Student Spotlight:
Jacqueline Garrido
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Meet Jacqueline Garrido, a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. Her studies and career have taken her all over the world: from Santiago to Cambridge to Berkeley. Her current research focuses on transportation electrification, particularly regarding charging strategies for battery electric heavy-duty trucks. Among her myriad achievements include the 2020 UC Riverside Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship Award, a 2022 NCST Dissertation Grant Award, and the 2022 Colin E. Hackett Graduate Award. She has also been recognized for her work at the 2021 IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference and as Project Manager of the UC Riverside team for the US Department of Energy’s Electric Vehicle EcoCAR challenge. In the future, Jacqueline would like to become a professor to serve as a role model and mentor to students.
Congratulations on your hard work and achievements, Jacqueline!
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International Conference on Ecology and Transportation 2023
June 4-8, 2023 | Burlington, Vermont + Virtual programming and training
| ICOET is the foremost interdisciplinary, inter-agency supported conference addressing the broad range of ecological issues related to transportation systems in all modes. It provides a venue for sharing information and for training across multiple disciplines related to transportation and ecology. The conference is organized by the UC Davis Road Ecology Center, with assistance from the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies and the National Center for Sustainable Transportation. | |
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The Role of Micromobility in Public Transit Planning
Reid Passmore| Ph.D. Candidate at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Kari E. Watkins | Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Beth Ferguson | Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis
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First and last mile connectivity has always been a major consideration in public transportation modeling and planning. Ph.D. candidate Reid Passmore, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, shared his progress on developing a framework for systematically assessing cycling infrastructure improvements using the shortest path model, BikewaySim. We also heard from Professor Beth Ferguson, whose ongoing research includes an exploration of travel behavior and best practices to increase micromobility and public transit ridership post-COVID-19. | |
Featured Project
BikewaySim Technology Transfer: City of Atlanta, Georgia
The City of Atlanta plans to triple the mileage of protected bike infrastructure. These projects are on Atlanta’s High Injury Network, the small fraction of city streets that contribute the majority of Atlanta’s traffic fatalities and injuries on arterials and local roads. Adding new protected facilities is likely to influence how existing cyclists get around. The new infrastructure may also influence a mode shift to cycling. However, cyclists choose routes based upon more than distance and travel time. For example, uphill/downhill road grade and perception of safety may significantly influence route choice. This project developed a shortest path calculator that can identify the relative travel cost across routes for a case study subarea within the City of Atlanta. BikewaySim is an important tool for use in assessing where to place new bicycle infrastructure.
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Featured Report
Integrating Micromobility with Public Transit: A Case Study of the California Bay Area
Public transit is only as effective as it is accessible, and micromobility is one useful avenue of access to public transit stations. Researchers analyzed 18 Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations, surveyed users, and interviewed stakeholders to improve access to BART through changes in station design by increasing availability of shared micromobility services and affordable and secure parking, along with better signage and protected bike lanes.
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Recycling Diesel Soot Particles for Use as Activated Carbon in Lithium-ion Batteries
Dr. Stephen B. Cronin| Professor at the University of Southern California
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Particulate matter (PM) is a major air pollutant, which has been linked to premature cardiovascular and respiratory deaths in metropolitan areas, as well as lung cancer. Since the recycling of these highly concentrated hazardous carcinogenic materials is not yet financially viable, tons of these air pollutants are released into air every day. The uncontrolled release of PM into the environment is the second largest contributor to human-induced climate warming, after carbon dioxide. This webinar discussed a viable pathway towards a sustainable energy environment by converting an abundant toxic pollutant into a valuable electrode material for Li-ion batteries as well as the researchers’ efforts to develop carbon-free combustion using ammonia fuels. | |
Featured Project
Recycling Diesel Soot Particles for Use as Activated Carbon in Lithium Ion Batteries
The objective of this project was to demonstrate an aftermarket “retrofit kit” for small (10-30kW) diesel generators, capable of capturing particulate matter (PM) emissions (i.e., soot) to levels below Tier 4 standards using electrostatic precipitation (ESP). These 10-30kW diesel generators are typically used on refrigerated shipping containers and truck refrigeration units (TRUs). This project demonstrated the ability to capture and recycle these soot particles for use as activated carbon in Li ion batteries. The ultimate outcome is a near-zero emissions product that can be deployed in California and throughout the country. This project provides a robust method for recycling toxic particulate material (i.e., soot) from diesel exhaust to be used as activated carbon in Li ion batteries.
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How many rural Californians lack access to a vehicle when they might need one? | |
Which of these policy changes do researchers recommend in response to automation in the freight and warehouse industry? | |
a. Increase stakeholder engagement | |
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c. Increase use of worker safety technology | |
d. Increase scope of social safety nets | |
Recently Completed Research | |
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Eco-friendly Cooperative Traffic Optimization at Signalized Intersections
Peng Hao, David Oswald, Guoyuan Wu, and Matthew J. Barth | University of California, Riverside
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Roadways with signalized intersections are not only energy and time inefficient, but also prone to human-caused accidents. One emerging technology that can improve traffic efficiency and reduce environmental impact is infrastructure-to-vehicle communication. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside developed an Eco-friendly Cooperative Traffic Operation system that can manage automated vehicles in coordination with optimized signaling for greater efficiency. Testing this system using the Simulation of Urban Mobility platform, the researchers found upwards of 15.4% fuel savings and 85.7% waiting time reduction.
