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    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
    <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <language>en-us</language>
    <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>Developing Data-Based Recommendations for Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (PHBs) and Midblock Pedestrian Signals (MPSs) Deployment in Nevada</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2677562</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Current Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) and Midblock Pedestrian Signal (MPS) deployment decisions often lack state-specific data-driven criteria, resulting in inconsistent implementation, potential safety risks, and operational inefficiencies.  Moreover, land use considerations—including proximity to school zones, commercial areas, and transit stops—play a crucial role in determining the most effective crossing treatment. Without comprehensive, localized guidelines, agencies struggle to deploy PHBs and MPSs optimally, leading to variability in effectiveness across different contexts.

The primary objective of this research is to develop robust, data-driven guidelines for the deployment of PHBs and MPSs in Nevada, thereby improving pedestrian safety and mobility statewide. These guidelines will provide a structured approach to identifying optimal locations, ensuring compliance, reducing delays, and enhancing safety and mobility at midblock crossings.

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) research team will complete this project in multiple phases: (1) Literature review including information from peer-reviewed studies, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) guidance, state/ local reports, and stakeholder interviews. (2) The research team will partner with local agencies to deploy UNR’s LiDAR and fisheye-camera data collection units to collect in-field data at each location. (3) The research team will process and analyze all collected data to conduct a comprehensive safety and compliance study alongside evaluations of operational efficiencies. (4) The research team will develop implementation recommendations for PHBs and MPSs in Nevada.

The development of implementation recommendations will identify the most effective PHB and MPS treatments based on compliance, operational considerations, and local context. This task will also address barriers to adoption, such as regulatory gaps or policy misalignment. Second, the research team will create a detailed implementation plan tailored to Nevada Department of Transportation's (NDOT’s) operational structure. This plan will include step-by-step guidance for integrating recommendations into NDOT’s planning and design workflows, a roadmap for updating internal policies and procedures, and a strategy for stakeholder engagement and training.

