Richard J. Porter, assistant professor of civil and environmental
engineering, and his co-authors was awarded the annual Best Paper Award
on January 15 from the Transportation Research Board’s committee on
geometric design.
The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National
Research Council, an independent adviser to the United States government
on scientific and technical issues of national significance. The Board’s
mission is to “promote innovation and progress in transportation through
research.” This award was presented at the Board’s annual meeting, which
typically attracts more than 10,000 transportation professionals from
the U.S. and abroad. The Board is supported by state transportation
departments and other organizations and individuals interested in the
development of transportation.
Porter’s award-winning paper describes the interaction of geometric
design, speed, and safety on roadways. In particular, he and his
colleagues addressed five critical questions about the relationships
between road geometry and operating speeds, including how road geometry
influences operating speeds, safety and security, and what the impacts
would be for large vehicles. The researchers also discussed aspects of
the speed/safety tradeoff.
Titled “Geometric Design, Speed, and Safety,” this paper was
co-authored by Eric T. Donnell and John M. Mason, and was recently
published in Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research