The Transport Research Committee (TRB), the transportation division of the National Academy of Sciences, is restructured to avoid scrutiny from the Trump administration, and is announcing the dissolution of committees related to climate, sustainability, equity and cities. David Meyer reports on changes to Streetsblog USA.
According to an email sent to committee members by TRB Executive Director Victoria Sheehan and Director of Technical Activities Ambrach, “In recent months, additional directions from the federal government have further influenced the way TRB manages its work. It streamlines and strengthens the structure of the committee to better reflect the priorities of the nation.” The TRB website lists less than half of the committees it previously had.
The TRB was formed to support the development of new transportation-related technologies in the early days of automobiles. “Today, it serves as a coordinating body for states and municipalities to come together to fund shared research interests, ranging from obscure topics like moose to those that are as high-profile as the safety benefits of new automotive technologies.”
This change could have a calm impact on the overall research into transportation and road safety. According to David Zipper, a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, “It’s massive for TRB to consider considering 27-year-old PhD students to investigate the issue in their papers and research, such as gender-based research, bike lanes and climate.”
Source link