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Tools and Best Practices for Land Use Efficiency and Equity in Cities
Peter Ngyuen and Jesus Barajas | University of California, Davis
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To be able to meet greenhouse gas emission targets, policymakers need access to tools that can measure factors of land use, transportation, and housing equity. To this end, University of California, Davis researchers evaluated eleven web-based tools by accessibility, as well as their incorporation of things like vehicle miles traveled, gentrification, land use, and equity. After grading these tools, they also suggest potential improvements.
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Spatial Implications of Telecommuting in the United States
Matthew J. Delventhal and Andrii Parkhomenko | Claremont McKenna College and University of Southern California
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The onset of COVID-19 and subsequent social distancing guidelines pushed more than a third of American workers to telecommute. Drs. Delventhal and Parkhomenko developed a quantitative framework to help reflect this change, with a spatial model that can be used to simulate some workers choosing to substitute on-site work with work from home. The researchers divide the United States into 4,502 locations and calibrate their model with factors like wage differences, worker educational background, and distribution of homes relative to work sites.
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Forecasting High Bay Water Levels that Result in Flooding and Highway Closure
John L. Largier, Sophie Munger, Fraser Shilling, and Robin Roettger | University of California, Davis
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One consequence of climate change is sea-level rise, a serious danger to California's coastal settlements, and infrastructure like shoreline highways. For example, the Bay Area's Highway 37 flooded in 2017 and 2019. In response, University of California, Davis researchers developed a tidal residual model for site-specific forecasts of water levels. Coastal managers and first responders can use this model with real-time data, flooding forecasts, and probability assessments.
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MOVES-Matrix 3.0 for High Performance On-Road Energy and Emission Rate Modeling Applications
Hongyu Lu, Michael O. Rodgers, and Randall Guensler | Georgia Institute of Technology
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The MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) model provides modal emission rates, which, in conjunction with on-road vehicle activity data, helps designers and policymakers assess the impacts of transport strategies. Researchers developed an iterative model processing and matrix-based system that can be used to model on-road fuel consumption and emissions more than 200 times faster than using the MOVES model directly, while providing the exact same results. This system can be used to connect vehicle activity data with emissions rates and better evaluate emissions in dynamic transportation systems in near-real time.
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Recommended Approach for Use of Cradle-to-Gate Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in Procurement of Civil Infrastructure Materials
John T. Harvey and Ali Azhar Butt | University of California, Davis
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Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) can be used to support the procurement of more environmentally sustainable building materials by presenting potential environmental impacts for the product's life cycle. University of California, Davis researchers analyzed the use of EPDs and recommended improvements, including using regionally-based or agency-based thresholds, setting thresholds based on total quantity of emissions across all EPD-required products in a project, and using incentives and disincentives in the procurement process.
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Increasing Highway Capacity Induces More Auto Travel
University of California, Davis researchers summarized that induced travel demand increases in the short and long run, leads to a net increase of VMT, and occurs in rural and uncongested areas as well.
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Updating the Induced Travel Calculator
University of California, Davis researchers improved the NCST Induced Travel Calculator to include supporting scientific literature, three additional years of VMT data, and variation ranges for VMT estimates.
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Best Practices for Science Communication: Messaging and Reputation
Researchers at the University of California, Davis emphasized the need for clear communication, effective framing for specific audiences, and actionable goals for better scientific communication.
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Jobs and Automation in the Freight and Warehousing Sector
University of California, Davis researchers found that the rise of automation technologies will lead to greater efficiency, job opportunities, and worker safety, but concerns remain over job retraining efforts and job quality.
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Flexible Routing for Ridesharing
Carpool ridesharing is one strategy that can be effective in reducing congestion. Researchers at the University of Southern California developed three algorithmic approaches to create the most efficient routes for rideshare drivers.
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"$20M Grant Renewal for National Center for Sustainable Transportation"
This past February, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the NCST will receive $20 million to lead a group of seven universities studying transportation effects on the environment. The award reinforces UC Davis’ standing as the nation’s leading university center on sustainable transportation. The $20 million grant ($4 million per year over five years) will allow researchers at UC Davis and other consortium member universities to focus on accelerating equitable decarbonization that benefits both the transportation system and the well-being of people in overburdened and historically disadvantaged communities.
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The National Center for Sustainable Transportation is a consortium of leading universities committed to advancing an environmentally sustainable transportation system through cutting-edge research, direct policy engagement, and education of our future leaders. Consortium members: University of California, Davis; University of California, Riverside; University of Southern California; California State University, Long Beach; Georgia Institute of Technology; and the University of Vermont. | | | | |
