<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="https://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
    <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
    <atom:link href="https://rip.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=PHNlYXJjaD48cGFyYW1zPjxwYXJhbSBuYW1lPSJkYXRlaW4iIHZhbHVlPSJhbGwiIC8+PHBhcmFtIG5hbWU9InN1YmplY3Rsb2dpYyIgdmFsdWU9Im9yIiAvPjxwYXJhbSBuYW1lPSJ0ZXJtc2xvZ2ljIiB2YWx1ZT0ib3IiIC8+PHBhcmFtIG5hbWU9ImxvY2F0aW9uIiB2YWx1ZT0iMTYiIC8+PC9wYXJhbXM+PGZpbHRlcnM+PGZpbHRlciBmaWVsZD0iaW5kZXh0ZXJtcyIgdmFsdWU9IiZxdW90O1RyYWZmaWMgZGVsYXlzJnF1b3Q7IiBvcmlnaW5hbF92YWx1ZT0iJnF1b3Q7VHJhZmZpYyBkZWxheXMmcXVvdDsiIC8+PC9maWx0ZXJzPjxyYW5nZXMgLz48c29ydHM+PHNvcnQgZmllbGQ9InB1Ymxpc2hlZCIgb3JkZXI9ImRlc2MiIC8+PC9zb3J0cz48cGVyc2lzdHM+PHBlcnNpc3QgbmFtZT0icmFuZ2V0eXBlIiB2YWx1ZT0icHVibGlzaGVkZGF0ZSIgLz48L3BlcnNpc3RzPjwvc2VhcmNoPg==" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
    <description></description>
    <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>
    </image>
    <item>
      <title>Improving Traveler Experience Via Alternatives to Roadway/Railway Grade Crossings  </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2646961</link>
      <description><![CDATA[There are more than 240,000 at-grade crossings between railroads and roadways in the U.S. and as the number of freight trains increases, the times of interface and blocked crossings also increases. USDOT reports numerous driver complaints about delays and frequent disruptions, and in some cases, there are delays to emergency vehicles due to excessive numbers of blocked trains. Work is underway to continue documentation and to consider strategies and address the frequent and repeated delays caused by long trains. The most requested remedy is grade separation. Grade separations are extremely expensive, and planning and construction lead times are long, so there is a need to identify other more short-term strategies that will offer travelers and emergency responders options to waiting on the long trains.  

The focus of this research will be Fort Bend County and Harris County, Texas, which include major freight corridors from Port Houston, the 3rd largest container port in the country. Between the two counties, there are at least 11,000 at grade crossings. Specifically, this work will assemble delay time data showing frequency and duration for the identified railroad crossings. The team will conduct literature review and on-line and in-person conversations to determine options and strategies underway by entities (e.g., railroad operators), municipalities, and others to address better traveler information and options to reduce and avoid delay time. Potential options include cameras noting delays and following with notifications to emergency services proximate to locations with frequent delays. The study team will examine whether this information distribution could be expanded to additional users. An additional option to be examined is message signs alerting travelers to blocked crossings in time to adjust their travel route. The expected research outcome is to provide an option to grade separations that will reduce delay time for travelers caused by blocked train crossings. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:10:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2646961</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Developing a Guideline for Selecting Appropriate Treatment Options for Approaches with Two
Left Turn Lane</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2601432</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Dual left turn lanes are crucial for increasing capacity at busy intersections during peak hours with high left turn volumes; however, they can lead to an increase in delays for all intersection users during low traffic demand periods. This increased delay is experienced since most intersections with dual left turn lanes in North Carolina utilize protected-only left turn signal phases. The protected mode can result in additional delays during off-peak hours due to (a) not being able to utilize gaps in opposing traffic due to the lack of a permissive phase, (b) longer cycle lengths as a result of the additional protected left-turn phases, and (c) increased lost time from additional signal phases. In North Carolina, lost time per signal phase can average around five to six seconds; therefore, adding phases can affect overall intersection efficiency. Despite the importance of selecting the appropriate treatment options for dual left turn lanes in minimizing delays and travel times, there are notable research gaps in the existing literature, and comprehensive guidelines are lacking to inform the decision-making processes.

The primary objective of this research is to develop guidelines and a spreadsheet-based tool to assist North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in selecting the most appropriate treatment options for approaches with dual left turn lanes. The research team will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of various  treatments, including protected-only, permissive, and protected-permissive phasing and a “dynamic left-turn intersection” (DLTi) approach. The research team will also consider exploring other innovative time-of-day treatments similar to DLTi. The project team is aware of potential issues of DLTi with accommodating pedestrians and will look into them in coordination with the steering and implementation committee.​]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 00:53:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2601432</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Enhancing Traffic Delay Prediction Utilizing Data-Driven Techniques</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2485374</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A model that accurately predicts both traffic delays and the queues that result from work zones would be a valuable tool to Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), helping the agency to manage traffic, enhance work zone planning, reduce congestion, and improve road safety. Currently, ADOT lacks the ability to generate estimates of congestion and delays that result from lane closures and other forms of planned or unplanned roadway capacity reduction. Instead, the agency relies on rough generalities to manage traffic and maintain safe operating conditions around work zones. 

