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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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      <title>User Understanding of Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Operation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2399866</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Understanding drivers’ interaction with different pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB) phases in the presence or absence of supporting message signs will improve pedestrian safety at road crossings with PHB. The proposed study will involve a robust investigation of driver behavior and understanding related to PHB phasing and supplementary message signs to improve PHB design and driver compliance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jul 2024 16:54:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2399866</guid>
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      <title>BikePed Portal: Pedestrian Volume Estimation Based on Push Button Actuations from Signals Data</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2361978</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project translates research from Oregon DOT's "Active transportation counts from existing on-street signal and detection infrastructure" (SPR 857), into a practical application on BikePed Portal. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Apr 2024 13:42:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2361978</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>PedPal Lite: An ATSC-Independent Safe Intersection Crossing App</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2292660</link>
      <description><![CDATA[PedPal is a smartphone app designed to assist pedestrians with disabilities in safely crossing signalized intersections, developed originally as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Accessible Transportation Technology Research Initiative (ATTRI) [1,2].   PedPal interacts directly with the surtrac adaptive traffic signal control (ATSC) system operating at the intersection using real-time traveler-to-infrastructure (T2I) communication and standard DSRC messaging to provide crossing support to its user.  Upon arrival at the intersection, PedPal receives and presents information to its user about the intersection’s geometry, crossing options, and current traffic signal state. When the user indicates her crossing intent, the app then communicates this information to the intersection (eliminating the need to locate and push a pedestrian call button), along with how much time is required by the user to safely cross the intersection. In response to receiving this information, the traffic signal system will set the pedestrian crossing time in the desired direction to ensure that upon getting the crossing signal, the user will receive crossing time that has been requested. More advanced PedPal capabilities include the ability to monitor user crossing progress in real-time, to recognize when the user is traveling slower than expected, and to trigger the traffic control system to dynamically extend the crossing time in such circumstances. The PedPal app is integrated with the smartphone's native accessible features and provides visual, auditory and haptic interaction modalities.   This project focuses on producing a cheaper and more broadly deployable version of PedPal. Whereas the ability exploit surtrac’s real-time ATSC capabilities enable advanced capabilities such as dynamic extension of the current phase duration that enhance safety, its deployment cost to municipalities presents a significant barrier to widespread deployment of the PedPal technology. Furthermore, a recent UTC funded project centered on technology support for the 'complete trip' has expanded the scope of PedPal's capabilities in several new safety-related directions, none of which depend on interaction with surtrac.  To foster more widespread deployment of the PedPal technology, this project will develop and pilot test a stand-alone version of PedPal (referred to as ‘PedPal-Lite’) that will interact directly with the hardware controller at the intersection via an ATSC-independent PedPal intersection manager. This manager will take over responsibility from the Surtrac ATSC system both for broadcasting information about the intersection and the current traffic control state to the smartphone app and for interacting with the traffic controller in response to messages received from the app, exploiting the same underlying T2I connectivity. The manager will run on a low-end processor residing in the cabinet at the intersection and will take advantage of the V2I-hub software module developed under sponsorship of FHWA to generate DSRC formatted messages for broadcast to PedPal users. To maximize deployment potential, the research team will focus integrating the PedPal intersection manager with controllers that support standard NTCIP interaction protocols.  The research team will demonstrate and pilot test the developed PedPal-Lite variant on a TBD intersection near the CMU campus that is running a conventional fixed signal timing plan on a hardware controller that supports the NTCIP standard.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Nov 2023 18:56:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2292660</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons Experimental Feature Project</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2151373</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Dowling Road and Seward Highway Interchange has anecdotally poor compliance for yielding to pedestrians and bicyclists when motorists leave the roundabout. Eight rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB) will be installed at the North and South crosswalks. The primary objectives of the experiment feature are: (1) assess the compliance of motorists prior to installation of RRFBs; (2) install RRFBs during the 2023 construction season; and (3) long-term performance & compliance monitoring.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Apr 2023 18:56:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2151373</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Real-Time Traffic Signal System Performance Measurement – Phase III System Integration, Intersection Deployment and Control Center Dashboard Development</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2118673</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In the third phase of the NJDOT Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPM) project, the research team 1) evaluated Roadside Unit (RSU) /Onboard Unit (OBU) data with ground truth data, 2) validated physical and virtual RSU deployment scenarios for pedestrian safety applications, 3) studied the boundary conditions of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Closed circuit television (CCTV) sensors for traffic and pedestrian sensing, and 4) developed a dashboard application for visualizing and Quality Assess and Quality Control (QA/QC) of the real-time traffic signal performance metrics and Connected Vehicle (CV) messages from the ATSPM and deployment sites.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:03:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2118673</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Design and Demonstration of Pedestrian Waiting Time
Countdown at Pedestrian Activated Signals</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1715598</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In response to the increasing concerns of pedestrian compliance and safety at intersection/roadway crossings, this study intends to investigate all critical human-factors issues and intersection-design features that may collectively trigger some pedestrians to ignore the pedestrian-activated signals during intersection/roadway crossing. All identified key factors will subsequently serve as the input information for design and evaluation of a Pedestrian-Waiting-Time Countdown (PWTC) at pedestrian-activated signals. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2020 13:15:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1715598</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Guidance on Midblock Pedestrian Signals (MPS)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1707196</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD) Signals Technical Committee (STC) has reviewed treatments for several types of midblock pedestrian crosswalks that include highway traffic signals or beacons and has recommended a new Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) chapter in Part 4, titled "Midblock Pedestrian Signals" or MPS. The MPS would operate similarly to a standard semi-actuated vehicular traffic control signal at a midblock crossing, except that it would display a flashing RED indication in place of a solid RED indication during the pedestrian clearance interval. 
 
