FHWA R&T Now

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POLICY & PARTNERSHIPS

Turner-Fairbank Leads the Way with Connected Vehicles

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) 

in McLean, VA, successfully hosted a connected vehicle pilot program in partnership with the 

United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint 

Program Office (ITS JPO) during the week of June 25, 2018. More than 100 test runs, 75 supporting 

participants, and 7 different vendors who provided equipment resulted in the largest and most 

successful interoperability testing of connected vehicle equipment to date, and demonstrated how 

quickly Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) equipment is advancing towards widescale 

commercial deployment.

The goal of the program was to observe and analyze how well connected vehicle devices from 

various manufacturers operated and interacted with each other. Another goal was to analyze site 

configuration and the infrastructure needed to support connected vehicles. “The results of the 

tests will ensure that our infrastructure from Virginia to California is interoperable,” said Brian 

Cronin, Director of the Office of Operations Research and Development.

Source: USDOT ITS JPO

Connected vehicles drive through the connected infrastructure on TFHRC’s roads.

FHWA’s Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory, operated by Leidos, provided vehicles, 

drivers, technical support, and a connected infrastructure for the safe testing of equipment and 

applications. This is part of the Saxton Laboratory’s Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) 

Support Services, funded by FHWA and the ITS JPO to advance the deployment of new technologies 

by private industry and support operators in their adoption. 

Noblis and Leidos organized the event for the Connected Vehicle Pilot sites in New York City, 

Tampa, and Wyoming, and they organized the companies that provided equipment and 

applications – Brandmotion, Commsignia, Danlaw, Lear, Savari, Siemens, and SiriusXM. 

(Continued on page 4.)

A news update of research, technology, and development from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

July/August 2018

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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH

EAR Program Developments Provide Tools to 

Improve Safety

Extracting and analyzing safety-related 

information from large datasets related to 

driver behavior, vehicle performance, traffic 

patterns, weather, and infrastructure 

characteristics could help reduce vehicle 

crashes. The Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) 

Program is supporting two research projects on 

processing massive amounts of transportationrelated data from structured, semistructured, 

and unstructured datasets using open-source 

tools and technology.

The Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (PARC) is 

developing automated methods to integrate 

information from large unrelated datasets. PARC 

researchers are using video, radar, and still 

photography gathered at Chicago intersections. 

The researchers will be refining tools developed 

through the PARC project for use with similar 

data-rich information resources. 

CUBRC, a Buffalo, New York-based systems 

integration research organization, is developing 

a layered infrastructure to ingest, store, analyze, 

and display information. Application of the 

CUBRC-designed Transportation Research 

Informatics Platform (TRIP) may make massive 

amounts of transportation-related data 

accessible for knowledge discovery and to 

analyze the data to reveal patterns related to 

traffic safety. At CUBRC, researchers developed 

TRIP in two layers. The first layer involves the 

platform itself on a LINUX operating system 

foundation. The second layer integrates opensource tools to ingest, transform, align, and 

store structured and unstructured data. CUBRC 

is testing TRIP with sample datasets from the 

Seattle, Washington, region.

A fact sheet containing additional information 

regarding the two projects will be available 

online at 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/advancedresearch/pu

bs.cfm.

For more information about the PARC project, 

contact Ana Eigen at 202–493–3168, 

ana.eigen@dot.gov. For more information 

about the CUBRC project, contact James Pol at 

202–493–3371, james.pol@dot.gov. For more 

information about the EAR Program, contact 

David Kuehn, 202–493–3414, 

david.kuehn@dot.gov. 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

FHWA and Caltrans Host U.S.–Japan Bridge 

Engineering Workshop

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

and the California Department of Transportation 

(Caltrans) hosted the U.S.–Japan Bridge 

Engineering Workshop in Los Angeles, CA, on 

July 16–18, 2018. The workshop was conducted 

in cooperation with the National Institute of 

Land, Infrastructure and Management (NILIM) 

of Japan. Additional support in planning and 

execution was provided by the Oregon 

Department of Transportation and the 

Washington State Department of 

Transportation. The workshop was attended by 

State DOTs––including California, Oregon, 

Washington, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, and 

Michigan––academia, and private sector firms 

from the United States, and government 

officials and academia from Japan.

