"Internet Watch" tracks new and interesting developments in transportation resources on the Internet.

Intermodal transportation, paratransit, horseshoe induced damage on roadways, evaluation of moisture-sensitivity tests for hot-mix asphalt, geographic information systems (GIS) for transit are just a small sampling of the topics available on academic web sites. From software downloads to research reports, the academic sponsored sites are full of current, ongoing, and past research. Any bibliographic search should include a stop at a few of these sites:

To begin, stop by the Texas Transportation Institute for a glance at the incredible amount of information stored on their site. TTI has a huge site; the research and development area spans the following categories: economics and planning, materials and pavements, safety, structural systems, systems planning, traffic operations, and transportation systems. This site is a wonderful resource for someone starting a research project or to find current information.

Another site from Texas comes from the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin. The center is the research component of the Bureau of Engineering Research at the university. Current research information includes topics in the following areas: pavement materials, design and management; traffic science and traffic engineering; and transportation engineering.

The Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI) is an interdisciplinary research unit within Penn State's Intercollege Research Programs, a collection of the university's research facilities under the direction of the senior vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School. This site covers research in the areas of pavements, materials and construction, transportation operations, transportation structures, and vehicle systems and safety.

Chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1977, the Institute for Transportation Research Education (ITRE) at the University of North Carolina conducts research, education, and technical assistance projects on a wide variety of transportation issues for local, regional, and national agencies. As a non-profit, systemwide university transportation center, ITRE draws from the professional and technological resources of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system, Duke University, and other universities throughout the Southeast.

The University of California at Davis's Institute of Transportation Studies was formally established in 1991 to organize and promote multidisciplinary research of complex transportation problems. Among the research summaries available online are abstracts about energy and environmental analysis, transportation economic evaluation, travel behavior analysis, hybrid and electric-drive vehicles, and transit and paratransit.

The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech sponsors the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC). More than 80 faculty and research staff are associated with TREC, making it one of the largest centers in the United States. The advanced transportation research topics online include radar propagation studies, traffic monitoring accuracy, signal timing improvement, automated highway system, traffic data integration, and adaptive signal control system.

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of Florida has an emphasis on developing innovative, implementable solutions to transportation problems. Among the areas of research are public transportation, intelligent transportation systems, transportation demand management, transportation for the disabled and elderly, transportation economics, geographic information systems, access management, alternative fuels, and transportation safety.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Urban Transportation Studies provides full text research. In addition, the site lists ongoing training and development for transportation industry professionals.

Each of these sites contains links to many other web-based research sites. For a listing of these and other online resources, see the Useful Links page on the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center site. If you have any links you would like to suggest, please e-mail them to the web master at TFHRC.

The next "Internet Watch" will be a review of the Federal Highway Administration web sites and other related DOT sites. Happy surfing!