<?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%3ANc%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>Exploring Cellular-Based Private Wireless Networks for the U.S. Aviation Industry</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712235</link><description><![CDATA[Every industry, including aviation, is increasingly moving toward digital transformation, with promising solutions in areas such as automation and smart facilities. A private wireless network (PWN) provides wireless connectivity to people and devices, whether stationary or in motion within the network’s coverage area. Because a PWN is based on proven mobile technology, it can offer at least the same level of performance and security as public networks that have been trusted worldwide for years. As a private network, it enables airport operators to enhance performance and security. ACRP Research Report 282, produced by the Transportation Research Board's (TRB’s) Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), addresses key considerations related to the conceptualization, planning, design, deployment, and management of PWNs. It is intended to educate and guide airport operators as they evaluate options for achieving ubiquitous and reliable connectivity. The report provides strategic insights into areas such as ownership, monetization, procurement, financing, innovation, and future expansion. In this guide, mobile technology refers to what has long been known as cellular technology.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:56:02 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712235</guid></item><item><title>Exploring Cellular-Based Private Wireless Networks: Summary</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712236</link><description><![CDATA[Every industry, including aviation, is increasingly moving toward digital transformation, with promising solutions in areas such as automation and smart facilities. A private wireless network (PWN) provides wireless connectivity to people and devices, whether stationary or in motion within the network’s coverage area. Because a PWN is based on proven mobile technology, it can offer at least the same level of performance and security as public networks that have been trusted worldwide for years. As a private network, it enables airport operators to enhance performance and security. ACRP Research Results Digest 29, produced by the Transportation Research Board's (TRB’s) Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), is a shorter, condensed version of ACRP Research Report 282: Exploring Cellular-Based Private Wireless Networks for the U.S. Aviation Industry. Both publications address key considerations related to the conceptualization, planning, design, deployment, and management of PWNs. They are intended to educate and guide airport operators as they evaluate options for achieving ubiquitous and reliable connectivity. The reports provide strategic insights into areas such as ownership, monetization, procurement, financing, innovation, and future expansion. In these reports, mobile technology refers to what has long been known as cellular technology.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:56:01 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712236</guid></item><item><title>Knowledge-Based Digital Inspection System for Training Construction Inspectors</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2701143</link><description><![CDATA[State transportation agencies face growing challenges in training construction inspectors owing to a shrinking experienced workforce and the increasing complexity in inspection tasks. Traditional document-based training methods are often fragmented and lack contextual depth, limiting their effectiveness in preparing novice inspectors. This study presents a knowledge-based digital inspection training system that consolidates inspection information from multiple Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) documents—including Standard Specifications, General Instructions to Field Employees, Indiana Testing Methods, standard drawings, and Manual for Frequency of Sampling and Testing and Basis for Use of Materials—into a semantically structured knowledge graph. The inspection training system enhances learning through the integration of rationale, instructions, construction pitfalls, and failure scenarios associated with inspection tasks. A user-centered web application was developed to deliver this content in an intuitive format aligned with how inspectors naturally perform their duties—by pay item, construction process, or risk scenario. The system was evaluated through a mock exercise involving INDOT inspectors. Results showed that the system is effective in improving the construction inspectors’ confidence and understanding of inspection rationale, instructions, and risk consequences of missed inspection. This research contributes a scalable, risk-informed framework that improves accessibility and comprehension of inspection knowledge, with the potential to foster proactive inspection behaviors and support more consistent construction quality control across transportation projects.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 12:24:46 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2701143</guid></item><item><title>Transforming Aviation Technical Authoring with Generative Artificial Intelligence: Toward Automation and Efficiency</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2681196</link><description><![CDATA[Over the coming decades, the aviation sector is expected to witness substantial growth driven by increasing global demand for air travel, necessitating efficient and precise technical documentation to manage the growing complexity of maintenance. As technical authoring processes remain labor-intensive and prone to inconsistencies, this study investigates the potential of Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to automate the creation of Engineering Orders (EOs), which are derived from Airworthiness Directives (ADs) and Service Bulletins (SBs). A three-phase approach is adopted to generate EOs from ADs and SBs, enabling a structured evaluation of GenAI’s performance in technical authoring. Expert reviews are integral to refining AI outputs, emphasizing the importance of integrating AI capabilities with human expertise. This study validates the effectiveness of GenAI in aviation technical authoring and introduces a scoring tool to evaluate the quality of AI-generated documentation across several dimensions: (1) technical knowledge; (2) accuracy; (3) comprehensiveness; and (4) usability and flexibility. The findings highlight that the synergy between AI-generated content and expert review significantly improves documentation quality by mitigating AI limitations, reducing the time required to produce technical documentation and ensuring practical applicability. The proposed approach provides a scalable framework that can be adapted for use in various industries requiring precise technical documentation.