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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>Integrating Airport Landside Planning with Regional Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2772552</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Airports, particularly medium and large hub commercial service airports, are increasingly dependent on effective integration with regional transportation systems, land use planning, and utility infrastructure. While these systems are often planned and governed by external entities, airport sponsors remain responsible for ensuring that airports operate safely, efficiently, and in compliance with federal obligations. Misalignment between airport sponsors and regional partners can lead to conflicts involving airport planning, infrastructure development, revenue use, cost recovery, and other federal requirements, while fragmented decision-making can reduce the effectiveness of regional transportation and mobility planning. Although previous Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) research has addressed airport ground access, sustainability, and land use compatibility, there is limited guidance on integrating these areas within a governance framework that accounts for the airport sponsor's federal responsibilities and coordination with regional planning organizations.

The objective of this research is to develop a practical framework to guide airport sponsors, regional partners, and policymakers in integrating airport landside planning with regional systems while maintaining compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)  requirements and protecting airport operational and financial integrity. The research will develop governance frameworks, planning methodologies, and implementation tools to support coordination among airport sponsors, metropolitan planning organizations, state DOTs, utilities, local jurisdictions, and other stakeholders that influence airport planning and development. It will produce a guidebook, decision-making toolkit, case studies, stakeholder communication materials, and recommendations for applying existing ACRP guidance and FAA advisory materials to support integrated landside planning.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:37:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2772552</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluating the Economic and Safety Trade-offs of Interchange and Access Drive Separation Distances
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627344</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The research project will evaluate whether the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (Iowa DOT) minimum separation standards between interchanges and first access points are overly restrictive and potentially detrimental to development opportunities around those interchanges. To achieve this, the project will utilize deep learning techniques to analyze high-resolution aerial photographs to identify interchanges on state-owned roadways, their first driveway access points, and the specific aspects of development status, such as the presence of commercial or residential buildings, vacant land, or agricultural use of the surrounding land. Crash data from the Iowa dataset will be examined to assess safety outcomes about these separation distances. A critical part of the analysis will involve evaluating the economic potential of these lands and estimating the impact of separation standards on land utilization and potential economic growth. 
In addition to state-owned interchanges, the study will identify non-interchange intersections with roadways with similar AADT levels, the number of lanes, if a median is present, and other relevant geometric features to access management. The closest access point will be determined for these intersections, mirroring the approach taken with the interchanges. The crash history for these locations will be retrieved to compare the safety performance of interchanges and non-interchange intersections directly.
This analysis, focusing on interchange and access point separation distances, will help isolate the effect of these separation standards on safety and development, controlling for traffic volume and other features. By examining interchange and non-interchange sites under similar conditions, the research will determine if the minimum separation distances at interchanges are justified or could be adjusted to better balance safety with economic development, potentially informing future policy decisions. The research will also determine the amount of developable land that could be available should the standards be relaxed.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:36:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627344</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Data for Forecasting Truck Parking and Land Use

</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2558396</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The United States faces a growing shortage of truck parking, a problem that affects safety, efficiency, and community livability. Despite efforts by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and state DOTs to address this issue, demand for safe and adequate truck parking exceeds supply.

Truck parking is inherently a multijurisdictional challenge that requires coordination among federal, state, regional, and local agencies. While NCHRP Project 08-141, A Guidebook for Local Truck Parking Regulations, is developing model ordinances to assist local jurisdictions, there is no consistent method to determine how much truck parking should be required for truck-generating development projects.

A variety of public and private datasets exist to estimate truck parking demand, but each has limitations. Developing a national framework is further complicated by diverse land-use requirements, regulations, and economic conditions across states.

Research is needed to develop an analytically sound, data-driven framework that will enable transportation agencies to estimate current and future truck parking demand and integrate this information into land-use and freight-planning decisions.

