Planning and Forecasting

Rural Transportation Issues: Research Roadmap

BACKGROUND
 
Rural areas in every state experience myriad challenges related directly or indirectly to transportation. These challenges vary among and within states and in the ways transportation can be part of a solution. Air service from rural airports; access to health care; availability of emergency medical services during the Golden Hour after a crash; mobility of the elderly and people with disabilities; the movement of agricultural products to markets; human trafficking; access to high-speed electronic communications; natural disasters; passenger rail services; agency workforce recruitment and retention; and the relationship of transportation to economic development are just a few listed on public agendas.
 
The Transportation Research Board Executive Committee’s Subcommittee on Planning and Policy Review (SPPR) noted at its April 2018 meeting:
 
Rural regional services are transportation services that fall in the middle ground between intercity bus service and rural public transportation. The concept was the topic of a NCHRP report [NCHRP Research Report 861: Best Practices in Rural Regional Mobility] that addressed the role of state transit program policies and regional planning agencies in the development of rural regional services. According to the report, these services improve mobility, employment, and education opportunities; provide access to healthcare and community services; and offer connectivity to the national transportation network.
 
Research is needed to assist state departments of transportation and other public agencies to help inform policy–driven investment decisions.
 
OBJECTIVES
 
The objectives of this research are to (1) identify critical rural transportation issues that can be addressed by research through NCHRP and other research programs; (2) produce a research roadmap; and (3) submit, by November 1, 2018, at least five problem statements drawn from the research roadmap that are appropriate for consideration for NCHRP funding in the FY 2020 program.
 
Accomplishment of the project objectives will require at least the following tasks.
 
TASKS
 
Phase I
 
Task 1. Conduct an environmental scan of rural transportation issues in the United States and relevant countries.
 
Task 2. Review relevant literature and conduct a gap analysis. Submit an annotated literature review of relevant research and a draft recommended research roadmap.
 
Task 3. Organize and facilitate a 1-day workshop of up to 35 participants to identify critical rural transportation issues and needs; to review and provide direction on the draft recommended research roadmap; and to identify problem statements suitable for submission to the NCHRP and other research programs. The NCHRP project panel will assist the contractor in identifying workshop participants; panel members will be included as participants.
 
Task 4. Submit a draft final report to NCHRP that incorporates the results of the workshop and presents a research roadmap to address the identified needs. Include at least five problem statements, drawn from the research roadmap, suitable for consideration for NCHRP funding.
 
Task 5. Present the draft final report at the October 29-30, 2018, meeting of the AASHTO Special Committee on Research and Innovation (R&I) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Prepare a presentation that, upon revision, is suitable for posting on the NCHRP project webpage.
 
Phase II
 
Task 6. Organize and facilitate a 1-day workshop as part of the January 13-17, 2019, TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, to identify critical rural transportation issues and needs; to review and provide direction on the draft recommended research roadmap; and to identify problem statements suitable for submission to the NCHRP and other research programs.
 
Task 7. Produce a revised final report that incorporates additional feedback received through follow-on activities (including the workshop at the TRB Annual Meeting in January 2019) as proposed by the research team and approved by the project panel. Prepare an updated presentation that, upon revision, is suitable for posting on the NCHRP project webpage. The revised final deliverables are due in June 2020.
 
 STATUS: Publication pending as NCHRP Research Report 988. An implementation project is in development.