The 2018 workshop was conducted under the 

provisions of an October 2017 Memorandum of 

Understanding between the United States 

Department of Transportation and Japan’s 

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and 

Tourism, and under the auspices of the U.S.–

Japan Cooperative Program in Natural 

Resources (UJNR) Task Committee G –

Transportation Systems. 

The workshop is a continuation of a series of 

technical exchanges, first held in 1984, between 

the United States and Japan on topics related to 

bridge engineering. These workshops have 

focused on seismic design, protection measures, 

innovative materials, bridge preservation, and 

durability issues. The two countries have also 

collaborated on research, personnel exchange, 

and on reconnaissance after major earthquakes.
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Both countries have realized significant 

benefits. The exchanges have proven to be an 

effective way of advancing bridge technology 

and best practices in both countries.

As in the past, this workshop was convened to 

provide a forum bringing together bridge 

engineers from the United States and Japan to 

exchange promising ideas and technologies, and 

share critical knowledge and lessons learned 

through observations and practice to further 

bridge engineering. 

Focus this year was on “Decision Making, 

Institutional Layout, Use of Specifications and 

Guidelines” to improve understanding on the 

governance of transportation policy, and 

standards and guidance for designing and 

preserving bridges; “Bridge Designed for 

Enhanced Durability” to improve our 

understanding of strategies and practices; 

“Bridge Instrumentation and Health Monitoring” 

to learn about the practicality of the technology 

and extent of its use and challenges; “Guidelines 

and Use of Refined Numerical Calculations for 

Design and Bridge Assessment; and “Innovative 

Materials for Bridge Design and Construction” 

on usage of high-performance materials and 

best applications for the new materials.

For more information, contact Sheila Duwadi, 

202–493–3106, sheila.duwadi@dot.gov.

Federal Highway Administration Announces 

$2 Million for Emergency Repairs to FloodDamaged Roads and Bridges in Michigan

The Federal Highway Administration announced 

on July 3, 2018, the immediate availability of $2 

million in Emergency Relief (ER) program funds 

to help begin repairs on flood-damaged roads 

and bridges in Michigan.

“The Upper Peninsula of Michigan experienced 

considerable damage to roads and bridges as 

the result of heavy rainfall and flooding that 

these quick release funds will help address,” 

said Acting Federal Highway Administrator 

Brandye L. Hendrickson. “The funding 

represents the first installment of funds to the 

State to ensure all necessary repairs are 

completed as quickly as possible.”

On June 17, 2018, heavy rainfall caused flooding 

in Gogebic, Houghton, and Menominee counties 

in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

Areas of the affected counties received as much 

as 7 to 10 inches of rain in few hours, which 

caused extreme runoff and flooding. Significant 

damage to State and local Federal-aid routes 

resulted, including several bridge and culvert 

washouts.

The $2 million in “quick release” funding will be 

used to restore essential traffic for local 

communities.

This initial “quick release” payment is 

considered a down payment on the costs of 

short-term repairs while the State continues 

damage assessments for long-term repairs. The 

FHWA’s ER program provides funding for 

highways and bridges damaged by natural 

disasters or catastrophic events.

For more information, contact Nancy Singer, 

202–366–0660, nancy.singer@dot.gov.

SAFETY

FHWA to Analyze How Cyclical and Seasonal 

Influences Affect Highway Crash Data

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

and the United States Census Bureau will 

conduct a Time Series’ Seasonal Adjustment (SA) 

analysis beginning October 2018. The SA 

analysis is the result of a June 2018 agreement 

between FHWA and the Census Bureau. The 

analysis will attempt to eliminate cyclical and 

seasonal influences related to highway crashes 

using the Census Bureau’s SA software. The 

analysis will support the development of reliable 

crash models for better estimations and 

predictions of priority safety concerns, and it 

will attempt to identify causes of crash 

upsurges.

A time series is a series of data points listed in 

order of time that the data points occurred. 

