About Us

For more than 50 years, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center has been advancing transportation innovation for the public good. As the National Transportation Systems Center, our mission is to help the transportation community navigate its most challenging problems.

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Our Work

Keeping Drivers Safe with Innovative Intersection Design Research and Evaluation
Learn more about FHWA’s efforts to significantly improve the safety of standard intersections by developing novel designs and implementing them nationwide—with help from researchers from the U.S. DOT Volpe Center.
Keeping Drivers Safe with Innovative Intersection Design Research and Evaluation
Three farmers travel on a dirt road in Malawi in an ox-drawn cart.
Learn about MCC’s work to improve accessibility to transportation, enhance the livelihoods of small farmers, and improve access to vital health and social services for the people of Malawi—and how our transportation planners are helping.
Partnering with the Millennium Challenge Corporation to Improve Accessibility in Malawi
Graphic depiction of ground-penetrating radar.
Learn more about FRA’s research on automation-aided and visual rail inspection processes that can help identify potential risks and safety hazards.
Improving the Safety and Efficiency of Railroad Operations with Automation-Assisted Technology
A view of New York City from inside a helicopter.
Learn more about how the U.S. DOT Volpe Center will continue to use, maintain, and evolve this powerful environmental model—and how it's being used today.
NASA Transfers the Advanced Acoustic Model (AAM) to the U.S. DOT Volpe Center
Screenshot of the NAS Common Reference interface showing data overlaid on a map of the U.S. East Coast.
By deploying this new service, FAA will enable users to customize the information they need for decision-making. Learn more.
Developing the Newest Service for FAA SWIM: The NAS Common Reference
A container ship on the water.
Volpe developed a low-cost, unclassified, near real-time network that is used to track vessels as they traverse the world’s waterways.
Maritime Safety and Security Information System (MSSIS)
Graphic of two people shaking hands over a table from FMCSA infographic.
FMCSA partnered with the U.S. DOT Volpe Center to design and develop the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, an online database that helps identify drug and alcohol program violations and keep the nation’s roads safe.
Keeping Unsafe Drivers off the Road with the New CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse
Railroad tracks.
Track and infrastructure failure is the second leading cause of train derailments in the U.S. Vehicle-track interaction research investigates wheel-rail contact forces and their consequences to reduce railroad derailments and improve safety.
Staying on the Rails with Vehicle-Track Interaction

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Publications

Featured Report

News

Join Us Sept. 23 for Our 2021 Speaker Series Finale with Susan Shaheen, PhD
Susan Shaheen, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, to cap off our 2021 thought leadership series with introductory remarks by Robert C. Hampshire, PhD. Register to attend and join the conversation.
Join Us Sept. 23 for Our Series Finale: "Strategies to Overcome Transportation Barriers for Rent Burdened Residents"
Read a recap and watch video highlights of Tim Wallington's recent talk as part of Volpe's 2021 speaker series.
Dr. Wallington presents as part of the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s 2021 thought leadership series. Read a recap and watch video highlights of the event.
Recap: Toward Carbon Neutral Mobility
Read a recap and watch video highlights of James Bradbury's recent talk as part of Volpe's 2021 speaker series.
Dr. Bradbury offers perspective at U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s 2021 thought leadership series. Read a recap or watch video highlights from the event.
Recap: The Transportation and Climate Initiative: Multi-State Collaboration to Advance Equitable Low-Carbon Transportation
Read a recap and watch video highlights of Marilyn Brown's recent talk as part of Volpe's 2021 speaker series.
Marilyn Brown, PhD, lectures at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s 2021 thought leadership series. Read a recap of Dr. Brown's talk and watch video highlights of the event.
Recap: Advancing a Just and Low-Carbon Future with Urban Electrification
Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks via live videoconference during the U.S. DOT Volpe Center's 2021 speaker series kick-off event.
On June 2, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center welcomed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to kick off its 2021 thought leadership speaker series, Innovation for a Sustainable, Equitable Transportation System.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Kicks Off U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s 2021 Thought Leadership Series
A semi trailer drives on a U.S. highway, hauling freight through the desert.
Explore the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s nearly 60 technical reports and conference papers from 2020.
The U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s 2020 Reports
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Careers

Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Volpe attracts motivated, talented professionals who put their expertise to work in the service of others and resolve real-world transportation problems.

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