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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <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>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <item>
      <title>The Ferney Cut-and-cover : a project with several specific challenges</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2709400</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In a few years’ time, the Ferney Cut-and-cover, which is operated by the Canton of Geneva, owned by the Geneva Airport and located on the French-Swiss border, will be used for both road and tramway traffic. This particularity induced the necessity to build a safety concept able to reach both road and rail safety requirements, in order to ensure users’ safety in case of fire. Besides, since the Ferney Cut-and cover is located underneath the airport’s runways, business continuity issues are also critical (i.e., the tunnel’s fire resistance). As a result, one of the requirements for this project involved reviewing the structure’s safety concept – particularly regarding fire hazards. To meet these requirements, different safety studies have been carried out, including: - Definition of a safety program based both and road and rail standards; - Hazard analysis to ensure measures from this safety concept are proportionate and sufficient; - Transport of Dangerous Goods (TGD) analysis ensure that the Ferney Cut-and-cover could still be authorised for TDG traffic. These studies made it possible to validate and implement a complete and appropriate work program, including in particular a water mix sprinkler system, a first in Switzerland. As far as operational issues and the safety plan are concerned, working group sessions were held, bringing together all the players involved (road and tramway operators, public and private emergency services, customs, etc.). This made it possible to define, in advance of the working and operating phases, the main principles of intervention and tunnel safety, in particular the interactions to be formalised or even automated between the various players.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:30:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2709400</guid>
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      <title>Tram crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists: a severity analysis</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2569586</link>
      <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 13:31:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2569586</guid>
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      <title>Tram crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists: a severity analysis</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2509260</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study uses data from Melbourne's tram networks to explore the severity of tram crashes and the effects of pedestrian and cyclist involvement on tram crash severity. Among 639 tram crashes between 2012 and 2023, 196 involved pedestrians and 40 involved cyclists. Results from binary logistic regression modelling showed that tram crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists were more than twice as likely to be fatal or seriously injured. The impacts of crash-level variables such as speed limit and area-wide variables such as population density, tram stop density and commercial land use on tram crash severity were also evident. The findings suggest a critical need to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists around tram routes.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Feb 2025 09:06:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2509260</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Service load estimation and real-time crowding prediction for Melbourne trams</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2509074</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This report summarizes the iMOVE CRC (1-037) research project sponsored by the Victoria Department of Transport, Cubic Transportation Systems, and University of Melbourne. In this project we developed data fusion and machine learning models using passively and automatically collected data to estimate service utilisation for Melbourne trams and made real-time prediction of tram loads. Rapid urbanization is placing increasing stress on transportation infrastructure. Estimation of passenger flows is the basis for the design, operation, and adjustment of a public transport network. For applications in strategic planning, a basic understanding of regular travel demand volumes in zone aggregated levels are usually sufficient, which can be accessed by the four-step travel demand forecasting model (McNally, 2007). However, for operational applications, demand variability information is becoming increasingly relevant and essential. The transit industry has recently started to use demand information to support data-driven decision making. For example, transit operators can adjust service frequency to accommodate for variability in passenger demand, develop demand-responsive service to better target areas with low passenger demand, inform customers of the crowding levels and assist them in their journey planning to avoid service overcrowding. The development of these strategies requires an understanding of more detailed passenger demand information with day-to-day and within-day variability compared to strategic level models. It is particularly important to understand demand responses to service disruptions, special events, restrictions (such as COVID-19) and operational interventions (”before/after” analysis). Providing transit operators with demand patterns during these events could enhance their ability to respond to uncertainty and provide customers with more reliable and efficient services and information. The conventional types of demand data from on-board surveys are labour-intensive and costly. As a result, the sample sizes are inevitably small for operational applications. The outcomes of the project can be adopted to improve the efficiency of tram operations, to assist with route and service planning, integration and operation of tram routes with other modes of transport.