Stephen R. Godwin, Director

The TRB Studies and Special Programs Division conducts policy studies at the request of the U.S. Congress, executive branch agencies, states and other sponsors; provides bibliographic databases of completed and ongoing research and a library; produces syntheses of current practices in highway, transit, airport and commercial truck and bus operations; and manages Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) programs in rail, truck, highway and transit operations.

Policy Studies are projects guided by committees of experts appointed by the National Research Council (NRC) that provide advice to government on transportation policies and management of transportation research programs and projects.

Synthesis studies are individually-authored state-of-the-practice reports in highway, transit, airport, and commercial truck and bus operations that are funded by TRB's cooperative research programs.

Information services provides searchable bibliographic databases: the Transportation Research Information Service (TRIS), Research in Progress (RiP), the TRB Publications Index, and the Transportation Research Thesaurus (TRT). Information services also includes the TRB Library, which holds a small specialized collection, offers reference services to sponsors, TRB committees, and staff; and participates in inter-library loans.

IDEA Programs provide grants in response to investigator-initiated proposals of innovative but unproven concepts in highways, transit, high speed rail, and truck and rail safety. Grants are awarded to the most promising concepts by expert panels that meet semi-annually.

The Long Term Pavement Performance program review committee is a unique policy study that advises the Federal Highway Administration and the states on the conduct of the world's larest and most comprehensive experiment on pavement performance. This NRC appointed committee is aided by expert task groups (ETGs) and sponsors the semi-annual meeting of the Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG).

Contact: