Research in Progress (RIP)

Economic, Environmental and Equity Outcomes Assessment of the Electric Vehicle Charging Network Expansion in Illinois

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:04:32 GMT

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) was awarded 182 direct current fast charging ports in its first round of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Researchers will analyze electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Illinois and estimate the benefits of expansion through 2050. They will estimate benefits of EV chargers associated with job creation and cost savings from EV ownership. They will identify gaps in EV charger coverage in rural and underserved communities as well as identify types of site hosts to maximize benefits. Identifying gaps in EV charger service will help guide IDOT’s deployment from NEVI funds as well as provide an economic impact assessment of EV ownership.

Towards a Safe, Healthy and Efficient Gig Transportation Workforce

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:38:24 GMT

"Towards a Safe, Healthy and Efficient Gig Transportation Workforce" is a research initiative that addresses the heightened safety and health risks faced by the gig transportation workforce, particularly in Massachusetts. The gig economy, characterized by independent contractor roles and piece-rate payments, poses unique challenges to drivers/riders, including higher anxiety, fatigue, risk-taking behaviors, and lack of federal regulation protections. This project aims to enhance the overall well-being of gig drivers/riders by focusing on three main objectives: understanding their economic, safety, and health status; developing a decision support system (DSS) prototype to aid in making informed scheduling decisions; and engaging disadvantaged communities in the design and testing of this DSS. The research involves a collaborative effort between faculty members from Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Public Policy, combining expertise in driver behavior analysis, operation optimization, community outreach, and socio-technical ecosystem studies. The research plan includes conducting a literature review, focus groups/interviews with gig drivers/riders, designing and testing a DSS prototype, and final reporting. The project methodology combines qualitative and quantitative research methods, including focus groups and surveys. The DSS prototype will be designed to help gig workers balance economic gains with safety and health considerations, potentially transforming how gig work is conducted and perceived. The community engagement aspect ensures that the DSS is user-friendly and effective for the target audience.

Improving Cost Estimation and Budget Planning with New Michigan Highway Construction Cost Index

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:17:28 GMT

Accuracy in cost estimating and budget planning has a significant impact to DOTs. Inaccurate cost estimates can lead to cost overruns and create difficulties in budget planning. MDOT has developed a highway construction cost index (HCCI), including categorical, regional, and statewide indices, however, the future trend of the cost index was forecasted using a time series analysis which cannot consider significant economic factors such as the pandemic, and/or periods of high inflation, leading to low accuracy of the forecasted index value. This makes it difficult to use the current index for engineers estimates and budget planning. A new HCCI, including calculation tool/program, at the project and pay item levels is needed to more accurately adjust the historical price of pay items, improving the accuracy of the historical data-based estimation as well as provide MDOT with a better understanding of why pricing fluctuates for specific materials and/or regions over time. In addition, with the consumer price index rising in Feb. 2022 to 7.9%, a program analysis template to better understand the impacts of inflation and adaptation to inflation is needed as well as an analysis of labor, logistics, and economic factors that may be affecting pricing.

Induced Demand Assessment Framework: A Guide

Tue, 30 May 2023 20:28:29 GMT

As a concept, induced demand is increasingly being considered by transportation practitioners at state departments of transportation (DOTs). Induced demand is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by multiple variables, necessitating consistent analysis and transparency. DOTs are interested in understanding how induced demand impacts their planned investments and how those impacts might accrue at the local and regional network levels. It is not clearly understood in empirical analysis where induced demand manifests itself and how it undermines desired project outcomes for various project types. Recent attempts at analysis are the California Induced Travel Calculator (CITC), the Rocky Mountain Institute’s State Highway Induced Frequency of Travel (SHIFT) tool, and the Federal Highway Administration’s Geospatial Economic Multimodal Systems Modeling (GEMS). The CITC and SHIFT tools incorporate ranges of elasticity findings from different induced demand studies and project conditions but have several limitations for project-level analysis (for example, contextual factors or land use). GEMS may provide typologies to help identify influencing factors and mitigation options as alternatives to new lane miles. Research is needed to assist DOTs to better understand induced demand, especially at the project level, concerning their priorities, policies, funding decisions, and DOT options to respond to induced demand directly or indirectly. The objective of this research is to develop an induced demand assessment framework and a guide for DOTs to apply the assessment framework to policy and planning analysis. At a minimum, the research shall (1) define induced demand; (2) gather and evaluate data needed to develop the assessment framework; (3) pilot, validate, and test the assessment framework; and (4) communicate findings from the framework to build consensus.

Strengthening Access to NC Ferries to Support Coastal Community Resiliency, Health, and Mobility

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 09:56:52 GMT

The North Carolina (NC) Ferry system is a critical form of both essential and recreational transportation for millions of NC residents and visitors from around the world. At the same time, the ferry system faces challenges such as declining ridership, keeping pace with evolving technology, operations affected by extreme weather events, and lack of sustainable funding sources. The ferry system infrastructure in some places is not fully or efficiently utilized. For example, while all ferries allow walk-on passengers, many are oriented to vehicle transport, which does not maximize passenger occupancy. None of the current ferry terminals loffer public transit service and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is limited in many locations. Prior studies have examined NC ferry operations and made recommendations regarding the ways in which future passenger ferries can enhance ridership and improve operations, including by building connections to existing shuttle terminals and extending transit services. But these studies have been oriented to tourism and existing business owner interests and do not fully account for the broader community goals related to economic opportunities, health, and transportation access; nor do they account for the unique needs of marginalized populations. In this project, the project's transdisciplinary team will investigate ways in which innovations related to walking, bicycling, and micromobility, transit operations, and mobility on demand (MOD) services may be employed to support North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)'s work to ensure that transportation projects provide far-reaching and equitable benefits to communities, the economy, and the quality of life and health of North Carolinians. The project team will integrate a broad set of data about community transportation needs and multimodal connectivity options to develop a robust analysis to support short and long-term planning for ferry access and multimodal connectivity. This documentation of literature, stakeholder input, and new analysis will be supportive of decision-making at both the project and policy level regarding ferry integration with multimodal infrastructure and services and identify approaches that could leverage Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds, Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) funds, and other funding sources.

Y3R3- Integrate Autonomous Delivery Vehicle into Sustainable Urban Logistics Planning and Optimization: Economic and Environmental Evaluation

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 17:29:03 GMT

The ongoing urbanization presents a challenge both to enterprises who want to adapt to the change and deliver goods more efficiently, also the policymakers who can positively impact urban logistics in terms of trade-off decisions on economic and environmental impact. As sustainable urban distribution system becomes one of the most recent trends, hubs are augmented with smaller logistic centers in the city. In urban logistics system, autonomous delivery vehicles (ADV) as a new element of ground-based delivery services are a more practical solution in cities. The study team discusses the potential ADV combined with delivery van regarding the urban sustainable freight delivery network. A multi-modal and multi-objective optimization model is proposed to simultaneously minimize the aggregate operating cost and reduce carbon dioxide emission. Also, delivery hubs from alternative hubs are chosen for ADV positioning. An improved Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm was used to solve the problem. The study team applies it to a case study comparing the Economic and Environmental performance in both unimodal delivery method and combined delivery using Van-Autonomous delivery vehicle (V-ADV). Finally, sensitivity analysis is used to assess the robustness of the results of the model in the presence of uncertainty. This research provides decision support to government authorities, logistics service providers, and other relevant decision makers. Motivated both by the adaption of new delivering technologies (ADV) in practical transportation industry and the theoretical gap existing in the present literature, a network planning problem for the cooperated van and ADV is studied. The primary objective of this study is to develop an urban logistics optimization model in terms of minimizing the logistics operating cost and carbon emission using V-ADV from the point of authorities. Simultaneously, the best locations from a set of existing stations are selected for ADV positioning and optimal flow assignment.

