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    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <atom:link href="https://rip.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=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" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
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    <language>en-us</language>
    <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>ELDER-3: Empowering Lifelong Driving Experiences with SAE Level 3 Automation
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2628204</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Automated vehicles (AVs) are heralded as the future of transportation. The Society of Automotive Engineers categorizes six levels of AV, with levels 1 and 2 already in operation, and level 3 undergoing mass production testing in North America. Level 3 marks a significant advancement, as drivers can engage in non-driving related tasks (NDRT), but must be prepared to take over control of the vehicle at all times. However, level 3 AVs pose significant cognitive and motor demands during take-over requests (TOR) in older drivers with intact cognition, suggesting that take-over maneuvers may be even more challenging for older adults with cognitive impairment (CI).
This study aims to determine the impact of CI on take-over performance in level 3 AVs. Participants (30 older drivers with intact cognition, and 30 older drivers with CI) will engage in level 3 AV driving using a high-fidelity driving simulator while their eyes are tracked for attention and cognitive workload. During the drive, the TOR will require participants to quickly transition from an NDRT to taking over control of the vehicle. Additionally, participants will complete a clinical battery of cognitive, visual, and motor tests.
We hypothesize that older adults with CI will exhibit: (1) slower response to TOR; (2) reduced attention (glances on screen) and increased drowsiness (eyelid closure) before TOR; and (3) heightened cognitive workload (pupillary response) during and after the TOR. In hypothesis (4), we expect that a combination of clinical tests including reaction time, processing speed, and working will predict take-over performance.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 14:20:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2628204</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Independent Review Panel to Assess Criteria for Alternative Neurocognitive Tests Validation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2508959</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Office of Aerospace Medicine is developing alternative neurocognitive screening tests, partnering with three neurocognitive test developers to create derivative tests tailored to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements and supported by pilot normative data. However, the neuropsychology community of practice has expressed concerns about the need for revalidation of the derivative tests before clinical adoption. Therefore, an Independent Review Panel is required as soon as practical to evaluate the tests objectively and provide guidance on further development to ensure scientific validity, adherence to professional standards, and alignment with FAA requirements.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:07:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2508959</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Improving Accessibility and Airport Experience for Neurodivergent Individuals and Individuals with Dementia-Related Conditions</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2226005</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The traditional design and operation of terminals may not be sufficient to accommodate neurodivergent individuals and individuals with dementia-related conditions. Neurodivergence is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of diagnoses related to the ways the brain processes information. Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of travelers with memory-related conditions. Given the complexity, inherent stress, and challenges of air travel, research is needed to provide guidelines and resources to help airport operators design and operate their facilities to enhance the travel experience of people with neurodivergent disorders and provide relevant training for staff.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this research is to develop a guide to help airport industry practitioners meet the needs of neurodivergent individuals. The guide should be customizable and scalable for commercial service and general aviation airports of varying sizes, resource availability, and governance models. 



]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 08 Aug 2023 06:48:05 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2226005</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Robust Automatic Detection of Traffic Activity from Vehicle Perspectives</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2087442</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The accurate detection and prediction of actions by multiple traffic participants such as pedestrians, vehicles, cyclists and others is a critical prerequisite for enabling self driving vehicles to make autonomous decisions. Current approaches  to teach an autonomous vehicle how to drive use reinforcement learning which is essentially relies on already collected situations as examples relying purely on visual similarity without any understanding of the semantics of the situation and therefore no ability to reason about other similar situations that may have different appearance. This can be overcome by methods that provide situation awareness to the vehicle. The idea is to enable semantically meaningful representations of road scenarios which include the physical layout of the scene, the various participants prior and current activities. The ability to abstract this semantic representation and apply it to multiple scenes that are conceptually similar allows much more robust decision-making strategies by autonomous vehicles. Essentially this allows endowing autonomous vehicles with a reasoning process.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2022 12:07:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2087442</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Biomarkers for Noise-Induced Sleep Deprivation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2083614</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project aims to investigate biological indicators for noise-induced sleep disruption and cognitive changes. The project is a sub-study, part of a larger ASCENT COE project designed to test the ability of broadband (e.g., pink) noise to serve as a countermeasure for sleep loss from simulated aircraft noise.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2022 14:04:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2083614</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Impact of Co-Administration of Alcohol and Cannabis on Impairment</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2083613</link>
      <description><![CDATA[It is the intent of the FAA Functional Genomics Team to analyze samples and data from the project to research molecular biomarkers associated with cannabis use, alone and concomitant with alcohol consumption.  This may include biomarkers associated with cognitive performance.

