New Web site shares projects in transportation research - Public Information and Information Exchange - Brief Article

Public Roads, Jan-Feb, 2003

In July 2002, TRB launched a new Web site called Research in Progress (RiP), featuring information about more than 6,600 new, current, and recently complete research projects in transportation. The purpose is to facilitate the exchange of information on transportation research projects. Any State agency planning to begin a research project can access the site to find out what other States already are doing, explore opportunities for collaboration, and possibly avoid duplicating efforts.

Covering subjects ranging from bridges and highway maintenance to transportation law, planning, and administration, RiP provides easy access to project summaries, start dates, and contact and funding information for projects in the United States and Canada. A data-entry system enables authorized users at State departments of transportation to add, modify, and delete information on their research projects and access detailed contact information in the personnel directory.

The new RiP Web site enables users to:

* Search by keyword or browse project records by subject

* Link and perform a RiP search in the Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) online database

* Subscribe to receive e-mail notification of new RiP records in specific subject areas

* Submit current research projects to TRB for entry into the system

Each month about 100 new RiP projects are added to the database and another 150 RiP records are updated. In November 2002 alone, more than 6,000 visitors accessed the site, and some logged on from as far away as Botswana, Germany, and Korea.

Check out RiP at http.//rip.trb.org. For more information, contact Barbara Post, manager of information services at TRB, at 202-334-2990 or bpost@nas.edu.

Transportation Research Board