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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <item>
      <title>Innovative Marketing and Customer Communication Strategies for Rural Transit



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2464325</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Modern marketing and customer communication in the transit environment can involve a variety of marketing channels, branding (logos and design standards), onboard and external signage and kiosks, promotional items, in-person and virtual events, organic and paid online campaigns, traditional media, augmented reality experiences, geotargeted mobile advertising, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted technology for content creation. Technologies and approaches are changing so rapidly that marketing campaigns considered state-of-the-art 5 or 10 years ago may seem obsolete now.  

Most rural transit agencies engage in a variety of marketing and public communication activities. Many agencies do not have the resources or knowledge to effectively market their services or communicate service changes to all existing and potential riders. It is not financially sustainable for most rural transit agencies to hire an external marketing agency. Small transit systems without a dedicated marketing team member might rely on internal staff without relevant skills or dedicated time, which could lead to ineffective marketing, wasting valuable time and resources with little or no opportunity to measure the return on investment.

There are few standards, national guidelines, or programs on effective marketing or public communication strategies in rural transit settings. Research is needed to document successful marketing practices currently used by rural transit agencies and practical resources to develop strong marketing and communication resources to pave the way for innovative and effective marketing campaigns.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the research is to develop practical guidance and resources for public transportation managers and staff at rural transit agencies and state departments of transportation to enhance rural transit marketing and customer communication strategies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:21:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2464325</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Marketing and Education
Budget for Implementation of
New Transit Technology</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2087688</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transit agencies are introducing all kinds of new, customer-facing technology, such as software and IT systems used in
mobile trip planning, ticketing, and payment processing. However, meager budgets for marketing and public education result in
low adoption of the technology, leading to 
Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT)-funded investments often being abandoned or under-utilized. There is also
lack of realization of the potential benefits from use of the new technology, e.g., improved customer experience, operating
efficiencies, data collection opportunities, increased ridership, better coordination.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jul 2024 10:58:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2087688</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Guide for In-Terminal Airport Concession Programs</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2226016</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Strategies and models for in-terminal airport concessions continue to evolve. Airports have to demonstrate resiliency and use innovative thinking to provide flexibility to concessionaires in a new environment. Escalating capital, labor, and operating costs have strained the existing business model of in-terminal concessions, while e-commerce, digitalization, and changing demand patterns have challenged traditional ways of understanding airport in-terminal concessions.

Airports are looking for opportunities and approaches to become more agile and ensure their concessions programs provide a best-in-class experience for passengers while optimizing revenue to help meet rising airport operating costs and ongoing debt and enhance airport financial self-sufficiency.

Building a concessions program requires airports to have the data and tools necessary to determine the best concessions models and strategies. The goals of a concessions program include optimizing concessions space, ensuring a balanced concessions mix, reducing barriers of entry, and identifying appropriate contracting and management practices.

Research is needed to develop a guide to help airport operators develop and manage their in-terminal concession programs.

The objective of this research is to create a guide to help airport operators develop and manage their in-terminal concession programs. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 10 Aug 2023 09:45:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2226016</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>COVID-19 Transit Recovery Toolkit: Strategies Handbook and Statewide Marketing Campaign</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2062815</link>
      <description><![CDATA[DRPT proposes the development of a COVID-19 Transit Recovery Toolkit to help transit agencies return safely to previous levels of service as the crisis subsides. This project will build on previous DRPT coordination efforts with transit agencies in Virginia, and will create a comprehensive collection of resources to help transit providers adapt to a 'new normal.']]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Nov 2022 11:56:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2062815</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Practices. Topic 54-17. State DOT Innovation Programs and Practices</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1953250</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The focus on innovation across state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) continues to grow and strengthen. Unlike research activities, which have established programs and processes, innovation programs are relatively new. DOTs are focusing more directly on innovation, including internal organizational excellence and/or external program and project development and delivery. In addition, DOTs often align their definition of innovation with only a small portion of the innovation spectrum, ranging from large agency-wide initiatives to smaller grassroots efforts. DOTs are often facing similar challenges in setting innovation programs up and are learning from each other through informal information exchanges. A synthesis of current practice in this area is needed to assist DOTs in implementing and growing innovation programs.

The objective of this synthesis is to document state DOT innovation programs and initiatives, areas of focus on the innovation spectrum, and associated activities.

