Center for Transportation Research: Highlights

Article from DC.Streets. examines the reasons we build transportation infrastructure and what lies behind transportation mode decisions, using in part some research done in Texas. Available alternatives, as it turns out, are not all that attractive. Roads do not appear to pay for themselves any more than railways do. Receipts from the federal gas tax [...]

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According to Nationwide research, surveys indicate that many drivers are in denial about their cell phone and texting habits when behind the wheel. Nationwide Insurance noted that in its most recent On Your Side survey – conducted by Harris Interactive via its National Quorum telephone polling service – that 80% of Americans favor a ban [...]

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Solar Roadways announced that it has been awarded a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) contract that will enable them to prototype the first ever Solar Road Panel. The project, which RenewableEnergyWorld.com originally reported on in March 2008, calls for solar road panels that will contain embedded LEDs which “paint” the road lines from beneath to [...]

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Watch YouTube Video Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area is bad. But if the early results from the Mobile Millennium project are any indication, our ability to navigate through that traffic is about to get a lot better. The idea behind Mobile Millennium is simple. Cell phone users download free software that automatically and [...]

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Zipcar, a car-sharing program, is now available in most major U.S. cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York, and in college towns like Ann Arbor and Chapel Hill, as well as in Britain. While Hertz is jumping in with both feet, U-Haul and Enterprise are still testing the waters. U-Haul’s U Car [...]

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The US Department of Energy (DoE) is investing nearly US$300 million in its Clean Cities Grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support clean fuels, vehicles and infrastructure development. The Focus.com posting lists 25 cost-share clean vehicles funded projects. http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3585/doe-to-invest-nearly-us300m-in-clean-vehicles-initiatives/

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New Texas law bans drivers from using cell phones in school zones, but a proposed Austin city ordinance may ban texting while driving altogether. For the full story and video, visit: KVUE News, Austin

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New technologies and new mindsets have begun to help transform traditional blacktop. A new road can reduce the travel time and distance for transporting people and products and other material from place to place. However, for each mile of these new but traditionally constructed roads, thousands of tons of materials such as aggregate rock, concrete, [...]

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