TRB Critical Issues List

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TRB Critical Issues List

• Released in January 2006
• Revised Every 3-4 Years
• Issued by TRB Executive Committee
• Reflects Changing Conditions and Needs
• Focuses Attention, Debate, and Research

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Congestion

• Increasingly congested facilities across all
  modes

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Addressing Congestion

• Improve System Operations
• More Sophisticated User Fees
• Better Information
• Public Investment in Freight Efficiency

• New Road Capacity
• Increase Transit Options
• Improved Land Use Coordination and Collaboration

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Emergencies

• Vulnerability to terrorist strikes and natural
  disasters

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Addressing Emergencies

• Strategies that are
• Cost-Effective
• Efficient
• Integrated into the operations of the
  transportation system
• Improved facilities for response and recovery

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Energy and Environment

• Extraordinary challenges

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Addressing Energy and Environment

• Alternative fuels
• Increase domestic production of energy
• Increased efficiency
• Aggressive state, local, and regional actions

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Equity

• Burdens on the disadvantaged

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Addressing Equity

• Plan for older populations that will age in place
• Develop solutions that address the siting of new
  facilities that address travelers and nearby
  communities

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Finance

• Inadequate revenues

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Addressing Finance

• Public Sector Politically Constrained Financial
  Mechanisms, Often Poorly Linked to Usage
• Private Sector Railroad Returns Inadequate for
  Major Infrastructure Investments
• Ideas Tolling, Congestion Pricing,
  Privatization, Tax Credits

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Human and Intellectual Capital

• Inadequate investment in innovation

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Addressing Human and Intellectual Capital

• Research Not Commensurate with the Scale of
  Transportation Expenditures
• Merit Selection Increasingly Bypassed
• Research Attracts Students to the Field
• Need a Wider Range of Skills and Training

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Infrastructure

• Enormous, aging capital stock to maintain

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Addressing Infrastructure

• Research Can Yield Cost-Saving Innovation
• Encourage Public Support for Rehabilitation and
  Reconstruction
• Supplement Existing Finance Strategies

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Institutions

• 20th Century Institutions Mismatched to 21st
  Century Missions

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Addressing Institutions

• Fragmented Responsibilities for Transportation
• Challenges
• Adopting a Systems Perspective
• Balancing National and Local Interests
• Emphasizing Operations
• Expediting Decision Making

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Safety

• Lost leadership in road safety

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Addressing Safety

• Continue to improve crashworthiness of vehicles
• Address driver behavior
• Improve political will and public support

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Critical Issues Must Be Addressed Simultaneously

• Interwoven
• American prosperity and lifestyles require
  transportation
• Greater investment in innovation can provide
  breakthroughs

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Copies of Critical Issues

• Hard and Electronic Copies of Critical Issues in
  Transportation are Available Free
• Contact Russell Houston, TRBs Senior
  Communications Officer, at rhouston_at_nas.edu or
  202-334-3252
• Visit www.TRB.org/Critical_Issues

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