HSRC News Briefs

HSRC to evaluate new pavement marking in Chapel Hill

As part of a pilot project by the town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, researchers at HSRC are working with town officials to study and evaluate recently added shared-use pavement markings.

The markings, referred to as "sharrows", are an experimental road treatment being evaluated as an accommodation for bicyclists under certain roadway conditions. Sharrows identify the shared use of a travel lane by bicyclists and passing motorists, indicating the legal and appropriate bicyclist line of travel. They also serve to cue motorists to pass bicyclists with sufficient clearance.

The markings are on a four-lane corridor popularly traveled by motorists and bicyclists alike, as it serves as a main access to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

By December 2009, HSRC will submit a report to the Federal Highway Administration for review that summarizes the study. Results will be released upon completion of the review.

Second annual HSRC scholarship awarded

The UNC Highway Safety Research Center awarded its annual scholarship in July to Kathryn Martin, a graduate student at UNC Chapel Hill studying in the School of Public Health. Her dissertation research is on the influence of community resources on North Carolinians' health-related quality of life and functional health status, including accessibility and availability of public transportation for senior citizens in North Carolina.

The $1,000 scholarship was available to a full-time graduate student with an interest in transportation safety and who will be enrolled in 2008 at any of the 16 University of North Carolina system campuses. Candidates were evaluated on academic performance, extracurricular and professional activities, work experience and an essay on a current highway safety issue.

Ms. Martin is currently working on her dissertation and plans to graduate with her Ph.D. in 2009.

HSRC Research Library goes digital

Members of the HSRC Library staff have recently completed the first phase of an ongoing archival digitization project. A selected group of frequently requested reports published from 1967-1990 is now available for the first time in electronic format for downloading in PDF format.

The newly digitized reports have been contributed to the Digital Collaboratory of the Eastern Transportation Knowledge Network, which is based at the National Transportation Library of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This permanent digital repository will provide continuing access to the full text of HSRC's older reports.

To access the HSRC Library, visit http://www.hsrc.unc.edu/research_library/index.cfm.