Skip to content
The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Irvine
  • About
    • Leadership
    • Affiliated Centers
    • IT Resources
    • ITS-Irvine Policies
    • Contact
  • Research
    • Areas of Expertise
    • Publications
    • Projects
    • Requests for Proposals
    • ISERT2026
    • TRIP Program
    • PRIME Program
  • Education
  • People
    • Researchers
    • Administrative Staff
    • Current Students
    • PhD Graduates
    • Past Faculty Associates
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
  • About
    • Leadership
    • Affiliated Centers
    • IT Resources
    • ITS-Irvine Policies
    • Contact
  • Research
    • Areas of Expertise
    • Publications
    • Projects
    • Requests for Proposals
    • ISERT2026
    • TRIP Program
    • PRIME Program
  • Education
  • People
    • Researchers
    • Administrative Staff
    • Current Students
    • PhD Graduates
    • Past Faculty Associates
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events

Sponsor: Caltrans

Drivers’ Asynchronous Day-to-Day Route Choices with Information Provision

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012

Principal Investigator

Wenlong Jin

Project Team

Josep Barberillo Nualart, Hao Yang, Qi-Jian Gan

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7491
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

With the diffusion of information and communication technologies into the transportation sector, more traffic information will be available to drivers. In an advanced traveler information system, interactions among road networks, drivers, and traffic information could impact safety, efficiency, environmental, and other characteristics of the overall transportation system. In this project, we propose a new modeling framework to systematically study how information provision would impact drivers' day-to-day route choice decisions. In this framework, individual drivers have heterogeneous decision intervals and how drivers respond to different information provision schemes. With simulations and theoretical investigations, we will study stability and efficiency of the overall transportation system under different demand levels, information provision schemes, and distribution of drivers' decision intervals. This project could lead to more insights on impacts of information provision on drivers' behaviors in transportation networks. Through this project, we will develop a set of theoretical, simulation, and experimental tools for studying drivers' route choice behaviors. The developed tools and gained insights could be helpful for understanding how such new technologies as inter-vehicle communications can help reduce congestion and emissions through proper route guidance.

A Dynamic Normative Model of Conditions for Viability of Alternative Fuel Vehicles

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012

Principal Investigator

Will Recker

Project Team

Jee Eun (Jamie) Kang, Mahdieh Allahviranloo, Thi Bich Thuy (Vanessa) Luong, Daji Yuan

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7492
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Zero-Emission Vehicles & Low-Carbon Fuels

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

With California Air Resources Board's legislation of Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) and Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandates in 1990, and with California legislative acts AB 32 and SB 375 more recently, there have been positive expectations for Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) adoption. In this project we present an approach for addressing the demand for AFVs by explicitly incorporating dynamics and normative influences in a utility maximizing framework. Rather than attempting to predict the dynamics of demand associated with any particular AFV, the project will focus on identifying stable "final" states that are likely to be achievable vis-a-vis assumed vehicle characteristics , supply environment, and normative influences. Put simply, we ask the question "Under what circumstances would the competition among the various alternative fuel alternatives lead to a stable equilibrium in which those vehicles have a certain share of the market." The main objective of this project is to assess the conditions under which certain classes of AFVs can be expected to find at least a niche market within the fleet of vehicles purchased by consumers. In attacking this problem, we first attempt to quantify the role of the so-called "bandwagon" effect evident in consumers' adoption of the Toyota Prius. Then, incorporating this effect, together with supply-side conditions related to the refueling of AFVs, into a dynamic demand model, we seek to identify conditions leading to possible stable equilibria in which AFVs (or a subset of such AFVs) are significantly represented in the vehicle fleet. This assessment the dynamics of AFV adoption possibilities will provide a benchmark that will assist in determining the potential impacts of future AFV penetration into the automobile market.

