PREPARACIÓN BIOMECÁNICA

By long-established policy and practice, “transportation engineering” is nearly synonymous with “highway engineering.”61 _{The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 served as a catalyst}

for an institutionalized process of research, innovation, and education dissemination pertaining to the construction of roadways. Evidence of this may be seen in the timeline of development of (now) top-ranking civil engineering and transportation engineering (concentration) degree programs62 _{and the growth of their partnerships with entities such}

as Caltrans.63

Presently, a national network of University Transportation Centers (UTCs) are partially funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Research and Innovation Technology Administration (RITA). Centers loosely organize under research themes, freely associate with one another, conduct basic and applied research, and facilitate technology transfer—their funding and tier designation contingent on the capacity to perform these functions. As of fiscal year 2011, the UTC program is funded through RITA allocations from the Federal Highway Administration ($69.1 million) and a reimbursable agreement from the Federal Transit Administration ($7.6 million).64 Further demonstrating a culture of incentive for highway research and development, federal investment in highway research and development from fiscal years 2009–2011 was $412 million annually.65 _{While this}

notably includes research in Intelligent Transportation Systems (under the SAFETEA-LU extension) for $110 million,66 _{and that research will be pivotal in connecting other modes}

to the HSR system, federal investment directly in rail research and development was $40 million or less annually over the same period.

Perhaps the foremost transportation research entity in the United States is the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Volpe Center). It operates as a fee-for-service research entity, serving both the USDOT and industry, featuring a Rail and Transit Systems Division of engineers with expertise in various rail technologies, including HSR.67 _{Due to its unmatched research capacities, the}

71 Existing Capacity for Preparing the HSR Workforce

safety, technology, and inspection standards of Class 5-9 railroads,68 _{pertaining to HSR}

research and development.

However, the most recent FRA budget submission includes $30 million specifically for HSR research and development and support functions, including $500,000 toward the creation of the Rail Cooperative Research Program (RCRP). Originally authorized by the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, the RCRP was scheduled to be administered by the TRB beginning Spring 2011.69 _{Like other TRB Cooperatives,}

the RCRP will accept research proposals from public and private entities (e.g., railroads, states, technology providers, and university researchers), guide research questions, and disseminate results via online databases. The RCRP aims to be a more efficient nexus of rail research activities than the less directly applicable Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) program funding early stage HSR research, which ended in 2008.

The FRA has indicated that areas of priority HSR research and development to be funneled through this research cooperative include: wheel and track interaction, improved energy efficiency and reduced emissions, advancements in PTC systems, and display configurations for high-speed locomotives. Nevertheless, the RCRP is in a state of pre- infancy and has yet to fund a single research project. For its part, the FRA has begun to move forward with planned efforts to fund HSR specialized research, relying heavily on the TRB IDEA Program and other organizations, as the primary means through which to conduct HSR research.70

In addition, AREMA Committee 17 on High-Speed Rail Systems, representing rail industry interests and university professors from Michigan Technological University and the UIUC has spearheaded the Railroad Engineering Education Symposium (REES). The REES provides an online forum for university professors to post presentations showcasing rail fundamentals and mechanics. The interface is still in its infancy, and the few materials presently found in the REES drop box primarily pertain to freight.

Overall, AREMA Committee 24 serves as a nexus for American-university professors and industry executives to “promote the need for specific railway engineering education among [the academic] community. They are also responsible for developing programs encouraging student interest in railway engineering and the continuing education of engineers employed in the railway industry. This committee is also dedicated to adding value to the members by providing a working forum for Maintenance-of-Way training professionals to develop and exchange ideas to increase safety, quality and productivity; thereby effectively addressing the challenges of the industry.”71

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) partially sponsors a series of affiliated laboratories—UIUC, Texas A&M (Texas Transportation Institute), Virginia Tech, and others—which serve as a point of collaboration between academia and specialists of several fields (e.g., electronics, computers, etc.) to conduct applied rail research projects contracted by AAR.72

In sum, however, these existing efforts are quite modest, and tend to be only nascent with respect to HSR research, particularly regarding workforce development. Compared to the magnitude of the needs outlined in this report, the lack of an established education and training in HSR infrastructure in the United States poses a major challenge.

