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    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
    <image>
      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
      <url>https://rip.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle-RIP.jpg</url>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Personal Vehicle Ownership and Operating Cost Calculator (Version 2.0) for Quantifying On-road Vehicle Operating Costs</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2691663</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In 2018, the Georgia Tech National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) research team developed the Vehicle Ownership and Operating Cost Calculator (VCC) Version 1.0, allowing users to calculate and understand total vehicle ownership costs over the lifespan of the vehicle. Traditional resources typically found on automotive websites offer five-year cost projections, but often overlook or simplify long-term expenses such as financing, maintenance, energy use, and depreciation, which vary widely based on region, vehicle type, and individual driving habits. By allowing users to input personalized data, the calculator provides a tailored, detailed analysis of ownership costs, helping users make more informed decisions about vehicle purchases. The VCC is designed to serve as an educational resource (highlighting the cost categories associated with vehicle ownership) and as an instructional aid in courses that examine transportation planning and economic assessments. The VCC allows users to input data specific to their circumstances, including vehicle purchase price, loan details, annual mileage, insurance, energy costs, maintenance, and other costs like parking and tolls. Using data from sources such as the Georgia Department of Revenue’s vehicle pricing database and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy Database, the calculator provides customized cost estimates. The tool provides users (students and the public) with a thorough understanding of the full costs associated with lifetime vehicle ownership, by offering a comprehensive breakdown of ownership costs, including hidden expenses often overlooked in purchase decisions. The original model became dated, because the tool did not have the ability to automatically ingest and update vehicle ownership cost data. This project will update the tool with new data, develop data ingestion procedures, and modify output formats to support economic assessments of roadway design alternatives. To make the VCC accessible and support technology transfer, this project will update the calculator to accommodate the latest vehicle technologies (2018-2025) and to generate an online model presence. The research team will update fuel prices, maintenance, insurance costs, and depreciation rates to capture recent market changes. The team will also assess and implement enhanced reporting features to provide users with more detailed breakdowns and visualizations of ownership costs. Finally, the team will modify the structure of the model so that the tool can compile operating costs per vehicle-mile for observed and modeled on-road fleet compositions and operating conditions. The deliverables will include an updated version of the calculator accessible as both an Excel tool and a web interface.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:22:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2691663</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Cost-Effectiveness and Service Impacts of Bus Transit Priority Strategies


</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636146</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transit agencies across the United States are increasingly implementing transit priority strategies to improve service reliability, travel times, operating efficiency, and customer experience. Common transit priority measures include transit signal priority (TSP), bus-only lanes, queue jumps, stop consolidation, and bulb-outs.

As agencies invest in these strategies, there are increasing expectations to justify expenditures based on measurable outcomes, including travel time savings, reliability improvements, operating cost efficiencies, ridership growth, environmental benefits, safety outcomes, and return on investment. Minimal methods exist to evaluate the costs, benefits, and long-term effectiveness of transit priority treatments across varying service characteristics, roadway conditions, land use contexts, and institutional environments.

TCRP Synthesis 149: Transit Signal Priority: Current State of the Practice (2020) documents current agency practices, deployment approaches, technologies, implementation challenges, and lessons learned associated with TSP. TCRP Research Report 262: Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, 4th edition (2026) advances methods for evaluating bus speed, reliability, and capacity. Research is needed to give transit agencies guidance on evaluating, comparing, prioritizing, and implementing bus transit priority investments.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop a guide, with supporting evaluation frameworks and decision-making tools, to enable transit agencies to assess, compare, prioritize, and communicate the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of bus transit priority strategies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 19:58:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636146</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Quick-Response Research on Long-Term Strategic Issues. Task 50. Transit Funding Sources and Governance Models</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2307252</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objectives of this research are to present (1) revenue sources for public transportation and the relationship between revenue sources and governance models to help public transportation agencies be financially sustainable in the future and (2) a decision-making tool to help guide discourse among stakeholders regarding public transportation governance and methods for sustaining and increasing funding. The research should address through illustrative examples: (1) What are different revenue sources and how does governance relate to and affect funding and financial sustainability for public transportation? (2) What are the key attributes and criteria that distinguish governance models and funding sources for public transportation? (3) What are the benefits, challenges, and risks of different revenue sources and governance models? How do they affect the financial sustainability of public transportation?]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 13 Dec 2023 12:38:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2307252</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Impact of Multimodal Freight Network on Private Sector Global Distribution</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2262829</link>