Affordable Housing in Transportation Corridors – Built Environment, Accessibility, & Air Pollution Implications of Near Roadway Residential Locations

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012

Principal Investigator

Doug Houston

Project Team

Dongwoo Yang, Gavin Ferguson, Nicholas Fung, Wei Li, Jun Wu, Janet Cutler

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7488
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Team Departmental Affiliations

School of Public Health, Urban Planning and Public Policy

Project Summary

Near-roadway areas are important sites for infill affordable housing. These areas at times have compact, mixed-use characteristics that could be associated with reduced auto dependency and more active travel and transit use. Integrated land use and transportation planning for these areas offer the potential of helping reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but near-roadway smart growth strategies could exacerbate air pollution exposures since vehicle-related air pollutants and related adverse health effects are highly localized near major roadways. The proposed research will evaluate the distribution of affordable housing projects in Southern California which have received support from the Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE VI) and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) programs in relation to built environment and transportation resources and near-roadway air pollutant hazards in order to improve affordable housing site selection and design criteria. We will also use portable global positioning systems (GPS) and pollution tracking technologies to measure the travel behavior and air pollution exposure of residents of HOPE VI projects across transportation microenvironments and near-roadway locations in goods movement corridors. The resulting highly-revolved activity/exposure profiles will support the development of more effective land use, housing and transportation policies to mitigate near-roadway air pollution hazards for diverse and low-income communities.

Tour-Based and Activity-Based Modeling of Clean Trucks at Southern California Ports

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012

Principal Investigator

Stephen Ritchie

Project Team

Soyoung (Iris) You, Miyuan Zhao, Gunwoo Lee

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7489
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Freight, Logistics, & Supply Chain Zero-Emission Vehicles & Low-Carbon Fuels

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

The San Pedro Bay Ports (SPBP) of Los Angeles and Long Beach in Southern California represent one of the major container port complexes in the world, contributing very significantly to both Southern California and national economies. However, projected SPBP growth and the associated economic benefits are threatened by negative externalities of port operations such as increasing traffic congestion, air pollution, and adverse health impacts in the local community. Widespread concerns about these problems caused directly by freight movements have led to measures to mitigate traffic congestion and air quality in the SPBP area. However, forecast freight demand utilizing these strategies has largely been estimated by conventional four-step planning models, as used for passenger transportation. Such models cannot adequately capture the complex structure and behavior of freight movements, and advances in logistics and information technology. This research will explore and develop more behaviorally-oriented tour-based and activity-based models of SPBP drayage truck movements, using GPS data. Expected results include new and improved insights into the spatial and temporal operations of port trucks, contributions to the port-related component of urban freight modeling, as well as to the evaluation of traffic and environmental impacts of SPBP operating policies and air pollution mitigation strategies.

Spring 2011 Dissertation Award – Hsin-Ping Hsu

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2012

Principal Investigator

Marlon Boarnet

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7567
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Project Summary

Research on gender differences in travel behavior usually relies on national travel survey data, which contain a rich set of sociodemographic variables but only coarse land use characteristics. On the other hand, research on the link between land use and travel behavior lacks a gender angle, and therefore how do the impacts of land use on travel behavior differ between men and women is not typically considered. This dissertation aims to fill the gap in the literature by exploring simultaneously the interaction between land use and sociodemographic characteristics and its effects on gender differences in non-work travel behavior. Using a regional travel survey data with detailed land use and sociodemographic variables, the initial analysis shows that land use has greater impacts on women’s non-work trip frequency than men’s, and the impacts vary by women’s roles in households. For example, living in a neighborhood near a rail station can reduce the number of non-work trips of married women without children by 31 percent. These results suggest that land use might provide opportunities to mitigate women’s travel burdens which come from their gender roles in households, which in turn can contribute to more gender-equal transportation policy interventions.

