.

The Volpe Center recently published a final report for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on data acquisition and analysis for highway-rail grade crossing risk estimation on the proposed HSR corridor in San Joaquin, California. Engineers and officials responsible for evaluating corridor highway-rail grade crossing risk need an approach for assessing the quality of existing data and improving its fidelity. The objectives of this study included evaluating various data acquisition methods used to determine the risk at highway-rail grade crossings in the San Joaquin, HSR corridor and recommending the most cost-effective method for use in evaluating future corridors. Results using the FRA Accident Prediction Formula (APF) indicate that all data acquisition and analysis methods are suitable for evaluating the highway-rail grade crossing risk on a given corridor. The APF is a long-standing effort to estimate the probability of a collision at highway-rail grade crossings and is based on a substantial national database maintained by FRA.

The report is listed below and can be downloaded from:
*http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/research/ord0602.pdf

San Joaquin, California, High-Speed Rail Grade Crossing Data Acquisition Characteristics, Methodology, and Risk Assessment DOT/FRA/ORD-06/02

The report is authored by Mr. John Choros of the Structures and Dynamics Division, Mr.. Adrian Hellman and Ms. Anya Carroll of the Rail and Transit Systems Division, Mr. Gary Baker of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, Ms. Marsha Haines of EG&G Inc. (a Volpe Center contractor) and Mr. Jon Anderson, formerly of EG&G Inc. (Added 04/03/07)

Transportation contributes to global warming through the burning of gasoline and diesel fuel. USDOT established the Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting in 1999 to play a leadership role in meeting these challenges. The Center has become the focal point within USDOT for information and technical expertise on transportation and climate change, working with its component organizations to coordinate related research, policies, and actions. The Center promotes comprehensive multimodal approaches to reduce GHG emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change on the transportation system, while advancing USDOT's core goals of safety, mobility, environmental stewardship, and security.

The Center recently finalized and released a strategic plan for 2006 to 2010. This plan aligns the Center's goals, strategies, and actions with those reflected in federal interagency strategic plans for climate change and related USDOT strategic plans. The plan presents the vision of "a transportation system that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and is prepared for the impacts of climate change." It also defines short and long term goals and identifies strategies to meet those goals. The Volpe Center provides strategic planning support to the Climate Change Center and played a lead role in the completion of this plan. Mr. William Lyons of the Planning and Policy Analysis Division is project manager for Volpe Center support to the Climate Change Center.

The report title is listed below and can be downloaded:

• U.S. Department of Transportation, Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting: Strategic Plan 2006-2010 (http://climate.volpe.dot.gov/plan/splan_2006.pdf)

(Added 03/28/07)

Dr. James Hallock of the Volpe Center's Safety Information Systems Division presented a paper titled "Is the B757- 300 Really a "Heavy" Aircraft?" at the 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit held in Reno, Nevada, January 8 - 11 2007 (AIAA-2007-288). This multidisciplinary conference provides a forum for scientists and engineers from industry, government, and academia to share and disseminate the scientific knowledge and research results with a view toward setting new milestones for human flight.

The paper, which was co-authored by Ms. Melanie Soares, of the Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Technologies Division, discusses the wake separation standards for the B757-300 aircraft. The weight of an aircraft has a significant impact on the way it is treated by air traffic control and on the requirements for separation from other aircraft. Air Traffic control designates the following Aircraft Weight Classes: heavy, large, and small. Wake vortex separation standards define the minimum distance between lead and following landing aircraft to ensure the following aircraft will land safely without experiencing a hazardous wake vortex encounter. Smaller aircraft following behind a larger aircraft are more susceptible to the circulation or strength of the wake of the larger aircraft, and so the longitudinal or inter-aircraft distance is increased for the smaller aircraft. Current separation standards are based on the maximum gross certificated takeoff weight of the lead and following aircraft.

The background to this discussion goes back to July 1996, when a new wake vortex category was created for the B757 which placed it between revised Large and Heavy categories. The B757-300, stretched version of the B757-200, was treated by Air Traffic Control as a Heavy aircraft due to its maximum certificated takeoff weight. This study examines the behavior of vortices from both aircraft during approach/landing operations and shows little difference between the vortices of the two B757 series. In fact, both measurements and theory indicate that B757-300 vortices decay somewhat faster than B757-200 vortices. Therefore, the B757-300 is being penalized by unneeded increased wake vortex spacing during approach/landing operations.

The report is listed below.

Hallock, James and Melanie Soares, 2007, "Is the B757-300 Really a Heavy Aircraft?" 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, January 8-11, 2007. AIAA-2007-288.

(Added 03/26/07)

Gary Baker of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division received a Superior Achievement Award from the FRA's Office of Policy and Program Development.

The Volpe Center has provided Research and Development support to the Federal Railroad Administration for more than 35 years - and many of our staff members are regarded as staff extensions to the FRA. Several Volpe Center staff members were recently recognized for their outstanding achievements and their contributions to the FRA's mission, reflecting the relationship of respect and trust between the FRA and the Volpe Center.

Superior Achievement Award (Bronze Medal) Mr. Gary Baker of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division received a Superior Achievement Award (Bronze Medal) from the FRA's Office of Policy and Program Development. The Superior Achievement Award is the highest honorary award granted by the FRA Administrator and recognizes superior employee contributions of unusual value which help the FRA achieve its goals and objectives. Gary received the award for significantly advancing the FRA's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capabilities and for providing exceptional mapping support to the FRA Administrator. Gary received the award for work he did while he was at FRA; he is now employed by the Volpe Center where he continues to provide innovative GIS support.

