Safety
How an Automated Car Platoon Works
With emerging automated driving technology, self-driving cars may soon have the capability to form a platoon on a highway, which could improve travel time, increase lane capacity, and reduce congestion. A car platooning proof-of-concept was tested and evaluated at a U.S. Army facility in...
Improving Service and Safety at Penn Station in New York City
Penn Station is one of the busiest passenger transportation facilities in the U.S., serving more than 600,000 commuter rail and Amtrak passengers each day. In late March and early April, Penn Station suffered two train derailments within a week of each other. Following both derailments, U.S...
How Effective Are Pedestrian Detection Systems in Cars?
As pedestrian detection technology becomes integrated into the cars we drive, we must ask: How effective are these systems in preventing pedestrian crashes and injuries? How do we measure safety? A team of advanced vehicle experts at U.S. DOT’s Volpe Center conducted a study to find out.
Analyzing Online Media Reporting of Rail Suicide and Trespass Incidents
Responsible media reporting on rail suicide and trespass incidents can inform the public and help those in need. However, media reporting of such events can also lead to copycat incidents. A new report illuminates common reporting practices that could increase suicide contagion on the rail...
How Traditional Aviation Testing Can Inform Unmanned Aerial Technologies
In his award-winning paper, U.S. DOT Volpe Center engineer Seamus McGovern applied traditional flight testing techniques and principles for aircraft designs to fixed-wing and rotary-style drone designs.
Railroad Trespassing and Suicide Prevention Program
Over the past decade, research from rail suicide prevention experts in Europe, Canada, and Australia has illuminated strategies that can reduce rail suicides. Volpe and the Federal Railroad Administration built on this global research to develop a program with six focus areas to identify ways to...Obangame: A Longtime Partnership with the U.S. Navy that Makes African Coasts Safer
For 10 days in late March, Volpe engineers provided hands-on software and hardware expertise to African naval personnel from four nations as part of the U.S. Navy’s Obangame Express. Obangame is an at-sea maritime exercise that focuses on techniques that can increase maritime safety and security...
How a Decades-Long Partnership Led to Safer Waterways around the World
U.S. DOT Volpe Center Director Anne Aylward recently contributed an article to Seaway Compass, the newsletter of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. In this newsletter, Aylward discusses the decades-long partnership between the Seaway and Volpe that has made waterways around the...
Measuring Traffic Performance through Innovative Low-Cost Solutions
Capturing travel data on commercial motor vehicles (CMV) is an essential component of improving and maintaining roadway safety. Through U.S. DOT’s Small Business Innovation Research program, one small business is addressing the limitations of current CMV data collection technologies with a new...