The golden anniversaries of the Interstate Highway System and container shipping have made 2006 a special year for transportation. At the same time, a new wave of transportation innovation is gaining momentum through several initiatives, including a transformational and collaborative national strategy to solve the shortfall in transportation capacity and to move freight more reliably and efficiently, so that the transportation system continues to drive economic growth. An insert with this article notes that, in response to the growing freight-movement demands placed on the U.S. transportation system, the U.S. DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) has established the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) to carry out applied research on problems facing the freight industry that have not been adequately addressed by other research programs.
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