Information for this study was gathered through a literature review, a survey of state DOTs, and follow-up interviews with selected DOTs. Case examples of five state DOTs provide additional information on innovation programs and initiatives, areas of focus on the innovation spectrum, and associated activities.

Christine Kline and Susan Johnson of CTC & Associates LLC, Lincoln, Nebraska, collected and synthesized the information and wrote the report. The members of the topic panel are acknowledged on page iv. This synthesis is an immediately useful document that records innovation programs and initiatives, areas of focus on the innovation spectrum, and associated activities that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its preparation. As progress in research and practice continues, new knowledge will be added to that now at hand.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2022 18:22:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1953250</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>NCHRP Implementation Support Program. Development of a Technology Transfer Plan for State Departments of Transportation Research Programs</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1700396</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Several National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) research publications identified best practices and strategies to communicate research results, and to engage with stakeholders, fellow researchers, and the general public. These include research publications such as NCHRP Synthesis 280: Seven Keys to Building a Robust Research Program, NCHRP Report 610: Communicating the Value of Transportation Research, NCHRP Synthesis 522: Managing State Transportation Research Programs, and NCHRP Synthesis 461: Accelerating Implementation of Transportation Research Results. The NCHRP research showed that it is generally a combination of approaches and strategies that foster success, and speed the implementation of research results and realization of research benefits. The research also noted that successful communication and marketing efforts link researchers and research results with their intended audience by strengthening the information flow throughout the research process.

Working with the nine member states of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Region 3, NCHRP 20-44(28) developed technology transfer materials, processes, and procedures to assist state research managers in developing marketing efforts appropriate for a state DOT research program.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2020 10:45:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1700396</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Creative Marketing Techniques to Improve Revenue Generation Partnerships</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1528517</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Airports have relied on traditional revenue streams such as terminal rent, landing fees, parking, and concessions to operate and maintain their facilities. As operating costs continue to rise, many airports face increasing difficulty in meeting funding needs solely by these traditional revenue sources. New digital tools, such as big data (high-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets) and targeted advertising (which provides contextually relevant information to passengers in real time) are already being used by airlines and other companies, and may provide new opportunities for airports. In addition, airports may be able to take advantage of their existing relationships with various stakeholders (e.g., airlines, concessionaires, corporate partners) to increase revenue. However, there is little research and guidance for identifying and applying these new synergistic revenue-generating opportunities at airports.
 
The objective of this research is to develop a guidebook to help airport industry practitioners use innovative marketing techniques to maximize revenue. The guidance should reflect the needs of non-, small-, medium-, and large-hub commercial airports; general aviation airports; and corporate aviation airports. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2018 09:34:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1528517</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Research for the AASHTO Standing Committee on Public Transportation. Task 73. Best Practices and Marketing to Increase Rural Transit Ridership and Investment</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1471596</link>
      <description><![CDATA[AASHTO and the Standing Committee on Public Transportation has a goal of doubling transit ridership to 20 billion trips by 2035. With the population of seniors expecting to double by 2050 what are the efforts that rural transit providers and state departments of transportation are undertaking to increase the share of rural transit riders (a higher percentage of the senior population). While seniors are, and are likely to remain, a primary user demographic of rural public transit, states and public transit systems needs mechanisms to increase ridership in all or certain segments including working-age adults with disabilities, secondary or post-secondary students, or residents of low-income or zero-car households. For rural demand response services, increasing ridership can also require increasing service levels. Therefore, in many states and localities, best practices for increasing ridership must be combined with increased investment. Increasing investment requires making a case for that investment. A large part of making that case is demonstrating a return on investment. Having the best practices available to demonstrate the ROI of rural transit investment in rural areas will help maintain and expand current investments. While ROI can be a large part of making the case for investment, there can be other “messages” that resonate with state and local decision-makers therefore this research will also address the full range of methods that can be used to justify state and local investment in rural transit services.
 