Following the development of recommendations, the final report and stakeholder workshop will consolidate all findings and present them to NDOT leadership and regional partners. This workshop will facilitate feedback, promote adoption, and ensure that the implementation plan is aligned with agency needs and priorities. Potential barriers to implementation include institutional challenges, such as the absence of existing NDOT guidelines for MPSs, which may delay formal adoption of recommendations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:48:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2677562</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Traffic Control Device Analysis, Testing, and Evaluation Program</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2676078</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Traffic control devices (TCDs) are the primary means of communicating highway information to road users and play a key role in highway automation. The design, application, and maintenance of TCDs is under constant transformation as new technologies, methodologies, and policies are introduced. In addition, vehicle technologies and the roadway infrastructure industry are rapidly evolving, spurred by technology advancements, customer demand, changes in the vehicle fleet, and changes in national and state policies. The research team will provide Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) a mechanism to quickly and effectively conduct high priority evaluations of issues related to TCDs. The TCD issues to be evaluated in this project could represent new devices or technologies, new applications of an existing device or technology, TCD material performance, changes in TxDOT’s practices regarding a TCD, or other TCD related needs. Examples of various evaluations include human factors, machine vision performance, safety and operational effects, visibility assessments, and cost effectiveness analyses. The activities conducted through this project will support the development of TCD related policy, specifications, guidelines, handbooks, and training.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:32:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2676078</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>AI-Assisted System for Automated Work Zone Monitoring</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2640702</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project aims to develop and pilot an artificial intelligence (AI) assisted work zone monitoring system to help reduce inspection workloads, provide timely alerts for any deviations, and maintain a verifiable historical compliance record. By leveraging multi-camera dashboard camera data, such a system will also enable the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to address high-risk zones more quickly, reduce crash risks, and strengthen its ability to respond to post-project inquiries.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2025 11:24:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2640702</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Develop and Evaluate Long Median Barrier Gate to Assist with Emergency Response</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636104</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Median barriers are commonly used to separate opposing lanes of traffic on divided highways and to separate managed lanes from general purpose lanes. Concrete Median Barriers (CMBs) are often preferred on urban freeways with narrow medians due to their minimal deflection and low maintenance. However, long, continuous runs of CMBs limit access of emergency and maintenance vehicles to the other side of a roadway or a managed lane. Implementation of crashworthy median barrier gates at these locations can maintain the desired level of median protection for motorists while offering improved cross-median access for emergency and/or maintenance vehicles. The current Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) Barrier Gate (detailed on standard sheet BG-11) is 30-ft long and provides a clear opening of 27 ft between the mounting brackets. For this project, the research team will develop a longer median barrier gate to provide a greater clear opening for larger emergency vehicles and contraflow during evacuation operations. The research team will design the median barrier gate to operate without power and perform crash testing of the median barrier gate to verify compliance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 09:44:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2636104</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>An AI-based Oversize Vehicle Warning System in Smart Work Zone
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627406</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Lane closures, when required during road repair and maintenance, can cause traffic congestion in adjacent open lanes. It is problematic when oversized vehicles are present, as they can create safety risks for workers and other drivers in work zones. The existing technologies in this regard are customized only for overheight vehicle detection and ignore the horizontal span of the vehicles. Therefore, those solutions cannot be extended directly to address the problem at hand. Additionally, the existing methods rely on expensive sensors such as LiDars and radars for automated vehicle detection. Exorbitant costs restrict the large-scale use of those devices. As a more economical solution, this study will leverage inexpensive Ref Green Blue-Depth (RGB-D) sensors for accurate learning-based vehicle size estimation. To address this issue, this project aims to develop an intelligent early warning system that uses low-cost 3D sensing cameras and artificial intelligence (AI)-based detection algorithms. The system will estimate the size of approaching vehicles and issue a real-time warning to any vehicle that is too large for the open lanes. This will help prevent potential accidents and encourage these vehicles to take alternate routes or slow down to ensure everyone's safety.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:26:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627406</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Optimizing Operation of Diverging Diamond Interchange with Automated Vehicles
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2625312</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The proposed research introduces an innovative traffic control method to optimize the operation of a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) in an automated driving environment. The DDI design is gradually gaining acceptance in many parts of the country because of its advantages over the conventional diamond interchange design, this research offers a new look into the potential benefits by the emerging automated driving technology in mitigating the drawbacks in DDI operations. This work includes the development of the algorithm through math modeling and computer simulation to control traffic flows through the DDI. The proposed control system is built on the premise that DDIs reduce both crossing and merging conflict points and that there is no longer a need for signal control for the side intersections.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:39:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2625312</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Develop Guidance for Enhancing Work Zone Safety in the Construction of Innovative Intersections</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2614517</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Innovative intersections, also referred to as alternative or unconventional intersections, are essential for enhancing traffic flow and safety. In Texas, there has been a significant increase in the construction of innovative intersection designs such as diverging diamond interchanges (DDIs), median U-turns (MUTs), and reduced conflict intersections (RCIs). However, they present notable challenges during construction. A primary concern associated with implementing these designs is maintaining traffic flow during construction to minimize disruptions and ensure safety. The geometric configurations of these intersections introduce complexities that are not addressed by previous guidelines, posing safety risks for motorists and workers. The absence of standardized specifications for work staging and risk mitigation strategies in work zones exacerbates these issues. Using a mixed-method approach, the research team will identify safety risks intrinsic to the construction of innovative intersections and temporary traffic control (TTC) measures that can eliminate or reduce these risks. The research team will develop comprehensive guidance for developing and implementing TTC strategies for innovative intersections. The documentation and evaluation of these strategies will establish a comprehensive framework for safely and effectively implementing innovative intersection designs in Texas, catering to the specific needs of drivers, including seniors and teenagers.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:08:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2614517</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Effectiveness and Benefits of Connected Work Zones
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2603850</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Many Infrastructure Owner Operators (IOOs) have begun to adopt technologies to broadcast near real-time information about the location and state of work zones and maintenance activities within their jurisdictions. While these technologies have seen continued improvement in the information that they are sharing, it is unknown how that information is able to be translated into motorist safety and internal benefits for the deploying agency. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and DriveOhio are interested in gaining additional data showing actual safety improvement numbers related to the deployment of these technologies and measurable statistics that define the internal benefits to the agency and their relation to the agencies list of Event Streaming Platform use cases. 

