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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>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Enhancing Transit Safety for Riders and Workers Through Strategic Collaboration with Law Enforcement



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636139</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Public transit agencies across the United States face growing public safety and security challenges affecting both riders and frontline workers. Reported incidents involving assault, harassment, disorderly conduct, and other safety-related events have increased over the past decade, contributing to workforce shortages, declining employee morale, and reduced rider confidence. Public safety concerns are also influencing ridership behavior, with some riders shifting to alternative travel modes because of perceived or actual safety risks. These trends threaten the reliability, financial sustainability, and broader societal benefits of public transportation.

To address these challenges, transit agencies use a range of public safety approaches, including partnerships with local law enforcement, contracted security services, transit police departments, and hybrid or community-based safety models. These approaches vary considerably in structure, governance, roles, operational practices, and public acceptance. Barriers such as unclear roles and responsibilities, inconsistent coordination, limited data sharing, and misalignment between transit agency and law enforcement objectives can hinder effective collaboration. At the same time, transit agencies are increasingly expected to balance enforcement with customer service, accessibility, and community trust.

The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has conducted research on public safety and security, including measuring and managing fare evasion (2022), homelessness on transit systems (2024), and mitigation strategies for deterring transit assaults (2025). In addition, TCRP syntheses have documented current practices on customer perceptions of safety and security (2025) and impacts of drug use (2025), as well as ongoing research examining delivery models for law enforcement on public transit. Research is needed to better understand which collaboration strategies between transit agencies, law enforcement, and related stakeholders are most effective under varying operating environments and community contexts.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop a toolkit with step-by-step guidance, decision frameworks, and templates to help public transportation agencies collaborate with law enforcement agencies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 19:39:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636139</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Synthesis of Information Related to Airport Practices. Topic S01-34. Leveraging Technology to Streamline Capital Improvement Program Management



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2621997</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Inconsistent technology used across airports, state aviation departments, and federal agencies can create inefficiencies in Capital Improvement Program (CIP) management. Industry stakeholders are evolving their use of technological systems for CIP portfolio management and data sharing, which allow for collaboration and streamlined processes. It also allows them to track recurring projects and share information across departments.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this synthesis is to document practices leveraging technology in ways to streamline Capital Improvement Program management through internal and external information sharing. For this synthesis, Capital Improvement Program (CIP) management encompasses the portfolio management life cycle from the idea of a project through planning, development, etc., to closeout, for all airport projects regardless of funding source. The audience for this synthesis is aviation planners, airport executives, and commissions/boards.  ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Nov 2025 19:28:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2621997</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Generative AI Framework for Managing Public Comments in Transportation Agency Assessments</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2606403</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research develops a Generative artificial intelligence (AI) framework for evaluating transportation agency resolution of public complaints and comments, addressing the challenge of siloed datasets where public feedback and agency improvement records remain disconnected and difficult to analyze collectively. Building on previous work demonstrating Large Language Model efficiency in analyzing public feedback, the study creates automated systems to identify patterns and correlations between reported concerns and documented improvements. The methodology involves collecting complementary datasets including public complaint narratives with location details and timestamps, alongside agency activity records documenting improvement efforts and outcomes. Natural Language Processing techniques will clean and standardize unstructured text data, while machine learning algorithms generate text embeddings and cluster recurring themes in complaints and agency responses. Large Language Models will perform semantic matching to quantify correlations between complaints and improvements, classify complaint-response pairs by resolution status, and conduct gap analysis identifying unaddressed service issues. Evaluation metrics include response time quantification, resolution effectiveness assessment, sentiment analysis of follow-up feedback, and identification of systemic gaps in agency responsiveness. The research produces a visual dashboard displaying complaint trends, response patterns, and automated reports providing actionable insights for transportation agencies and policymakers.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:03:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2606403</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessing Quick Builds and Safe Streets for Non-Motorized Safety Using Simulations and Portable Sensing Technology</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2606402</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research establishes a comprehensive evaluation framework for Quick Build interventions using portable LiDAR technology, driving simulation, and field data to quantify safety impacts for non-motorized road users including pedestrians and cyclists. Building on Phase 1 simulation-based foundations, the study addresses the challenge of limited long-term effectiveness data for quick-build street treatments such as curb extensions, protected bike lanes, and temporary traffic calming features. The methodology combines portable detection systems including LiDAR sensors, edge computing, and 5G connectivity to capture high-resolution vehicle and non-motorized transport trajectories, speeds, conflict points, and crossing patterns before and after intervention implementation. UC Win Roads driving simulator environments will replicate selected corridors to analyze road user behavior and interactions under controlled conditions, while survey questionnaires assess community perceptions of safety improvements. The research develops multimodal safety performance metrics tailored to temporary installations including Post Encroachment Time, Time to Collision, and crash modification factors for non-motorized transport modes. The study produces Standard Operating Procedures enabling Maryland Department of Transportation staff to implement evaluation methods independently for future Quick Build projects, supporting evidence-based decision-making for permanent infrastructure investments.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 14:57:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2606402</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Methods to Revitalize and 
Improve Rest Area 
Infrastructure</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593944</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) spends considerable time, effort, and funding to operate, maintain, and make improvements to rest areas. Most of Kentucky’s rest areas were built many years ago and may lack the capacity to handle current and future demands. Because funding is limited, the Cabinet has to balance the needs of rest areas against other highway projects. To identify economical strategies for improving rest area infrastructure, KYTC wants to investigate how other states fund the operation, maintenance, and improvements of their rest areas. Additionally, the Cabinet would like insights into types of improvements being made by other states.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 11:32:36 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593944</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Identifying Targets for Electric Vehicle Industry Improvement</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2519188</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Electric vehicle (EV) sales have increased dramatically over the last several years. While Tesla has a growing network of Supercharging stations, owners of the newer, more luxurious EVs cannot necessarily use these charging facilities and are only able to consistently access public charging stations. In general, the public perceives the Supercharger network as more reliable and consistent than most other networks. Users of public charging stations site issues with charger maintenance and rank overall charging satisfaction lower. Though, in March 2023, Tesla announced that it was planning on opening up a portion of Superchargers to the public to qualify for federal funds.

