1

Federal Highway Administration 

Research and Technology Update Newsletter

October 2022 | Autumn Issue

Figure 1. The InfoHighway landing page.

Source: FHWA.

Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) Research and 

Technology (R&T) Story

The FHWA R&T Story presents 

innovations that ensure the safety of 

vulnerable pedestrians, evaluates 

concepts for connected and automated 

vehicles (CAVs), and develops better 

ways to test for pavement 

deterioration. These innovations can 

help renew the highway system, spur 

economic recovery, reduce inequities, 

and protect against the impact of 

future climate scenarios. Please visit 

the R&T Story webpage (Federal 

Highway Administration n.d.a.). 

The Long-Term Infrastructure 

Performance (LTIP) team launched 

FHWA InfoHighwayTM on June 27, 

2022 (Federal Highway 

Administration n.d.b.). InfoHighway

provides easy access to highway 

infrastructure engineering research 

data in a single location (figure 1). 

Currently, it includes the following 

four portals:

• InfoPaveTM: analysis of 

long-term pavement 

performance.

• InfoBridgeTM: access to 

performance-related bridge 

information.

• InfoMaterialsTM: FHWA 

infrastructure research and data.

• InfoTechnologyTM: technical 

knowledge dissemination on 

nondestructive evaluation 

technologies.

For more information, contact Jean 

Nehme at jean.nehme@dot.gov or 

202–493–3042. 

Long-Term Infrastructure Performance Team
FHWA Research and Technology Update Newsletter October 2022 | Autumn Issue

 2 

Automated Road Transportation 

Symposium (ARTS) 

The Transportation Research Board 

(TRB) Automated Road

Transportation Symposium (ARTS) 

took place in Garden Grove, CA, the 

week of August 1. This symposium is 

the successor to the previous 

Automated Vehicle Symposium 

(AVS), which was cohosted by the 

Association for Unmanned Vehicle 

Systems International and TRB from 

2015 to 2020. ARTS brings together 

people from industry, government, 

and research communities to 

collaborate on the opportunities and 

challenges associated with automating 

road transportation. For more 

information, visit the Office of Safety 

and Operations website (Federal 

Highway Administration n.d.c.). 

Driver Interaction With Partial

Driving Automation Technology 

When Passing Bicyclists in a 

Shared Use Lane Study

This study, which took place in the 

FHWA Office of Bridge Technology, 

explores the impact of vehicle 

automation on drivers’ interactions 

with vulnerable road users (VRUs). 

This project also finished data 

collection for the Exploring the 

Effects of Vehicle Automation and 

Cooperative Messaging on Mixed 

Fleets Eco-Drive study. This study 

evaluates the effects of in-vehicle 

messages, AVs, and adaptive cruise 

control on driver behavior 

(see figure 2.)

For more information, contact Jesse 

Eisert at jessie.eisert@dot.gov or 

202-493-3284.

Turner-Fairbank Highway 

Research Center (TFHRC) hosts 

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) 

workshop

TFHRC hosted a virtual event that 

covered the fundamentals of life cycle 

assessments (LCAs), environmental 

product declarations (EPDs), and 

product category rules (PCRs) and 

how they fit together. The workshop 

will help staff have a common 

working knowledge of these concepts, 

which are being advanced through 

FHWA’s Climate Challenge and 

Every Day Counts 7. For more 

information, visit the LCA PAVE 

Tool site (Federal Highway 

Administration n.d.d.). 

Virtual-to-Everything (V2X) 

Communications Summit

The FHWA Office of Safety and 

Operations R&D and the Saxton 

Laboratory Team provided a very 

successful V2X Summit on August 4. 

The team provided data visualizations 

from the Saxton Laboratory and 

worked with the Intelligent

Transportation Systems Joint Program 

Office and the Volpe Center to host a 

live and virtual summit to discuss the 

future of V2X Connectivity. The event 

resulted in a recommendation for the 

U.S. Department of Transportation to 

create a V2X Connectivity Vision and 

Deployment plan.

For more information, contact Carl 

Andersen at carl.andersen@dot.gov or 

202–493–3045.

Figure 2. In-vehicle signal and display control system for Exploring the Effects of Vehicle 

Automation and Cooperative Messaging on Mixed Fleets Eco-Drive project.
FHWA Research and Technology Update Newsletter October 2022 | Autumn Issue

 3 

Megaregion: National Economic Partnerships

FHWA has selected four projects to deliver innovative approaches to multijurisdictional coordination. The following are 

the four awarded National Economic Partnerships projects and fact sheets that demonstrate this regionally based approach 

in transportation planning:

• Central Plains Heartland Freight 

Technology Plan developed an 

approach to identify and assess 

emerging freight technologies as 

well as provide recommendations 

for harmonizing policies for 

transportation agencies in 

the region.

