History
Polytechnic
University's Transportation Research Institute
(TRI) was created in 1975 as the Transportation
Training and Research Center (TTRC). TRI has
a long and distinguished history of innovative research and educational
programs. Polytechnic University was one of the first institutions of higher
learning to establish graduate degree programs specifically in the area
of transportation planning and engineering in the early 1960's. Its alumni
have obtained distinction in both the public and private sectors of professional
practice, and have made and continue to make strong contributions in the
improvement of transportation systems.
TRI's researchers made important
contributions in the development and implementation of highway capacity
analysis methods, and led the development of the 1985 Highway Capacity
Manual used throughout the world as an analysis standard. TRI has a
strong history of innovative approaches to the solution of transportation
problems in metropolitan areas. It developed software analysis packages
for the evaluation and timing of signalized intersections highway capacity
analysis; strategic arterial access management and growth management; analytical
techniques for transportation needs assessment; evaluation and planning
of public transportation services; and noise impact analysis of transportation
systems.
TRI conducts Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS) research in New York City involving technical, institutional,
and private-public partnership issues. Through the Urban
ITS Center, it is providing technical
and policy analysis assistance to the city, state, transportation authority
agencies and other ITS stakeholders to facilitate the deployment of ITS
technologies in the New York Metropolitan area.
Other areas of on-going research
at the TRI include travel demand management, policy studies, transportation
models, operational analysis, highway construction materials, and pavement
management. TRI involves faculty from civil and environmental engineering,
mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, social sciences and transportation.
