<?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?s=PHNlYXJjaD48cGFyYW1zPjxwYXJhbSBuYW1lPSJzdWJqZWN0aWQiIHZhbHVlPSIxNzc4IiAvPjxwYXJhbSBuYW1lPSJsb2NhdGlvbiIgdmFsdWU9IjIiIC8%2BPHBhcmFtIG5hbWU9InN1YmplY3Rsb2dpYyIgdmFsdWU9Im9yIiAvPjxwYXJhbSBuYW1lPSJ0ZXJtc2xvZ2ljIiB2YWx1ZT0ib3IiIC8%2BPC9wYXJhbXM%2BPGZpbHRlcnMgLz48cmFuZ2VzIC8%2BPHNvcnRzPjxzb3J0IGZpZWxkPSJwdWJsaXNoZWQiIG9yZGVyPSJkZXNjIiAvPjwvc29ydHM%2BPHBlcnNpc3RzPjxwZXJzaXN0IG5hbWU9InJhbmdldHlwZSIgdmFsdWU9InB1Ymxpc2hlZGRhdGUiIC8%2BPC9wZXJzaXN0cz48L3NlYXJjaD4%3D" 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>Deformation Analysis of Long-Deep Foundation Pit Excavation in Ningbo Metro Based Using Hardening Soil Small Strain Model</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2726619</link><description><![CDATA[Ningbo soft soil predominantly consists of silt, which is characterized by significant thickness, high natural moisture content, low strength, and slow consolidation. When this soft soil is disturbed, it leads to surface settlement. This study examines a subway deep foundation pit in Ningbo by simulating and analyzing the entire excavation process using the finite element software PLAXIS 3D. The study investigates the lateral displacement of the supporting structure and surface subsidence trends. In addition, it discusses the effects of the diaphragm wall and supporting stiffness on the surrounding ground settlement. The findings indicate that increasing the stiffness of the diaphragm wall or support structure effectively reduces ground settlement during subway excavation. Furthermore, the study confirms that the proposed method for determining the HSS model parameters is suitable and can offer valuable insights for similar projects in Ningbo and comparable regions.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:47:46 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2726619</guid></item><item><title>From Mothers to Daughters: Examining Intergenerational Safety Work of Young Women in Public Spaces and Public Transportation</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2721768</link><description><![CDATA[Safety work, known as the invisible burden, is the work women undertake in public spaces, including on public transport, to ensure their personal safety. The present study examines safety work from an intergenerational perspective and the influence of parental advice on young women’s perceptions of risk and safety. It places special emphasis on knowledge transfer from mothers to daughters. Twenty-nine young women, mostly university students and regular public transport users, were interviewed in Auckland, New Zealand. The findings revealed that safety work is not only a behavioral adaptation but also an emotional and relational practice embedded within the mother–daughter relationship. Acts of care, such as travel check-ins, avoidance strategies, and self-monitoring, reflected intergenerational patterns of protection that simultaneously preserved gendered inequity. Although mothers’ advice gave daughters a sense of preparedness, it also reinforced a culture in which women carry the primary responsibility for their own safety. Participants described the mental and emotional burden of being constantly alert, as well as feeling frustrated at the normalization of fear as a condition of mobility. For some, safety work has become reflexive and accepted, whereas for others it provokes resistance and a desire for autonomy. These tensions illustrate how safety work functions as both a coping mechanism and a symptom of systemic gendered inequity. This study is a call for action. For change to occur, transport professionals need to recognize the intergenerational dimension of this invisible burden, which is predominantly emotional and physical.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:05:01 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2721768</guid></item><item><title>Ferries: Electrification and Alternative Fuels</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2724651</link><description><![CDATA[Interest in converting diesel-powered ferries to alternative energy sources has grown worldwide over the past decade, and many alternatively powered vessels are already in service, particularly in Northern Europe. Large U.S. operators such as Washington State Ferries and San Francisco Bay Ferry have started the process of electrifying their fleets.  TCRP Research Results Digest 125: Ferries: Electrification and Alternative Fuels, produced by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), explores how alternative power sources may affect various ferry capacity and quality-of-service factors, including port turnaround times, terminal infrastructure requirements, and the passenger experience. The digest summarizes one of 12 small research tasks conducted to support the development of new content for the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, Fourth Edition.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:28:41 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2724651</guid></item><item><title>Operating Margin and Recovery Factor Practices for Travel Time Estimation and Rail Scheduling</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2723721</link><description><![CDATA[Time allowances and recovery margins in rail scheduling are incorporated into travel time estimation and minimum headways to prevent delays from affecting subsequent trains. These margins act as a buffer against service irregularities, such as variations in station dwell times and train performance, and they are a key factor in rail capacity calculations. Most contemporary tools used to analyze or construct timetables calculate running times specific to each train. However, the factors influencing running times are inherently uncertain, including human behavior, weather conditions, train composition, ongoing infrastructure projects, rolling stock, and route conditions. To accommodate these uncertainties, transit planners and agencies incorporate time allowances into running time estimation, while applying operating or recovery margins to minimum headways to limit delay propagation.  TCRP Research Results Digest 122: Operating Margin and Recovery Factor Practices for Travel Time Estimation and Rail Scheduling, produced by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, explores the methodologies used by transit agencies to estimate more robust runtimes. These methodologies, among other elements, help establish operating margins and recovery factors in rail scheduling. This research informed updates to Chapter 8 of the TCQSM 4th edition. The digest describes one of 12 small research tasks conducted to support the development of new content for the 4th edition.