The objective of this research is to develop and validate a framework for transportation agencies to estimate truck parking demand for current and future conditions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 May 2025 10:14:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2558396</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Creating Multimedia Resources for Engineering Curriculum on Management and Operation of Transportation Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2490975</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transportation projects may have environmental impacts including air, water and noise pollution, habitat disruption and land use alterations. As engineers, it is our responsibility to be guardians of public safety and to protect the environment. Transportation projects have great potential in engaging in and promotion of sustainable practices, however in engineering curriculum, we often skip discussions on the long-term performance and resource-conscious considerations of transportation practices. This is mainly due to lack of easily accessible and interactive resources. This project aims to fill this gap, through development of educational multimedia resources that faculty can easily access, adopt and share with their students. This project will integrate essential content on transportation projects with environmental impacts assessment of transportation applications and long-term performance and resource-conscious considerations of materials used for transportation projects. The educational resources will include materials (active learning activities, examples, discussion prompts), short informative videos, resources list for related content, interviews with experts in site-specific environmental considerations and contextual decision-making in transportation design. The multimedia materials will be hosted through the website created by the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the Colorado State University.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Jan 2025 17:03:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2490975</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Updating and Expanding the Nation’s Most Comprehensive Database of Household Travel Survey Data and Related Built Environmental Data</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2422599</link>
      <description><![CDATA[For many years, the PIs of this study have been gathering household travel survey data from metropolitan planning organizations across the US. In addition to household sociodemographic data and trip purpose, length, mode and other variables, this unique database includes the precise XY coordinates of all households and trip ends. The current database consists of 36 regions, 107,949 households, and 1,059,678 trips, making it nearly as large as the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) of 2022 but more geographically detailed. The unique feature of this database is the precise geocodes it offers, unlike the NHTS, which only provides geocodes at the level of the census tract. These data have been provided by MPOs to the PIs in many cases through non-disclosure agreements. Thus, it has been possible to relate travel characteristics directly to the built environment at various geographic scales, including census block groups, traffic analysis zones, mixed-use developments, and buffers of different widths around households or trip ends. Another unique feature of this database is that travel data have been linked to built environmental data representing all the so-called ‘D’ variables: development density, land use diversity, street network design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit. These data have been used to study relationships between the built environment and travel in many peer-reviewed, published studies. Spanning nearly two decades of data collection, we have frequently had to update travel data, replacing older surveys with newer ones. Portland, for example, conducted a household travel survey in 1994, and another in 2011. The latter replaced the former in our master cross sectional database, and the two together were employed in one longitudinal study. The current database includes travel data as old as 2005. Travel patterns have doubtless changed since then, with new modes (ride hailing, for example), new travel behavior (extensive telecommuting), and new structural relationships to the built environment. In this project, we will first contact the MPOs of the 36 regions in our current database to determine if they have conducted household travel surveys more recently than the ones we already have. If so, we will acquire the more recent data (provided they are once again made available) and replace older datasets for these regions. We will link the newer datasets to shapefiles for built environmental variables as before. We will conduct both cross sectional and longitudinal studies to see how travel patterns and relationships between travel and the built environment have changed, updating earlier published studies. Time permitting, we will also contact additional MPOs, to see if they are now willing to release XY geocoded data when they weren’t previously. Outputs will include 1. Updated and expanded travel survey database with linked built environment shapefiles 2. Updates to previous studies based on the dataset 3. Contributions to future cross-sectional and longitudinal studies 4. Various travel demand models 5. Final research report.