Transportation Innovation Series: A Strategic Outreach Series Hosted by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

1. The OST Office of Research and Technology (OST-R) presents…
Transportation Innovation Series
A strategic outreach series hosted by the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Research and Technology

2. 2
The OST Office of Research and Technology (OST-R) presents…
Dan Pallme
Director, Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute
University of Memphis
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST West Building Conference Center Rooms 8-9-10
Title: “Developing Freight Performance Measures and Evaluating Freight Policies via
GPS Truck Data”
Freight movement is a significant aspect of both the transportation planning and economic success of a
region. Therefore, it is imperative that appropriate measures are taken for the improvement of freight
movement. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed a set of Performance Measures (PMs)
to assess a road system that is utilized by automobiles; however, development of PMs that focus on freight is
limited. With Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st
Century (MAP-21), new incentives are
in place for state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to integrate Freight Performance
Measures (FPMs) into transportation planning and operations. In this paper, we present
two case studies of how GPS truck data can be utilized to develop FPMs and evaluate
freight policies. The first case study focuses on using GPS data to develop truck travel
demand and temporal patterns on interstates and intermodal freight facilities. At the
second case study, we used GPS data to evaluate the impact of a recent freight policy (i.e.
Hours of Service) on congestion.
Sponsored by: The Office of Research and Technology (OST-R), University Transportation Centers Program
“DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, findings and conclusions reflected in this presentation are the responsibility of the
authors only and do not represent the official policy or position of the USDOT/RITA, or any State or other entity.”
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R)
U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 202-366-4000

3. 3
Dr. Susan Handy
Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Director of Education for the Institute of Transportation Studies
University of California, Davis
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST West Building Conference Center Rooms 8-9-10
Driving Less: Strategies for Reducing Vehicle-miles Traveled (VMT)
The State of California has set an ambitious goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
For the transportation sector, changes in vehicle and fuel technologies will get the state a
long way towards its goal, but forecasts show that reductions in driving will also be
necessary. State policy now requires Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to
adopt a Sustainable Communities Strategy that outlines the set of strategies the regions
will implement to meet their targets for reductions in vehicle-miles traveled (VMT). In
the absence of conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of possible strategies, MPOs are
struggling to identify the set of strategies that offer the greatest potential for success.
This presentation looks at three of the many questions underlying this struggle: Will the
recent downturn in VMT take care of the problem? If not, which of the possible strategies are likely to help
the most? In particular, will the current bicycling craze make a difference? Although much research remains
to be done, existing evidence points to the need for a multi-faceted approach to reducing VMT.
Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 800.853.1351 • E-mail RITA

4. 4
The Office of Research and Technology (OST-R) presents…
Professor Yinhai Wang
Director, Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans)
Director, Smart Transportation Applications and Research Laboratory (STAR Lab)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Washington
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST West Building Conference Center Rooms 8-9-10
Big Data to Big Discoveries and Big Decisions: Challenges and Opportunities for Transportation Professionals
Transportation involves human, infrastructure, vehicle, and environmental interactions and is therefore a very
complicated system. With recent advances in sensing, networking, and computing technologies, more and more
transportation-related data and computational resources become available. These new assets are
likely to bring in new opportunities to understand transportation systems better and address
those critical transportation issues in a faster, more accountable, and more cost-effective way.
From big data to big discoveries and big decisions: what is the gap and what needs to be done?
Clearly, a new theoretical framework is needed to integrate the quickly growing massive amount
of data, typically from numerous sources of varying spatial and temporal characteristics, into the
large-scale transportation problem solving and decision making processes. Efforts along this line
are likely to form up a new subject area, namely e-science of transportation, in the years to come.
The speaker will share his vision and pilot research in linking big data to big discoveries and big
decisions through his talk.
Sponsored by: The Office of Research and Technology (OST-R), University Transportation Centers Program
“DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, findings and conclusions reflected in this presentation are the responsibility of the
authors only and do not represent the official policy or position of the USDOT/RITA, or any State or other entity.”
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R)
U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 202-366-4000