Future of Work: Scenario Planning for COVID-19 Recovery

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 11:44:00 GMT

The Future of Work Scenario Planning Workshop will engage experts in transportation, major employers, and real estate and development companies in June 2021. The experts (n=30 to 40) will define a key focal issue around the future of work in response to COVID-19 recovery and the corresponding timeline for the scenarios (e.g., 1 to 3 years, 4 to 6 years). The workshop will identify key driving forces including critical uncertainties, develop plausible scenario worlds, and identify key policy strategies and research recommendations to maximize social and environmental outcomes. University Transportation Center (UTC) researchers will integrate key findings from the Telemobility UTC longitudinal panel survey, which documents work-from-home/telework activities of respondents and their preferences for the future of work in COVID-19 recovery. The workshop will also inform future UTC respondent surveys on work-from-home/telework. The workshop will focus on employers and real estate/development company responses to COVID-19 recovery based on key driving forces, such as state of the virus/vaccine (public health and safety), employee preferences, and economic factors (productivity and revenue). Experts will examine potential impacts on transportation modes such as public transit, shared mobility, and auto ownership/use. The scenarios will also inform regional modeling efforts and policy strategies to maximize the public good.

Advancing Sustainability through Multi-Agency Collaborations

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 17:50:19 GMT

Sustainability, including social, economic, and environmental aspects, is a common goal in the transportation industry that cannot be achieved by a single agency or multiple agencies acting separately. Over time, sustainability in transportation has evolved beyond the environment to include elements such as livability, health, and economic development, which state DOTs have not explicitly embodied in their missions. Furthermore, MAP-21 and now FAST have elevated considerations for sustainability in transportation through the inclusion of non-traditional performance areas. As the definition of sustainability takes on new dimensions and agencies are expected to evolve and adopt new ways to measure and monitor progress, what are the implications to statewide planning? How can agencies plan and account for sustainability-related outcomes of their investments when performance areas are affected by the policies and decisions of multiple agencies or sectors? Making progress on sustainability and other complex shared goals requires an active multi-agency collaboration and an understanding of how each agency might translate, measure, and act upon each goal. Multi-agency collaborations create opportunities to coordinate policies, share data, and pool funds that help agencies measure and generate multi-faceted sustainability outcomes from transportation and development decisions. There is precedence for multi-agency collaborations that have tackled sustainability challenges but the results and replicability of those partnerships are not well documented. The Sustainable Communities Partnership initiated collaboration among US DOT, HUD, and EPA to advance sustainability outcomes of infrastructure and community development. How were the goals/guiding principles developed and translated by each agency? How well has the partnership advanced its guiding principles at federal, state, regional, or local levels, and have those guiding principles resulted in more sustainable developments? Are there other coordination models that have achieved sustainability objectives and could be scaled up or down? Transportation agencies recognize that there are limitations on ways they could influence societal benefits. The Transportation Research Board, for example, has acknowledged this challenge and has started to invite “non-traditional” partners like health, housing, and other professionals to the annual meetings and to participate in interdisciplinary committees like the Health and Transportation subcommittee. On the agency side, states, like Washington State, have experimented with multi-agency coordination on shared goals, usually under the direction of top executives. As complexity and interconnectedness of agency goals increases, the need for collaboration also increases. Can we learn from past (or other countries') experiments with multi-agency collaboration on ways to initiate, govern, and sustain those types of collaborations? Or would such effort require a brand new model? Through successful multi-agency collaboration models, it is anticipated that DOTs, transit agencies, or MPOs could develop and monitor performance measures that affect or are influenced by more than one agency in order to fully capture the sustainability impacts of transportation changes. Also, a collaborative model could change the way both transportation projects are implemented and partner agencies leverage their resources to improve transportation outcomes (for example, public health agencies promoting active transportation and as a result reducing single-occupant vehicle trips). Objective The purpose of this study was to learn from previous multi-agency collaborations in the United States or abroad that promote sustainability objectives and measurable outcomes related to transportation investments: (1) What were the successes and challenges faced by the partnership(s)? (2) Can the partnership(s) model be replicated by state agencies? In focusing on sustainability, the study will need to evaluate partnership models that can capture environmental, social, and economic factors of transportation investments and evaluate trade-offs amongst those three factors.

Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas

Sat, 08 Jun 2019 09:54:12 GMT

The objective of this research is to prepare guidelines for state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other public and private organizations involved in rural development and the provision of transportation services. These guidelines should address a range of components, building on a variety of examples of how agencies currently implement rural and remote access and connectivity programs.