Integrating a data-driven model—one that is based on roadway capacity and travel demand—into the work-zone management process would help the Traffic Operations Center (TOC) and other ADOT groups respond to both planned and unplanned traffic-delay events. Information that predicts potential problems before they occur could help the TOC prepare more efficiently for closures and other events by anticipating messaging and communication needs to the traveling public.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jan 2025 16:08:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2485374</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Integrating Progression Band and Delay Optimization for Arterials with Unbalanced Directional Traffic</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2343710</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Unbalanced directional traffic is commonly observed in commuting corridors, where the high-volume direction may experience queue spillbacks and turning bay blockages that significantly downgrade the traffic efficiency. The traditional wisdom that naturally favors the high-volume direction often neglect the needs of the low-volume direction, incurring unnecessary delays. Such a dilemma raises a challenging need for a signal plan that concurrently ensures the traffic efficiency of both directions with distinct traffic features.
Fully recognizing the achievement of two major families of signal optimization models, delay minimization and progression maximization, this project intend to integrate their merits, and present a novel traffic signal model to minimize the through delay in the high-volume direction while preserving the progression in the low-volume direction. To achieve such an objective, this project will develop a mathematical programming framework with essential formulations. Especially, to estimate the queueing delay accurately with signal related parameters, unlike most existing studies assuming the uniformly distributed incoming traffic flow, the project will explicitly formulate the queue evolution process by accounting for the time-varying vehicle arrival rates resulting from the distinct upstream traffic streams. Such a detailed formulation shall enable the model to flexibly select the optimal phase sequences that allow low-volume traffic streams to
join the queue prior to those high-volume ones, thus minimizing queuing delays despite the maximum queue length being inevitably long. Moreover, the negative impacts of left turn vehicles merging into through queues due to the left-turn bay blockage by the expanding through queue should be also taken into consideration in the through delay computation. The proposed model with carefully designed formulations is expected to yield improved network-wide delay, fewer vehicle stops, and a shorter duration of left-turn bay blockage.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:54:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2343710</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of MDOT's Methodology for Estimating Work
Zone User Delay Times</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2122507</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) currently uses a macro-enabled spreadsheet called Construction Congestion Cost (CO3) created in the late 1990’s to estimate user delay times and costs that the traveling public can expect to experience while traveling through or around construction work zones. MDOT anticipates after 30 plus years Microsoft may stop supporting the old Excel 95 macros altogether: thus, making CO3
unusable. This proposed research project will allow MDOT to make an informed decision on how best to move forward after evaluating whether CO3 can be updated to ensure future viability or other sustainable software solutions should be implemented to best meet
MDOT’s business needs.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:40:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2122507</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of the Driveway Assistance Device (DAD) Systems in One-Lane Two-Way Work Zone</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1741272</link>
      <description><![CDATA[When one lane of a two-lane, two-way roadway is closed as a result of a work zone, traffic in each direction will take turns utilizing the one lane that is open. The alternate one-way traffic will be controlled using various methods including flagger, pilot car, or portable traffic signals. However, these control methods are not always feasible for controlling work zone access points that are located in the work zone such as residential driveways, business driveways, or minor side streets.
This proposal will focus on the driveway assistance device (DAD) systems that are located in the one-lane two-way work zone. The proposed study will evaluate DAD systems in Nebraska. Their safety and efficacy will be analyzed quantitative, empirical performance measures including waiting times, compliance rates, and stop locations. It is anticipated that driver survey will also be conducted.
