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Rail Trespass Prevention Research Will Save Lives
More than 500 people die each year while trespassing on rail lines. One particular stretch of rail in West Palm Beach, Florida that has had a high incidence of trespass-related deaths over two decades, is currently the subject of a Federal Railroad Administration and local community-based project...Volpe's New Innovation Challenge Elicits Unique Solutions to Emerging Transportation Issues
Volpe recently completed its first-ever Innovation Challenge, a competition for staff to receive funding to develop unique solutions to emerging transportation issues. Recognizing that today's challenges are complex, the Innovation Challenge encouraged staff to work together in multidisciplinary...
U.S. DOT SBIR Program Calls for Innovative Research Proposals
The U.S. DOT's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program seeks innovative research proposals from small businesses to address specific research challenges facing the modal administrations. The SBIR Program Office at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, has...
New Tools Investigated in Hazard Analysis Research for Vehicular Systems
There was a time when travel safety could be improved by training drivers and designing crash survival into vehicles. That is no longer the case, said Dr. Qi Van Eikema Hommes, senior electronics engineer in Volpe's Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies. "Your car is no longer a...
Wake Turbulence Research: An Esoteric Field of Study That Pays Big Dividends
The findings from a decade of wake turbulence research are helping reduce airport delays, shorten final approaches to airports, and reduce fuel burn and emissions. Wake turbulence, the movement of air created by an aircraft in motion, may be an esoteric field of study, but the body of knowledge...
Volpe Supports Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts, Helps Overcome Transportation Challenges
During Hurricane Sandy, Volpe community planner Terry Sheehan assisted in disaster relief efforts. Sheehan, a part of Volpe's Center for Transportation Logistics and Security, was responsible for coordinating the transportation of life saving and life sustaining supplies such as food, water,...
Volpe-Developed Algorithms Help in Mining Large Driver Datasets
Researchers who conduct naturalistic driving studies to understand driver performance face the proverbial needle-in-the-haystack problem. Cars outfitted with sensors and video cameras record driver behavior and road and traffic conditions, providing massive amounts of naturalistic data. To shed...
Partnerships with Japan, EU Accelerate ITS Development
International cooperation between the United States, Japan, and the European Union is helping accelerate the research and development of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) standards and technologies by fostering collaboration between professionals on three continents. Volpe transportation...
Federal Highway Administrator Visits Volpe, Discusses Innovation
Victor M. Mendez, U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway (FHWA) administrator, recently spent a day at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, to learn about Volpe's FHWA work portfolio and talk to staff about innovation. During the administrator's visit, Volpe experts...