Multimodal Freight Transportation Research Roadmap

BACKGROUND
As outlined in the U.S. DOT’s 30-year plan, Beyond Traffic, the nation’s ability to compete in global markets and to meet the needs and expectations of consumers and industry depends on a robust multimodal freight transportation system and agile and efficient supply chains. Rural communities, cities, and metropolitan areas rely on supply chains, and the supporting freight transportation systems, to send and receive vast amount of supplies needed by local economies. For example, freight-intensive-sectors (e.g., manufacturing, wholesale, retail, food, accommodation) – for which the production and/or consumption of supplies are an essential part of their business – represent 45% of the establishments and 50% of the employment in the United States.  Inefficient supply chains will have a negative effect on all of them, hampering economic activity. Furthermore, the freight system is under serious strain, with roads, railways, and airports becoming increasingly congested and increasingly aging.
Market and technological trends are impacting freight activity patterns in numerous ways, both globally and locally.  International trade is increasing, global manufacturing centers are shifting, and trade routes are changing.  Firms are driving down logistics costs through just-in-time shipping.  Online shopping is increasing demand for home delivery of consumer products, especially in dense urban environments.  Retailers, faced with new mobile computing consumer buying behavior, are experimenting with a wide range of new transportation options for last mile delivery. Intermodal freight shipped in containers via ships, trains, and trucks is continuing to grow. Surging domestic energy production is straining infrastructure in oil production regions.  In the next 30 years, changes in freight demand, shipping, manufacturing, logistics, technology, and energy production are poised to transform the economics of transportation yet again. By 2045, freight volume will increase 45% from current levels.
The increasing congestion in metropolitan areas is a major threat to the U.S. economy. About 80% of the freight transported in the U.S. has its origin or destination at one of the top 100 metropolitan areas, reflecting that the bulk of manufacturing is produced in metropolitan areas, and in turn, increases congestion and emissions in these areas. Taking into account the surge in Internet orders in the last several years, it is almost certain that deliveries to households now generate more freight trips than deliveries to commercial establishments.
At the same time, a host of new technologies and operational practices are transforming freight transportation systems and supply chains. Smart City technologies, truck platooning, autonomous trucks, drones, 3D printing, delivery crowdsourcing, and others are already making their mark. As an example, 3D printing may lead to decentralization of manufacturing and to the development of on-demand manufacturing, resulting in unforeseen demands on road infrastructure because of the growth in small truck freight trip generation.
There is a need to better understand the current and anticipated future freight trends to provide transportation agencies with the information they need to develop strategic plans. More specifically, research is needed to gain insight into how market and technological trends could impact transportation systems, safety, and the environment. Conducting research, with the collaboration of other stakeholders, that identifies, designs, pilot tests, and leads to the adoption of effective public sector freight initiatives, will help transportation agencies achieve their goals.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to develop a dynamic 5- to 10-year multimodal freight research roadmap. The roadmap should emphasize problem statements with a scope and budget appropriate for NCHRP, but can include problem statements that are more suitable for other public, private, or academic research institutions or programs.  The research roadmap should clearly define a portfolio of initiatives that will advance the knowledge and capabilities of transportation decision makers.  The research roadmap should include, but not be limited to: (1) end-to-end emphasis (i.e., consider the research needs of all modes and stages of freight activity, from gateways, to corridors, to local deliveries); (2) identifying and assessing the impacts of social, technological, economic, environmental, and political trends on freight transportation systems and policies; (3) enhancing public sector decision-making capabilities (i.e., the research roadmap should lead to the development of new tools or methods and ways to gather necessary data for public agencies to make decisions that improve freight system performance); (4) expanding and deepening public sector knowledge (i.e., the research roadmap should contain projects that enhance the public sector’s understanding of the behavior of the agents involved in freight, and the best ways to influence them to improve freight system performance); and (5) addressing institutional issues (i.e., analyzing current and potential barriers to preventing improved freight transportation systems that could increase economic efficiency and productivity, foster sustainability, enhance livability, quality of life, and environmental justice).
The research roadmap should include: (1) a prioritized portfolio of problem statements, most of which should address the research gaps in a format and at a level of detail suitable for submission to NCHRP; (2) a detailed description and justification of how this portfolio addresses the five objective criteria; (3) an assessment of key gaps and needs that could be addressed through research and how this portfolio addresses these gaps; and (4) a dynamic communications concept (including format, platform, frequency, distribution channels, budget, and editorial and technical content) that could be widely distributed to keep practitioners informed of emerging issues affecting freight transportation.
Status: Submitted to the AASHTO Special Committee on Freight.