Time series analysis uses statistical methods for 

analyzing time series data to develop models for

forecasting future values based on previously 

observed data values. Seasonal adjustment is a 

statistical method for removing the seasonal 

component (i.e. weekly, monthly, or quarterly) 

that has a seasonal pattern. 
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The seasonal adjustment method is used to 

analyze the trend of a time series independently 

of the seasonal components. Highway crashes 

are a time series and have seasonal fluctuations. 

Seasonal adjustment methods can remove the 

crash data seasonal effect to better determine 

the major causes behind the priority crash 

concerns.

The analysis will allow FHWA to achieve shortand long-term safety goals. Over the short term, 

FHWA will be able to determine effective lowcost safety countermeasures, and over the long 

term, FHWA will be able to identify major crash 

factors to advance highway design and 

operation and develop effective highway safety 

policies. 

For more information, contact Roya Amjadi, 

202–493–3383, roya.amjadi@dot.gov.

Turner-Fairbank Leads the Way with Connected 

Vehicles (continued from page 1)

Now that testing is complete, researchers will 

analyze the data and, if necessary, steps will be 

taken to improve the devices and software 

configuration.

Source: USDOT ITS JPO

A researcher signals to drivers of connected vehicles 

to proceed onto TFHRC’s connected roads and 

infrastructure.

The testing has already shown great promise. 

One participant noted that this was the first 

time in history that showed multiple devices 

working with the security credential 

management system (SCMS). 

The SCMS is a message security solution for 

vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure 

communication.

Source: USDOT ITS JPO

Tony English from the Wyoming DOT reviews data 

during the connected vehicle pilot program.

Connected vehicles use DSRC radios to 

transmit and receive information with other 

vehicles and infrastructure. Infrastructure 

communications use a roadside unit (RSU) that 

includes a DSRC radio to communicate with 

vehicles. Additional communication protocols 

communicate with traffic signal controllers, 

transportation management centers, and other 

infrastructure equipment. Information 

transmitted through RSUs to the connected 

vehicle include lane geometries, traveler 

advisory messages, and real-time traffic signal 

phase and timing. RSUs also receive the basic 

safety message that does not personally 

identify vehicles, but includes valuable 

information on vehicle speed and trajectory 

that can enable operators to improve 

transportation operations.

For more information, contact Deborah Curtis, 

202–493–3267, Deborah.Curtis@dot.gov. 

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Roads Reaches Centennial Milestone

FHWA’s premiere journal, Public Roads

magazine, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 

May 2018. Volume 1, Number 1 of Public 

Roads was printed in May 1918 by the Office of 

Public Roads and Engineering, a unit of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. For the last 100 

years, Public Roads magazine has documented 

the expansion of the Nation’s road systems and 

the research conducted to improve them. For 

the next century, Public Roads will continue to 

feature the latest developments in Federal 

Highway policies, programs, and research and 

technology. A special 100th anniversary edition 

of Public Roads is online now, and special 
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events are planned to celebrate the Public 

Roads centennial.

Source: FHWA

The first issue of Public Roads, May 1918.

Source: FHWA

Summer 2018 edition of Public Roads, 100 years 

later.

RECENT PERIODICALS

Public Roads—Summer 2018

This issue includes: Improving Work Zones 

Every Day, in Every Way; Transportation Safety 

in Tribal Areas; A New View for Bridge 

Inspectors; Bigger is Not Always Better; 

Inspiring Successive Generations; A Journey to 

Better Highways: 100 Years

It is available online via 

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/public

roads/18summer/18summer/index.html.

For more information, contact Lisa Shuler, 

lisa.a.shuler@dot.gov. 

Innovator: Accelerating Innovation for the 

American Driving Experience—July/August

2018

This issue includes: Building Bridges Better; 

Making Connections with Ultra-High 

Performance Concrete; Synchronizing 

Environmental and Permitting Reviews to 

Accelerate Project Delivery; Pavement 

Preservation; Ambassadors of Innovation;

Transportation Innovation Officers Explore 

Common Ground; States Innovate!

The issue is available online via 

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/innovat

or/issue67/3dIssue/.

LINKS

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center: 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/ 

Resource Center: 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter/ 

National Highway Institute: 

www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx 

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