TRL Limited, trading as TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) is an independent

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

offering a transport

consultancy A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

and research service to the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

. Originally established in 1933 by the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

as the Road Research Laboratory (RRL), it was privatised in 1996. Its motto or tagline is 'The Future of Transport'.

History

TRL was originally established in 1933 by the UK Government as the Road Research Laboratory (RRL) under the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

(DSIR), and later became the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) in 1972. During the Second World War, the Laboratory contributed to the war effort. Among its contributions, under William Glanville, were research that aided the development of plastic armour, the bouncing bomb and the Disney bomb. During governmental reorganisation in the 1970s, the TRRL moved from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(DoE). At the TRRL, Frank Blackmore developed the mini-roundabout and its associated 'priority rule', which was adopted in 1975. With the encouragement of the UK Department of Transport, TRRL was instrumental in promoting cooperation with other European laboratories. In 1989, TRRL's initiative to create a Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories led to its hosting of the inaugural meeting. It became an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport (DfT) in 1992, and changed its name to the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). It was privatised in 1996, though earlier plans in 1994 for a proposed privatisation were criticised at the time, notably by former Transport Minister Barbara Castle.

Operations

TRL is based in Crowthorne, Berkshire, with additional offices in Edinburgh and Birmingham. TRL's key areas of work include

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

, network and vehicle safety; traffic management; planning and control; investigations and risk management; transport infrastructure; and environmental assessment, including work on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

and

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

Software

TRL has produced industry-standard software including Junctions, TRANSYT, SCOOT 7 an
UTC, Powered by SCOOT 7

Site redevelopment

The extensive Crowthorne site has been substantially scaled back, with many of the original buildings disused, creating an opportunity for redevelopment. In 2012, Bracknell Council identified the original site as a strategic area, suitable for a new mini-town of 1,000 homes.

Corporate affairs

To maintain its commercial

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

and

impartiality Impartiality (also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness) is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another ...

, TRL is owned by the Transport Research Foundation (TRF), a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

distributing foundation, overseen by 80 sector members from the transport industry. The TRF is classed as a non-profit distributing organisation (NPDO), a form of business structure where all profits are reinvested in services or business growth, rather than being distributed to

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...

s. TRL's profits are invested in its own research programmes, selected by the TRF to enhance knowledge in critical areas such as

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

, environmental impact and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The ...

References

External links

https://TRL.co.uk
— TRL Limited official website
TRL Software
— official outlet of TRL Limited
Transport-Links.org
— contains many developing country RRL/TRRL/TRL documents, manuals, for free download {{authority control 1933 establishments in the United Kingdom Government agencies established in 1933 Transport research organizations Transport in the United Kingdom Engineering research institutes Laboratories in the United Kingdom Privatised executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Research institutes in Berkshire Wokingham Companies based in Berkshire Private companies limited by guarantee of the United Kingdom