Research Roadmap — Transformational Technologies (other than CV/AV)

BACKGROUND
Transformational, or “disruptive” technologies, are those that can be expected to completely displace the status quo, forever changing the way we live and work. Common examples include the internet, the personal computer, email, and the smart phone. The development of the internal combustion engine is an example of a disruptive technology in the transportation sector.
More current examples of transformational technologies in transportation include connected and automated vehicles, bicycle sharing in urban centers, car sharing (e.g. Car2Go and Zipcar), on-demand shared ride services (such as Uber and Lyft), hybrid and other alternative-fueled vehicles, drones, e-retailing, and 3D printing. All of these are facilitated and further complicated by the “Internet of Things” – where systems are connected through embedded sensors and transmitters. The acquisition of real-time data on the infrastructure, vehicles, drivers, and goods will provide unprecedented opportunities to monitor the performance of our transportation systems.
Each of these technologies is the subject of a good deal of research, but collectively they will change the nature and role of the future Department of Transportation. Transformational technologies will impact the way we plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain our transportation systems. DOTs must prepare for an uncertain future and build a workforce with considerably different skill sets. The NCHRP has developed a research roadmap for connected and automated vehicles (through NCHRP Project 20-24(98)) and is carrying out a program of research to address identified needs. However, there are other transformational technologies that need to be studied and better understood.
There is a need to understand how transportation agencies will be impacted by transformational technologies in order to provide them with the information they need to develop strategic goals and objectives by analyzing the current issues and state of knowledge, identifying gaps and needs, and outlining a program of research to address those gaps and needs.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research is to develop a research roadmap on transformational technologies and their impacts on state and local departments of transportation. A research roadmap is a type of strategic plan that outlines the key issues in an area, identifies research gaps that constrain effective decision-making, and outlines specific research projects needed to address these gaps.

RESEARCH PLAN

The initial phase of this work is to support TRB’s Partners in Research Symposium: Transformational Technologies in Transportation through NCHRP Project 20-113A (link below). Upon completion, the panel will determine how best to use the remaining resources.

20-113A Support for TRB Symposium on Transformational Technologies Affecting Transportation

 

20-113F Topical White Papers for the TRB Forum on Automated Vehicles and Shared Mobility

Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure

The transportation industry faces a wide range of plausible future drivers and scenarios that could affect standard practices over the next 30 to 50 years. Because the range of plausible futures over such a long-term period is very broad, making a focused prediction of the implications for highway infrastructure preservation, maintenance, and renewal (PMR) is quite challenging.

The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program’s NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure focuses on the issues affecting the PMR of highway infrastructure. The study places emphasis on preparing for plausible future scenarios and develops a pathway to guide transportation agencies in advancing the implementation of emerging PMR practices through a process involving awareness, advocacy, assessment, adoption, and action planning.

The appendices to Parts A and B of this report are available as part of NCHRP Web-Only Document 272: Existing and Emerging Highway Infrastructure Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Definitions, Practices, and Scenarios.

In addition, there are two guides included within the report that help with the understanding, identification, application, and implementation of emerging PMR practices. They are also available as standalone guides:

• Practitioner’s Guide to Emerging Highway Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Practices
• Leadership’s Guide to Emerging Highway Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Practices