The objective of this research is produce a Best Practices Guide that will cover the interconnected topics of practices to: (1) increase rural transit ridership; (2) practices for measuring the Return-On-Investment (ROI) of rural transit investment and (3) practices to communicate (market) the importance of rural transit investment. The results of this research will provide State DOTs and their rural subrecipients with additional tools to advance the contribution public transit to meeting the mobility needs of our rural communities. In particular tools that will assist in measuring and communicating the benefits of rural transit services and investment.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Jun 2017 10:03:21 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1471596</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SEGMENT: Applicability of an Existing Segmentation Technique to TDM Social Marketing Campaigns in the United States</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1420034</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Social marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviors that benefit individuals and communities for the greater social good (International Social Marketing Association, 2013). Social marketing is a useful transportation demand management (TDM) planning approach to promote travel behavior change, and integrates several distinguishing features which set it apart from other popular behavior change planning approaches, such as education and mass media campaigns. These features include a focus on socially beneficial behavior change, a strong consumer orientation, the use of audience segmentation techniques and the selection of target audiences, the use of marketing’s conceptual framework (marketing mix and exchange theory), the recognition of competition, and continual marketing research. The purpose of the proposed study is to explore a consumer market segmentation technique (SEGMENT) successfully used in Europe for its applicability to social marketing campaigns in Florida. The SEGMENT project has developed a replicable and transferable market segmentation model to be used by all of the EU’s 27 member states when designing social marketing campaigns to persuade people to change their travel behavior and adopt more energy-efficient forms of transport (Intelligent Energy Europe, 2015). The SEGMENT project analyzed over 10,000 comprehensive attitudinal surveys containing over 100 questions to generate eight main attitudinal segments useful for the design of mobility social marketing campaigns; additional analysis produced eighteen ‘golden questions’ representing the smallest number of survey questions required to reproduce the eight market segments (Intelligent Energy Europe, 2015). The proposed study will replicate the SEGMENT methodology to determine whether the ‘golden questions’ accurately segment markets in Florida. Individuals will be surveyed using the long list of questions and discriminate analysis will be applied to identify the most powerful questions between the segments. Major contributions of this project will be the validation of a successful existing segmentation technique for applicability in the State of Florida, which will maximize the impact of TDM social marketing campaigns on changing travel behavior.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Aug 2016 10:16:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1420034</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Master of Science in Transportation Degree Program Development</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1372370</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The proposed project includes but is not limited to the following: (1) Submit proposal to the Board of Regents; (2) Submit External Reviewer report to Office of the President, University of New Orleans; (3) Develop curriculum concerned with all modes of transportation-road, rail, maritime and air-and the connection of people and goods across these modes; (a) Focus instruction so that students will benefit from subject matter designed to present the entire system of transportation and the training for those within the field in a well-coordinated format; (b) Coordinate with members of the consortium, as well as other universities, who have executive format /on-line programs to form partnerships for concentrations or electives; (4) Submit Curriculum to University Courses and Curriculum Committee for approval; and (5) Develop and implement marketing strategy to recruit students through: website presence; outreach in high schools (e.g. hands on workshops; career days); conduct workforce summits; membership in professional organizations. The degree program is scheduled to go into effect Fall semester 2015.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2015 09:08:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1372370</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Role of the COE-CST in Encourage, Facilitate and Promote</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1362894</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The current environment favors such initiatives conceptually, but the business case for them is difficult to close. Unless they have a specific interest in the hosted technology, commercial launch users are reluctant to give up even a few kilograms of launch mass at prices supportable by research institutions and small commercial startups. In recent research roadmapping effort, identifying and characterizing the space transportation market was identified as a priority research task for the Center of Excellence. In order to find a tractable focus area, the project took industry partners' suggestion of investigating secondary and hosted payloads (SHP's). SHP's represent a unique opportunity to achieve low cost access to space, yet are rarely used. The task will work to identify the barriers to SHP's and how they can be overcome.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2015 01:00:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1362894</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Pilot of a Community-Based Voluntary Travel Behavior Change Effort</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1335827</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The research study asks the question, "How does a community-based social marketing (CBSM) approach that provides personalized assistance compare with simple provision of materials (currently used by Florida commuter assistance programs) in terms of reducing vehicle trips?" The proposed hypothesis is as follows:  "Providing personalized follow-up assistance to individuals about their travel options will reduce more vehicle trips than not providing personalized follow-up assistance to individuals." The null hypothesis is as follows: "Providing personalized follow-up assistance to individuals about their travel options will not reduce more vehicle trips than not providing personalized follow-up assistance to individuals." The project can reject the null hypothesis if it can demonstrate one case where the CBSM does reduce more vehicle trips.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 01:00:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1335827</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>INVEST Marketing Support</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234795</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this task order is to provide marketing, communications and branding services to develop a comprehensive communications strategy and successfully market and increase interest in the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Sustainable Highways Initiative and Self-Evaluation Tool (INVEST) across state and local transportation agencies and other potential users.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:19:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234795</guid>
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