The U.S. DOT Volpe Center's infographics tell stories that demonstrate the real-world impacts of our work to advance transportation innovation for the public good. 

Maritime Situational Awareness

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center has been in the vanguard of developing and deploying state-of-the-art, easy-to-use, cost-effective vessel tracking networks that enhance maritime situational awareness in waterways around the world.

View the infographic to learn how vessel tracking tools are enhancing safety and stability on the world's waterways.

Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention

Every 210 minutes, someone in America is hit by a train. In the early 1970s, it was every 40 minutes. Our infographic on highway-rail grade crossing safety and trespass prevention shows how the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, in support of FRA, is impacting rail safety.

View the infographic to learn about efforts to reduce highway-rail grade crossing fatalities and injuries.

Resiliency of the Global Positioning System (GPS)

In support of and collaboration with the U.S. DOT Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Command, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center conducted demonstrations of GPS backup/complementary position, navigation, and timing (PNT) vendor technologies that might provide a backup in the event of a GPS outage or disruption.

View the infographic to learn more about the demonstrated GPS backup technologies.

The Track Inspection and Maintenance Process

FRA asked a team of U.S. DOT Volpe Center human factors experts to research visual and automation-aided rail inspection processes. By identifying ways to address contributing factors from scenarios that could lead to accidents, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center developed recommendations railroads can use to assess and strengthen their current inspection processes and safety measures.

View the infographic to understand how automation will impact the safety and effectiveness of railroad operations across the United States.

Assessing the Safety of Automated Transit Buses

FTA asked the U.S. DOT Volpe Center to study the feasibility of transferring automation systems that are currently available for light-duty vehicles and commercial trucks to transit buses. U.S. DOT Volpe Center systems engineering experts identified potential hazards and safety measures unique to the safe deployment of these technologies in transit bus applications.

View the infographic to learn more about the safety implications of automated transit bus operations.

Get up to Speed on Supersonic Boom Testing

Noise experts at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center are helping build confidence in low-boom flight technologies, supporting NASA’s quiet supersonic research flights.

View the infographic to learn about a recent quiet supersonic flight test near Galveston, Texas.

 

Exploring Transportation Flow Scenarios With the Freight and Fuel Transportation Optimization Tool 

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center created the Freight and Fuel Transportation Optimization Tool (FTOT) on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

See a simple example to learn how FTOT can inform decisions on optimal transportation flow patterns.

 

Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

FMCSA collaborated with the U.S. DOT Volpe Center to develop the new CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, an online database for reporting drug and alcohol violations and other information about CDL holders who operate commercial motor vehicles.

Learn how the Clearinghouse will improve highway safety. 

 

To Reduce Fatal Motorcycle Crashes, First Understand How They Happen

NHTSA and the U.S. DOT Volpe Center worked together to better understand the motorcycle crash problem, a critical first step toward improving the safety of motorcycle operators and other road users.
 

 

 

The Importance of Highways to U.S. Agriculture

Agricultural products are the single largest category of freight transported on U.S. highways by volume. The U.S. DOT Volpe Center collaborated with the U.S. DOT Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy and the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to study the economic impacts of the agriculture industry and the associated costs from transportation.

View highlights of key findings from the research on agriculture and transportation.

 

Accelerating and Improving Environmental Reviews and Permitting Processes

The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) Annual Report to Congress assesses federal and state agency progress in implementing best practices to improve environmental review and approval processes for complex infrastructure projects. 

View the infographic on the FPISC Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2019 highlighting economic investments made and jobs created.

 

Blockchain and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

The flight operations of unmanned aircraft systems may benefit from the application of blockchain concepts. A blockchain is a time-stamped digital ledger that is distributed and managed by a cluster of computers and allows digital information to be distributed—read, shared, and added to—but not copied or changed. 

View an example to learn how blockchains could be used in UAS operations for organ transfer by drone.

Estimating Vehicle Hours of Travel

On behalf of the Federal Highway Administration, economists at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center calculated vehicle hours traveled (VHT) to measure the quality of service our nation’s highways provide.

View the infographic to learn why VHT and highway performance matter. 

 

The Life-Saving Potential of Pedestrian Detection Systems

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center, on behalf of NHTSA, developed and applied a methodology to estimate the safety benefits of pedestrian crash avoidance and mitigation technologies (PCAM) systems. 

View the infographic to learn more about PCAM systems.

 

Vessel Ballasting Operations

Ballast water is added to or discharged from cargo vessels to maintain stability. 

Learn how ballast discharge works and how the U.S. DOT Volpe Center assisted in developing the U.S. Coast Guard’s Final Rule on discharge standards.

 

 

Mobility on Demand: Plan, Travel, and Pay…Your Way

Working with the transportation community to create a shared vision for innovative multimodal transit payment systems, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center leads the way in improving trip planning, managing travel demands, and developing payment solutions for travelers and cities alike.

View the infographic to learn about innovative transportation payment systems.

 

A Safer and More Efficient Airspace: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast

FAA's Next Generation Transportation System—NextGen—is transforming how air traffic controllers and pilots see our national airspace. The backbone of this evolution is a technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), which Volpe has helped develop and deploy for more than a decade.

View the infographic to learn how ADS-B will make America's skies even safer and more efficient.

Proactive Safety in the Rail Industry: Safety Management Systems at Work

Clear Signal for Action (CSA) and the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) zero in on risky behavior and conditions and close calls in the rail industry. CSA and C3RS haven't just improved safety: they've transformed the worker-manager paradigm.

View the infographic to learn how safety management design and analysis can stimulate safety culture change across an entire industry.

 

Motor Vehicle Crash Avoidance

Crash-avoidance technologies prevent crashes and save lives and money. These technologies—such as in-vehicle warning systems, vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies—enable cars to communicate with drivers, other vehicles, and roadway infrastructure, and can potentially address about 95 percent of all vehicle crashes involving unimpaired drivers.

View the infographic to learn how the U.S. DOT Volpe Center's crash-avoidance research is making a difference.

Wake Turbulence Separation Standards for Aircraft

As airplanes move through the air, counter-rotating horizontal tornadoes are generated off the wings. This phenomenon, known as wake turbulence, creates a potentially dangerous situation for trailing aircraft. FAA counts on experts at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center to better understand the behavior of wake turbulence and to recommend critical adjustments to aircraft separation standards.

View the infographic to learn how the U.S. DOT Volpe Center's wake turbulence research has been successfully applied at airports across the country.