U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
The Future Uses of Rights of Way study highlights emerging possibilities for the use of highway rights of way to provide more diverse options for transportation and to meet other societal-related needs. Uses highlighted include deck parks, automated technology, solar and wind power, kinetic-energy recapture, transmission line placement, truck idling facilities and inter-modal uses.
Future Uses of Highway Rights of Way, HPTS Summary Report.
The future of personal travel will be influenced by a combination of various events, including life cycle changes, demographic and socioeconomic factors, generational social norms, and the adaption of people to new technologies and travel options. The Transportation Futures team has conducted a formal study to examine the travel behavior of youth under the age of 30, which will be used when considering policy recommendations based on improved forecasts of demand, vehicle usage and the impacts of new transportation technologies on personal travel.
Building upon research from the Next Generation of Travel Study, the FHWA will examine the role of geography in personal travel with a focus on younger populations (under the age of 30.) This project will explore and discuss current and emerging personal travel trends related to geography using existing data to identify and quantify how geography affects and influences travel-related outcomes. Questions that will be examined include the following: Have the residential location choices of young adults changed over time? How does geography influence different types of travelers? And does the residential location of young adults affect their travel behavior?
In addition to this study, a comprehensive resource guide will be developed that documents the content, timeliness, usability, relevance, and other pertinent information on public and private data sources that relate to emerging social, demographic, technological, geographic, and economic trends and their future impacts on travel demand and distribution. The guide will also include a discussion on the use of the NHTS and supplemental data sources in the analysis of travel behavior trends and what types of qualitative data might be used to supplement quantitative analyses.
Final Report and Resource Guide will be posted shortly.
The purpose of this project is to explore the state of the practice in the use of forecasting tools and methods to project trends in personal travel, with an emphasis on how demographics, socioeconomics and other external factors are incorporated and/or used in the development of models and scenarios to predict travel-related outcomes and their effectiveness in capturing trends.
The first phase of the project produced a scan report and discussion paper while the second phase used that information to assist the FHWA in developing a tool and/or process for predicting and evaluating trends in personal travel behavior that can be used to support and evaluate initiatives related to national transportation policy.
Phase One Scan Report and Discussion Paper will be posted shortly.
The purpose of the work completed under this project is to understand the trends and forces that are likely to impact future needs of rural areas, residents and industry. A primary objective of the study is to develop a research road map which will provide a body of knowledge on key issues for future rural policy and program development. In addition to the development of a research road map, summary reports and white papers will be developed that will focus on emerging trends in rural areas and the impacts of anticipated growth on the transportation needs of rural communities.
Research Road map and White Papers will be posted shortly.
In times of increasing needs and constrained financial resources, strategies are needed that assist decision-makers in analyzing and prioritizing transportation programs and projects. This study proposes a set of performance measures which identify rural accessibility at the national level using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and socioeconomic data sets. The development of rural accessibility measures and the use of GIS visually provide a glimpse of how rural counties perform by selected measures.
Final report will be posted shortly.
This collection effort will occur in four communities in two metropolitan areas, including Central Carrboro and Southern Village in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and Harper’s Choice-Colombia Villages and Mt. Vernon in Baltimore, Maryland. The travel of 300 participants will be tracked over a 5-day period using GPS technology through a phone application. Other data sources will be used to provide information about the area’s transportation system and environmental conditions on the survey day.
Data collection occurred in the spring of 2014. The report will be posted shortly.
The objective of this project is to provide a detailed assessment of the research on travel behavior. This study will create the foundation for FHWA’s future work and support the capability to understand emerging trends that will impact the level and distribution of passenger travel.
This study will include an integrated review of the literature on travel behavior with a special emphasis on socio-demographic factors and emerging trends in niche travel markets. The ultimate objective is to provide options to FHWA on the latest knowledge and methods in order to better understand and forecast the impact of population, socio-economic, geographic and societal trends on future regional and national travel demand. This will assist FHWA in obtaining a higher level understanding of the current and emerging factors that influence travel behavior so that the future distribution and level of demand can be more accurately forecasted.
The project will also identify data gaps and data options from non-traditional sources. A review of data gaps and new methodologies will be conducted in order to fully assess the cost and benefits of various data options, including new data collection, data purchase and updated design and methods for the NHTS.
The final scan will be posted shortly.
FHWA’s Office of Policy Studies Futures Team conducts research on emerging highway topics. The objective of this project is to host three policy forums to engage subject matter experts in discussion and knowledge-sharing on current transportation topics, potential concerns, ideas and solutions. Participants will include industry experts from federal, state and local entities as well as from academia. The forums were held from April through October of 2015.
Teams within the Office of Transportation Policy Studies may perform vastly different work from each other on different subject areas. Colloquiums serve as a way to share information about each other’s work and our work within the greater FHWA and transportation research community. Colloquiums generally involve a one-hour presentation made by an office employee or invited guest who presents his/her work and engages coworkers in an interactive discussion of a subject area.
Futures Team Primary Contacts
|
Heather Rose, |
(202) 366-5060 |
Futures Team Research Planning Travel Behavior Scan/Data Availability and Gaps Scan Rural Futures Program |
Melanie Becker, |
(202) 366-6904 |
Transportation Futures Forums Research Briefs Colloquiums Millennial Studies |
Erica Interrante, |
(202) 366-5048 |
Next Generation of Travel: Research, Analysis and Scenario Development Geographic Variations in Travel Behavior Study and Resource Guide for Emerging Trend Analysis Global Positioning System (GPS) -Based Trip Characteristic Data and Analysis to Support Livability in Transportation Future Uses of Highway Rights of Way Projecting Trends in Travel: National and Regional Overview of Tools and Methods Used in Scenario Analysis and Forecasting |
