The need to determine the structural integrity and passenger safety provided by existing commuter rail seats was identified by the Construction/Structural Subgroup of the American Public Transportation Association's Passenger Rail Equipment Safety Standards Task Force.

This report describes the work conducted over the past two decades on rail integrity research sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration and carried out by the Volpe National Transportation System Center.

This report is the second in a series focusing on methods to determine the puncture velocity of railroad tank car shells.

This advisory circular contains the listings of reference materials and subject matter knowledge codes for airman knowledge testing. It includes codes for pilots, instructors, flight engineers, dispatchers, navigators, pilot examiners, inspection authorization, parachute riggers, and aircraft mechanics.

The National Park Service is developing reuse alternatives in anticipation of the U.S. Navy's turnover of its base on Big Moose Island on Schoodic Peninsula. This report identifies and assesses alternate transportation alternatives to help ensure that the Park meets its goal of maintaining the quiet and scenic condition of the Schoodic parkland. The transportation alternatives considered include combinations of ferry services from Bar Harbor to Winter Harbor, properly linked bus services at each terminal as well as for a substitute for ferry service, enhancements of bicycling opportunities,...

Identifying applications that can reduce fuel consumption and emissions from surface transportation is an important strategy in solving transportation's environmental dilemma. The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has set out to investigate the problem through several initiatives, one of which is connected vehicle research. The purpose of this report is to document the state of the practice for applications that have demonstrated environmental benefits through ITS technologies, or have the potential to do so, and identify opportunities to leverage existing research. The findings...

Funding for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Alkali-Silica Reactivity (ASR) Development and Deployment Program was provided under SAFETEA-LU. A related Conference Report provides additional guidance stating that "project and programs related to ASR should...assist states in inventorying existing structures for ASR." Throughout the program, the FHWA has been leading a national effort to further the development and deployment of techniques which can prevent and mitigate ASR.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, prepared this report for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Real Estate Services (HEPR). Carson Poe of the Volpe Center's Transportation Policy and Planning Technical Center led the project team, which consisted of Gina Filosa and Julianne Schwarzer, also of the Transportation Policy and Planning Technical Center; Aviva Brecher of the Environmental and Energy Systems Technical Center; and...

In-line hardening of railroad rails to produce a very fine pearlite microstructure has become a commercial reality. A question that this report seeks to answer is whether or not it is possible to find an alloy composition that will permit the development of lower bainite microstructures by in-line hardening in rails, wheels, and tank car plate. The application of the in-line hardening process becomes more difficult in the production of lower bainite microstructures because of the need to quench in a controlled fashion to lower "isothermal" transformation temperatures. Use of the computer...

The 7,516 reported wildlife strikes to U.S. civil aircraft in 2008 brought the 19 year total of wildlife strikes between 1990 and 2008 to 89,727. Birds (97.4%) and terrestrial mammals (2.1%) were struck 72% of the time at or below 500 feet AGL and 92% of the time at or below 3,000 feet AGL. Both classes of animals were struck more often in the late summer/ autumn season. Fifty-one percent of bird strikes occurred between July and October while 61% of terrestrial mammal strikes occurred between July and November. Terrestrial mammals are more likely to be struck at night (64%) whereas birds are...