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2013

Choices and Constraints: Gender Differences in Travel Behavior

Read more

Spatially Focused Travel Survey Data Collection & Analysis: Closing Data Gaps for Climate Change Policy

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2010 - April 30, 2012

Principal Investigator

Marlon Boarnet

Project Team

Gavin Ferguson, Steven Spears, Hsin Hsu, Amelia Regan

Sponsor & Award Number

Caltrans: 65A0438

Areas of Expertise

Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Team Departmental Affiliation

Computer Science

Project Summary

This research will help close a crucial data gap in land use-travel behavior studies. Current estimates of land use-travel behavior relationships are typically based on average effects for metropolitan areas or larger geographies. That gives little insight into the effect of small-area land use policies such as targeted infill development, transit-oriented land uses near stations, or similarly localized policies. In California, Senate Bill (SB) 375 requires that metropolitan planning organizations incorporate land use-transportation planning, but existing travel diary surveys have very few observations in transportation planning, but existing travel diary surveys have very few observations in areas of policy interest. This research will obtain a large number of travel diary surveys in small neighborhoods of high policy relevance for SB 375, providing data that will assist in SB 375 and related policy development. In addition to data and analysis that will directly benefit greenhouse gas emission reduction policy, the methods developed in this research will advance efforts toward low-cost, rapid travel data collection that can be used in before-and-after transportation program evaluations.

Related Publications

research report | Aug 2013

Spatially Focused Travel Survey Data Collection and Analysis: Closing Data Gaps for Climate Change Policy

Read more

A Support System for Estimation and Monitoring of Real-Time On-Road Emmissions–Dissertation Grant for PhD Candidate Hang Liu

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2011 - April 30, 2012

Principal Investigator

Stephen Ritchie

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7738
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience Safety, Public Health, & Mobility Justice

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

Transportation has been a significant contributor to total greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant  emissions. Emission mitigation strategies are essential in reducing transportation’s impacts on  the environment. In order to effectively develop and evaluate on-road emissions reduction  strategies, it is important to have an information support system which can estimate and monitor  emissions for real world traffic operations. Emission data provided by such a system can be used  to identify emission hot spots and their causes, and to develop and evaluate reduction strategies  accordingly. In this research, a web-based support system is proposed to estimate and monitor  operational on-road emissions with high accuracy and resolution in real time. The two sets of  critical information, vehicle mix and vehicle activity, are directly generated from traffic detection  using the inductive vehicle signature technology. The models developed in this study to generate  stratified speed by vehicle type, an important measure for accurate emission analyses, will be  applied for a proof-of-concept implementation on sections of the I-405 freeway. Case studies  will demonstrate how to use the data from the system to make useful decisions and evaluations.  With more widespread deployment, the system can be used to perform before-and-after  evaluation of certain mitigation strategies, to develop time sensitive optimal traffic control  strategies with the purpose to control emissions, and to provide greenhouse gas and air quality  information to policymakers, scientists, and the general public.

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2013

Improving On-Road Emission Estimates with Traffic Detection Technologies

Read more

Transportation Emergency Management Framework: Earthquakes & Inter-dependent Systems

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012

Principal Investigator

r-jayakrishnanR. (Jay) Jayakrishnan

Project Team

Zhe (Jared) Sun, Pierre Auza

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7969
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

This proposal is to develop a cohesive framework for emergency congestion management in the transportation network, with appropriate treatment of the interdependencies among infrastructural systems.  The focus in this proposal is on earthquake related emergencies, which are considered most relevant to California; however the resulting framework can then be extended for other types of emergencies in the future.    The power-related infrastructure will be first considered for simultaneous failures. The main focus areas are: - Determining what types of disruptions can occur in a road network and other infrastructure systems interdependent with the road network, and developing a Disruption Taxonomy.  This will be based on two large-scale California studies on earthquakes impacts but focusing on roadway disruptions. - Developing further insights for adjusting the taxonomy based on historical data on earthquakes around the world, including anecdotal evidence and media evidence.  Peculiar transportation situations and management deficiencies will be a focus. - Developing a modeling and analysis framework that can provides input for response agency decisions on managing the transportation system under link failure emergency.  The framework is based on a meso-scopic simulation platform of evacuation modeling (ONE-ITS, U.California/ U.Toronto), and routing algorithms will be developed for the type of disruptions under earthquakes. - Demonstrating the use of the framework in scenario analysis by selecting earthquakes of various intensities for the Los Angeles area network, and modeling the impacts under a variety of disruption conditions.   Modeled management actions will include traffic routing strategies.

