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Our Work

Transportation Emergency Management

Emergency management is a holistic framework that increases a community’s resilience and reduces its vulnerabilities to all hazards. Recent events—from natural and environmental disasters to supply chain disruption, from rail and plane incidents to infrastructure vulnerabilities, from terrorism to...

Innovation at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center aims to align with the U.S. DOT’s strategic goals and innovation principles as we deliver on our mission to transform transportation for all. Our team members continually anticipate and respond to global transportation challenges and emerging issues. We embrace a systems...

Resilience and Disaster Recovery Tool Suite

About this Document

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center is helping agencies make informed decisions about future infrastructure investments. Learn more about the Resilience and Disaster Recovery Tool Suite.

Advanced Air Mobility: Our Experience

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center team is working with sponsors, including FAA, NASA, DOD, and other government agencies and industry innovators, to explore ways to safely and efficiently incorporate transformative technologies and emerging concepts into the National Airspace System (NAS).  ...

Our Priorities

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center draws upon our multimodal, multidisciplinary expertise to advance U.S. DOT’s key priorities to improve our transportation system.

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

About This Document

Since the 1970s, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center has led the evolution of innovative transportation payment systems. From cash to smart cards to mobile apps, automated fare collection benefits travelers and cities alike. The U.S. DOT Volpe Center works with the transportation...

Vessel Ballasting Operations Infographic

About This Document

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.

Estimating Vehicle Hours of Travel Infographic

About This Document

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...

Blockchain and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Infographic

About This Document

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,...