Project SOCRATES, development of a technology to detect hypothesized acoustic emanations from wake vortices, has been underway for more than four years. This report discusses several aspects of this project including the current level of knowledge concerning wake vortex acoustic properties, SOCRATES detection technology, and wake turbulence sensor deployment issues. Three recommendations are offered to restructure the programmatic approach of Project SOCRATES to reduce the high risk and high cost should the government decide to continue to pursue this program.

The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center of Tongass National Forest in Juneau, Alaska, is experiencing vehicular and pedestrian congestion. This study was initiated by the United States Forest Service, Alaska Region, in cooperation with the Western Federal Lands Highway Division of the Federal Highway Administration. The study objective was to identify feasible alternatives for alleviating vehicular and pedestrian congestion with particular focus on options that would not require extensive alteration of the Visitor Center complex, pending a Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area Management Plan that is to be developed beginning in 2007.

A flight experiment was conducted to assess human factors issues associated with pilot use of traffic displays for approach spacing. Sixteen multi-engine rated pilots participated. Eight flew approaches in a twin-engine Piper Aztec originating in Sanford, ME, and eight flew approaches in the same aircraft originating in Atlantic City, NJ. The spacing target was a Cessna 206. The traffic display was either a Garmin International MX-20 (the "Basic" Cockpit Display of Traffic Information, or CDTI) or an MX-20 modified with features to help the pilot monitor the closing rate, the range and ground speed of the traffic-to-follow, and ownship ground speed (Range Monitor). Two other Equipment conditions were Baseline and Autopilot. Pilots successfully used the displays to maintain the assigned spacing on visual and instrument approaches.

The Interagency Transportation, Land Use, and Climate Change Pilot Project utilized a scenario planning process to develop a multi-agency transportation- and land use-focused development strategy for Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with the intention of achieving a reduction in future greenhouse gas emissions and considering the potential impacts of sea-level rise on the region. This scenario was developed through a process of data collection, scenario development by a consultant and by regional and local government during a workshop, and scenario assessment. The outcomes of this scenario planning process will inform and support the region's long-range transportation planning and other related efforts, as well as the planning efforts of local, state, and federal agencies. Project members collaborated to document the project's steps and to offer significant observations and recommendations that can inform future applications.

The Northeast Florida Rural Transportation Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project is a demonstration of ITS deployment in five rural Community Transportation Coordinator (CTC) agencies. The objective of the project is to test and evaluate the effectiveness of technologies including Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Satellite (GPS)-based Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems, mobility management software applications (RouteLogic, MapInfo, etc), Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs), and electronic applications (email, web-based information) for rural transportation operations.

This report summarizes the results of an evaluation of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Focused Approach to Pedestrian Safety Program. The study was done by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center at the request of the FHWA Office of Safety (HSA). Five of the 19 "focus" locations were chosen for this evaluation based on geographic diversity, number and types of Program activities, and the availability of data about Program implementation. The study consisted of semistructured telephone interviews with 29 pedestrian safety stakeholders (mostly from government agencies) across the five locations.

This report provides an extensive analysis of potential wake vortex noise sourcesthat might be utilized to aid in their tracking. Several possible mechanisms of aircraftvortex sound generation are examined on the basis of discrete vortex dynamic modelsand characteristic acoustic signatures calculated by application of vortex sound theory. Itis shown that the most robust mechanisms result in very low frequency infrasound. Aninstability of the vortex core structure is discussed and shown to be a possible mechanismfor generating higher frequency sound bordering the audible frequency range. However, the frequencies produced are still low and cannot explain the reasonably high-pitchedsound that has occasionally been observed experimentally. Since the robust mechanismsappear to generate only very low frequency sound, infrasonic tracking of the vortices maybe warranted

The advent of suborbital transport brings promise of point-to-point (PTP) long distance transportation as a revolutionary mode of air transportation. In 2008, the International Space University (ISU) of Strasbourg, France, published a report1 documenting its appraisal of PTP transportation technology. This report describes the conditions that should be put in place to foster and sustain the growth of this industry from the technical, market, financial, infrastructure, safety, and legal perspectives. The ISU study calculates that transatlantic flight times for suborbital vehicles from London to New York would take less than 1 1/4 hours, less than one-third the travel time required by the supersonic aircraft Concorde and a fraction of that required by conventional commercial aircraft. This potential for the rapid global transport of passengers and the fast distribution of goods and services make PTP transportation an attractive space technology concept worth exploitin

This document discusses the sensitivity of various input parameter effects on emission rates using the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) MOVES2010a model at the regional level. Pollutants included in the study are carbon monoxide (CO), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX), Particulate Matter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Similar trends for PM10as reported for PM2.5 and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) as NOXexist and inferences to these pollutants may also be made. Results are presented using the predicted emission rates (grams/mile) for running exhaust and starts across multiple MOVES source types.

This document serves as the Concept of Operations for the New York Harbor (NPNH) Traveler Information System (TIS). It describes the TIS as a system with two primary purposes: (1) to inform visitors about the site characteristics such as historical significance, activities and events, location, and thematic relationship to each other and (2) to provide information how to navigate to and between sites using public transportation and by walking.

This report discusses some of the environmental considerations of the Airportal Concept. This information in this report is based on the NGATS ATM-Airportal Concept by J. Lee, et al., version 1.0 dated September 28, 2007. This report is intended to provide the Airportal project with an overview of environmental aspects of the Airportal Concept document, and to present possible environmental gaps and overlaps with other JPDO projects. This report begins with a general overview of aviation environmental considerations, including a sub-section on how an individual aircraft operation can impact the environment. The next section discusses environmental elements of Airport surface concepts, which is followed by a section on Airportal terminal concepts. The final section discusses some to gaps and overlaps of Airportal relative to some existing programs. A list of acronyms can be found after the main body of the document. Twoappendices present details of some of the environmental analyses in the body of the document.

This report presents findings from a customer satisfaction study conducted in Cobb County, Georgia. The primary hypothesis of this study is that it is possible to develop customer satisfaction measures that are a reliable determinant of roadway quality. A signal system upgrade in Cobb County, Georgia offered the opportunity to test this hypothesis. The Cobb County Department of Transportation planned to instrument 15 signalized intersections on Paces Ferry Road with the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive System (SCATS). In order to test its proposed methodology for measuring customer satisfaction with roadway quality, the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) conducted a before-and-after study of drivers on the Cobb County urban arterial treated with the adaptive signal system control.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority's (CCRTA) Advanced Public Transportation System (APTS) project is an application of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to fixed-route and paratransit operations in a rural transit setting. The purpose of the project is to apply ITS technology to improve intermodal transportation services for the residents of rural Cape Cod as well as for visitors to the region.

This document serves as the Functional Requirements for the National Parks of New York Harbor (NPNH) Traveler Information System (TIS). It builds upon the Concept of Operations document by providing more detailed requirements for the design, development, implementation, and operation of the TIS.