National Academies Press: OpenBook

Transportation Research Board 2021 Annual Report (2022)

Chapter: GOAL 1: Information Exchange

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Page 8
Suggested Citation:"GOAL 1: Information Exchange." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Transportation Research Board 2021 Annual Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26457.
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Page 8
Page 9
Suggested Citation:"GOAL 1: Information Exchange." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Transportation Research Board 2021 Annual Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26457.
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Page 9

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6 / TRB 2021 AnnuAl RepoRT larly outstanding events featuring especially diverse participants. • The Automated Road Transportation Sym- posium (ARTS) panelists represented a wide variety of private industries, as well as academia, government, and research. Top- ics included safety, business development, roadway operations, public acceptance, and legislative and regulatory affairs that span lo- cal, federal, and international spheres. More than 800 people attended the symposium. • “How We Move Matters,” an event organized with the National Academies Environmental Health Matters Initiative, explored the con- nections between new and changing ground Convening Face-to-Face and Webcam-to-Webcam In January 2021, vaccinations against the coro- navirus disease (COVID-19) were just rolling out. Health precautions made an in-person meeting impossible, and the 2021 TRB An- nual Meeting—already known as “the biggest transportation research conference in the world”—grew. Staff and volunteers extended themselves an incredible amount and hosted 20,000 attendees at more than 450 sessions throughout the entire month of January. The event also was home to more than 400 commit- tee and subcommittee meetings. TRB’s Annual Meeting is an opportunity for policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions to meet and address all things transportation. The program covers all transportation modes and nearly every relevant aspect imaginable. TRB and the National Academies stake their reputations on impartial and rigorous scientific research. It is equally important to share that information with audiences who need it and can put it into action. Despite fluctuating permissions and proto- cols for an in-person gathering, TRB ensured that the diverse transportation community continued to have the opportunity to work together. Many events that were postponed in 2020 went forth in a new format, drawing participants from a spectrum representing the public, private, academic, and user communi- ties. In total, TRB convened or cosponsored 34 conferences, workshops, or meetings in 2021. Over the summer, TRB hosted three particu- GOAL 1 Information Exchange "We were able to take the information from ACRP and develop employee training early on while other agencies in our community didn’t have trainings yet." — Elsy Borgstedte, Assistant Director, Laredo International Airport

TRB 2021 AnnuAl RepoRT / 7 mobility options and environmental health, featuring experts in public health, consumer behavior, energy, and transportation. A Slack channel allowed for constant conversations between panelists and attendees during the event and for a more lasting connection afterwards. • TRB’s “Conference on Advancing Transpor- tation Equity” gave a platform to the range of lived and professional experiences of people working on the front lines of transportation equity and justice. Nearly 900 people regis- tered for the conference. Learning from the Experts Firsthand TRB’s webinar program has been at the fore- front of virtual connections for more than 10 years and continues to offer more sessions ev- ery year. Most webinars are based on research published by TRB. More than 350 volunteers shared their knowledge through presentations to 21,000-plus webinar registrants in 2021. Each webinar offers a Question and Answer session, allowing a real opportunity to connect and learn from the exchange. Early in the pandemic, Laredo International Airport in Texas joined a TRB ACRP webinar on airport plans and responses to communicable disease threats. The webinar and resulting net- working opportunities allowed the airport to update its emergency plans and operations and ensure a safe environment. Finding National and Local Solutions for State Agencies TRB’s State Partnership Program is a joint effort between TRB and state departments of transportation (DOTs). TRB has visited state DOTs since the 1940s. The pandemic prevented any such visits in 2020. Over the past year, TRB staff developed a pilot effort for virtual visits. Twenty states participated in virtual group vis- its, and another 10 opted for individual virtual visits in 2021. TRB iN ThE NEwS • In addition to articles in trade magazines about the Automated Road Transportation Symposium event, TRB volunteer Jane Lappin, who helps organize the conference, was quoted in a Philadelphia Inquirer article about easing the public’s concerns about the safety of automated vehicles. • U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) quoted the TRB consensus study report Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technol- ogy, Policy, and Societal Dimensions in a New York Times op-ed: “Working to electrify our vehicles, homes and businesses is a critical part of achiev- ing economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.” 1 • More lanes dedicated to transit allow travelers on a bus or train to zip past traffic jams, which in turn can help shift more drivers out of cars and into transit, writes TRB volunteer Simon Berrebi in Bloomberg CityLab, citing TCRP Research Report 209: Analysis of Recent Public Transit Ridership Trends.² • Automated vehicle tech company Waymo is using data from TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program naturalistic driving study to help build out the driving scenarios for autonomous vehicles, notes The Verge. ³ • A model building better autonomy into vehicles to keep them from veer- ing into other side-by-side vehicles is detailed in TRR and reported on by the University of Nebraska and others. • The 2020 consensus study report Leveraging Unmanned Systems for Coast Guard Missions made recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard that are now being put into action. As such, the Coast Guard will “take a more strategic and accelerated approach to exploit the capabilities of existing and future unmanned systems,” reported Sea Power Magazine.⁴ • LED lighting is no worse for driver alertness and sleep health than the commonly used high-pressure sodium roadway lighting, reports the Na- tional Safety Council’s Family Safety and Health Magazine and Transport Topics, citing NCHRP Research Report 968: LED Roadway Lighting: Impact on Driver Sleep Health and Alertness and its related webinar. ⁵–⁶ • The SEAHIVE marine and estuarine shoreline protection system—devel- oped via the NCHRP Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis Program and Florida DOT—will generate data about climate change and sea level rise, with construction beginning next month at Wahoo Bay in Pompano Beach, Florida. 1 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/opinion/climate-change-electricity-fossil-fuels.html ² https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-13/biden-s-infrastructure-plan-must-put- transit-first ³ https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/6/22565448/waymo-simulation-city-autonomous-vehicle- testing-virtual ⁴ https://seapowermagazine.org/u-s-coast-guard-establishes-uxs-cross-functional-working- group ⁵ https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/21255-study-explores-led-roadway- lightings-impact-on-driver-alertness-sleep-health ⁶ https://www.ttnews.com/articles/trb-panelists-consider-future-study-potential-led-lighting

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The 2021 Annual Report summarizes TRB’s accomplishments in each of its major program areas and how TRB has served the nation and the global transportation professional community throughout the year. TRB provides leadership in transportation improvements and innovation through trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange, research, and advice regarding all modes of transportation.

TRB is a program division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The National Academies provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation; conduct activities to solve complex problems; and inform policy decisions on matters related to science, engineering, and medicine.

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