Research Projects | National Institute for Transportation and Communities

The use and influence of health indicators in transportation decision-making

Principal Investigator: Kelly Rodgers

Research on health and transport has increased significantly in the past 20 years, both across health and transportation fields. Researchers and practitioners have called for the use of health indicators in transportation, which come amidst the growi ... Read More

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

Principal Investigator: Xiaoyue Cathy Liu

Co-Investigator: Jianli Chen

The transit industry is rapidly transitioning to battery-electric fleets because of the direct environmental and financial benefits they could offer such as zero emissions, less noise, lower maintenance costs. Yet the unique spatiotemporal characteri ... 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

Communicating Research through Comics: Transportation and Land Development

Principal Investigator: Kelly Clifton

Co-Investigator: Kristina Currans

This project aims to translate research findings from several NITC projects (PI Clifton) about considerations of transportation in the land development process into a comic, thus enhancing comprehension, encouraging representation, and developing a w ... Read More

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

Principal Investigator: Charles (C.J.) Riley

Co-Investigator: Ashton Greer

This project will employ a Mt. Mazama volcanic ash soil amendment to improve the surface stability and firmness of one quarter mile of the existing trail to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A southern Oregon-based c ... 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

Incorporating Bicycle Activity and Vehicle Travel Reduction from Bicycle Infrastructure into Strategic Planning Tools

Principal Investigator: Joe Broach

Co-Investigator: Kristina Currans

Planners and modelers at all levels of government have been grappling with the problem of how to better represent bicycling when modeling and forecasting future scenarios. Planners want to know how and to what extent infrastructure projects can incre ... 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

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

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