Many perceive the availability of charging facilities as inadequate and forecasts of electrical energy availability for charging may not be adequate to support a complete conversion of  internal combustion engines (ICE) cars to EV status. In order to sustain demand for electricity, one would have to upgrade the electrical grid. However, how those costs would be covered is also unclear. There are also questions about whether enough lithium is available on this planet to produce all the batteries that would be required for conversion of all ICE vehicles to electric.

Without significant improvements to features, batteries, and support infrastructure one might wonder whether EVs will boom and then drop in popularity like bikes did in the late 19th century.  This research will examine the complete spectrum of the EV industry to identify all the issues that should be identified as targets for improvement. Problem identification will be done from several different perspectives including: potential EV buyers, EV owners, EV makers, public agencies (State DOT, City, and MPO), and engineering researchers.  One of the largest EV manufacturing facilities (Tesla) in the world is located in Austin, TX so the research team will work closely with Tesla on this part of the study. A combination of surveys and expert panels will be used to gather perceptions.  Potential solutions to improvement targets will be identified and evaluated. Evaluation will include benefit-cost analyses and alternative funding mechanisms.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:01:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2519188</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Quantifying Public Transit Improvements: A Multimodal Evaluation
of Recent Improvements to Los Angeles Rail Infrastructure
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420031</link>
      <description><![CDATA[While billions of dollars are spent on public transit infrastructure, equilibrium implications of these investments are poorly understood. The research team builds a model that combines key features of transportation models and quantitative spatial equilibrium models in order to be able to produce more precise predictions of the effects of transit improvements. The quantitative model features thousands of spatial units populated by commuters who choose locations of residence and work, as well as transportation mode and route to commute between these locations. The team estimates the model using unique cell phone data that tracks individual trips and routes. The team uses the model to estimate the effects of recent transit improvements in Los Angeles, the K Line and the Regional Connector. The team also shows how the framework can be applied by policymakers and planners in any urban area in the United States to evaluate the impact of transit improvements.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Aug 2024 14:53:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420031</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Low Cost Safety Strategies for Unpaved Rural Roads</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2342170</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Unpaved roads make up the majority of roadway miles within the state of Iowa. As of the end of 2019, 62.4% of the roadway miles in Iowa are unpaved with the ownership of these mainly being counties. These unpaved roads have lower traffic volumes, but still are the sites of fatal and serious injury crashes throughout the state. As these crashes tend to be widespread and not clustered in single areas, to improve safety on these roads, low cost treatments are often used to treat larger portions of the roadway. Most research and guidance materials available related to low cost countermeasures relate to applications on paved roads. This project would help to address this gap by focusing on low cost safety improvements for unpaved roads.

