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Featured Work

Philadelphia’s John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is America’s first urban refuge, established to preserve, restore, and develop the natural area known as Tinicum Marsh. Since 2019, the Volpe Center has been working collaboratively with refuge staff and community partners in southwest Philadelphia to improve transportation connections and access to the refuge and other outdoor opportunities in the community.

The Volpe Center-managed FHWA Research and Technology (R&T) Evaluation Program provides insight into how research goes from paper to roadway—from early research stages, to implementation, to measuring outcomes. By the end of fiscal year (FY) 2017, Volpe completed 12 evaluations. Five cross-cutting recommendations have emerged that can encourage research coordination and improve roadway safety and efficiency.

New financial performance reports are helping states manage their passenger rail services with greater precision, and giving agencies the information they need to make data-driven decisions.

From a single operator to an entire system, Volpe experts help transportation professionals understand how goods and people move today—and how they can move better in the future.

U.S. DOT Volpe Center developed a low-cost, unclassified, near real-time network that is used to track vessels as they traverse the world’s waterways.

The world of intelligent transportation systems is complex. There are mobile apps that riders use to pay for transit, vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communication networks that have the potential to save thousands of lives, and data analytics that help transportation professionals make more effective decisions. The U.S. DOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Professional Capacity Building (ITS PCB) Program provides flexible, accessible ITS learning for the transportation workforce through training, technical assistance, and educational resources.

Two recent benefit-cost analyses are helping form the foundation for smart decisions about proposed crosswalk infrastructure for people with disabilities and expanded use of excess flow valves, which halt the flow of gas if there is a pipe break or rupture. 

The United States Transportation Command seeks Volpe’s research and analytical expertise to help increase fuel cost savings and maximize fuel efficiency for handling the combined shipping needs for all branches of the U.S. military, approximately 300,000 containers per year.

New technology enables air traffic controllers to see traffic with more precision than ever before.

Track and infrastructure failure is the second leading cause of train derailments in the United States. Vehicle-track interaction research investigates wheel-rail contact forces and their consequences to reduce railroad derailments and improve safety.