• Future Freight Movement along 

Freight Alley. The Greater 

Chattanooga Region created a 

coordinated regional approach to 

freight and truck parking that 

would produce significant 

benefits to all the States in the 

region, including more explicit 

identification of future parking, 

trucking, and freight demand.

• Interstate 15 Freight Mobility 

Enhancement Plan developed an 

actionable implementation plan 

that defines the partnerships, 

technology, policy, and funding 

frameworks needed for 

successful implementation, 

collaboration, and economic 

partnership.

• Sun Corridor Value Impact 

Analysis developed an approach 

and toolkit to measure the 

economic value added by large, 

high-capacity transportation 

investments. The toolkit helps 

regional partners understand the 

impacts of existing and proposed 

transportation investments. In 

addition, the National Economic 

Partnerships awardees are 

highlighted in a case study video 

available on the website.

For more information or questions regarding these projects, contact Cheng Yan at 202–366–9206 or Supin Yoder at 

312-257-6356.

FHWA Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty Research Virtual Booth

The Office of Planning, 

Environment, and Realty has 

released a new virtual research 

booth that features multiple 

resources, including five research 

fact sheets, banners that connect to 

research programs like the 

Alternative Fuel Corridors program, 

and a quick response code page 

highlighting research work like the 

Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation 

Sustainability Tool course program 

(figure 3). This virtual research 

booth is a great way to quickly 

connect research and resources.

For more information, see the 

Planning, Environment, and Realty 

web page (Federal Highway 

Administration n.d.e.). 

Figure 3. HEP Virtual Booth Home page.
FHWA Research and Technology Update Newsletter October 2022 | Autumn Issue

 4 

American Routable Network 

(ARN) Dataset

ARN is a dataset that can be used in 

geographic information systems (GIS) 

and travel modeling software to help 

users understand and visualize the 

flow of people and goods across the 

nation. ARN contains 1.1 million 

miles of road representing the 

National Highway System (NHS), 

which includes the Eisenhower 

Interstate System, the Strategic 

Highway Network, NHS Intermodal 

Connectors, and other important 

arterial roads. The dataset takes 

advantage of existing FHWA 

processes that bring in more 

comprehensive road networks from 

each of the State DOTs but extracts a 

subset and connects the roads at State 

boundaries. ARN is being updated to 

accurately reflect where turning 

movements can take place and with 

more current attribute data with a 

newer version expected for 

this summer.

For more information, contact Mark 

Sarmiento at mark.sarmiento@dot.gov

or 202-366-5853.

Shared Micromobility Equity Primer

This primer provides an overview on 

shared micromobility and 

transportation equity, a discussion of 

12 policies that jurisdictions may use 

to incorporate equity into shared 

micromobility programs and helpful 

resources for reference. The 

Micromobility Equity Primer includes 

several case studies, such as Portland, 

Oregon’s electric scooter pilot in 

2018, which required 20 percent of 

the operator’s fleet to be sited in 

historically underserved 

neighborhoods (Federal Highway 

Administration 2022; Ciarlo, Johnson, 

and Sherman 2019). 

For more information, contact Felicia 

Wolf at felicia.wolf@dot.gov or 

202-366-9064.

Freight Resilience Planning in the 

Face of Climate-Related 

Disruption

FHWA Office of Planning published a 

new report titled Freight Resilience 

Planning in the Face of 

Climate-Related Disruption (Federal 

Highway Administration n.d.f.; Mason 

and McCoy 2022). The report 

examines how public agencies are 

incorporating resilient concepts into 

their freight networks. The report 

provides a summary of current 

practices, methods, and gaps in freight 

resiliency planning to inform the 

development and improvement of 

freight resiliency planning to address 

climate change and extreme weather 

risks.

For more information, contact Mack 

Frost at mack.frost@dot.gov or 

804-775-3352.

National Environment Policy Act 

Case Studies Released

FHWA is sharing nine case studies 

demonstrating the state-of-the practice 

regarding the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) reviews of tolling 

and road pricing projects on the 

Environmental Review Toolkit 

website (Federal Highway 

Administration n.d.g.). 

As more transportation agencies 

consider tolling and road pricing 

projects, questions have arisen about 

how to address these projects and 

their impacts within the 

environmental review process. 