The proposed objectives are: (1) develop a toolbox of strategies for improving safety on unpaved rural roads based on available research and guidance; (2) demonstration projects for innovative (possibly untested) safety improvement concepts for unpaved roads; and (3) field research to develop crash modification factors or surrogate safety metrics to determine the effectiveness of various rural road safety strategies on unpaved rural roads.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:35:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2342170</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Bonding vs. Pay-as-You-Go</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2087690</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this study is to determine the value of financing infrastructure improvements through bonding versus a program of pay-go improvements.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 31 Jul 2023 08:21:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2087690</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Induced Demand Assessment Framework: A Guide</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2188140</link>
      <description><![CDATA[As a concept, induced demand is increasingly being considered by transportation practitioners at state departments of transportation (DOTs). Induced demand is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by multiple variables, necessitating consistent analysis and transparency. DOTs are interested in understanding how induced demand impacts their planned investments and how those impacts might accrue at the local and regional network levels. It is not clearly understood in empirical analysis where induced demand manifests itself and how it undermines desired project outcomes for various project types. 

Recent attempts at analysis are the California Induced Travel Calculator (CITC), the Rocky Mountain Institute’s State Highway Induced Frequency of Travel (SHIFT) tool, and the Federal Highway Administration’s Geospatial Economic Multimodal Systems Modeling (GEMS). The CITC and SHIFT tools incorporate ranges of elasticity findings from different induced demand studies and project conditions but have several limitations for project-level analysis (for example, contextual factors or land use). GEMS may provide typologies to help identify influencing factors and mitigation options as alternatives to new lane miles. Research is needed to assist DOTs to better understand induced demand, especially at the project level, concerning their priorities, policies, funding decisions, and DOT options to respond to induced demand directly or indirectly.

The objective of this research is to develop an induced demand assessment framework and a guide for DOTs to apply the assessment framework to policy and planning analysis. 

