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Human Factors

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center's 2018 Reports

The U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center published nearly 60 reports and conference papers in 2018 spanning a breadth of transportation topics that advance U.S. DOT’s priorities: safety, infrastructure, innovation, and accountability. Preview and download copies...

Rethinking the Human-Autonomy Architecture

With automation appearing more and more across daily life—including in air and ground travel—tasks we think of as belonging to humans may soon be taken over by computers, and there could be consequences that haven’t yet been imagined, said Amy Pritchett, professor and head of the Department of...

Laying the Foundation for the Aviation System of the Future

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center helps the Federal Aviation Administration design, develop, and deploy the air traffic management system of the future.

Check out this brochure to learn how the U.S. DOT Volpe Center applies its expertise in safety management, engineering,...

Volpe’s Recent Reports Inform the Future of Aviation

Aviation is a particular focus of Volpe’s work across modes, with recent work in global positioning system resilience, energy and the environment, navigation and surveillance, aviation safety, and much more. Check out these recent aviation-related reports highlighting a wide range of Volpe’...

Robot Co-Pilot to the Rescue

Meet ALIAS, the robot co-pilot that can help fly a plane. ALIAS, which was developed under contract by an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, was recently tested on Volpe’s Boeing 737 simulator to see how it would react if a human pilot lost consciousness mid-flight during a simulated loss...

Test Traveling the Road to Zero Vehicle Fatalities

If a 747 jumbo jet crashed anywhere in America, it would be in the national news for months. Yet in 2015, there were 35,092 lives lost on America’s roads—equivalent to a 747 crashing every week for a whole year.

Attitude Adjustments Could Prevent Aircraft Accidents

The cause of most aircraft accidents is not mechanical failures or malfunctioning equipment—it’s humans. Pilots can be their own worst enemies, but awareness of common hazardous behaviors can help reduce accidents.