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 19:09:01 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2681196</guid></item><item><title>Investigating the Determinants of Chinese Cruise Port Competitiveness: a Grey-DEMATEL Approach</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2659376</link><description><![CDATA[The burgeoning cruise tourism industry has elevated the significance of cruise port competitiveness, particularly in China where the industry is experiencing rapid expansion. However, the development of Chinese cruise ports is hindered by a lack of comprehensive analysis of the factors that shape their competitiveness. This paper addresses this challenge by identifying and evaluating the primary factors influencing the competitiveness of Chinese cruise ports. The Grey-DEMATEL method is employed to systematically evaluate these factors and their causal relationships. Nine key factors are pinpointed which are pivotal to the competitiveness of Chinese cruise ports, highlighting how these factors interact and influence one another. The findings offer a strategic framework for the planning and management of Chinese cruise ports, providing actionable insights for practitioners to improve port competitiveness, navigate market shifts, and maintain a leading position in the global cruise industry. This paper’s contributions to the theoretical understanding of cruise port competitiveness and its practical applications are poised to support the thriving advance of China’s cruise tourism sector.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2026 17:08:28 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2659376</guid></item><item><title>Strengthening Alcohol Policies and Supporting Safety and Health in the Maritime Industry</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2657017</link><description><![CDATA[Strengthening the maritime workforce requires attention to its challenges. Over the last several years, a number of highly publicized instances of sexual misconduct in the maritime industry involved alcohol use. The headlines drew national attention, led to Congressional action, and triggered multiple changes in policies and practices across the U.S. maritime academies, industry, and the U.S. Coast Guard. This report presents the results of a study called for by Congress and commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard about the problems arising from the possession and consumption of alcohol at sea and the actions taken to address them. The study's charge is broad, requiring an assessment that considers operational and workplace factors that inform alcohol misuse; the contributing role of alcohol and other substances to harmful and dangerous behaviors, including sexual misconduct; the effectiveness of federal regulations and policies to deter misuse; the state of science on best practices for regulating workplace alcohol use and for preventing intoxication and sexual misconduct; and the extent to which current regulations and policies pertaining to the maritime industry align with these best practices. Conducted by an expert committee, the study starts from the premise that taking actions to prevent alcohol misuse is far preferable to responding to the consequences. Drawing upon the interconnections among alcohol and other substance use, sexual misconduct, and mariner well-being, the committee reviewed the relevant policy and programmatic framework as well as the state of existing evidence on the nature and scale of these problems. This context informed the committee's recommendations for both specific standards and guidelines as well as for fundamental approaches to enhance leadership and a safety-focused culture.]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:38:59 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2657017</guid></item><item><title>2025 Cooperative Research Programs Annual Report</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2656285</link><description><![CDATA[The 2025 Cooperative Research Programs Annual Report highlights progress and provides an overview of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), and the Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program (BTSCRP). In addition, the report outlines the Cooperative Research Program's history and structure, mission and vision, ongoing process improvement initiatives, and research themes or focus areas. For each research program information includes: oversight committee members; program history and mission; program financial report; role of sponsors/funding agencies; accomplishments and updates; current and pending projects with contract amount, status, start and end dates; and program publications.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:46:07 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2656285</guid></item><item><title>Cooperative Research Programs Celebrated</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2635942</link><description><![CDATA[Two units in the Transportation Research Board's (TRB’s) Cooperative Research Programs marked milestones this past fall. On September 10, the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) kicked off its 20th anniversary by receiving a 2025 Award of Excellence from the Michigan Aeronautics Commission and Michigan Department of Transportation (DOT). The anniversary salute continued on September 26 at the annual ACRP Day. The virtual event featured a panel discussion and opportunities for participants to share success stories about implementing research-based practices to improve operations, safety, and efficiency. On October 1, the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) also featured a special event at this year’s TCRP Day: a live, in-person taping of the Transit Unplugged podcast. A panel of transportation professionals and host, Paul Comfort, explored the critical role of research in shaping the future of public transit, and TCRP’s crucial role in delivering actionable research on subjects ranging from fare policy to safety to workforce development that affect millions of people daily.