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Aug 2024 18:12:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2422599</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Identifying TOD-Capable Locations using D Variables: Flipping the Recipe on making the TOD Cake</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420105</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The transportation-land use field has argued for transit-oriented developments (TODs) due to several benefits such as reduced driving and potential use of travel options with positive health outcomes. However, locations with features that align with TODs are generally undersupplied. In the U.S. context, the production of TODs has been relatively rare. With the intersecting crises of unaffordability and demographic shifts in the U.S. population, there is a need for effective mechanisms to help enable the production of mixed-use communities embedded in active travel and transit networks. Most often, a top-down regulatory process including zoning plus comprehensive or special plans are used to help TODs emerge. Additionally, local government actions are incentivized by private market forces such as real-estate developers who identify markets for TOD-aligned communities. However, these processes are reactionary, while the need is more urgent. Therefore, we argue for flipping this time-consuming and expensive top-down recipe. We contend that using the D variables, documented in the EPA Smart Location Database (US EPA, 2021), can reveal locations that have the ingredients for making TOD-capable, mixed-use places. Our approach should be especially impactful in communities that are focused on creating livable and vibrant neighborhoods. Over time, land use markets evolve to an equilibrium such that some locations become TOD-lite under an existing umbrella of zoning regulations; however, most places even in the same geography do not mature into mixed-use sustainable developments. A deeper investigation could help identify organically emerging TOD-capable locations. Places with a sub-set of features for a TOD could be incentivized to develop into more TOD-aligned locations. In terms of the policy toolkit, a census block group (CBG) with several of the D variables showing high values but missing some key ingredients such as destination accessibility or distance to transit, could be places for strategic transit and active travel investments. Many CBGs might have lower density and diversity but might score high on other D variables. Such locations could be incentivized through mixed use and infill development, without changing anything else on the D-variable ingredient list. In essence, we contend that practitioners need a toolkit to identify sub-markets for transit capable, affordable, mixed-use developments, which must evolve in an urban setting but are often ignored because they do not rise to the level of comprehensive or special plans. Our project will create a toolkit to help identify such TOD-capable locations. Project outputs will include: 1. A practice-ready toolkit to identify TOD-capable locations, at the CBG level, across large Metropolitan Statistical Areas. 2. A replicable framework to engage expert practitioners in local/regional agencies for gathering input for effective TOD implementation. 3. An open-source publicly accessible web app that allows various stakeholders to learn and implement similar ideas in various geographies. 4. A public-facing technical report documenting the research approach, method, and findings. 5. At least one conference presentation and journal manuscript for a scientific audience.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:58:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420105</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Deep Learning Approach for Detecting Built Environment in Transit-Oriented Developments</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420210</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) are a pivotal strategy for fostering sustainable urban growth amidst escalating urbanization and population spikes. These developments are strategically designed to combat urban sprawl, significantly reduce the reliance on automobiles, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and create more livable, community-focused urban areas, and help address the housing needs. The core philosophy behind TODs lies in integrating residential, business, and leisure spaces with public transportation systems, thereby promoting a lifestyle that prioritizes walking, cycling, and the use of public transit over automobile use. The effectiveness of TODs in achieving these goals hinges on the built environment’s configuration, which influences sustainable transportation adoption, boosts economic vitality, ensures accessibility, and champions environmental stewardship. However, the acceleration of TODs brings forth a pressing challenge: How to accurately and efficiently measure the built environment in TODs across a large geographical region. To tackle this challenge, this project proposes a novel deep learning framework to automate the detection and categorization of essential built environment elements within TODs. By leveraging the well-established 5D framework—density, diversity, design, destination, and distance to transit—this framework seeks to comprehensively identify and map the components that constitute an effective TOD. To accomplish this, the research project will develop a sophisticated deep learning architecture capable of assimilating multi-sourced datasets with various modalities (e.g., imagery, text, tabular, GIS data). These will include high-resolution aerial imagery to capture urban layouts and green spaces; Google Street-View imagery for a pedestrian-level perspective of the urban landscape; parcel and OpenStreetMap data for detailed insights into land use, infrastructure, and building outlines; General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data for a comprehensive overview of public transit networks; and Census data to incorporate demographic insights. This wealth of information will be processed using a blend of cutting-edge machine learning techniques, including but not limited to, pretrained Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and attention-based Transformer models for decoding unstructured data (such as images) and Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for processing structured data analysis (such as GIS and tabular data). The proposed framework aims to create a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of TODs’ built environments, facilitating the detection of key features like buildings, pedestrian crossings, transit lanes, green spaces, and more. A database created by the PIs will serve as the primary case studies for this research, providing a diverse range of urban contexts for evaluation