At a minimum, the research shall (1) define induced demand; (2) gather and evaluate data needed to develop the assessment framework; (3) pilot, validate, and test the assessment framework; and (4) communicate findings from the framework to build consensus.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 May 2023 20:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2188140</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Develop a Real-time Decision Support Tool for Urban Roadway Safety Improvement</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2135480</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Due to the complex nature of urban roadways, conventional crash prediction models are limited as these models omit operating speed, short-duration volume, and weather data. To mitigate this research gap, the following three national databases can be utilized: (1) National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS) with passenger and freight speed data, (2) Travel Monitoring Analysis System (TMAS) data with both temporary traffic counting and continuous traffic counting programs, and (3) real-time weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The fatality rate on Texas roadways for 2020 was 1.50 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles traveled, which is an 18.94% increase from 1.26 in 2019. From 2011 to 2020, the fatalities on rural roadways increased by 19%, and this increase on urban roadways is disproportionately high (31%). Research and a supporting decision support tool are necessary to improve urban safety. The research teams will leverage ongoing staff leadership and engagement in several national and state Department of Transportation (DOT) speed-safety projects. The research teams will provide updated safety performance functions (SPFs) for urban roadways and a real-time decision support tool on risk scoring with the applicability of new data input and model updating pipeline.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Mar 2023 14:09:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2135480</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TriMet Risk Ranking Tool and Data Validation for Grade Crossing Safety Enhancement</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2096558</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The project will design, demonstrate and validate a Risk Ranking Methodology and Tool for grade crossing safety improvements. The tool accuracy and efficacy will be validated by conducting an inventory of Blue Line grade crossings and current safety enhancements, including upgrade of cameras to allow real-time video analytics and documentation of risks and incidents at grade crossings.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2023 14:49:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2096558</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>THOR-50M Enhancements</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2050300</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will evaluate potential enhancements (e.g., face insert, pressure-sensing abdomen) of THOR-50M.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2022 10:24:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2050300</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Rural Access Infrastructure Funding Process</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2021855</link>
      <description><![CDATA[To address the need to repair and replace small structures on South Dakota county secondary and township highways, the 2021 South Dakota Legislature enacted HB1259 entitled “An Act to make an appropriation for rural access infrastructure improvements and to declare an emergency” . The legislation directs the South Dakota Department of Revenue to distribute $3 million among counties by August 1, 2021 to establish county Rural Access Infrastructure Funds. A county’s RAIF will be used initially to plan and complete inventories of small structures (defined as structures with an opening of at least sixteen square feet but less than 20 feet long in the direction of the highway). The legislation also directs the Department of Revenue to distribute another $3 million in proportion to counties’ shares of statewide small structure numbers by August 1, 2022 for planning, engineering, constructing, rehabilitating, or replacing small structures according to additional provisions of HB1259.
A method is needed to enable the Department of Revenue to allocate the first $3 million in a manner that most effectively addresses the collective needs of counties and townships. Although HB1259 specifies distribution among counties on a pro rata basis, it does not specify what the rate is to be based upon. Many possibilities exist—including equal amounts to each county, amounts based on each county’s proportion of statewide township and county secondary road mileage, amounts based on estimated numbers of small structures (actual numbers are not yet known), and others. 
To ensure that small structure inventories meet the requirements of HB1259 and support ongoing development of small structure improvement plans, counties and townships need guidance regarding inventory content, format, and collection procedures. Such guidance will encourage consistent, timely, and up-to-date surveys that inform local investment decisions and accurately represent small structure number, condition, and improvement needs across the state. Inventory procedures must be efficient, economical, and feasible for local agencies but must direct the full range of activities—from straightforward measurement of location and dimensions through formal condition assessment by qualified engineers—needed to evaluate the condition of the various types of small structures. The procedures must accommodate updating the inventory as small structures are removed, replaced, or repaired.
Finally, guidance is needed to help local agencies meet the provisions of HB1259 concerning the award of funding for small structure improvements. To be eligible for grants from a county’s Rural Access Infrastructure Fund, applicants must develop improvement plans that identify small structure locations, dimensions, condition, and load restrictions and that describe proposed improvement projects. Counties must consider specific award criteria, including highway use, persons served, public safety, project cost, length of alternate routes, financial capabilities of the jurisdiction, and other factors. A concise, well-organized template would help local agencies prepare improvement plans that fully satisfy the requirements of HB1259 and support funding allocation decisions at the county level. The guidance should describe repair treatments applicable to township and county secondary structures and explain when and how they can be used effectively.
Objectives are as follows: 
(1)	Develop a practical process for conducting and maintaining consistent and objective small structure inventories that fulfill the stated and implied requirements of HB1259.
(2)	Develop a method for distributing funding to plan and complete small structure inventories in a manner that best addresses the collective needs of counties and townships.
(3)	Develop guidance, including a plan template and background technical information, for developing small structure improvement plans that meet the requirements of HB1259 and support sound allocation of Rural Access Infrastructure Funds. 
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 13 Sep 2022 11:38:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2021855</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Countermeasures to Improve Pedestrian Safety on Arterials</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1948645</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will explore the impacts of several traffic safety countermeasures and roadway design changes on pedestrian safety along the Central Avenue corridor of Albuquerque, New Mexico and extrapolate those results to other locations, allowing for results to not only improve traffic safety in Albuquerque, but in other municipalities across the state, region, and country. The research will have a specific focus on pedestrian safety, but the project team will also address traffic safety outcomes for motor vehicle users and bicyclists. Collaboration and matching will be provided by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) ($50,000 matching funds and equipment in the form of four MioVision Scout Units) and the City of Albuquerque (CABQ) (matching staff time). CABQ is invested in the project because of their commitment to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries through Vision Zero and NMDOT supports that effort on the state level. The countermeasures that the project team will explore include corridor treatments (a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, a road diet, and lane narrowings) and crossing treatments (high-intensity activated crosswalk (HAWK) signals).
The timing of this project is opportune as the U.S. finds itself in the midst of a pedestrian safety crisis. Between 2009 and 2019, pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. increased 51.0% while all other traffic fatalities increased 0.4%. Unfortunately, New Mexico has had especially poor outcomes. For the fifth year in a row in 2021, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) identified New Mexico as having the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the nation (GHSA, 2021).
Thanks to recent research by the proposed PI, the project team knows that more than 81.8% of the additional pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. occurred on arterials and 99.7% occurred in urban areas, hence the focus on arterials for this proposed work (Ferenchak and Abadi, 2021). Similarly, despite the fact that New Mexico is the 5th largest state in the U.S., an astonishing 18.7% of all pedestrian-involved collisions in the state occur within a quarter mile of a single arterial corridor: Albuquerque’s Central Avenue. About a dozen pedestrians are typically killed on the corridor each year and countless others injured. If the project team can understand how to improve safety on this 15-mile long east/west corridor, not only will they make significant progress at improving possibly one of the worst roads in the country, but they can extrapolate those results to improve other similar arterials across the state, region, and country.
CABQ has taken note of the traffic safety issues on Central Avenue and has implemented or is in the process of implementing several countermeasures to improve outcomes. The goal of this work is to perform a comprehensive safety analysis of those countermeasures.
The project team will use crash data from NMDOT to perform before/after crash analyses for the ART corridor and the three HAWK signals on non-Central Avenue corridors. The team will use vehicle volume data from MRCOG and pedestrian activity data from cell phone aggregation to account for exposure on the ART corridor. Using cell phone aggregation data, the project team will analyze vehicle speeds and pedestrian activity along the ART, road diet, and lane narrowing corridors and at the Central Avenue HAWK signals. The project team will also perform pedestrian behavioral analyses at the two HAWK signals that will be installed in early 2022.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2022 12:42:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1948645</guid>
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