Best Practices for the Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling of Vehicle Wash Water

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 16:27:15 GMT

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is seeking to optimize vehicle/equipment washing practices with respect to: (1) Compliance with Federal and State requirements for the discharge of wastewater; (2) Environmental and economic sustainability; and (3) Corrosion-related vehicle/equipment maintenance costs and vehicle/equipment longevity. To further this goal, vehicle washing and housekeeping practices, wash water recycling systems, using rinse/wash water as a brine ingredient, and how different washing methods affect vehicle/equipment corrosion will be examined during the course of this research project.

Understanding Economic and Business Impacts of Street Improvements for Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility - A Multi-City Multi-Approach Exploration

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:51:06 GMT

Many cities across the country, as part of Complete Streets initiatives or to promote community livability and environmental sustainability, have engaged in street improvement or transportation infrastructure upgrade projects that increase access and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists through a reduction of on-street parking or traffic lanes. With various transportation modes competing for scarce resources (including right-of-way and transportation funding), city planners and transportation agencies often struggle with how to justify these infrastructure investments for non-motorized modes such as bicycling and walking, particularly when driving is still the predominant mode of transportation in most cities. There is a vital need to understand whether and how these investments impact economic vitality, business activities and neighborhood equity in surrounding areas. This proposed research project will be the first component of a larger national study of the economic and business impacts of street improvements for bicycle and pedestrian mobility. By examining multiple data sources, utilizing multiple longitudinal economic and business activity indicators (e.g., employment by industry sector, number of establishments, business revenues, etc.), and applying distributional analysis and spatially-based econometric approaches to a variety of street improvement corridors (treatment and control) in 4-5 selected study cities across the US, this proposed study aims to accomplish two main objectives: (i) to establish whether and how these types of investments impact economic vitality, business activities and demographic composition of surrounding neighborhoods with outcomes that are applicable to additional cities and corridors for pre-implementation assessments; and (ii) to develop a systematic and rigorous methodological approach that is replicable to other cities and corridors for post-implementation evaluation and analysis. The work will provide policy makers and planners with a solid research and practical foundation as well as a robust analytical framework to strategize the implementation of a multimodal transportation network and to support non-motorized transportation infrastructure investments.

Sustainable Heated Pavements for Infrastructure Longevity, Safety and Economic Competiveness

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 12:36:03 GMT

Icing of pavements during the winter leads to problems affecting the majority of the U.S. Department of Transportation's strategic goals. Icy roadways clearly pose a hazard to the safety of drivers and vehicle occupants. Icy roads also affect economic competitiveness as truck based transport of goods is slowed or interrupted. The use of de-icing agents, such as salt and Magnesium Chloride, can help prevent ice build-up on the roads, but bring with them significant initial and long term maintenance costs. Beyond the costs associated with purchasing and applying the materials, the application of chloride based agents to steel infrastructure (e.g. reinforced concrete pavements and bridge decks and steel bridge components) can lead to corrosion and possible premature failures. The American Society of Civil Engineers current grade of the U.S. roads is a D and bridges are a C+ (ASCE 2013). The deterioration caused by corrosion raises technological and economic issues associated with the state of good repair goal including how to inspect, manage, and repair deteriorating transportation structures. The use of these chemicals to prevent icing also has environmental costs, relating to the goal of sustainability. The climate of the Region 8 states served by Mid Planning Conference (MPC) means that icy roads are a national issue of great local significance. Heated pavements offer a potential solution for the problems caused by icy roads. New research is investigating the application of heated pavements to keep airport runways clear and decision making tools to help airport managers decide when the heated pavements or other snow clearing solutions are viable (Vigar 2013 ). Heating a full network of roads is likely not viable at this point, but the targeted heating of particular safety trouble spots, critical freight routes, and heavily salted areas has the potential to make significant contributions to the quality of U.S. and regional transportation networks. These networks often include generous right-of-way areas that may lend themselves to supporting a distributed energy producing infrastructure; potentially decreasing costs in remote locations. The presence of ice in concrete pores is a fairly well-understood process (Penttala 1998, Kauffmann 2004) that can accelerate environmental degradation of pavements or other roadbases. A number of novel approaches have been attempted, including conductive concrete (Yehia and Tuan 1999, 2000, 2004, Tuan 2004), conductive asphalt (Chen and co-workers 2011), heated wiring (Tuan 2004, Zhao and co-workers 2010) and there has been at least one full bridge demonstration project reported in the literature (Tuan 2008). However, there are no broad-based design or implementation guidelines for use of this class of technology, nor is there a fixed approach for powering such methods. Three key questions arise regarding the feasibility of a targeted heating approach: 1) How will locations where pavements will be targeted for heating be determined to make substantial contributions to improving safety, movement of goods, longevity of infrastructure and/or impact on the environment? 2) How will the appropriate source of energy necessary to heat the pavements be evaluated for each site in a sustainable manner (i.e. considering the triple bottom line)? 3) What type of paving technology can be effectively heated with the available energy or in a way that minimizes the energy demand?