The objectives of this research are to: (1) Determine the DAD display design that best directs drivers to safely enter the one-lane, two-way work zone operation and proceed in the proper direction of travel; (2) Model efficacy of the DAD systems in terms of driver’s compliance or violation behaviors, as well as the time savings for both driveway and the main road traffic; and (3) Develop a Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) implementation guide outlining best practice for using these systems in Nebraska. At present, DAD systems are not included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). As part of the technology transfer component, this project will develop the necessary background material to have the MUTCD approve the use of DAD systems in work zones.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:18:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1741272</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Optimizing CAV platoon movements in a signalized road network for travel and energy efficiency  </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1716531</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The research team's previous work to optimize CAV platoon movements through an isolated intersection has shown that considerable savings (up to 40%) in both travel time and fuel use can be achieved. In this research, the team attempts to solve the CAV platoon optimization problem for a network of signalized intersections, which presents several challenges that their previous work did not address. In this research, the team proposes a cooperative platoon-trajectory-optimization framework that consists of four components: optimal route planning to identify the CAVs travel paths based on the real-time traffic state, a lane-changing strategy to form platoons for different travel directions, boundary control for generating the initial and final states of optimization, and a platoon-trajectory-optimization method to minimize the fuel consumption and travel time. Simulation studies will be carried out to evaluate the system performance of the proposed framework in reducing fuel consumption and travel delay.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2020 13:53:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1716531</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Development of a Traffic Management Decision Support Tool (DST) for Freeway Incident Traffic Management (FITM) Plan Deployment – Phase 2: An enhanced DST-I95, including I495, I695, I70, US29</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1715293</link>
      <description><![CDATA[As a part of phase 1 (MD-17- SHA/UM/4-19), research was conducted in Fiscal Year 2016 for I-95 to develop a multi-criteria decision support tool for estimating incident-incurred delay and queue length for non-recurring congestion. Prior to this research, and due to the lack of statistical analyses on all the factors that affect an incident duration, CHART operations relied on their personal knowledge and experience to arrive at a conclusion on whether it is beneficial to deploy a FITM detour plan. Since its development, operators have extensively used the decision support tool to make operations decisions for I-95. Unfortunately, validation of the historical incident data using the decision support tool’s traffic flow modules was limited to I-95 only. The proposed research will leverage the recently developed statistical, traffic-flow, cost effectiveness, and artificial learning modules to expand the project limits to other corridors of interest, especially the I-695, I-70 and US-29.  The expanded geographic coverage would lead to better operations and incident management across the state of Maryland.  The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) will be able to use the data-driven results from this study to make well-informed decisions when deploying FITM plans along major highways in the State. Better and faster decision-making will help reduce traffic delays as well as user costs, which can be extensive when they are caused by a major traffic incident/event.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2020 13:33:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1715293</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SPR-4405: Synthesis Study on Best Practices for Mapping and Coordinating Detours for Maintenance of Traffic, including Risk Assessment/Management for Duration of Traffic Control Activities</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1664490</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study will document best practices that could be implemented within INDOT projects. Due to the typical unsystematic nature of development of detour mapping and coordination plans, the local communities, drivers, and associated stakeholders might encounter unforeseen indirect risks and losses. Implementation of the study results can help reduce these indirect risks and losses and provide benefits in terms of reduced MOT costs to the agency, travel delay costs to road users, and business disruptions for community businesses.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:38:03 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1664490</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of Factors Influencing Roundabout Capacity</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1601131</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this research project is to develop an improved model for estimating roundabout traffic operations characteristics including vehicle delay and capacity. Specifically, the model will be designed to account for how specific geometric, operational, and environmental factors influence the gap-acceptance behavior of drivers entering a roundabout and thereby predict the influence of these factors on roundabout operations and safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2019 16:11:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1601131</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>An Integrated Intelligent Intersection Control System (IIICS) for Safety Improvement and Delay Minimization</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1592836</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objectives of this research include both development and field test of the proposed integrated intelligent intersection control system (III-CS) that can concurrently address the safety and efficiency issues. Based on the dilemma zone protection system (DZPS), developed jointly
by MDOT SHA and the research team, the proposed III-CS shall have the following key features: (1) Provide the time-varying advisory speed for approaching vehicles to smoothly progress through the target intersection so that they will neither be blocked by the residual queues from the last red phase, nor trapped in their dilemma zones during the yellow phase; (2) Execute the optimal green termination algorithm under the actuated control function to concurrently minimize the likelihood of rear-end collisions and the total traffic delay; and (3) Activate the all-red extension as needed to prevent the potential angled crashes.