and validation of the proposed framework. The project outlines several major tasks: data acquisition, preprocessing, development and validation of the deep learning model, applying the validated model to additional TOD locations, hosting educational workshops, and compiling findings into a final report. The proposed approach will be developed, evaluated, and validated by using randomly selected TOD locations across Florida. This research endeavors to equip urban planners, transit authorities, and policymakers with an advanced tool for automatically identifying critical elements of TODs’ built environment, thereby facilitating smarter, more sustainable decision-making nationwide. Outputs will include 1) Publications & conference contributions 2) Database: An open-source database, including various sources of downloadable data for TOD analyses, to disseminate the research outcomes and encourage future research. This database can be used to generate interactive maps, visualizations of the built environment's impact on accessibility within TODs, & will serve as a resource for urban planners, policymakers, researchers, and the public. 3) Methodologies & Technologies: The project will introduce innovative deep learning architectures that can be directly used to automatically detect and assess the built environment elements within TOD. Code repositories and fine-tuned models’ weights will be open sourced to keep transparency and allow for reproducibility for future research. 4) Partnerships: Establish and enhance partnerships with stakeholders from local government, non-profits, & tech companies specializing in geospatial data and AI. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:51:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420210</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Developing a Scalable Evaluation Framework and Dashboard for Implementing and Monitoring Transit-Oriented Communities</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420212</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Implementation of a “transit-oriented communities” (TOC) approach that optimizes outcomes for impacted communities is a complex, interdisciplinary process. Transit agencies must work closely with local, regional, and/or state agencies and departments to ensure that local and federal investments lead to anticipated outcomes. Significant changes to land use and zoning, housing policy, development regulations, property tax structures, and physical characteristics of the built environment (e.g., design guidelines) are often needed to coordinate supportive conditions for effective TOCs. Adoption of new technologies such as Computer-Aided Dispatch/Automatic Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL) systems, smart fare collection systems, AI-based video data, digitization of local land use data etc. have led to a massive expansion of the quantity of data available for planners and transit operators to evaluate existing conditions and benchmark performance over time. Many local agencies, however, lack sufficient internal capacity to collect, integrate, analyze, and regularly report on the many factors and variables that impact success. Moreover, disparate agencies may have different measures of success, based on their organizational mission and adopted goals. Decision support tools that streamline data integration, analysis, and reporting to meaningfully measure performance and evaluate next steps are needed. Incorporating data, methods, and findings from CETOC Year 1 research (e.g., CETOC-23-R-09, CETOC-23-R-03, CETOC-23-R-04, CETOC-23-R-05) as well as active collaboration with the City of New Orleans and New Orleans Regional Transit Agency  as local partners, this project aims to transfer research results to real-world application by supporting the development of a TOC Evaluation Framework and preliminary performance dashboard that is scalable, replicable, and can be adapted to include a variety of data sources aligned with local policies and goals, including but not limited to transit service quality, climate resilience and adaptation, affordable housing, job and services access, and community priorities and perceptions. The primary output of this project is a preliminary public data dashboard that integrates previously siloed (or underdeveloped) datasets for practical use by relevant agencies. Underlying datasets will be published, where applicable, via the City’s Open Data platform. This project is the first formal collaboration of CETOC with New Orleans RTA and New Orleans City Planning Commission, along with partners in numerous other local departments/agencies working together through the New Orleans Transit Oriented Communities Interim Working Group. The collaboration with CETOC lends the working group technical and staff capacity, while leveraging stakeholder access, data, and internal analytics not otherwise available to the consortium. Secondary outputs are expected to include: 1) Final technical report summarizing project activities and methods 2) Instructional guide for replication, including preliminary analytical model for measuring expected outcomes resulting from TOC-supportive intervention 3) One or more journal articles submitted highlighting translation of CETOC research into local applications 4) One or more public presentations (in-person and/or virtual) highlighting project outputs, future applications, and implementation next steps.