The concept of transportation is an umbrella that covers a wide range of topics including aeronautics, urban planning, commerce and even national security.  You can research transportation issues at KCLL in a variety of different ways. 

The Basics in Paper

We carry paper copies of the fundamental primary law resources from the local, State and Federal level.  These include the Seattle Municipal Code, the King County Code, the Revised Code of Washington, the Washington Administrative Code, the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations.  Each of these resources has a component that deals with some form of transportation law and as with most research projects should be your first step.  In all cases, KCLL not only carries the current edition but also maintains historical archive materials.  The latter includes paper-bound decisions from the Interstate Commerce Commission, the National Transportation and Safety Board and the United States Customs Court.  If you are a member of KCLL’s Subscriber Program, these materials can be checked out for use in your office.

Notable Topic-Specific Paper Resources

Goods in Transit by Saul Sorkin, shelved at KF 1091.S6 1976.  Goods in Transit is an 8-volume loose-leaf set that provides in-depth discussion of the liability of owners and carriers for goods shipped by air, sea, rail or truck world-wide.  It includes some useful forms and reprints of the major U.S. and international legislation that impacts carriers.

Infrastructure, shelved with the periodicals at K 9 .N47.  Infrastructure is a quarterly publication of the American Bar Association Section of Public Utility, Communications, and Transportation Law.  It includes three to four short articles in each issue and is a good current awareness resource for transportation and transportation-related topics.

The Law of Electronic Commerce by Jane K. Winn and Benjamin Wright, shelved at KF 2765 .W74 2001.  The Law of Electronic Commerce examines the many ways in which electronic communications and media impact commerce and the world’s emerging e-commerce markets.  If your research concerns “transportation” in terms of commerce, this is a good resource to review.

Guide to Homeland Security, 2006 edition, shelved at KF 4850 .G85.  The Guide provides an analysis of structure and duties of the Department of Homeland Security.  There is a very useful section on the Transportation Security Administration.

Notable Internet Resources

The primary law materials mentioned above can also be found on the Internet, although researchers who need to see older versions will in most cases still need use KCLL’s paper archives.  The most efficient way to find these is through the Library’s home page, http://www.kcll.org.   From our main page, select the Research Links option and then choose the appropriate governmental level to find links to legislative and administrative materials.

Locally, both the City of Seattle and King County have well-maintained web sites sponsored by their respective transportation departments.  As you would expect, these focus on transportation concerns at the local level so they are most useful for background research into the specific transportation projects that each municipality is undertaking.  The City of Seattle’s Department of Transportation web site is at http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/.  The King County Department of Transportation web site is at http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/ and the County’s general transportation web site is at http://www.metrokc.gov/tran.htm.

On the State level, the Department of Transportation provides access to information about the wide variety activities over which it has supervision at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/.  Notable links within this web site include the Accountability section and the Projects section.  You will also find a link to the State Transportation Commission, the body responsible for assisting in the development and assessment of Washington State transportation policy and coordinating State and Federal transportation policy.  The commission’s web site is at http://www.wstc.wa.gov/default.htm

On the Federal level, the Department of Transportation provides a similar set of links to U.S. policy and practice through its web site at http://www.dot.gov/.  The site lists links to the numerous agencies within the umbrella of the Department.  It also provides links to the Department’s Docket Management System, FAA regulatory information and Title 49 of the CFR.  If your research involves a transportation security issue, you will want to visit the Transportation Security Administration’s web site at http://www.tsa.gov/. 

If you are looking for information from a reliable source outside of traditional government, you will find the web site of the Transportation Research Board a useful place to explore:  http://www.trb.org/TRB/about/About.asp.  The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council and serves as a source of independent research for transportation policy.  The site includes a link to the Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) database, where you can perform keyword searches through thousands of articles discussing various aspects of transportation research.

Westlaw at KCLL

Both branches of the Library provide public-access Westlaw computers where you can research transportation statutes and cases across all 50 states and at the federal level.  For access to specific federal agency regulations and decisions—such as FAA decisions, transportation Chief Counsel interpretations,  DOT Board of Contract Appeals decisions—the reference librarians can assist you via the staff’s Westlaw account.