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 08:59:30 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2635942</guid></item><item><title>Industrial Activities and Railway Freight: Revealing Spatiotemporal Characteristics and their Correlation Relationship</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2604230</link><description><![CDATA[Understanding the relationship between industrial activities and railway freight may offer insights for transforming railway freight services in response to new economic situations. Existing studies have examined the impact of national GDP or economic structure on total freight traffic. However, limited studies link the values of subdivided sectors with the freight traffic of subdivided goods categories, even though this linkage allows for the targeted optimization of transport resource allocation. This research reveals how industrial sectors influence various railway goods categories in China’s Yangtze River Delta region. Using the standard deviation ellipse method and regression models, we focus on their spatial distribution similarities, and correlation relationships. The agglomeration levels of various industrial sectors, expressed through location entropy, are calculated to analyze their impact on rail freight volume for different cargo types. The findings show a distinct difference in the spatial agglomeration characteristics of non-bulk and bulk railway freight in the Yangtze River Delta region. Non-bulk goods exhibit increasingly pronounced agglomeration, whereas bulk goods show an increasingly pronounced dispersion. The spatial distribution similarity between non-bulk railway freight and industry is higher than that between bulk freight and industry, and this similarity has been increasing annually. Different industrial sectors exert varying influence on railway freight. The mid-end and low-end industrial sectors distinctly affect railway freight traffic, whereas the high-end industrial sector has an unobvious impact. Findings also show that improving industrial sectors’ agglomeration promotes railway freight traffic, regardless of whether the industrial sectors are low-end or high-end.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:13:19 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2604230</guid></item><item><title>A Method of Dual-Hub Route Network Optimization Based on Route Efficiency Evaluation</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2569806</link><description><![CDATA[Dual-hub is a unique model, known as “one-city two-airports,” which is increasingly being adopted by cities. A key aspect of this model involves developing both airports as major international hubs. Emphasizing route differentiation is pivotal, as significant route overlap would lead to inefficient resource utilization. Therefore, achieving proper differentiation in the route network is a fundamental objective. However, the current dual-hub route network remains relatively immature. Therefore, this paper investigates the dual-hub route network efficiency assessment and optimization method through three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) and a route network optimization mathematical model, aiming to improve the dual-hub route efficiency, moderately reduce the route overlap, and then form an efficient and differentiated dual-hub route network. In the example, the efficiency of the routes of Beijing dual-hub, Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), is evaluated, and the route network of dual-hub is optimized using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA-III). The research results show that the proposed method can satisfy the capacity limitation of the dual-hub airports and the limitation of the flights of each route, improve the overall operation efficiency of the dual-hub routes, and reduce both the overlap of the routes and the passengers’ departure airport selection cost. It also can reduce the waste of resources owing to the redundancy of the routes, while ensuring the efficient operation of the dual-hub routes.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:27:07 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2569806</guid></item><item><title>Embedding-Based Representation Learning for Forecasting Flight Characteristics</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2516923</link><description><![CDATA[Airlines face significant challenges when building flight schedules, particularly because of unpredictable operations caused by factors such as adverse weather, airport congestion, mechanical problems, and so forth. One of the major components of flight scheduling is block time; accurately estimating block time is crucial for optimizing resource utilization and effective planning (on the scale of minutes). Given that flight scheduling takes place months in advance, accurately predicting block time is a challenging task. This is largely a result of the limited availability of features affecting operations on a specific day, such as the weather, at the time of planning. Consequently, current literature suggests that popular machine learning models are not suitable and recommends the use of statistical historical metrics. However, these methods (a) do not capture the complex latent relationships between factors affecting block time, (b) do not effectively handle high-cardinality categorical data and temporal variations, and (c) only consider a very small number of flights in their conclusions. We conduct, to the best of our knowledge, the first large-scale study of the airline on-time performance database for 2018 from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a public dataset. Specifically, our work introduces an entity-embedding-based representation learning model to efficiently incorporate high-cardinality categorical features and improve the long-term predictive capabilities of the model. These entity embeddings also encapsulate richer feature representations and their interactions. Complementary to these, we conduct rigorous experimental evaluations across 10 baselines and significance tests to demonstrate the advantages of using our entity-embedding-based model to increase long-term forecast accuracy for planning. For reproducibility, the code has been made available at https://github.com/criticalml-uw/Embeddings-for-Block-Time-Prediction.