National Research

This page currently under construction. As we add more functionality to our website, this page will include a prefiltered, indexed list of research resources available in our resource library.

TRB and TRID

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is the most recognized organization in the U.S. for conducting transportation research and information exchange. TRB does significant research in the area of safety and human factors and has more than 30 safety and human factor committees. To search for rural safety being conducted worldwide, the TRID database, an international, integrated database, is available.

Pooled Funds Related to Safety

Currently there are nine safety related pooled funds. They include:

• Aurora is an international partnership of public road agencies working together to perform joint road weather research. For more information visit the Aurora website.
• Animal Vehicle Collision Mitigation is a project that will investigate the most promising roadway- or vehicle-based animal detection/driver warning systems to mitigate animal-vehicle crashes. This investigation will result in the development and installation of a prototype animal detection and driver warning system and an evaluation of its effectiveness in reducing animal-vehicle crashes. Depending on the technological opportunities, more than one system may be field-tested and evaluated. For more information visit the study website.
• Clear Roads Research Program brings together transportation professionals and researchers from around the country to drive innovation in the field of winter maintenance. By evaluating materials, equipment and methods in real-world conditions, the program identifies the most effective techniques and technologies to save agencies money, improve safety and increase efficiency. For more information visit the Clear Roads website.
• Northwest Passage Corridor (Interstates 90 and 94 between Wisconsin and Washington function as major corridors for commercial and recreational travel) focuses on developing effective methods for sharing, coordinating, and integrating traveler information and operational activities across state and provincial borders. The vision provides a framework to guide the states’ future projects in the corridor. For more information visit the Northwest Passage website.
• Rural ITS Toolbox is a toolbox describing the best practices on the deployment of rural ITS. This document was created to share ITS deployment experience so that each deployment doesn’t start with limited information from past installations. For more information visit the Rural ITS Toolbox.
• Traffic Safety Culture Pooled Fund is a cooperative effort of participating state DOTs and other organizations vested in traffic safety. The purpose of this effort is to accelerate the development and delivery of tools and services to transform traffic safety culture. The goal of this transformation is to support the Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) vision with sustainable traffic safety solutions. For more information visit the Traffic Safety Culture pooled fund website. 
• Midwest States Pooled Fund Crash Test Program the objective of this project is to crash test highway roadside appurtenances to assure that they meet criteria established nationally. For more information visit the Pooled Fund website. 
• Evaluation of Low Cost Safety Improvements The goal of this research is to develop reliable estimates of the effectiveness of the safety improvements that are identified as strategies in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 500 Guides. These estimates are determined by conducting scientifically rigorous before-after evaluations at sites in the U.S. where these strategies are being implemented. For more information visit Pooled Fund website. 
• Roadside Safety Pooled Fund To establish an ongoing roadside safety research program that meets the research and functional needs of participating states in a cost-effective and timely manner. For more information visit the Roadside Safety website.