Research Projects | National Institute for Transportation and Communities

Rural Gentrification and the Spillover Effect: Integrated Transportation, Housing, and Land Use Challenges and Strategies in Gateway Communities

Principal Investigator: Danya Rumore

Co-Investigator: Philip Stoker

Small towns and cities near national parks, public lands, and other natural amenities throughout the west are experiencing rapid growth and increased visitation. These “gateway communities” comprise a significant portion of the rural west, consti ... Read More

Housing Choice, Transportation Equity, and Access to Opportunities in Refugee and Immigrant Communities

Principal Investigator: Diane Mitschke

Co-Investigators: Anne Nordberg , Stephen Mattingly

Mobility directly impacts access to opportunities for all protected classes; however, transportation planning and public transit agencies and housing authorities rarely coordinate affordable housing and the transportation system planning decisions. T ... Read More

Assessing Cool Corridor Heat Resilience Strategies for Human-Scale Transportation

Principal Investigator: Ladd Keith

Co-Investigators: Nicole Iroz-Elardo , Kristina Currans

Road pavement is a known contributor to the urban heat island effect. Several vendors are providing engineered pavements coatings – known as “cool pavement” - to reflect light and therefore heat to reduce the thermal load of roads. The City of ... Read More

Exploring the Use of Crowdsourced Data Sources for Pedestrian Count Estimations

Principal Investigator: Sirisha Kothuri

Co-Investigators: Nathan McNeil , Kate Hyun , Stephen Mattingly

Counts provide the foundation for measuring nonmotorized travel along a link or a network and are also useful for monitoring trends, planning new infrastructure, and for conducting safety, health, and economic analyses. For safety analysis, they are ... Read More

Transportation for Seniors (T4S): Developing a New Accessibility Measure to Support Older Adults in a Post-Pandemic World

Principal Investigator: Andy Hong

Co-Investigator: Xiaoyue Liu

Accessibility plays a fundamental role in the day-to-day lives of individuals. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the gross inequality in older people’s accessibility to health care and essential services. Months of staying inside, with ... Read More

Sustaining Multimodal Choices: Examining Travel Behavior for Non-work Trips Beyond COVID-19

Principal Investigator: Yizhao Yang

Co-Investigator: Rebecca Lewis

Abstract Travel by sustainable modes such as public transit, biking, and walking provides positive outcomes for urban residents for the environment and health. Integrating these mode choices into regular travel trips has been challenging for many Am ... Read More

Towards Data and Solution-Focused Approaches to Support Homeless Populations on Public Transit

Principal Investigator: Anne Nordberg

Co-Investigators: Jaya Davis , Stephen Mattingly

People experiencing homelessness frequently rely on public transit systems and facilities as more than a mode of transportation to needed services but also as safe shelters from weather and danger. This is a challenge for many transit agencies and im ... Read More

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

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur

Co-Investigators: Christopher Cherry , Luke Jones

E-bike incentives are a way to stimulate more use of e-bikes for transportation purposes that could have the effect of lowering overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many cities and a few states have financial mechanisms available to support transp ... Read More

Toward Automating the Measurement of Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability

Principal Investigator: Seyed Hassan Ameli

Streets are one of the most significant elements of urban spaces to accommodate public activity and provide access to numerous locations and services. Today, our cities face various challenges, including urban sprawl, air pollution, and obesity. To ... Read More

Seamless Wayfinding by Individuals with Functional Disability in Indoor and Outdoor Spaces: An Investigation into Lived Experiences, Data Needs, and Technology Requirements

Principal Investigator: Martin Swobodzinski

Co-Investigator: Amy Parker

Human wayfinding and navigation allow human beings to fully participate in the environment and are essential elements for leading healthy, economically sustainable, and full lives. People with disabilities, including individuals with blindness, deafb ... 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. Although walking trips have increased in the last decade, pedestrian safety remains a top concern. In 2018, 6,283 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes representing the most deaths since 19 ... Read More

App-based Data Collection to Characterize Latent Transportation Demand within Marginalized and Underserved Populations

Principal Investigator: Noelle Fields

Co-Investigators: Stephen Mattingly , David Levine , Nicole Iroz-Elardo , Courtney Cronley

This interdisciplinary, multi-site, technology transferability study will advance innovative methods in travel data collection and improve the quality of data designed to show latent travel demand, as well as the impacts of mobility on the physical, ... Read More

261 Results