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:47:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420212</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Formation along Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lines: Database Development, Analysis, and Identification of High-Impact Policy, Design, and Service Characteristics</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420213</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transit agencies across the U.S. are currently investing in the development of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as an alternative to light rail that promises many of the same benefits of long-term investment in high-quality transit service but can be implemented more quickly and at lower cost. While most scholarship and research surrounding Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and its benefits has focused on TODs around subway and light rail stations, the increased prevalence and success of BRT calls for further exploration of the current state of and future potential for TOD along these lines. Moreover, projects identified as BRT can vary widely in terms of design, service quality, and associated land use policy and regulations, resulting in inconsistent outcomes which may fail to fulfill expectations of local officials and communities. This study aims to investigate how these variables impact project “success,” in terms of both ridership and development impacts, as well as to compare differences between bus- and rail-based initiatives to promote transit-oriented development and communities. The production of a peer-reviewed analysis and study (in addition to a policy brief and report) will be supported by the development of a comprehensive database of BRT-based TOD in the U.S. Previous work has been undertaken by Reid Ewing and others in developing a database of TOD at rail-based transit stations in the U.S. but has not yet incorporated BRT-based developments. The development of a similar database for BRT based TOD, including collection of sociodemographic and land use data for adjacent and surrounding areas, will be crucial in facilitating future analysis of these site’s potentials, successes, and challenges in terms of affecting meaningful change in land use, community health and livability. The proposed project will present initial quantitative analyses of these data in conjunction with case studies and other forms of qualitative analysis to provide scholars and planners with a necessary assessment of the current state of and future potential for TOD along the nation’s growing networks of BRT. As part of the project the team will identify all income-restricted housing units in the identified BRT-TODs and will compile a list of mechanisms that were used to build these units (i.e. inclusionary housing zoning/policies, LIHTC, density bonuses, tax incentives). The project also aims to apply the findings of this analysis to practice. Local officials, planners, and developers in LA and beyond report perceptions of BRT as a less effective driver of land use change and economic development or are unsure how to capture its potential benefits to achieve local policy goals such as expansion of affordable housing, capturing and reinvesting increased property values, and encouraging modal shift. Managing expectations in the context of an unstable real estate market – and implementing regulatory tools and incentives to encourage specific outcomes desired by communities – is identified as a challenge with important implications for smaller, low-growth, high-need cities and regions. Through a national review of practice, projects, and outcomes related to BRT, as well as active collaboration with local government and transit agencies in LA, we will seek to identify specific policy, design, and service variables that are associated with positive impacts to transit ridership, economic development, and other local goals and which can be expected to facilitate successful BRT implementation. Outputs will include 1) the BRT TOD database 2) final summary/technical report 3) a webinar summarizing research findings 4) 2 stakeholder presentations 5) stakeholder guide to BRT TOD success 6) 2 local BRT TOD/TOC implementation plans 7) one or more academic journal articles 8) the first formal collaboration between CETOC and LA’s largest transit agencies (RTA and CATS), expected to provide expanded access to data and decision-makers, providing a living lab for future research while developing data-driven, practical resources for implementation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:45:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420213</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>What makes affordable housing affordable: mechanisms used to produce affordable housing near transit in the US</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420215</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In our previous research on housing affordability near transit we identified categories/types of mechanisms that were used to stimulate the production of affordable housing. We categorized them as either top-down (inclusionary zoning/housing policies and ordinance, state laws, county and state level regulations and programs, etc.) or bottom-up (tax credit policies and programs, private-public partnerships, transit operators’ policies, fee waivers/abatement, public funding, private non-profit developers and CDCs, etc,) mechanisms based on how they were initiated. For this study, we propose to develop a more detailed description of each mechanism, provide successful examples (case studies) and estimate a level of affordability associated with each. In addition, we would like to search for other mechanisms that have been used to produce affordable housing but are not yet included in our list. We would also like to investigate which mechanisms are used in which state/region to look for tendencies and patterns. As part of our initial study, we identified all TODs in the country (that meet a set of eight criteria). To do so, we contacted metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), transit operators, and major cities in all (26) regions with at least two rail lines and asked each of them for a list of potential TODs. We received a list of 214 potential TODs. Half of them (107) met our eight criteria: (1) adjacent or nearly adjacent to BRT stations (maximum one block away), (2) dense and multistory, (3) mixed-use with residential and commercial (potentially including office uses), pedestrian-friendly with public space, (4) Built after BRT opened, (5) largely built out, (6) have their own parking facilities (i.e., self-contained parking), (7) master-planned or consist of buildings gathered in a cluster near transit station (not a single building). For this project, we will review the other 107 TODs (that did not meet our criteria but were characterized as TODs by MPOs, cities and transit