The MPS supports “complete streets,” a transportation policy and design approach that calls for roadways to be consistently designed and operated with all users in mind: bicyclists, public transportation users, drivers, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities. Pedestrians frequently find themselves in a predicament when needing to cross roads to access transit stops, businesses, medical facilities, and residences. Without an easily accessible signalized crossing, they may be uncomfortable crossing with only a crosswalk and sign and pedestrian volumes may not accurately reflect pedestrian demand. Moreover, increases in lower-density “sprawl-like” development mean that these crossings rarely happen in such a concentrated manner as to justify a midblock signal based on conventional signal volume warrants described in MUTCD, Chapter 4C. 
 
Guide for Improving Pedestrian Safety at Uncontrolled Pedestrian Crossings [FHWA, 2018] presents alternative treatments such as the Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) and the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB). The proposed MPS is intended to further expand the available options to improve safety at midblock crossings, while reflecting modern pedestrian crossing needs and roadway contexts. The MPS concept has been used for more than 40 years in several cities, including Los Angeles, to protect pedestrian crossings, and previous FHWA studies have found this type of operation to have a very high rate of driver compliance.
 
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to summarize the effectiveness of midblock pedestrian signal (MPS) installations and propose language suitable for inclusion in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Part 4 addressing MPS.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2020 18:51:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1707196</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>An Investigation of Pedestrian Signals to Reduce Intersection Crashes and Red Light Violations for Elderly Drivers</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1414807</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Signalized intersections are designed to reduce the number of traffic conflicts by separating conflicting movements at an intersection. However, signalized intersections are known to have high likelihood of crash occurrences compared to other sections of the roadway. Decisions made by the drivers who are in dilemma zone are sometimes aided by upstream warning signals. Pedestrian signals have the potential of serving as warning signals as pedestrian green time coincides with the green time for corresponding traffic movement. For the elderly drivers, the decision making process is crucial since their perception reaction is longer than the average perception reaction time experienced by younger drivers. This study wishes to investigate the potential of utilizing pedestrian signals as warning signals and their impacts on driver's perception reaction time, specifically the elderly. This study will analyze intersections in Florida with different types of pedestrian signals and evaluate their effectiveness as it pertains to movement of traffic to assist with the reduction of crashes especially elderly crashes and red light violations. Additionally, the study will utilize questionnaire survey to gain insight of how drivers utilize pedestrian signals as warning signals.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2016 12:41:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1414807</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Increased Pedestrian Safety and Decreased Motorist Delay with a Hawk Pedestrian Signal</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1230988</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A recent, major research study by the Texas Transportation Institute has shown that traffic signals at pedestrian crossings are by far the most effective - arguably the only effective-means of decreasing pedestrian risk of death or injury at pedestrian crossings. The US Access Board, in its role of developing and enforcing guidelines that will likely become enforceable ADA standards, will require pedestrian signals at all roundabouts with two or more lanes. Kansas is a leading state in promoting roundabouts and should be looking toward meeting this requirement. Pedestrian signals, particularly at mid-block crossings and at roundabouts, cause motorist delay. In many cases at a pedestrian signal, a pedestrian pushes the button and then runs or quickly crosses the street as soon as the walk appears (sometimes even before) and motorists are still facing several seconds of a solid red ball and by law must remain stopped. On a busy street a queue of vehicles waiting after a pedestrian has crossed can amount to hundreds of hours of unnecessary delay. However, there is an experimental pedestrian signal, the HAWK, which can significantly reduce this delay while still proving safety to pedestrians. It is used in Europe and in one experimental location in the USA. With the HAWK signal a driver gets the red ball as the pedestrian gets the walk indication as with a regular signal; however, after a few seconds into the pedestrian walk phase the red ball facing the driver goes to flashing red for the final seconds of the walk phase and the driver may proceed if the crosswalk is clear, i.e. the pedestrian(s) has(have) crossed. The HAWK appears to be the pedestrian signal "of the future" at mid-block pedestrian crossings and multi-lane roundabouts and needs more study.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:10:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1230988</guid>
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