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:58:56 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2723721</guid></item><item><title>Slotted Schedules for Corridors with Mixed Freight and Passenger Operations</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2724650</link><description><![CDATA[Slotted scheduling is a planning and operational approach that defines specific time–space slots throughout the day for different classes of trains—typically categorized by speed, acceleration, stopping patterns, and service type—to enable trains to operate without conflicts. As transit agencies seek to expand service hours and improve bidirectional, all-day service, particularly in response to more dispersed post-pandemic travel demand, new planning and coordination approaches are needed. Slotted scheduling offers a potential framework for improving the efficiency, reliability, and transparency of shared rail operations.  TCRP Research Results Digest 124: Slotted Schedules for Corridors with Mixed Freight and Passenger Operations, produced by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, documents current practices, evaluates technical and institutional challenges, and identifies planning and modeling tools that can help public agencies and railroads achieve more coordinated and mutually beneficial operations. The digest summarizes one of 12 small research tasks conducted to support the development of new content for the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, Fourth Edition.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:58:55 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2724650</guid></item><item><title>Through-Running Regional Rail</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2724649</link><description><![CDATA[Interest is growing in transforming traditional commuter rail systems into regional rail systems with more transit-like characteristics. In contrast to traditional peak-period, peak-direction commuter rail service, a through-running regional rail system provides bidirectional, all-day, relatively frequent service through an urban core that can serve multiple trip purposes.  TCRP Research Results Digest 123: Through-Running Regional Rail, produced by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, provides insights into how a through running regional rail system’s capacity is affected by its physical and operational characteristics, service reliability, tolerance for train delays, and other factors. The digest summarizes one of 12 small research tasks conducted to support the development of new content for the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, 4th Edition.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:58:55 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2724649</guid></item><item><title>Understanding Passenger Acceptance of Autonomous Buses: Role of Experience</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2720347</link><description><![CDATA[As autonomous driving technologies continue to advance, autonomous buses (ABs) have moved beyond laboratory testing into real-world operation, and many passengers have already gained riding experience. Existing studies have examined the acceptance of autonomous vehicles or ABs, but they have not analyzed acceptance behavior from the perspective of whether individuals have prior experience. Building on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study incorporates three dimensions of perceived risk and proposes an extended TPB model to examine acceptance differences between individuals who have taken an autonomous bus and those who have not. The findings indicate that, compared with individuals who have taken an autonomous bus, those without riding experience exhibit a stronger positive effect of subjective norms on behavioral intention, as well as stronger negative effects of operational and environmental risks on attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. For individuals with riding experience, attitude and perceived behavioral control exert stronger positive effects on behavioral intention. Furthermore, this study analyzes acceptance differences between individuals with and without riding experience across various sociodemographic groups. The results show that among middle- and low-income respondents who have not taken an autonomous bus, general risk of behavior beliefs demonstrate a significant positive effect on perceived behavioral control. Younger individuals show substantially lower safety concerns and higher acceptance, while individuals with partners exhibit stronger attitude-driven behavioral intentions. Overall, the findings provide empirical insights to support governments and industry stakeholders in developing policies relevant to the operation and promotion of autonomous bus services.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:00:31 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2720347</guid></item><item><title>Red-Tinted Bus Lane Experience</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2714456</link><description><![CDATA[Red-tinted bus lanes are defined as lanes featuring red-colored pavement intended to enhance the visibility of locations, station stops, or travel lanes reserved exclusively for public transit vehicles or multimodal facilities where public transit is the primary mode. Although red-tinted bus lanes have been implemented in several cities, there is relatively limited documentation on their impacts, operational challenges, and other information valuable to agencies interested in implementing them.  TCRP Synthesis 188: Red-Tinted Bus Lane Experience, produced by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, documents the current state of practice for the implementation and performance of red-tinted bus lanes in North America. The report addresses topics such as planning, design, and implementation; materials; operations and enforcement; and system impacts. It also provides guidance and lessons learned from agencies that have implemented and operate red-tinted bus lanes.