agencies) to identify additional mechanisms used to produce affordable housing that have not yet been included in our list. To develop detailed descriptions and case studies for each, we will conduct interviews with selected TOD projects/developers/cities, and we will conduct a comprehensive document review. We will also investigate the level of affordability achieved by using each mechanism. For instance, projects developed by non-profit developers (i.e. BRIDGE Housing, Carlisle Development) or Community Development Corporations (i.e. East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, New Brunswick Development Corporation) are usually 100-percent affordable – all units are deed-restricted and affordable to households earning less than 80% of AMI and most often even less than 60% of AMI. In contrast, projects that are subject to inclusionary zoning policies usually offer no more than 5-10% of their units as affordable as many developers choose a payment in-lieu option. We will also examine to what extent each type of strategies/ tactics/ policies (i.e. LIHTC, non-profit developers or CDCs, inclusionary housing zoning, density incentives, etc.) contributes to the overall pool of designated affordable housing (DAH) units in TODs. From the initial study we learned that 43% of designated affordable units located in the 107 TODs examined were built using some sort of tax incentive, another 31 % were built by non-profit developers and CDCs, and the remaining 26% used one of the other mechanisms. Lastly, we will also investigate how the use of various mechanisms varies from state to state and across regions. Outputs will include 1) Local and national conference presentations 2) One or more peer-reviewed publications 3) A toolkit (“How to build more Affordable Housing in TODs – a toolkit of strategies for every place”) that will be electronically distributed to planners, developers, and other interested parties.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:43:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420215</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Incorporating Public Health Outcomes into the Transportation Planning and Decision-Making Process



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2381746</link>
      <description><![CDATA[BACKGROUND - The integration of public health outcomes into transportation planning and decision-making processes is essential to create sustainable, resilient, and healthy communities. Transportation directly impacts public health outcomes, including physical activity levels, safety, and access to everyday destinations. Everyday destinations refer to places associated with access to work, school, recreation, and food. Policies and decisions related to transportation infrastructure, land use, and the built environment can have different impacts on public health outcomes that can lead to health disparities. Evaluating the effectiveness of policy interventions and successful practices for incorporating public health considerations is crucial for improving transportation planning processes.  Several challenges exist in incorporating public health outcomes into the transportation planning and decision-making processes. Public health agencies and transportation agencies often operate with limited collaboration and coordination. The limited interdisciplinary cooperation poses challenges in aligning public health goals with transportation plans and policies. There is limited documented research on successful collaborative efforts and strategic partnerships between public health and transportation organizations, though the two are closely linked. While some health evaluation tools exist, there is a need for tools that can be readily integrated into transportation decision-making from concept development to post-implementation. This may include tools such as evaluation frameworks, methodologies, comprehensive data, and metrics. 
Transportation decision-makers need research-derived tools to help determine the public health outcomes of transportation projects, inform policies, and help prioritize proposed projects. 

OBJECTIVE - The objective of this research is to develop a guide that details how to (1) integrate public health outcomes into transportation decision-making and resource allocation; and (2) assess positive public health outcomes related to physical activity, mobility options, and access to everyday destinations. The guide shall include an evaluation framework and metrics and be accompanied by a spreadsheet tool. 

Accomplishment of the project objective will require at least the following tasks. 
TASKS - PHASE I: Task 1. Prepare a literature review on incorporating public health outcomes into the transportation planning and decision-making processes. Include gray literature. Task 2. Identify and evaluate existing health and transportation tools and their potential use in transportation planning and decision-making processes. Prepare a comparison matrix showing factors such as attributes, limitations, overlaps, differences, and potential uses. Task 3. Identify the challenges and opportunities of successful collaborations between public health and transportation professionals and provide examples. Include current and potential funding sources that allow joint activities between transportation and public health activities. Prepare a state-of-practice review with successful practices. Task 4. Prepare an interim report that summarizes the findings from Tasks 1 through 3 and a detailed Phase II work plan that describes how the findings of Tasks 1 through 3 will inform Phase II. 

PHASE II: Task 5. Identify metrics and key performance indicators that assess public health outcomes of transportation planning and decision-making and facilitate evidence-based policy development and implementation. Task 6. Identify, modify, or develop an evaluation framework that includes projects from transportation concept development to post-implementation phases. Include a discussion on quantifiable benefits. Task 7. Prepare an annotated outline of the proposed guide. Task 8. Prepare an interim report that summarizes the findings from Tasks 5 through 7 and provides a detailed Phase III work plan. 

