About the ROPS Database

The Research in Operations (ROPS) database is a centralized, on-line repository for sharing and rating new transportation operations research ideas.  The National Operations Center of Excellence maintains and supports ROPS with support from AASHTO. 

Ideas for TSMO-related research are welcome from practitioners across the transportation community, whether public or private.  AASHTO’s Committee on Transportation System Operations and Transportation Research Board’s Operations Section Committees have the responsibility for regularly reviewing the ideas in ROPS to gauge each research idea’s merit for practitioners.  These committees consider all new ideas submitted during the annual research review cycle that typically occurs in the summer.  Visitors to the website will be able to track which research ideas have been selected for development, and ideas submitted from previous cycles will be maintained in the database. Visitors will also be able to numerically rate individual ideas, and provide supporting comments, as new sources of information around specific topics becomes available.

Ideas for TSMO-related research are welcome from practitioners across the transportation community, whether public or private.

The ROPS database is intended to provide timely, organized, and searchable content on current or archived research ideas in transportation operations.  These ideas form the basis for the research priorities and recommendations for such programs as the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHR), NCHRP 20-07 (Synthesis Topics), IDEA, Domestic Scans, U.S. DOT, and Pooled Fund Studies (PFS).  As the research ideas in ROPS are implemented, links will be provided to TRB’s Research in Progress (RiP) database to find out more about their status.  Once research is complete, the ideas in the ROPS database will be updated with links to the US DOT and TRB TRID catalogue to find additional information and annual reports.