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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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      <title>Enabling Next-Generation Safe, Efficient and Reliable Traffic Signal Management via Advanced Sensing and Foundation Models</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2691670</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Urban traffic signal management systems often rely on outdated techniques and strategies that fail to adapt to dynamic roadway conditions, leading to safety concerns, congestion, and access issues for road users. In addition, current signal optimization approaches rarely consider energy efficiency as the main objective. This research proposes a next-generation safe, efficient and reliable traffic signal control framework powered by advanced roadside sensing and foundation models, specifically Visual Language Models (VLMs) and Multi-Modal Large Language Models (MMLLMs). By integrating high-definition cameras, LiDAR, and real-time data analytics, the system will accurately detect multimodal traffic flows, predict future traffic conditions, and optimize signal phase and timings to enhance mobility while minimizing energy consumption. The framework will be validated through a case study at the Riverside Smart Intersection testbed, leveraging real-world data and co-simulation environments.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:42:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2691670</guid>
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      <title>Evaluating Efficiency of Rural Transit Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2652175</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Rural transit agencies face unique challenges in optimizing energy efficiency due to dispersed service areas, lower ridership, and diverse vehicle fleets. Unlike urban transit systems, these agencies often lack access to tools that assess energy consumption and evaluate operational strategies effectively. This study aims to bridge this gap by developing a user-friendly lifecycle energy consumption calculator tailored to rural transit operators and applying the Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) metric to assess the efficiency of different transit strategies.  
 
The research will involve a comprehensive literature review, development of a lifecycle energy consumption framework, adaptation of the MEP model to rural transit conditions, and case studies with selected rural transit agencies. These case studies will test the tools, gather real-world data, and evaluate various fleet configurations and operational strategies. Findings will inform best practices and provide actionable recommendations for rural transit agencies to optimize energy use while maintaining or improving accessibility for residents.  
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:33:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2652175</guid>
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      <title>Lifecycle Economic and Energy Efficiency Benefits of Managed Lane Corridors in Metro Atlanta</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2508942</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will compare the lifecycle economic cost and energy use of the Northwest Corridor Express Lane facility to the alternative of expanding general-purpose lane capacity along the I-75/I-575 corridors. Lifecycle energy will include energy embedded in materials, construction, on-road vehicle operations, and ongoing maintenance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 11 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2508942</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Telehealth's Effect on Rural Veteran Healthcare and Mobility</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2239886</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The main objective of this research is to identify veterans utilizing telehealth for their medical needs and to quantify the transportation cost savings associated with this technology. Secondary objectives will include analyzing the role of telehealth in rural America, and how the COVID-19 pandemic along with public transportation workforce shortages has led to a substantial increase in telehealth usage among veterans.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2023 12:42:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2239886</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Airport Energy Resiliency Primer and Roadmap</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1872910</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Airports are challenged as they strive to achieve evolving energy and operational needs of their customers and increase energy resiliency while meeting sustainability goals. Being able to respond to acute incidents that may cause power disruptions (e.g., natural disasters) and being able to address power needs for today and in the future are the objectives of an energy resiliency plan. An energy resiliency plan must also consider the capacity and reliability of the local power grid and the type of regional or geographic stressors (e.g., frequent power outages, natural disasters) in the area where the airport is located. The infrastructure and operational needs will vary by airport depending on energy goals and objectives. Having an energy resiliency plan as part of a broader sustainability program is much different from a plan designed solely for redundancy. A plan that focuses on the airport’s own operations, or only its essential operations, is different from one that includes its tenant’s energy requirements. When developing a comprehensive plan of this nature, it’s important that stakeholders are included in the process. Understanding what the co-benefits are to the community and other stakeholders will encourage their participation. There has been some research in the area of resiliency, but due to the long lead time in implementing all the components in an energy resiliency plan, there is currently no guidance for airports to develop a customized energy resiliency roadmap for achieving their resiliency plan. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the research are to develop (1) a primer on energy resilience for airport executives; and (2) a guidebook on how to develop an energy resiliency roadmap.