In this study subjects will undergo screening and then will complete 7 double-blind, double-dummy outpatient sessions in randomized order. In each session, participants will self-administer placebo (0 mg THC) or active oral cannabis (10 or 25 mg THC, via a chocolate brownie) and a placebo drink (BAC 0.0%) or alcohol drink calculated to produce a breath alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. Participants will also complete a positive control session with placebo cannabis and alcohol at a target BAC of 0.08%.

As this is a biomarker discovery project, it is expected there will be multiple computational analyses performed to assess factors that may include molecular and physiological changes among the condition groups, differences in cognitive and driving performance tests, and differences associated with screening and other data collected. A hypothesis is that there are genetic biomarkers that can be used to predict cognitive and/or driving simulator performance deficits due to cannabis and alcohol consumption, and the FAA Functional Genomics Team anticipates testing this via bioinformatics analyses of gene expression changes. 

For the FAA Functional Genomics Team, a key objective is to provide foundational knowledge that could be later validated and applied to improve the ability to detect risks to safe operations and performance associated with cannabis and alcohol consumption. A key aim is to provide knowledge that improves aviation/transportation safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2022 09:23:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2083613</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Identification and Assessment of Preventative Methods to Mitigate Cognitive and Physical Declines Which Influence Driving Performance of Older Drivers</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1917684</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objectives are to: (1) provide additional guidance on the efficacy of the coaching app to improve older driver performance and safety over a prolonged exposure period; (2) determine the strength of mindfulness meditation training on improving attention and driving performance; and (3) determine how the two treatments combined may result in additional gains in performance over each individual treatment.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 16 Feb 2022 11:24:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1917684</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Effects of Cognitive Load on Takeover Requests in Conditionally Automated Driving</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1855169</link>
      <description><![CDATA[With increases in vehicle automation, drivers can engage in non-driving related tasks while trusting automation to maintain driving control. When the vehicle issues a takeover request (TOR), drivers must disengage attention from their non-driving task to direct attention toward the task of driving. Attentional disengagement takes time, making takeover requests limited by drivers’ attentional control. In the current project, the research team investigates how the cognitive complexity, or cognitive load, of the non-driving task impacts the time to disengage attention and respond to a TOR. Specifically, is the cost in disengaging attention from a non-driving task and switching to regaining vehicle control affected by the difficulty, or cognitive load, of the non-driving related task? Participants will perform a simulated automated drive while performance a secondary non-driving task under either a high- or low-cognitive load. The team will measure the impact of the cognitive load on driving parameters (e.g., lane position) and the time and quality of the driver’s takeover.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2021 15:21:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1855169</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of Driver Workload and Training Strategies on a Diverging Diamond Interchange</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1705299</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The amount of information processed by drivers in freeways and arterials increases significantly at interchanges. The information includes changes in alignment and number of lanes, lane position, merging and diverging from the main road, change of safe vehicle speed according to the alignment changes, and the need for attention to various types of road signs. Therefore, negotiating interchanges is a very complex and demanding task. Many studies have been looking at innovative designs to improve safety concerns while reducing urban congestion. One of those innovative intersections is the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) that will be implemented for the first time in Puerto Rico in the state road PR-30 Km 4.1 in Gurabo, PR. Since this is the first time that this type of intersection is implemented in Puerto Rico, the proposed research study aims to determine which training strategy is better suited to effectively communicate drivers the correct way to drive along with this type of intersection. To assess the safety and operational effectiveness of the training strategies, a detailed study on how local drivers behave and the mental workload experienced when driving through the proposed DDI for the first time will be performed. A new factor included in this research is the drivers’ cognitive workload or brain workload. This variable will be evaluated using various biosensors, included with the dry-electrode DSI-24 EEG headset and the algorithms to measure workload that has been developed by the providers of this type of equipment. The comparison of the effect of the strategies will be evaluated using the driving simulator of UPRM. The identification of the best training strategies would allow state, local, and federal institutions to use them in their educational and awareness campaigns.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2020 12:37:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1705299</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessing and Improving the Cognitive and Visual Driving Fitness of CDL Drivers – Phase III</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1662915</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Driving is a highly dynamic task that requires intact cognitive and visual skills to perform safely. Driving commercial vehicles require even more careful planning and consideration to avoid unanticipated shifts in the center of gravity associated with sharp turns while speeding (slushing) associated with sharp braking. Such planning and consideration are highly dependent on cognitive and visual skills for accuracy. In the first year of this proposal, the research team developed a driving fitness assessment battery that consisted of tests that have been shown in the geriatric literature to be reliable and valid measures of driving-related cognitive and visual skills. In year 2, the team began recruitment for CDL drivers over age 18 to: (1) Assess their cognitive and visual fitness; (2) Establish the usefulness and effectiveness of these tests to drivers before embarking on the journey; and (3) Identify potential risk factors that contribute to unsafe driving. The team anticipates that this part of the study will be helpful in identifying drivers who have cognitive and/or visual impairments that may make driving a commercial vehicle unsafe. A unique aspect of this part of the study is the possibility of improving driving fitness by offering drivers with demonstrated cognitive and visual deficits the opportunity to retrain and improve such skills in a technologically advanced high fidelity simulator. In Year 3, the team plans to begin year 2 testing from their year 1 subjects and start pupillary tracking as a measure of cognitive load. 