A Research Roadmap for Transportation and Public Health

Transportation is an essential component of a functioning society. Transportation provides access to jobs, education, health care, recreation and essential goods and services—all of which are aspects of the social determinants of health. Distribution of transportation goods and services across populations substantially contributes to the length and quality of life. The missions of state departments of transportation (state DOTs) typically include safety, efficiency, mobility, accessibility, and quality of life—and each of these have implications for public health. The missions of state health agencies include protecting, promoting and improving the health of people—these outcomes are affected by transportation systems and policies. A growing number of state and local transportation and public health agencies are collaborating to improve public health and transportation system performance; this collaboration can contribute to an improved economy and quality of life.  The relationship between transportation and public health is complex, and manifests itself in a variety of ways and at various levels of decisionmaking. The transportation sector has conducted robust research to understand the impacts of transportation on air quality, safety, and noise. However, there are gaps in the understanding of transportation’s relationship to other areas of public health. Some of the under-researched areas include how transportation affects the social determinants of health, the health of underserved populations, equitable access to transportation services, and how performance measurement in both sectors can support better health outcomes. Addressing these gaps may require research in areas such as active transportation, multimodal connectivity, economic development, the built environment, land use, and how decisions made in each of these areas can improve public health outcomes. Research is needed to provide transportation agencies with the information and tools necessary for integrating public health considerations into transportation agency decisionmaking and performance measurement at the policy, program, project, and operations levels. Given the relative newness of this topic for transportation agencies, and the evolving understanding of the importance of the relationship between transportation and public health, state DOTs are interested in identifying a “research roadmap” to guide systematic inquiry in this arena.  For purposes of this research, a research roadmap is defined as a type of strategic research plan that outlines the key opportunities and challenges associated with transportation and public health, identifies why they are important to transportation agencies, identifies gaps in knowledge and practice, and outlines and prioritizes specific research projects needed to address these gaps. 
 
The objectives of this research were to develop a 10-year prioritized program of research—a research roadmap—that provides a broad overview of highly relevant research needs at the intersection of transportation and public health in the United States. The roadmap identifies research that will provide evidence to support practical and useful information, and implementable tools, for state DOTs and their transportation partners to use to integrate public health considerations at all levels of their agencies’ decisionmaking.
NCHRP Project 20-112 was published as NCHRP Report 932.

Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 2: Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and the Highway System: Practitioner’s Guide and Research Report

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 2: Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and the Highway System: Practitioner’s Guide and Research Report provides guidance on adaptation strategies to the likely impacts of climate change through 2050 in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure assets in the United States (and through 2100 for sea-level rise).

In addition to the practitioner’s guide and research report, this project also developed the following items:
• A software tool that runs in common web browsers and provides specific, region-based information on incorporating climate change adaptation into the planning and design of bridges, culverts, stormwater infrastructure, slopes, walls, and pavements.
• Tables that provide the same information as the previously mentioned software tool, but in a spreadsheet format that can be printed.
• Two spreadsheets that illustrate examples of the benefit-cost analysis of adaptation strategies discussed in Appendix B of Part I of NCHRP Report 750, Volume 2.

These three items are available on a CD-ROM that is included with a print version of the report. The CD-ROM is also available for download from TRB’s website as an ISO image. Links to the ISO image and instructions for burning a CD-ROM from an ISO image are provided below.

• Help on Burning an .ISO CD-ROM Image.
• Download the .ISO CD-ROM Image

(Warning: This is a large file and may take some time to download using a high-speed connection.)

NCHRP Report 750, Volume 2 is the second in a series of reports being produced by NCHRP Project 20-83: Long-Range Strategic Issues Facing the Transportation Industry. Major trends affecting the future of the United States and the world will dramatically reshape transportation priorities and needs. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) established the NCHRP Project 20-83 research series to examine global and domestic long-range strategic issues and their implications for state departments of transportation (DOTs); AASHTO’s aim for the research series is to help prepare the DOTs for the challenges and benefits created by these trends.

Other volumes in this series currently available include:
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 1: Scenario Planning for Freight Transportation Infrastructure Investment
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 3: Expediting Future Technologies for Enhancing Transportation System Performance
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 4: Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 5: Preparing State Transportation Agencies for an Uncertain Energy Future
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 6: The Effects of Socio-Demographics on Future Travel Demand

Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 1: Scenario Planning for Freight Transportation Infrastructure Investment

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 1: Scenario Planning for Freight Transportation Infrastructure Investment analyzes the driving forces behind high-impact economic and social changes as well as sourcing patterns that may affect the U.S. freight transportation system. The report also introduces scenario planning as a tool that can be used in conjunction with other planning methods to improve the quality of long-range transportation infrastructure planning.