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this research is to provide data and associated recommendations relating to the deployment of connected work zone technologies within the state. This research will benefit ODOT by determining the benefits, both internal and external, that connected work zone technologies enable for the safety and efficiency of roadside workers and the motoring public. Thie results of this project will help inform the direction that ODOT will take in the area of connected work zones in the future. 
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 11:24:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2603850</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Leveraging Connected Vehicle Data for Enhanced Highway Safety Modeling and Decision-Making</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2596530</link>
      <description><![CDATA[
The primary objective of this project is to assess the utility and reliability of connected vehicle data (CVD) in safety modeling and analysis, either as a supplement to or a substitute for traditional crash data where appropriate. This assessment will be conducted across a range of roadway designs and traffic control settings, dependent on the geospatial availability of CVD.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 08:37:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2596530</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Implementation Requirements for Work Zone Intrusion Technologies to Reduce Fatalities</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2596487</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The latest information published by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) on fatal crashes shows alarming trends. In 2022, there were 605 fatalities, in 2021, 599, and in 2020, 460. These values represent three consecutive years of ODOT’s highest recorded values, as reported over a 10 year period (Oregon DOT Crash Analysis Unit, 2020). Across the United States, roadway workers on foot being struck by vehicles (both construction equipment and travellng public) was the most prevalent cause of highway worker fatalities (2017-2019) and accounted for 53% of worker fatalities in 2020 (American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), 2022). Preventing intrusions, and protecting workers, is a high priority for both ODOT and contractors. ODOT has an immediate need to address this safety aspect, as identified by near misses in the month of February 2023 from Administrator Lynde’s recent all-ODOT email (Lynde, 2023). This research will focus on work zone intrusion technologies, which may also have application in other areas of roadway safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2025 11:58:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2596487</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Placement Options for In-street Pedestrian Crossing Signs (R1-6a)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593953</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Currently, pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. are at an all-time high and represent an increasing share of the total traffic fatalities (1). Specifically, in Oregon, pedestrian fatalities increased 57% between 2009 and 2019 (2). An analysis of U.S. pedestrian fatality trends between 1977 to 2016 found that pedestrian fatalities are more common in urban areas on arterial roadways, where vehicles are traveling at higher speeds and drivers fail to yield to pedestrians (3). To achieve a safe transportation system, it is critical to improve pedestrian safety by installing treatments that encourage greater rates of drivers yielding to people walking. One such treatment is the R1-6a in-street pedestrian crossing signs installed in a gateway configuration. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has identified the R1-6a sign as a highly effective, low-cost engineering countermeasure that can be used to improve pedestrian safety in a proactive and systemic manner. A large-scale multi-year study was undertaken by Western Michigan University (WMU) to evaluate factors related to the efficacy of the gateway treatment, determine the long-term effects of permanent installations, and examine configurations that contribute to the effectiveness of the treatment (4). The study found that position of the sign is a critical factor influencing driver yielding behavior (4). Signs placed on the white lane line resulted in higher yielding than signs placed at the edge of the roadway and both these configurations resulted in less yielding than the full gateway configuration (3). Analysis of speed data collected at one site showed that the gateway treatment is associated with large speed reductions even when pedestrians were not present at the crosswalk (4). The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) does not offer support for the installation of the sign in a gateway configuration on an edge line or right-side curb line, nor does it offer support for the use of more than one R1-6a sign at a crosswalk. Recent studies by Western Michigan University (WMU) call these limitations into question. Carefully executed comparisons of MUTCD-compliant installations of the R1-6a signs to the experimental gateway-style installations proposed by WMU are needed to update national, state, and local guidance on these signs. Some examples of MUTCD-compliant and experimental gateway-style application of the R1-6a signs are shown in the images. Current installations of the R1-6a sign in the U.S. where more than one sign is used or where the sign is placed on an edge line or right-side curb are not in compliance with the MUTCD; non-compliant traffic control devices raise liability concerns for road authorities. Safety at many crosswalks might be quickly and inexpensively improved through the installation of multiple R1-6a signs if the MUTCD was updated to support that configuration.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:29:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593953</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Research and Assessment of Needs for Sign Maintenance</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593930</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) District offices need to verify in-house sign/signal installation and maintenance crews are prepared to implement criteria set forth in the new Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This requires a thorough assessment of each District’s sign and signal crews to identify needs. This evaluation must review crew staffing levels, equipment and material needs, and training schedules. Based on findings of this assessment, KYTC’s sign installation handbook can be updated with best practices for assembling and managing effective sign and signal crews as well as for conducting effective and safe sign maintenance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 11:32:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593930</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Traffic Control for Work Zones in Alternative Intersections</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593855</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this research project is to develop enhanced guidelines to help transportation practitioners develop temporary traffic control plans for highway construction projects with alternative intersections. Attainment of the project objective will help to fill gaps in existing knowledge and provide transportation practitioners with tools to help improve mobility and safety in work zones on highway construction projects with alternative intersections. The research approach will include a literature review and the gathering of information from various states regarding their best practices for implementing works zones on projects with alternative intersections.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:13:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593855</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessing the Risk of Runway Incursions at Non-Towered Airports



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2588328</link>
      <description><![CDATA[No abstract provided.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2025 10:28:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2588328</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluating Speed Reduction Techniques in Construction Zones to Improve Safety</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2582451</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of the proposed research study is to determine the effectiveness of traditional and innovative speed reduction techniques in construction work zones in Georgia]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Jul 2025 13:13:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2582451</guid>
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