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Feb 2025 09:02:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2509074</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Cyclist safety around trams: Melbourne case study</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2367056</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Trams and tram tracks present a particular hazard to cyclists. Bicycle wheels wedging or slipping on tram tracks often result in a cyclist falling and sustaining serious injuries. Previous research focused on cyclists who presented to hospital with little attention given to cyclists’ experiences on roads with trams and tram tracks. This case study of Melbourne, Victoria reports the first survey of cyclists’ experiences with tram- and tram-track related crashes and incidents. In total, 287 cyclists responded to the survey about their experiences over the last five years. One in five had been involved in at least one crash involving tram tracks and almost half (43%) reported being involved in at least one tram-related incident in the last five years. The majority of incidents involved skidding on the tram track (track-skid, 70%). Half of all incidents (50%) involved a combination of track skidding and wet conditions. Almost one in four incidents involved the bicycle tyre being stuck in the tram track (track-wedging, 24%). Some tram operators are exploring the use of rubber inserts that fill the groove in tram tracks to reduce the likelihood of track-wedge incidents. However, the efficacy of the rubber inserts is still unclear as the tram track rail head remains exposed. Findings suggest that in Melbourne, tram tracks are a hazard for cyclists. Greater segregation and separation between cyclists and tram tracks are needed to create safe spaces to cycle that meet the current government road safety policy (Safe System) principles.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2024 14:20:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2367056</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>What influences passenger’s arrival rate at stops in Melbourne: Wasea-Lstm, a novel deep learning model leveraging multi-source data fusion</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2366980</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Public transportation demand plays a crucial role in service planning and operation. Accurate prediction of passenger arrival rates at transit stops allows transportation planners and operators to optimize resources and improve service efficiency. Current methodologies primarily focus on weather's impact in the aviation industry, supply dynamics, and arrival time prediction, while overlooking its influence on public transport demand variation. This study addresses these gaps by designing a deep neural network model that can predict public transit demand, using large-scale datasets from multiple sources in Melbourne, Australia. We propose a novel deep learning architecture called Wasea-Lstm (Weather-Aware Smart Exponential Activation LSTM) that captures spatial, temporal, and external correlations for passenger arrival rate prediction at tram stops. The model is trained and tested on integrated datasets from automatic fare collection (AFC), automatic passenger count (APC), and weather data over a period of three months. Results show that the Wasea-Lstm model significantly outperforms benchmark models, including gradient boosting machine (GBMR) and multi-layer perceptron (MLP) regression by 15% and 6% in R2 metric, respectively. The feature importance ranking reveals that stop location, time of the day, temperature, and humidity are the key influencers of passenger arrival behaviour in Melbourne. Overall, this study contributes to the development of a model that accounts for multi-dimensional, high-resolution determinants of passenger demand using large-scale datasets from real world. The proposed Wasea-Lstm architecture shows exceptional performance in precisely forecasting stop-level demand for one of Melbourne's largest tram routes. Moreover, its applicability extends seamlessly to all routes within the network.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2024 14:19:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2366980</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A streetcar to be desired..? Exploring the impacts of tram network modernisation on community perceptions of place quality</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2350598</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Melbourne’s tram network is undergoing a strategic modernisation program, including upgrades to over 1,000 stops across the network that often require major changes in the design of legacy streetscapes. This once-in-a-generation state government investment represents a significant opportunity to reimagine how tram streetscapes can function as key destinations that provide an enhanced user experience, build upon existing neighbourhood identity, and improve overall place quality. From 2016 to 2020 a research program sponsored by Keolis Downer as part of Monash University’s Sustainable and Effective Public Transport graduate research industry partnership was developed to explore community perceptions of place quality in Melbourne streets and better understand how that perception may be impacted by various tram infrastructure design schemes. The research was conducted in two stages: 1. The ‘Movement and Place’ framework was adapted to classify tram network segments by roadway infrastructure design and streetscape place context. Deployment of the classification system resulted in the identification of four categories of streetscapes representative of Melbourne’s broader tram network. 2. The four streetscape categories were then applied in site selection for a survey that asked community members to rank the importance and performance of 36 place quality indicators at 24 sites across Melbourne’s tram network. Analysis of survey results found that users view modernised tram streetscapes as containing a higher quality design for all modes of transport (not just trams) when compared to their legacy counterparts. Priorities for improvement were identified, such as a desire to improve the provision of shelter from harsh weather across all four streetscape categories. Overall, this research helps identify how tram infrastructure can be designed to improve community perceptions of place quality.