March 4, 2020
Research Spotlight - Comparing the Ride-Sharing Adoption Trends of Two Generational Cohorts
Dr. Abhinav Alakshendra from the University of Florida, is leading a team of researchers from the University of Florida and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill who are looking at the usage of ride services among Millennials and Generation Xers in the Southeastern region as it relates to mitigating congestion. In addition to this they are exploring how ride hailing services could increase access to transportation. New evidence suggests these services increase congestion despite the previous belief that it would decrease it. From the transportation planning perspective, it is important to understand the changing patterns and mobility needs of these two groups.  

STRIDE Project Title: Establishing a Dual Generational Modality Dataset: Comparing the Ride-Sharing Adoption Trends and Perspectives of Consumers from Two Generational Cohorts, Millenials and Gen Xers

Research Team: Dr. Abhinav Alakshendra from UF, Dr. Ruth Steiner from UF, and Dr. Allie Thomas from UNC Chapel Hill.


The Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovations, Development, and Education (STRIDE) Center is the 2016 USDOT Region 4 (Southeast) University Transportation Center (UTC) housed at the University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI). 

UFTI Welcomes New Post-Doctoral Associate Dr. Karla Rodrigues-Silva
Dr. Karla Rodrigues-Silva was driven by her love of math from a young age and started out pursuing physics in school. By her mid-teens, Karla discovered that her true passion was engineering. While pursuing her education Dr. Rodrigues-Silva kept an open mind, allowing herself to take opportunities as they presented themselves and follow her passion for math and helping people.

She did her bachelor’s degree at the University of Minas Gerais in Brazil with a semester in Ecole Nationale des Pontes et Chausses in France. She went on to study at the University of Sao Paulo where she received her master’s and Ph.D. 

At the UFTI, Dr. Rodrigues-Silva will analyze traffic data from the U.S. and South America and explore building safety models for use in U.S. and South America. 

UFTI Introduces Students at Santa Fe College to Transportation Engineering
Dr. Nithin Agarwal spoke to students at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fla. where he shared how the transportation sector is growing and new careers continue to emerge as technologies expand and develop.
He also advised students interested in pursuing transportation careers on how they can find coursework (undergraduate and graduate) in transportation as well as research opportunities at the University of Florida Transportation Institute.
The  Gator Engineering at Santa Fe  program is a collaboration between the University of Florida, the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, and Santa Fe College where students begin their coursework at Santa Fe and then matriculate to UF to complete a bachelor's degree in engineering. 

Job Opportunity
Application Developer Analyst III with the UFTI's Mc Trans Center

Job Description:   Implement and validate the implemented products to ensure the design meets customer needs. Design and develop prototypes of software for a variety of transportation needs.
Interact with potential customers to solicit feedback and coordinate and execute modifications based on user input.
Interview and hire student assistants for web development projects. Supervise the daily work activities of student assistants.
Develop best practices for development and execution of user interfaces and systems across different products at Mc Trans . Develop technical documentation (designs, specifications, processes) and communications.

Minimum Qualifications:   Bachelor's degree in an appropriate area and two years of relevant experience; or a high school diploma or equivalent and six years of experience. Appropriate college coursework or vocational/technical training may substitute at an equivalent rate for the required experience.

Application deadline is March 13, 2020

Upcoming Events
March 10 at 11 a.m.:  Join GatorITE for a seminar with Dr. Louis Merlin, assistant professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida Atlantic University and co-author of the recently released book  From Mobility to Accessibility .

March. 16 at 10:30 a.m.:  Join GatorITE for a seminar with Thuha Nguyen, registered professional engineer (PE) with the State of Florida and UF alumna. She will present on some of the "soft skills" that are valuable assets for engineers and will be available to review student resumes.

Highway Capacity Analysis Webinar Series: 

This webinar series presents lectures, software demonstrations and application examples on the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) procedures – including upcoming 6th Edition updates. Step-by-step instruction of the HCM methodologies will be provided for each analytical chapter. The Highway Capacity Software (HCS) implements and automates the HCM procedures. 
Each lecture will be followed by working example problems and a software demonstration using the  HCS7  prototype. A comprehensive workbook is provided to include all slides. Registration is provided in four sections (Streets, Unsignal, Freeways and Highways) with the Overview included with any registration and a discount for the entire series.  

March 16 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET: Overview
March 16 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET: Freeway Segments
March 17 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET: Freeway Facilities
March 17 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET: Highway Segments
March 18 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET: Unsignalized Intersections
March 18 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET: Signalized Intersections
March 19 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET: Urban Streets
March 19 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET: Ramp Terminals and Alternative Intersections
March 20 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET: Simulation (TransModeler SE)

Traffic Engineering Fundamentals Webinar Series: 

This course is intended to introduce and overview several traffic engineering topics with some practical application for each. Congestion, safety, and analysis are covered, including information on signals, crashes, and studies with workshops using the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). The sessions are designed to offer lectures, workshops, and computer demonstrations for an introduction to various topics. Videos and slide presentations are used to provide supplemental and back-ground information with a comprehensive workbook provided to include all slides. The series will be presented from 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET March 23 - 26.

March 23: Congestion, Road Users & Volume, Speed, and Delay Studies
March 24: MUTCD Overview and Signal Warrants & Signal Components, and Timing
March 25: Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) Overview & Intersection Capacity Analysis
March 26: TWSC, AWSC, Roundabouts, and Signals & Traffic Impact Analysis

March 26 & 27:  The 7th Annual UTC Conference for the Southeastern Region will be held in Boca Raton, Florida.

STRIDE K-12 Workshop at the UTC Conference on Thursday, March 26. The session will focus on on  Issues Related to K-12 Outreach . If you would like more information on the session, please contact Ondine Wells at  [email protected] . 
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