5. 5
Professor Robert Bertini
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Portland State University
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST West Building Conference Center Rooms 8-9-10
“Putting the Implementation Back in Innovation: Reflections on the Future of Transportation Research
and Education”
Transportation is the backbone of our society and our economy and we face significant challenges and opportunities
including: curbing highway fatalities and injuries, reviving an aging infrastructure, dealing with sustainability issues such
as climate change, addressing demographic changes, influencing behavioral shifts, recovering from the financial crisis,
finding new ways to finance transportation, and reducing externalities such as congestion, emissions, and noise. What is
the role for transportation research and education in meeting these grand
challenges? How can you shape your research so your results can actually be
implemented? How can you make a difference in the transportation field,
whether in the public/government, private or academic/research sectors? Join
Prof. Robert Bertini from Portland State University for this seminar where he will
discuss his views on the future of transportation research and education. Prof.
Bertini left his comfortable cocoon of Portland, Oregon for a tour of duty of
politics and policy in Washington, D.C., followed by a year living car-free in the
Netherlands. From these unique vantage points, building on a 25-year career in
the transportation field, he was able to view the intersections of science, policy
and politics. In Europe, he had the chance to live day to day in an environment that many U.S. cities are striving to
become. Join the discussion and become part of tomorrow’s transportation enterprise.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R)
U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 202-366-4000

6. 6
The OST Office of Research and Technology (OST-R) presents…
Bryan Reimer, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST West Building Conference Center Rooms 8-9-10
“Enhancing Driver Focus: The Challenge of Optimizing the Driver-Vehicle Interface in an
Increasingly Complex and Automation-Rich Operating Environment”
Innovations in display technology, sensing systems and computational capabilities are rapidly impacting the driver-
vehicle interface. New vehicle interfaces often present the driver with complex menu systems supporting a variety of
visual-manual and auditory-vocal interactions. Cleary, the optimization of information can play a key role in reducing
driver demand and enhancing driver focus. “Voice command” interfaces have been proposed as a means to allow drivers
to engage with entertainment and connectivity systems while keeping their eyes on the road and
hands on the steering wheel. Touch screens are increasing in prominence while traditional “knobs”
and “buttons” are becoming less common, perhaps requiring drivers to focus additional attention to
even the most basic interactions that were once just a “mindless button press”. Automation and
advanced driver assistance systems are increasingly altering the basic attentional demands of vehicle
control.
This talk will show how even simple changes in interface design can have an impact on attentional
demand and how the intertwining of aspects of demand such as vision and cognition makes the
optimization of driver attention an increasingly complex area of research. The need for new methods that consider
interactions holistically and in the broader operating context (environment, automation, etc.) is highlighted as is the
overall goal of more fully understanding the link between driver attention and safety as the complexity of the driver-
vehicle interface continues to grow.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R)
U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 202-366-4000

7. 7
Prof. Raj Rajkumar
George Westinghouse Professor
Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST
USDOT Headquarters West Building Conference Center – Rooms 8-9-10
Autonomous Automobiles: On the Road to Reality
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have been building autonomous vehicles since the mid-
1980s, culminating in the winning entry at the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge which
required driverless vehicles to ply 60 miles in less than 6 hours in urban-like conditions.
These multiple generations of autonomous platforms, however, were designed to function
only in limited operating scenarios and also looked like prototypes – both of which are
significant barriers to popular adoption. Now, working closely with General Motors, and
with additional support from the US Department of Transportation and the National Science
Foundation, the Carnegie Mellon team has created a normal-looking autonomous vehicle that boasts a broad set
of capabilities including vehicular communications. This talk will present a status report and summarize
challenges to be addressed.
Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 800.853.1351 • E-mail RITA

8. 8
John Collura
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and
Director of the University of Massachusetts Transportation Center
February 20, 2013
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST
USDOT Headquarters West Building Conference Center – Rooms 8-9-10
“As State DOTs take on more responsibility, how will they pay for future investments?”
As states continue to consider taking on more responsibility in transportation, a major issue that
State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) face pertains to financing future transportation
investments. Examples of financing approaches being considered by State DOTs includes
placing tolls along selected interstate highways where tolls are not currently collected;
introducing a vehicle-miles traveled fee; increasing and restructuring the existing fuel tax; and
raising income, sales, and other non-user taxes. The objective of this presentation is threefold: 1)
provide a comparative review of the benefits and challenges associated with financing
approaches currently being used by State DOTs; 2) review new financing approaches under
consideration and their anticipated impacts including their capital and operating costs; expected
changes in travel demand; potential revenue levels; and privacy and equity implications; and 3)
review a decision support system under development to assist State DOTs in the evaluation of
alternative financing approaches.
Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 800.853.1351 • E-mail RITA