<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>TRB Publications Index</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/</link><atom:link href="http://pubsindex.trb.org/common/TRIS Suite/feeds/rss.aspx?tc=NN%3ACsm%2A" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><description></description><language>en-us</language><copyright>Copyright © 2015. 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>TRB Publications Index</title><url>http://pubsindex.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle.png</url><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/</link></image><item><title>DOT and FAA Airport Legal Determination and Opinion Letter Abstracts of 2024</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709408</link><description><![CDATA[U.S. airports that receive assistance from the federal government are required to comply with a number of obligations imposed by federal law. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Airport Cooperative Research Program’s ACRP Web-Only Document 68: DOT and FAA Airport Legal Determination and Opinion Letter Abstracts of 2024 covers case-specific guidance from U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) or Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on various federal airport compliance matters released since the previous update to ACRP Legal Research Digest 21. This document includes guidance on exclusive rights, fee and rental structures, and the standards for determining airport sponsor compliance with other federal obligations. This document is supplemental to ACRP Legal Research Digest 21: Compilation of DOT and FAA Airport Legal Determinations and Opinion Letters as of December 31, 2024, which contains agency determinations covering administrative cases brought against large and small airports throughout the United States, as well as DOT and FAA opinion letters, memoranda, and related documents. These documents cover legal matters that include reasonableness of contractual terms, leasing practices, airport rules and regulations, airport charges imposed on aeronautical users, including airlines, and the standards for determining airport sponsor compliance with other federal obligations.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:56:02 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709408</guid></item><item><title>Responsibility Attribution for Autonomous Vehicle Crashes Based on Causal Inference: Case Study in California, USA</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709310</link><description><![CDATA[In the autonomous driving environment, the attribution of responsibility becomes complex when multiple crash parties and factors are involved. This study proposes a method to attribute the responsibility of the primary crash vehicle when human drivers and autonomous driving systems coexist, and apply it to the existing Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) crash data from 2019 to 2023 in California, USA. Firstly, a causal network is constructed by integrating the Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) methods to analyze the mutual impact of factors in the crash data. Secondly, Random Forest (RF) is used to obtain the feature importance in AV crashes. Based on the relationship between factors and the main responsible parties, the responsibility among relative stakeholders can be quantified. Under the research data in California, in autonomous driving mode, human drivers of the primary crash vehicle and software developers both account for 31% of the crash. Following behind are other stakeholders at 21% and vehicle manufacturers at 17%. On this basis, adjustments can be made to the responsible proportion in relation to a specific crash. By identifying the impact factors of AV crashes and responsibility attribution, this study offers important insights into safe autonomous driving tests, AV production regulation, and the development of crash responsibility policies. The methodology framework developed in this paper is universal and can be applicable to AV crash analysis in diverse regions and AV penetration rates.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:07:22 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709310</guid></item><item><title>Enhancing Data Accessibility through Automated Personally Identifiable Information De-Identification in Crash Narratives</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709228</link><description><![CDATA[Unstructured crash narratives in police reports contain rich textual information that can uncover key insights into crash circumstances, such as contributing factors and driver behavior, that are often missing from the structured fields of crash data. However, the presence of personally identifiable information (PII) within these narratives, and the lack of scalable, domain-specific redaction tools, limit their broader use because of privacy concerns and legal restrictions. To address this challenge, a scalable, privacy-preserving pipeline for automated PII de-identification from crash narratives was developed and evaluated. The proposed method utilizes a generalist model for named entity recognition using bidirectional transformer (GLiNER), which is known for its strong zero-shot, few-shot, and fine-tuned performance across diverse entity types. The model was fine-tuned on a manually annotated training set to adapt it to the crash narrative domain. It was found that combining this fine-tuned named entity recognition model with a rule-based post-processing module improved PII detection performance by resolving span misalignments and recovering entities that were initially missed. Evaluation on a test set achieved an F1 score above 80%, particularly for frequent PII categories such as names and addresses. Post-processing further reduced false negatives by 32%. The pipeline was developed and tested on local machines to ensure data confidentiality. Additionally, the workflow supports accessibility and future use through GLiNER-Studio, a user-friendly tool that enables non-programmers to fine-tune models on new datasets. This study contributes a practical solution to the need for automated PII de-identification in transportation safety data, enabling secure data sharing and ethical analytics for research and policymaking.