      <description><![CDATA[At the strategic level, private sector companies develop their distribution systems through the location of manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and warehouses, largely based on the established multimodal network infrastructure. In many cases, private distribution systems function in the context of global or national supply chains, which adds complexity to their planning and decision making. Accordingly, the private sector’s distribution system efficiency depends on the inherent resiliency and efficiency of the multimodal network. For this reason, it is important to develop a framework to quantify the impact of the multimodal freight transportation network on the efficiency of private distribution systems. This research project will develop network models to quantify the impact of multimodal network components on private sector efficiencies in terms of operational cost. This is envisioned as a project to be completed in phases, with the first phase focusing on the development and testing of a network model for multimodal freight transportation that would be used to assess performance metrics that are relevant for the planning and operation of distribution systems.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:00:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2262829</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>Synthesis of Information Related to Airport Practices. Topic S03-19. Airport Parking Reservation Systems and Techniques</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2077893</link>
      <description><![CDATA[ACRP Synthesis 140: Airport Parking Reservation Systems and Techniques, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, documents the use of online booking systems at U.S. airports, including their benefits, costs, and implementation challenges.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2022 18:14:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2077893</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Methane Energy Generation Project Phase 4</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1906169</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project aims to build off the previous design (WA-RD 901.1) to create an energy recapture and generation system applicable to the Safety Rest Area’s (SRA) or other public facilities operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). This system uses methane generated in the wastewater conveyance process to create electrical energy to run the SRA with the possibility to send excess electricity to the grid. This project revolves around two high-priority problems: (1) reduce greenhouse and prevent harmful gas release into the atmosphere, and (2) quell operational and capital costs at SRA’s while fulfilling regulatory requirements. Currently, methane, as well as other environmentally impactful gasses such as hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), escape into the atmosphere without treatment at the sewer facilities located at Safety Rest Area’s (SRA) that are operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). Utilizing sewer system gases at SRA’s could potentially allow for significant operational cost reductions for WSDOT, as they maintain and operate numerous facilities, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2022 11:49:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1906169</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Develop Guidebook for Managing System Costs: Operational and Capital Cost Management at Rural and Small Urban Public Transit Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1879842</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Rural and small urban transit systems across the United States face fiscal challenges caused by the growing gap between the cost of providing transit service and available federal, state, and local funding. In Texas, the fiscal challenges facing rural and small urban transit systems are compounded by not only an increasing population but also revenue and ridership impacts related to COVID-19. Rural and small urban transit systems also often face high levels of staff turnover and a lack of knowledge management procedures to sustain cost management practices over time. The research teams will equip Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT’s) transit systems to understand, predict, and manage operational/capital costs and provide a reliable go-to-resource for cost management best practices.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 23 Sep 2021 11:06:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1879842</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Y3R3- Integrate Autonomous Delivery Vehicle into Sustainable Urban Logistics Planning and Optimization: Economic and Environmental Evaluation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868885</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The ongoing urbanization presents a challenge both to enterprises who want to adapt to the change
and deliver goods more efficiently, also the policymakers who can positively impact urban logistics in terms of
trade-off decisions on economic and environmental impact. As sustainable urban distribution system becomes
one of the most recent trends, hubs are augmented with smaller logistic centers in the city. In urban logistics
system, autonomous delivery vehicles (ADV) as a new element of ground-based delivery services are a more
practical solution in cities. The study team discusses the potential ADV combined with delivery van regarding the urban
sustainable freight delivery network. A multi-modal and multi-objective optimization model is proposed to
simultaneously minimize the aggregate operating cost and reduce carbon dioxide emission. Also, delivery hubs
from alternative hubs are chosen for ADV positioning. An improved Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm was used to solve the problem. The study team applies it to a case study comparing the Economic and Environmental
performance in both unimodal delivery method and combined delivery using Van-Autonomous delivery vehicle
(V-ADV). Finally, sensitivity analysis is used to assess the robustness of the results of the model in the presence
of uncertainty. This research provides decision support to government authorities, logistics service providers,
and other relevant decision makers.