M i n e t a Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n I n s t i t u t e

U.S. UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS LEADING IN RAILWAY ENGINEERING TRAINING AND RESEARCH

The ostensible epitome of rail education in the United States is the UIUC. Like most other U.S. universities, the UIUC believes in broad-based civil engineering education and offers transportation as a concentration at the undergraduate level. Four standing courses in railroad engineering address system planning and design, signaling technologies, and principles of construction and maintenance. Advanced degrees are offered in railroad engineering, and abundant research opportunities are afforded for graduate students. The school hosted the 2010 Joint Rail Conference on High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail, and annually hosts the Railroad Environmental Conference. The faculty and students actively participate in various conferences, job fairs, and other regular placement interaction with industry; relationships are being thoroughly established with the AAR and individual rail companies such as the Canadian National Railway (CN), which funds rail research fellowships at the UIUC.73

The UIUC is the first U.S. university to offer a (single) course in HSR engineering, taught by program director Dr. Chris Barkan and Dr. T.C. Kao, National Taiwan University Railway Technology Research Center Director. The course covered HSR design differences such as: “the subgrade, track system, motive power, rolling stock, traffic control, power distribution system, traffic control and station design … as well as the planning, economics, construction, operation, maintenance, management and other principles of HSR systems.”74 Research activities at the UIUC are coordinated through the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC), which is the formal mechanism through which Barkan and civil engineering colleagues collaborate with a variety of UIUC professors (e.g., other engineering disciplines, business, and economics) as well as industry giants CN, BNSF Railway, Hanson Professional Services, Norfolk Southern, and CSX Transportation. As an example, if the only existing one, of a contemporary presentation of the potential of established relationships between government, industry, and academia, Barkan and colleagues are conducting a feasibility study of the high-speed line currently planned for the Chicago region. The study will include cost/benefit analysis in offering corridor location recommendations, including ridership estimates.75

The institute also organizes seminars and short courses on contemporary topics for the benefit of students and industry employees. RailTEC research activities include effectiveness of real-time monitoring systems, best practices in transportation of hazardous materials, and effectiveness of Lean Management methods on terminal performance. Of note, the last is an emphasized skill set in German operator Deutsch Bahn’s postings for high-speed carrier ICE management positions.76

Another university making strides in rail education is Michigan Technological University (MTU). It hosts an annual “Railroad Night” featuring panels of experts from carriers such as Union Pacific (UP), CN, and Amtrak. This partnership exemplifies the potential merging of university, rail firms, and governmental interest in developing rail infrastructure. The Rail Transportation Program is not a separate degree program, but includes term-length courses entitled “Introduction to Railroad Engineering” and “Railroad Track Engineering and Design.” MTU also recently received a grant from CN to establish the CN Rail Transportation Education Center.

73 Existing Capacity for Preparing the HSR Workforce

International relationships also are being built by Dr. Jerry Rose at the University of Kentucky. Rose’s research interests include areas pertaining to trackbed design, on which he has collaborated with Technical University of Lisbon researchers. A recent research output discussed international approaches to using asphalt (bituminous) in ballastless trackbed design and reported improved performance in Asian and European HSR systems at different layers of asphalt thickness.77 Further, Rose teaches courses entitled “Railroad

Facilities Design and Analysis” and “Railroad Operations Management” in the Civil Engineering Department. The former details best practices within the DBOM sequence, and the latter is, by and large, a railway-specific logistics course.78

These three universities represent the most comprehensive models of rail education in the United States. The leaders of these programs have established a network among themselves (Many are involved in AREMA Committee 24 on Education and Training), along with international university professors and with industry partners, and they are offering course work strictly pertaining to rail. This is a series of conditions that no California institution approaches. Even taken as a group, however, their efforts represent only small percentage of the potential need for creation and dissemination of passenger rail knowledge and expertise, especially at the higher echelons of speed in the 220-mph range.