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2024 09:53:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2350598</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Separating trains from trams - design and engineering challenges on the Glen Huntly level crossing removal project</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2350565</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Glen Huntly Level Crossing Removal project, delivered as part of the Victorian Governments’ ongoing Level Crossing Removal Programme presented a number of unique technical and transport challenges the required innovative solutions to resolve, being a disruptive project to both the Melbourne Metro Trains (MTM) rail network, and the Yarra Trams (YT) tram network. The project itself is actually a combination of two discrete and distinct scopes of work: The first, a project to remove the existing Glen Huntly road and Neerim road level crossings, (including the tram-train interface), and a new Glen Huntly station with a rail-under-road solution. The second, stage two of a three stage project to separate the Cranbourne/Pakenham train line from the Frankston train line and improve rail throughput on lines constrained by Caulfield junction. This paper will discuss a number of key challenges, including: 1) Building a rail-under-road grade separation structural solution with three tracks and a station, in an area of high ground water, and how to control tanking slab deflection given buoyant ground water and complex dynamic rail movement 2) Separation of train and tram systems through a combined tram-train earthing and bonding equipotential zone to enable tram stop positioning on railway overbridge 3) Safely adding a dedicated cycle route onto Glen Huntly]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2024 09:52:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2350565</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Road or track in urban public transport? : knowledge claims about the choice between Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail Transit in research and in practice</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2344781</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The choice between road-based, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), or track-based, such as Light Rail Transit (LRT), urban public transport systems, is often characterized by lively debates. It is not uncommon for proponents of one option or the other to have strong opinions about why that particular option is best. This report is not about which is better of BRT or LRT, but aims to step back to help open up a discussion of knowledge claims about the choice between BRT and LRT in research and in practice.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Feb 2024 14:25:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2344781</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Strengthening of the Glenferrie Road arch bridge over Gardiners Creek</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2306819</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Glenferrie Road bridge is located over Gardiners Creek in Hawthorn, Victoria and was constructed in 1891comprising three masonry arch spans with a total length of approximately 25 meters; the bridge was subsequently widened in 1921. As a part of an ongoing overall strategic plan to improve tram access to the Victorian Road network, the Victorian Department of Transport engaged SMEC to undertake a detailed investigation of the bridge in 2021. This investigation included a detailed inspection, material testing and a load rating analysis of the historic bridge and determined that the structure had inadequate capacity to support various tram and road vehicles. SMEC were subsequently engaged to undertake the strengthening design of the masonry arch structure and the inter-connected reinforced concrete structural elements. Lessons learnt during the design, analysis and construction staging may assist future strengthening design works on other similar bridges particularly because the structural behaviour of masonry arch bridges differs significantly from current new-bridge technology and the associated industry knowledge of typical new-bridges.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Dec 2023 14:54:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2306819</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Bridge strengthening for new class trams and road vehicle loadings</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2306757</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Victorian Government committed funding for the strengthening of four tram-road bridges in Melbourne to increase the load capacity and maintain operational levels of service for critical modern low floor trams and heavy vehicles. - The Glenferrie Road Bridge is located over Gardiners Creek in Hawthorn and was constructed in 1891 comprising three masonry arch spans with a total length of approximately 25 metres. The bridge was subsequently widened in 1921 with a reinforced cast in situ concrete T-beam structure to facilitate the expansion of the electric tram network. The High Street Bridge is located over Merri Creek in Northcote and was constructed in 1875 comprising two brick barrel arches with a total length of approximately 45 metres and subsequently widened to its present width in 1890 to facilitate the expansion of the electric tram network. The Glenferrie Road Bridge and Orrong/Malvern Road Bridge are located over the Caulfield railway line in Armadale and were two of multiple grade separations constructed as part the expansion of the railway from two to four tracks, from Caulfield to South Yarra in 1914 comprising a steel rail in deck design.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Dec 2023 14:53:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2306757</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Investigation into public transport fare noninteractions using large scale automatically collected data</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2259791</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Fare card data provides an unprecedented opportunity to monitor day-to-day variability of travel demand and its responses to service disruptions and special events. However, when passengers take public transport without interacting with the fare system, demand is usually underestimated, which may cause problems for performance measurement and revenue collection. This research aims to investigate the fare noninteractions phenomena of the tram network in Melbourne, Australia. According to a prior evaluation, only 37% of boarding passengers validate tickets. This study utilizes large-scale automatically collated data to measure fare noninteractions, including data collected by Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) and Automated Fare Collection (AFC) systems. Compared to previous studies with small samples of on-board surveys, it contributes to the state of the art as these high coverage data enable the study of the impact of different types of explanatory variables, including