 
 
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Aug 2021 09:40:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1872910</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of Incident Response Improvements for Statewide Application: Learnings from the New Regional Traffic Management Center in Jacksonville, FL</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1640784</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The main objective of this project is to quantify the improvements in incident management and ultimately evaluate cost savings to the public resulting from the new regional traffic management center.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jul 2019 14:00:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1640784</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Online Demonstration and Measurement of Renewable Energy Technologies</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1363832</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will create a real-time energy monitoring tool to measure and report the impacts of renewable energy projects throughout Pennsylvania. Monitoring equipment will be installed at selected sites, resulting in measurements of petroleum savings, energy use, cost savings, and CO&amp;#8322; emissions avoided. This information will be provided to the public on an intuitive and informational web site that is designed to grow over time to include information from a large number of projects in the region. The system will be a valuable teaching tool for extension educators, providing a platform for renewable energy education to farmers, institutional managers, homeowners, and K-12 students, among others. Educational program material will be developed to utilize this resource and maximize its usefulness. It will also serve to showcase the region's efforts towards improving the energy sustainability of the northeast. The measured data will also be stored and made available for investigations into the implementation-scale performance of renewable energy systems. Alternative and renewable energy has become an area of great interest and importance in the northeast, largely as a result of increasing energy prices and concerns for the energy security of the nation. Many new and established renewable energy technologies have the potential to play an important part in the state's energy economy. However, there is a general lack of knowledge about actual performance of such systems, and people are naturally cautious about committing to new technologies that are unproven or unconventional. A great need exists to provide clear, unbiased, real-world measurements of renewable energy systems in such a way that allows people to understand the actual benefits and drawbacks of these systems.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2015 01:00:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1363832</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Drag Reduction Proof of Principal Research</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1236226</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The dust suppression project that was funded last year through the University Transportation Centers (UTC) discovered that the feasibility of drag reduction for large vehicles is feasible through extensive wind tunnel testing. Although the project was not able to test the full scale version on a trailer due to time and financial restraints, valuable data and insight was gained for future large scale testing. This project will utilize the knowledge gained from the dust suppression research and try to validate their findings on a full scale trailer. If time and money permits, flaps will be attached to the trailer to try to quantify the amount of fuel savings on a vehicle of that size.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:43:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1236226</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Developing Self-cleaning and Air Purifying Transportation Infrastructure Components to Minimize Environmental Impact of Transportation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234727</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Developing transportation infrastructure without compromising environmental quality is of paramount importance. This can also lead to improvement in the US economic competitiveness, which is intimately linked to modern transportation systems. However, developing such system in a sustainable way is not trivial. The proposed paper will explore a topic of self-cleaning and air purifying structural components, which can save energy via reducing of surface contamination (e.g. soiling), improve environment via decomposition of pollutants emitted from the vehicles and protect human health by decreasing the ozone levels in urban environment. We will look into concrete, glass and asphalt coated with inexpensive photocatalytic films, which are currently being developed in collaboration with a small New York (NY) based company. This paper will assess the long term performance and air purifying potential of these films, which will be done in collaboration with the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and the Brookhaven National Lab. Moreover, this project will have an enormous impact on a career development of the principal investigator (PI), who is the first ever Provostial appointment in Materials and Environment area here at Stony Brook. Ultimately, the above-mentioned approach can have a significant relevance to the U.S.Department of Transportation (DOT) goals, such as development of livable communities by providing an access to environmentally sustainable travel options. It can also have a potentially transformative impact in terms of another DOT goal focused on environmental sustainability, where self-cleaning properties of the coatings can improve both energy and water conservation. This paper also aims at contributing to Focus area 5 (Promoting livable and sustainable communities through quality of life improvements and diverse transportation development) and Focus Area 7 (Promoting freight productivity, efficiency, and sustainability through multi-modal policy, planning and logistics). The proposed work project will involve both literature and experimental components as we already accumulated some background data to make a significant progress in this area. For example, we currently have all experimental setups necessary for measurements of self-cleaning properties of coated concrete and asphalt. Moreover, this will be complemented by experimental apparatus for determining atmospheric pollutants removal, which has been already tested in our lab.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:23:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234727</guid>
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