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:35:20 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2714456</guid></item><item><title>Recent Research on Bus Dwell Time Factors</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2714999</link><description><![CDATA[As part of the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Project A-47, “Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, Fourth Edition,” the research team conducted a series of small research tasks to support development of new content for the manual. This TCRP research results digest (RRD) is one of 12 presenting the results of these research tasks. Dwell time—the time required at a bus stop to serve passengers and open and close the bus doors—is a key factor affecting bus operating speeds and the capacities of bus facilities. This RRD synthesizes the findings of bus dwell time research that occurred after the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual (TCQSM), 3rd Edition, was published and presents methods for estimating average dwell times from archived, automatically collected data.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:35:20 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2714999</guid></item><item><title>Efficient and Equitable Bus-Based Hurricane Evacuation Planning: Case Study of Charleston County, South Carolina</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2714216</link><description><![CDATA[Hurricane evacuations face a critical paradox: the very vehicles intended to save lives often create paralyzing gridlock, leaving the most vulnerable populations stranded. Traditional evacuation plans are primarily based on private automobiles, overlooking the strategic potential of public transit and the dynamic nature of traffic congestion generated during mass departures. This paper introduces a comprehensive optimization framework that elevates public transit from a peripheral support role to a central tool for managing congestion and promoting equitable access. The proposed framework integrates a rolling-horizon column generation model that accommodates multi-trip bus operations over a 72 h evacuation window, a dynamic traffic equilibrium component that updates travel times based on cumulative network congestion, and equity constraints that ensure fair regional coverage. Applied to Charleston County, South Carolina, U.S., the model exposes the risks of static planning: conventional approaches, which ignore real-time congestion feedback, produce infeasible plans that would lead to over 16,000 individuals being unsafely delayed, while our dynamic model successfully evacuates 99.6% of transit-dependent residents. Equity analysis quantifies a “price of fairness,” revealing trade-offs between efficiency and regional balance, and a sensitivity experiment with explicit shelter capacity constraints illustrates how inadequate shelter space can become the binding bottleneck even when road capacity is sufficient. Additionally, this paper identifies a critical system tipping point at 15%–20% public transit dependency, beyond which network performance declines sharply. The computational efficiency of the framework enables real-time implementation in emergency operations centers, equipping decision makers with data-driven tools to balance speed, safety, and social equity in high-stakes evacuation planning.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 08:54:38 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2714216</guid></item><item><title>Public Transit and Ride Sharing for Rural, Tribal, and Frontier Agencies: A Guide</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712234</link><description><![CDATA[This report presents guidance for transportation agencies on integrating public transportation in less populated areas with shared-use mobility (SUM) services. The guide provides examples of notable practices and lessons learned from various transportation agencies and presents information regarding SUM services and technology that can be scaled to rural, tribal, or frontier settings. The guide should be of value to state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies seeking to improve available transportation services and enhance mobility options in their communities or regions via innovations in SUM.]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 15:31:06 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712234</guid></item><item><title>Public Transit and Ride Sharing for Rural, Tribal, and Frontier Agencies: Research into Coordination</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712233</link><description><![CDATA[Transportation mobility options for residents in rural and low-density areas are often more limited as a result of lower ridership demand and fewer available resources to provide service. In rural, frontier, and tribal areas, demand for transportation service typically comes from populations that are especially reliant on transit options (such as older adults, persons with disabilities, and low-income individuals). Residents in these areas typically must travel longer distances to access education, health services, shopping, and employment; travel on these journeys can be inconvenient through public transit due to low service frequency or availability. Rural transit agencies face challenges in lack of expediency for vehicle procurements as well as recruitment and retention of drivers, while staff members at smaller rural transit agencies and transportation-providing organizations often have several sets of responsibilities and limited availability to dedicate to new service or technology implementations. Shared use mobility (SUM) services have been seen as a means to both fill existing mobility gaps and provide enhanced options for residents to travel in the form of on-demand service, smartphone apps, and other features not previously available in existing transportation programs. Goals for these new services have included travel to specific destination centers, first-and-last-mile connections to fixed-route transit systems, targeted service improvements for specific communities or population groups, and many others. However, SUM companies and technologies do not represent a cure-all solution to rural transportation challenges and need to be implemented strategically to fit rural settings rather than implementing models designed for urban areas. Offering on-demand or immediate-fulfillment service in large, less populated areas is challenging from operations and vehicle scheduling standpoints. While many communities want the convenience that on-demand SUM offers, sustainability of funding and demand for these services remains the largest challenge. The research tasks for this National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 08-130 project focused on gathering information about on-demand SUM services and technologies applied toward rural, tribal, and frontier settings. The project scope included activities to gather examples and perspectives on SUM and rural transportation such as outreach activities with stakeholders at rural transit agencies, cities and municipalities, nonprofit organizations, private industry, technical assistance centers, state departments of transportation (DOTs), and other entities engaged in rural transportation. The results of this project effort were the development of companion resources that can assist such agencies and organizations in planning for SUM service implementations in their own communities.]