time periods, routes, stop location, travel demand variability, presence of an inspector on-board, etc. Moreover, a free service zone is located in Melbourne central business district where passengers are not required to validate tickets. We specifically investigate passengers’ behavior at the boundary of a free service zone. Results show that fare noninteractions are lower for stops close to train stations, education facilities, stops that have been frequently inspected, and during the peak hours, but are higher for stops with large boarding flows, crowded services, evening periods and weekends. Importantly, conditioning on other variables, fare noninteractions at the boundary of the free service zone are higher in the morning peak but lower in the afternoon peak. The passenger flow diagram demonstrates the reason behind this may lie in the differences between purposes of trips. This investigation provides a starting point for proposing solutions to deal with the missing AFC data due to fare noninteractions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Oct 2023 11:29:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2259791</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Lies, damned lies and statistics</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2239994</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This paper tracks the historical growth of Sydney’s and Melbourne’s world-size suburban passenger railways from Federation to the current day prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the turn of the 20th Century, the carriage of suburban passengers was commercially attractive since most of their patronage was attracted to each city’s growing CBDs. Their patronage growth and average trip lengths prompted electrification during Australia’s first heroic age between Federation and the Great Depression. Even so, these suburban railways were still dominated by each city’s tram networks. After rail performed heroically during WWII, patronage stagnated and then declined in response to the growth in private vehicular travel. Furthermore, the suburban railways became a drag on railway finances. Rail patronage did not grow again until signature infrastructure projects were completed and traffic congestion made rail more attractive to commuters, who now constituted two-thirds of patronage. Rail was also now attracting commuters who were not travelling to their CBDs. Furthermore, peak hour trains were becoming more crowded than they were immediately prior to WWII. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has now stymied the progressive growth in suburban railway patronage.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:06:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2239994</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Observations on electric vehicle’s first hurrah: horse, steam and electric tram technology adoption rates in the UK 1860s to 1960s</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2239981</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The momentum for the adoption of electric vehicles is currently the strongest it has been for over 100 year. This paper provides data and observations on electric vehicle’s first major success – the largely forgotten rise and fall of the electric tram. Using a data set from 1860s to 1960s for the progressive adoption and abandonment of horse, steam and electric traction technologies in towns in the United Kingdom, graphs show the rollercoaster path of tram technologies and the strong similarities in their take-up rates consistent with a simple S-curve innovation path. However, observations from the history of the period and the path of electric trams adoption suggests the efficiency benefits that came with the rapid rise of the tram and that transformed intraurban mass transport could only happen once. Although technology transitions and the take-up rates for new technologies involve a range of issues, care needs to be taken in expecting similarly efficiency benefits to support a simple S-curve innovation path for the current resurgence of electric vehicles, even with their positive climate change and air pollution reductions impacts.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:05:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2239981</guid>
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      <title>Do Trackless Trams need stronger roads? The “weight” of evidence</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2239970</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Trackless Trams are a new generation of advanced bus technologies with significant potential for application as a cost-effective alternative to Light Rail Transit. They have significantly lower estimated construction and infrastructure costs (-67% to -84%) compared to Light Rail since they can use existing roads and don’t need expensive rail tracks. However, they are very heavy vehicles that have the potential to cause pavement damage, suggesting a need for road strengthening works. The manufacturer claims they can be used on any road without the need for road pavement treatments and, because of this, can be implemented in only a few days. This paper explores the road pavement impacts of new Trackless Tram bus technologies. It finds Trackless Trams weigh between 32 and 85 Tonnes and would be amongst the heaviest vehicles used on roads. An independent inspection of existing Trackless Tram sites is reported in the paper. This discovered evidence of road pavement damage, suggesting that claims for a ‘weekend’ system construction period using existing road pavements are very optimistic. Modelling of road pavement performance suggests Trackless Trams are likely to require significant road pavement strengthening under almost all scenarios modelled. The traffic load bearing impact of Trackless Trams is between 14 and 221 times higher than common loads on even high traffic urban roads. Under almost all scenarios modelled, stronger pavements were needed, particularly for flexible pavements with poor quality subgrade. Larger and heavy Trackless Tram vehicles require stronger road pavement designs and for even the smaller three-module Trackless Tram on flexible pavements at light load levels, a more frequent service will require a 9.5% increase in pavement thickness compared to a lower frequency service. Implications of the research for future research and practice are discussed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:05:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2239970</guid>
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