Bottleneck Effects Of Lane Changing Traffic: A Macroscopic Approach

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012

Principal Investigator

Wenlong Jin

Project Team

Hao Yang, Anupam Srivastava, Qi-Jian Gan

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7885
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

The objective of this research is to understand stationary and dynamic bottleneck effects of lane-changing traffic from a macroscopic point of view. It is well known that disruptive lane-changes in merging and weaving areas can cause substantial capacity reduction and drop. In this research we attempt to develop a coherent theory for such critical bottleneck effects with the help of a new fundamental diagram and corresponding kinematic wave models. With NGSIM data, we first establish lane-changing intensity as a function of road geometry, proportion of lane-changing traffic, and other lane-changing behavior characteristics and then derive a fundamental diagram of lane-changing traffic flow, from which we analyze how the number of lanes and proportion of lane-changing traffic would impact capacity reduction in a lane-changing area. This research can improve our understandings of fundamental properties of lane-changing bottlenecks and their impacts on traffic congestion and environments. Insights obtained from the research could help improve lane-management, variable speed limits, ramp metering, and other management and control strategies.

Transit, Traffic and Affordable Housing

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012

Principal Investigator

Doug Houston

Project Team

Dongwoo Yang, Steven Spears, Janet Cutler

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

Caltrans // UCTC Caltrans Match: 7740
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Team Departmental Affiliation

Urban Planning and Public Policy

Project Summary

This research investigates planning and policy approaches to promoting transit-oriented, mixed- use and infill development which accommodates the housing needs of all economic groups. Funding will support a literature review on place-based affordable housing strategies to assess (a) their potential to reduce auto dependency, promote more active travel and transit use for low- income groups and (b) whether the location of these developments may expose residents of affordable housing to potential traffic-related hazards. As feasible, funding will also support the development of a GIS database of the housing units proposed in city housing elements per state law and analysis of the location of these units in terms of transit accessibility, nearby land use mix, neighborhood walkability, and traffic exposure.

Posts navigation

Older posts
Newer posts
When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to go to the desired page. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures.

Recent Posts

  • Dr. Sarah L. Catz featured in WalletHub’s recent Article about Best & Worst States to Drive in
  • Research in Motion: Evaluating Equity in Transportation and Hazard Preparedness Plans: A Multi-Level Governance Approach
  • Research in Motion: Using a “Bathtub Model” to Analyze Travel Can Protect Privacy While Providing Valuable Insights
  • Research in Motion: The Missing Link in Automated Vehicle Safety: Projected Braking and Realistic Driving Behavior
  • PRIME Alumni Spotlight: Miles Shaffie

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • January 2026
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • February 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • September 2023
  • April 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • April 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018

Categories

  • Award
  • News
  • Research in Motion
  • Spotlight

Anteater Instruction and Research Bldg (AIRB)
Irvine, CA 92697
Phone: 949-824-5989 | Fax: 949-824-8385

  • linkedin
Subscribe to the ITS- Irvine mailing list Subscribe to Events Calendar

About

  • Leadership
  • Affiliated Centers
  • ITS-Irvine Policies
  • Contact Us

Research

  • Areas of Expertise
  • Publications
  • Projects
  • Requests for Proposals

People

  • Researchers
  • Administrative Staff
  • Current Students
  • PhD Graduates
  • Past Faculty Associates

Press

  • News
  • Events

©2026 ITS-Irvine