The imposition of tolls raises 

questions such as:

• How to develop and evaluate 

alternatives.

• How to assess the socioeconomic 

impacts of toll alternatives, 

including any impacts on 

low-income and minority 

populations.

• How to conduct meaningful 

public involvement.

• How to consider the traffic 

impacts of toll diversion on 

parallel roads and adjacent 

communities.

• How undertaking a NEPA 

review can add value in 

developing highway projects in 

the best overall public interest.

The case studies cover a variety of 

tolling and road pricing projects and 

highlight notable practices that 

address these questions.

For questions about the NEPA and 

tolling case studies, contact David 

Cohen at david.cohen@dot.gov or 

202-366-8531 or Neel Vanikar at 

neel.vanikar@dot.gov or 

202-366-2068.
FHWA Research and Technology Update Newsletter October 2022 | Autumn Issue

 5 

Health Effects Institute (HEI) 

Systemic Review and Meta 

Analysis of Selected Health Effects 

of Long-Term Exposure to 

Traffic-Related Air Pollution (TRAP)

The HEI published a new report, 

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis 

of Selected Health Effects of LongTerm Exposure to Traffic-Related Air 

Pollution, as an update to the 2010 

Special Report 17, Traffic-Related Air 

Pollution: A Critical Review of the 

Literature on Emissions, Exposure, 

and Health Effects (HEI Panel on the 

Health Effects of Long-Term Exposure 

to Traffic-Related Air Pollution 2022; 

Health Effects Institute 2010). Since 

the 2010 Special Report, many 

additional studies investigating the 

health effects of exposure to 

traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) 

have been published, and regulations 

and vehicular technology have 

advanced significantly. In addition, 

there is a better appreciation that, 

beyond air pollution, traffic can be a 

source of other forms of pollution, 

including noise.

In the latest report, HEI conducted an 

updated literature review including 353 

case studies. The researchers found a 

high or moderate-to-high level of 

confidence in an association between 

long-term exposure to TRAP and 

adverse health outcomes and concluded 

that given the large number of people 

exposed to TRAP, that this remains an 

important public health concern and 

deserves greater attention from the 

public and from policymakers.

For more information, see the HEI 

website (Health Effects Institute 2022).

References

Ciarlo, C., L. Johnson, and J. Sherman. 2019. E-Scooter Findings Report. Portland, OR: City of Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Federal Highway Administration. 2022. Shared Micromobility and Equity Primer. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.

Federal Highway Administration. n.d.a. “The FHWA R&T Story: Innovating the Future of Transportation” (web page). 

https://highways.dot.gov/research/publications/corporate/22035, last accessed October 4, 2022.

Federal Highway Administration. n.d.b. “FHWA InfoHighway” (web page). https://infohighway.fhwa.dot.gov/, last accessed October 4, 

2022.

Federal Highway Administration. n.d.c. “FHWA Highway Safety Programs” (web page). https://highways.dot.gov/safety, last accessed 

October 4, 2022.

Federal Highway Administration. n.d.d. “LCA Pave Tool” (web page). https://fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/lcatool, last accessed October 5, 

2022.

Federal Highway Administration. n.d.e. “Planning, Environment, & Realty” (web page). https://fhwa.dot.gov/hep, last accessed October 

5, 2022.

Federal Highway Administration. n.d.f. “Freight Planning: Research” (web page). 

https://fhwa.dot.gov/planning/freight_planning/research, last accessed October 5, 

2022.

Health Effects Institute. 2010. Traffic-Related Air Pollution: A Critical Review of the 

Literature on Emissions, Exposure, and Health Effects. Special Report No. 17. 

Boston, MA: Health Effects Institute.

Health Effects Institute. 2022. “Welcome to the Health Effects Institute” (web page). 

https://www.healtheffects.org, last accessed October 5, 2022.

HEI Panel on the Health Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution. 

2022. Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Selected Health Effects of Long-Term 

Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution. Special Report No. 23. Boston, MA: 

Health Effects Institute.

Mason, D. J., and K. McCoy. 2022. State of the Practice Scan: Freight Resilience 

Planning in the Face of Climate-Related Disruption. Report No. 

DOT-VNTSC-FHWA-22-05. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.

Recommended citation:

Federal Highway Administration,

FHWA R&T Update - Quarterly 

Newsletter (Autumn 2022 Edition) 

(Washington, DC: 2022) 

https://doi.org/10.21949/1521949

HRTM-10/03-22(WEB)E 

FHWA-HRT-23-006

CONTACT:

Jill.Stark@dot.gov