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Nov 2019 15:58:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1662915</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessing and Improving the Cognitive and Visual Driving Fitness of CDL Drivers – Phase II</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1582364</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Driving is a highly dynamic task that requires intact cognitive and visual skills to perform safely. Driving commercial vehicles require even more careful planning and consideration to avoid unanticipated shifts in the center of gravity associated with sharp turns while speeding (slushing) or liquid surge with hazardous materials associated with sharp braking. Such planning and consideration are highly dependent on cognitive and visual skills for accuracy. In the first year of this proposal, the research team developed a driving fitness assessment battery that consisted of tests that have been shown in the geriatric literature to be reliable and valid measures of driving-related cognitive and visual skills. In year 2, the team began recruitment for CDL drivers over age 18 to: 1. Assess their cognitive and visual fitness, 2. Establish the usefulness and effectiveness of these tests to drivers before embarking on the journey, and 3. Identify potential risk factors that contribute to unsafe driving. The team anticipates that this part of the study will be helpful in identifying drivers who have cognitive and/or visual impairments that may make driving a commercial vehicle unsafe. A unique aspect of this part of the study is the possibility of improving driving fitness by offering drivers with demonstrated cognitive and visual deficits the opportunity to retrain and improve such skills in a technologically advanced high fidelity simulator. 

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2019 16:37:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1582364</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Human Factors in Airport Airside Operations</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1528528</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this project is to develop a report that:
(1) Identifies and describes the cognitive tasks and required abilities used in airside operations (e.g., vehicle and pedestrian activity inside the fence);
(2) Describes the demands that can limit or complicate situational awareness, thus increasing risk of runway incursions and V/PDs;
(3) Identifies risks associated with reduced cognitive ability and situational awareness caused by fatigue or overload;
(4) Discusses how technologies and processes potentially could be used to reduce or mitigate risks from reduced human performance;
(5) Identifies and describes the most effective technologies and processes that affect and could potentially improve situational awareness for airport employees and others working on the airside;
(6) Estimates resource requirements, including cost, of these technologies and processes;
(7) Discusses the limitations and complications that these technologies and processes may add to the demands of people working in the airside environment; and
(8) Includes unformatted content for a stand-alone executive summary for decision makers to help develop strategies for identifying and implementing strategies for their unique situation.  (Note: The formatting and publication of the executive summary will be undertaken by ACRP and should not be included in the proposed budget.) 
The report shall contain but should not be limited to the elements listed below:
(1) An analysis of domestic (and, if practical, international) safety statistics related to runway incursions and V/PDs, sorted by size of airport, type of vehicle operator, and other criteria relevant to the objectives of this research.
(2) A synthesis of all types of literature (e.g., books, peer reviewed articles, industry journals) including related ACRP research on human factors relevant to airport airside operations (including those from non-airport settings if relevant).
(3) Citations and links to the documents included in the synthesis.
(4) A list and evaluation of the most effective technologies and processes available to mitigate human factor risks, improve situational awareness, and reduce runway incursions and V/PDs. The evaluation should focus on common or affordable tools, applications, and equipment (e.g., iPads, smartphones, transponders) and include:
(a) New and emerging methods of monitoring and reporting vehicle location by use of plug-in telematics or similar equipment; and
(b) New and emerging applications that integrate the airport environment into existing or anticipated automated vehicle features.
(5) A list of issues related to fatigue and a discussion of effective techniques to mitigate risks from fatigue.
(6) A list of effective practices related to team and organizational dynamics that improve communications and augment safe airside operations.
(7) A review of required airside driver's training curricula, with suggested additional content focused on effective methods for initial and recurrent training to maximize situational awareness and highlight human factors.
(8) Identification of desirable human skills and abilities that contribute to safe airside operations and proven methods to recognize and develop these necessary skills and improve situational awareness in personnel working in the airport environment. 
 
 ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2018 19:41:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1528528</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessing and Improving the Cognitive and Visual Driving Fitness of Older Long Haul Truck Drivers - Phase I</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1502454</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Driving is a highly dynamic task that requires intact cognitive and visual skills to perform safely. Driving trucks that are loaded with hazardous materials require even more careful planning and consideration to avoid unanticipated shifts in the center of gravity associated with sharp turns while speeding (slushing) or liquid surge associated with sharp braking. Such planning and consideration are highly dependent on cognitive and visual skills for accuracy. In the first year of this proposal, the research team will develop a driving fitness assessment battery that consists of tests that have been shown in the geriatric literature to be reliable and valid measures of driving-related cognitive and visual skills. These tests consist of the Snellen Maze Test, Trails A and B, Range of Motion and Gait Speed. Cognitively, the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) has had significant limitations in driving fitness; therefore, alternative cognitive tools such as the Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) exam will be used. Drivers over age 60 licensed to engage in the hauling of hazardous materials over long distances will be recruited and given this battery of tests to: 1. Assess their cognitive and visual fitness, 2. Establish the usefulness and effectiveness of these tests to drivers before embarking on the journey, and 3. Identify potential risk factors that contribute to unsafe driving. The team anticipates that this part of the study will be helpful in identifying drivers who have cognitive and/or visual impairments that may make driving a truck carrying hazardous materials unsafe. A unique aspect of this part of the study is the possibility of improving driving fitness by offering drivers with demonstrated cognitive and visual deficits the opportunity to retrain and improve such skills in a technologically advanced high fidelity simulator. The Kansas Department of Transportation will collaborate for recruitment of subjects. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 16 Feb 2018 16:46:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1502454</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Factors Influencing Visual Search in Complex Driving Environments</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1474329</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Research on distracted driving has primarily focused on in-vehicle distractions including texting and cell phone use, "infotainment" navigation and audio systems, and other in-vehicle devices. Human factors engineering, which attempts to account for the capabilities and limitations of drivers, promises to provide ways to improve safety by designing more forgiving systems and environments. Successful human factors engineering requires a multi-disciplinary understanding of human perception, cognition, and the associated response factors. By understanding the driver's perception of the environment, engineers can make informed design changes to operational environments (such as temporary workzone areas and approaches) and reduce the potential for driver confusion, thus improving safety for both workers and drivers. The central focus of this research is to identify changes in the visual search patterns of drivers as environments become more complex. Specifically, the project will look to evaluate response patterns for drivers as they approach a temporary workzone area in which traffic flow has been altered from the 'normal' pattern by the use of traffic control devices. The study results will allow engineering guidelines for the use of these traffic control devices to be developed, improved and refined and thereby enhance the safe passage of vehicles through these proven dangerous locations. The overarching objective of this project is to evaluate the impact of visual scene complexity on driver behavior and to recommend improved methods to convey appropriate information to the driver. The study will initially be restricted to a simulated freeway environment focusing on interchanges and ramps with and without work zones.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Jul 2017 01:01:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1474329</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Experimental Studies of Traffic Incident Management with Pricing, Private 
Information, and Diverse Subjects</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1458285</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The effective management of traffic incidents and other irregular disruptions on roadways is key to minimizing travel delay and improving the quality of life for urban residents and businesses. This project is currently using economic experiments involving human subjects and a networked, realistic driving simulation to study driver behavior in response to information displayed by variable message systems and to dynamic road pricing schemes. Based on existing results, the project will propose four new extensions to this study: the addition of more realistic driving mechanics to test driver responses to the projects treatments under increased cognitive load, the recruitment of subjects outside the University of California, Irvine (UCI) student body to confirm the validity of the results with different demographic groups, the implementation of treatments to study the impact of private information messaging systems (e.g. Waze, Google Maps, etc.), and the implementation of treatments to study a novel value-of-time based auction system for toll lane pricing and allocation. Improvements to the driving realism and the representativeness of the projects experimental subject pool will strengthen the robustness and validity of this study’s results, while the investigation of private information messaging and value-of-time auction scenarios will shed light on their potential for improving transportation management.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 08 Mar 2017 16:39:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1458285</guid>
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