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:01:49 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709228</guid></item><item><title>Digitalization of Maritime Transportation Disputes: Legal Harmonization and Procedural Gains through Online Dispute Resolution</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2706171</link><description><![CDATA[The maritime sector faces increasing pressure to modernize dispute resolution systems as digitalization exposes known gaps in enforceability, procedural consistency, contractual comprehension, and cross-border risk, while also introducing uncertainties linked to emerging technological and legal challenges. This study evaluates the functionality of current maritime resolution systems and the limited uptake of the Rotterdam Rules—despite their objective to provide legal certainty and uniformity for multimodal carriage since 2009—highlighting their relevance to digital processes. It situates online dispute resolution (ODR) within maritime law by examining doctrinal compatibility with admiralty jurisprudence and established arbitration frameworks, including high-court interpretations of party autonomy, fairness, and evidence standards. The research adopts an institutional–organizational perspective to position the proposed political-institutional paradigm within broader public, private, and compliance-governance structures that guide system integrity and mitigate risks of noncompliance and embedded bias. It clarifies jurisdictional limits and liability transitions along end-to-end transport chains to support structured, platform-ready ODR pathways for multimodal disputes. The analysis also notes that existing treaty frameworks do not preclude the use of electronic processes, offering interpretive space for digital adjudication. The model emphasizes coordinated standard-setting by the International Maritime Organization, the Baltic and International Maritime Council, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law to ensure neutral, legally harmonized, and technically reliable ODR protocols. In line with cooperative principles reflected in instruments such as the Law of the Sea Convention, this study affirms ODR as a complementary and forward-looking mechanism. Analysis of 194 maritime cases shows ODR can yield nonarbitrary, efficient, and cost-effective outcomes, complementing the gradual evolution of instruments such as the Rotterdam Rules.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 10:48:02 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2706171</guid></item><item><title>Addressing Liability Issues of Proactive Safety Improvements</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2701282</link><description><![CDATA[This report examines the legal considerations facing transportation agencies that adopt proactive, data-driven approaches to roadway safety. The research analyzes how predictive safety methods, used to identify roadway features and locations associated with elevated crash risk, may intersect with tort liability concerns. The findings are intended to assist state departments of transportation in understanding legal risks, available defenses, and strategies to manage liability while advancing safety objectives. The digest will be of particular interest to agency counsel, risk managers, and senior transportation officials. Transportation agencies increasingly rely on proactive safety analysis to inform roadway design and improvement decisions before crashes occur. However, uncertainty regarding the potential use of proactive safety methodologies, manuals, and guidance in tort litigation has raised concerns about increased exposure to liability. Although federal law limits the admissibility of certain safety data and studies, those protections do not clearly extend to safety manuals or predictive analytical tools. Research was needed to assess whether and how tort liability concerns may affect the adoption of proactive safety approaches. Under NCHRP Project 20-06/Topic 27-05, the Fine Points, Ltd. research team was asked to examine the legal landscape surrounding proactive safety improvements. This study reviews relevant statutes, case law, and agency practices; identifies litigation in which proactive safety concepts have been raised; evaluates defenses and outcomes; and documents strategies used by transportation agencies to mitigate liability concerns. Based on this analysis, the research explores potential legal, administrative, and policy approaches that may support the use of proactive safety methods while preserving established processes for prioritizing and funding roadway improvements.]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2026 12:15:36 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2701282</guid></item><item><title>Data Protection and Privacy Management at U.S. Airports: Guidelines</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2697804</link><description><![CDATA[This report provides U.S. airports with real-world use cases of data collection activities. Additionally, the report provides a thorough review of new technologies and processes, legal and regulatory trends, and the specific challenges that U.S. airports face when collecting, processing, and using data at an enterprise level. A detailed literature review includes a review of publicly available information on data management efforts of several airports. More than 20 airports were interviewed on their data collection efforts. That feedback was distilled into the use cases in this report. This report will be of interest to the staff at U.S. airports of all sizes, most notably airport leadership, legal staff, and airport information technology specialists.]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 02 May 2026 15:47:05 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2697804</guid></item><item><title>Neuro-Adaptive Formation Tracking for Networked Autonomous Surface Vehicles Under Time Delay via Hierarchical Information Security Control</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2553262</link><description><![CDATA[This paper investigates the formation tracking control problem for autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) with dynamic uncertainties and external disturbances under secure and privacy-preserving interaction. An innovative hierarchical information security control (HISC) framework is proposed to solve the estimation problem in a secure and privacy-preserving way and the formation tracking problem for ASVs. The information processing layer of HISC framework focuses on the distributed secure and privacy-preserving estimator (DSPE) algorithm under sampled-data interaction and the local control layer is mainly about the robust neuro-adaptive controller without any model information for the formation of networked ASVs under communication delay. Through systematic analysis, sufficient conditions are given for guaranteeing the stability and convergence of the studied closed-loop system. Ultimately, simulation outcomes are showcased to corroborate the efficacy of the proposed control scheme.