April 1, 2020
Research Spotlight: Could e-bikes and scooters reduce congestion?
Micro-mobility is an emerging form of transportation which involves shared electric bikes or scooters. The potential exists for micro-mobility to improve first-and-last-mile connections and decrease congestion, but transportation agencies need to explore if and how that can be accomplished.  
That is exactly what this Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development, and Education (STRIDE) Center-funded project led by Dr. Xilei Zhao, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering, aims to do.  


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). 

FDOT Final Report: Planning implications for alternative futures
Researchers and students from the University of Florida (UF), Florida State University (FSU), and the University of South Florida (USF) collaborated on research examining how risks and uncertainty should be handled in the transportation plan. Dr. Ruth Steiner, Professor and Director, Center for Health and the Built Environment, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, led the project for UF.  
The final report for the project, FDOT BDV31-977-98 "Assessment of Planning Risks and Alternative Futures for the Florida Transportation Plan Update," was recently published. This report takes a deep dive into some of the risks facing Florida's transportation system.  

Students provided access to HCS7 while away from campus
As college campuses across the country have closed in response to the spread of COVID-19, students have been figuring out how to finish off their semester studies away from the labs and facilities they rely on.
In one of his last official acts as Director of the McTrans Center, Bill Sampson has ensured that students who are not able to access their campus labs still have access to the Highway Capacity Software (HCS7) – a traffic analysis software – while at home. Current licenses have been provided to students for use on their personal computers to allow them to continue their work.  

Recently Published: A training program for transportation research managers
A recent TRNews magazine publication was co-authored by Ines Aviles-Spadoni, Coordinator for Research Programs/Services at the University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI) and Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development & Education Center (STRIDE). The article describes a training program geared toward transportation research management benefiting state DOTs, university transportation centers (UTCs), federal agencies, and the private sector. The article discusses the evolution of the program, its benefits, and the courses offered.
 
 
“TR News is copyright, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; posted with permission of the Transportation Research Board.”
Despite the changing landscape, faculty and staff continue to stay connected and on track with our research and other initiatives.

Upcoming Webinars
TRB Webinar: The supply chain and COVID-19

April 8: 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on supply chains for many different critical products, both in the United States and worldwide. The pandemic has created major changes in freight flows and has challenged the ability to deliver products to companies and consumers within the needed time frame. This has perhaps most acutely become an issue an issue for both medical supplies and food delivery. TRB is hosting this webinar which will explore the impacts of COVID-19 on the supply chain and logistics industries. Presenters will discuss lessons learned from past freight transportation and supply chain disruptions, identify research that has been done to address resilience in the supply chain, describe how to mitigate the economic impacts of these disruptions, and provide commentary on current supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19.

There is no fee to attend this webinar.

Webinar Presenters:
  • Moderated by: Mike Meyer, WSP
  • Principal Investigator for NCFRP Research Report 39: Freight Transportation Resilience in Response to Supply Chain Disruptions
  • Paul Bingham, IHS Markit
  • Expert in supply chain logistics, freight transportation, and transportation economics
  • Anne Strauss-Wieder, North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
  • Expert in supply chain and freight movement, transportation policy, and maritime transportation

Webinar Outline:
  1. How the supply chain industry has responded to past disruptions
  2. Lessons learned from past disruptions and best practices for a resilient supply chain
  3. How supply chain and logistics managers can respond to disruptions from COVID-19
  4. Question and answer session

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

TRB Webinar: Start your Transportation Research with TRID

April 14: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern

If you are researching anything in transportation, you want to start with TRB’s TRID database. Novice researchers, experts, and everyone in between is invited to this TRB webinar.
TRID (part of the TRIS database) helps researchers locate solutions to problems, avoid duplication of work, and save resources. It also satisfies the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements to consult TRB's TRIS databases to identify ongoing or previously completed research on a given topic.

This webinar is sponsored by the TRB Executive Office. There is no fee to attend this webinar; however, sign into MyTRB.org to view registration information.

Webinar Presenters:
  • Bill McLeod, TRB
  • Moderated by: Beth Ewoldsen, TRB

Webinar Outline
  1. Searching and browsing records in TRID
  2. Advanced search functionality
  3. Example search history
  4. Using the index terms fields for precision searches
  5. Exporting, emailing, and saving results
  6. Submitting publications for indexing

The first 45 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 15 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

STRIDE Webinar: Performance Measurement and Management Using Connected and Automated Vehicle Data

April 22: 12:00 PM Eastern

The availability of connected vehicle (CV) data, even at lower market penetrations, can be sufficient to support critical transportation performance measurement and management functions. This webinar will discuss the use of CV data to estimate metrics that can be currently estimated using existing data sources including those related to mobility, reliability, and environmental impacts. In addition, the webinar will discuss the estimation and utilization of additional mobility and safety metrics that cannot be estimated based on existing sources of data. The utilization of machine learning techniques to predict these performance metrics is also discussed.

Webinar Presenter:
  • Dr. Mohammed Hadi, Florida International University

STRIDE Webinar: Technology Influence on Travel Demand and Behaviors

May 13: 12:00 PM Eastern

The rapid technological developments in the 21st century created new opportunities for shared-use economy applications in the US and around the globe. In recent years, many large- and medium-sized city markets have experienced increases in the availability and popularity of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), for-hire vehicles, and on-demand services such as UberX and Lyft. However, it is still not clear how availability of smartphone-based traveler information services influence travel choices and what are the impacts from mode choice changes on transportation network operations. This seminar presents findings from a study that investigated the influence of ride-sourcing on transportation users’ choices and behaviors in the Birmingham, AL region. The study a) documented Birmingham metro transportation users’ attitudes, choices, and behavioral trends and b) examined the feasibility of using agent-based simulation modeling to quantify the impacts of mode choice shift due to ride-sourcing on local and regional congestion. The seminar introduces the study methodology, presents findings and conclusions, and discusses next steps.

Webinar Presenter:
  • Dr. Virginia Sisiopiku, University of Alabama at Birmingham


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). 

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