Research

I work in transportation. More specifically, I work in transit. But this post really isn't about transit.

There is a lot of research going on in transportation and it encompasses everything from bikes and pedestrians to aviation and freight. I receive regular emails from various organizations doing research and getting the word out about said research. I come across some bizarre stuff, or stuff that seems bizarre to me.

Take for instance the paper I recently came across on "An Assessment of the Animal Carcass Disposal Practices of the Virginia Department of Transportation and Guidance for the Selection of Alternative Carcass Management Options."  Alternative Carcass Management Options!!!  I know these are real and serious issues related to animal vehicle collisions - especially for some person who has the title of Carcass Manager. When I'm sitting at my desk at 3 pm on a Tuesday afternoon and something like this comes into my email box, I get a little chuckley.  But when I see illustrations like the following, I, um, golly...

There are also conferences that catch my eye. For example, the National Conference on Pavement Evaluation is coming up in October. The receptions for this have got to be hot. Especially those involving the Road Profiler Users Group.

There's also the 10th Annual Conference on Low Volume Roads taking place at Walt Disney World. 

Now, given the name, I imagine the LVR conference is nothing compared to the shit that goes down at the high volume roads conference!  I see that the awards luncheon will feature the "Yoder" award and that conference attendees get to go on a field trip where they "study and observe low-volume road issues."  What might those be?

I'll keep my eye out for other interesting research.