Research Projects | National Institute for Transportation and Communities

Enabling Decision-Making in Battery Electric Bus Deployment through Interactive Visualization

Principal Investigator: Xiaoyue Cathy Liu

Co-Investigator: Jianli Chen

Encouraged by the advancement of battery technology, the transition from diesel or compressed natural gas to fully zero-emission bus fleets has been the trend in the United States. Policymakers and transit agencies have set up goals to accelerate suc ... Read More

Access to Opportunities: Redefining Planning Methods and Measures for Disadvantaged Populations

Principal Investigator: Arlie Adkins

Co-Investigator: Stephen Mattingly

This project will be made up of two separate studies that together will investigate areas where transportation planning and engineering can better serve disadvantaged and underserved communities. An interdisciplinary team of planning and public healt ... Read More

Integrate Socioeconomic Vulnerability for Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Planning

Principal Investigator: Liming Wang

Co-Investigators: John MacArthur , Yu Xiao

The objective of this proposal is to develop a new methodology that incorporates community socioeconomic vulnerability in the evaluation of transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities for cities and regions facing multi-hazards such as the Portland ... Read More

Applying a Mt. Mazama Volcanic Ash Treatment as a Trail Accessibility Improvement

Principal Investigator: Charles (C.J.) Riley

Co-Investigator: Ashton Greer

In the latest instance of taking research to practice, researchers at Oregon Tech have completed a pilot section of trail using a NITC-developed sustainable paving method. A quarter-mile section of the Klamath Geo Trail, just east and up the hill fro ... Read More

How Can E-bike Purchase Incentives Grow the E-bike Market?

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur

Co-Investigators: Christopher Cherry , Luke Jones

The electric bicycle (e-bike) is a low-emission mode of transportation that offers communities benefits in the areas of health, planning, time, cost, street safety, congestion, air pollution, noise pollution, and energy security, among others. Despit ... Read More

Equity in Travel Behavior

Principal Investigator: Anne Brown

Shared mobility—including bikeshare, scooters, and ride-hail—offer a critical opportunity for transportation professionals. This project will develop five distinct curriculum resources to engage students in key equity considerations and questions ... Read More

Pedestrian Wayfinding Under Consideration of Visual Impairment, Blindness, and Deafblindness: A Mixed-Method Investigation Into Individual Experiences and Supporting Elements

Principal Investigator: Martin Swobodzinski

Co-Investigator: Amy Parker

Navigating an unfamiliar place is uniquely challenging for people with disabilities. People with blindness, deafblindness, visual impairment or low vision, as well as those who use wheelchairs, can travel more independently in urban areas with the ai ... Read More

Pedestrian Behavior Study to Advance Pedestrian Safety in Smart Transportation Systems Using Innovative LIDAR Sensors

Principal Investigator: Taylor Li

Co-Investigators: Sirisha Kothuri , Xianfeng (Terry) Yang

Pedestrian safety is critical to improving walkability in cities. To that end, NITC researchers have developed a system for collecting pedestrian behavior data using LiDAR sensors. Tested at two intersections in Texas and soon to be tested at another ... Read More

Marginalized Populations’ Access to Transit: Journeys from Home and Work to Transit

Principal Investigator: Marisa Zapata

Co-Investigators: Ivis Garcia , Amy Lubitow , Miriam Abelson

Previous scholarship has shown that low-income individuals who also might identify as racial, ethnic, and gender minorities (such as transgender and gender nonconforming) are more likely to be dependent on public transportation. What remains understu ... Read More

Accessing Opportunities for Household Provisioning Post-COVID-19

Principal Investigator: Kelly Clifton

Co-Investigators: Kristina Currans , Amanda Howell

When the COVID-19 pandemic first swept across North America and led to emergency shutdowns during the spring of 2020, the way people acquired food and household necessities was dramatically impacted. As stay-at-home orders minimized personal travel, ... Read More

Using Maps and Online Tools to Operationalize Equity in Shared Mobility Services

Principal Investigator: Amanda Howell

Co-Investigator: Anne Brown

This project translates research into practice through developing two practitioner-ready tools using findings from NITC project #1401 “Mobility for the People: Evaluating Equity Requirements in Shared Mobility Programs”. In “Mobility for the Pe ... Read More

Transportation Behavior Among Older Vietnamese Immigrants in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

Principal Investigator: Rebecca Mauldin

Co-Investigators: Stephen Mattingly , Rupal Parekh

Nearly 4.6 million immigrants age 65 years and older live in the United States. This population is expected to more than triple in size by 2050. A lack of culturally appropriate transportation solutions for older immigrants and migrants (i.e., (im)m ... Read More