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 08:24:57 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2553262</guid></item><item><title>CAN-Trace Attack: Exploit CAN Messages to Uncover Driving Trajectories</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2553219</link><description><![CDATA[Driving trajectory data remains vulnerable to privacy breaches despite existing mitigation measures. Traditional methods for detecting driving trajectories typically rely on map-matching the path using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which is susceptible to GPS data outage. This paper introduces CAN-Trace, a novel privacy attack mechanism that leverages Controller Area Network (CAN) messages to uncover driving trajectories, posing a significant risk to drivers’ long-term privacy. A new trajectory reconstruction algorithm is proposed to transform the CAN messages, specifically vehicle speed and accelerator pedal position, into weighted graphs accommodating various driving statuses. CAN-Trace identifies driving trajectories using graph-matching algorithms applied to the created graphs in comparison to road networks. We also design a new metric to evaluate matched candidates, which allows for potential data gaps and matching inaccuracies. Empirical validation under various real-world conditions, encompassing different vehicles and driving regions, demonstrates the efficacy of CAN-Trace: it achieves an attack success rate of up to 90.59% in the urban region, and 99.41% in the suburban region.]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:56:52 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2553219</guid></item><item><title>Legal Impacts to Airports from State Legalization of Cannabis</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2593739</link><description><![CDATA[The federal government classifies cannabis as an illegal Schedule I substance, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency categorizes as having “no currently accepted medical use.” However, many states have legalized cannabis, some for just medical use and some for both medical and recreational adult-use. The difference between the federal government classification and state legalization of cannabis requires a balance for airports located in states where cannabis has been legalized. This digest will be helpful for airports to understand the impacts of state legalization of cannabis on their environment, including employment. The objective of this digest was to provide airports with guidance and analysis on the impacts of the conflict between federal and state laws related to the use of cannabis. The digest includes an appendix that lists each state’s legal cannabis status, and a matrix of each state’s cannabis employment regulations and testing policies.]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:08:46 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2593739</guid></item><item><title>Data Security and Privacy Regulation in the U.S.A: A 50-State Legislative Survey</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2582349</link><description><![CDATA[The last several years have seen an astronomical acceleration in data collection, storage, and transfer, driven by the rise of connected and smart technologies. However, this increase in automated and connected infrastructure has brought with it a host of unprecedented risks in the cyber world, exposing personal data and information systems to cybercrime worldwide. Although efforts have been made to address these issues, federal data security measures for critical infrastructure sectors have been slow to emerge. Recognizing this gap and the massive amounts of data being collected from individuals every day, some states have begun enacting generally applicable data privacy protocols. However, state regulations governing data security are jurisdictionally limited, unsynchronized, and inconsistent in scope. This paper aims to provide an overview of current data security regulations across all 50 state jurisdictions, with a focus on key points of interest in the transportation industry, for both industry stakeholders and policymakers. While not exhaustive with respect to consumer data privacy laws, this survey addresses some of the most pressing compliance issues for data managers in both public and private settings.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 29 Jul 2025 13:55:14 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2582349</guid></item><item><title>Legal Issues Concerning the Safety and Security of General Aviation Airports</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2550842</link><description><![CDATA[This legal research digest examines state and local laws related to safety and security at general aviation airports. This digest expands on ACRP Synthesis 3: General Aviation Safety and Security Practices (2007), which identified states with licensing requirements for public-use airports, including information regarding the nature and extent of state and local regulation of general aviation (GA) airports. There is a range of standards and programs for enforcing safety and security at GA airports. Comparing local laws with the federal requirements provides further distinction between the state regulatory requirements. Additionally, the applicability of federal, state, and local regulations depends on the area being defined as an airport. The objective of this project was to provide a comprehensive compilation of legal source information for stakeholders in safety and security of federally obligated GA airports in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Research included identifying state and local laws on safety and security at public-use GA airports. Appendix A provides a resource of state statutory, administrative code information for each state.]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 17:26:28 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2550842</guid></item><item><title>NCHRP Legal Research Digest 87: Homeless Encampments in Transportation Rights-of-Way: Laws and State Transportation Agency Practices</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2506088</link><description><![CDATA[This article highlights research into legal factors faced by state transportation agencies when addressing homeless encampments in transportation rights-of-way. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-06/Topic 25-04, “Laws Governing Homeless Encampments in Transportation Rights-of-Way,” and the resulting publication, NCHRP Legal Research Digest 87: Encampments of Unhoused Individuals in Transportation Rights-of-Way—Laws and State DOT Practices (2022), aim to clarify the legal landscape surrounding the prevention and removal of homeless encampments on rights-of-way, as well as the authorized use of these spaces for social services or shelters. The study team analyzed various laws, surveyed state departments of transportation, examined ordinances from major metropolitan areas, and conducted interviews at relevant local agencies. The team found that managing unauthorized access to rights-of-way varies widely by state, often includes dealing with public health and safety issues, may require coordination with law enforcement or social service agencies, and includes legal considerations around liability, property rights, and constitutional rights.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2025 16:31:08 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2506088</guid></item><item><title>Accommodating Federal Agencies at Airports and Related Contractual Concerns</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2518957</link><description><![CDATA[Federal agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Defense, play key roles in airport operations, safety, and security of the facilities. However, the legal authority defining airports’ rights and obligations to these agencies is varied and can be confusing. It may be unclear what restrictions exist, costs the airports have to incur, and level of obligations airports have when executing a cooperative agreement or other agreements with federal authorities. Airports must plan and comply with these federal agencies, and it is important to understand what is mandatory, discretionary, or prohibited for airports to provide. This digest will be helpful to prepare airports for conversations with federal agencies about accommodating requirements. The objective of this digest is to provide information concerning airports’ rights and obligations to accommodate federal agencies and enter into cooperative agreements and other agreements. It provides a review of federal laws and applicable grant assurances, and information on relevant federal agency orders and policies and guidance, including General Service Administration authority and process. This digest contains a matrix that identifies airport obligations to specific federal agencies and directs the reader to the authority and guidance documents.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:53:45 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2518957</guid></item><item><title>Effects of American Indian Treaties on Development and Operation of Transportation Facilities</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2481844</link><description><![CDATA[Recently, the State of Washington was required to redesign the culverts beneath its roads to facilitate the passage of salmon. This mandate arose from the interpretation of treaties with American Indian tribes dating back to the 1850s, which predated Washington’s admission to the United States. These treaties specifically address fishing rights. A proceeding in the ongoing case of United States v. Washington affirmed these rights, leading to the recognition that the state must update its transportation infrastructure to ensure the protection of salmon habitats. The significance of tribal treaty rights is now increasingly influencing local and state planning and regulatory bodies, particularly in their decisions regarding the construction and operation of transportation facilities. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court reinforced the fact that American Indian treaties established before statehood—and never abrogated by Congress—remain in effect. In McGirt v. Oklahoma, the Court ruled that a Native American accused of crimes committed within the boundaries of a reservation established prior to Oklahoma’s statehood could not be tried in state court because, pursuant to a treaty with the Muscogee Nation, the State of Oklahoma remained, for relevant purposes, “Indian country” subject to federal jurisdiction. This decision underscores the necessity for states to reassess the ongoing relevance of treaties enacted before they achieved statehood. This NCHRP Legal Research Digest examines how state departments of transportation (DOTs) plan, develop, and operate transportation infrastructure that crosses lands reserved by treaty. Key considerations include: Ongoing validity of treaties; Impact on modern development; and Engagement with tribal stakeholders. This digest will be valuable to transportation attorneys representing state DOTs and authorities, as well as their contractors and consultants. It will also benefit policymakers, local, state, and federal personnel, transportation practitioners, decision-makers, and stakeholders involved in ensuring that transportation projects comply with legal and cultural obligations.]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:15:59 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2481844</guid></item><item><title>Learning Driver Models for Automated Vehicles via Knowledge Sharing and Personalization</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2464780</link><description><![CDATA[This paper describes a learning framework for driver models of automated vehicles (AVs) via knowledge sharing and personalization. As a result of the inherent variability in the transportation system, exposing AVs to all potential driving scenarios through empirical testing is challenging. This limitation can render AVs unaware of certain critical situations, affecting their safe and efficient operation. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a collaborative training approach that enables the sharing of knowledge among AVs while maintaining personalized models tailored to each vehicle’s unique conditions. The method adopts a federated learning strategy to facilitate privacy-aware collaboration, sharing only model parameters and never raw data. Through experimental simulations, we demonstrate the framework’s capability to (i) learn unseen driving scenarios and (ii) personalize driver models to different driving styles (aggressive and passive). Codes and data are made available at the project page https://github.com/wissamkontar.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 03 Dec 2024 10:31:14 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2464780</guid></item></channel></rss>