Motivated both by the adaption of new delivering technologies (ADV) in practical
transportation industry and the theoretical gap existing in the present literature, a network planning problem for
the cooperated van and ADV is studied. The primary objective of this study is to develop an urban logistics
optimization model in terms of minimizing the logistics operating cost and carbon emission using V-ADV
from the point of authorities. Simultaneously, the best locations from a set of existing stations are selected for
ADV positioning and optimal flow assignment.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2021 17:29:03 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868885</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis--The Transit IDEA Program. Open Platform to Attract, Organize, and Coordinate Volunteers for Rural and Small Urban Transit</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1687415</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Scarcity of funds is a major challenge for rural and small urban transit agencies in the U.S. to meet their operational costs. Despite the potential for volunteers to help transit agencies reduce operational costs, challenges in attracting, retaining, and coordinating volunteers hinder the widespread integration of transit volunteers. This project proposed an online platform for transit agencies to register, organize, and manage volunteers to enhance the existing coordination models. The platform features two interfaces – one for volunteers and one for transit agencies – along with an optimization matching engine automating the task assignment. Through conceptual design, iterative development, and beta testing, the proposed system was advanced to a prototype support platform for application and evaluation. The positive user feedback from the beta testing highlighted the platform’s usability and convenience and its potential to enable volunteering for transit.  The potential impact of the proposed platform is multifaceted. A shift in volunteering practices through this platform has the capacity to simplify and modernize volunteer management, streamline recruitment, broaden the volunteer demographic, and optimize task allocation. Overall, this proof-of-concept project demonstrated the feasibility and potential impact of leveraging technology to optimize volunteer management within transit agencies, paving the way for broader implementation and adoption. However, continued development and the preparation of a scalable platform ready for application and commercialization are imperative to facilitate broader technology adoption.
 ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2020 07:37:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1687415</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>Strategic Decision Support for Airport Capacity Planning</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1401982</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Airside performance at major airports is affected by a large number of interacting factors in three major spheres of airside activity: (1) airport operations control (AOC), (2) maintenance services, and (3) air traffic control (ATC). AOC is responsible for assignment of preferred parking sections (with associated terminal gates). It is also responsible for sending planes to alternative parking spots when there is not a gate available in the preferred section for an arriving aircraft. Maintenance personnel provide turnaround services and deploy tractors for pushbacks at gates and for airlines that require such service. ATC determines how runways are used for arrivals and departures according to wind conditions and coordinates aircraft traffic for safe operation. Smooth operation requires close cooperation among these three spheres of activity. In this report, we describe a discrete-event simulation model and supporting analytical tools designed to help airport planners, operations directors, and air traffic control specialists collaborate in maximizing airside performance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2016 09:32:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1401982</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Roadway Wind-Solar Hybrid Power Generation and Distribution System Towards Energy-Plus Roadways

</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1369403</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The aim of this project is to develop a novel Roadway Wind/Solar Hybrid Power Generation and Distribution System (RHPS) towards energy-plus roadways, where energy-plus stands for annual energy consumption that is less than production. The RHPS would be a low footprint, intelligent, and multilayer power system designed for integration into urban and suburban areas, which reduces the need for new distribution networks. The RHPS represents a dramatic change in the role of the public right-of-way from an energy consumer to an energy producer, and therefore will aid in reducing transportation system operating costs.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:09:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1369403</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Saline Extractive Distillation for Ethanol Separation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1363857</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this research project is to reduce capital and operating costs, especially energy demand, of current multi-stage separation process for recovery of fuel grade ethanol from fermentation broth through the extractive distillation of salt by electrodialysis.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2015 01:01:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1363857</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>On-Going Evaluation of Alternatively Fueled Buses</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1357760</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Florida transit agencies and funding entities continue to be under pressure to reduce operating costs and to run a more sustainable and environmentally friendly fleet in the urban environment. Funding made available through the federal economic stimulus effort known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has aided growth in the acquisition of alternative fuel transit vehicles. Some Florida agencies are receiving funding through the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) grant program (part of ARRA), while others are using regular transit capital funds. Typically, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) funds 50 percent of the non-federal share of bus capital acquisition. Pressure on agencies to procure and on FDOT to fund alternatively fueled buses has escalated with the enormous push toward compressed natural gas as a domestically produced urban fleet fuel. However, higher reliance on alternative fuels and propulsion technologies by some Florida agencies has increased both capital and operating costs for some fixed route operators, and has created challenges for the widespread adoption of advanced transit technologies. Additionally, with the wide variety of advanced transit technologies that is currently available as an alternative to regular diesel, transit agencies find it hard to choose the technology that will best fit their needs. Both transit agencies and FDOT can benefit from current data on the performance of alternative fuel transit vehicles, allowing the evaluation of advantages and limitations of different alternative propulsion technologies. FDOT is interested in collecting and analyzing up-to-date data on alternative fuel vehicles' performance to assist the department with evaluating the benefits and investment costs associated with advanced transit technologies. The Department engaged the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF) in 2009, 2012, and again in 2013 to establish a reporting system for the collection of transit fleet performance and cost data. FDOT is interested in continuing regular data collection, monitoring, and evaluating field data on the performance and operating costs of alternative fuel transit vehicles that are currently in use in Florida and nationwide. These data are intended to assist decision-makers considering investment in alternative fuel transit technologies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 01:00:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1357760</guid>
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