Four future scenarios were developed as part of the project that created NCHRP Report 750, as well as a detailed methodology that planners can follow to conduct their own scenario planning workshops. The scenarios and methodology are included in a DVD format with the print version of the report.

The DVDs are also available for download from TRB’s website as ISO images. Links to the ISO images and instructions for burning a DVD from an ISO image are provided below.

Help on Burning an .ISO DVD Image

Download the .ISO DVD Image 1: Data
Download the .ISO DVD Image 2: Videos
(Warning: These are very large files–more than 1.3 GB each–and may take about an hour to download using a high-speed connection.)

A detailed discussion of the driving forces analyzed in NCHRP Report 750, Volume 1 is contained in NCHRP Web-Only Document 195: Driving Forces Influencing Future Freight Flows.

NCHRP Report 750, Volume 1 is the first in a series of reports being produced by NCHRP Project 20-83: Long-Range Strategic Issues Facing the Transportation Industry. Major trends affecting the future of the United States and the world will dramatically reshape transportation priorities and needs. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) established the NCHRP Project 20-83 research series to examine global and domestic long-range strategic issues and their implications for state departments of transportation (DOTs); AASHTO’s aim for the research series is to help prepare the DOTs for the challenges and benefits created by these trends.

Other volumes in this series currently available include:
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 2: Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and the Highway System: Practitioner’s Guide and Research Report
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 3: Expediting Future Technologies for Enhancing Transportation System Performance
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 4: Sustainability as an Organizing Principle for Transportation Agencies
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 5: Preparing State Transportation Agencies for an Uncertain Energy Future
• NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 6: The Effects of Socio-Demographics on Future Travel Demand

Operations Data for Planning Applications: Identifying Needs, Opportunities, and Best Practices

On May 4, 2005, the Operations Data for Planning Applications: Identifying Needs, Opportunities, and Best Practices Peer Exchange was held in Washington, D.C. The goal of the peer exchange was to identify opportunities to improve the linkages between transportation planning and operations. Given recent technological advancements, operations data exist for the
development of system performance measures, improvements to travel models, and a greater understanding of traffic condition dynamics (e.g., characteristics on nonrecurring congestion).

Invitations to the peer exchange were extended to state departments of transportation (DOT), metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), and the private sector. Participants were
selected from across the county to discuss their utilization of operations data in the transportation planning process. Appendix A contains the list of peer exchange participants.

Before the meeting, participants were also asked to respond to a set of questions about the relationship between operations data and planning processes to create the foundation for the
meeting and facilitate discussion. The section on peer exchange material contains a summary of these responses (complete responses are located in Appendix B). The section entitled Summary Concerns summarizes the meeting discussions including some ideas on linking operations data
and transportation planning, additional observations from recent experiences, potential next steps, and existing resources.

Peer exchanges offer a unique opportunity to not only engage in discussion and share experiences and lessons learned but also to identify potential solutions and prioritize areas for
additional advancement through research, technical assistance, and other activities. This report serves to document and further distribute the issues and insights raised during the meeting.

TRB E-circular 95: Operations Data for Planning Applications: Identifying Needs, Opportunities, and Best Practices

TRBs Transportation Research Circular E-C095, Operations Data for Planning Applications: Identifying Needs, Opportunities, and Best Practices summarizes a May 4, 2005, Washington, DC, peer exchange that focused on opportunities to improve the linkages between transportation planning and operations. The report includes a summary of questions addressed by participants about the relationship between operations data and planning processes. The report also explores ideas on linking operations data and transportation planning.