Neil J. Pedersen, who served as executive director of the Transportation Research Board for more than seven years, retired in December. He is shown above during a late-2019 visit to Caltrans Headquarters in Sacramento.
Neil Pedersen served as executive director of the Transportation Research Board for about eight years. Before he launched his journey into retirement on Dec. 31, he made one last stop at Caltrans Headquarters, which he last visited in December 2019.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the normally business-trip-loaded Pedersen embarked on almost no outings for two and a half years, until business travel re-started in spring 2022.
“This will be, actually, my last trip as a TRB employee,” the affable Pedersen told CT News when he sat down for an interview in December.
His successor at TRB is Victoria Sheehan, who most recently was commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. “Very forward-looking person,” Pedersen reported. “Really appreciates the importance of research. I am so delighted that she will be my successor because I believe she will take the TRB team to new heights.”
The Transportation Research Board is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. It has three main functions: convening, research and advising. The organization contains a startling 8,500 volunteers.
“It’s really the volunteers that are the lifeblood of TRB,” Pedersen said. “The magic of TRB is really taking advantage of the expertise of those 8,500 volunteers.”
TRB’s biggest deal, arguably, is the annual meeting it hosts in January in Washington, D.C.. More than 30 representatives from Caltrans were scheduled to attend this year’s gathering. TRB also:
- Sponsors or co-sponsors up to 50 conferences or workshops a year.
- Calls for research papers, and after a peer-review process selects about 3,000 for presentation at the annual meeting.
- Publishes about 800 papers that generally are downloadable online in the organization’s journal, Transportation Research Record.
- Has 177 standing technical committees “on almost any topic you can think of related to transportation.”
- Manages four major research programs: highways, public transportation, airports and behavioral traffic safety.
- Advises the federal government on policy issues related to transportation.
One example of TRB’s adviser role is it made “a number” of recommendations that were implemented in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Also, governmental leaders sought TRB’s help regarding aviation safety particularly after the recent rash of 737 MAX crashes.
“We were actually asked to look at what are we anticipating the safety issues are that aviation will have to be dealing with over the next 10 years,” Pedersen explained. “Six different reports will come out over a period of six years addressing different aviation safety issues.”
Much of what TRB does resonates especially in the Golden State.
“An issue that is of great concern here in California right now that we’re spending a lot of time doing research for is equity-related issues,” Pedersen said. “How we both can be trying to ensure that we have an equitable transportation system as well as how we can be ensuring that we’re not having disproportionate impacts from transportation improvements that are made. How we can be ensuring that we have good access for all people. For example, to health care, or to education, or to employment.”
TRB also has done a large magnitude of seismic-related research, which obviously is of interest in California but also has attracted the attentions of other states’ transportation departments. “That’s one that probably California has both driven the need for the research and well as benefitted from the research.
“And then California obviously is the leader in the country in terms of addressing climate-change-related issues. We’re doing quite a bit of research both on the issue of how do you reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as how do you address resilience-related issues from the increased frequency in storms that we have, and the impacts – whether it’s more heat waves, or whether it’s wildfires, or all the different climate-related increased issues that we’re addressing right now.”
Pedersen encourages Caltrans employees to take advantage of TRB resources, such as National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) reports that he called “very practical guidance documents, or documents that could be used in terms of how state DOT employees actually do their jobs.” Those interested in TRB also could sign up to be a “friend”’ of one of its committees, Pedersen said, and thereby “get to interact with the smartest people in the topic area that they are interested in. …
“We have a number of Caltrans employees on different committees. We really try to encourage state participation. With California representing – depending on what measure you use – anywhere from 12 to 20 percent of the country, we like to see Caltrans very involved with our committees.”
In that vein, Pedersen said that during his leadership tenure he prioritized increasing the diversity within TRB. “We often hear, when people are talking about diversity, they are talking about gender diversity, talking about racial diversity, or increasing participation from minorities. But I really think of diversity, not just in those terms, but (more broadly), in terms of perspectives, in diversity of backgrounds, diversity of expertise, diversity of lived experience. …
“We still have a long way to go, and I know that my successor is going to continue to make it a priority. And we have a long way to go within our profession in that regard, as well.”
TRB puts on more than 100 webinars a year, any of which Caltrans employees can participate in for free. (They also can receive continuing-education units for their professional licenses.) Furthermore, Pedersen said in listing TRB’s offerings, “We either directly sponsor or co-sponsor about 50 conferences or workshops per year. They get into what I will call a deeper dive into issues associated with a particular subject area.”
Then there’s the conference in Washington, TRB’s showcase event. “It’s just an awesome experience, going to the annual meeting,” Pedersen said, “being with 14,000 of your closest friends and learning from just the most brilliant people in transportation in the world.”
Asked about his retirement plans, the 71-year-old Pedersen said he and his wife look forward to traveling, visiting other countries and continuing their already-extensive exploration of our country’s national parks, monuments and other historic sites.
“I’ve had eight good years at TRB,” Pedersen reflected. “I think I’m leaving TRB in a very good place. I’ve seen too many people who have stayed too long. Organizations like TRB continue to grow when they have new leadership come in.”
Learn more about the Transportation Research Board on its website. If you have further questions about TRB, a good place to start is by reaching out to Joe Horton, who leads Caltrans’ Office of Safety Innovation and Cooperative Research in the Division of Research, Innovation and System Information (DRISI).