Mr. Edgar Kraus is a Research Engineer and manager of the TTI Clean Energy Program and has been with TTI since 2001. He received a Master of Science degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Rhode Island with an emphasis on transportation engineering. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Braunschweig, Germany. Mr. Kraus is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, an affiliate of the Transportation Research Board, a member of the Institute for Transportation Engineers, and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. At TRB, Mr. Kraus is a member and committee research coordinator for the Committee on Utilities and the Committee on Information Systems and Technology. He is also the chair of the research subcommittee of the Committee on Eminent Domain and Land Use.

Mr. Kraus' primary fields of interest are transportation infrastructure management, right-of-way and utility issues, data architecture and application development, and spatial data technologies. As principal investigator, he has provided leadership on numerous projects involved with the development of data architectures and prototype data management systems using state and national datasets. Currently, Mr. Kraus is leading a TTI team tasked with the development of national guidelines for the management of out-of-service utility infrastructure.
Mr. Kraus recently led a TTI team to update the AASHTO utility accommodation guide and policy, which resulted in a new national guideline for the accommodation of utilities on highways and freeways. Mr. Kraus also led several projects that involved the implementation of data architectures, applications, and spatial data technologies. For TxDOT, Mr. Kraus led a research team to develop a data architecture and prototype utility conflict data management system to accommodate work and data flows between utility coordination stakeholders in Texas. Mr. Kraus also participated in a research study for the Florida Department of Transportation that was tasked to develop a statewide strategic plan to optimize the management of right-of-way parcel and utility information. Mr. Kraus has provided research assistance and training in data management to various State DOTs, including Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington State.
As principal investigator, Mr. Kraus has been leading numerous initiatives involving the development of prototype applications involving data models for large datasets. Mr. Kraus has significant experience in the modeling and development of data architectures that involve the integration, imputation, and conflation of diverse, heterogeneous spatial and non-spatial datasets, such as crash data, roadway data, traffic data, freight data, GIS routing data, and energy related data. Mr. Kraus was the Principal Investigator of the FHWA Roadway Data Extraction Technical Assistance Program (RDETAP) from 2013 to 2019. Mr. Kraus’ experience with linear referencing systems and the integration of FHWA’s Model Inventory for Roadway Elements (MIRE) and Fundamental Data Elements (FDE) data from State and Local sources as part of the RDETAP has been integral to the successful provision of technical assistance to state and local transportation agencies. More recently, Mr. Kraus started work on using open-source artificial intelligence algorithms to extract roadway data elements compatible with MIRE from roadway video files.

In the past, Mr. Kraus has led or participated in several research projects sponsored by state DOTs and NCHRP. For example, Mr. Kraus recently completed a national review of issues concerning the use of transportation facilities to generate revenue for state departments of transportation (DOTs). He also led a TTI team in collaboration with the University of California at Merced to develop a standard guidebook for the planning, financing, design, and installation of utility-scale solar facilities in the state right-of-way. For TxDOT, led the data architecture and logical modeling effort for the development of a business process and logical data model to support a tour-based travel demand model design. Recently, Mr. Kraus investigated issues of noise walls and retaining walls with utility facilities on complex projects and methods to quantify the valuation of right-of-way.
For the National Highway Institute, Mr. Kraus has been involved in the development of a course to encourage the use of utility investigations to minimize project risks, which recently became part of the online NHI course catalogue. Other contributions by Mr. Kraus include leadership in an NCHRP review of issues related to the management of longitudinal utility installations on controlled-access highway right-of-way, an NCHRP study focusing on the improvement of right-of-way procedures and business practices, and a SHRP2 research project for the development of solutions for the identification and management of utility conflicts in the project development process. Mr. Kraus is currently involved in a statewide implementation of the SHRP2 research products at TxDOT.

At ASCE, Mr. Kraus has been actively involved in the development of several standards, including the ASCE 75 Standard for Recording and Exchanging Utility Infrastructure Data, the ASCE 38 Standard Guideline for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data, and the ASCE EESX 3/4 5G Small Cell Facilities and Environmental Sensor Installation Standard.