Marketing New England Biofuels to Ensure Energy Security

Tue, 04 Aug 2015 01:02:09 GMT

Developing a cellulosic biofuels market provides a potential opportunity to revitalize the forest industrial sector, thereby enhancing employment opportunities and incomes in areas of the rural Northeast that typically has few other economic opportunities. This project focuses on the areas of Marketing, Economics and Policy and Systems Integration as it applies to designing and testing information strategies to promote biofuels use and production in the Northeast. The Energy Independence and Security Act requires the sale of specified quantities of renewable and advanced biofuels. These fuels will cost more to produce but will provide enhanced reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This research will provide crucial knowledge about how consumers understand and evaluate biofuels in a competitive marketplace taking into consideration their environmental impacts. The project will provide important information on how to best market and label advanced biofuels to insure that largest contribution to local economies and diversify regional energy supplies. This will provide valuable information about ways to promote purchases of biofuels, and provide information to policy makers on potential standards for certification and labeling of biofuel products. We will research, design, and test the effectiveness of various consumer information strategies to promote cellulosic ethanol in particular, and evaluate consumer's acceptance and understanding of biofuels generally. The research will also derive estimates of the market penetration of biofuels in the Northeast. These estimates of market penetration, combined with estimates of market share changes for alternatively fueled vehicles, will allow us to make petroleum displacement forecasts and evaluate the possible impact of biofuels on the Northeast's energy security. By focusing efforts on the Northeast region we are uniquely able to bring together economists and market researchers with bioproducts researchers at the University of Maine's Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative.

Customization of TELUS-Base Project Information Management System (PIMS) for NYMTC

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 01:00:39 GMT

Transportation, Economic & Land-Use System (TELUS) is a fully integrated information-management and decision-support system designed to help Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and State Departments of Transportation (SDOTs) prepare their annual Transportation Improvement Programs and to carry out other responsibilities under the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). TELUS has been funded by a grant from the FHWA. Recently the FHWA started promoting TELUS as a "Priority, Market-Ready Technology." Web TELUS, which is an internet-enabled system. It can be implemented at various levels. An MPO could use it in conjunction with Local Governments or a SDOT could use it with MPOs. The system essentially parallels the Desktop system with the inherent advantages of a web-based environment. The system was developed completely in Java and is highly customizable to meet most agencies requirements. A customized version of Web TELUS called Project Information Management System (PIMS) was deployed at NYMTC in October 2006. The objective of that project was to customize Web TELUS to automate the workflow of NYMTC's Conformity Project Information Management System (CPIMS). The developed system obtained project information from NYMTC member agencies, validated the information, incorporated with the NYBPM network coding procedure to update the highway and transit networks accordingly. It created electronic sheets, which facilitated regular, effective and efficient communications among project managers, TCC staff and NYMTC staff with respect to all transportation projects being included in the air quality conformity process. The result was an operational web-based application called Project Information Management System. After deploying the PIMS application and subsequent use of the system by Project Managers, TCC and NYMTC Staff, additional features such as reporting and improved user friendliness would be desirable and would further improve functionality and usability of the system. After numerous meetings with end-users and other interested stake-holders, this proposal was created to enhance PIMS by developing new functionality to the system.