Such III-CS shall have the function to link together to constitute a real-time network monitoring system, allowing MDOT SHA’s responsible engineers to monitor their performance via the real-time detected traffic data (such as the distributions of speeds, headways, and flow rate), and also to conduct off-line safety analysis, including accident records, near-crash frequency, and impacts on the behaviors of driving populations over each intersection deployed with the proposed III-CS.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 15 Mar 2019 14:48:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1592836</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Estimating the Monetary Benefits of Reducing Delays on Heavily Trafficked Truck Freight Corridors in Georgia</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1474317</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will assess the state of the art in value of travel time savings for different classes of both truck and automobile travel, and develop a method that can be applied at the statewide, corridor level for the purposes of deriving the monetary benefits of limiting within-corridor travel delays. The method will be demonstrated using data for a strategically important trucking corridor in the state of Georgia. The modeling will be used to simulate different future year commodity and truck class allocations, based on future year industrial activity projections and corridor capacities, in order to estimate the future value of delay-reducing truck travel time savings (which may include, for example, adding truck only lanes to a highway). Corridor-specific truck movement volumes will be broken down by origin, destination, commodity and vehicle class, in sufficient detail that corridor travel costs can be derived on the basis of the mix of industries that rely on the corridor for goods deliveries. An origin-based user equilibrium traffic assignment routine will be used to route these multi-class truck movements over the highway corridor's links, using pre-determined automobile traffic volumes to capture mixed truck + auto traffic volume-to-capacity ratios for use in forecasting future year congestion-influenced corridor speeds. The process will also generate a total dollar value of the freight moved in the corridor on an average daily or annual basis, offering a possible freight performance measure for state department of transportation (DOT) use.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Jul 2017 01:01:05 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1474317</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Promoting Economic Development in the Baton Rouge Area, LA: Improving the Performance of the Transportation System through Supply-Oriented, Demand-Oriented and Economic Measures for Mitigating Traffic Congestion</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1466906</link>
      <description><![CDATA[According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI) “2015 Annual Mobility Scoreboard” and the Baton Rouge Area Capital Region Industry for Sustainable Infrastructure Solutions (CRISIS), the Baton Rouge area has been suffering from severe traffic congestion that threatens the economic development in the area. Baton Rouge is listed as the third worst for moderate- average-sized urban areas in the category of average commuter annual traffic delay. The I-10 Mississippi River Bridge, Highway 70, Highway 22, and Highway 30 are example facilities/locations suffering from severe breakdowns that expand to the surrounding streets and intersections and extend over prolonged periods. Solving such an acute congestion problem is challenging especially that capacity expansion is an expensive solution. For instance, a recent study showed that a new Mississippi bridge could significantly solve the current bridge’s congestion problem; however, such bridge will cost around $1 billion. Thus, other solutions related to Active Traffic Management (ATM) and the application of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are of a dire need to be investigated. As such, this study aims to perform network analysis to identify the extent of and identify solutions to the congestion problem at the I-10 Mississippi River Bridge. Based on that, the research team will (a) identify potential supply oriented and demand-oriented solutions in each problematic location, and (b) investigate the anticipated benefits from each solution.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 21 May 2017 10:29:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1466906</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Shifting from LOS to VMT as the Measure of Transportation Impacts: 
Evaluating Prospects for Implementing Senate Bill 743 </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1459132</link>
      <description><![CDATA[California’s Senate Bill (SB) 743, enacted in 2013, marks a historic policy shift in evaluation and mitigation of traffic impacts of development projects. To help achieve state climate policy and sustainability goals, SB 743 eliminates traffic delay as an environmental impact under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), requiring instead assessment of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Recently proposed state implementation guidelines have sparked debate, raising far-reaching questions about development planning. Using a case study approach, our research will consist of two parts. The first will evaluate tools-in-use for estimating VMT impacts of development projects, considering outputs in connection to the best available research on the subject, and also against the proposed state rules for determining significant effects that require mitigation. The project will evaluate how well the tools and proposed guidelines distinguish high- and low-performing projects, and how well they serve to streamline project-level analysis from plan-level analysis – a goal of SB 743. The second component will consist of interviews with local CEQA practitioners and assessment of pertinent documents on CEQA review, to identify challenges for implementing SB 743 at the local level. The research will identify effective VMT assessment techniques that state policymakers may want to recommend to local agencies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 08 Mar 2017 17:28:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1459132</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Reducing Incident-Induced Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation: Use of Social Media Feeds as an Incident Management Support Tool</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1446625</link>
      <description><![CDATA[By 2020, traffic delay is froecasted to cost 8.4 million hours for society and result in a fuel waste of 4.5 billion gallons in the United States (U.S.).  Besides the wasted time and fuel, incidents also cause local pollution (due to higher levels of emissions), and injuries/fatalities.  Roadway accidents are responsible for the majority of this high toll a 57.9%.  If an incident is not cleared in a timely fashion, the queue back-up due to incidents can further block nearby ramps or intersections, causing additional delays.  Early incident detection is also reported to save lives by increasing the survival probability of an injury accident victim.

In order to reduce these negative impacts, government agencies invest in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) infrastructure (such as traffic sensors and cameras) for better management of traffic, including roadway incidents.  ITS infrastructure includes and array of information collection systems to share real-time data with integrated traffic control systems and advisory alerts designed to manage traffic, detect incidents, and provide travelers with current route information.  A wide range of statistical inference methods and algorithms as well as commercialized products are suggested for efficient and accurate detection.  However these technologies heavily depend on input from ITS infrastructure, i.e. magnetic loop detectors, Bluetooth readers, traffic cameras, etc.  Consequently, such sensor dependent incident management (IM) strategies come with substantial infrastructure and maintenance costs.  Incident detection methods with lower costs can yield a very high cost-benefit ratio.  Use of social media feeds to detect traffic indidents is one such approach which does not require any infrastructure investment, yet has shown to exhibit a strong potential for effectiveness.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:30:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1446625</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>