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 15:31:06 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712233</guid></item><item><title>Resilience-Oriented Line Planning for Multimodal Rail Transit Network Considering Uncertain Passenger Service Choice Behavior</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2711991</link><description><![CDATA[The train line planning problem (LPP) determines passenger travel path accessibility by optimizing train routes and stop plans. This study considers the uncertainty of passenger service choice behavior and the partial periodic operation pattern in the multimodal rail transit network (MRTN), defines system resilience as the network’s ability to resist interference, and constructs a resilience-oriented LPP model with constraints for passenger assignment that account for uncertain service choice behavior. A customized iterative solution procedure is designed to solve this model. In each iteration, a passenger assignment algorithm that integrates an available travel path search method is developed to determine passenger travel paths, and an improved adaptive large neighborhood search (IALNS) algorithm with a network decomposition strategy is designed to solve the LPP. The proposed approach is examined on Shanghai MRTN, with analysis of influences of travel path resilience requirement, uncertainty in passenger service choice behavior, and partial periodic operation strategy. The results indicate that incorporating path resilience into LPP can enhance network resilience with limited operational cost increases, accounting for passenger uncertain service choice behavior can more accurately match the transport capacity with passenger demand, and the partial periodic pattern can balance the regularity and flexibility of the line plan. Furthermore, the IALNS algorithm outperforms Gurobi on large-scale cases, and the proposed approach can well balance operational costs, generalized passenger travel time, and network resilience. Case study findings provide insights for rail operators in line planning.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:16:26 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2711991</guid></item><item><title>Addressing Travel Needs of Women and Families on Public Transportation</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712232</link><description><![CDATA[Many women’s travel experiences relate directly to their disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities. Travelers supervising dependents are more likely to need access to multiple destinations and may have more belongings in tow. Because dependents are unlikely to be commuting adults, travel during off-peak hours is more common, and paying multiple fares can increase the financial burden. Additionally, safety is a greater concern for women, both when they are traveling alone and when they are traveling with dependents, especially children. TCRP Research Report 265, produced by the Transportation Research Board's (TRB’s) Transit Cooperative Research Program, presents a set of practical tools to help transit agencies better understand their riders, use existing data more effectively, assess how well they are serving women and families, build internal support for these efforts, and identify service planning, vehicle, and station design strategies that benefit women and families. The eight tools are organized into three stages: Understand Your Riders, Build Internal Capacity, and Deploy Your Tactics.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:56:02 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2712232</guid></item><item><title>Elevating Urban Public Transit: Consensus-Based Expert Study on Urban Air Mobility and Aerial Cable Car Integration</title><link>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709303</link><description><![CDATA[Airspace is increasingly emerging as a relevant dimension for urban mobility. Urban cable cars, a prime example of airborne modes, have already succeeded in emerging and developing countries, supplementing conventional public transit. However, aerial cable cars are less prevalent in industrialized nations, and integration with high-quality transit in such countries requires careful consideration. Therefore, this study identifies impacts, challenges, and stakeholders associated with cable cars, determines common challenges, and suggests appropriate use cases. An online consensus-based two-wave expert survey involving 63 high-caliber participants from engineering and consulting companies, public authorities, transit agencies, research institutions and cable car manufacturers yielded more than 4,700 answers. Key findings from consolidated expert knowledge indicated that cable cars could effectively supplement transit in industrialized countries. Positive impacts include connectivity to transit, reliability owing to minimal road-level competition, direct connections over obstacles, and being an attractive transit option. Negative impacts include privacy concerns, property ownership interference, limited access to adjacent sites along routes owing to aerial routing, lower capacity compared with conventional transit, and knowledge gaps. Handling passenger transfers between cable cars and other transit modes owing to height differences and passenger volumes poses service challenges. Transparent communication with stakeholders is crucial for project acceptance. Municipalities, operators/planners, politicians, and manufacturers are key stakeholders. Cable cars are considered a suitable aerial transit mode, with accessibility and safety levels similar to those of traditional transit modes. High demand is anticipated, especially when bridging barriers. In conclusion, cable cars can complement transit and this study provides valuable consensus-proven planning guidance for policy makers and practitioners.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:07:22 GMT</pubDate><guid>http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/2709303</guid></item></channel></rss>