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:22:36 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2516923</guid></item><item><title>Point of View: Mission Critical: Business Aviation in the United States</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2448795</link><description><![CDATA[Business aviation, particularly business jet activity, plays an important part of the U.S. air transportation industry. Over the past decade, the U.S. business jet fleet grew by 3.2 percent annually, outpacing the nation’s GDP annual growth rate of 2.1 percent. By the close of 2022, the active business jet fleet in the United States had reached a total of 14,722 aircraft, compared with approximately 7,200 aircraft in the commercial air-carrier fleet. This article delves into different aspects of the business jet industry in the United States including an increasing focus on environmental sustainability. The article highlights initiatives supporting carbon emission reduction in the business aviation sector including: a commitment to reduce the industry's impact on climate change led by the International Business Aviation Council; the Net-Zero Banking alliance, which includes major U.S. banks committed to portfolios aligned with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions; and emissions reporting regulations from the Securities Exchange Commission. The article also discusses the factors that go into a company's decision to utilize business jets and the opportunity cost of using a business jet.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 07 Jan 2025 17:24:33 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2448795</guid></item><item><title>Legal Considerations for General Aviation Lease Development at Airports</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2458927</link><description><![CDATA[This legal research digest collects and analyzes 16 of the most significant topics in the development of general aviation (GA) leases at airports of various sizes across the United States. Although GA leases include many additional provisions, these 16 topics are the lease terms that are most often discussed, written about, and that generated the most discussion during interviews with airport Lessors and Lessees. Each section of this digest includes annotated examples of lease provisions taken from airport leases that were analyzed during research for this project. This digest also provides (1) an analysis of the legal rules that affect the selected lease terms; (2) a description of the history and common law origins of the rules that provides helpful context; and (3) a checklist that identifies the interests, concerns, preferences, and strategies of Lessors and Lessees during lease negotiations. Altogether, the information presented in this digest will assist airport counsel, staff, and current and prospective airport Lessees, in understanding, developing, negotiating, and drafting GA airport leases.]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 24 Nov 2024 17:46:58 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2458927</guid></item><item><title>Sustainable Horizons: Exploring Attitudes and Beliefs on Electric Aircraft Usage in General Aviation</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2447276</link><description><![CDATA[This research was conducted to better understand the perceptions surrounding electrically powered aircraft in the general aviation (GA) sector. The study employed survey methodologies to collect responses from (N?=?780) participants, with an emphasis on data from collegiate aviation students as well as a broad subset of the GA community. The study focused on factors such as generational differences, gender, the impact of flight training, and prior exposure to electric or hybrid cars, and how these factors influence the aviation industry’s sustainable transformation. The results indicate a significant and positive correlation between attitudes toward electric aircraft and prior exposure to or ownership of electric or hybrid cars. Generational differences, gender-based variations, and the impact of flight training on willingness to pay for electric aircraft utilization also had significant relationships with attitudes toward electric aircraft. The findings provide valuable insights for industry stakeholders and policymakers in promoting sustainable aviation practices, and complements prior research into the feasibility of electric flight.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 04 Nov 2024 08:39:41 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2447276</guid></item><item><title>The Comparison and Potential of CO2 Capture Technologies Implementation on the Marine Transport</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2407963</link><description><![CDATA[The research assesses and compares the technological possibilities to capture the greenhouse gas emissions on marine transport power plans generated exhaust gas emissions in order to minimize carbon emissions release into the atmosphere. The research determinates that a few different principal technologies are available for CO₂ capture on energy plants: pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture and the oxyfuel solution. According to the outlook the emission from Maritime industry by 2050 will increase in-between 50 and 250 percent and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) goal is to minimize the greenhouse has emission generation at least 50% by 2050 towards Paris climate agreement policy. The LNG fuel allows vessels to comply with Tier II/Tier III regulations where from the view of long perspective range the LNG serves as a transition fuel. The resolution of carbon intensity indicator (CII) MEPC.328(76) was introduced as a new vessels’ efficiency measure standard. According to established standard from 01st of January 2023 all ships will require to present their annual operational carbon intensity indicator (CII) and CII rating. The low-class vessels accordingly will be encouraged by authorities to introduce action measures to improve cargo handling efficiency level therefore the introduced grading will likewise force shipowners to revise technological availabilities to retrofit vessels into more efficient. The situation in maritime sector towards carbon emission minimization has led Klaipeda University to establish research to analyses and compare technological solutions which would benefit to maritime transport sector to comply with introduced regulations. The publication represents the first stage research results of available carbon capture technologies.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:13:30 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2407963</guid></item></channel></rss>