PHASE III - Task 9. Without the use of third-party software, develop a basic public health and transportation investment spreadsheet decision-support tool that shall demonstrate the linkage between transportation investment and public health outcomes and quantify benefits. Include notes documenting decisions on development, editable assumptions, and step-by-step instructions on how to use the calculation tools to apply default values or to estimate original values to determine the impacts of transportation projects and policies on public health. Task 10. Identify a core group of subject matter experts to beta test the spreadsheet tool developed in Task 9 and conduct beta testing. Task 11. Develop a guide that details how to integrate public health into transportation project decision-making and describes a means for the assessment of the effect of transportation investment on public health. Task 12. Convene a virtual workshop to provide a demonstration of the public health and transportation investment framework, spreadsheet decision support tool, and guide, and solicit additional feedback from the community of practice. Task 13. Modify the spreadsheet tool as needed based on feedback solicited during beta testing and the virtual workshop. Task 14. Prepare the final deliverables, which must include the following: (1) A practitioner’s guide with a framework that details how to integrate public health into transportation project decision-making and allows for the assessment of public health outcomes; (2) A stand-alone public health and transportation investment spreadsheet decision-support tool; (3) A final conduct of research report documenting the entire research effort including recommendations for future research and an executive summary; 
(4) A 20-slide PowerPoint presentation describing the background, objectives, research approach, findings, and conclusions; (5) A recorded presentation of findings to the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Committee on Planning or other committee or council concerned with incorporating public health outcomes into transportation decision-making and investments; and (6) A stand-alone technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products”. 

Proposers may recommend additional deliverables to support the project objective. 

 ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2024 14:34:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2381746</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Longitudinal Analysis of Transit's Land Use Multiplier in Three Regions</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2301335</link>
      <description><![CDATA[To date much transportation research has relied on cross-sectional data, and leaders in the
field have increasingly begun to call for research on longitudinal studies to investigate the
impacts of changes in the built environment to travel outcomes over time. Handy (2017)
pointed: “I would discourage researchers from producing yet more cross-sectional studies … we need before-and-after evaluations of the impact of changes in the built environment on VMT and other aspects of travel behavior … These kinds of studies provide a much stronger assessment of the potential for compact development to reduce VMT, although they are more challenging than cross-sectional studies.” Previous research has indicated that transit expansions such as light rail can lead to a ‘transit multiplier’ effect, whereby VMT is reduced by amount greater than simply that caused by conversion of individual trips from vehicular travel to transit. Transit stations become hubs of commercial and other activity, as well as sites of greater density, and produce additional trips by modes such as walking and bicycling in the process. Very few studies have explored this effect with longitudinal data over time, and those that have were confined to single metropolitan areas, thereby lacking in external validity.
Using a quasi-experimental design and data from three metropolitan regions
(Sacramento, CA, Seattle, WA, and Salt Lake City, UT), this research will produce such a before-and-after study to quantify the changes in VMT, transit usage, and active travel for
households along light rail expansions. For these three regions, we have household travel
survey data for two points of time and each of them had opened new or extended existing
light rail transit during the two points of time. We will employ either control corridors or
propensity score matching to select households and compare their travel changes with
households along the new transit lines. The result will provide the total (direct and indirect)
effects of transit (or called multiplier) on travel. This research is essential to better understand and quantify the benefits (social, environmental, economic, and health) of expanding and improving high-quality public transit systems such as light rail.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:45:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2301335</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Multimodal Trip Reductions Rates in Local Municipalities</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2021866</link>
      <description><![CDATA[NCDOT requires a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) for some developments based on the site trip generation estimates, site context, or at the discretion of the NCDOT District Engineer.  An accurate TIA is essential to appropriately plan for a specific development and its expected impacts, along with any relevant mitigation factors.  Many aspects of the TIA build on the trip generation estimates, which means the trip generation process of a TIA is a critical component and receives substantial attention and review from both NCDOT and the developer.  As a result, vehicle trips may be impacted by developments in locations with multimodal options.  Recent TIAs in these locations commonly include vehicle trip reductions.  However, a thorough documentation and examination of reasonable vehicle trip reduction rates is not available in North Carolina. 