Team Awards Two FRA teams, which included Volpe Center employees, received Team Awards from the FRA's Office of Safety. This award is given to teams for exceptional performance that results in the significant improvement, reinvention, or reengineering of practices or operations that contribute to the achievement of FRA goals and objectives:

Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) Joint Integrity Team , composed of nine FRA employees and Volpe Center employees Mr. Jeff Gordon and Mr. David Jeong of the Structures and Dynamics Division, received a team award for outstanding teamwork, technical excellence, and application of collaborative skills in achieving recommendations for the development of a final rule on the integrity of joints in continuous welded rail.

Fatigue Management Team , composed of four FRA employees and Volpe Center employee Dr. Stephen Popkin, Chief of the Human Factors Division, received a team award for exemplary development of creative, scientifically-based strategies to prevent and manage fatigue in the railroad industry.

The FRA administrator, Mr. Joseph H. Boardman, praised the awardees. "their accomplishments represent some of the best of what we do." The Volpe Center takes pride in the achievements of it employees, especially where they contribute to the success of the Department of Transportation's administrations. (Added 03/20/07)

The Center recently published a final report evaluating the results of the Public Education and Enforcement Research Study (PEERS). The project was a collaborative effort between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Illinois Commerce Commission, and local communities in the State of Illinois. Education and enforcement were used in a number of Illinois communities as a potential alternative safety measure. The Volpe Center supported the FRA in monitoring and evaluating highway-rail intersections in the Illinois communities through video data collection while the communities conducted education and enforcement campaigns. The data collection and analysis efforts focused on three highway-rail intersections in Arlington Heights, IL. The effectiveness of the programs was determined by evaluating the number of motorists and pedestrians who violated the crossing warning devices during three project phases. The report concludes that overall, highway-user behavior changed for the safer during the study, and pedestrians were the most affected by the PEERS programs. The report is authored by Ms. Suzanne Sposato, Mr. Patrick Bien-Aime, and Ms. Mina Chaudhary of Volpe Center's Rail and Transit Systems Division.

The report title is listed below and can be downloaded from:
*http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/research/ord0627.pdf

Safety at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings: Public Education and Enforcement Research Study DOT/FRA/ORD-06/27 (Added 03/20/07)

The Transportation Research Board's (TRB) 2007 annual meeting drew approximately 11,000 transportation professionals from around the world to Washington, DC. The theme for this year's conference was "Transportation Institutions, Finance and Workforce: Meeting the Needs of the 21st Century". The Volpe Center was well represented in this diverse group of researchers, academics, administrators, and others from government and industry. Volpe Center staff participated in over 20 sessions or workshops, delivered papers, presentations and poster sessions, and developed and staffed the Volpe Center, the University Transportation Centers (UTC), and the US DOT Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) exhibit. Volpe Center participants covered a broad range of topics, including environmental measurement and modeling, transit management, highway/rail grade crossings, transportation economics, container and vessel tracking, high-speed rail, congestion pricing, driver information systems, crash energy management and human factors issues. (Added 02/17/07)

A recently published report in the Transportation Research Record was co-authored by Michael Culp of the Federal Highway Administration, Ann Steffes of Volpe Center's Planning and Policy Analysis Division, and Esther Lee, a former Volpe Center employee. The article "Summary of Recommendations from Travel Model Improvement Program's Peer Review Program" presents the results of, and recommendations from, a dozen peer review panel meetings held throughout the U.S. As part of the Travel Model Improvement Program (TMIP), these panel meetings were designed to provide state and local planning agencies with a forum to solicit input from experts in the field of travel demand modeling. TMIP is intended to assist transportation planning agencies in improving their travel analysis techniques. The Volpe Center provides continuing support to this program by writing reports on each peer review describing the Metropolitan Planning Organization's travel demand model, analyzing peer reviewer comments, and summarizing recommendations for improvement to the model and modeling process.

The report is listed below.

Culp, Michael; Esther Lee; Ann Steffes. 2006. "Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1981: Planning and Analysis, p. 50-55. (Added 02/15/07)

Building on several years of collaboration, the Volpe Center led a technical exchange with the Dutch Ministry of Transportation and Waterwork's Transport Research Centre (AVV), hosted by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington DC on January 25. The exchange focused on professional capacity building (PCB) and knowledge management. Participants exchanged experiences, effective practices, and research needs on four core topics: successful capacity building tools, how to build and sustain a PCB program, key partners for a PCB effort, and how to evaluate the impact of a PCB program. Volpe Center has supported the Department of Transportation in developing and implementing several capacity building programs, which are designed to enable transportation decision makers, professionals, and staff to effectively respond to changing needs.

The exchange brought together more than two dozen experts from both countries representing AVV and its partners, the Volpe Center, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the National Highway Institute (NHI), and the National Transit Institute (NTI).

Participants from the Volpe Center included: Director Curt Tompkins, Director Emeritus Richard John, Kelly Leone, Director of the Office of Demonstration and Deployment Programs, Suzanne Sloan of the Service and Operations Planning Division, and Bill Lyons, John Boiney, and Elizabeth Machek, all members of the Planning and Policy Analysis Division. Bill and John will be working with their AVV counterparts to pursue one or more opportunities for collaborative applied research following on needs discussed at the technical exchange.

This technical exchange initiative is part of the Center's ongoing collaboration with the Transport Research Centre of the Netherlands. We also renewed a Memorandum of Cooperation with AVV to continue a working relationship initiated in 1998. The Memorandum of Cooperation provides a framework to enable the two centers to benefit from one another's experience and expertise and, through collaboration, to improve the quality of research on projects for current and future clients. The new agreement allows for the Volpe Center and the Transport Research Centre to focus on evolving areas of mutual interest. (Added 02/15/07)