Research Projects | National Institute for Transportation and Communities

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

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

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

Principal Investigator: Marisa Zapata

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

Research demonstrates that marginalized populations experience significant barriers in accessing transit. Much research related to marginalized populations focuses on fares, costs, and locations to utilizing transit. More recent studies look at how t ... Read More

Accessing Opportunities for Household Provisioning Post-COVID-19

Principal Investigator: Kelly Clifton

Co-Investigators: Kristina Currans , Amanda Howell

The acquisition of food and household necessities has been dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as people are asked to minimize travel to avoid exposure, supply chains are disrupted, transit services are reduced, and stores and restaurants ... Read More

Do Travel Costs Matter? Using Psychological and Social Equity Perspectives to Evaluate the Effects of a Low-Income Transit Fare Program on Low-Income Riders

Principal Investigator: Liu-Qin Yang

Co-Investigators: Liming Wang , Aaron Golub

Access to transit can deliver a host of benefits to the riders and to the region. Previous research aiming to study these benefits has primarily relied on data collected from the opening of new routes or transit systems, and has focused on the genera ... 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

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