General research posts.
Originally published in Catalyst, February 19, 2025
Transit service planning has traditionally focused on peak trips and the needs of “rush hour” commuters rather than off-peak travel. Often, off-peak trips are taken by shift-based essential workers and those who cannot or do not drive. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the need for a closer examination of these trips to improve social equity.
Continue reading Examining off-peak transit behaviors to improve transit equityFull-depth reclamation (FDR)—an effective and efficient pavement reconstruction method—can be made even more sustainable by strengthening the road base. Laboratory and field testing of proprietary stabilizers used to amend FDR material illustrated improvements in pavement stiffness and economic benefits over time. New pavement design standards for base stabilizers can guide road engineers in choosing the optimal products for sustainable roads.
Continue reading Understanding the Performance of Road Base Stabilization AdditivesFrom Clear Roads, March 5, 2025
Transportation agencies collect vast amounts of data about their winter operations. Dashboards can help to summarize the information, measure performance, inform decision-making during winter weather events and improve planning for future storms.
This Clear Roads project examined the use of dashboards among transportation agencies to assess current strategies and identify innovative and effective practices. The results offer guidance to transportation agencies that are considering implementing or expanding their dashboard use to enhance winter maintenance operations.
Download the final report and two-page brief: CR 22-05 – Use of Dashboards for Winter Operations, December 2024.
Roundabouts and J-turns have consistently shown significant improvements in safety and traffic flow in Minnesota and across the U.S. Still, some community residents and businesses oppose replacing traditional intersections with alternative intersections like roundabouts or J-turns.
Continue reading New Project: Roundabouts, J-Turns, etc. – Understanding Their Economic Impacts
Preventing vehicles from drifting out of traffic lanes is a top safety priority for transportation officials. An ongoing research project has produced a smartphone app that alerts drivers when their vehicles drift from a lane. The current phase of the project improved upon earlier versions of the app by adding GPS and significantly increasing the effectiveness of lane departure detection.
Reprinted from CTS News, February 11, 2025
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) transit planning apps provide a simple, convenient way for transit users to plan trips, make payments, and book on-demand rides—enhancing the user experience and encouraging more transit use. While prevalent in urban areas, these apps are uncommon in rural settings.
Continue reading In rural Minnesota, transit planning apps could boost ridershipAs hauling practices change for waste collection, mining and other industries, local transportation agencies are receiving more permit requests for oversize or overweight trucks. These larger vehicles can have significantly greater impacts on pavements than passenger vehicles.
Continue reading New Project: Best Practice for Oversized/Overweight VehiclesApproximately 62,000 miles of Minnesota’s roads are bituminous, or asphalt, surfaces. Bituminous roads are cost-effective and offer improved ride quality and safety.
Continue reading New Project: Amount of Bituminous Surface Lost Each YearPedestrian hybrid beacons (PHBs) are one tool to help pedestrians safely cross roads. PHBs provide red-signal control for vehicular traffic when needed at lower installation costs and reduced traffic delays than full traffic signals.
Continue reading New Project: User Understanding of Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Operation
Clear Roads has just published its tenth Annual Survey of State Winter Maintenance Data, which compiles winter resources, material and cost data from 41 states for the 2023-2024 winter season. The spreadsheet includes all submitted data, as well as calculated statistics, winter severity index data, and a United States map that displays many of these metrics. The spreadsheet also includes data from the previous nine surveys (winters 2014-2015 through 2022-2023) and displays averages and changes across winter periods.
Reprinted from Clear Roads, February 5, 2025
Crossroads 