This research will assist NCDOT by developing a better understanding of the application of vehicle trip reduction rates for sites with probable multimodal usage in the context of Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA).  Using data from North Carolina sites, the research will provide estimates of vehicle trip reduction rates for sites with probable multimodal usage (based on common location types with expected trip reduction requests in TIAs).  The research will also provide recommendations for the application of vehicle trip reduction rates for NCDOT in the review of TIAs. This information will be useful for NCDOT in the review of TIAs, but can also be useful for developers and municipalities who may be intentionally focused on designs and developments that encourage multimodal transportation uses and options.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 13 Sep 2022 11:52:33 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2021866</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Planning for Urban Freight: Putting it Into Practice (Project J6)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2004438</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The goal of this project is to apply the results of previous STRIDE research on planning for urban
freight to demonstrate the potential for stronger consideration of freight concerns in economic
development and land use planning activities. The research team will partner with the Greater Nashville Regional
Council (GNRC), Tennessee as they convene a working group around freight transportation. The team will share
findings from previous research and work with stakeholders to identify near-term opportunities to
apply research findings to Nashville’s approach. Moving goods through southeastern cities is critical to economic activity. Rising online shopping
combined with increasing urban development has led to congestion on streets and conflicts about how
to use limited curb space in towns and cities. This project will apply previous STRIDE research on
urban freight to provide regions with information about key issues and solutions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:26:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2004438</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Y3R8 - Incorporating Freight in Regional Land Use
Planning Models</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868908</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The tremendous potential of technology-driven innovations to address the inefficiencies in lastmile deliveries has prompted e-commerce companies, retail chains, logistic providers and
technology start-ups to invest in sidewalk autonomous delivery robots (SADRs) and road
autonomous delivery vehicles (RADRs). The growing appeal for utilizing SADR and RADR
technologies arises from the increased demand for same-day deliveries in business to consumer
(B2C) e-commerce and the associated challenges for logistics providers (Cárdenas et al., 2017;
Jennings and Figliozzi, 2019; Wang et al., 2016). Apart from improving the delivery efficiency,
autonomous vehicles have the potential for initiating a more sustainable, and customer focused
delivery practice with limited externalities on road congestion, noise and CO₂  emissions (Hardi
and Wagner, 2019; Stolaroff et al., 2018). Due to the rapid advancements sensing technology and
artificial intelligence algorithms, large-scale deployments of autonomous delivery vehicles are on
the verge of becoming a reality in some delivery scenarios with known and repeatable routes.
SADRs and RADRs developed by Amazon, FedEx, Starship, and Nuro are already deployed and
being tested in multiple U.S. cities.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need for contactless deliveries that avoid the risk
of person-to-person infection has made it clear that autonomous robot deliveries have many
advantages. Consumers, businesses, and governments have switched from cautious beta testers
into eager early adopters. Despite this unprecedented requirement necessitated by the pandemic,
SADRs and RADRs need to be deployed by logistics service providers and Government agencies
in a way that is generally accepted by the public. In fact, if not widely accepted by the public, the
development and introduction of autonomous delivery vehicles can be a substantial waste of
resources for logistics service providers and vehicle developers alike. Therefore, it is imperative
to conduct micro-level behavioral research on user acceptance early in the deployment roadmap
of delivery robots to be able to design, develop and promote them as an accepted alternative to its
conventional delivery practices (i.e., van-based human delivery). One of the contributions of the
proposed project is to address this urgent research gap by investigating the psychological factors
that determine public acceptance of ADRs (Autonomous Delivery Robots) from an end-consumer
perspective.
To evaluate delivery robot adoption rates and tradeoffs it is necessary to model how vehicles are
likely to evolve. Technology is evolving rapidly and new players like Tesla are entering the heavy
and light truck electric vehicle (EV) market pushing up freight EV efficiency and capabilities
(Ulrich, 2020). Delivery cost is an important variable that is changing as technologies and vehicles
are evolving. In addition, cities are reevaluating how to assign and prioritize roadway and curb
infrastructure during and after COVID-19 (Davies, 2020). Autonomous delivery vehicles can also
interact with smart curb and parking management technology in ways that may increase delivery
efficiency and resource utilization by reducing double parking and congestion (Jennings and
Figliozzi, 2019). ADRs are also likely to affect not just the last mile but also the last echelons of
supply chains.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2021 12:23:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868908</guid>
    </item>
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