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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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      <title>Develop and Evaluate Long Median Barrier Gate to Assist with Emergency Response</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636104</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Median barriers are commonly used to separate opposing lanes of traffic on divided highways and to separate managed lanes from general purpose lanes. Concrete Median Barriers (CMBs) are often preferred on urban freeways with narrow medians due to their minimal deflection and low maintenance. However, long, continuous runs of CMBs limit access of emergency and maintenance vehicles to the other side of a roadway or a managed lane. Implementation of crashworthy median barrier gates at these locations can maintain the desired level of median protection for motorists while offering improved cross-median access for emergency and/or maintenance vehicles. The current Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) Barrier Gate (detailed on standard sheet BG-11) is 30-ft long and provides a clear opening of 27 ft between the mounting brackets. For this project, the research team will develop a longer median barrier gate to provide a greater clear opening for larger emergency vehicles and contraflow during evacuation operations. The research team will design the median barrier gate to operate without power and perform crash testing of the median barrier gate to verify compliance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 09:44:38 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>A Guide for Remote Boarding/Deboarding Aircraft Operations</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2588336</link>
      <description><![CDATA[No abstract provided.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2025 09:58:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2588336</guid>
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      <title>Redesign of Innovative Gate Arms (Ramp Closure Gate) – Phase I</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2398089</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project aims to redesign the existing ramp closure gate used by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD). The research team will utilize FE computer simulations and laboratory crash testing to develop a modified design that passes MASH consistent test protocols as well as meets the functional requirements.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:09:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2398089</guid>
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      <title>Investigating and Developing a MASH Compliant Contraflow Ramp Closure Gate</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1873849</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The research objective is to investigate the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) crashworthiness of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) ramp closure gate through computer simulation. Using the current LADOTD gate system as a model, this project will evaluate the design according to MASH test numbers 60, 61, and 62 criteria.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2021 15:31:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1873849</guid>
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      <title>Project 21 -N-controlo Surface Demo</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1364486</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Taxiing aircraft contribute significantly to fuel burn and emissions at airports. The quantities of fuel burned as well as different pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter, are functions of aircraft taxi duration (along with throttle setting, number of running engines, and pilot and airline decisions regarding engine shutdowns during delays). The reduction of taxi times through improved planning of surface movements has the potential to reduce these emissions. Project 21 focuses on opportunities to reduce surface emissions through departure planning and surface movement optimization. The research will include a detailed plan for implementing these techniques in a pilot study at an airport, with an overall goal of initiating wider adoption of the methods throughout the United States. This project will investigate approaches, such as gate-holds and taxi-route planning, to decrease taxi times. In addition, environmental factors will be incorporated into the objective functions of the optimization through the use of aircraft-specific delay costs, which will reflect the fact that the emissions characteristics of various aircraft may differ. Current baseline fuel burn and emissions at major airports will also be assessed in order to identify locations where the proposed strategies will produce the most benefits. Project 21 will also address the development of approaches to surface movement optimization that will balance both airport throughput and emissions objectives, while simultaneously ensuring fairness in the delays incurred by the different airlines. Barriers to the practical adoption of these approaches, such as gate usage and ownership issues, as well as surface infrastructure considerations such as taxiway layouts, the availability of tugs, and the presence and location of holding areas, will be identified, and possible approaches to overcome these barriers will be developed. Airline competition, tradeoffs between airline and air traffic control objectives, traffic flow management initiatives in the airspace and the presence of uncertainty in airport processes (which result in uncertain estimates of pushback times and taxi times) also pose significant challenges to surface movement optimization, and will be addressed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2015 01:02:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1364486</guid>
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      <title>Methodology For Applying Safety Treatments To Rail-Highway At-Grade Crossings</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234339</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In 2006 there were 32 people killed and 36 injured at public rail-highway crossings in California. Twenty-nine of the deaths and 32 of the injuries occurred at crossings equipped with gates. In the first five months of 2007 there were 18 killed and 22 injured, with all of the deaths and 20 of the injuries occurring at gated crossings (FRA, 2007). There is a group of drivers, more than half less than 40 years old, and male by a ratio of three to one, who are not deterred by lowered gates and have a misplaced confidence in their ability to judge train location and speed. Research has shown that, in general, humans have difficulty judging the speed and distance of an oncoming train (Cooper and Ragland, 2007). Since sight-line improvements, train conspicuity improvements, and warning system upgrades will not improve this situation, the solution to rail crossing crashes must be found by removing the need to make such a decision. This translates to making it impossible, or at least very difficult, for the driver to bypass the lowered gates.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:10:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234339</guid>
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